Methods for profiling oligosaccharides released from glycoproteins and methods for the electrophoretic separation of high mannose, complex and hybrid oligosaccharides are disclosed. The methods include first providing an analytical sample which includes at least one released oligosaccharide and introducing the sample into an electrophoretic channel containing a separation medium having a pH less than 8 and greater than 2.5. Then applying a sufficiently high electric field causes the released oligosaccharides to migrate and separate within the electrophoretic channel in accordance with their molecular size or charge to mass ratio. Detecting the separated oligosaccharides provides glycoprotein conjugate profiling information. Preferred embodiments include using a separation medium which includes lithium acetate buffer having a pH of about 4.75 and a gel of about 0.4% polyethylene oxide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods for the electrophoretic separation and analysis of oligosaccharides. More particularly, the present invention relates to analytical methods involving electrophoretic based profiling of oligosaccharides following their chemical or enzymatic release from glycoproteins.
2. Description of Relevant Art
Complex carbohydrates are important components of all living things. In addition to providing energy and structural supports for cells, increasing evidence has shown that the carbohydrate moieties of glycoconjugates are often important as recognition determinants in receptor-ligand or cell-cell interactions, in the modulation of immunogenicity and protein folding, and in the regulation of protein bioactivity. Changes in the biological activity of glycoproteins often result from alterations in protein glycosylation either through variable site occupancy or changes in the structure of the oligosaccharide occupying a particular site.
For these reasons biochemists have increasingly recognized the benefits associated with the ability to obtain molar ratios or patterns of oligosaccharide structures of glycoproteins. It is equally desirable to have the ability to determine the degree of glycosylation and to detect changes in the extent of and the nature of the glycosylation of proteins.
Recently there have been rapid developments in methodologies for analyzing oligosaccharide structures of native and recombinant glycoproteins. Anion exchange chromatography, reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and more recently electrophoretic methods have all been investigated for their usefulness in profiling the oligosaccharide structures of glycoproteins with varying degrees of success. The most common methods for profiling asparagine linked (N-linked) oligosaccharides involve releasing the oligosaccharides with peptide-N-glycosidase F(PNGase F) and profiling the released oligosaccharides by high pH anion exchange chromatography or slab gel electrophoretic separations.
Profiling information obtained from high pH anion exchange chromatography depends upon the ionic strength of the released oligosaccharides, and, because some molecular sieving takes place, it also depends upon the effective or apparent molecular weight of the oligosaccharides. While effective molecular weight is a measure of molecular size, effective molecular weight primarily depends upon the oligosaccharide hydrodynamic volume. Hydrodynamic volume is determined by the oligosaccharide molecular weight and the degree to which the oligosaccharide is hydrated by the medium in which the oligosaccharide is being analyzed. Thus, different oligosaccharides which have been analyzed by high pH anion exchange chromatography may have the same molecular weight or molecular size but will appear to have different molecular size because the degree to which they are hydrated is different. Reliable molecular size correlation data which takes into account the relative amount of hydration experienced by different saccharides, is available. However, this data depends upon a qualitative knowledge of the oligosaccharide being investigated. Also, oligosaccharides released from glycoproteins frequently contain one or more sialic acid residues which can alter dramatically the charge and the hydrodynamic volume of the oligosaccharide. In these cases, high pH anion exchange chromatography provides little reliable molecular size information. Thus, to obtain reliable relative oligosaccharide molecular weight information from high pH anion exchange chromatography data it is preferable to know the degree to which the glycoprotein is sialylated.
Electrophoretic based separations for profiling oligosaccharides represent an improvement over high pH anion exchange chromatography because electrokinetic migration of any given compound is primarily dependent upon only its mass to charge ratio. Typically, these electrophoretic methods utilize high pH (greater than 8.3) borate buffer electrophoretic mediums. The borate complexes with the oligosaccharide hydroxyl moieties providing the charge required for electrokinetic movement. One disadvantage associated with these borate buffer systems is the electrophoretic migration pattern of the borate complexed oligosaccharides. These complexes will migrate in a reverse direction (i.e. large structure migrate first) rendering the identification of the structures imprecise and difficult. Typically, in order to achieve low detection limits with very small sample volumes characteristic of capillary electrophoretic separations, saccharides are pre-labeled with a fluorescent labeling compound at the saccharide reducing end. When the label is charged, the oligosaccharides have the same charge and will electrokinetically migrate according to their mass to charge ratio When the oligosaccharides are not sialylated, all of the structures possess the same charge and the resulting data provides relative size information about the separated and detected saccharides.
This approach presents problems when analyzing oligosaccharide structures of sialylated glycoproteins. Sialic acid becomes negatively charged at pHs of about 7 to 8. Under electrophoresis conditions which utilize running buffers having a pH above 8, the sialic acid component of the released oligosaccharide is ionized. In this case, in addition to the problems discussed above, each oligosaccharide may have different charge distributions, so the electrokinetic migration order of the sialylated compounds effects the mass to charge ratio. To obtain relative size information for such oligosaccharides, the cleaved compounds must be desialylated and then electrophoresed. In this manner the relative sizes of the desialylated oligosaccharides are known but information relating to the relative size of sialylated residues is not determined directly.
In cases involving glycoprotein conjugate profiling under conditions in which the electrophoresis conditions include a low pH buffer of about 2.5, the sialylated oligosaccharides tend to co-migrate resulting in very poor separations.
It is an object of the present invention to provide methods for profiling glycoprotein linked high mannose, complex and hybrid oligosaccharides. It is also an object of the present invention to provide methods for obtaining molar ratios and relative molecular weights of individual oligosaccharides. It is further an object of the present invention to provide methods for detecting changes in the extent or nature of glycosylation, including changes in the extent of sialylation.


The present invention provides a control system for use in digital printing, comprising: a host; multiple main control boards connected to the host, multiple sets of nozzle plates, wherein each set of nozzle plate respectively is connected to one main control board and to one set of nozzle. The present invention also provides a control method for use in digital printing, comprising: the host decomposing a job into multiple portions, and distributing each portion of the job to one main control board; the main control boards concurrently converting received portions of the job into pages and distributing the pages to a set of nozzle plates connected thereto; the nozzle plates converting the pages into printing data and driving the nozzle sets connected to the nozzle boards to print the printing data thereof. The present invention achieves the effect of improving processing performance of the control system.

In a digital printing equipment, a control system, as a master control centre of the entire equipment, plays a decisive role in determining whether every step of each actuator of the entire equipment operates properly. A complete equipment generally has a sound flow of control, and the control system takes the responsibility for fully manipulating and maintaining the entire flow of control. Currently, designs of control systems employed in the industry are mostly centralized control system architecture. FIG. 1 is an architecture diagram illustrating a centralized control system from the prior art, which includes three parts according to the data flow. The first part is a host 10 responsible for performing functions such as initial configuration of the system, parameter setting, and initiation of a print job and the like. The second part is a main control board used to convert a received job into a page, and distribute the page to nozzle plates 30. The second part can further be responsible for functions such as receiving and configuring parameters sent from the host, receiving data, managing data, sending data and the like. The third part is a set of nozzle plates 30, which is responsible for receiving data and interfacing with inkjet devices, and used to convert the page into printing data suitable for nozzles to print, and drive the nozzle sets (not shown) connected thereto to print the printing data thereof. For different types of nozzles, the same type of main control board can be used, but nozzle plates are different.
It can be seen from FIG. 1 that a centralized control system is simple and easy to implement, and has significant advantages in performing system verifications and designing small-size systems, and thus is used widely. However, as the demand for printing is continuously increasing, a system needs to be expanded, for example, to be upgraded from monochrome printing to color printing, or to be expanded from narrow-format printing to wide-format printing. As a result, the number of the nozzle plates N will be multiplied, which causes the main control board to control more nozzle plates, and the needed resources and interfaces to be multiplied. In this case, the centralized control system faces problems such as system bandwidth bottleneck, interface bottleneck, failure of synchronous collaboration among modules and the like. Then it is necessary to redesign the main control board to meet the needs, and when the number of nozzle plates to be controlled reaches a certain amount, the resources required for a system will rapidly expand on one system board, thus the complexity of the design will increase greatly, which is unfavorable for system development and the subsequent debugging and operation.

Control system and method for use in digital printing

Peking University Founder Group Co., Ltd.


Methods and design structures for extraction of transistor channel width are disclosed. Embodiments may include determining effective channel widths of transistors of a plurality of integrated circuits as a function of drawn channel widths of the transistors, and determining a target channel width for a target transistor based on the effective channel widths.

As semiconductor devices continue to advance and dimensions of the devices continue to shrink, accurately manufacturing the device dimensions becomes increasingly more important, particularly for 20 nm technology devices and beyond. Certain challenges arise in manufacturing such advanced devices, such as ensuring that drawn dimensions in the design stage result in desired dimensions after manufacturing. For certain devices (e.g., static random-access memory (SRAM), embedded random-access memory (eDRAM), and read-only memory (ROM)), precise control of transistor channel width is critical for both performance and obtaining functional yield targets. Further, differences between drawn transistor channel widths and manufactured, effective channel widths may be upwards of 25%, such as a 14 to 15 nm difference between drawn and effective channel widths for SRAM devices. Yet, there is currently no way to extract the change in transistor channel width between design and manufacturing that is cost effective and does not destroy the device, particularly for 20 nm technology devices and beyond.
A need, therefore, exists for a cost effective methodology and an apparatus for accurate extraction of transistor channel width.

Structures and methods for extraction of device channel width


An ink jet cartridge comprising an outer housing and an inner ink chamber has adjacent housing and chamber wall portions, and a coupling member for communicating the ink chamber with an external source of ink has an inner end extending through an oversized opening in the housing wall portion and into threaded interengagement with an opening through the chamber wall portion. The outer end of the coupling is outside the housing wall portion for connection to a source of ink.

This invention relates to the art of ink cartridges for ink jet printers and, more particularly, to an improved coupling device for connecting an ink supply line to an ink cartridge in a continuous ink supply system.
Continuous ink refill systems for disposable ink jet cartridges are of course well known as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,201 to Erickson, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,137 to Scheffelin, et al., both of which are incorporated herein by reference for background information. In such systems, basically, a cartridge is connected to an auxiliary ink supply reservoir by means of a flexible hose or tube, and during operation of the printing system, the tube is open to allow ink to flow from the auxiliary reservoir to the ink cartridge. During shipment or handling of the ink supply reservoir/cartridge system when it is outside the print machine, it is important that the connection of the tube to the cartridge be leak tight to preclude the leakage of ink within the cartridge assembly and/or onto exterior surfaces of the cartridge and any box or container in which the ink supply reservoir system is packaged for transportation and storage. Moreover, after installation in the printer, cleaning of the latter and/or the ink delivery system requires removal of the cartridge from the printer, whereby the orientation of the cartridge may change from its upright position in the printer to an inclined or prone position relative to an underlying support surface. Accordingly, it is again essential to have a leakproof connection between the tubing and cartridge to avoid leakage of ink therefrom.
Prior efforts to seal the connection between the supply tubing and cartridge include extending the tube into the cartridge through an opening in an outer wall of the cartridge and gluing the tube in the opening to provide a seal and strain relief for the tubing, as shown for example in the aforementioned patent to Erickson. In the patent to Scheffelin, et al., tubing is coupled to a cartridge through the handle thereof by means of slidably interengaging tubular components which provide a seal against leakage of ink from the cartridge. In the latter arrangement, it is possible to unintentionally separate the coupling components so as to expose ink in the cartridge to spillage. Moreover, at least upon continued usage, wear of the slidably interengaging components could result in creating a leakage path or paths from the interior to the exterior of the cartridge. A coupling of the ink supply tube to an opening into the cartridge by gluing the tubing in place is of course subject to the creation of a leakage path across the glue in response to lateral flexure of the supply tube relative to the cartridge and/or as a result of tension applied to the tubing in the direction outwardly or inwardly of the cartridge.


A skin tightening aqueous gel formed from the combination of water, a dispersed finely particulate vegetable based tautening or tensor agent, a polymeric gelling agent, a liquid hydrocarbon dispersing aid and a nonionic surfactant.. There is described a method of dispensing and spreading the gel onto skin areas for the tightening treatment.

In mankind's eternal search for the fountain of youth, more and more attention has been directed to developing compositions that eliminate, shrink, or mask wrinkles and other unsightly lines in the skin. Many products along these lines are known in the art.
For example, cosmetics have long included humectants, which absorb or retain moisture. These cosmetics may have the effect of temporarily smoothing out wrinkles because the skin swells where the humectant is applied. Other products have been developed to tighten skin upon application of the product. Among these products are tensors. The tensors are typically proteinaceous in character and form a film on the skin surface. The protein retracts upon drying to tighten the skin and temporarily remove wrinkles.
Many of the early products were serum-based. These products provided localizing and temporary tightening of the skin. However, the movement in the industry is away from animal-based products to vegetable and fruit-based products.
Due to this movement, the use of alpha-hydroxy acids for the purposes of wrinkle removal has gained considerable popularity. The use of alpha-hydroxy acids is not new. For example, German Patent Nos. 1,263,987 to Schlenger and 2,703,189 to Higer et al. disclose the addition of various ingredients, including alpha-hydroxy containing materials, to cosmetic formulations. These compounds have also gained favor in the United States. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,091,171, 5,385,938 and 5,422,370 to Yu et al. disclose the same use of alpha-hydroxy acids.
Because these products are applied to the skin, the products should be smooth and luxurious to the touch. The products should exhibit smooth and non-gummy rubout characteristics. Furthermore, the products should not be grainy or aesthetically unappealing.
The products in the prior art typically suffer from the fact that the ingredients most effective for skin moisturization or wrinkle reduction generally are solids that have poor stability and are immiscible in the liquid vehicles most desired for application of the ingredients to the skin. In addition, these ingredients typically give a grainy texture to the products.
There is a need for delivery vehicle that avoids these problems and provides a smooth and creamy vehicle for delivery of skin tighteners to the skin.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a delivery system for skin tightener agents that is smooth and non-grainy to the touch and exhibits smooth and non-gummy rubout characteristics
It is another object of the present invention to provide a delivery system that is aesthetically pleasing.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a delivery system for vegetable based tightening agents that is shelf stable.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent with reference to the following specification.

Skin tightening formulation and method for treating skin


Described is a process for easily preparing an .alpha.-bromo,.omega.-chloroalkane which is high in purity represented by the formula: Br(CH.sub.2).sub.n Cl in which n stands for an integer of 4 to 12. The process comprises reacting in an organic solvent an .alpha.,.omega.-dichloroalkane with an .alpha..omega.-dibromoalkane. As the organic solvent, an aprotic nitrogen-containing or sulfur-containing organic solvent having a dielectric constant at 20.degree. C. of 20 or larger, for example, N,N-dimethylformamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide or N,N-dimethylimidazolidinone is preferred.

This invention relates to a process for preparing, with ease at low cost, an .alpha.-bromo,.omega.-chloroalkane which is useful as an organic synthesis raw material, agricultural chemical or intermediate for pharmaceutical.
In organic synthesis, an .alpha.-bromo,.omega.-chloroalkane is a useful compound indispensable for extending a carbon chain. This compound features that even after a substituent is selectively attached only to one of bromo (--Br) side and chloro (--Cl) side by making use of the difference in the reactivity between them, a target compound can be synthesized using a halogen group on the other side. For example, it is possible to selectively react an organic nucleophilic reagent such as Grignard reagent only with the bromo side of an .alpha.-bromo,.omega.-chloroalkane.
What is important here is a purity of an .alpha.-bromo,.omega.-chloroalkane obtained by the reaction. When it contains an .alpha.,.omega.-dichloroalkane as an impurity, it is, in some cases, inert to the above-described nucleophilic reagent. When it contains an .alpha.,.omega.-dibromoalkane, reaction occurs at both the .alpha. position and .omega.-position of the compound, which inevitably forms new impurities. Accordingly, it is very important to find a method to heighten the purity of an .alpha.-bromo,(.omega.-chloroalkane.
As a conventional method, it is the common practice to prepare an .alpha.-bromo,.omega.-chloroalkane, for example, by chlorinating one (.omega.-position) of the hydroxyl groups of the corresponding .alpha., .omega.-dihydroxyalkane with hydrochloric acid or the like and then brominating the remaining hydroxyl group at an .alpha.-position with phosphorus(III) bromide or the like as shown by the following reaction scheme: ##STR1##
The above conventional technique is however accompanied with the problem that since it needs selective halogenation of the hydroxyl group only at one side, the yield of an .alpha.-bromo,.omega.-chloroalkane inevitably becomes low relative to the raw material .alpha.,.omega.-dihydroxyalkane. Moreover, even if selective halogenation can be accomplished, disproportionation of the resulting halogen occurs easily without close attention upon distillation and purification, which results in the problem of byproduction of an .alpha., .omega.-dichloroalkane and .alpha., .omega.-dibromoalkane as impurities. According to the conventional technique, the scale-up therefore cannot be actualized easily and furthermore, it leads to a cost increase.
An object of the present invention is to overcome the above-described drawbacks of the conventional technique and to provide a process for the preparation of a useful .alpha.-bromo,.omega.-chloroalkane easily at low cost.

Process for the preparation of .alpha.-bromo, .omega.-chloroalkanes


A method of maintaining update history of a virtual machine (VM) is disclosed. The VM includes a version number. The method includes continuously monitoring a state of the VM. The monitoring of the state including detecting updates in configurations and applications of the VM. The changes in a status of the applications and the configuration are captured and metadata of the VM is updated when a change in the configurations or in the applications is detected. The version number of the VM is then incremented.

A Virtual Machine (VM) is generally stored in a self contained data file (VM file). For example, a VMware™ virtual machine is stored in a virtual machine disk (VMDK) file. This is a virtual disk file, which stores the content of a virtual machine's hard disk drive. A virtual disk is made up of one or more VMDK files. This VM data file can be used by virtualization systems to launch or run a virtual machine. When executing, a virtual machine can be modified by way of installing new applications, removing applications, amending configurations, etc.
Generally, numerous incremental updates would be applied on top of a base version of a virtual machine. However, the virtual machine file metadata does not maintain these incremental changes. With the growth of virtualization, hundreds or thousands of virtual machine files may be in existence in a typical data center. Since a virtual machine file doesn't provide metadata to indicate what applications are installed and what the update history of the virtual machine is, it is difficult to manage this large volume of virtual machine files. Hence, it is within the context this invention arises.

Version control environment for virtual machines


An office machine. The office machine includes a main body, a shaft, a recording head, a driving wheel, a driven wheel, a tension buffer and a transmission belt. The shaft is disposed on the main body. The recording head is slidably disposed on the shaft. The driving and driven wheels are disposed on each end of the shaft respectively. The tension buffer is disposed on the main body and includes a sleeve, a wheel mount, and a resilient member. The sleeve is disposed on the main body and has a cavity. The wheel mount is disposed in the cavity and connected to the driven wheel. The resilient member is disposed between the sleeve and the wheel mount to move the wheel mount sliding in the sleeve. The transmission belt is disposed between Transmission and driven wheels and joined with the recording head. The driving wheel drives the transmission belt such that the recording head slides on the shaft.

The present invention relates to an office machine and in particular to a tension buffer in the office machine which prevents belt from loosening or tensing when a recording head accelerates or decelerates.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional apparatus for controlling a recording head in an office machine. The conventional apparatus for controlling a recording head in an office machine includes a main body 10, a driving wheel 11, a belt 12, and a driven wheel 13, wherein the driving wheel 11, belt 12, and driven wheel 13 are disposed on the main body 10. The belt 12 links the driving wheel 11 and the driven wheel 13, and the driving wheel 11 is powered by a motor 16. A recording head 14 is slidably joined on a shaft 15 and bound to the belt 12. The driving wheel 11 drives the recording head 14 to slide on the shaft 15 through the belt 12 to spray ink.
Conventionally, the driven wheel 13 is driven by the driving wheel 11 so that the belt 12 has a predetermined tension. A resilient member 131 of the driven wheel 13 is used to balance tension. As shown in FIG. 1, when the office machine operates, the recording head 14 moves along the shaft by accelerating or decelerating. With long term use and impact, the distance between the driving wheel 11 and driven wheel 13 is altered. The driven wheel 13 is fixed by a screw 132, and the screw 132 may also be damaged. Thus, the driven wheel 13 is unable to return to the original position and the belt 12 may become too slack, or too tight. The driven wheel 13 may also be fixed by a power spring with high tension, which is detrimental as the load on the motor increases, inhibiting office machine performance.


A gas is generated from a printing plate by exposure of the printing plate. A gas diffusing suction unit jets air from air jet ports to diffuse the gas generated from the printing plate by irradiation of laser light. The gas diffused by the air is sucked along with the air from a gas suction opening of the gas diffusing suction unit. At this time, a gas suction velocity is set to 1.2 or more times an air jet velocity to suck the gas/air efficiently. The gas/air may be sucked efficiently by setting a volume of suction to 30 or more times a volume of air jet.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image recording apparatus for recording images on a photosensitive material mounted peripherally of a drum.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image recording apparatus for recording images by emitting laser light to a photosensitive material and vaporizing components of the photosensitive material as a gas from the surface of the photosensitive material, the gas generated from the photosensitive material enters the exposure head and contaminates the interior of the exposure head. Thus, an image recording apparatus with a gas suction device has been proposed as described in Japanese Patent No. 2886087.
It is well known that such an image recording apparatus can achieve an improved gas suction efficiency with a gas suction opening disposed adjacent the surface of the photosensitive material.
However, where such an apparatus uses a clamp mechanism for clamping an end of a printing plate, as a device for mounting the printing plate peripherally of a rotatable drum, it is difficult to place the suction opening adjacent the drum since the clamp mechanism has a certain size. Then, a large volume of flow is required to suck the gas. In other words, a suction volume per unit time must be increased. Thus, an image recording apparatus with an improved gas suction efficiency has also been proposed as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2000-56400, in which the gas generated from the surface of a printing plate is sucked while being separated from the printing plate by another gas directed to the drum. Actually, however, the gas generated from the photosensitive material is not sucked completely or efficiently. Consequently, when images are recorded on the photosensitive material continuously for a long time, the gas generated from the photosensitive material inevitably enters the exposure head to contaminate the interior of the exposure head.

Image recording apparatus with jet and suction


A noodle-making machine comprises a motor, a cylindrical casing, a screw disposed rotatably inside the cylindrical casing, a perforated nozzle plate provided at an end of the cylindrical casing, and a hopper attached to the casing. A groove is formed inside one end of the casing. The nozzle plate has a recess portion formed therein. A coupling formed of female and male coupling members is provided to connect the motor to the screw.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an extrusion type machine for making soba (buckwheat noodles), udon (wheat-flour noodles), spaghetti and other such noodles, and more particularly to a machine for making soba.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 5 shows a conventional noodle-making machine. With reference to the drawing, a noodle-making machine 1 comprises a motor 3 and a cylindrical casing 4 disposed in a frame 2, and a hopper 5 attached to the top of the frame 2. The motor 3 is supported horizontally on a base 6 affixed inside the frame 2. A motor coupling portion 7 projects from the opposite side of the base 6. Inside the cylindrical casing 4 is disposed a screw 8. A coupling portion 9 has a cavity into which a projecting portion of the motor coupling portion 7 fits. When the coupling portions are thus fitted together, they are held together by a pin 10 that is inserted into a through-hole formed in the coupling portions 7 and 9 in their engaged state, so that rotation of the motor 3 also rotates the screw 8. The part of the screw 8 positioned below the hopper 5 has a large thread pitch, with the pitch becoming finer going towards the end.
The cylindrical casing 4 is formed with a slight flare toward the end thereof. At the end of the casing 4 is a round nozzle plate 11. The nozzle plate 11 has numerous small through-holes 11a formed therein, and is detachably attached to the cylindrical casing 4 by means of screws. Formed in the wall of the cylindrical casing 4 is an opening 4a into which the lower end of the hopper 5 is attached.
To make soba or udon, first a suitable quantity of water is added to the soba or udon flour to form a starting material mixture that is loaded into the hopper 5. The screw 8 is then turned, causing the mixture to be moved toward the nozzle plate 11. As the mixture is not yet kneaded, it is still in a runny state and therefore does not pass through the through-holes 11a. It is the rotation of the screw 8 that performs the kneading. When the mixture has thus been sufficiently kneaded to thicken it, it starts to be forced out through the through-holes 11a, thereby forming strings of soba or udon noodles.
With such a noodle-making machine, kneading the mixture requires the application of a fairly considerable pressure. If the pressure is too high, the temperature of the mix becomes elevated, converting the starch of the starting material into soluble starch. The machine is also subjected to the reactive force of the pressure applied to the mix, which can result in the failure of the pin 10 inserted through the coupling between the motor shaft and the screw shaft. Another drawback is that if the kneading time is too short the soba noodles readily break during boiling, while if the kneading time is too long the soba loses its unique taste and forms a state akin to udon.
An object of the present invention is to provide a noodle-making machine that enables the pressure applied during kneading to be properly adjusted and in which a high kneading pressure does not result in failure of joint portions.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a noodle-making machine comprising a cylindrical casing, a screw disposed rotatably inside the cylindrical casing, a nozzle plate provided at an end of the cylindrical casing, said nozzle plate having formed therein numerous small holes, and a hopper attached to the casing, wherein a groove is formed in an inner surface at the end of the casing perpendicularly to the screw.
The groove may also be formed as a spiral groove with the spiral winding in the opposite direction to the spiral of the screw.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a noodle-making machine is provided comprising a cylindrical casing, a screw disposed rotatably inside the cylindrical casing, a nozzle plate provided at an end of the cylindrical casing, said nozzle plate having formed therein numerous small holes, a hopper attached to the casing, a motor that drives the screw, and a coupling that connects the screw and the motor, said coupling comprising a recessed female portion on one side and a projecting male portion on the other side that fits snugly into the female portion.
It is preferable that the recess of the female portion and the projection of the male portion each be formed in a straight line extending diametrically with respect to the screw and motor, and that the nozzle plate be detachably attachable to the cylindrical casing. Also, the noodle-making machine in which the groove is thus formed may be configured with a recess formed in the surface of the nozzle plate that faces the screw, with a groove formed in the casing, and with a coupling comprising male and female type coupling members with the female side of the coupling being on either of the screw or the motor, and the male side of the coupling being on whichever of the screw and the motor does not have the female side of the coupling provided thereon.
Moreover, the cylindrical casing in which the screw is rotatably disposed may be arranged horizontally and the drive means used to rotate the screw arranged perpendicularly in a configuration that turns the rotation of the drive means through 90 degrees for transmission to the screw, and with the nozzle plate disposed above, away from the plane on which the apparatus is provided.
Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and following detailed description of the invention.


A semiconductor memory device optimizes current consumption by using proper sub-bank arrangement and at least two different kinds of LIO sense amplifiers having different driving capabilities. The driving capabilities of the LIO sense amplifiers are controlled in a tapered manner depending on whether a corresponding sub-bank of the LIO sense amplifier is arranged nearer to, or farther away from, its corresponding GIO sense amplifier. In other words, the farther that a sub-bank of an LIO sense amplifier is away from its corresponding GIO sense amplifier, the greater its driving capability.

1. Technical Field.
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to a memory architecture using a tapered arrangement of local input & output (LIO) sense amplifiers.
2. Description of the Related Art.
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) core of a conventional semiconductor memory device.
From FIG. 1, one can recognize paths for reading cell data from the banks 0-2 and 2-1 in a conventional DRAM core 100 comprising a plurality of banks.
In order to read out one or a plurality of data from the memory cells of the semiconductor memory device, the data stored in the cells should be amplified in a bitline sense amplifier. The data amplified in the bitline sense amplifier are transferred to an LIO bus via a column selection line (CSL) switch, amplified in an LIO sense amplifier connected to the LIO bus, and then transferred to a global input & output (GIO) bus. According to a typical DRAM core architecture, the GIO bus is driven by the LIO sense amplifiers having the same line driving capabilities.
When the data stored in the memory cells are read out to external circuits, the cell data in the bank 0-2 should be transferred from a starting point of the GIO bus via the overall GIO bus line to the GIO sense amplifier while the cell data in the bank 2-1 should be transferred from the middle of the GIO bus via a part of the GIO bus line to the GIO sense amplifier. In other words, the path by which the data in the bank 0-2 are transferred to the GIO sense amplifier is longer than the path by which the data in the bank 2-1 are transferred to the GIO sense amplifier.
In the above condition, it is assumed that the LIO sense amplifiers have the same line driving capabilities for amplifying the cell data and transferring the amplified data to the GIO bus.
The time for reading the cell data is related to the product of the line resistance and line capacitance of the portion of the GIO bus forming the data transfer path. Therefore, as the transfer path becomes longer, the line resistance and the line capacitance are relatively increased and the time for outputting corresponding data are also increased. Based on the above facts, it is apparent that the time for reading the data from the bank 0-2 is longer than that from the bank 2-1. Similarly, the times for reading cell data from the banks 1-2, 2-2, and 3-2 are relatively longer than those from the banks 3-1, 0-1, and 1-1.
In order to compensate for such time differences, it is possible to design the driving capabilities of the LIO sense amplifiers by considering the longest one of the cell data transfer paths. However, the chip size corresponding to an amplifier, particularly a transistor for an output driving part, must be large to implement an amplifier with a large driving capability. Also, power consumption of the amplifier is increased.
Therefore, the conventional LIO sense amplifier arrangement is not appropriate for the current technical trend requiring minimization and lower power consumption.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a semiconductor memory device capable of optimizing current consumption by using proper sub-bank arrangement and at least two different kinds of LIO sense amplifiers which are installed in each sub-bank and which have different driving capabilities.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor memory device comprises: a plurality of banks, each bank comprising a pair of sub-banks; a plurality of LIO (local input & output) sense amplifiers installed in the sub-banks, the LIO sense amplifiers sensing and amplifying data stored in memory cells of the sub-banks; and a plurality of GIO (global input & output) sense amplifiers installed between the plurality of banks, the plurality of GIO sense amplifiers sensing and amplifying outputs from the plurality of LIO sense amplifiers.
Beneficially, the LIO sense amplifiers are arranged in such a way that the driving capabilities of the LIO sense amplifiers for the sub-banks arranged farther from the GIO sense amplifiers are greater than those for the sub-banks arranged nearer to the GIO sense amplifiers, and the driving capabilities of the LIO sense amplifiers are the same as each other within each particular sub-bank.
The pair of sub-banks may be diagonally arranged with respect to a center of the banks, one of the pair of sub-banks being arranged farther from a corresponding GIO sense amplifier and the other of the pair of sub-banks being arranged nearer to the corresponding GIO sense amplifier.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor memory device comprising: a plurality of banks, each bank comprising a pair of sub-banks; a plurality of LIO sense amplifiers installed in the sub-banks, the plurality of LIO sense amplifiers sensing and amplifying data stored in memory cells of the sub-banks; and a plurality of GIO sense amplifiers installed between the plurality of banks, the plurality of GIO sense amplifiers sensing and amplifying outputs of the plurality of LIO sense amplifiers.
Beneficially, the LIO sense amplifiers are arranged in such a way that driving capabilities of the LIO sense amplifiers installed in the sub-banks arranged farther from the GIO sense amplifiers are greater than driving capabilities of the LIO sense amplifiers installed in the sub-banks arranged nearer to the GIO sense amplifiers and driving capabilities of the LIO sense amplifiers are the same as each other within each particular sub-bank.
Also beneficially, driving capabilities of the LIO sense amplifiers in a same row are the same as each other.
Each of the sub-banks may be arranged in such a way that the sub-banks of a particular bank are arranged in the same row or column on the basis of the arranged banks and diagonally arranged in the row or the column, one of the pair of the sub-banks being arranged farther from the GIO sense amplifier, and the other of the pair of the sub-banks is arranged nearer to the GIO sense amplifier.

Semiconductor memory device using tapered arrangement of local input and output sense amplifiers


A multi-catheter infusion system and method for the localized delivery of medications while minimally affecting patient mobility for an extended period of time. The multi-catheter infusion system includes a cannula and a plurality of catheters. The cannula includes a first end for connecting to a drug delivery system and a second end for connecting to the plurality of catheters. The plurality of catheters are in fluid communication with the cannula for delivering a drug to a target area of a patient. Each catheter includes a multi-orifice distal end.

The present invention relates to a multi-catheter infusion system used for the administration of local anesthetics or other fluids (including but not limited to antibiotics or pain relief drugs) to a patient. In particular, the present invention provides a multi-catheter infusion system and method thereof for the localized delivery of e.g., medications over extended periods of time and near a wound site while minimally affecting patient mobility over an extended period of time.
Current methods of drug delivery to a wound site use multiple, divided injections of local anesthetics into tissue surrounding the wound, such as periarticular injections after total joint arthroplasty, and have been shown to improve post-operative pain control and facilitate mobility. These injections are traditionally performed by surgeons at the end of the procedure, are easy to perform and require little training. However, such methods are disadvantageous in that they have limited time of action, which in part depends on the local anesthetic used.
Although recently longer acting formulations of local anesthetics have become available, their efficacy is still unknown, and little is known at this time regarding infection risk, potential for neuro and tissue toxicity or any other long-term side effects. Further, once injected the length of action, duration, and strength of the anesthetic cannot be controlled or adjusted. Moreover, the type of infusion cannot be adjusted.
Thus, there is still a need to address the foregoing limitations of conventional drug delivery systems, such as limited time of action and the need for multiple injections into tissue surrounding the wound. Such a need is satisfied by the present invention.

Multi-catheter infusion system and method thereof


An indicator and method of use thereof, and indicator system and method of use thereof are provided to determine the degree of an oxidative treatment. An indicator is incorporated into the oxidative treatment. The object and the indicator are subjected to the oxidative treatment. A discoloration of the indicator occurs based on an oxidation of the polymer by a process condition of the oxidative treatment oxidizing the polymer. The discoloration of the indicator is measured against a threshold color value to determine the degree of the oxidative treatment.

Various medical devices are used in numerous procedures in the medical field. These devices are as varied as the procedures themselves. After a medical device, such as an endoscope, is used, the medical device is treated (e.g., cleaned, disinfected, and/or sterilized) in order to prepare the medical device for its next use. The treatment may include placing the medical device in a sterilizer and exposing the medical device to a sterilant. One popular type of sterilizer is the STERRAD® brand of sterilizers manufactured by Advanced Sterilization Products, of Irvine, Calif., a division of Ethicon, Inc. of Somerville, N.J. The STERRAD® sterilizer can house one or more removable trays that fit within a sterilization chamber. Each tray may be filled with medical devices such as a scalpel, an endoscope, scissors, and the like. To sterilize the medical devices, the sealed chamber is exposed to a vacuum and an oxidative chemical such as, hydrogen peroxide, is introduced into the sterilization chamber. Ensuring the medical devices are sterilized prior to use on a patient can prevent the risk of cross contamination and the spread of disease.

Apparatus, method, and system for indication of an oxidative treatment


Methods, systems and devices are provided for input of a sequence of digits such as a PIN code or password. A user can use swipe motions to choose the value of a digit and double tap to accept a digit, and swipe up to confirm that input of the sequence of digits is complete. Embodiments can be implemented on point of sale devices, merchant devices and customer devices including mobile devices.

Modern point-of-sale (POS) systems utilizing debit, credit or pre-paid cards for payment frequently require that a customer enter a specific pre-designated code, or personal identification number (PIN), into a POS device to authorize a transaction. Unfortunately, these commercial off the shelf (COTS) POS devices are difficult for visually impaired individuals to use since these solutions often include a touch-based display having a smooth surface, rather than traditional keypads with raised braille or tactile, functional buttons. Because assistance may be required from another person (e.g. a customer service representative, nearby customer in line willing to help, and the like), a visually impaired individual's PIN code may be compromised to the person rendering assistance or more generally (e.g. overheard). In addition, even if a visually impaired individual enters their PIN code successfully without assistance, they may not be able to conceal their PIN code entry from other individuals or camera surveillance.
Laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), have resulted in a growing emphasis in providing equal services to the visually impaired. To comply with the ADA, often retail stores will install crude modifications to POS devices to assist visually impaired customers with checkout. For example, a speaker may be installed on the POS device to audibly broadcast content on the screen or broadcast the keys typed. However, such public audio solutions fail to address confidentiality that should be present during the completion of a financial transaction.
Not surprisingly, the problem of securely entering a sequence of digits on a touch-based display exists outside the retail and shopping industry as well, wherever a private sequence of digits needs to be entered (e.g. a password and the like) on a touch screen display (e.g. a mobile device). What is needed in the art is an integrated solution, such that a visually impaired person does not need the assistance of another person to enter a private sequence of digits in a secure, confidential manner.


An electronic module and chassis/module installation are disclosed. The installation comprises a chassis including a metallic heat input region. An electronic module including an electronic component is adapted to be connected to the chassis. An uninterrupted thermal pathway thermally connects the electronic component of the module to the heat input region of the chassis. The thermal pathway comprises a chimney, a heat channel thermally connected to the chimney, and a heat output block thermally connected to the heat channel. A first electrically insulative non-metallic layer thermally couples the chimney to the electronic component. A second electrically insulative non-metallic layer thermally couples the heat output block to the chassis heat input region.

Thermal constraints are critical in industrial systems where customer requirements do not allow for use of fans or other forced air flow for cooling. These constraints are becoming increasingly difficult to satisfy as technology trends are forcing electronic module design in the direction of higher power dissipation and resulting heat output. These technology trends include: (i) replacement of traditional, dedicated-purpose, proprietary ASICs that operate at lower clock speeds with commercially available CPUs that operate and higher clock speeds; (ii) increasingly smaller silicon geometries for CPUs that lead to correspondingly increased leakage currents; and, (iii) increasingly harsh customer environments for installation location of industrial electronic modules, with a desire by customers to increase the allowable ambient temperature specification above 60° C. while silicon packaging techniques for CPUs and the like are forcing a reduction in allowable junction temperatures in which the silicon can operate.
The problem of cooling industrial electronic modules is exacerbated by the fact that industrial electronic system are typically modular, with little or no air flow within or adjacent the modules which limits the effectiveness of traditional heat sinks. Thus, for example, a conventional heat sink, using only convection, located within the module and connected to the CPU is insufficient for cooling. Also, conduction of heat to a cover of each industrial electronic module has been found to be insufficient for cooling due to the lack of air flow around the modules and the desire not to increase the spacing between modules.
As noted above, use of fans or other forced air cooling systems is not satisfactory. In some cases, customer requirements simply do not allow for use of fans. Furthermore, use of fans is undesirable due to reliability problems with the fans and the tendency of fans to draw dust and other contaminants into the electronic module. Other cooling systems such as radiant systems, closed-loop phase change systems, and the like are known, but are space and cost prohibitive and present concerns when used as part of an electrical systems.

Thermal cooling of industrial electronic module by conductive structure


Assurance of quality with respect to of a software application across different operating platforms with different system architectures is provided. Methods for determining and assuring said quality as well as a system for the same is disclosed. A method for ensuring compliance with a contractual obligation related to quality of service in software is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to software quality. More specifically, the present invention concerns ensuring quality of a software application across a number of different operating platforms with different system architectures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Historically, software applications were authored exclusively for a single hardware platform or operating environment. For example, a word processing application might have been authored exclusively for a personal computer running a Windows® operating system (OS). Similarly, an Internet-based music store application might have been authored exclusively for a Macintosh computer running a Mac® OS.
Video games were no different as many game titles were exclusive to a particular gaming platform. In some instances, video games were authored by the manufacturer of the gaming platform. In other instances, however, video game designers and publishers were contractually obligated to exclusively provide a particular game title to a single manufacturer and their particular game platform.
As the variety of gaming platforms has increased and the total number of platforms in the hands of consumers has proliferated, there has been an increased demand for content (i.e., software applications such as video games). While hardware manufacturers continue to produce certain exclusive game titles, the majority of software application development and video game design has become the realm of independent game studios such as Rockstar Games and Vivendi Games. The increased demand for content by the consumer marketplace—which includes multiple game platforms—as well as the increased quality of video games has allowed game studios to wield increased negotiating clout. As such, it has become increasingly common for a single game author to develop their game for multiple gaming platforms as cross-platform availability is demanded by the consumer. Hardware manufacturers have been forced to comply with this increased negotiating power of game designers in order to ensure they have the most desired game titles available for their particular platform.
All the while, competition between platform manufacturers remains intense. Despite the fact that certain platforms (such as the PlayStation® 3 from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.) are technically superior in almost every way to those of their competitors (such as the Microsoft® X-Box), software applications such as video games are increasingly without a native hardware platform or operating environment. Game designers increasingly provide the same title and 'port' it across multiple platforms instead of writing the game in an optimized way for the specific architecture of a particular platform. As such, a game title may perform better on one platform versus another due to the particularities of how the title was authored.
With competition remaining intense, there is a need in the art to ensure that a common game title meets or exceeds quality metrics on one platform versus a competing platform.

System and method for cross-platform quality control

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.


An apparatus for managing communication links with a plurality of traffic nodes registered with a radio network configured to receive a request from a first traffic node to establish a communication link with a second traffic node, which is one of the plurality of traffic nodes. The apparatus further receives, from the first traffic node, object description information associated with the request, compares the object description information with stored information relating to at least some of the plurality of traffic nodes, determines, based on the comparison, a likelihood that the object description information pertains to the second traffic node and decides, based on the determination, whether to grant the request. The apparatus is able to act as a traffic node manager for the radio network and could be a network node such as a Base Station or Base Transceiver Station or a dedicated vehicle identity manager for example.

Situations can be envisaged in which it may be desirable for traffic-related objects to be able to communicate with one another. Traffic-related objects or traffic nodes may include moving vehicles and stationary entities such as stationary vehicles, road side units, pedestrians and smart traffic lights, for example. In particular, it may be important for moving vehicles to be able to communicate with other moving vehicles and for stationary entities to be able to communicate with them as well as with each other. These types of communications have been termed Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications and they may encompass various sub-types such as Vehicle-to Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-device (V2D) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2). With some currently-proposed systems, no infrastructure is required i.e. such communications can proceed directly between entities.
A principle consideration with the above-discussed communications is that of safety as between moving vehicles, if such vehicles are autonomous. For example, one vehicle may wish to make a maneuver, such as a lane change, and would want to establish the locations and movement trajectories of other nearby vehicles. Other considerations include a wish to warn a vehicle of a danger or an emergency situation, a desire to discover and join a vehicle platoon, law enforcement (e.g. a police car wishing to order a suspicious vehicle to pull over), inter-vehicle infotainment (e.g. virtual or augmented reality gaming or social networking) and determining one's location based on observations of other traffic-related objects.
Efforts to date have focused on designing communication capabilities between traffic-related objects to ensure that such communications are possible for the above reasons. One aspect of this is the ability of traffic-related objects to assess their context i.e. to be able to sense the presence of other objects. Another aspect is the provision of wireless communication capabilities between traffic-related objects. However, little consideration has been given to the possibility of abuse of such communications and the undesirable effect that could have. For example, a malicious node could attempt to set up communications with an unsuspecting legitimate traffic node or a malicious node could attempt an eavesdropping or man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack on a communication from one legitimate node to another. At best, such malicious communications could be a nuisance for traffic-related objects and/or the communication network in which they occur and at worst, they could endanger traffic-related objects either directly or by interfering with operations of the communication network.

Method and apparatus for managing communication links with a plurality of traffic nodes


A video signal interpolation can adapt an image of input video signal to voluntary aspect ratios widely. The invention also allows a display device to uniformly line-sequential scan and uses at least two line-memories (LM1, LM2) which are applied with an input digital video signal and controls writing and reading for these line-memories to generate a video signal subjected to vertical interpolation from a reading output of the line-memories. In the control, any one of the line-memories are circularly selected, and a sample sequence of the input digital video signal is sequentially written into the selected line-memory at its sample rate while sequentially reading out samples of the written sequence at a constant rate which is higher than the sample rate and which is according to a desired ratio of interpolation (vertical expansion ratio), wherein, when one of the line-memories is in writing operation, the other one of the line-memories is repeatedly read out. The invention also relates to a horizontal interpolation method for a video signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interpolation method for a video signal, and a display device performing interpolation for a video signal. The present invention further relates to a liquid crystal display device capable of making a display image in accordance with a digital video signal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A circuit adjusting the size of an image to be displayed, to fit to the actual dimension of a display screen by performing interpolation for an input video signal is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 79905/98 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,416). The circuit described in this reference aims at easily enlarging or contracting the size of an image to be displayed on a digital display device.
To this end, the known circuit is arranged to enable the value of an external control signal to be altered and to perform frequency multiplication for a horizontal synchronizing signal in accordance with the value so as to obtain a sampling clock signal to be fed into an analog-digital converter, whereby the clock frequency is variable. The enlargement and contraction of an image in a horizontal direction is achieved by altering the data quantity of the involved digital image signal per a scanning line, which is to be written into a memory during one cycle of the horizontal synchronizing signal, by means of utilizing the sampling clock signal as a write-enable signal for the memory.
The enlargement and contraction of an image in a vertical direction is achieved in such a manner that a clock signal having a higher frequency than the sampling clock signal (the write-enable signal) is used as a read-enable signal to read the written digital image signal from the memory at a number of times during one horizontal scanning period of the input video signal so as to display them on a plurality of scanning lines.
However, the known circuit has a number of disadvantages as follows. With this circuit, when interpolation is performed horizontally, the sampling frequency for the analog-digital converter which receives an analog video signal is increased (decreased when contraction is required), and thus the number of samples of an output digital video signal or the number of dot data pieces to be used for display is increased (decreased when contraction is required). Thus, if a video signal is provided as a digital signal to the display device, this circuit is simply helpless. If the horizontal interpolation technique underlying this circuit were forcibly applied to an input digital video signal, the input digital video signal would have to be converted by a digital-analog converter into an analog signal once, and subsequently the resultant analog signal would be digitized again at a desired frequency for the horizontal interpolation. This would require complicated process and circuit configuration.
With the circuit, when interpolation is achieved vertically, control is introduced such that either a clock signal with a higher frequency or a clock signal with a normal frequency is selected as a read-enable signal for each horizontal scanning period of the input video signal, and the number of horizontal scanning periods of the input video signal during which the higher frequency clock is selected is adjusted in accordance with the specified size of the image in a vertical direction. Such a manner of interpolation does not allow a sufficient freedom in selection of the interpolation ratio. Namely, the interpolation ratios selectable are rather limited. Moreover, because the video information to be carried by an interpolated line must be applied for the corresponding line of a display device in a considerably shorter period than that required for the information carried by the other (ordinary) line, higher speed scanning is needed for only the interpolated line. Accordingly, it may cause the sequential scanning operation of the display device side to have a partiality.

Interpolation method for a video signal, and display device with function of interpolation for a video signal


A type of flexible boot sized to envelop an object mounted on a smaller shaft with one or both ends of the boot having an expandable opening. When used to protect an automotive type constant velocity joint, the boot will have one plain cylindrical end and one pleated end. The plain end of the boot mates to a housing of the CV joint, the opposite end mates to its input shaft. The shaft mating end of the boot is comprised of a circumference of radially arranged shaped pleats. During installation of the boot over the constant velocity joint, the pleated end of the boot may be spread apart and passed over the larger diameter of the joint housing. The pleats may then be closed inwardly to a nested condition where they are constrained and compacted to the shaft with a surrounding band clamp.

1. Field of the Invention
The tubular expandable cover disclosed herein is in the field of flexible elastomeric or rubber type envelopes used to contain and protect machine parts. These sleeve-like devices are generally known as boots, and are usually tapered and convoluted in form. An important use for such boots is to protect the constant velocity ("C-V") joints as used in modern automobile drive axles.
2. Prior Art
A typical automobile half axle will carry both an inner and an outer C-V joint each protected by boots. The boots are necessary to retain lubricants and prevent entry of foreign materials. Performance requirements are high, and include longevity, flexibility, limited stretchability, chemical resistance, tolerance to high heat and freezing cold, and the toughness necessary to resist road debris. The outer boot is particularly vulnerable due both to its exposure and the extreme flexing required during steering. Presently there are no sensors available to monitor the condition of the boot and communicate this knowledge to the operator. Unfortunately when the protection of the boot is lost the C-V joint will have a short remaining life.
These requirements have generated a large number of material and conformation studies in an attempt to prevent premature boot failure. Many improvements appear to have come in new materials rather than new structure. In the case of materials, examples of such efforts can be seen in patent application publication 20030137078 to Katoh and U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,797 by Grabaum et al., among many others. For examples of structural changes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,286 by Katoh, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,394 by Collins et al., can be seen—again among many others. Despite these efforts, boot failure is an ongoing problem due primarily to the inherent fragility of the boot, its harsh usage and exposure to road debris. The material of such boots inevitably degrades with extended use. Therefore it is very probable that boot replacement will be required at some time during the life of most automobiles.
However, boot replacement is difficult because the C-V joint housings at each end of the automotive half-axle are much larger than the interior shaft. It follows that without C-V joint dis-assembly, the shaft sized end of the boot must be passed over the joint housing. This invention allows the boot to expand readily to make this transition, thereby significantly easing the job of boot replacement, particularly when skilled help or special tooling is not available.
While the boot was primarily conceived as a means for ready boot replacement, particularly under field conditions, it will be clear that a boot having this expandable characteristic will also offer significant cost savings to a manufacturer of the drive axles themselves.
Presently, failed C-V boots may be replaced in several ways, one being to remove the entire shaft and replace the boots on the bench. This procedure often requires draining the differential oil, separating a wheel and part of the suspension, then sliding the shaft inner spline through an "O" ring case seal, and finally dis-assembly of at least one C-V joint. Conventional boots may then be installed. However, C-V joints must be disassembled with care, and reassembly is easily botched. If the shaft carries a vibration damper within its reach, additional assembly and reassembly will be required.
The skills and time required for successful fit-up of C-V joints has prompted many technicians to replace the entire axle including shafts, joints and boots as a complete unit. The cost differential to the customer between one needed flexible boot and one complete axle assembly can be readily appreciated.
Therefore it is desirable from the customer's viewpoint to replace the failed boot only. Several methods to reduce the labor and risk incurred by complete removal and axle dis-assembly are in present use. Two methods may be remarked upon, both of which find their best use in replacing the outer boot only, and both of which, unfortunately, compromise boot performance to some degree.
One method uses a type of boot having a lengthwise split or two in its casing. Mating sides of the split carry cooperating elements that locate against each other when the boot is properly assembled around the C-V joint. The split side must be carefully fastened together with screws, rivets, or adhesives according to the particulars of the design. Localized and unusual stress patterns adversely affect the life of such units. U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,911 by Gimino and U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,027 by Biekx address this method. Such a device is offered by J. C. Whitney Co. as part WA556587U.
In another system the smaller shaft end of the boot is stretched radially to pass over the joint housing. A special expanding shoe stretches the shaft end to the housing diameter and holds it there as the boot is forced off the shoe and over the joint housing. The degree of stretch required is formidable. As an example a typical C-V joint may have an input shaft diameter of 30 mm and a housing diameter of 80 mm representing a peripheral increase from 94 to 280 mm. Therefore a significant reduction from the typical boot wall thickness, and choice of a more stretchable material, is often required. An example of a tool for such boot stretching is claimed in patent publication 2004/0261238 by Boudreault. Inner boots cannot be replaced by this stretching method if an intervening vibration damper (which is close to the housing in size) is mounted on the shaft.
With all methods not using a split boot casing, partial dis-assembly of the outer axle support is required to give surrounding access to the C-V joint.


A graphics engine receives commands or items in high-level graphics, translates these items to primitive codes representing primitive graphics, converts the primitive codes to individual pixel codes and addresses associated therewith and stores the pixel codes in an image memory according to priority in the pixel code. When a new pixel code is received for storing, the stored pixel code in the storage location associated with the new pixel code is read. The stored priority of the stored pixel code is compared with a display priority of the new pixel code and the pixel code having the higher priority is selected for storing at the storage location. The pixel codes are read from the image memory and in a conventional manner are converted using a video look-up table to produce output to a display device. The conversion from primitive graphics to pixel codes includes the process of converting symbol codes into an array of pixels using a symbol font memory. Memory cycles used in accessing the image memory are varied to reduce the time required for movement of graphics.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the conversion of high-level graphics into pixel codes for display on a display device and, more particularly, to a raster graphics engine with speed and flexibility for use in radar applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
The term "graphics engine" is used to describe a data processing device which takes high-level graphics, such as text characters, symbols of various sizes, such as rectangles, circles and triangles, line segments and arcs, etc., and outputs signals which can be used in driving a display device such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) in a computer monitor. There are many types of devices which can be used as a graphics engine. The more powerful personal computers include simple graphics engines which are typically so slow that they cannot be used for real-time display of data. Slightly more powerful are work stations, such as those manufactured by SUN or APOLLO, which come closer to real-time operation, but typically exhibit annoyingly slow response in performing certain functions, such as zoom or pan. Due to the lack of speed and even slower speeds which were available in years past, applications demanding faster response, such as air traffic control radar or weapons control radar, typically use hardware specifically designed for each application. While it was possible to obtain reasonably quick responses using such unique hardware designs, when the functions to be performed by such applications are expanded, it is necessary to redesign significant portions of the hardware.
Furthermore, there are several different basic types of high-level graphics. Fixed size symbols, i.e., text, is easily converted into display data when no other type of graphics is to be displayed. However, high-level graphics may also define vectors or solid polygons of various sizes, shapes and shading. When one of these other types of high-level graphics are mixed with symbols, it often becomes much more difficult to generate the fixed size symbols. Also, some applications display more than one set of video data. For example, radar applications typically combine a display of target tracks with identifying textual information. The sweep of the radar and textual information are superimposed on a single screen. None of the existing systems provide both flexibility and high speed response.

Raster graphics engine for producing graphics on a display


A ultra-violet sensor has a gate on a substrate, a dielectric formed over the gate and the substrate, an oxide semiconductor formed over the dielectric, and a source electrode and a drain electrode formed at the edges of the oxide semiconductor. A memory device has an array of ultra-violet sensors, each sensor having a gate on a substrate, a dielectric formed over the gate and the substrate, an oxide semiconductor formed over the dielectric, and a source electrode and a drain electrode formed at the edges of the oxide semiconductor, an array of ultra-violet light sources corresponding to the array of ultra-violet sensors, an array of detectors electrically coupled to the array of ultra-violet sensors, driving circuitry attached to the array of sensors and the ultra-violet light sources to allow addressing of the arrays, and a reset mechanism.

Oxide semiconductors show absorption at UV wavelengths and have been previously demonstrated as UV sensors. However, when these are implemented with thin-film transistor sensors, the oxide semiconductors show persistent photoconductivity effect that limits the sensor refresh rate.
However, one can use the persistent conductivity. One possible use would be as built-in memory for a sensing system or for a long-time dose measurement.

UV sensor with nonvolatile memory using oxide semiconductor films


The present invention, generally speaking, provides for high-efficiency power control of a high-efficiency (e.g., hard-limiting or switch-mode) power amplifier in such a manner as to achieve a desired modulation. In one embodiment, the spread between a maximum frequency of the desired modulation and the operating frequency of a switch-mode DC—DC converter is reduced by following the switch-mode converter with an active linear regulator. The linear regulator is designed so as to control the operating voltage of the power amplifier with sufficient bandwidth to faithfully reproduce the desired amplitude modulation wave-form. The linear regulator is further designed to reject variations on its input voltage even while the output voltage is changed in response to an applied control signal. This rejection will occur even though the variations on the input voltage are of commensurate or even lower frequency than that of the controlled output variation. Amplitude modulation may be achieved by directly or effectively varying the operating voltage on the power amplifier while simultaneously achieving high efficiency in the conversion of primary DC power to the amplitude modulated output signal. High efficiency is enhanced by allowing the switch-mode DC-to-DC converter to also vary its output voltage such that the voltage drop across the linear regulator is kept at a low and relatively constant level. Time-division multiple access (TDMA) bursting capability may be combined with efficient amplitude modulation, with control of these functions being combined. In addition, the variation of average output power level in accordance with commands from a communications system may also be combined within the same structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to RF amplifiers and signal modulation.
2. State of the Art
Battery life is a significant concern in wireless communications devices such as cellular telephones, pagers, wireless modems, etc. Radio-frequency transmission, especially, consumes considerable power. A contributing factor to such power consumption is inefficient power amplifier operation. A typical RF power amplifier for wireless communications operates with only about 10% efficiency. Clearly, a low-cost technique for significantly boosting amplifier efficiency would satisfy an acute need.
Furthermore, most modern digital wireless communications devices operate on a packet basis. That is, the transmitted information is sent in a series of one or more short bursts, where the transmitter is active only during the burst times and inactive at all other times. It is therefore also desirable that control of burst activation and deactivation be controlled in an energy-efficient manner, further contributing to extended battery life.
Power amplifiers are classified into different groups: Class A, Class B, Class AB, etc. The different classes of power amplifiers usually signify different biasing conditions. In designing an RF power amplifier, there is usually a trade-off between linearity and efficiency. The different classes of amplifier operation offer designers ways to balance these two parameters.
Generally speaking, power amplifiers are divided into two different categories, linear and non-linear. Linear amplifiers (e.g. Class A amplifiers and Class B push-pull amplifiers), maintain high linearity, resulting in faithful reproduction of the input signal at their output since the output signal is linearly proportional to the input signal. In non-linear amplifiers (e.g. single-ended Class B and Class C amplifiers), the output signal is not directly proportional to the input signal. The resulting amplitude distortion on the output signal makes these amplifiers most applicable to signals without any amplitude modulation, which are also known as constant-envelope signals.
Amplifier output efficiency is defined as the ratio between the RF output power and the input (DC) power. A major source of power amplifier inefficiency is power dissipated in the transistor. A Class A amplifier is inefficient since current flows continuously through the device. Conventionally, efficiency is improved by trading-off linearity for increased efficiency. In Class B amplifiers, for example, biasing conditions are chosen such that the output signal is cut off during half of the cycle unless the opposing half is provided by a second transistor (push-pull). As a result, the waveform will be less linear. The output waveform may still be made sinusoidal using a tank circuit or other filter to filter out higher and lower frequency components.
Class C amplifiers conduct during less than 50% of the cycle, in order to further increase efficiency; i.e., if the output current conduction angle is less than 180 degrees, the amplifier is referred to as Class C. This mode of operation can have a greater efficiency than Class A or Class B, but it typically creates more distortion than Class A or Class B amplifiers. In the case of a Class C amplifier, there is still some change in output amplitude when the input amplitude is varied. This is because the Class C amplifier operates as a constant current source—albeit one that is only on briefly—and not a switch.
The remaining classes of amplifiers vigorously attack the problem of power dissipation within the transistor, using the transistor merely as a switch. The underlying principle of such amplifiers is that a switch ideally dissipates no power, for there is either zero voltage across it or zero current through it. Since the switch's V-I product is therefore always zero, there is no dissipation in this device. A Class E power amplifier uses a single transistor, in contrast with a Class D power amplifier, which uses two transistors
In real life, however, switches are not ideal. (Switches have turn on/off time and on-resistance.) The associated dissipation degrades efficiency. The prior art has therefore sought for ways to modify so-called "switch-mode" amplifiers (in which the transistor is driven to act as a switch at the operating frequency to minimize the power dissipated while the transistor is conducting current) so that the switch voltage is zero for a non-zero interval of time about the instant of switching, thereby decreasing power dissipation. The Class E amplifier uses a reactive output network that provides enough degrees of freedom to shape the switch voltage to have both zero value and zero slope at switch turn-on, thus reducing switching losses. Class F amplifiers are still a further class of switch-mode amplifiers. Class F amplifiers generate a more square output waveform as compared to the usual sinewave. This "squaring-up" of the output waveform is achieved by encouraging the generation of odd-order harmonics (i.e., ×3, ×5, ×7, etc.) and suppressing the even-order harmonics (i.e., ×2, ×4, etc.) in the output network.
An example of a known power amplifier for use in a cellular telephone is shown in FIG. 1. GSM cellular telephones, for example, must be capable of programming output power over a 30 dBm range. In addition, the transmitter turn-on and turn-off profiles must be accurately controlled to prevent spurious emissions. Power is controlled directly by the DSP (digital signal processor) of the cellular telephone, via a DAC (digital to analog converter). In the circuit of FIG. 1, a signal GCTL drives the gate of an external AGC amplifier that controls the RF level to the power amplifier. A portion of the output is fed back, via a directional coupler, for closed-loop operation. The amplifier in FIG. 1 is not a switch-mode amplifier. Rather, the amplifier is at best a Class AB amplifier driven into saturation, and hence demonstrates relatively poor efficiency.
Survey of Prior Patents
Control of the output power from an amplifier is consistently shown as requiring a feedback structure, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,392,245; 4,992,753; 5,095,542; 5,193,223; 5,369,789; 5,410,272; 5,697,072 and 5,697,074. Other references, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,912, teach the control of amplifier output power by changing the amplifier load circuit.
A related problem is the generation of modulated signals, e.g., amplitude modulated (AM) signals, quadrature amplitude modulated signals (QAM), etc. A known IQ modulation structure is shown in FIG. 2. A data signal is applied to a quadrature modulation encoder that produces I and Q signals. The I and Q signals are applied to a quadrature modulator along with a carrier signal. The carrier signal is generated by a carrier generation block to which a tuning signal is applied.
Typically, an output signal of the quadrature modulator is then applied to a variable attenuator controlled in accordance with a power control signal. In other instances, power control is implemented by vaying the gain of the amplifier. This is achieved by adjusting the bias on transistors within the inear amplifier, taking advantage of the effect where transistor transconductance varies with the aplied bias conditions. Since amplifier gain is strongly related to the transistor transconductance, varying the transconductance effectively varies the amplifier gain. A resulting signal is then amplified by a linear power amplifier and applied to an antenna.
A method for producing accurate amplitude modulated signals using non-linear Class C amplifiers, called "plate modulation," has been known for over 70 years as described in texts such as Terman's Radio Engineers Handbook (McGraw-Hill, 1943). In the typical plate-modulation technique, output current from the modulator amplifier is linearly added to the power supply current to the amplifying element (vacuum tube or transistor), such that the power supply current is increased and decreased from its average value in accordance with the amplitude modulation. This varying current causes the apparent power supply voltage on the amplifying element to vary, in accordance with the resistance (or conductance) characteristics of the amplifying element.
By using this direct control of output power, AM can be effected as long as the bandwidth of the varying operating voltage is sufficient. That is, these nonlinear amplifiers actually act as linear amplifiers with respect to the amplifier operating voltage. To the extent that this operating voltage can be varied with time while driving the nonlinear power amplifier, the output signal will be linearly amplitude modulated.
In AM signals, the amplitude of the signal is made substantially proportional to the magnitude of an information signal, such as voice. Information signals such as voice are not constant in nature, and so the resulting AM signals are continuously varying in output power. Methods of achieving amplitude modulation include the combination of a multitude of constant amplitude signals, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,580,111; 4,804,931; 5,268,658 and 5,652,546. Amplitude modulation by using pulse-width modulation to vary the power supply of the power amplifier is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,896,372; 3,506,920; 3,588,744 and 3,413,570. However, the foregoing patents teach that the operating frequency of the switch-mode DC-DC converter must be significantly higher than the maximum modulation frequency.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,688 to Nakanishi et al. addresses the control of linear amplifiers using feedback control to set the actual amplifier output power, combined with periodic adjustment of the power amplifier operating voltage to improve the operating efficiency of the power amplifier. The primary drawback of this technique is the requirement for an additional control circuit to sense the desired output power, to decide whether (or not) the power amplifier operating voltage should be changed to improve efficiency, and to effect any change if so decided. This additional control circuitry increases amplifier complexity and draws additional power beyond that of the amplifier itself, which directly reduces overall efficiency.
A further challenge has been to generate a high-power RF signal having desired modulation characteristics. This object is achieved in accordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,111 to Swanson by using a multitude of high efficiency amplifiers providing a fixed output power, which are enabled in sequence such that the desired total combined output power is a multiple of this fixed individual amplifier power. In this scheme, the smallest change in overall output power is essentially equal to the power of each of the multitude of high efficiency amplifiers. If finely graded output power resolution is required, then potentially a very large number of individual high efficiency amplifiers may be required. This clearly increases the overall complexity of the amplifier.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,799 performs polar modulation, but is restricted to full-response data signals and is not useful with high power, high-efficiency amplifiers. The patent teaches that amplitude variations on the modulated signal are applied through a digital multiplier following phase modulation and signal generation stages. The final analog signal is then developed using a digital-to-analog converter. As stated in the State of the Art section herein, signals with information already implemented in amplitude variations are not compatible with high-efficiency, nonlinear power amplifiers due to the possibly severe distortion of the signal amplitude variations.
Despite the teachings of the foregoing references, a number of problems remain to be solved, including the following: to achieve high-efficiency amplitude modulation of an RF signal by varation of the operating voltage using a switch mode converter without requiring high-frequency switch-mode operation (as compared to the modulation frequency); to unify power-level and burst control with modulation control; to enable high-efficiency modulation of any desired character (amplitude and/or phase); and to enable high-power operation (e.g., for base stations) without sacrificing power efficiency.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A toner container has three chambers for holding three different color toners. The container is receivable by a receiving structure having a pair of opposing slots for receiving flanges on the base of the toner container. The receiving mechanism is part of a development device which includes a movable carriage for moving a plurality of development units into alignment with a development position. A portion, for example, an applicator of each development unit is movable with respect to the rest of the unit into toning relation with an image member at the development position.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,146, issued to Yamada on May 22, 1990, is illustrative of a number of references which show the development of a series of electrostatic images carried on a photoconductive drum with different color toners at a single development position. A series of four development stations are moved one after another to the development position. Each station develops an image and is replaced by another station as the series of stations is indexed to apply a different color toner to the next image. The series of stations are arranged side-by-side and moved linearly through a position in which the station to be used is aligned with the development position. After or as it is aligned, a cam is rotated to push the entire station toward the development position, generally moving transverse to the motion of the series of stations and moving relative to the other stations.
This general approach has the advantage of using only a single development position for applying four different color toners to electrostatic images. This permits the use of development stations whose size and number would prohibit them being spaced around the periphery of a relatively small photoconductive drum. It, thus, also permits the use of a small photoconductive drum in multicolor imaging. The use of a small drum has many advantages, including reduced expense, reduced size of the apparatus and convenience in cartridge type replacement.
The structure shown in the prior art requires two motions on the part of each development unit. The four units are moved as one, linearly in one direction and the unit opposite the development position is moved relative to the others, transverse to that motion into operative relationship with the photoconductive drum. The second movement requires that the units be mounted so they are movable relative to each other and requires a separate moving mechanism that must be powered sufficiently to move an entire unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,608 to Kroll et al, issued Jan. 26, 1993, describes a structure which solves some of the problems associated with these prior art structures by providing a movable applicator at the top of each unit which is movable relative to the unit. With a movable applicator the rest of the unit can be fixed with respect to the other units and only the applicators moved for final positioning with respect to the development position. That application shows toner supply chambers positioned longitudinally between the units which supply chambers are either replaceable from above the units or fillable from above the units. Such chambers contain a limited amount of toner and generally would require complete removal of the developing device for replacement of toner. Toner could be supplied in four separate containers, as is generally the case for supplying toner to color electrophotographic apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,269, Kasahara et al, issued Mar. 22, 1988, shows a traditional container for supplying toner to an electrophotographic apparatus. The toner is contained in a plastic bottle having a generally rectangular cross-section with a base having flanges extending outward from opposite sides for inserting in slots in a receiving structure. Once the toner bottle has been positioned over a sump with the flanges held by the slots, a pull tab is pulled, removing a paper seal and opening the bottom, dumping the toner into the sump. The sump does not take all of the toner in the container, and the container, therefore, stays on top of the sump until empty, at which point it is removed and a new toner container positioned. The container, thus, forms a portion of the toner supply system of the apparatus. It extends as far above the sump as the apparatus will permit to hold as much as two liters of toner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,690, Hacknauer etal, issued Feb. 13, 1990, shows a toner bottle similar to that in the Kasahara reference which is designed for a color apparatus which would receive four such bottles side-by-side on stationary sumps.
The packaging for such toner is a significant portion of the cost of supplying the toner. To multiply that packaging cost by four with a four-color image-forming apparatus is undesirable, but it is the present state of the art.

Color image forming apparatus and toner container


A multi-phase personal care composition is described that comprises a first visually distinct structured phase and a second visually distinct structured phase. The first visually distinct structured phase comprises a cleansing phase that includes about 2% to about 23.5%, by weight of the cleansing phase, of surfactant component. Preferably, the surfactant component comprises at least one branched anionic surfactant.

Personal care compositions are well known and widely used. Desirable personal care composition must meet a number of criteria. For example, in order to be acceptable to consumers, a personal care composition must exhibit good cleaning properties, must exhibit good lathering characteristics, must be mild to the skin (not cause drying or irritation) and preferably should even provide a conditioning benefit to the skin. Multi-phase personal cleansing compositions provide such benefits and can be made with a combination of structured surfactant phase and a benefit phase for moisturization. These types of multi-phase compositions can even be visually distinct.
It is desired to produce visually distinct compositions that are mild, and stable at a reasonable cost to the consumer. One method of producing mild compositions that are cost effective would be to minimize the surfactant level. Another method to produce a mild composition is to add a hydrophobic benefit phase. Very mild, personal care compositions can be prepared with the combination of low surfactant level and the presence of a hydrophobic benefit phase. However, minimizing surfactant level can cause instability in the surfactant phase which can be further exacerbated by adding hydrophobic benefit agents leading to loss of structure. Moreover, the lather volume of the personal care composition is reduced due to the combination of less surfactant and the presence of a hydrophobic component. Thus, it is difficult to create a mild, stable, high lathering personal cleansing composition with a low surfactant level in the presence of a hydrophobic benefit phase.
Accordingly, the need still remains for a structured multi-phase personal care composition that provides cleansing with increased lather longevity and improved lathering characteristics, and skin benefits such as improved clinical dry skin, silky skin feel, improved soft skin feel, and improved smooth skin feel with low levels of surfactants present in the composition.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Stable, patterned multi-phased personal care composition