A liquid crystal display for minimizing a leakage current to prevent brightness deterioration is disclosed. The liquid crystal display includes a backlight unit including a plurality of lamps, a plurality of lamp wires connected to the plurality lamps, and a bottom cover in which the lamps are received, the bottom cover having a plurality of holes through which the lamp wires are passed, an inverter circuit board generating a power to drive the lamps and a plurality of sockets connected to output terminals of the inverter circuit board and connecting to the lamp wires, wherein at least one socket among the sockets is inclined at a side of the inverter circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display that is adaptive for minimizing a leakage current to prevent brightness deterioration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display device is widely used due to its characteristics of light weight, thin profile, low power consumption, etc. As a result, the liquid crystal display device is used in office automation equipment, audio/video equipment, etc. The liquid crystal display device controls the amount of light in accordance with signals applied to a plurality of control switches that are arranged in a matrix to display a desired picture on a screen.
In this way, the liquid crystal display device is not a self luminous display device, thus it requires a separate light source such as a backlight unit.
The backlight unit is largely classified as an edge type and a direct type. Herein, the edge type backlight unit has a lamp which is installed at the end of one side of a liquid crystal display, and the direct type backlight unit has a lamp which is installed under the liquid crystal display.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a rear surface of a related art liquid crystal display.
Referring to FIG. 1, a liquid crystal display with which the direct type backlight unit is applied, includes a plurality of lamps (not shown), an inverter circuit board 12 closely located at a rear surface of a bottom cover 10 and driving the lamps, and sockets 16 connecting lamp wires 14 to output terminals of the inverter circuit board 12. Herein, one end of the lamp wire 14 is connected to an electrode of the lamp.
The lamps are supplied with an AC power from the inverter circuit board 12 and emit a light. The inverter circuit board 12 is installed at the rear surface of the bottom cover 10 to convert a DC voltage into an AC voltage that is capable of driving the lamps, thereby outputting the AC voltage via the output terminal. The inverter circuit board 12 is also connected, via the sockets 16, to the lamp wires 14 connected to one ends of the lamps to apply the AC voltage to the lamps.
The lamp wires 14 are high-level voltage wires which are connected to the ends of the lamps. The lamp wires 14 are drawn out to the external of the bottom cover 10 via wire drawing out holes 18 and then are connected to the inverter circuit board 12 by the sockets 16. In this case, the wire drawing out holes 18 are formed at a support main. Herein, two lamp wires 14 are connected to one socket 16, respectively.
As described above, the lamp wires 14 must be drawn out toward the rear side of the bottom cover 10 to be connected to the inverter circuit board 12 so as to allow the inverter circuit board 12 to be electrically connected to the lamps. In this case, if a connection between the lamp wires 14 and the inverter circuit board 12 is tightened or is entangled each other, interference may be generated. To solve this problem, if a length of the lamp wire 14 is lengthened, an area that the lamp wire 14 is contacted with the bottom cover 10 made of a metal, is increased. As a result, an amount of the leakage current is increased.
Furthermore, a print circuit board 20 is located at an upper portion of the liquid crystal display. In this case, lengths of two lamp wires 14 connected to a first socket 16a are different from each other. Herein, the first socket 16a is formed at an upper corner where is closely located to the print circuit board 20. If the lengths of two lamp wires 14 are different from each other, the leakage current generated from each of the lamp wires 14 is differentiated. Thus, the brightness of the lamps changes and the screen blinks.


A convertible blanket and carrier having a rectangular main section and a pocket applied to one side of the main section along one end. A pair of handles are attached to one side of the main section and a blanket fastener is attached to the end opposite the pocket end for securing the carrier formed by double folding the main section.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to baby blankets and, more particularly, to baby blankets that can be converted to carrying bags.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art contains many examples of mats, blankets and towels which are designed for flat use and convertible to portable carriers. One example of such articles is disclosed in the Nelson U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,460 which utilizes a system of six strategically located handles to transform a rectangular mat into a totable bag. Other configurations have been proposed which lend themselves to infant care including mats for diaper changing convertible to infant carriers and/or feeding and changing accessories. These devices are usually rather expensive because of the need for special materials and fabrics and complex panel configurations. Examples of this type of device may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,150 to Fitzsimmons and U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,505 to Bullard et al. The present invention seeks to reduce the complexity of and reduce the cost of such devices without sacrificing the utility of the article.


A dielectric block provided in a dielectric antenna is formed with an organic polymer material containing a liquid crystal polymer and polytetrafluoroethylene. The added amount of polytetrafluoroethylene is 2 to 15% by volume based on the volume of the dielectric block. Preferably, the liquid crystal polymer has a flow beginning temperature of no lower than 310° C. and no higher than 335° C. The dielectric block may further contain a dielectric inorganic filler and in this case, the added amount of dielectric inorganic filler is 45% by volume or less based on the volume of the dielectric block.

In recent years, mobile phones have been increasingly reduced in size and weight and accordingly, reduction in size and weight has also been required for antennas mounted on mobile phones. In the mobile phone, a dielectric antenna, the body part of which is formed with a dielectric block, is usually used, and for keeping up with the reduction in size and weight described above, a dielectric material used for the dielectric block is desired to have a high dielectric constant and a low specific gravity.
On the other hand, antenna built-in mobile phones are mainstream from the viewpoint of designability of mobile phones. The antenna built-in type also contributes to downsizing of mobile phones. Consequently, a dielectric antenna is required which has such excellent processability that the shape of its dielectric block can be flexibly changed so that the dielectric antenna can be placed in a narrow space such as a gap between a main frame of a mobile phone and a wiring board within the main frame.
Under such a background, a composite material of a filler including a dielectric ceramic and a resin is favorably used as a material of the dielectric block. This is because if such a composite material is used, the dielectric ceramic increases the dielectric constant of the dielectric block, and resultantly allows downsizing of the dielectric antenna, and the resin contributes to reduction in weight and allows the dielectric block to be formed into any form with freedom.
A composite material, which is as described above and also interesting to this invention, is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-6316 (Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 describes a composite dielectric material including a dielectric inorganic filler and an organic polymer material, and discloses the use of polypropylene as an organic polymer material.
However, the composite material described in Patent Document 1 does not have excellent heat resistance because polypropylene is used as an organic polymer material, and can encounter such a problem that a solder reflow process cannot be applied for mounting a dielectric antenna including a dielectric block formed with the composite material.
Thus, it has been proposed to use, as a resin, a liquid crystal polymer having excellent heat resistance in a composite material to form a dielectric block. However, the use of a liquid crystal polymer may encounter such a problem that stringing occurs during injection molding of a dielectric block, and consequently continuous molding is hindered.
For solving the problem of stringing described above while solving the problem of heat resistance, it is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-197209 (Patent Document 2) to use in a composite material two different kinds of liquid crystal polymers, of which the gradients from an endothermic peak temperature at which the polymer is phase-transferred from a solid phase to a liquid phase to a temperature at which the polymer has a melt viscosity satisfying 1000 Pa·s or less are mutually different.
However, it has been found that there arises such a problem that a part of a molding material is deposited and remains on a mold when injection molding of a dielectric block is continuously carried out using the material described in Patent Document 2. This hinders continuous molding of dielectric blocks to reduce yields in production of dielectric antennas, resulting in an increase in costs of dielectric antennas.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-6316
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-197209

Dielectric antenna and material for the same


It has been discovered that providing a computer system with a hot pluggable power supply as well as a disconnectable resistive load allows a second power supply to be brought on-line while operating within the proper voltage range and then disconnecting the resistive load from the power supply so as to conserve energy and lower the operating temperature of the computer system. Such a system also conserves energy by reducing the size of the fan that the computer system requires. Such a system also allows for a the use of larger test resistor thus providing a more accurate load test. Such a system also allows for saving space as one test circuit can be used for both power supplies. Such a system also allows for a reduced capacity power supply as the power supply does not have to continuously supply power to the resistive test load.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a computer system and more specifically to supplying electrical power for a computer system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer systems in general and International Business Machines (IBM) compatible personal computer systems in particular have attained widespread use for providing computer power to many segments of today's modern society. A computer system generally includes a system processor which is coupled to associated volatile and non-volatile memory. A personal computer system can generally be defined as a desk top, floor standing, or portable computer system that further includes a display monitor, a keyboard, one or more floppy disk drives, and a fixed disk storage device. One of the distinguishing characteristics of personal computer systems is the use of a system board to electrically connect these components together. A personal computer system may also include one or a plurality of input/output (I/O) devices (i.e. peripheral devices) which are coupled to the system processor and which perform specialized functions. Examples of I/O devices include modems, sound and video devices or specialized communication devices. Mass storage devices such as hard disks, CD-ROM drives and magneto-optical drives may also be considered peripheral devices.
As the computing power of personal computer systems has grown, these personal computers systems are now used as network server systems. Network server systems manage the shared storage or processing requirements of groups of personal computer systems. An example of one such network server system is available from Dell Computer Corporation under the trade designation Dell Poweredge 4100.
One concern associated with the design of a computer system is how to reliably supply electrical power to the computer system. Several components of the computer system require power to operate and those components may require power at different voltage levels. For example, the computer system may have a Direct Current (DC) brushless motor fan that requires power at +12 volts direct current (VDC) to rotate to cool the computer system. The disk drives of the computer system may also operate at +12 VDC. The microprocessor, random access memory (RAM) and other electronic components may operate at either or both +5 VDC and +3.3 VDC signal voltages. Additionally, the computer system may require -5 VDC, -12 VDC and +5 V flea power (FP). Each of these components are connected to the power supplies via respective power nodes.
One source of power for a computer system is a battery power supply where the power for the computer is provided by batteries. Another source of power for a computer system is a power converter that converts Alternating Current (AC) to DC. One type of power converter converts alternating current from an 120 volt AC source provided to most homes and business into DC voltages at different voltage levels.
A problem in supplying power to a computer system is that a failure of a power supply may cause the computer system to crash. One way to prevent these power sources from failing is to regularly replace the power supply or add a redundant power supply.
Normally, installing a new power source to computer system requires that the computer system be shut down. One method to avoid a shut down is to install a second power supply while a first power supply is supplying power to the computer system. In this method, the second power supply is referred to as a hot-pluggable power supply as the power supply is installed while the computer system is operating. However, installing a second power source while the computer system is operating may cause voltage problems in the computer system. For example, switching a second power supply on-line that is operating at below specified voltage levels can cause the voltage level of the computer system to dip and possibly cause the entire computer system to shut down.
To remedy this problem of switching a power supply on-line, resistive loads are connected to the outputs of the power supplies. For example, referring to FIG. 1, a known system for supplying power to a computer system is shown. The system includes power supply 101 and power supply 104. Power supply 101 supplies a DC voltage to the computer system via an output terminal 107. Power supply 104 supplies a DC voltage to the computer system via an output terminal 110. At power-up, switch 124 is closed and power supply 104 supplies the computer system with power. Additionally, switch 121 is also closed and power supply 101 supplies the computer system with power. Thus, the output terminals 107 and 110 of power supply 101 and power supply 104 are coupled. Consequently, if power supply 101 is operating at a lower voltage than a specified voltage and switch 121 is closed, power supply 101 pulls the voltage level at the computer system power input terminal 127 below the specified voltage level and thus could bring the entire computer system down.
To remedy the potential problem of power supply 101 supplying power to the system below a specified voltage level, a resistive load 129 is connected to the output terminal 107 of power supply 101. Before switch 121 is closed, output terminal 107 is connected to resistive load 129 to provide an initial load. Control circuit 131 then closes switch 121 to provide additional computer system load. After the computer system load is connected, the power supplies are monitored to determine whether they are operating within specification. However, resistive load 127 remains connected in parallel with the computer system load. Consequently resistive load 127 dissipates power as heat energy which the cooling system of the computer system must remove. Resistive load 134 is coupled to power supply 104 to provide a load to power supply 104 when switch 124 is open.
One problem with the above remedy is that after the power supply is supplying power to the system, the resistive load is still connected. Thus, the resistive load is still consuming power from the power supply. Consequently, a larger power supply must be used. Furthermore, because the resistive load is being powered by the power supply, the resistive load produces heat which can shorten the working life of other computer system components. Additionally, because the power supply is not tested until after it is connected to the computer system, the power supply can cause the computer system to crash before any problem with the power supply is detected.

Method for making redundant power supplies hot-pluggable


Disclosed is an electric conductive roller comprising a rubber having a volume specific resistance of not more than 10.sup.12 .OMEGA.cm and an electric conductive filler mixed in the rubber, said electric conductive roller satisfying the following formulas (1) and (2): EQU log R.gtoreq.log R.sub.0 -4 (1) EQU log R<log R.sub.0 (2). wherein R is a resistance of the roller when the electric conductive filler is added, and R.sub.0 is a resistance of the roller when no electric conductive filler is added.. This electric conductive roller has a low dependence of an electric resistance on a change in applied voltage and environment.

This invention relates to an electric conductive roller which is used for electrophotographic apparatuses such as copying machine, printer, facsimile and the like.
In various electrophotographic apparatuses, there have hitherto been used an electric conductive roller which is charged or discharged by applying a voltage to a roller shaft to bring the surface of the roller into contact with a charged material.
That is, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-331307, there is disclosed an electric conductive roller obtained by mixing carbon black as an electric conductive substance with an ethylene-propylene-diene copolymer rubber (EPDM) and subjecting the resulting blend to foam molding.
Further, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-40772, there is disclosed an electric conductive polyurethane foam obtained by mixing a quaternary ammonium salt with a polyurethane foam and subjecting the blend to foam casting.
It is necessary for the above electric conductive roller, wherein carbon black is mixed in the ethylene-propylene-diene copolymer rubber, to mix a large amount of carbon black so as to obtain a desired electric resistance value. Therefore, the electric resistance of the roller varies as a function of a change in applied voltage. Resistance which has such a dependence on the applied voltage requires a precision applied voltage control apparatus so as to obtain a requisite transfer current when the electric conductive roller is used for the electrophotographic apparatus, thereby causing a problem of an increase in cost.
On the other hand, in the electric conductive roller obtained by mixing the quaternary ammonium salt with polyurethane and foaming the blend, the electric resistance depends upon the amount of the quaternary ammonium salt to be mixed. Since the polyurethane itself has semiconducting properties, its resistance does not significantly vary depending on the applied voltage. However, when a hydrophilic quaternary ammonium salt is additionally mixed in a hydrophilic polymer, the changes in electric resistance due to a change in environment (e.g. temperature, humidity, etc.) is large.
Further, it has also been known to set the electric resistance at a desired value by only using a low-resistance rubber without mixing carbon black, quaternary ammonium salt, etc. there with. The electric conductive roller thus obtained has a problem in that it's change in resistance due to environmental change is large, but the change in electric resistance is not as large as that in case of the combination of the polyurethane with quaternary ammonium salt.
Therefore, it has hitherto been desired to develop an electric conductive roller which is stable to a change in applied voltage and environment.


A method is disclosed for operating a cellular communications system of a type that comprises a Base Station/Mobile Switching Center/Interworking function (BMI), a message center (MC), and at least one mobile station. The method includes the steps of transmitting a point-to-point message (e.g., a SMS message), or a point-to-multipoint message (e.g., a Broadcast SMS message), from the MC via the BMI to the mobile station; buffering an acknowledgement message in the mobile station when it is determined by the mobile station that the acknowledgement message either cannot be transmitted, or cannot be transmitted in its entirety; and then subsequently automatically transmitting the buffered acknowledgement message when transmission becomes possible. Also disclosed is a method for buffering user-originated SMS messages in the mobile station until the SMS message can be transmitted to the network.

The so-called Short Message Service (SMS) is a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint service which enables a user to send messages to and receive text messages from other users of a communications network. The SMS attempts to deliver a message to a mobile terminal whenever the terminal is registered to the network, even when the terminal is engaged in a voice or data call. The terminal may also roam throughout the network and still be capable of sending and receiving messages. A terminal configured for SMS provides methods for the user to receive, read, write/edit, clear, send, and save messages. The connection of a standard keyboard to the terminal facilitates the generation and editing of text messages by the user.
The network stores messages in at least one Message Center (MC), and Mobile Terminated (MT) messages are sent to the terminal by the MC. Various SMS protocol layers receive the messages and check their contents. If the contents are valid, and assuming that there is room for incoming text messages in the memory of the terminal, the message is received and stored. Otherwise, the message is rejected. U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,351 (Zabarsky et al.) discloses a paging system that enables messages to be sent to a remote unit, and which has a capability for the remote unit to transmit a message-received acknowledgement signal back to a central site. The paging system of Zabarsky et al. also enables a message-presented verification to be transmitted from an addressed pager back to the central site.
Reference can be had to the TIA Interim Standards IS-136 and IS-137, and also to a document entitled "TDMA Forum, Implementation Guide: Short Message Terminals Compliant With IS-136 and IS-137" (Ed. D. Holmes, vers. 7.0, Apr. 20, 1995). These documents specify one type of SMS and the various system and terminal level protocols required to provide SMS. This latter document describes in sections 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 a Delivery Acknowledgement and a Manual Acknowledgement capability, respectively. By example, a message "Can you meet me this evening? <NTC>Yes<NTC>No", where NTC is a non-text character, is said would allow the user to select a response from "Yes" or "No", and consequently cause the terminal to send response codes 0 or 1.
Reference may also be had to IS-136.1, Rev. A, Feb. 12, 1996, Section 7 (Point-to-Point Teleservices), for a description of SMS Deliver, SMS Delivery ACK, and SMS Manual ACK message formats and protocols. When the SMS Delivery ACK is specified, the mobile station automatically transmits the acknowledgement message upon delivery (i.e., display) of a stored SMS message to the user. When the SMS Manual ACK is specified, the mobile station transmits the acknowledgement message, and the user's response, after delivery and the user's input.
Another type of SMS is known as broadcast SMS (or also as S-BCCH), which is a point-to-multipoint operation (i.e., from a network operator to a plurality of mobile stations). Reference may had to, by example, a publication entitled "S-BCCH for IS-136", TR45.3.6/95.06.13/8, Digital Cellular Systems, Jun. 12-15, 1995 (Ericsson).
A problem arises when a mobile station has received and stored a SMS message that requires an acknowledgement, either Delivery ACK or Manual ACK, and then subsequently moves outside of the cellular coverage area. In this case the mobile station is unable to respond to the SMS message. For example, the mobile station may simply present a message to the user to inform the user that the required acknowledgement cannot be sent. It is then up to the user to manually retry the acknowledgement message at a later time when a connection with a network is reestablished. For obvious reasons, this solution is less than optimum, and may result in the existence of non-acknowledged SMS messages.
Also in this case the message center may retransmit the SMS message if a message center acknowledgement timer expires without an expected acknowledgement being received. As can be appreciated, the retransmission of non-acknowledged SMS messages consumes valuable network capacity and Digital Control Channel (DCCH) bandwidth.
A similar problem can arise, when the connection with the network is not lost or if a connection to a different network is established, if the DCCH is for some reason not accepting uplink R-Data, or if the acknowledgement message exceeds a length (number of characters defined in an R-Data Message Length information element) that the serving DCCH is willing to accept. R-Data is defined in IS-136.1, Rev. A, Section 18.104.22.168, as being a relay message used to carry point-to-point teleservice messages, such as the SMS Cellular Messaging Teleservice (CMT).
A related problem is experienced for mobile station originated SMS messages when it is determined that a user-composed SMS message cannot be transmitted, either because there currently is no service, or the serving network does not support mobile station originated SMS transmissions.

Methods and apparatus for providing delayed transmission of SMS delivery acknowledgement, manual acknowledgement and SMS messages


An electrical grounding connector comprising a U-bolt, an upper clamp part and a lower clamp part. The upper clamp part is connected to the U-bolt to clamp a floor pedestal therebetween. The lower clamp part is connected to the U-bolt to clamp a conductor between the upper and lower clamp parts. The upper clamp part has a plurality of barbs therein to penetrate through paint on the floor pedestal. The barbs are formed by piercing into a pedestal contact surface of the upper clamp part at an acute angle to the surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, more specifically, to an electrical grounding connector clamped to a support.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,437 discloses an electrical connector having a base member and a movable clamp member to clamp a wire therebetween. A requirement has arisen to properly ground newly designed painted raised floor pedestals which are used in earthquake and other critical applications. These pedestals are used to raise flooring for computer rooms and telecommunications equipment areas, in addition to other applications.
A set number of pedestals per square area is required to be bonded using copper conductor with a range of #6 awg to 2/0 awg. A single conductor, or a combination of two conductors, are attached perpendicularly to the pedestal. Currently these pedestals are being bonded with the use of the Burndy GAR1726 ground clamp connector attached to the bare metal surface, thus enabling an effective electrical connection. The removal of the paint from the pedestals to provide the bare metal surface is time consuming and costly for the installers of these connectors. It was desired to develop a connector that would make such removal of paint unnecessary. This connector would have some means that would penetrate the paint when installed, making a proper connection. The connector must meet all requirements of UL standard 467 Grounding and Bonding Equipment for the intended conductor range. The connector is also required to stand up to the rigors of the extreme conditions of an earthquake and still maintain electrical contact.

Paint penetrating ground clamp for painted raised floor pedestals


A method and apparatus for sewn article fabrication wherein the article components are strategically imprinted with processing information using an ink that when irradiated is readable by an operator as well as by strategically located sensors. The printed components are then moved through a sewn goods manufacturing process wherein the indicia is detected and used as reference points to accomplish various manufacturing steps, such as cutting, folding, stitching, and relative positioning of garment components. The ink that is used to imprint the processing information is either invisible or substantially invisible to the naked eye, but becomes readable under exciting radiation such as ultraviolet light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sewn goods and to the method of making same. More particularly, the invention concerns a computer aided method that involves the use of fluorescent ink visible primarily under exciting radiation for communicating various instructions to computers and humans to aid in identifying cutting, transporting, assembling, ironing, packaging and shipping of various types of sewn articles.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
In the fabrication of sewn articles, such as clothing, footwear, and luggage various steps must be performed including the step of cutting the components that make up the sewn article to the correct size and shape and then sewing the components together to form the sewn article. These steps must be accomplished with great precision so that the various components that make up the garment are properly mated together to form the finished article.
Until relatively recently, the various steps involved in the fabrication of sewn goods, such as clothing, have been performed by hand. However, in the past several years a number of different types of machines, including high-speed sewing machines, have been developed to assist the worker in the fabrication of garments and to speed up the garment fabricating process. In addition to the development of high-speed sewing machines, high-speed fabric cutting devices and folders have also come into common use. However, even with the many advances that have been made, many of the steps in the garment fabrication operation are still being carried out by hand and the industry must still rely heavily upon the skill of the machine operator for identifying cutting, transporting, assembling, ironing, packaging and shipping of various types of sewn articles. The present state of the art is such that minor flaws are present on most finished sewn goods.
Since contemporary sewing machines can sew at speeds up to at least 9000 stitches per minute, proper hand orientation of components of the garment is very difficult and requires highly skilled operators. Because of the high-speed of modern sewing machines, even the most skilled operators have to stop frequently to check the accuracy of their work. Additionally, it is difficult for the operator to continuously feed the sheet materials to be joined through the machine while at the same time maintaining the correct alignment of the side edges thereof. This becomes even more difficult when the cloth components are made from a soft cloth material. In practice, therefore, the operator must, from time to time, stop the machine to manually adjust the alignment of the side edges of the sheet materials as they are fed toward the needle. This inevitably causes undesirable interruptions and delay in the sewing operation. Even though machines can operate at greater than 9000 stitches per minute, they are not able to utilize this great speed for any length of time due to such manual control of the machines. For foregoing reasons, even the use of the latest types of automatic sewing machines can be quite labor-intensive.
At the present time there is a great need in the garment fabricating industry to speed up production and to make smaller runs, while at the same time improving overall quality and repeatability. xe2x80x9cMass Customizationxe2x80x9dxe2x80x94 the manufacture of a single, custom made garment for just one person, for instance, is the direction in which the industry is moving. Thus greater flexibility in manufacturing machinery, and integrated solutions for assembly and finishing of garments is highly desirable. Changing stitches, correcting the feed, sewing along a curved path, sewing within tolerance zones, the ability to apply statistical process control, piece matching, automation, as for example, robotic positioning, pattern matching and error sensing are all extremely desirable. These features are particularly important as the market moves toward smaller lot sizes, and individual garment customization.
In this regard, due to the small lot size of individual runs, operators typically learn how to manufacture a particular size and type of garment. The lengths, pattern matching, fold tolerances and the like for the particular garment are largely maintained through operator interfacing. This mode of operation continues to rely heavily on well-trained operators and expensive operator training, monitoring, and quality control. However, even with careful training substantial amounts of material and labor is wasted due to mistakes in the learning process. Also, throughout the industry, there continues to be undesirably wide variations in the consistency of the final products that are produced.
In accordance with conventional prior art garment fabrication procedures, the CAD/CAM software links the design activity to the cutting machines. Cutting machines are driven by CAD/CAM files. This link, however, is virtually nonexistent between the design activity and the sewing machines. Once material is cut, operators must load and sew the material manually. For instance, an operator must insert the cloth into a sewing machine, then manually lower the feet onto the cloth to hold it in place, then press on a foot pedal to commence sewing and to control sewing speed. Assembly tolerance bands, as for example that of a stitch path, are maintained by the operator""s eye, hand, and foot coordination. Contemporary sewing speeds are such that small imperfections are hard to catch and it is easy to make a mistake. Accordingly, these processes place substantial demands on the operator requiring remarkable intensity and an alertness on the part of the operator if costly errors are to be avoided.
Because of the drawbacks of the prior art garment fabrication techniques as discussed in the preceding paragraphs, considerable effort has been directed toward creating a more automated manufacturing environment wherein operators do not have to be specially trained for each size, shape, and garment redesign. More specifically, an attempt has been made to develop a cloth marking technology that uses indicia that can be sensed by-machine control sensors. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,165 issued to Huddleson discloses such a technology. However, the Huddleson approach requires that the thread or ink contain iron oxide that is visible to the naked eye. Therefore, as a practical matter, this technology is useful only for marking areas on the garment that would ultimately be cut away or hidden in seams. This ferromagnetic technology also has the disadvantage that the iron oxide particles must be magnetically charged in order to be sensed by the control sensors thus requiring that some type of charging equipment be located at or near the sewing machine.
In using the Huddleson technology, garment parts which carry a magnetized mark or magnetized stitching are moved through an automated garment manufacturing process with the mark or stitching being detected by appropriate sensors. The sensed marks are then used as a reference point on the garment part to actuate various garment making steps, such as cutting, folding, stitching, and component interconnection.
In addition to the several types of cloth marking techniques that have been suggested, there exists a wealth of customized sewing machines that have been designed to perform a specific function. For example, in the production of a typical dress shirt, twenty or more different specialized machines may be used. In like manner, a number of customized sewing machines have been designed to produce a particular contour through the use of specially designed templates and special fixturing. For example, in making different pocket shapes, industry currently uses a pocket-making machine with hard fixturing for each unique shape. By way of further example, in accordance with long standing prior art garment fabrication methods, the size and shape of various garment components as well as pocket location, button hole location and the like on various types of garments was established using thin tissue paper templates. Such techniques are crude, imprecise are and labor intensive.
As will be better understood from the discussion that follows the methods and apparatus of the present invention will permit machines to be designed without focus on manual operation. Rather, in accordance with the novel methods of the present invention, a single machine can be used to perform many of the operations that currently require a number of separate machines. Additionally, the novel methods and apparatus of the present invention substantially eliminate the cumbersome and time consuming use of templates as well as the need for frequent manual measurement.
Another prior art practice that can be vastly improved using the methods and apparatus of the present invention involves component cutting, folding and transport. In accordance with prior art methods, paper pattern markers are typically laid on top of uncut layers of cloth so that when the cloth is cut, the stacks of pieces will be clearly identified. Then the stacks are manually moved to the assembly area. In accordance with one method of the present invention the use of pattern markers can be eliminated by printing the piece identifier directly on each piece using a radiation-excited invisible ink. Robotic cloth movement systems can then be employed to move and manipulate the components. In this regard, one major difficulty of prior art robotic movement systems was that they were unable to sense when the cloth was folded over upon itself. In accordance with the methods of the present invention, using radiation-excited invisible ink, a unique dot matrix pattern can be imprinted on each side of the cloth so that the sensing systems of the invention can readily determine which side of the cloth is face up. By sensing the distance between the individual dots of the pattern, the sensing system can also determine if the cloth is laying flat. Orientation markings can be provided to enable the robotic cloth movement system to acquire the orientation of the piece. Additionally, symbols can be printed on the pieces that would indicate where the piece is to be picked up by a robotic system, thus enabling automation of cloth movement. By way of further non-limiting example, in making button holes, the button hole locations can be identified by simply printing their locations on the cloth with appropriate invisible ink button hole symbols. Then by providing guidance markings, the machine can simply follow the orientation markings to the first button hole symbol, sew the first button hole, then follow the guidance markings to the next button hole and so on.
Many prior art attempts have been made to facilitate the making of garments with components that have patterns that match exactly. For example it is often desirable to manufacture a garment where the sleeve stripes are directly matched with the shoulder stripes or, additionally, a paisley shirt where the pocket paisleys match correctly with those on the front panel. One prior art method attempts to facilitate the cutting of the components in such a manner that the patterns on the cloth will match when the components are finally joined by projecting the outlines of the components of the garment onto the flat uncut cloth so that adjustments can be made prior to cutting. This involves much operator interfacing and can be time consuming and cumbersome. Employing the methods and apparatus of the present invention invisible fluorescent ink cutting instructions can be printed directly on the cloth prior to cutting, as for example, during the cloth printing step. The cloth cutting machines then sense these instructions and perform the cutting operation in such a manner that the components have patterns that match with great precision.
Another prior art method that aims to solve the pattern matching at the sewing machine is for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,867. This patent describes sensing the variation in intensity of light reflected off two components that are to be matched, sensing alternating short and long patterns in order to then perform matching. The present invention offers an improved solution by requiring only that the invisible ink markings be sensed at the sewing machine in order to perform the aligning operation among components. For instance, a striped material can be printed with unique invisible fluorescent markings along the edge of each stripe. This later can be sensed to match adjoining parts in such a fashion that the stripes match precisely.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,919 and 4,658,741 provide methods for controlling the stitch length by counting the number of stitches. These methods have limited application since cloth is flexible and the length of a component, and hence the distance that must be sewn, varies according to how much the cloth has stretched. The use of invisible ink, on the other hand entirely solves this problem since the ink is joined to the cloth. If the ink instructions indicate that sewing is to continue from one point on the component to another, then stretching will not cause the sewing machine to sew short of the desired distance.
Many patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,232, describe how to detect the edge of a cloth. With this present application, detecting the edge is no longer important since all operations are actuated based upon symbols sensed to the inside of the component perimeter thus eliminating the need for edge detection.
In summary, the present invention comprises a method and apparatus for computer aided sewn article fabrication wherein the article components are strategically imprinted with sensor as well as operator detectable indicia. The printed components are then moved through an automated sewn good manufacturing process wherein and the indicia is detected and used as reference points to actuate various manufacturing steps, such as cutting, folding, stitching, and relative positioning of garment components. In one form of the invention the detectable indicia comprises an ink that is either invisible or substantially invisible to the naked eye, but becomes visible under exciting radiation such as ultraviolet light. In this regard, it should be appreciated that the ink may be water soluble so that any residue will be gone after the first washing.
With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method for computer aided sewn good fabrication in which human and sensor detectable, instructional indicia are imprinted at strategic locations on the material used to make the sewn good components.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of the aforesaid character in which the detectable indicia imprinted on the material automatically and precisely controls the accomplishment of the various sewn good fabricating steps.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of making garments as described in the preceding paragraphs in which the detectable ink used on the garment components is substantially invisible to the naked eye.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for accurately printing detectable indicia on the components that make up the sewn article.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for accurately detecting the indicia imprinted on the article components and for then performing various manufacturing processes in response to the detection of such marks or indicia.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of making sewn goods in which full sewn good reproduction can be routinely achieved without noticeable variation in the completed sewn article that is produced by different operators.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of making sewn goods as described in the preceding paragraph in which the quality of the sewn good produced does not depend on operator skill and experience.
The other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the discussion, which follows.

Method and apparatus for manufacturing sewn goods


A swing arm for a saddle riding vehicle which includes a pivot section connected to a vehicle body, and a wheel support section configured to support a rear wheel and which is capable of swinging around the pivot section, includes a swing arm main body made of a fiber reinforced resin, in which the swing arm main body includes a pivot-side opening configured to open an end on a side of the pivot section, and a rear end opening configured to open an end on a side of the wheel support section, and is formed in a hollow shape continuous from the pivot-side opening to the rear end opening.

Hitherto, in a swing arm for a saddle riding vehicle, there has been known one that is formed in a hollow shape by press-forming (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
In addition, from the viewpoint of lightening in weight and enhancing rigidity, it has been known to configure a tubular structural part (propeller shaft) from a fiber reinforced resin (see, for example, Patent Document 2).


A well clean-out tool includes a cylindrical member in which a helical conveyor screw is arranged for vertical sliding movement relative to the cylindrical member. The tool is lowered into a well bore until the shoe contacts debris within the bore. At that time, the screw is caused to descend relative to the cylindrical member, whereupon a lower end of the screw projects slightly below a lower end of the cylindrical member, and a rotary coupling between the screw and the cylindrical member is released, and a spring is caused to store energy. Thereafter, the screw is rotated relative to the cylindrical member, while the spring presses the cylindrical member against the debris in order to resist rotation of the cylindrical member. The screw projects only slightly downwardly beyond the lower end of the cylindrical member, e.g., less than one inch, in order to convey debris upwardly within the cylindrical member. At the end of a clean-out operation, the screw is raised back into the cylindrical member whereupon the rotary coupling is re-engaged in order to produce rotation of the cylindrical member as the tool is removed from the well bore.

The present invention relates to well clean-out tools and, in particular, to a well clean-out tool for removing debris from a well bore in which there is little or no standing liquid in the hole.
It is frequently necessary to remove cuttings, sand, scale and other types of debris from a well bore in order to increase the productivity and/or life of the well.
Conventional well clean-out operations, such as the circulating type or hydrostatic bailing type require that the well bore be filled with liquid or at least contain a substantial liquid column. In many instances, however, the well bore cannot sustain a substantial column of liquid for a conventional clean-out operation. Those wells, therefore, cannot be efficiently cleaned out.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to alleviate the above-discussed shortcomings.
Another object of the present invention is to provide methods and apparatus for cleaning out a well bore which does not contain a substantial column of liquid and which cannot be cleaned out by conventional methods.

Methods and apparatus for removing debris from a well bore


A method, medium, and system encoding and/or decoding image data by dividing image data into block units, and generating a bitstream by entropy encoding the image data in order of the divided blocks. The decoding method may include receiving an input of a bitstream, and restoring image data by entropy decoding the block units of the bitstream. According to the method, medium, and system, when image data is encoded and/or decoded by using a residue color transform, a bitstream can be generated and encoded in block units of the image, and when the bitstream is decoded, an image can be restored from the bitstream. By doing so, the conventional delay of image processing can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate at least to a method, medium, and system encoding and/or decoding image data, and more particularly, to a method, medium, and system encoding and/or decoding image data using a residue color transform to remove redundancy between chroma components in the image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, when an image is encoded, in order to increase the compression ratio, a color image format, such as an RGB format, is converted into an image format more appropriate for compression, such as a YCrCb format. However, when conversion to the YCrCb format is performed, the quality of an image is degraded during encoding such that the quality of any restored image through decoding of the encoded image will always be lowered. If, in order to reduce this loss from occurring when the RGB format is converted into the YCrCb format, each of the RGB color components is encoded independently in the conventional YCrCb encoder the correlation remaining between the RGB components cannot be used and the encoding efficiency is still lowered.
Recently, a residue transform technology ("Draft of Version 4 of H.264/AVC (ITU-T Recommendation H.264 and ISO/IEC 14496-10 (MPEG-4 part 10) Advanced Video Coding)", ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 11, Document: JVT-N050d1, Hong Kong, January, 2005) has been proposed as a way of increasing encoding efficiency by reducing redundancy between color components through the use of correlations between color components.
Generally, image data is processed in macroblocks of 16×16 pixels, for example, when encoding and/or decoding is performed, as illustrated in FIG. 1 with three color components of the one macroblock. Although the term macroblock is used herein as a block within an image, the macroblock is not limited thereto. Here, one macroblock may further be divided into 4 block units of 8×8 pixels and processed. Accordingly, FIG. 1 illustrating an ordinary encoding order of the block units within each image macroblock. As illustrated, encoding is performed in block units of the color components macroblocks, of a macroblock, i.e., encoding is performed on the block units within the Y color component of the macroblock, then the Cb color component of the macroblock, and then the Cr color component of the macroblock. Herein, we will refer to these different color components as color component macroblocks.
Encoding of the Y color component macroblock is performed in an order of a first Y block unit 100, a second Y block unit 105, a third Y block unit 110, and a fourth Y block unit 115. Here, each block unit within the color macroblock may have identical sizes of 8×8 pixels, for example. Thereafter, encoding of the Cb color component macroblock is performed in the order of a first Cb block unit 120, a second Cb block unit 125, a third Cb block unit 130, and a fourth Cb block unit 135, and then, encoding of the Cr component macroblock is performed in the order of a first Cr block unit 140, a second Cr block unit 145, a third Cr block unit 150, and a fourth Cr block unit 155. Thus, the conventional encoding process sequences through the separate color components of a macroblock, e.g., from the Y color component macroblock, to the Cb color component macroblock, to the Cr color macroblock, and within each color component, the separate block units are encoded with a particular order.
FIG. 2 illustrates an ordinary structure of a corresponding bitstream, generated through entropy encoding of the encoded image data. As illustrated, the coefficients for block units, quantized in the particular order of Y, Cb and then Cr color components, are contiguously set forth in the bitstream in the same numbered order as the block encoding illustrated in FIG. 1, i.e., the bitstream first includes all block Y component information, sequentially from a block 1 through block 4 (illustrated FIG. 1 numbered block units 0, 1, 2, and 3) of the Y color component macroblock, then the block Cb component information, again sequentially from block 1 through block 4 (illustrated FIG. 1 numbered block units 4, 5, 6, and 7), and finally the block Cr component information, sequentially from block 1 through block 4 (illustrated FIG. 1 numbered block units 8, 9, 10, and 11). Here, when referring to "block" 1, 2, 3, or 4, of any of the color components, this reference is meant to refer to the corresponding position within each color component macroblock, e.g., block 1 of each color component macroblock is the left upper block unit, while the block 4 of each color component macroblock is the lower right block unit.
With the ordering of the conventional bitstream explained, FIG. 3 similarly illustrates the ordinary decoding order of image macroblocks. Accordingly, the decoding is performed in the same block units for each color component as the encoding. In particular, with the bitstream similar to that of FIG. 2 being input to a decoding system, entropy decoding, inverse quantization, and an inverse frequency domain transform, such as an inverse discrete cosine transform (IDCT), can be sequentially performed through color components, by reading data from the bitstream in the respective ordered block units.
More specifically, data in relation to the first Y block unit 100 is entropy decoded from the bitstream, and then, inverse quantization and an inverse frequency domain transform, such as an IDCT, are performed on the first Y block unit 100. If the entropy decoding for the first Y block unit 100 is completed, the entropy decoding, inverse quantization and inverse frequency domain transform for the second Y block unit 105 are performed. In the same manner, the entropy decoding, inverse quantization and inverse frequency domain transform for the third and fourth Y block units are then sequentially performed. By doing so, decoding of the Y color component is processed.
After the decoding of the Y color component macroblock is complete, decoding of the Cb color component may then be performed in the same manner, and then, similarly, decoding for the Cr color component may thereafter be performed. In this manner, decoding is performed sequentially in relation to each color component macroblock.
Accordingly, in such a conventional arrangement, if a residue color transform is performed during the encoding operation, then, during the decoding, an inverse residue color transform should be performed after the entropy decoding, inverse quantization and inverse frequency domain transform have completed.
Since the inverse residue transform is performed in block units of 8×8 blocks, for example, the inverse residue transform can be performed only after all pixel values of 8×8 block units of all Y, Cb, Cr color components have been restored. Accordingly, when decoding is performed in the conventional decoding order, the inverse residue color transform is delayed as shown in FIG. 3, thereby delaying the entire decoding process.
Thus, the inventors of the present invention have found that this delay is undesirable, and embodiments of the present invention attempt to avoid the same.

Method, medium, and system encoding/decoding image data


Fault gas seals to prevent the ejection of a surge arrester from a loadbreak bushing due to the generation of such gas in response to the failure of arrester devices in such surge arrester. A metal O-ring support is bonded to the conductive insert of the arrester housing or added as a retrofit to such housing. Annular grooves in the loadbreak probe are fitted with O-rings which are compressed against the support to provide a gas-tight passage along the probe surface. An additional annular groove can be used to receive a fastener to hold the retrofit in position.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to the field of surge arresters to protect high-voltage systems from the effects of over-voltage incidents created by lightening strikes and, more particularly, to the construction of such surge arresters to prevent injury to personnel or equipment due to the generation of fault gases caused by the failure of such surge arresters during over-voltage incidents.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A surge arrester constructed in accordance with the prior art and more particularly one constructed according to one of the embodiments of the device of co-pending U.S. patent application No. 07/658,211 filed Feb. 20, 1991 is shown on the righthand portion of FIG. 1 hereof. (Also see FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) Surge arrester 100 has an elbow-shaped body 102 having a horizontal leg 104 which contains a receptacle 110 to receive a loadbreak bushing insert 148. Loadbreak probe 112 will enter the female contacts (not shown) of insert 148 and insert 148 will be locked in place in receptacle 110 when the annular recess 150 engages detent rib 114 within receptacle 110. Probe 112 engages metal coupling 122 by means of an externally threaded portion (not shown) which engages an internally threaded aperture (not shown) as is well known in the art.
A series of zinc oxide arrester blocks 116 are positioned in the bore of verticle leg 106, and are connected by compression spring 118 and shunt 120 to metal coupling 122. A layer of semi-conductive elastomer 130 such as EPDM rubber containing carbon black is formed about the end of probe 112 and the metal coupling 122. It is desired that the interface between the layer 130 and the probe 112 and metal coupling 122 be as tight as possible so that no gas can pass along such interface.
The blocks 116 are held in place by end cap 128, compression spring 124 and shunt 126. During over-voltage incidents it is possible for one or more of the blocks 116 to fail (represented by the star burst 160 in the center block 116 (see FIG. 2)) and produce large quantities of fault gases (represented by the arrows 162, 164 of FIG. 3.) These gases are intended to propel the blocks 116 downwardly as shown by the arrows 166 (see FIG. 4) after the cap 128 has been forced from verticle leg 106 and thus control the direction of any materials ejected from the failed surge arrester 100 to one which will create the least amount of danger to any person or equipment around the failed surge arrester.
To further seek to insure that the release of fault gases and any other materials ejected is downward and does not occur through the sides of the arrester and to constrain the expansion and possible fracture of the arrester housing, an expansion tube 140 is added to the outside of the housing adjacent verticle leg 106. The expansion tube 140 can be supported by external fins 142 as shown or by a strap over the top of the horizontal leg 104. The expansion tube 140 permits the verticle leg 106 to expand within its elastic limit (see FIG. 3) and allow the gases to be vented downwardly along the outside of blocks 116 (see FIG. 4). The expansion tube 140 also acts to contain any block fragments or other debris which could pierce verticle leg 106 and fly outwardly from surge arrester 100.
However, if the fault gases generated in response to block 116 failure are not fully contained in verticle leg 106, the verticle leg 106 may not expand properly to vent the fault gases to the outside of surge arrester 100 and instead the fault gases may move along the interface of semi-conductor layer 130 into receptacle 110 and force the surge arrester 100 from the loadbreak bushing insert 148 and into persons or equipment in proximity to such insert and leaving the circuit to be protected open.

Fault gas seal for a polymer surge arrester


A suspension member is fixed to a front part of a vehicle body from below. A stabilizer is fixedly held on an upper surface of the suspension member. The stabilizer has bent portions. At the time of a front end collision of the vehicle, a rear part of the suspension member separates from the vehicle body for rearward movement of the suspension member relative to the vehicle body to allow the bent portions to come into engagement with the vehicle body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle body front part structure, and more particularly to a vehicle body front part structure which provides an arrangement such that, at the time of a collision of the vehicle, a rear part of a suspension member separates from a vehicle body frame.
2. Background Art
Conventionally, there is known a vehicle body front part structure that comprises a trapezoidal suspension member under a front part of a vehicle body frame. At four sites, namely, a front left site, a front right site, a rear left site and a rear right site, this suspension member is fixed to the vehicle body frame by means of bolts.
According to the above-mentioned known vehicle body front part structure, at the time of a collision (a front end collision) of the vehicle, the front part of the vehicle body frame is broken to absorb an impact of the collision and the suspension member moves to the rear. If, in this way, the suspension member moves to the rear, there is fear that the suspension member may hit a passenger compartment directly to cause undesired deformation of the passenger compartment.
JP-A 11-171046 (now JP Pat. No. 3954709) proposes a vehicle body front part structure to prevent a suspension member from deforming a passenger compartment at the time of a front end collision of a vehicle by letting rear left and right sites of the suspension member fall off a vehicle body frame to avoid fear that the suspension member may hit the compartment directly.
However, the above-mentioned vehicle body front part structure is not satisfactory in that the suspension member does not make any contribution to absorption of impact after the rear left and right sites of the suspension member has fallen off the vehicle body frame. Thus, this structure involves a problem in that it fails to absorb impact efficiently.
An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle body front part structure which can absorb impact efficiently at the time of a collision of a vehicle.


A centrifugal pendulum device having pendulum masses, which are arranged axially on both sides on a pendulum mass carrier which is rotatable about an axis of rotation, the pendulum masses forming a pendulum mass pair, where the pendulum masses are connected to one another, so as to form the pendulum mass pair, by means of at least one fastening element which is movable in a cutout in the pendulum mass carrier, and the pendulum masses are pivotable to a limited extent relative to the pendulum mass carrier along a pendulum raceway, so as to describe an angle of deflection, by means of at least one rolling element which can roll in each case one cutout in the pendulum mass carrier and in the pendulum masses. Here, two circumferentially adjacently arranged pendulum masses are arranged radially one above the other at least in sections.

A centrifugal pendulum device for reducing torsional vibrations in a drivetrain of a motor vehicle is known from German Patent Application No. 10 2006 028 556 A1. The torsional vibrations can arise through the operation of a combustion engine and lead to unwanted noises, vibrations, and to failure of components. The centrifugal pendulum device has pendulum masses, which are arranged axially on both sides of a pendulum mass carrier, which is rotatable about an axis of rotation and forms a pendulum mass pair due to the connection by means of a fastening element, which reaches through a cutout in the pendulum mass carrier and is movable.
The pendulum masses are pivotable to a limited extent relative to the pendulum mass carrier along a pendulum raceway by means of at least one rolling element, which is received and can roll in a recess in both the pendulum mass carrier and the pendulum mass while describing a deflection angle. Situated on the pendulum mass carrier is a plurality of pendulum masses circumferentially adjacent to each other, which are able to move relative to each other. The immediately adjacent fastening elements of the respective circumferentially adjacent pendulum masses are also situated circumferentially adjacent to each other, just as the pendulum masses themselves are also situated circumferentially adjacent.


A portable power amplifier includes portable encapsulating cases, a printed board incorporated in those encapsulating cases, and a power amplifying device mounted on this printed board. An antenna switch and an antenna are provided near the power amplifying device, which is connected to those components in a pattern. This structure improves heat dissipation efficiency of the portable power amplifier.

A conventional portable power amplifier used in portable apparatuses is a simple one because the apparatuses are portable, which regulates a specification of their power amplifiers, so that the power amplifier is not a large size, or does not dissipate heat efficiently. To be specific, as shown in FIG. 7, power amplifying device 2 is mounted on an upper face of printed board 1 disposed in a portable outer case typically used in a portable phone. Heat generated from amplifying device 2 travels through through-holes 3 and is dissipated from pattern 4 prepared on a rear face of printed board 1. However, in this conventional structure, pattern 4 is limited in size as a heat-sink and cannot dissipate heat sufficiently. A use of a dedicated large heat-sink would enlarge the apparatus and make it unfit for portable use.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A portable hazard-warning light assembly (10) that is designed to warn on-coming vehicular traffic of a hazardous traffic/road condition. The assembly (10) consists of an elongated tubular body (12) having attached to its top edge (12A) a removable lens head (18) that houses an incandescent light bulb (62) that may be connected to a flasher (36). The bulb and flasher are powered by a single battery (60) that is housed within a battery compartment (20) located at the bottom edge (12D) of the body (12) and that includes a threaded battery compartment cover (28). The body (12) also has attached a slidable leg ring (34A) that has pivotally attached four retractable legs (34D) that are each supported by a leg brace (34H). To extend the legs, the ring (34A) is grasped and lowered. Conversely, to retract the legs, the ring is moved to its upward position. To apply power to the light bulb (62), the cover (28) is rotated which allows the battery (60) to move upwards and complete the electrical power circuit.

The most common traffic hazard warning signal in use today by individual, commercial and government drivers/agencies is the single-usage, slow-burn pyrotechnic flare. In the event of a road emergency one or more of these flares are ignited and placed at a sufficient distance from a vehicle accident or disabled vehicle to warn on-coming traffic of a hazardous traffic/road condition. When pyrotechnic flares are ignited and used properly, there are typically no problems. However, because of the hot flame produced by the flare, there always exists a possibility of a problem. There have instances, when the hot flare has been placed too close to an accident area, where the problems caused by the original incident have been compounded by a misused flare. Additionally, flares cannot be easily extinguished once they are ignited and they cannot be easily placed in an upright position. Thus, their visibility is reduced because the flare must be positioned flat on the ground.
As a substitute for flares, there exists in the prior art various designs for electrically operated hazard-warning devices that include a light source. The light source is operated by either internally housed batteries or an electrical connection is available that allows the light source to be energized by means of a cable connected to a vehicle cigarette lighter. Many of the electrically operated light sources also include electronic controlled circuitry that add cost, complexity and increase the failure rate of the devices.
The mechanical design of existing hazard-warning light assemblies varies considerably. In general, a review of the prior art has disclosed that in many of the designs, there is 1) a stability problem for assemblies that are designed to be placed in an upright position, 2) the complexity of the mechanical design, that allows the device to be placed in an upright position, is sufficiently complex that a binding problem can exist which can preclude the device from being placed upright, and 3) the placement of the switch and/or wiring for the electrical circuit that energizes the light source is more complex than need be. Thus, adding to the complexity of the design and a subsequent increase in the failure rate of the assembly.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention however, the following U.S. patents were considered related:
______________________________________ U.S. PAT. NO. INVENTOR ISSUED ______________________________________ 5,122,781 Saubolle 16 June 1992 2,237,536 Wells, Jr. ______________________________________
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,781 Saubolle patent discloses a hazard warning device that replaces a conventional pyrotechnic flare. Mechanically, the device consists of an upper and a lower collar that are placed around a circular sleeve. The upper collar supports three equidistant rigid legs that are each supported by a strut. When the upper collar is slid upward on the sleeve, the legs are retraced. Conversely, when the upper collar is slid downward, the three legs extend to allow the device to be set and stabilized upon a relatively flat surface. The device utilizes an electronic circuit that includes two high-intensity light emitting diodes that are operated by means of an integrated circuit and other electronic components. The circuit is powered by two lithium button cells.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,536 Wells, Jr. patent discloses a road hazard signaling device that also replaces a conventional pyrotechnic flare. The device consists of a tubular casing having near its upper section three equidistant yokes that pivotally supports three legs that extend longitudinally thereof to support the casing in an upright position. When not in use the legs are folded inwardly and locked in-place into a slotted ring that is located at the bottom end of the casing. At the top of the casing is located a tubular glass housing that houses a light that is powered by two series connected dry cells located within the casing.
For background purposes and as indicative of the art to which the invention relates, reference may be made to the following remaining patents found in the search:
______________________________________ U.S. PAT. NO. INVENTOR ISSUED ______________________________________ 4,447,802 Bose 8 May 1984 3,893,041 Foster, et al 1 July 1975 3,415,476 McDermott 10 December 1968 2,972,739 Opper 21 February 1961 ______________________________________


Methods and apparatus provide for controlling an SRAM memory, the SRAM memory including a plurality of memory cells arranged in an array of rows (word lines) and columns (bit lines), comprising: inverting a state of data for input to one or more columns of the array; and storing the inverted data in one or more memory cells of the one or more columns.

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for controlling static random access memory (SRAM), and in particular for reducing the power dissipation of the SRAM based on the data stored therein.
SRAM memory cells store data in the form of complementary low voltage and high voltage at opposite sides of the cell. An SRAM, unlike dynamic random access memory (DRAM), maintains the data content of the memory calls as long as power is applied to the cell. DRAM memory cells, on the other hand, are periodically refreshed with the stored data content. An SRAM cell includes a "true" node associated with a bit line of the SRAM memory and a complementary node associated with a complementary bit line of the SRAM memory. When the true node is read as a high voltage, the value of the SRAM memory cell is digital one. If the true node is read as a low voltage, the value of the SRAM memory cell is a digital zero.
During write and read cycles, a conventional SRAM memory system will employ a pre-charge circuit to drive the bit line and the complementary bit line to a power supply voltage of the SRAM memory, Vdd, before data is written to the memory cell. During the time that the data is actually written to the SRAM memory cell, a write buffer drives the bit line and the complementary bit line. During the read operation, the active components of the SRAM memory cell itself will drive the bit line, which is sensed to determine the value of the stored data bit in the cell. The amount of power consumed and dissipated by an SRAM memory cell during a read operation depends on the value of the data stored in the cell. In general, when the stored data bit is such that the true node is low (which is usually associated with a stored data bit at logic level 0) the cell consumes and dissipates more power than when the stored data bit is such that the true node is high (which is usually associated with a stored data bit at logic level 1).
Successive read cycles of a plurality of SRAM memory cells (in which the stored data are at a logic level 1) at a relatively high frequency clock will produce significant power dissipation in the SRAM memory. The power dissipation problem becomes significantly worse as the frequency of the clock increases and the size of the SRAM increases, which is an ongoing circumstance as higher and higher memory performance remains a design goal.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a new approach to controlling SRAM memory cells in order to counteract the increase in power dissipation resulting from higher and higher clock frequencies and larger and larger SRAM memories.

Methods and apparatus for low power SRAM based on stored data


An exemplary embodiment of the present technique may include a method including monitoring a number of drops of ink released by a print head of a printing device. The method may also include associating the number of drops of ink with a quanta of charge. The method may also include storing the associated quanta of charge in a memory cell of a programmable read-only memory (PROM) device.

Printing devices release ink through an ink cartridge of a print head. As ink is released a drop count is monitored, the drop count relating to the quantity of ink released from the ink cartridge. Monitoring of drop counts may enable a user of a printer or printing system to estimate the quantity of ink left in the ink cartridge. Some printers are configured to monitor the drop count by providing a charge to a memory cell of a programmable read-only memory device. Storage of charges in a memory cell has been limited to one bit per cell, requiring many cells for finer resolution of the drop count. When many cells cannot be added to the print head, drop count resolution is sacrificed.

HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.


A three-dimensional image display device is provided which enables viewing an image displayed on a screen of an image display device as a three-dimensional image having a compact structure. The three-dimensional image display device which three-dimensionally displays an image displayed on the screen of an image display device using a mirror device includes a main body case for accommodating an image display device, and a minor device supported in a rear part of the main body case. A plurality of mirrors are rotatably supported on the mirror device in parallel at predetermined intervals in the depth direction, and when a three-dimensional image is displayed, the mirror device rotates about a shaft toward opening from the main body case so that the plurality of mirrors are supported at a predetermined angle toward a viewer relative to the screen of the image display device, and reflects the image displayed on the screen of an image display device toward the viewer.

Known three-dimensional image display devices include a three-dimensional image display device having a mirror assembly including a plurality of half mirrors disposed in a two-dimensional image display device. For example, Patent Documents 1, 2 and 5 disclose three-dimensional image display devices which produce three-dimensional images by simultaneously displaying a virtual image produced by half mirrors from an image displayed on a two-dimensional image display device on a plurality of display surfaces located in different positions in the depth direction when seen from the viewer. For example, the three-dimensional display device described in Patent Document 1 is suggested by the inventor of the present invention. This three-dimensional display device is formed by a plurality of half mirrors so that their heights decrease as they go further in the depth direction, and the range where an image region can be generated and visually recognized is expanded.
The thus-created three-dimensional image by disposing a plurality of half mirrors in the two dimensional image device and overlapping two-dimensional virtual images resembles settings used on the stage of a theatrical performance, and does not require special eye glasses. In terms of physiological factors of stereopsis, the device involves using all factors used to see normal stereopsis such as convergence, focusing, binocular parallax and motion parallax, and therefore the device causes no eye strain as experienced with a three-dimensional image device seen only with some of the factors such as binocular parallax and convergence.
Recently, as described in Patent Documents 3 and 4, providing portable terminals having display devices such as cellular phones and portable game devices with two-dimensional display and three-dimensional display functions has been suggested. That is, the technique described in Patent Document 3 includes a mechanism which invertibly retains a display device having a three-dimensional display screen by the lenticular method on cellular phones and the like. Moreover, in the technique described in Patent Document 4, an image is projected on a three-dimensional display component including built-in half mirrors, concave mirrors and other components, and displayed as a virtual stereoscopic image like it is floating in the space via a three-dimensional image display window of a cellular phone.


A first waste-toner box includes a detection switch wherein a state of the detection switch changes depending on an amount of waste toner stored therein. A second waste-toner box without the detection switch is initially mounted on a housing. The first waste-toner box is mounted after replacement of the second waste-toner box. A sensor circuit detects the state of the detection switch. In a case where the second waste-toner box is mounted on the housing, a controller detects a full state of waste toner stored in the second waste-toner box based on a dot count that is a number of dots forming a toner image formed on a sheet; and in a case where the first waste-toner box is mounted on the housing, the controller detects a full state of waste toner stored in the first waste-toner box based on the state of the detection switch.

In a conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus that forms an image by transferring a toner image supported on a photosensitive drum to a recording medium, waste toner remaining on the photosensitive drum is collected and stored in a waste-toner box. The waste-toner box is detachably mounted on a housing of the image forming apparatus. The waste-toner box is configured to be replaced when the waste-toner box becomes full of the waste toner stored therein.
As an exemplary known technique of detecting the full state of a waste-toner box, the amount of generated waste toner is estimated based on a print ratio which is the ratio of an image formed on a recording medium per unit area of the recording medium in order to detect the full state of the waste-toner box. According to another known technique, a waste-toner box is provided with a detector for detecting the full state of the waste-toner box by waste toner. A controller of an image forming apparatus reads an output from the detector, thereby detecting the full state of the waste-toner box.

Image forming apparatus including technique of detecting full state of a waste-toner box


Apparatus for use with multi-zonal heating sources are provided. In some embodiments, a substrate support may have a pocket disposed in a surface of the substrate support and a lip disposed about the pocket to receive an edge of a substrate and to support the substrate over the pocket such that a gap is defined between a pocket surface and a backside surface of the substrate when the substrate is disposed on the lip; a plurality of features to operate in combination with a plurality of heating zones provided by a multi-zonal heating source to provide a desired temperature profile on a frontside surface of a substrate when the substrate is disposed on the lip, and wherein the plurality of features are alternatingly disposed above and below a baseline surface profile of the pocket surface in a radial direction from a central axis of the substrate support.

Multi-zonal lamp heating may be utilized to provide thermal energy to multiple zones on a substrate for improved process uniformity tuning during substrate processes such as, for example, during an epitaxial deposition process. However, the inventors have discovered that conventional substrate supports used to support the substrate during processing with multi-zonal lamps detrimentally act to diffuse the thermal zones, thereby inhibiting the benefit of process uniformity tuning from the multi-zonal lamp heating process.
Accordingly, the inventors have developed improved substrate supports configured to operate in combination with a multi-zonal radiant energy source to provide a desired temperature profile to a substrate disposed on the substrate support.

Substrate support for use with multi-zonal heating sources


Quartz glass obtained by flame-hydrolyzing a glass-forming raw material to obtain fine particles of quartz glass, having the fine particles of quartz glass deposited and grown on a substrate to obtain a porous quartz glass product and heating the porous quartz glass product to obtain a transparent quartz glass product, which has an OH content of not more than 10 ppm and a halogen content of at least 400 ppm and which contains hydrogen.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to quarts glass particularly excimer laser resistant quartz glass and a process for its production.
2. DISCUSSION OF BACKGROUND
Quartz glass is a material which is transparent in a wide wavelength regions from near infrared region to vacuum ultraviolet region, and has an extremely small thermal expansion coefficient, whereby it is excellent in dimensional stability. Furthermore, the quartz glass is excellent in chemical durability. Therefore, the quartz glass has been widely used as substrate material for photomask in a lithography step of production of LSI.
However, in conventional quartz glass, structural defects are induced when it is exposed to high energy of ultraviolet radiation such as plasma etching or excimer laser during a photomask processing step, whereby problems such as decrease of transmission in ultraviolet region, formation of fluorescence center, etc. are arised. Particularly, the conventional quartz glass has problems as substrate for photomask used in lithography of VLSI wherein ArF excimer laser or KrF excimer laser is used as light source of exposure. Further it has problems, as optical parts constituting an optical system wherein the above-mentioned excimer laser is used as light source.
Various attempts have been reported as means for solving the above-mentioned problems, and it has been known that such problems can be solved by having a hydrogen molecule contained in quartz glass in any arbitrary means. However, sufficient effects can not be necessarily expected unless quartz glass in which hydrogen is contained is specified. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 201664/1989 discloses a method wherein quartz glass is subjected to heat treatment in an atmosphere containing hydrogen. However, it is impossible to completely suppress an absorption band in the vicinity of 260 nm and fluorescence in the vicinity of 650 nm formed when KrF laser is irradiated to quartz glass which is formed by transparent vitrification of a porous quartz glass product obtainable by flame hydrolysis of a glass-forming raw material.
On the other hand, as means for imparting to quartz glass excimer laser resistance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 88742/1991 discloses a method wherein a hydrogen molecule is dissolved in quartz glass. However, the method is required to dissolve a large amount of hydrogen molecules in the quartz glass. Therefore, there is such a problem that the quartz glass is required to be subjected to heat treatment in a hydrogen atmosphere having risk of explosion, even under elevated pressure, whereby a large scale of equipment is necessary.
Further, a method for producing quartz glass which does not contain OH at all, wherein a porous quartz glass product obtained by flame hydrolysis of a glass-forming raw material is subjected to heat treatment in a halogen atmosphere, has been known, for example, as transparent vitrification method of porous quartz glass of VAD method, which is a method for producing low-loss quartz glass fibers. However, the quartz glass subjected to transparent vitrification has a strong absorption band in the vicinity of 250 nm and can not be used as substrate for photomask in lithography using KrF excimer laser. Furthermore, when the quartz glass is irradiated by KrF excimer laser, strong fluorescence is observed in the vicinity of 285 nm, 390 nm and 460 nm and the luminescence is blue by visual observation. In particular, if the quartz glass has fluorescence at 285 nm, it can not be used as substrate for photomask in lithography using KrF excimer laser as light source of exposure because the wavelength is within the photosensitive range of a resist.

Transparent quartz glass and process for its production


A shift register includes a plurality of stages each for outputting k composite pulses each including an A-scan pulse and a B-scan pulse. At least one stage includes k A-sub-stages each for controlling a voltage at an A-set node and a voltage at least one A-reset node in response to an external A-control signal and generating an A-carry pulse based on the voltage at the A-set node, the voltage at the at least one A-reset node and any one A-clock pulse, a B-sub-stage for controlling a voltage at a B-set node and a voltage at least one B-reset node in response to an external B-control signal and generating a B-carry pulse, and a scan output controller for generating k A-scan pulses and k B-scan pulses and outputting one of the A-scan pulses and one of the B-scan pulses corresponding to each other as one composite pulse.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shift register, and more particularly, to a shift register which is capable of stably outputting a scan pulse of a composite waveform in an organic light emitting diode display device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In an organic light emitting diode display device, there may be deviations among driving currents applied to respective pixels, and a number of transistors are integrated inside of each pixel to prevent such deviations.
This display device includes a shift register for sequentially generating a number of control signals to drive the transistors.
Such a conventional shift register employs a multiplexer structure to output a scan pulse of a composite waveform which consists of two waveforms having different widths and timings.
This structure generates the scan pulse of the composite waveform by switching a fixed, constant voltage externally provided. In this regard, stably outputting the scan pulse may involve increasing the sizes of output transistors which switch the scan pulse, resulting in an increase in the size of the display device.


A thermal analyzer has a heat sink for storing therein a specimen, a heater for heating the heat sink and the specimen, at superheating temperatures, and a cooling mechanism thermally connected to the heat sink for cooling the heat sink and the specimen. The cooling mechanism is comprised of a tubular member having an inlet port for introducing a cooling gas into the tubular member and an outlet port for discharging the cooling gas from the tubular member. A tubular extension is thermaly connected to and extends from the tubular member. An electric cooling device has a cooling head connected to the tubular extension for cooling the cooling mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling apparatus having a cooling mechanism for cooling a heat sink in a thermal analyzer or the like, and to a thermal analyzer, such as a differential scanning calorimeter, equipped with the cooling apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A thermal analyzer such as differential scanning calorimeter includes a heat sink which is under a temperature control, a specimen disposed in the inside of the heat sink, a reference material holder, a heater which heats the heat sink, and a cooling device which cools the heat sink. As such a cooling device, conventionally, there have been known a gas cooling device which performs cooling using a low-temperature gas which is obtained by evaporating liquefied nitrogen or the like (see, for example, Japanese Accepted Patent Publication Hei7(1995)-122619(fourth column, FIG. 1), Japanese Accepted Patent Publication Hei7(1995)-65974(fourth column, FIG. 1)), and an electric cooling device which incorporates a compressor therein and performs cooling by way of a metal-made cooling member which is cooled by a refrigerant cooled by the compressor. Cooling has been conventionally performed by mounting either one of a cooling members of these gas cooling device and the electric cooling device on a furnace of the thermal analyzer in an exchangeable manner depending on the necessity.
In the conventional differential scanning calorimeter, only one type of cooling device can be mounted on the differential scanning calorimeter and, therefore, it is possible to use only one type of cooling method. Accordingly, when the gas cooling device is used, although cooling can be performed up to −150° C., there have been drawbacks in that it is necessary to replenish liquefied nitrogen which is a refrigerant and, at the same time, when the heat sink is cooled rapidly, the amount of gas consumed is increased.
Further, when the electric cooling device is used, since a refrigerant is hermetically sealed, it is unnecessary to replenish the refrigerant. However, with respect to the inexpensive electric cooling device which exhibits the favorable operability, there has been a drawback in that the cooling of −100° C. or below cannot be performed due to a capacity thereof.
Further, it has been considered cumbersome to exchange a cooling head which covers the heat sink between the cooling head for the electric cooling device and the gas cooling device depending on the use thereof.

Cooling mechanism, cooling apparatus having cooling mechanism, and thermal analyzer equipped with cooling apparatus


The present invention discloses a signal conversion device, a signal conversion method and a display device. The signal conversion device includes a gamma conversion unit, a brightness detection unit and a brightness processing unit, wherein the gamma conversion unit is used for performing a gamma conversion process on RGB input signals and generating RGB brightness input values; the brightness detection unit is used for generating a W brightness input value based on RGB proportional coefficients and the RGB brightness input values; and the brightness processing unit is used for generating RGBW output signals based on the RGB proportional coefficients, the RGB brightness input values and the W brightness input value. With the present invention, the brightness of a displayed image can be increased without increasing the power consumption, so that the contrast of the displayed image is increased, and the display quality of the image is also improved.

At present, customers not only have strict requirements on the appearance and quality of products, but also concern the price and usability of products. In the field of display technology, especially in the field of OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display technology, low luminous efficiencies of red, green and blue colors have become the bottle-neck of optimizing products. To fulfill customer's requirements, a new technology of arranging pixels comprising red sub-pixels (R), green sub-pixels (G), blue sub-pixels (B) and white sub-pixels (W) (that is, RGBW arrangement) has been developed. However, signal transmission interfaces such as VGA (Video Graphics Array) and DVI (Digital Visual Interface) generally transmit RGB signals. For this reason, during an image displaying process, the transmitted RGB signals need to be converted into RGBW signals for displaying by the display device in a case where the image is not distorted.
However, methods of converting RGB signals to RGBW signals in the prior art have the following problems:
(1) The brightness and contrast of displayed image are reduced, so that the display quality of the displayed image is lowered;
(2) The power consumption of light emitting devices is relatively large during the displaying process of the displayed image, so that the lifetime of the light emitting devices is reduced; and
(3) The power consumption of light emitting devices is relatively large during the displaying process of the displayed image, and thus a driving chip with relatively high cost is required, so that the manufacturing cost of products is increased.

Signal conversion device, signal conversion method and display device


A method for combining multiple digital shape objects contained within a digitized document to obtain a distinct shape or hull dependent on the shapes of the original objects. This shape may thereafter be utilized to simplify storage, recognition, and classification of the digitized documents. The method for combining multiple digital images includes the steps of forming a connected, one-pixel thick boundary around the shape objects contained within a document; and collapsing the boundary around the contained digital objects, the boundary thereby attaining a distinct shape or hull dependent upon the shapes of the digital objects contained within the document. When necessary, pixels are deleted from the boundary to "shrink-wrap" or make taut the boundary around the contained objects.

Recent increases in computer processor speed and performance, increases in the capacity and performance of volatile and non-volatile storage devices, and improvements in the overall performance and affordability of computer systems and network solutions now give many users the ability to process and store non-traditional, non-alphanumeric, data types such as multimedia objects, pictures and images, complex documents, video and audio data.
Many businesses are beginning to incorporate image and other non-traditional data objects into their mission critical data, and database technology is evolving to accommodate these complex data types. These complex data types may include bank checks and documents, business correspondence, employment records including employee pictures, medical information which may include diagnostic images such as X-rays, pictures and blueprints of buildings and facilities, video presentations, and other graphics or pictures related to a company's business.
Unique challenges are presented in the processing, classification, storage and retrieval of these non-traditional data objects. Currently images can be transmitted on networks and saved into computer databases, but there is no image content based methodology to recognize or sort through images. There exists a need to develop and improve methods for recognizing and sorting image data and linking images with other types of data, including text, sound and video.

Method for fast image identification and categorization of multimedia data