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The present invention generally relates to a broadcasting receiving apparatus and a reception antenna direction setting method. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a receiving apparatus and a reception antenna direction setting method, capable of simultaneously receiving a plurality of channels.
There are some cases that a plurality of transmission stations and a plurality of relay stations of broadcasting electromagnetic waves in terrestrial broadcasting systems are present with respect to one reception area. For instance, JP-A-2001-86019 discloses such a technical idea that while optimum setting information of a reception antenna with respect to each of tuning channels has been previously stored, when a tuning operation is carried out, this reception antenna is set based upon the stored setting information.
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An aqueous adhesive mixture with a poly(meth-)acrylate base is described in German Patent Document DE-OS No. 34 07 270. This adhesive is used in the production of a self-adhesive foil with which it is possible to protect sensitive surfaces, for example, lacquer-coated synthetic resin structural shapes during transport, storage and conditioning. The adhesive is available as a cloudy aqueous dispersion and cannot be used effectively to bond surfaces together regardless of the material from which they are constituted and thus can not be termed "universal adhesive". The term "universal adhesive" is used to refer to an adhesive which can be used to bond flexible or rigid, porous or nonporous, metallic, glass, wood, fabric, paper, leather and other materials together upon an application of the adhesive to one or both surfaces and then pressing of the surfaces together.
It is true that a "universal adhesive" as this term is used here cannot be used to bond every pair of materials together, since there are substrates or materials to be bonded to which the adhesive will not adhere and which will be repellant to or damaged by the adhesive. Nevertheless, there are enough substrates and materials with mutually different term is considered applicable. The "universal adhesive" is probably better described as a multipurpose adhesive, for this reason, but both terms may be used interchangeably here and we will continue to use the term "universal adhesive" because this term has received an art recognized significance for an adhesive capable of bonding many different materials to themselves and other materials.
Universal adhesives as have been provided heretofore contain high-molecular-weight compounds as the adhesive substance which can bond to many surfaces. Preferred high molecular weight compounds for this purpose heretofore have been nitrocellulose and polyvinylacetate. These materials are contained in solvent mixtures which might consist, for example, of esters and ketones and in many cases may also have significant proportions of alcohols.
The composition of the solvent and the solvent proportion are determined by the polymers used, the desired flowability (rheological) properties of the adhesive and the requisite bonding velocity. On certain synthetic resins or plastics, the solvent can have a solubilizing or attacking effect.
Typical of the substrates which may be bonded to or which may be bonded to another substrate are wood, paper, metal, leather and the like. Commercially available universal adhesives include UHU, PRITT and STABILIT universal adhesives.
As has already been indicated, these known universal adhesives contain high proportions of organic solvents. In general, this is a disadvantage because the solvents are environmentally hazardous and create dangerous and unhealthy conditions in the workplace. Frequently, the adhesives must be diluted or thinned with the organic solvent which thus must be handled even apart from the adhesives, or the solvent is evaporated at the workplace and the vapors may not be fully carried off in a safe or healthy manner.
There are, of course, known aqueous universal adhesives which avoid these drawbacks. However, in the presence of moisture the bonded adhesive tends to redisperse so that a permanent bond of the substrates joined together cannot exist, i.e. the bond may separate. In addition, the tensile and shear strengths of the adhesive bonds formed with these aqueous systems are generally not satisfactory.
Furthermore, in many cases it is desirable that the universal adhesives be transparent and this requirement is not fulfilled by most of the commercial aqueous universal adhesives currently available.
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to variable tone electric guitars and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, it relates to an improved switching system for interchanging the selection and combination of pickup outputs to provide a wide variety of output sounds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been a great number of multi-pickup or multi-coil guitar reproduction systems used and/or attempted in recent years, and it is safe to say that many, if not most of these types of guitar, employ multiple switching and require considerable dexterity and instant recall memory to use in a performance situation. The most efficient of these prior systems have been those that employ a preset wherein certain tonal choices have already been made for the guitar player. Several of these types employ rotary switches; examples include the Willi Stich systems, as owned by the present assignee. The Paul Reed Smith system, and a recent development by Gibson Guitar Corp. that combines a rotary switch in a sophisticated active circuit functioning in conjunction therewith.
While rotary switches are extremely versatile, they are not easy to turn when time is of the essence. Players dislike them also for the reason that they are difficult to read or interpret when the guitar is in use on stage. Another common switching system uses an individual on-off switch, usually a small toggle switch, for each of the three pickups, and coil switching, if necessary, is done by either a fourth toggle switch or by using the three-position switches. In such variations, the center position is "OFF" while a first position is both coils and a third position is a single coil selection. This configuration permits any combination of pickups; however, many of the combinations will require manipulation of two or more switches, often in opposite directions, and this is not an easy movement when it must be effected with great rapidity.
It has long been acknowledged by guitarists and string artists in general that the two most useful guitar pickup configurations are the GIBSON tonality which incorporates two dual-coil humbucker pickups, and the FENDER tonality, i.e., the system used on the STRATOCASTER, which utilizes three spaced single-coil pickups. A modern variation employs three pickups, but uses a dual-coil pickup in the bridge position to enable a more full sound when playing lead parts. Yet another modern variation uses the two humbucking pickups adjacent the bridge and fingerboard but inserts a single-coil pickup between them. The GIBSON system uses a three-position switch that allows the artist to select the fingerboard pickup, both pickups, and the bridge pickup. The FENDER system as originally constructed utilized a three-position switch to select either the fingerboard coil, middle coil or the bridge pickup coil alone There were no intentional combinations of pickups available but such combinations did evolve as the FENDER system was utilized over time.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fruit- and nut-harvesting equipment, and more particularly to apparatus for collecting harvested material, generally from trees, and transferring the harvest from its collection sites to large vehicular trailers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mechanical devices for harvesting fruit and nuts from trees typically operate by gripping the tree trunk and imparting thereto a controlled, low-frequency vibration or shaking action. This operation dislodges the fruit or nuts, which are then collected and transported.
A typical tree-shaking apparatus includes two opposing clamp members that engage the tree trunk, and which are themselves driven by dual oscillation or vibration units. Because droppage occurs over the relatively wide area corresponding to the extent of the tree's foliage, suitable collection apparatus must span this area yet be conveniently transportable from tree to tree. Such apparatus generally also includes a local conveying assembly for drawing the harvest to a collection point after it falls from the tree.
Subsequent transfer of the harvest from local collection points to a central repository, where it is prepared for bulk shipment, can impose considerable logistical problems. Indeed, such difficulties arise in many harvesting contexts, whether or not removal from trees is involved. One approach, exemplified by copending application Ser. No. 08/164,891, utilizes a self-propelled forklift-type device to haul relatively small bags of harvest from collection sites to a central site. Such arrangements, while flexible and particularly well-suited for small orchards, can become unworkable in larger agricultural operations having substantial numbers of collection sites and a distant central repository.
For these applications, larger intermediate collection vehicles are desirable Unfortunately, such vehicles (such as flatbed trailers) can be difficult to load, particularly from harvesting apparatus designed to dislodge fruit or nuts from trees. These apparatus typically collect harvest over a wide area, and are therefore quite large. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,269,021, 3,623,308, 5,191,758, 5,123,238, and 1,626,068, and copending application Ser. No. 08/165,028. The limited maneuverability both of such devices and of the large collection vehicle itself--particularly in orchard environments, where vehicles are constrained to move within narrow lanes--can obviate the possibility of their simultaneous utilization.
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Such belt retractor has a frame, a belt reel which is rotatably mounted in the frame, a locking mechanism which is adapted to block a rotation of the belt reel in an unwinding direction of the safety belt vehicle-sensitively and/or sensitively to the belt webbing, and a pretensioning drive which is adapted to drive the belt reel in a wind up direction of the safety belt and in the unwinding direction.
The belt retractor is part of an active vehicle occupant restraint system by means of which, upon recognizing a critical vehicle situation, various precautions are taken to protect a vehicle occupant from negative consequences in the best possible way. The measures taken may, for example, include changing the inclination of a back rest of a vehicle seat, closing the vehicle windows, pretensioning the safety belt, and further measures. All these measures are reversible; as soon as the vehicle state that was recognized as being critical does no longer exist, the vehicle is again returned to its initial state. As regards the belt retractor, this means that the safety belt that was wound up by the pretensioning drive upon recognizing a critical vehicle situation to eliminate, as far as possible, the so-called belt slack in the safety belt, is again released, as soon as the vehicle state recognized as being critical does no longer exist. The possibility to actively release the safety belt again and re-establish the original state clearly distinguishes a pretensioning drive from a conventional belt tensioner drive. The latter solely serves to tension the safety belt directly before an accident; no return feature is provided. A further distinction between a conventional belt tensioner drive and a pretensioning drive is the belt webbing force achieved when the safety belt is tensioned. The belt webbing forces generated by a pretensioning drive are several times smaller than those generated by a conventional belt tensioner drive (up to clearly more than 1000 N).
In belt retractors having a pretensioning drive, the locking mechanism may be activated “by accident”, when the belt reel was rotated in the wind up direction of the safety belt and the safety belt was pretensioned, for example if the vehicle is braked. This may result in that a locking pawl triggered by the locking mechanism completely engages in a locking toothing associated therewith, so that the belt reel is completely blocked. Since the locking toothing normally is undercut, i.e. when being subjected to a load it exerts a force entraining the locking pawl into the locking toothing so as to be able to reliably transfer the high locking loads acting in an accident between the locking toothing and the locking pawl, a reverse rotation of the belt reel in the wind up direction is necessary to permit the locking pawl to be moved out of the locking toothing again. It follows from this that prior to releasing the pretensioned safety belt, the belt webbing force at first increases because of the rotation of the belt reel to release the locking pawl. Since the safety belt has already been pretensioned anyway, the vehicle occupant experiences this as being unpleasant.
It is, therefore, the object of the invention to further develop a belt retractor of the aforementioned kind to the effect that the increase of the belt webbing force when returning from a state in which the safety belt is pretensioned to the initial state may be prevented.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a program recording apparatus.
2. Related Art of the Invention
First, a structure of a program recording apparatus according to a prior art is described in reference to FIG. 18. Here, FIG. 18 is a configuration view of a program recording apparatus according to a prior art.
The main tuner 10 is a unit receiving an analog broadcasting channel which becomes a recorded image object from an antenna 1.
A sub-tuner 20 is a unit receiving electronic program information provided by a broadcasting station (not shown) from the antenna 1. A data decoding processing part 21 is a unit inputting a signal from the sub-tuner 20 so as to extract and decode electronic program information which multiplexed between vertical retrace line sections of a particular channel.
An image/speech sound encoding processing part 30 is a part for inputting a signal from the main tuner 10 so as to code a digital image/speech sound signal by MPEG, or the like.
A micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphic function are built in is a unit which can generate program management information as graphics so as to control the display by a data display part 90 in accordance with the operation of an infrared remote controller 250 by a user. A memory 41 is a unit maintaining work memories required for electronic program information, program management information and the operation of the micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function is built in.
The memory 41 stores electronic program information as shown in FIG. 2. Here, FIG. 2 is a list of electronic program information (appropriately extracted from electronic program information delivered in the week of Jul. 28, 1999) at 20:30 on Aug. 12, 1999.
Electronic program information provided by a broadcasting station (not shown) is formed of seven items: channel, program title, broadcast date and time, genre, program summary, television personalities and series information. The channel is a broadcasting channel of programs. The program title is the title of a program. Broadcast date and time are the date and time when the program broadcast is started and the date and time when the program broadcast is finished. The genre is the category which reflects the contents of the program and is any of “news,” “movies,” “sports,” “drama,” “documentary,” and “others.” The program summary is a summary of the program contents, which is able to be omitted. The television personalities are the people who appear on the program, which are able to be omitted. The series information shows broadcast format of a program, or the like, and is information which is attached in the case that the program consists of a series.
In addition, the memory 41 stores program management information as shown in FIG. 19. Here, FIG. 19 is a list of program management information (recorded programs and programs set for recording are extracted) at 20:30 on Aug. 12, 1999 according to a prior art.
The program management information is formed of seven item of present time, maximum recording time, priority criterion for erasing programs, channel, program group, program group recording criterion and program recording condition (broadcast start date and time and recording time are included).
The present time is current time. The maximum recording time is the maximum value of the total of the program recording time which can be recorded in a recording medium 261. Here the maximum recording time of the recording medium 261 is 12 hours.
The priority criterion for erasing programs is a criterion which is set by a user, which determines the priority with respect to the erasure of data containing the contents of the recorded programs or the programs set for recording and which is the “broadcast starting date and time” (that is to say, the data which contains the contents of the program of which the broadcast starting date and time is earlier are erased according to priority).
The channel is a broadcasting channel of programs. A program group is a series of series information offered by a broadcasting station (not shown). The program group recording criterion is a criterion with respect to the recording of data which contains the contents of programs which is set for each program group and which enables the selection of either of “record the newest x times (x is substituted by a concrete numeral)” or “record every time” for each program group.
The program recording condition is a condition with respect to program recording and is any of “set for recording,” “recorded” or “recording.” Here, in the column of the program recording condition the starting date and times of program broadcasting and recording time of a program (noted in parentheses) are also noted. Here, the starting date and time of program broadcast in the present column also represents the program title and is noted, for example, as 1999/0812/21:00 in FIG. 20 for the program “Total Solar Eclipse” in FIG. 2. In addition, the recording time of a program is the broadcasting time of the program.
The infrared remote controller 250 is a unit commanding the power source control, channel switching, setting for recording a program, and password input of the recording setter to the micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in through the infrared reception part 51.
The media control part 60 is a part for inputting a signal from the image/speech sound encoding processing part 30 and the micro controller 240 wherein a clock/graphics function are built in so as to carry out writing in and erasing of the data in the recording medium 261.
An image/speech sound decoding processing part 70 is a part for inputting a signal from the medium controlling part 60 so as to decode a digital/image speech sound signal.
An image/speech sound/graphics switching part 80 is a part for inputting a signal from the main tuner 10, the micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in and the image/speech sound decoding processing part 70 so as to switch the outputs of image, speech sound and graphics.
The data display part 90 is a part for inputting a signal from the image/speech sound/graphics switching part 80 so as to render an image and speech sound on a CRT (cathode ray tube) 91.
The operation of the program recording apparatus according to a prior art which has the above described configuration is described in reference to FIGS. 18 to 20.
First, the operations of the program recording apparatus according to a prior art when receiving electronic program information offered by a broadcasting station (not shown) and when forming program management information are described.
The sub-tuner 20 receives, from the antenna 1, the electric wave sent out from a broadcasting station (not shown) extracts data which has electronic program information and carries out signal output to the data decoding processing part 21. The data decoding processing part 21 decodes a signal inputted from the sub-tuner 20 and carries out signal output to the micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in. The micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in inputs a signal from the data decoding processing part 21, which is outputted to the memory 41.
The memory 41 inputs a signal from the micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in and stores electronic program information offered by a broadcasting station. The memory 41 stores electronic program information as shown in FIG. 2 at 20:30 on Aug. 12, 1999.
In addition, the micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in refers to the electronic program information and forms program management information as shown in FIG. 19, which is stored in the memory 41.
Next, the operation of the program recording apparatus according to a prior art when carrying out a setting for recording a program group “Total Solar Eclipse” through the record indication by a user at 20:30 on Aug. 12, 1999 is described.
The infrared remote controller 250 inputs a signal, which commands the recording of the program group “Total Solar Eclipse” according to a record indication by the user, to the micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in through the infrared reception part 51. Here, the record indication contents by the user are that the channel is “12,” the program group is “Total Solar Eclipse” and the program group recording criterion is “record every time.”
The micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in inputs a signal of the above described record indication from the infrared remote controller 50. In addition, the micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in refers to electronic program information as shown in FIG. 2 based on the input signal and recognizes that the program group “Total Solar Eclipse” comprises a program “Total Solar Eclipse (first)” which is broadcast from 21:00 on Aug. 12, 1999 and of which the recording time is 2 hours, and a program “Total Solar Eclipse (second)” which is broadcast from 21:00 on Aug. 12, 1999 and of which the recording time is 2 hours. The micro controller 240 updates the program management information as shown in FIG. 19 to program management information as shown in FIG. 20. Here, FIG. 20 is a list of updated program management information at 20:30 on Aug. 12, 1999, which is different from FIG. 19 in the point that information with respect to the program group “Total Solar Eclipse” is written in.
The micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in stores that updated program management information in the memory 41.
Next, the operation by the program recording apparatus when recording the program “Total Solar Eclipse (first)” at 21:00 on Aug. 12, 1999 is described.
The micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in refers to program management information as shown in FIG. 20 when it becomes close to 21:00 on Aug. 12, 1999 and recognizes that sufficient empty space exists in the recording medium 261 for recording the program “Total Solar Eclipse (first)” (noted as 1999/0812/21:00 in FIG. 20) of which the recording time is 2 hours because the maximum recording time of the recording medium 261 is 12 hours and the total recording hours of the programs of which the program recording condition is “recorded” is 10 hours at 21:00 on Aug. 12, 1999.
The main tuner 10 receives electric waves sent out from the broadcasting station (not shown) from the antenna 1 when it becomes 21:00 on Aug. 12, 1999, and extracts data which contain the contents of the program “Total Solar Eclipse (first)” so as to carry out signal output to the image/speech sound encoding processing part 30. The image/speech sound encoding processing part 30 encodes a signal inputted from the main tuner 10 and carries out a signal output to the medium control part 60. The medium control part 60 inputs a signal from the image/speech sound encoding processing part 30 and starts the writing in of the data which contains the contents of the program “Total Solar Eclipse (first)” to a recording medium 261. In addition, the medium control part 60 carries out a signal output, of the start of the writing in of the data which contains the contents of the program “Total Solar Eclipse (first)” to the recording medium 261, into the micro controller 40 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in.
The micro controller 40 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in updates program management information as shown in FIG. 21 and stores this in the memory 41. Here, FIG. 21 shows a list of program management information at 21:00 on Aug. 12, 1999 which is different from FIG. 20 in the point that the program recording condition of the program “Total Solar Eclipse (first)” is “recording.”
Next, the operation of the program recording apparatus when carrying out recording of the program “Total Solar Eclipse (second)” at 21:00 on Aug. 13, 1999 is described.
The micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in refers to program management information as shown in FIG. 21 when it becomes close to 21:00 on Aug. 13, 1999 and recognizes that sufficient empty space does exist in the recording medium 261 for recording the program “Total Solar Eclipse (second)” (noted as 1999/0813/21:00 in FIG. 20) of which the recording time is 2 hours because the maximum recording time of the recording medium 261 is 12 hours and the total recording hours of the programs of which the program recording condition is “recorded” is 12 hours at 21:00 on Aug. 13, 1999.
As shown in FIG. 20, the program erasure priority criterion is “broadcast start date and time” according to a prior art. Therefore, the data contains the contents of a program of which the broadcast start date and time is earlier are erased according to the priority.
The program of which the broadcast start date and time is the earliest is the program “It Will be Sunny Tomorrow (sixth)” (noted as 1999/0728/20:00 in FIG. 20) and the program of which the broadcast start date and time is the earliest next to this is the program “It Will be Sunny Tomorrow (seventh)” (noted as 1999/0804/20:00 in FIG. 20).
The micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in judges that it is enough to erase the data containing the contents of “It Will be Sunny Tomorrow (sixth)” of which the recording time is 1 hour and the data containing the contents of “It Will be Sunny Tomorrow (seventh)” of which the recording time is 1 hour in order to carry out the recording of the program “Total Solar Eclipse (first)” of which the recording time is 2 hours and carries out a signal output of a command to erase these to the medium control part 60.
The medium control part 60 inputs a command from the micro controller 240 wherein a clock and graphics function are built in and erases the data containing the contents of the program “It Will be Sunny Tomorrow (sixth)” and the data containing the contents of the program “It Will be Sunny Tomorrow (seventh).”
The main tuner 10 receives the electric wave sent out from the broadcasting station (not shown) from the antenna 1 at 21:00 on Aug. 12, 1999 and extracts the data containing the contents of the program “Total Solar Eclipse (second)” so as to carry out a signal output to the image/speech sound encoding processing part 30. The image/speech sound encoding processing part 30 encodes a signal inputted from the main tuner 10 and carries out a signal output to the medium control part 60. The medium control part 60 inputs a signal from the image/speech sound encoding processing part 30 and starts the writing in of the data containing the contents of the program “Total Solar Eclipse (second)” to the recording medium 261.
In addition, as has already been described, the program “It Will be Sunny Tomorrow (sixth)” and the program “It Will be Sunny Tomorrow (seventh)” are erased at the time when the program “Total Solar Eclipse (second)” is started to be recorded according to the program erasure priority criterion. In the case that the user strongly desires to watch the program “It Will be Sunny Tomorrow (sixth)” and the program “It Will be Sunny Tomorrow (seventh),” that is to say, these are the programs which must not be erased, it is disadvantageous.
In this manner there is the problem that, when sufficient vacant space does not exist at the time of carrying out recording the programs which are judged to have the highest priority of erasure, according to the program erasure priority criterion, are erased, even in the case that they are the programs the user does not desire to be erased.
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The present invention relates generally to methods and systems for preparing ultra pure cuprous chloride (CuCl). More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method and system for preparing CuCl by the reduction of cupric chloride (CuCl.sub.2) to cuprous chloride in the presence of copper metal.
Ultra pure CuCl crystals which are free of cupric ion (Cu++) are useful as an optically nonlinear material that has wide applications for use in electro optic and integrated optic systems. In order for the CuCl crystals to be suitable for such applications, it is essential that the CuCl be free of cupric ions. Due to size and charge disparities, cupric ions cannot substitute for cuprous ions (Cu+) in the cuprous chloride crystal lattice. Unless there are present other impurity species that are size and/or charge-compensating, the cupric ions can only occupy interstitial sites. As a result, the inclusion of cupric ions in the cuprous chloride crystal lattice produces cuprous ion vacancies and/or chloride ion interstices. Cuprous ion vacancies are by far more prevalent. When oxygen ion impurities are also present in the crystal lattice, the oxygen ions may substitute for chloride ions to coexist with either substitutional or interstitial cupric ions. In this fashion, the oxygen ions provide stabilization of the cupric ion within the cuprous chloride crystal lattice. This makes it even more difficult to rid the cuprous chloride crystal or powder of the undesirable cupric ions.
The conventional method of preparing cuprous chloride powder involves immersing copper metal in an aqueous solution of cupric chloride that is highly acidified with hydrochloric acid and blanketed by an inert gas such as nitrogen. The reaction which takes place is: ##STR1## This conventional method is based on a heterogeneous reaction, i.e., one involving reactants in the solid state (copper metal) and liquid solution (CuCl.sub.2). The rate at which the process occurs is limited in its early stages by the magnitude of the liquid-solid interfacial area. Further, as the concentration of reactants in the liquid solution diminishes, the reaction rate decelerates so that the reaction cannot be completed within time intervals of practical duration. In order to speed up the reaction, copper metal in a high surface-to-volume form, such as powder or turnings is used and the reaction mixture is heated to below boiling temperature. This provides increased initial reaction rates, but even then, the reaction rate slows considerably near the end point. As a result, the end point of the reaction cannot be reached within realistic time intervals.
Cupric chloride solution is dark green in color and turns very dark brown upon contact with the copper powder or turnings. The brown coloration gets lighter with the progress of the reaction. The solution becomes colorless when the reaction is complete. However, as mentioned above, the end point of the reaction cannot be reached within a realistic time interval using stoichiometric amounts of copper metal and cupric chloride solution, so that a small amount of cupric ions remain in the solution. Stoichiometric, as used herein, means that when the reaction is complete there are no leftover amounts of either reactant.
Cuprous chloride is very soluble in hydrochloric acid, but only slightly soluble in water. A highly HCL-acidified aqueous medium is used to prevent the premature precipitation of the curpous chloride. Precipitation of cuprous chloride during the reaction is undesirable, since the cuprous chloride precipitates on the surface of the copper metal and hinders the progress of the reaction.
In conventional processes, when the solution is as near to its end point as patience and economics will allow, any excess copper metal is retrieved and the solution is diluted with deoxygenated water in order to reduce its acidity and bring about the precipitation of the cuprous chloride. The precipitate is then filtered off, washed down sparingly with chilled deoxygenated water and vacuum dried. This entire series of steps must be carried out under a blanket of inert gas. Since it is difficult to retrieve any excess copper which may be left in the solution, the reaction is conventionally carried out with an excess of cupric chloride. The excess cupric chloride insures complete copper metal consumption and stays in solution when the solution is diluted and separated from the cuprous chloride precipitate. However, the excess cupric chloride in the solution is undesirable because it provides a possible source of cupric ions to contaminate the cuprous chloride powder.
Cuprous chloride powder prepared according to the above conventional process is available in the highpurity materials market as a powder that is five nines pure (99.999%) on a "metal basis". However, this manner of specification does not regard cupric ions as an impurity in cuprous chloride. As a result, the cuprous chloride powder may include varying amounts of cupric chloride. This explains why the market-variety cuprous chloride comes in the form of a powder that is various shades of green. Cupric ion-free cuprous chloride powder should be white.
It would be desirable to provide a method and system for preparing white cuprous chloride powder which is essentially free of cupric ion and which can be used in the preparation of ultra pure cuprous chloride crystals for use in electro optic and integrated optic system. Further, it would be desirable to provide a method in which the reaction time for the complete conversion of cupric ions to cuprous ions is reduced.
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The following abbreviations that may be found in the specification and/or the drawing figures are defined as follows:
3GPPthird generation partnership projectEARFCNEUTRA absolute radio frequency channel numberEUTRAevolved universal terrestrial radio accessIEinformation elementLTElong term evolution (EUTRA network)LTE-ALTE-advancedRANradio access networkRFradio frequencySIsystem informationSIBsystem information blockUARFCNUTRA absolute radio frequency channel numberUMTSuniversal mobile telecommunication systemUEuser equipment
Cellular radio communications now include individual cells operating on multiple radio frequency channels in order to better support a variety of different UEs, some of which may be capable of operating on only one of these frequency bands which is different from a band for which another UE in the cell is capable. Additionally, some bands in use by one cell may have some frequency portion overlapping with bands in an adjacent neighbor cell, particularly where such neighbor cells operate under different radio access technologies, such as for example UMTS and LTE. For example, in the HSPA version of UMTS, bands II and XXV have respective frequency bands 1930-1990 MHz and 1930-1995 MHz and thus are overlapping in frequency. There is a similar overlap among bands V (869-894 MHz), VI (875-885 MHz) and new band XXVI (814-849 and 859-894 MHz); bands IV (2110-2115 MHz) and X (2110-2170 MHz); and bands III (1805-1880 MHz) and IX (1844.9-1879.9 MHz).
Relevant to the above scenarios are certain proposals for LTE Release 10 set forth in document R2-114158 by Qualcomm entitled “Multiple harmonised bands per cell” and in document R2-114299 by Ericsson and ST-Ericsson entitled “Multiple frequency band indicators in a cell” (both from 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 meeting #75; Athens, Greece; 22-26 Aug. 2011). Specifically, these documents propose that some cells which belong to a frequency in an overlapping band will broadcast the multiple bands they support according to variously named extension fields for the SIB1. In the examples given, these are in the context of a new band 26 which was recently introduced into Release 10 discussions. This broadcast that multiple bands are supported is to allow new UEs which support the new band 26 to relax their RF requirements as compared to the older defined bands so that, when roaming onto an operator's band, they may then apply the new relaxed requirements, and thereby avoid the UE having to perform interoperability testing (IOT). These proposals are to additionally allow older UEs supporting the older bands to camp on the same cell as well as to allow legacy UEs to camp on the newer band. These proposals seek to adapt the requirement at section 5.4 of 3GPP TS 25.101 v10.2.0 (2011-06) that a cell is allowed to indicate in SI only one frequency band that it supports.
A problem arises in the above solutions when considering UE mobility between cells. A UE performs mobility based on a neighbor list given to it by SI. The conventional practice is that for UMTS, the individual cells on each frequency are listed, and for LTE only the frequency is listed. But if the above proposals of introducing multiple bands support in a cell were adopted, the UE would not know whether the neighbor cell (UMTS) or neighbor frequency (LTE) belongs to a frequency band which the UE supports until after that UE reads SI from the target cell (specifically, SIB5 if the target cell is UMTS and SIB1 if the target cell is LTE). So in some cases the UE will give up on re-selecting to the neighbor cell because of a non-supported frequency band only after the UE performed some mobility related processes (such as neighbor cell measurement, cell quality evaluation, cell reselection, target cell SI reading), which depletes the battery or other portable power source of the UE. Since the UARFCN (UTRA absolute radio frequency channel number) or EARFCN (EUTRA absolute radio frequency channel number) indicated in the neighbor cell/frequency list may belong to multiple bands, the UE cannot determine which band to which it refers.
Further, the serving cell's broadcast of its own UARFCN/EARFCN referring to a specific frequency can be different for a different band; different UARFCN/EARFCN can refer to the same frequency but in a different band/channel. In this case, the neighbor cell/frequency list which the UE uses for mobility purposes would need to be updated to broadcast the same frequency multiple times so that all UEs can reselect. But this then causes a problem in that there is a limited number of cells which can be broadcast in the UTRAN neighbor cell list. Even in some of today's networks, the size limitation imposed by the signalling restrictions of the UTRAN neighbor cell list can restrict the neighbor cell configuration and therefore increasing the size further is not practical. This also causes a problem due to there being a maximum number of frequencies in UTRAN and/or EUTRAN which the UE which is required to measure. In UMTS, the UE is required to be able to measure two frequencies in addition to the carrier (serving cell) frequency, and in LTE the UE is required to measure three frequencies in addition to the carrier frequency. If for example the serving cell supports three bands, the neighbor cell/frequency list size may increase by a factor of three. In principle, the UE could measure three bands if the frequencies are all identical, but this is not required by current radio specifications because currently there is no possibility for a cell to belong to more than one band.
For that reason, this issue was not a concern in the past. While there were some overlapping frequency bands (for example, Band V and Band VI overlap), there was no practical situation that the Band V cell could be signalled as a neighbor cell of a Band VI serving cell and additionally there was no possibility for either the serving or neighbor cell to support multiple bands. The detailed teachings below resolve the above problem which is wasteful of the UE's limited power source.
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This invention relates to a system for providing a continuous supply of web material to an applicator. This means a splicing system to add the leading end of a fresh roll of web material to the trailing end of an exhausted supply roll. The splicing system has to make a rapid and secure splice so the leading end of the new roll will be drawn into the applicator along a path created for the advance of the web material to the applicator without stopping the supply of web material to the applicator. In one aspect the present invention provides an improved splicing system using a splicing tape on a backing. The splicing system is adapted to use a splicing tape to make positive contact between the web material ends without special end structures, and the system uses sufficient tape tension sensing and braking mechanisms to avoid tensions that would break the tape or stop the tape while splicing the new roll to the expired supply roll.
The use of splices to join ends of rolls of web material exist. The art is replete with patents on the subject and on different ways of making the splice.
One such patent is the U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,327, (Asbury et al.), which discloses a splicing system for splicing the trailing end of one tape to the leading portion of another. The first tape 12 is provided at its trailing end with a pin element 16. A second tape 18 is provided at its leading end with a loop element 22. When the pin engages the loop, the tapes become linked, causing the trailing end of the first tape to pull the leading end of the second tape into the machine. The patent family includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,768 and Canadian Patent 1,280,097.
A splicing tape is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,699 (Weirauch et al.) disclosing a tape with a splicing portion (1,2) and an attachment portion (10″, 41). The tape disclosed has an attachment portion (10″, 41) for attaching the splicing portion (1,2) and separating the splicing portion from the surface of the underlying layer. This patent is directed to a specific splicing tape for use with a roll of paper to attach the end of the roll to the outer wrap on the roll.
A splicing method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,991 (Kubota et al.) for attaching a length of magnetic tape to a leader. The apparatus provides for aligning ends of the tapes with the ends of the leaders extending from a cassette, and splicing the ends using vacuum holders for the ends.
Another patent, U.S. Pat. 5,573,626, (Rossini et al.), discloses a tape splicing machine that can splice an adhesive tape in a supply roll to the lead end of the tape in a subsequent roll. The tapes 24 and 26 are guided to the splicing station and between the splicing rollers 212 and 252. The supply tape nearing its end and results in the triggering of the microswitch to actuate the solenoid 230. The roller 212 is carried toward the roller 252 where the lead end of tape 44 is positioned to contact the supply tape 42. When the splice is made, the tape 42 makes contact with the tape 44, the splice is made, and the tape 42 is cut. See columns 23 through 26. In column 24, beginning in line 56, the patent describes the manual set up necessary to make the next splice.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,526, (Perecman et al.), is also directed to a tape splicing apparatus that splices a second tape to a first tape “on the fly.” The first tape is directed through a guide in the splicing apparatus where an applicator element is moved from a staging position toward the tape guide path to a splice position and then back to its staging position. The first tape is then cut and the machine readied for the subsequent splice.
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Computerized editing of images is described in the following publication:
Delean, Bruno, Method and System for Image Processing, PCT International Publication WO 94/22101, published Sep. 29, 1994. PA1 Step 1: Choose a template. PA1 Step 2: Select elements in the template to be edited. PA1 Step 3: Edit the selected elements. PA1 Step 4: Save or print.
The use of templates in graphics applications is well known although not specifically dealt with in the foregoing publication.
Templates were first created in graphics applications with the intention of giving guidance to a user who has not mastered the most arcane tools and features of a graphics software package, or who does not want to spend too much time creating graphics applications from scratch. In image editing applications, software designers have discovered that templates, if embedded in a format that allows for editing of rich effects, can be used to compensate for a user's inability to create compelling graphic designs. Instead of requiring that a user create everything from a clean slate, templates enable a user to choose from a collection of carefully designed examples one that pleases the user or suits the user's needs. The graphics application has features that enable the user to further customize the template.
The use of templates is common in most desktop publishing applications, such as ADOBE.RTM. PAGEMAKER.RTM., QUARK XPRESS.RTM. and MICROSOFT OFFICE.RTM.. MICROSOFT WORD.RTM., MICROSOFT EXCEL.RTM. and MICROSOFT POWERPOINT.RTM. all come with extensive collections of templates. Templates are less commonly used in raster image editing applications since, most of the time, these applications do not store edits, but rather, they store the resulting pixel based image.
In the professional market, LIVE PICTURE.RTM., MACROMEDIA X-RES.RTM. and METACREATION EXPRESSION.RTM. are among the few applications to provide templates. Some of the consumer level image editing application store edits in a layered structure, or expression tree, and are able to offer templates, often called "projects," to a user. This is the case for ADOBE.RTM. PHOTODELUXE.RTM., LIVEPIX.RTM. and MICROSOFT PICTURE IT!.RTM..
None of these applications, however, provides a way to process alternative designs at any point in the workflow. Specifically, in the prior art, templates are used in the following workflow:
If, at some point in the process, a user wants to change the template, the user has to start back from Step 1, losing whatever edits were performed in Steps 2 and 3.
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Coating medical devices is an often repeated procedure in contemporary manufacturing. Medical devices may be coated by methods that include spray coating, dip coating and roll coating. During each of these procedures coating is applied to the medical device and is then allowed to dry or cure prior to the medical device being used for an intended purpose.
When the medical device is formed partially or completely out of lattice struts or some other open framework, each of the faces of these struts or framework may be exposed to coating during the coating methods listed above.
In some cases, when the medical device being coated is a stent, all faces of the struts that comprise the stent may be coated when using the coating systems identified above. For example, when dip coating is used, each face of the stent struts will be exposed to the coating and thereby coated. This coating will remain when the stent is removed from the dip and will dry on surfaces of the struts without further intervention. Coating may even remain in the spaces between the struts after the coating has been applied to the workpiece. This phenomenon is sometimes called “webbing.” Here, not only are the individual struts covered, but some or all of the spaces between the struts are spanned by the coating as well.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to plastic panels (or slabs) and particularly to such items for use as production boards and/or pallets and the like. Even more particularly the invention relates to production boards or pallets useful in the production of unitary concrete masonry products such as paving stones and the like.
2. The Prior Art Background
Concrete masonry units such as paving stones and the like are produced in manufacturing facilities where the paving stones are cast and cured and eventually stored. The production operations include, inter alia, molding, compacting, vibrating, heating in high humidity, washing, brushing, cleaning, stacking, etc. Traditionally the stones are carried on a production pallet during the various production operations. Such pallets are thus exposed to the same set of conditions as the stones undergoing production. In addition, the pallets are subject to additional wear and tear because they must be handled by automated devices such as stackers conveyors and/or by human operated machines such as fork lifts. Finally after the concrete products are unloaded the pallets must be cleaned and stacked for reuse. Prior art patents describing the production of paving stones and the like include U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,713 to Woolford, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,048,472 to Woolford, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,994 to Dawson.
In the past there have been a variety of types of boards and/or pallets used in the concrete products industry. For example, useable prior art boards have been fabricated from materials such as hard wood, steel, and synthetic thermoplastic materials. Pallets fabricated from hard wood or thermoplastic materials often require internal or external strengthening. Prior art pallets and boards have also been fabricated as composite structures including a wooden or plastic laminated core covered by a plastic outer layer.
Commercially it has been known that useful pallets and/or boards should be lightweight, sturdy, long-lasting, damage and wear resistant, dimensionally stable and rigid. In addition it has been known that such products sometimes wear out so as to no longer be useful. Therefore it is desirable for the same to be fabricated from recyclable materials such as synthetic thermoplastic materials. Accordingly it is well known that molded plastic panels may be used as production pallets in the concrete masonry unit.
Although it is well known to use molded plastic panels as production pallets in the concrete masonry unit industry, such use has not been without its shortcomings. Dimensional stability is highly desirable and yet it is difficult to fabricate a panel from a thermoplastic material without substantial warping and/or difficulty in filling the mold. Furthermore, where internal steel strengthening bars are utilized to provide strength and rigidity to the plastic panel, the reclamation of the thermoplastic material from worn out panels is hindered. To solve such problems, it is known to mold the panel as two separate halves to enhance the molding procedure. Such halves are then joined together so as to present a single panel. Additional labor and hardware or bonding agents or heat have been necessary in the past to join the halves and keep them from later parting and causing difficulties somewhere along their journey.
In sum, the concrete masonry unit industry in particular is continually in need of better and more commercially beneficial equipment to enhance, improve and facilitate the overall production process. In particular the concrete masonry unit industry is continually in need of improved, enhanced and less expensive equipment such as production boards and the like.
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This application claims the priority of German patent document 100 06 286.5, filed Feb. 14, 2000, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a light wave converter, which partially converts incident light into light of a longer wavelength, whereby the converted light is passed together with the unconverted light through a light guide to an exit port.
There exist photopolymerization devices, which emit blue light with a wavelength ranging from approximately 400 to 500 nm. Said photopolymerization devices are used, for example, in dental practices for polymerization of the photocuring composite materials. However, the light that is optimal for polymerization is so bright that the use of these lamps is not suitable for illumination purposes in the mouth. Moreover, the blue light color, which is emitted from such devices and is required for polymerization, is suitable only for this application. For purposes, such as diagnostics, however, white light has been demonstrated to be advantageous.
Similarly there exist white light emitting operating lamps for illuminating the area to be treated. In the dental domain this light is also guided with a mirror to the area to be treated for better illumination of the individual areas. However, this procedure assumes that there is no impediment in the ray path. Moreover, the level of illumination that can be reached with this method is inadequate to transilluminate, for example, teeth, as is helpful for a dental diagnosis or for illuminating tooth defects (cracks or caries).
The German Patent Document DE A 198 30 335 discloses a fiber rod light guide for dental purposes, whose core is jacketed with a color coat. This color coat enables complete blockage of the light and prevents the dentist from being blinded by light emitted from the side of the fiber rod. Furthermore, it makes it possible to guide light, generated by polymerization devices, specifically to the spatially narrowly defined area to be treated.
The German Patent Document DE A 2913415 (corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,535) discloses a diagnostic lamp in the form of a small device or a pocket device for tooth examination for fluorescent excitation of a fluorescible material that is applied to the teeth and the gums. The diagnostic lamp comprises a filter unit, which is adapted to the fluorescible material and which is made of a dichroic and a blue color filter. The existing filters result in a significant attenuation of the light, which renders detailed examination of the object to be viewed more difficult.
The German Patent Document DE 36 44 839 A1 discloses an illuminating device, in particular for polymerization of dental plastics, which can be cured by means of light in the blue spectral range, with a liquid light guide. It is stated that the fill liquid can contain, for example, a dye, which serves as the filter, or a fluorescing dye.
An object of the present invention can be regarded as providing a device, which enables better illumination of the area to be treated. It is supposed to be easy to use and at the same time, if desired, also be bright enough at one point in order to transilluminate, for example, also the individual teeth. In this manner, hidden tooth defects, like cracks or caries, can also be detected and/or diagnosed.
This problem is solved by providing a light wave converter, optionally as an attachment for a photopolymerization device, which emits light preferably in the blue spectral range. This light wave converter is described herein and in the claims.
An object of the invention is also a process for illuminating and/or transilluminating teeth, in particular for diagnostic purposes, whereby the light wave converter converts light, which is usually generated by a polymerization lamp.
The conversion of the light incident on the device can be achieved by different methods.
Usually one part of the wavelength range of the light, penetrating into the light wave converter or the converter substance, is converted into light of a longer wavelength by luminescent processes. Through additive color mixture light with another color impression can be generated in this manner as a function of the wavelength of the penetrating light and the converter substance that is used.
However, it is also contemplated according to certain preferred embodiments of the invention that the light is divided into two or more partial beams before or after penetration into the light wave converter, whereby a partial beam is guided to the light wave converter and is converted completely into another wavelength range, whereas another partial beam is not converted and is guided past the light wave converter. In the area of the exit port of the light wave converter the converted and unconverted beams are united again. Then the light that is generated thus is guided directly or through a light guide to an exit port.
In this respect the invention exhibits the following advantages.
The photopolymerization devices of high light output that are wide spread and have been demonstrated to be reliable in dental practices can also be used in a simple manner to illuminate the area to be treated and for diagnostic purposes for transilluminating individual teeth. In contrast to the operating lamps, the light intensity can be significantly increased at one point.
Since the light can be guided over a light guide to an exit port, the light can be focused directly on the area to be treated without the need for additional mirrors. This feature makes it possible to utilize the complete intensity of the generated light of the desired wavelength.
Furthermore, through the use of a suitable converter substance light of any arbitrarily long wavelength can be generated as a function of the wavelength of the arriving beam of light without having to insert filter systems. With the spectral colors that can be coordinated over wide ranges and can be generated from the converted light with the unconverted light by additive color mixture, it is possible to adapt the light wave converter to the desired task so that for diagnostic purposes or for illuminating especially defective teeth, for example, maximum contrast can be obtained.
In principle, the incident light can exhibit any conceivable wavelength in the visible range, thus from 380 nm to approximately 700 nm. In certain preferred embodiments the incident light has a wavelength, ranging from 380 nm to 520 nm, as normally generated by dental photopolymerization devices.
The light wave converter converts preferably one part of the incident light to one or more wavelength(s), lying in the green, yellow or red spectral range. Preferred is the generation of green light, because light having the wavelength spectrum of the color white can be generated through the additive color mixture with the unconverted portion of the incident blue light.
With white light, for example, teeth can be illuminated and optionally transilluminated more effectively and contrasted more reliably than with blue light. Defects in the teeth or the fillings, for example cracks and caries, can be better visualized in this manner.
However, embodiments are also contemplated with a conversion into a wavelength range, which is matched with the substance to be illuminated and which makes it possible, optionally together with filter units, to distinguish, for example, tooth fillings having the color of the tooth from the natural tooth substance. The wavelengths can also be chosen in such a manner that the converted light initiates, for example, therapeutic chemical reactions in the oral cavity of suitable light activatable substances.
Light devices, which emit short wavelength light in the visible range, are used especially in dental practices to cure photocuring substances. Thus, the inventive light wave converter makes it possible to expand the range of application of the already existing devices. Thus, the dental offices save money and space that would be required for the additional acquisition of a device to generate white light for the described areas of application.
According to various preferred embodiments of the invention, the light wave converter can be disposed in front of, in or behind the light guide device. Also contemplated is a combination of arrangements or the use of several light wave converters at different locations. It can also be advantageous if the light wave converter is uniformly distributed, for example dispersed, in the light guide. In a preferred embodiment the light wave converter is located in the area of the entry port of the light guide.
In principle, the shape of the light guide is arbitrary, but preferably adapted to the intended application.
The light guide can be straight or curved. It is advantageous to bend said light guide at an angle of approximately 60 degrees, optionally from 90 degrees to 180 degrees, depending on the location in the mouth to be illuminated. In a preferred embodiment the light guide is flexible (goose neck lamp). This design enables an individual adaptation to the respective situation.
A small exit port with a diameter ranging from 1 to 10 mm, preferably from 2 to 5 mm, has been shown to be advantageous. It allows for a point illumination of the individual teeth and the space between the teeth.
In addition, the light wave converter can exhibit a brightness controller. The brightness is controlled preferably mechanically, for example, in the form of a diaphragm (iris or slotted aperture). Such a brightness controller enables better adjustment of the light intensity to the object to be illuminated or transilluminated, for example a tooth. To transilluminate the front teeth, far less intensity is required than for the side teeth.
Optionally the light wave converter also comprises a band pass filter, preferably a narrow-band band pass filter with a transmission, ranging from 400 to 500 nm, preferably ranging from 440 to 480 nm.
This feature makes it possible to match accurately and repeatedly the color of the light generated by the light wave converter, since experience has shown that the spectral range of the photopolymerization devices (in particular the long and short wave critical wavelengths) can vary widely from device to device. Then the light, which is defined thus in its spectral composition and guided to the wavelength converter, is totally or partially converted. Thus, the band pass filter also enables the excited light to be adjusted to the absorption spectrum of the converter substance.
The light wave converter is preferably designed interchangeably. For example, it can be achieved by means of a coupling on one end of the light wave converter. However, a shape in the form of a thread is also contemplated. Preferably a coupling, specified by the photopolymerization device, is used in order to enable a simple exchange of the light guide, which is usually mounted in the devices, for polymerization applications with the light wave converter for illumination applications.
Substances, which can be used for converting the electromagnetic waves preferably in the visible range, are all substances that can luminesce, in particular fluoresce, when optically excited.
The converter substances include organic and inorganic dyes or pigments.
Organic dyes can be selected from the class of perylenes, aldazines, thioxanthenes and/or the naphthalimides, preferably in pigment form.
Examples of such dyes are listed in the German Patent Document DE 37 03 495 A1.
Useful inorganic dyes contain preferably elements from the auxiliary groups, in particular from the group of lanthanides. Especially preferred are the elements Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Yb and Lu.
The converter substance is usually used in a quantity ranging from 0.005 to 5% by weight, preferably from 0.01 to 1% by weight, based on the mass of the substance to be dyed.
Commercially available and quite suitable are, for example, Lumogen(copyright) dyes (BASF AG, Ludwigshafen) or Lumilux(copyright) pigments (Riedel de Haen GmbH, Seelze).
Contemplated embodiments for the light wave converter include converter substance-penetrated filter sheets or plates made of glass or plastic, like PMMA, PE, PP, polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), PVC; converter substance-coated substrates, like glass, crystalline filter plates made of, for example, Cer-doped YAG, like Y3Al5O12:Ce or Y3Al2.5Ga2.5O12:Ce; converter substance-coated hollow bodies; the converter substance-enveloping glass fibers or glass rods, preferably in the doped form. In this respect the converter can be permanently or reversibly connected, for example in the form of an interchangeable filter disk, to the light guide.
The light wave converter can be sterilized preferably with hot steam. This sterilization can be achieved, for example, by embedding the light wave converter into a transparent or stable epoxy resin or by applying an exterior glass layer.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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The present invention relates generally to fiber optic cable. More particularly, the present invention relates to a splice-on optical connector for terminating outside plant drop cable or other optical fiber cable.
The ability of high-quality optical fiber to transmit large amounts of information without appreciable signal degradation is well known. As a result, optical fibers have found widespread use in many applications, such as voice and data transmission. Optical fiber is typically supplied and installed as fiber optic cable. The term “fiber optic cable” refers to the combination of the actual optical fiber plus the structure in which it is carried and protected during and after installation. Generally, a fiber optic cable includes the optical fiber, aramid fibers or other strength members, and an outer sheath. One common type of fiber optic cable used as outside plant drop cable is “flat type cable.” Because flat type cable typically has two strength members of aramid fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) located on lateral sides of the optical fiber, it exhibits sufficient stiffness for use as a drop cable.
In this application, current assembly technology uses factory terminated optical connectors. As a result, specific cable lengths are built for various deployments and excess cable is stored on site. While splice on connectors for optical fiber cables exist, they are not available for direct connection to flat drop outside plant cable. A splice-on connector would allow the flat drop outside plant cable to be field installed and the cable cut to the length required.
The present invention recognizes the foregoing considerations, and others, of the prior art.
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The present invention relates to a headlight for motor vehicles, particularly with clear, front cover plates with at least one light source as well as at least at least reflector associated with the light source and a beam shield disposed between the light source and the cover plate for avoiding the glare from oncoming vehicles.
In order to minimize the glare value for oncoming vehicles, beam shields are provided on at least one side, that is, on their inner sides, with a black lacquer surface.
With headlights with clear cover plates, however, a black, false flash is reflected, which is formed by the inner side of the beam shield, in the reflector, and released through the black inner coating of the shield. This false flash is visible to an observer standing in front of the vehicle. The visibility of the black false is not desirable from a design perspective.
In addition, particularly with small beam shields, the danger exists that, based on temperatures of the light source, a dampening of the lacquer takes place. This lacquer layer, then, breaks down on the inner side of the cover plate, so that a headlight of this type must be changed for technical as well as for design reasons.
With the use of beam shields that do not have a dark surface, however, the glare value is increased. This is particularly true for beam shields that were previously chrome-plated. The corresponding legal standards, then, cannot be achieved.
Under the term “beam shields”, beam shields should also be understood that use projection modules, as well as beam shields in the form of cover caps, which are arranged directly in front of the light source and which have a top- or cap-shaped component that is arranged in front of the light source.
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The present invention relates to a low temperature curable coatings, more particularly to addition curable organopolysiloxane coatings that cure rapidly at low temperature.
Addition curable release coating compositions and their use as release coatings are known, see, for example, coassigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,815. A layer of such coating is typically applied to a substrate, such as paper, from a reactive coating bath which contains an alkenyl-functional organopolysiloxane, a hydride-functional organopolysiloxane, a precious metal catalyst and a cure inhibitor. Once applied, the layer of coating is cured by exposing the coated substrate to elevated temperature.
The cure inhibitor retards cure of the coating and enables a balance between a long useful coating bath life at low temperature and rapid cure speed at elevated temperature to be maintained. There is a constant desire in the art to provide increased cure speed without compromising bath life.
The need to subject the coated substrate to elevated temperature to cure the coating layer introduces some drawbacks to the use of addition cure organopolysiloxane release coatings coating process, in the form of energy costs, a need to rehydrate coated paper substrates after curing and a limited ability to use such coatings to coat temperature sensitive substrates, such as, for example, some polymer films. Due to these drawbacks, there is a desire in the art to provide coatings that are curable at lower temperature without compromising bath life.
In a first aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of making a coated substrate.
In a first embodiment, a method of making a coated substrate comprises: applying a layer of a coating composition, said coating composition comprising an alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane and a hydride functional organopolysiloxane, to a substrate, said substrate comprising a catalytically effective amount of a precious metal catalyst, and allowing the layer to cure.
In a second embodiment, a method of making a coated substrate comprises: applying a layer of a first component of a coating composition, said first component comprising an alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane and a catalytically effective amount of a precious metal catalyst to a substrate, applying a layer a second component of a coating composition, said second component comprising a hydride functional organopolysiloxane, to the substrate, and allowing the layers of coating composition to cure.
In a third embodiment, a method of making a coated substrate comprises: applying a layer of a coating composition, said coating composition comprising organopolysiloxane having both alkenyl and hydride radicals present on the same molecule, to the substrate, said substrate comprising a catalytically effective amount of a precious metal catalyst, and allowing the layer to cure.
The method of the present invention allows the use of a non-catalyzed coating bath having a very long useful life, while providing a highly reactive coating layer that may be rapidly cured at low temperature and thereby avoids some of the drawbacks, for example, high energy costs, the need to rehydrate paper substrates and the limited applicability to temperature sensitive substrates, that characterize typical addition cure coatings.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a catalyzed article comprising a substrate selected from paper sheets, polymer films, polymer coated paper sheets and metal foils, and a precious metal catalyst disposed on at least one surface of the substrate.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a method of forming a catalyzed article, comprising: forming a dilute catalyst by dissolving a precious metal catalyst in a volatile organic or organosiloxane solvent; or by dispersing a precious metal catalyst in a binder composition; or by dispersing a precious metal catalyst in a film forming polymer composition, and applying the dilute catalyst to the substrate, wherein the composition of the dilute catalyst and application rate of dilute catalyst on the substrate are selected to provide a selected amount of precious metal per unit area of substrate surface.
Alkenyl functional organopolysiloxanes suitable for use in the method of the present invention are those including structural units of the formula (I):
R1aSiO4-a/2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(I)
wherein:
each R1 is independently hydroxyl or a monovalent hydrocarbon radical, and
a is an integer wherein 0xe2x89xa6axe2x89xa63,
provided that at least two R1 groups per molecule of such alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane are each independently alkenyl radicals.
As used herein xe2x80x9cmonovalent hydrocarbon radicalxe2x80x9d means a monovalent acyclic hydrocarbon radical, a monovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon radical or a monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon radical.
As used herein, the terminology xe2x80x9cacyclic hydrocarbon radicalxe2x80x9d means a monovalent straight chain or branched hydrocarbon radical, preferably containing from 2 to 20 carbon atoms per radical, which may be saturated or unsaturated and which may be optionally substituted or interrupted with one or more functional groups, such as, for example, carboxyl, cyano, hydroxy, halo and oxy. Suitable monovalent acyclic hydrocarbon radicals include, for example, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, hydroxyalkyl, cyanoalkyl, carboxyalkyl, carboxamide, alkylamido and haloalkyl, such as, for example, methyl, ethyl, sec-butyl, tertbutyl, octyl, decyl, dodecyl, cetyl, stearyl, ethenyl, propenyl, butynyl, hydroxypropyl, cyanoethyl, carboxymethyl, chloromethyl and 3,3,3-fluoropropyl.
As used herein the term xe2x80x9calkylxe2x80x9d means a saturated straight or branched monovalent hydrocarbon radical. In a preferred embodiment, monovalent alkyl groups are selected from linear or branched alkyl groups containing from 1 to 12 carbons per group, such as, for example, methyl, ethyl, propyl, iso-propyl, nbutyl, iso-butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, pentyl, hexyl, heptyl, decyl, dodecyl.
As used herein the term xe2x80x9calkenylxe2x80x9d means a straight or branched monovalent terminally unsaturated hydrocarbon radical, preferably containing from 2 to 10 carbon atoms per radical, such as, for example, ethenyl, 2-propenyl, 3-butenyl, 5-hexenyl, 7-octenyl and ethenylphenyl.
As used herein, the terminology xe2x80x9cmonovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon radicalxe2x80x9d means a monovalent radical containing one or more saturated hydrocarbon rings, preferably containing from 4 to 10 carbon atoms per ring, per radical which may optionally be substituted on one or more of the rings with one or more alkyl radicals, each preferably containing from 2 to 6 carbon atoms per group, halo radicals or other functional groups and which, in the case of a monovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon radical containing two or more rings, may be fused rings. Suitable monovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon radicals include, for example, cyclohexyl and cyclooctyl.
As used herein, the terminology xe2x80x9cmonovalent aromatic hydrocarbon radicalxe2x80x9d means a monovalent hydrocarbon radical containing one or more aromatic rings per radical, which may, optionally, be substituted on the aromatic rings with one or more alkyl radicals, each preferably containing from 2 to 6 carbon atoms per group, halo radicals or other functional groups and which, in the case of a monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon radical containing two or more rings, may be fused rings. Suitable monovalent aromatic hydrocarbon radicals include, for example, phenyl, tolyl, 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl, 1,2-isopropylmethylphenyl, 1-pentalenyl, naphthyl, anthryl.
In a preferred embodiment, the alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane comprises one or more organopolysiloxane polymers or copolymer of the formula (II):
M1bMvicD1dDvieT1fTvigQhxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(II)
wherein:
M1 is R23SiO1/2,
Mvi is R32R4SiO1/2,
D1 is R52SiO2/2,
Dvi is R6R7SiO2/2,
T1 is R8SiO3/2,
Tvi is R9SiO3/2,
Q is SiO4/2,
each R2, R3, R51 R6 and R8 is independently hydroxyl or a monovalent hydrocarbon radical,
each R4, R7 and R9 is independently alkenyl,
b, c, d, e, f, g and h are each integers selected to provide polymer a having a viscosity of from 50 to 50,000 centiStokes (xe2x80x9ccStxe2x80x9d) and having a desired amount of alkenyl groups per molecule, provided at least one of c, e and g is greater than 0, so that the alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane contains at least two alkenyl radicals per molecule.
In a preferred embodiment, R2, R3, R5, R6 and R8 are each (C1-C6)alkyl, most preferably methyl, R4, R7 and R9 are each independently a terminally unsaturated (C2-C6)alkenyl radical, more preferably, ethenyl or 5-hexenyl.
In a preferred embodiment, the coefficients b, c, d, e, f, g and h are selected to provide a having a viscosity of from 100 to 1000 cSt, more preferably from 150 to 500 cSt.
In a more highly preferred embodiment, the alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane comprises one or more compounds selected from: linear alkenyl-stopped dialkylsiloxane polymers of the formula Mvi2Dd, branched alkenyl-stopped dialkylsiloxane polymers of the formula M1bMvicD1dT1f, siloxane polymers of the formula M1bMvicQ1h, alkenyl-stopped alkylalkenyl dialkylpolysiloxane copolymers of the formula M1bMvicD1dDvie, wherein M1, Mvi, D1, Dvi, Tf, Q, b, c, d, e and h are each defined as above, and wherein R2, R3, R5, R6 and R8 are each alkyl, preferably methyl, and wherein R4 and R7 are each preferably ethenyl.
Hydride functional organopolysiloxanes suitable for use in the method of the present invention are those including structural units of the structural formula (III):
R10iSiO4-i/2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(III)
wherein
each R10 is independently H or a monovalent hydrocarbon radical, and
i is an integer wherein 0xe2x89xa6ixe2x89xa63,
provided that at least two R10 groups per molecule of such hydride functional organopolysiloxane are each H.
In a preferred embodiment, the hydride functional organopolysiloxane is an organopolysiloxane of the structural formula (IV):
M2jMHkD2lDHmT2nTHoQpxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(IV)
wherein:
M2 is R113SiO1/2,
MH is R122R3SiO1/2,
D2 is R142SiO2/2,
DH is R15R16SiO2/2,
T2 is R17SiO3/2,
TH is R18SiO3/2,
Q is SiO4/2,
each R11, R12, R14, R15 and R17 is independently a monovalent hydrocarbon radical,
R13, R6 and R18 are each H,
j, k, 1, m, n, o and p are each integers selected to provide a polymer having a viscosity of from 1 to 1000 cSt and a desired amount of silicon-bonded H radicals per molecule, provided at least one of k, m and o is greater than 0, so that the hydride functional organopolysiloxane contains at least two silicon-bonded H radicals per molecule.
In a preferred embodiment, R11, R12, R14 and R15 are each (C1-C6)alkyl, most preferably methyl.
In a preferred embodiment, the coefficients b, c, d, e, f, g and h are selected to provide a having a viscosity of from 10 to 150 cSt, more preferably from 20 to 80 cSt.
In a more highly preferred embodiment, the hydride functional organopolysiloxane comprises one or more compounds selected from trialkylsiloxy-stopped alkyl hydrogen polysiloxanes of the formula M2jDHm, trialkylsiloxy-stopped alkylhydrogen dialkylpolysiloxane copolymers of the formula M2jD2lDHm, wherein M2, D2, DH, j, l and m are each defined as above, and wherein R11, R4 and R15 are each alkyl, preferably methyl.
In an alternative embodiment, the coating composition comprises an organopolysiloxane having both alkenyl and hydride radicals present on the same molecule, such as for example the organopolysiloxanes disclosed in coassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,698,654 and 5,753,751, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
In a preferred embodiment, the alkenyl and hydride functional organopolysiloxane comprises one or more organopolysiloxanes of the formula (V):
M1qMvirMHsD1sDviuDHvT1wTvixTHyQzxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(V)
wherein; M1, Mvi, MH D1, Dvi, DH, T1, Tvi, TH, Q are each defined as above and q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y and z are each integers selected to provide polymer a having a viscosity of from 50 to 50,000 cSt and having a desired amount of alkenyl groups and silicon-bonded H radicals per molecule, provided that each molecule contains at least two alkenyl groups and at least two silicon-bonded H radicals.
In a preferred embodiment coating composition exhibits a molar ratio of silicon bonded hydrogen on the hydride functional organopolysiloxane to alkenyl groups on the alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane (xe2x80x9cSi-H:alkenyl ratioxe2x80x9d) of from 1:5 to 5:1, more preferably from 1:1 to 4:1 and even more preferably from 1.2:1 to 2.5:1.
The coating composition used in the method of the present invention may optionally include other components known in the art, such as, for example, nonreactive diluents, such as for example, solvents such as water, hydrocarbon fluids and non-functionalized silicone oils, reactive diluents, such as, for example, vinyl ether compounds, cure inhibitors, cure rate accelerators, fillers, controlled release additives and colorants.
Substrates suitable for use in the method of the present invention include paper, such as for example, supercalendered kraft paper, glassine paper, machine finished paper and machine glazed paper, and polymer films, such as, for example, polyolefins, polyesters and polystyrenics, metal foils, such as for example, aluminum foil and composite substrates, such as for example, polyolefin coated kraft paper.
Precious metal catalysts suitable for use in the method of the present invention are those capable of catalyzing the cure of an addition curable siloxane coating composition. In a preferred embodiment, the precious metal catalyst comprises one or more of platinum and rhodium. Suitable precious metal. catalysts include, for example, chloroplatinic acid, precious metal salts, such as for example, sodium or potassium salts of chloroplatinic acid, platinum halides, organometallic complexes, such as, for example, Karstedt""s catalyst, platinum cyclohexadiene complex, platinum acetyl acetonate complex, as well as olefinic ligands of platinum or rhodium, and supported precious metal catalysts, such as platinum deposited on silica or alumina particles, which provide the precious metal in a form that is suitable for catalyzing the cure of the organopolysiloxane mixture of the coating composition used in the method of the present invention. In a preferred embodiment, the precious metal catalyst comprises a platinum complex of divinyl tetramethyl disiloxane.
In a preferred embodiment, a dilute form of the precious metal catalyst is made by dissolving the catalyst in a solvent, such as for example, hexane, heptane, octane or a mixture thereof or an organopolysiloxane, or by dispersing the catalyst in a binder composition, for example, a binder composition for finishing paper comprising a polymer latex and an inorganic filler, or by dispersing the catalyst in a film forming polymer composition, such as, for example, polyvinyl alcohol or a polyacrylate composition, and the dilute form of catalyst is applied to the substrate, by for example, spray coating, roll coating, rod coating or extrusion, to form a precious metal catalyst-containing substrate.
Alternatively, the catalyst is dissolved in an alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane and a layer of the an alkenyl functional organopolysiloxane/catalyst solution is applied to the substrate.
As used herein, xe2x80x9ccatalytically effective amountxe2x80x9d means an amount effective to catalyze the cure of a layer of coating disposed on the substrate. In a preferred embodiment, the precious metal catalyst-containing substrate contains greater than about 0.000001 g, more preferably from 0.00005 to 0.01 g, and still more preferably, from 0.0005 to 0.001 g, of precious metal per square meter of substrate surface.
A layer of the coating composition is applied to the substrate by for example, spray coating, roll coating, rod coating or extrusion and allowed to cure. The layer of coating composition may be allowed to cure at uncontrolled ambient temperature or may be allowed to cure at an elevated temperature, such as for example, a temperature of up to about 100xc2x0 C., more preferably up to about 70xc2x0 C., and still more preferably, up to about 40xc2x0 C.
The coated substrate made by the method of the present invention is useful a release liner for pressure sensitive adhesive-backed articles such as, for example, adhesive labels and adhesives tapes.
An adhesive laminate comprises a coated substrate made by the method of the present invention laminated with a pressure sensitive adhesive coated substrate, such that the cured coating layer of the coated substrate made by the method of the present invention is in contact with the pressure sensitive adhesive layer on the pressure sensitive adhesive coated substrate. Suitable pressure sensitive adhesive compositions, such as, for example, emulsion acrylic adhesives, solvent acrylic adhesives, hot melt adhesives, emulsion rubber adhesive, solvent rubber adhesives, and methods for making pressure sensitive adhesive coated substrates are well known in the art. The pressure sensitive adhesive coated substrate may be easily removed from the coated substrate made by the method of the present invention and applied to another substrate, as desired.
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Power usage is an important factor in wireless communications, especially for mobile communication devices that have a very limited battery capacity. With on-going development of wireless technology, there is a constant effort to reduce power consumption on these mobile communication devices such as wireless handsets. Reduction of power consumption in a wireless handset may necessitate reduction in the real estate of the silicon on a chip. In addition, power consumption within the chip may need to be analyzed so that more optimal use of the power resources within a wireless handset is accomplished.
A conventional method of analyzing power consumption within a chip is by utilizing liquid crystals. In this regard, a chip may be decapped by removing the plastic cover from its top and depositing liquid crystals on the surface of the decapped chip. The chip may then be powered-up and configured to operate in a certain operating mode. Certain modules within the chip may utilize excessive power due to, for example, being turned on for a prolonged period of time. Due to the continuous or increased power consumption in such module, the liquid crystal just above the module may begin to boil and form bubbles. The boiling of the liquid crystal above the module may lead to discoloration and the appearance of “spots” over the module with excessive power consumption. In this way, the specific module with excessive power consumption may be identified under a microscope and proper adjustments may be performed on the module and/or the chip. If, on the other hand, there are no modules within the chip that are characterized with excessive power consumption, the liquid crystal hardens uniformly without any “spots” or discolorations.
While this conventional method may be effective in analyzing power consumption within a chip, it is very impractical and time-consuming since the chip has to be separated from the handset, placed on a special board, decapped, covered with liquid crystal, powered-up and then analyzed under a microscope. Furthermore, it is very difficult to effectively perform such operations while the device is in operation. Additionally, issues with power consumption manifest themselves during operation.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Car airbag modules absorb shocks when a passenger on a car collides against the interior of the car in case of a car accident. Car airbag modules can be divided into two types: front airbag modules installed in front of a passenger seat and side airbag modules installed in a side of a passenger seat. The side airbag module is inflated between a passenger and a vehicle door.
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"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Assemblies, such as automotive vehicles, often utilize various types of selectively movable and/or selectively rotatable members and require that these members or "shafts" be operatively coupled in a manner which allows the created torque or rotational energy to be communicated and/or transmitted between the coupled members and/or to other portions resident within the assembly.
For example and without limitation, an intermediate shaft is typically mounted within an automobile and is coupled to and transfers torque between the steering column and the gear shaft. Particularly, the selective rotational energy of the steering column is transferred through the intermediate shaft to the gear shaft and the wheel suspension assembly, thereby allowing the vehicle to be selectively steered.
Typically, the intermediate shaft comprises and/or represents a telescoping shaft which allows the steering column and gear shaft to be axially compliant (i.e., to selectively move "toward and away" from each other). This compliance compensates for the relative movement between the vehicle body and vehicle frame which occurs as the car is driven; absorbs and/or reduces the transmission of vibrations and/or energy generated from the vehicle's wheel suspension assembly, to the steering column; and allows the steering column to substantially and desirably "collapse" in the event of a collision or accident, thereby preventing and/or substantially reducing the probability of injury to the driver.
Another example of an "axially compliant" vehicle assembly for coupling two selectively rotatable shafts or members is a driveshaft. Particularly, a vehicle driveshaft is typically and operatively coupled to a transmission assembly and to a differential assembly and selectively transfers the transmission produced torque to the differential, thereby causing the vehicle wheels to desirably rotate. A vehicle driveshaft utilizes and/or comprises a telescoping member which selectively expands, thereby allowing the driveshaft to compensate for the relative movement between the differential and the transmission.
Although these prior assemblies effectively transmit torque between the two coupled members or shafts while allowing the members to reciprocally move with respect to each other (e.g., each of the coupled members may selectively and independently move "toward and away" from the other), they suffer from some drawbacks.
For example and without limitation, these prior telescoping members generate a relatively large amount of friction, which combined with their relatively short engagement lengths, hinders and/or slows the desired telescoping movement, generates undesirable inertial movements, and creates excessive wear and fatigue to and of the telescoping members, thereby resulting in failure, "frictional lock-up", "shock loading", and/or diminished performance. These telescoping members are further relatively highly susceptible to contamination from dirt, dust, moisture and other environmental materials, which become lodged between telescoping members.
Such contamination further causes performance degradation and/or failure of the telescoping members, thereby undesirably allowing vibrations and/or movement to be readily transferred between the coupled components, such as between the wheel suspension assembly and the steering column or between the transmission and the differential.
There is therefore a need to provide an assembly for coupling two members or shafts which overcomes at least some of the various and previously delineated drawbacks of prior coupling assemblies; which allows torque and rotational energy to be efficiently transmitted between the two coupled members or shafts; which allows each of the members or shafts to selectively and reciprocally move with respect to the other; which substantially eliminates and/or reduces frictional losses and the transfer of vibrational energy by and between the coupled members or shafts; and which allows the members or shafts to be moveable in a variety of orientations and/or positions.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Transplantation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells from umbilical-cord blood (CB) can restore the function of bone marrow and sustain hematopoietic recovery in both related and unrelated recipients (Gluckman, et al. 1989; Kutzberg, et al. 1996). For patients for whom no suitable related donor is available, this source of hematopoietic stem cells offers substantial advantages, because of the relative ease of procurement; the absence of risk to the donor; the small likelihood of transmitting clinically important infectious diseases such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr (EBV) virus infections; the rapid availability of placental blood to transplantation centres; and the low risk of severe graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) when compared to unrelated bone marrow transplantation (Gluckman, et al. 1997; Rubinstein, et al. 1998). The reduced risk and severity of GVHD permits the use of transplants from HLA-mismatched CBs and improves the likelihood of finding transplant units for patients with uncommon tissue types. For these reasons, worldwide cord-blood banks have increased the use of cord-blood transplantation in patients with hematologic disorders (Silberstein, et al. 1996).
Large retrospective studies of the performed bone marrow transplantations until 1998 with more than 600 evaluable cases have shown that the number of nucleated cells infused per kilogram was a major factor predicting the recovery to clinically relevant neutrophil and platelet counts. The leukocyte content of the graft relates principally to the speed and overall success of engraftment and secondarily to transplantation-related events and event-free survival. Consequently, doses of leukocytes from larger placental-blood collections may improve event-free survival, particularly for older patients (Gluckman, et al. 1997; Rubinstein et al. 1998). For these reasons, the success of cord blood transplants critically depends on the correct determination of the white blood cells WBC counts in CB transplantation units.
It is well established with new-born patients that nucleated red blood cells (NRBC) and lysis resistant red cells are negatively influencing the quality of automated WBC determination in cord blood samples (Cranendonk, et al. 1985; Johannessen, et al. 1990; Hanion, et al. 1997; Walka, et al. 1998).
Analysis of neonatal or cord blood samples has always been different than adult blood samples (Johannessen, et al. 1990). Interpretation of the automated (WBC) count results can be problematical because of the marked alterations in reference limits during the first hours of life (Johannessen, et al. 1990). Newborn blood samples often contain remarkable number of normoblasts sometimes even exceeding WBC counts, which are counted by all haematological analysers based on the Coulter principle as WBCs, namely lymphocytes (Nikischin, et al. 1997; Oski, et al. 1966; Dörner, et al. 1995; Lim, 1994). Further, subpopulations of neonatal red blood cells (RBC) have a higher osmotic resistance than normal adult RBCs (Serrani, et al. 1989).
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"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The expression absorbent products is used here to denote diapers, sanitary towels, panty liners and incontinence articles.
Previously disclosed are a large number of processes for the manufacture of absorbent products, although a feature common to all these processes is the desire to achieve the highest possible rate of production. One way of achieving a high rate is to arrange the production facility in such a way that a continuous process is obtained, in which a plurality of material webs is brought simultaneously and continuously to different process stations for slitting, cutting, stretching of the material, shrinking, joining, etc., in order finally to obtain the finished product. The manufacture of an absorbent product is thus subject to special conditions, which means that the process is difficult to compare with another process, for example in the case of the manufacture of automobile components or in the ready-made garments industry.
The execution of slits in a layer of material by causing the layer of material to pass between a slitting tool and an abutment roller, which rotate in opposite directions relative to one another, is already familiar in the manufacture of absorbent products. The abutment roller has a circular cross section, and the slitting tool has a cutting edge which includes intermittently raised parts intended for cutting or perforating the layer of material.
The raised parts are pressed against the abutment roller in order for the cutting edge to produce its effect through the layer of material and, in this way, to bring about the desired slits.
One problem associated with the prior art is that the intermittent raised parts cause vibrations when the rollers rotate against one another, because the slitting tool does not have a circular cross section, and consequently give rise to an unequal pressure during rotation. The vibrations have the disadvantage that the manufacturing facility can only operate at a limited speed, because other parts of the machine and suspensions would otherwise be exposed to the risk of being shaken apart or affected by fatigue problems. A further disadvantage is that the wear on the slitting tool is considerable because that part of the cutting edge which first enters into engagement, after a period when the slitting tool is not in engagement with the abutment roller, is required to take up all the force unaided, which results in a shorter service life.
A wish and a need accordingly exist for an improved manufacturing process for slitting layers of material in conjunction with the manufacture of absorbent products.
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A video conference system is a bidirectional communication system which receives videos and voices acquired from a plurality of terminals and outputs the videos and voices to different terminals to exchange information while each user (caller) using the plurality of terminals looks at the other party's face.
In each terminal included in the video conference system, since a camera for capturing a user's appearance which is installed at the upper portion of the monitor photographs a user's face video looking at the monitor where the other party's video is provided to provide the photographed user's face video to the other party, the user's appearance displayed on the other's monitor always looks downward, such that a line of sight does not coincide with each other.
Further, a mirror and a half mirror are obliquely installed at a regular angle so as to have a predetermined angle and the camera is installed at the rear of the half mirror so as to watch the video reflected through the mirror with the user's naked eye, such that the position of the user's line of sight and a focus axis of the camera may be configured to be disposed on the same line as each other. However, in the configuration, since a mirror having a screen size so as to reflect the screen output of the monitor displaying the video transmitted from the other party's terminal, a half mirror for re-reflecting the video reflected by the mirror, and the like are additionally required on the front of the monitor, there are inconveniences in that a spatial limit is generated and the position of the user's line of sight and the focus axis of the camera need to coincide with each other by installing a separate auxiliary device for fixing the mirror and the half mirror below the monitor.
In addition, in each terminal included in the video conference system, it is difficult to configure a large screen by using the monitor-based display, the monitor has to be disposed in advance at a fixed place due to a volume thereof, a lot of costs of the monitor are required in proportion to the screen size, and in the case where the video conference system is configured by using a 3D video, an increase in the cost occurs according to the additional installation of the 3D monitor.
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The invention pertains to power electronics and, particularly, to extending the operating range of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) used in cryogenic applications.
Metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) are used as switches in electronic circuits. MOSFETs, which can be turned "on" to pass electrical currents and "off" to stop those currents, are controlled electrically and operate extremely rapidly. Thus, they are ideal for use in high-speed switching applications, such as power electronics, where current flows are sometimes started and stopped millions of times per second.
As with most electrical devices, MOSFETs are constrained to operate within specific power, temperature and switching ranges. For example, a MOSFET that is operating at room temperature, with a gate-to-source voltage of 20 volts, and a switching rate of 10,000 cycles/sec, may be limited to passing currents on the order of 10 amps. Though the so-called safe operating areas (SOAs) of MOSFETs are well known, it is often difficult to insure that the SOA of a given MOSFET will not be exceeded, at least momentarily, during circuit operation. This is particularly true where a MOSFET is operated close to the limits of its SOA.
Transients are a well known phenomena in electrical circuits. When MOSFET devices are switched on and off, they induce transients in the surrounding circuitry. Those transients may prove harmless for MOSFETs operating well within their SOAs. However, as the operational limits of the MOSFETs are approached, the transients may push voltages and currents beyond the SOAs, causing electrical ruptures of the delicate metallic and semiconductor structures within the devices.
Although the prior art suggests the use of "snubber" circuitry to squelch the deleterious effect of transient on MOSFETs, that additional circuitry can be costly when used in the quantities required for power electronics, where banks of hundreds of MOSFETs may be employed in switching large currents.
In view of the foregoing, an object of the invention is to provide improved power electronics and, particularly, improved MOSFET switching circuitry.
A more particular object of the invention is to provide power MOSFET switching circuitry for use in cryogenic applications, such as low temperature superconducting (LTS) devices and high temperature superconducting (HTS) devices.
A still further object of the invention is to provide such power MOSFET switching devices that can operate in cryogenic environments close to the limits of their SOAs without risk of failure.
Yet still another object of the invention is to provide such power MOSFET switching devices as can be implemented at low cost.
A still further object of the invention is to provide such power MOSFET switching devices as occupy a minimum of space.
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Recently, a secondary battery, which can be charged and discharged, has been widely used as an energy source for wireless mobile devices. Also, the secondary battery has attracted considerable attention as a power source for electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), which have been developed to solve problems, such as air pollution, caused by existing gasoline and diesel vehicles using fossil fuel.
Small-sized mobile devices use one or several battery cells for each device. On the other hand, middle- or large-sized devices, such as vehicles, use a middle- or large-sized battery system having a plurality of battery cells electrically connected with each other because high output and large capacity are necessary for the middle- or large-sized devices.
The middle- or large-sized battery system, which is used as a charging and discharging power source for electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, is manufactured by electrically connecting a plurality of battery modules (battery cells) in series/parallel with each other and mechanically coupling the battery modules (battery cells) to each other.
Generally, a slave battery management system (BMS) is mounted to each battery module, and a master BMS is mounted to each battery module assembly, which includes a plurality of battery modules, for controlling the charge and discharge of each battery module and performing a control operation necessary to secure the safety of each battery module during the abnormal operation of each battery module. For securing the safety of each battery module and each battery module assembly, a control unit includes a control circuit for interrupting the operation of an abnormally operated battery module(s) or an abnormally operated battery module assembly(ies).
A large amount of energy is stored in each battery module after each battery module is charged. When each battery module is abnormally operated in this state, however, the charged energy assists in the abnormal negative reaction of each battery module, while each battery module is not connected to a corresponding external input and output terminal, with the result that the battery module may reach a dangerous state. For example, when a specific battery module is abnormally operated, during the movement of an electric vehicle, the dangerous state is maintained or further accelerated during the movement of the vehicle, if the abnormally operated battery module is not immediately replaced with a new one, even though a connection circuit for the abnormally operated battery module is broken.
Consequently, there is a high necessity for a technology that is capable of fundamentally solving the several above-mentioned problems.
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a unit for treating very densely compacted sewage sludge cake and mixing the sludge with lime or kiln dust and more particularly to a unit for shredding the very densely compacted sewage sludge cake and mixing the shredded sludge cake with lime or kiln dust.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known to mix solidified dewatered sewage sludge cake produced on a filter press with lime and other additives so that the materials can chemically react to neutralize the toxic chemicals present in the sludge. When sewage sludge and other toxic sludges which are compacted to remove water are mixed with lime or kiln dust at a predetermined rate, an exothermic reaction occurs in which the temperature of the mixture of the sludge and the lime increases with the evolution of steam. Neutralization, agglomeration and other changes occur in the sludge within the mixer unit as the exothermic chemical reaction proceeds. As the lime reacts with the aqueous sludge, dehydration of the sludge occurs with an increase in both temperature and pH value. The increase in the temperature and the pH value of the lime sludge mixture destroys bacteria and viruses which are present in the sludge. Hydrates are formed that tend to bind solid particles in the sludge together to form an agglomeration of particles. The reaction product which is discharged from the mixer unit consists of substantially odor-free, dry, friable particles which may be compacted and used as a landfill material.
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Wireless data communication systems that utilize radio frequency (RF) signals to transmit and receive data are well known. Generally, wireless data communication technology has been applied to high performance long-distance communication systems such as satellite communications or microwave tower telecommunications, or to short-distance local area network (LAN) communication systems, such as a wireless LAN within a home or office environment. In the case of long-distance communication systems, a point-to-point antenna system is required and there must be a line-of-sight transmission path between the transmitter and the receiver. In the case of short-distance wireless LAN communication, an omni-directional antenna system can be utilized and a line-of-sight transmission path is not required because the distances are generally less than a mile. The reason for this difference is due to the fact that RF signals lose power rapidly over longer distances or when transmitting through obstacles such as buildings or walls.
A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a network that can communicate over medium-range distances of between about 1 to 40 miles as would be typically found in providing coverage over an entire metropolitan area. Digital subscriber loops (DSL) services are a good example of a wire-based MAN system that utilizes telephone wires as the communication medium. Cable modem systems are another example of a wire-based MAN system that utilizes coaxial cable as the communication medium. One of the primary advantages of a MAN system is that it allows for higher speed data communications as compared to conventional telephone modem speeds. The primary problem with such wire-based MAN systems is the cost of installing and maintaining the high-quality telephone or coaxial cable communication medium. A fixed wireless MAN system has the obvious advantage of eliminating the costs associated with installing and maintaining a wire based communication medium.
Another advantage of a fixed wireless MAN system is that the wireless communication medium can be designed to provide for higher data communications speeds than conventional wire-based MAN systems. This advantage has caused the fixed wireless MAN systems that have been deployed to date to be designed for ultra high performance and relatively expensive dedicated networks. The market for these fixed wireless MAN systems has been a small number of customers who have high-speed data communication needs that can justify the expense and complicated installation of such systems on an individual basis. As a result of the limited customer base and the need for ultra high performance, the designs of existing fixed wireless MAN systems have developed more along the lines of high performance long distance wireless communication systems.
While there are many factors to consider when designing RF communication systems, some of the more important factors to be considered in designing a fixed wireless MAN system are the assigned frequency, signal modulation and carrier access modulation. Assigned frequency refers to the range of frequencies or oscillations of the radio signal that are available to be used by the system. An example is the assigned band for AM radio signals which operate between 500 KHz and 1600 KHz. Signal modulation refers to the way in which information or data is encoded in the RF signal. An example is the difference between amplitude modulation (AM) radio signals and frequency modulation (FM) radio signals. Carrier access modulation refers to the way in which the assigned carrier frequencies are used to carry the RF signal. An example is the difference between using a single wide channel or multiple narrow channels over the same assigned frequency bandwidth.
For purposes of this invention, the design of a fixed wireless MAN system is focused on frequency ranges less than 10 GHz. Other medium-distance wireless communication systems have been developed, such as the local multipoint distribution system (LMDS) that operate at much higher frequency ranges, such as 28 GHz to 31 GHz. These higher frequencies are subject to different technical concerns and require larger external antenna systems that provide line-of-sight transmission paths from the top of one building to another.
Because of the desire for higher data speeds, all of the existing fixed wireless MAN systems have utilized more complicated schemes for signal modulation. To support faster speed downstream transmissions, these systems typically use a 16-bit quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) or 64-bit QAM to transmit downstream from the base station to the CPE at a data rate of at least 10 Mbps.
Unlike the many fixed wireless LAN systems that have been developed for short-distance communications and use a spread spectrum form of carrier access modulation that spreads one signal across the assigned frequency bandwidth, the relatively few fixed wireless MAN systems that have been developed to date have utilized multi-carrier modulation as their carrier access modulation. In multi-carrier modulation, the signal is divided into several parallel data streams and these parallel data streams are simultaneously sent along different slower speed channels and then reassembled at the receiver to produce a higher effective transmission rate. The multi-carrier modulation scheme that has been designated by the IEEE standards committee to be used as the extension to the 802.11 wireless LAN standard for high-speed wireless data communications is known as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). The OFDM modulation scheme makes for a more efficient use of the assigned bandwidth and improves the ability to receive higher speed transmissions.
All of these more complicated modulation schemes for the existing fixed wireless MAN systems generally require more expensive equipment and more transmission power at each base station. To capitalize on the increased investment associated with each base station, existing fixed wireless MAN systems have been designed to minimize the number of base stations required to provide coverage for a given area. The radius of a typical coverage area for existing wireless man systems ranges between 10 to 30 miles.
Larger coverage areas are also used to minimize the need to reuse the same frequency channels in adjacent coverage areas. Because higher transmission powers are used to transmit at the higher data rates in all of the existing fixed wireless MAN systems, the higher power signals prevent the reuse of the same frequency channels in adjacent coverage areas and can even preclude the reuse of the same frequency channels at distances up to three to five times the radius of the coverage area. Consequently, larger coverage areas reduce the impact of problems caused by the inability to reuse frequencies in adjacent coverage areas.
The most significant disadvantage of larger sizes for the coverage area for each base station is the greater potential for signal loss or attenuation between the base station and the CPE. To counteract this potential signal loss over the larger distances and to improve reception at the higher power, higher transmission speeds, all of the existing fixed wireless MAN systems utilize a point-to-point antenna system that requires a line-of-sight transmission path between the base station and an externally accessible antenna that is connected to the CPE. For example, see the prior art fixed wireless MAN system configuration of FIG. 1 wherein the CPE within a single-user environment, e.g., a home, is connected to an antenna that is to the exterior of the single-user environment and where within a multi-user environment, e.g., a small office, each CPE is connected to its own antenna that is located exterior to the multi-user environment.
Given the relatively limited customer base and the need for all ultra high-performance that has dictated the development of existing fixed wireless MAN systems, the use of externally accessible antenna that provide a line-of-sight transmission path is both necessary and understandable. It will be desirable, however, to provide for a fixed wireless MAN system that does not require the use of an externally accessible antenna and could be more broadly deployed to provide higher data speeds more effectively to a larger number of consumers.
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The current invention relates to an apparatus for cooling and/or heating a motor vehicle.
In modern vehicles, various units secondary to the engine are used, which are referred to below as units or secondary units. Such secondary units can be electric machines such as starters or generators, or also oil coolers and air conditioning compressors. In many cases, it is necessary to cool the secondary units in a manner similar to that of the engine.
On the other hand, the significantly increased efficiency of modern engines, for example direct injecting diesel engines, places ever increasing limits on the amount of heat generated by the internal combustion engine that remains available for other uses in the cooling and heating system of the vehicle. In some operating states of an engine, for example in the case of a cold start, when used for short trips, or even when the vehicle is traveling down long descents, the amount of heat input into the cooling water, which heat can be supplied by the engine itself, is no longer sufficient. As a result, the engine and its catalytic converter do not reach the optimal operating temperatures in the available amount of time, which leads to increased fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.
Since modern internal combustion engines, in particular the above-mentioned diesel engines, have become so efficient that they no longer generate enough thermal output to heat the vehicle interior or to de-ice the vehicle windows when temperatures outside are low, it is becoming more and more common to use secondary heaters, which are integrated into the cooling and heating circuit of the vehicle in order to impart additional heat to the cooling water in certain operating states of the engine.
Secondary heaters of this kind are either electrically operated or burn fuel (chemical secondary heaters) in order to generate the necessary heat. These secondary heaters are quite expensive and also have the disadvantage that they must be installed in the generally cramped engine compartment of a motor vehicle and therefore incur costs that are not insignificant.
For these reasons, it has been proposed to use heat sources that are already present in the vehicle system as additional secondary heaters for the cooling and heating system of the motor vehicle.
EP 08 41 735 A1 has disclosed a water-cooled alternating current generator or three-phase current-generator, which is used in motor vehicles and whose cooling jacket is integrated into the cooling water circuit of the internal combustion engine. The water flowing through the cooling jacket of this electric machine makes it possible to very effectively dissipate the impermissible dissipated energy of the generator. Moreover, there is the advantage that by contrast with air-cooled generators, this dissipated energy is not lost, but can be dissipated into the cooling water or a heating system by means of a heat exchanger and is consequently available for improving the thermal output.
DE 34 42 350 C2 has disclosed a heat exchanger system for heating a street vehicle with an electric drive motor. The power electronics, which are used to control the drive motor and which give off heat during driving operation, are provided with apparatuses for liquid cooling. The cooling connections of these apparatuses are connected by means of a closed conduit system to a pump and a heating system, which can dissipate heat into the interior of the vehicle. As a result, the heat dissipated by the power semiconductors via the heat sinks can be supplied to the heating system.
One main problem in imparting dissipated energy from electronic power semiconductors, for example also from starters or generators, into the cooling circuit of a vehicle lies in preventing the permissible component temperature of the semiconductor elements from being exceeded when cooling water temperatures are high.
DE 199 60 960 C1 has disclosed a heat exchanger system for a vehicle with an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, whose motor cooling circuit is equipped with a mechanical water pump and whose electronics cooling circuit is equipped with an electric water pump. The two cooling circuits are coupled to each other by means of connecting lines that can be opened and closed so that the heat, which is dissipated by the power electronics by means of the cooling water, can be used to heat the cooling water and therefore to heat the passenger compartment by means of the heating system heat exchanger.
The heat exchanger system disclosed in DE 199 60 960 C1 is very costly and complex so that in addition to the increased susceptibility of this system, its high costs must also be viewed as a non-negligible disadvantage.
A special edition of the Automobiltechnischen Zeitung (ATZ) [automotive engineering journal] and Motortechnischen Zeitung (MTZ) [engine design journal] from May 1998 disclosed a heating and cooling concept for a motor vehicle in which the water cooler of the system is serially divided into a high-temperature and low-temperature section. This division of the cooler enables two different flow speeds to be achieved. By installing a dividing wall in the water tank of the cooler, approximately 20% of the cooler wetting surface in the lower region of the cooler is used to produce a low-temperature section. A throttled coolant flow in the low-temperature region produces almost twice the temperature cooling rate as in the upper cooler region, which, due to its higher flow speed, only achieves a temperature reduction of approximately 7 degrees Celsius when used for cooling.
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Fiber optic cables are terminated with polished connectors that interchangeably interconnect with low optical insertion loss to other patchcords or fiber optic devices having compatible connectors. These connectors include an optical fiber, one end of which is stripped to expose the bare glass and bonded within a precision, close tolerance hole of a ferrule. The fiber and ferrule end faces are made co-planar and optically smooth by cleaving or subsequent polishing of the end face. In the common male-type fiber optic termination, a length of polished ferrule containing the optical fiber extends outside of the connector housing.
Male-type connectorized fibers may be interconnected to one another with low optical loss (<0.25 dB) in transmission by inserting the connectors into opposite ends of a fiber optic union adapter. Union adapters typically consist of a housing with opposing receptacles that surround a hollow, precision split sleeve whose nominal inner diameter is slightly less than the outer diameter of connectors' ferrules. The mating of the ferrules within the union adapter elastically deforms the semi-tubular wall of the split sleeve to slightly enlarge the inner diameter of the sleeve. The sleeve produces an opposing compressive force on the ferrules which aligns the ferrules concentrically. Precision manufacturing ensures that the optical fiber core is concentric with the optical fiber outer diameter, and the hole within the ferrule is concentric with the ferrule outer diameter at one end of the ferrule. Consequently, the two fiber cores are repeatedly aligned concentrically to micron or sub-micron tolerances. A slight axial force on the ferrules is produced once the spring-loaded bodies of the connector assemblies are attached to the housing of the union adapter, ensuring that the domed, polished end faces of the fiber/ferrule assemblies of the two different cables are mechanically and optically contacted within the split sleeve.
The polished ferrule contact areas are highly susceptible to scratching caused by repeated mating and demating cycles in the presence of contaminants trapped on or in the vicinity of the contact area. Surface damage to the fiber endface in the vicinity of the optical fiber's core degrades optical performance. In particular, the increased excess loss and reduced return loss can seriously compromise the network's performance. With broadcast-type access networks, in which the optical signal is power split between as many as thirty-two users, the optical power budget of the network has low margin and the impact of such damage is particularly significant. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that a single contaminated or damaged fiber/ferrule, if connected to other clean and undamaged fiber terminations, can degrade these other fiber terminations and propagate connector damage throughout the network.
In the past, the primary users of fiber optic telecommunications equipment have been service providers such as telephony and cable operators delivering data, video and telephone transmission. Their optical networking equipment has historically been centrally located within specialized facilities maintained and operated by highly experienced engineers. A growth in applications of fiber optic technology is occurring as fiber is increasingly being deployed in local area networks (LANs) located in the end users' facilities. In this decentralized architecture, the cost to diagnose and repair damaged terminations increases considerably depending on the physical location of the termination within the network. For instance, damage to an inaccessible connectorized drop cable originating from within a customer's wall or damage at the connector interface of a populated, high-density fiber patch panel requires a costly service call and repair by an experienced technician. These are two examples of “back-side” fiber optic terminations which are difficult to repair by virtue of their inaccessibility.
Fiber optic access networks may incorporate large numbers of reconfigurable connection interfaces as the fibers branch out from a central closet to each access location. For instance, fiber optic patch cables attach at one end to connectors at wall or desk mount interface plate and at the other end to fiber optic modems or gigabit Ethernet transceivers. Typically, the ends of the fiber optic drop cable within the customer's premises are terminated using highly specialized and costly fiber optic termination equipment. Once the fiber build-out is complete, proper handling of the fiber cable and connectors must be diligently maintained to preserve the performance of the network. Fiber optic cable is particularly susceptible to cracking due to excessive bends and polished fiber optic terminations are susceptible to scratching if contacted with dirty and contaminated connectors. Repair and debugging requires skilled fiber optic technicians, adding significant cost and overhead to maintain the network. As a consequence, present day fiber optic systems lack the robustness commonly found in electronic networking systems.
Recent advances in the design of union adapters for various standard connector styles (FC, SC, ST, LC, MTRJ) have focused on approaches to prevent contamination from entering the critical split sleeve area. This includes the development of various shields and covers to help prevent contamination from entering the front side union adaptor body. U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,098 by Ernst et al. discloses an FC-type fiber optic union adapter with a two-part shield assembly to cover the end of the receptacle when a cable is not attached. U.S. Pat. No. 6,863,445 by Ngo describes an alternate cap design for SC type fiber optic union adapters. However, these approaches do not prevent a damaged or contaminated connector ferrule from damaging the mating connector.
In addition, an alternate type of fiber optic adapter is designed to produce substantial signal attenuation by introducing an air gap or misalignment between opposing connector ferrules or by inserting a lossy optical element between the mating ferrules are available. For example, U.S. Patent Application 2003/031423 by Zimmel describes an SC-type fiber optic adapter that includes a sheet of attenuator glass embedded at the longitudinal center of the alignment split sleeve and U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,342 by Takahashi et al. introduces an air gap between connector ferrules to cause light to escape from the central waveguide. This adapter produces significant insertion loss (>=5 dB) since it is designed to produce attenuation. These attenuators interrupt the longitudinal continuity of the central waveguide cores attached to either side of the attenuator housing and thereby introduce a significant amount of loss and optical backreflection. These devices rely on a non-adiabatic or abrupt discontinuity in the waveguide core as is passes through the attenuating union adapter.
A low loss, low backreflection, low cost and compact device to prevent polished surface damage (PSD) from propagating to other fiber optic connectors and fiber optic devices is therefore of particular importance, much like its analog, the electrical fuse, which is also a sacrificial element protecting costly electronic systems from damage and which can be inexpensively and easily replaced.
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This invention relates to portable apparatus used for geophysical exploration for buried objects such as mines, relics and minerals, which will be referred to by the generic terms targets and objects.
The prior art detectors utilize either a variable frequency tone or a single frequency variable volume tone as an acoustical presentation of the absence or presence, and proximity of a buried object. Both of these acoustical presentation systems are subject to several problems. The single frequency systems commonly use a tone such as 1000 Hz; this tone may be hazardous to hearing if operated for more than one-half hour per day. Furthermore, use of a single frequency tone presents a perceptual loudness adaptation problem. When the operator has listened to the tone for a few minutes, the tone is perceived by him as being fainter even though the level has remained constant, resulting in confusion as to whether the tone has changed or not.
The use of a variable frequency tone, likewise, has its disadvantages. While the fact that the sound level does not increase when approaching a target reduces the hearing hazard, the constant drone is still irritating. In addition, many people cannot discern if a tone is increasing or decreasing in frequency.
The prior art detector systems also present the user with a problem in terms of operation. The handheld search head utilized to detect the mines or other buried objects must be swept back and forth in an arc at a specific constant rate, usually 3 ft/sec, due to processing requirements; however, there has existed up until now no effective way for the operator to pace his sweep or hold it relatively constant for any significant period of time.
A further disadvantage of prior art systems was that the manner in which signals were processed made operation in certain soil conditions difficult or impossible with false alarms and missed or lost targets a frequent occurrence. A detector with preset threshold parameters will generate false alarms when noise levels are high, as is common with wet soil conditions, since the noise signal will often exceed the reference point by more than the amount required to trigger the detection signal; in contrast, with dry soil only a small deviation from the reference point may be indicative of a target, such that threshold parameters preset to levels in a range necessary to prevent false alarms will miss small objects which might not present a signal deviation high enough to be detected. On the other hand, a detector that uses the preceding sweep level as the background reference point with a preset deviation value for detection of targets cannot pinpoint a target since it will lose the signal after detection due to the reference signal being automatically updated toward the target's level, thereby bringing it within a non-triggering deviation level. A system that uses the latter method for detection and the former system for pinpointing can lose the target if the preset threshold level is above the level developed from the use of the actual background readings.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to integrated circuit-type devices generally and more particularly to a sequential-access and random-access dual-port memory buffer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A FIFO (first-in-first-out) buffer functions as a shift register having an additional control section that permits input data to "fall through" to the first vacant stage. In other words, if there is data stored in the FIFO buffer, it is available at the output even though all of the states are not filled. Thus, in effect, a FIFO buffer functions as a "variable-length" shift register, the length of which is always the same as the data stored therein.
Although shift registers may be used, of late, many FIFO buffers are implemented with dual-port random-access memories (RAMs) and counters. For additional information regarding FIFO buffers, the reader is referred to the U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,149.
As such, FIFO buffers are particularly suited for use in applications in which there is a need to compensate for differences in the rate of flow of data. For example, FIFO buffers are particularly suited for use in storing data which is to be written onto a disk and/or which has been read off of a disk; for use in storing data which is to be transmitted to a local area network (LAN) and/or which has been received from a LAN; and for use in storing data which is to be printed.
Computers of the type which are designated IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) and PC/XT by International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation include an interface bus for receiving, external, plug-in cards. This (PC/XT) bus is relatively limited, permitting the transfer of only eight-data bits at one time. In computers of the type which are designated PC/AT by International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation the (PC/XT) bus is extended, permitting the simultaneous transfer of sixteen-data bits. This (PC/XT/AT) bus is further extended in computers of the type which are commonly designated EISA.
Proper connection to the EISA bus requires a number of specific signals each having specific timing. These signals are provided by EISA bus interface devices of the type which are designated 82355 by the Intel Corporation. Unfortunately, the above mentioned EISA bus interface devices are intended for connection between the EISA bus and a sequential-access (buffer) device, which provides specific signals each having specific timing.
Thus, a need exists for a buffer suitable for connection between a random-access (microprocessor-type) device and a sequential-access device. Preferably, to the random-access device, the buffer should appear as a random-access-memory RAM cell array. To the sequential-access device, the buffer should appear as a sequential-access buffer. Preferably, the buffer should, additionally, provide the signals necessary for connection to the above-mention EISA-bus-interface-type devices.
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{
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for digitally correcting a distortion of an image accompanied by a curve or an inclination of a laser beam and to a control method for the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic system, a method whereby a step of adjusting a laser scanner is reduced and a distortion of an image accompanied by a curve of a laser beam is digitally corrected to thereby reduce the costs has been disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3388193.
For example, in a digital correction in a sub-scanning direction of a scan line, a line is properly changed based on a shift amount of the laser beam which has previously been obtained so that the shift amount can be set off, and the image is formed. The “line” mentioned here denotes a set of pixels arranged in a main scanning direction.
When describing in more detail, for example, when the shift amount of the laser beam from a position x in the main scanning direction is expressed by f(x), a number −y which is obtained from a value y obtained by rounding off f(x) is assumed to be a scan line changing amount. All data within an interval from xi to xj where the scan line changing amounts are equal is shifted by a distance corresponding to −y lines. By applying such a process to all image regions, the curve of the laser beam is set off and an original image can be reproduced.
Different from the above case, there is a case where a reference position of a sheet is deviated in the main scanning direction from an ideal position due to a tolerance or the like of a sheet conveying mechanism. In many cases, a deviation amount differs depending on a sheet feeding port.
A method of moving a writing position of an image based on a deviation amount of each sheet feeding port in order to correct those deviations has been known. With respect to the deviation amount of each sheet feeding port, there is an apparatus constructed in such a manner that it has been preset into a nonvolatile memory of the apparatus upon shipping from a factory, an apparatus constructed in such a manner that a user interface is provided and the user can properly change a set value as a correction amount, or the like.
However, in the related art, the following problem occurs in the case of simultaneously performing both of the digital correction in the sub-scanning direction of the scan line in the former case and the correction of the main scan positional deviation of each sheet feeding port in the latter case.
According to a correction amount s at which the writing position of the image has been moved in order to make the latter correction, the scan line changing amount in the former correction is calculated and a scan line changing amount can be calculated based on f(x+s) in place of f(x).
By calculating the scan line changing amount based on f(x+s), even if the writing position of the image is moved according to the deviation amount at the sheet feeding port, a color drift in the sub-scanning direction accompanied by the curve of the laser beam can be eliminated.
However, in the case of an image forming apparatus of what is called a host base in which a rendering of print image and the digital correction in the sub-scanning direction of the scan line are not executed in the image forming apparatus but are executed by a printer driver, there are the following problems.
That is, there is a case where the sheet feeding port cannot be specified at timing when the printer driver forms a print job. An apparatus in which even if the specific sheet feeding port is not designated, the sheet feeding port is automatically selected according to a sheet size or sheet type of the print job, or the like corresponds to such a case. In such an apparatus, when an absence of sheets has occurred at the sheet feeding port which was selected first, the sheet feeding port is switched to another sheet feeding port in which the sheets of the same sheet size and sheet type have been enclosed and the print is continued.
With respect to the correction of the main scan positional deviation of each sheet feeding port, a correction amount of the sheet feeding port which was selected first is assumed to be s1, a correction amount of the sheet feeding port which was selected second is assumed to be s2, and s1≠s2.
As described in the related art, it is demanded to calculate the scan line changing amount based on f(x+s) in place of f(x) according to the correction amount s of the writing position of the image.
It is now assumed that when the printer driver forms the print job, only the sheet feeding port which is selected first could be specified and the scan line changing amount was calculated based on f(x+s1). In this case, naturally, a print result to a sheet conveyed from the sheet feeding port which is selected first is good. However, if there are no sheets in the first sheet feeding port and the print is executed to a sheet conveyed from the sheet feeding port which was selected second, the scan line is deviated in the sub-scanning direction by a distance corresponding to f(x+s2)−f(x+s1).
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Metal punching devices, particularly sheet metal punching devices, frequently utilize punching tools which are carried by punch guide assemblies. Stripping devices such as stripper plates are often used in association with such punching tools to ensure that punched material is stripped from the punch tip. It is desirable, in certain punching applications, to facilitate the installation and removal of different punching tools having varying shapes within a single guide assembly.
One known way of retaining a stripper plate to a guide assembly is with the use of a wire split locking ring and screw combination, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,767. In this device, the operator places the stripper plate inside the guide assembly, and then compresses the split locking-ring while seating the ring in a groove inside the guide assembly. Once the ring is seated into the groove, the operator uses a wrench to install a special screw between the two ends of the locking ring. If the locking ring is not seated correctly, the ring and stripper plate are susceptible to dislodging from the guide assembly during operation of the punch, with a potential for damage to the tool and to the punching machine. In order to remove the stripper plate, the installation process is reversed.
Another known alternative is one employed by Cole Engineered Tools (C.P.E. Tooling, Inc.). This design includes a stripper plate retaining device using a machined pocket and a ball detent as a rough locator of the stripper plate. The punch is lowered into the stripper plate, and actually holds the stripper in the pocket. In this device, the punch must first be removed in order to install or remove the stripper plate. Depending on the tool design for removing the punch from the stripper plate, this usually entails at least partial disassembly of the guide assembly.
It is therefore apparent that there exists a need for a device that will provide quick and easy removal and installation of a stripper plate on a punch guide assembly, which also provides a positive locking mechanism to assure stripper plate retention during use.
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Skin testing to identify potential allergens that a patient may be allergic to is well known in many forms. The person conducting the skin testing may apply a relatively large number of test solutions to a patient's skin. To perform skin tests of this type, the person conducting the skin test typically places the skin test devices into a test solution such that a small amount of test solution adheres to the sharp pointed ends on the skin testing device via capillary attraction. The loaded skin test device is then pressed into a site on the patient's skin in a predetermined sequence. However, the sharp pointed ends of the skin test device may cause discomfort to some patients and much pain to other patients because the sharp pointed ends must penetrate the epidermis of the skin in order to get meaningful allergy test results. The discomfort and/or pain caused by the testing can be traumatic for the patient and disruptive to the nurse or doctor administering the testing.
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“Cloud computing” services provide shared resources, software, and information to computers and other devices upon request. In cloud computing environments, software can be accessible over the Internet rather than installed locally on in-house computer systems. Cloud computing typically involves over-the-Internet provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources. Technological details can be abstracted from the users, who no longer have need for expertise in, or control over, the technology infrastructure “in the cloud” that supports them.
Web browser programs and software applications can be provided on a computing system and are sometimes implemented in a cloud computing environment. Such browser programs and software applications often present data as long vertical pages of information, which do not fit on a graphical user interface displayed on a computer display. For instance, some web sites have data formatted as a single page with a long flow of information, where only a portion of the information is visible at a particular time. As a result, a user often has to waste time and resources to scroll or page up/down many times on a page to find and consume information in different areas of the page.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to the field of integrated circuits that include processors, and more particularly to generating program counter (PC) traces in such integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic systems of various types include processors, also referred to as central processing units (CPUs). A processor can include multiple integrated circuit “chips”. The so-called microprocessor is typically a processor on a single chip, with no other “non-processor” functionality. More recently, processors have been integrated with other functionality in devices commonly referred to as integrated processors, embedded processors, and system on a chip (SOC) devices.
The processors execute programs, and can interact with other devices in the system under control of the program being executed. The program comprises one or more instruction sequences, which can include branches within the sequences, branches to other sequences, etc. Each instruction is identified by an address, or PC, which locates the instruction in memory (indirectly, when address translation is enabled).
During development of the system and programs to execute on the system, various debugging aids can be useful. For example, the stream of PCs executed by the processor may be useful to determine the program flow. Both functional problem diagnoses (traditional debugging) and performance problem diagnoses (e.g. determining why performance is lower than desired or expected) can benefit from having the stream of PCs executed by the processor.
As frequency of operation increases, the number of PCs that need to be tracked in a unit of real time (e.g. a second) increases. Additionally, as the complexity of the processor and/or the integrated circuit including the processor increases (superscalar design, multiple cores per chip, etc.), the number of PCs per clock cycle increases. Accordingly, the number of PCs that need to be captured in real time expands dramatically.
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For a multitude of reasons, it is advantageous to use electric vehicles having rechargeable batteries rather than vehicles using internal combustion engines. Electric vehicles are inherently more efficient, meaning more energy is used in locomotion than lost to heat than in conventional engines. Also, electric vehicles do not exhaust any byproducts. However, the use of electric vehicles presents technical challenges. For example, the batteries in an electric vehicle must be recharged. Some electric vehicles are commercially targeted toward daily, low mileage use. Such vehicles are ideal for urban commuters. The batteries are chosen to provide a charge for approximately 50 miles before recharging is required. It is also well known that some batteries, for example lithium ion batteries, must be at temperatures above zero degrees centigrade in order to receive a charge. Furthermore, the chemical materials inside most batteries have resistive properties that are inversely proportional to temperature, meaning that as temperature increases, their internal resistance decreases and they are more readily, quickly, and efficiently charged. To that end, electric vehicles come equipped with some sort of apparatus for heating the battery before charging.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art charging system 100 for an electric vehicle. A battery 110 is capable of supplying sufficient voltage and current to power a motor 120, a cabin heater 130, and a DC/DC converter 140. All three of the motor 120, cabin heater 130, and DC/DC converter 140 are electrically coupled to the positive terminal of the battery 110 through the node A, and to the negative terminal of the battery 110 through node A′. In this example, the battery pack nominal voltage is 320V. There are two options to charge the battery 110. The first is an on-board charger 150, and the second is an off-board charger 160.
The on-board charger 150 is electrically coupled to the positive terminal of the battery 110 through node B and the negative terminal of the battery 110 through node B′. The on-board charger 150 is able to draw AC power from a wall plug and convert it into DC to charge the battery 110. The on-board charger 150 utilizes an AC/DC converter that is within the electric vehicle. Advantageously, all that is required is a power plug for connecting the vehicle to an appropriate power socket. As a result, it may be recharged most anywhere that a power socket is available. However, because the on-board charger 150 is constrained by the space available to it within the electric vehicle, the AC/DC converter is by extension also size limited. As a result, the amount of DC current the on-board charger 150 is able to generate is limited by size. So although convenient, it may take on the order of 5 hours to charge a battery pack. An off-board charger 160 is the second option. The off-board charger 160 is electrically coupled to the positive terminal of the battery 110 through the node C and the negative terminal of the battery 110 through the node C′. The off-board charger 160 is similar to the on-board charger 150 in that it comprises an AC/DC converter for converting an AC voltage from a wall to a DC voltage appropriate to charge the battery 110, in this example 320V. However, because the off-board charger 160 is not housed within the electric vehicle, it is not constrained by size. Therefore, the AC/DC converter therein is able to be larger and more robust than the AC/DC converter of the on-board charger 150. As a result, the off-board charger 160 is able to generate far more current, and charge the battery 320 much faster, on the order of an hour.
Nodes A, B and C are electrically coupled to the positive terminal of the battery 110 via switches 101, 102 and 103 respectively. The negative terminal of the battery 110 is electrically coupled to the nodes A′, B′ and C′ through the switch 105. The switches 101-105 are preferably analog switches, such as contactors, relays or transistor devices, including bipolar, MOSFET, or IGBT implementations. In a charge condition, one of the switches 102 or 103 is closed to electrically couple one of the on-board charger 150 and off-board charger 160 respectively to the positive terminal of the battery 110. Switch 105 is closed as well. As a result, a charging loop is formed through B to B′ or C to C′. However, as mentioned above, a battery must be above zero degrees C. in order to properly charge. Therefore, especially in cold weather climates, it is advantageous to have a battery pre heater 170. In this prior art, the battery pre heater 170 is electrically coupled to the DC/DC converter 140, and the switch 101 must be closed to form a path to power the DC/DC converter 140. Some battery pre heaters 170 work off of 12V DC. However, one of the switches 102, 103 must be closed depending on whether on-board or off-board charging is being utilized. Also, the switches 101 and 105 must be closed in order to form a closed circuit. Therefore, one of the loops B-B′ or C-C′ along with A-A′ which is highly undesirable, since the battery 110 may be damaged beyond utility, or it may explode causing severe injury to a person that may be near it. What is needed is an electric vehicle battery pre-heating system wherein the heater is de-coupled from the charging apparatus during a pre-heating process.
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Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple user equipment devices. Each user equipment (UE) communicates with one or more base stations, such as an evolved Node B (eNB) via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the eNBs to the UEs, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the UEs to the eNBs. This communication link may be established via a single-in-single-out, multiple-in-single-out or a multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) system. In this regard, the UEs can access wireless network via one or more eNBs.
Additionally, LTE, or other scheduled wireless communication technologies, can be extended for use in unlicensed frequency bands where resources may be available only for opportunistic transmissions. For example, LTE can be utilized for communicating over a frequency band of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (WiFi), and LTE eNBs may thus make opportunistic transmissions by using listen-before-talk (LBT) frames when the frequency band becomes available for transmission. UEs communicating with the eNBs monitor each downlink subframe in the LBT frame (and/or subsequent LBT frames) to detect and/or decode communications intended for the UEs. This may be inefficient for the UE, as the UE continues to monitor without knowing if downlink communications are scheduled for the UE in the LBT frame.
In LTE, for example, UEs can be configured to operate in a discontinuous receive (DRX) mode where the UE has activated receiving resources for an ON duration and deactivated receiving resources for an OFF duration to conserve power otherwise utilized by monitoring wireless communication channels. In unlicensed frequency bands, however, DRX cycle timing may not align with the eNB acquiring a channel of the frequency band for transmission (e.g., the eNB successfully performing clear channel assessment (CCA) of the frequency band). Thus, using DRX, as currently configured for LTE, for communicating in unlicensed frequency bands may result in the UE not receiving communications from the eNB (e.g., where the eNB acquires and transmits communications over the channel while the UE is in the DRX OFF duration).
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The present invention generally relates to phase locked pulse generators apparatus and, more particularly, to such generators that are adapted to generate pulses synchronized to digital data streams.
The continued advances in technology have resulted in many changes in the equipment that is currently being used in television broadcast stations. One of the more recent changes that has evolved is the shift away from photographic techniques toward the use of magnetic media in many phases of the operation of the commercial broadcast television station. For example, feature films being broadcast often originate from magnetic tape rather than film and television station news departments are increasingly converting to videotape recording systems rather than using film cameras to provide the visual coverage of the news stories. Moreover, many systems utilize travelling transmitters that can either broadcast on location coverage or transmit such coverage to the station which can either be broadcast "live" or videotaped, edited and broadcast at a later time. Some of the many benefits of these techniques are the ease of handling, flexibility and speed of processing compared to the use of photographic film, coupled with the ability to reuse the magnetic tape when the information that is recorded on them is no longer needed.
One of the last remaining film domains in the present day commercial television broadcasting station is the Telecine island which uses 35 millimeter film transparencies. The Telecine island is used to provide video still images that are used during programming, commercials, news and the like, i.e., wherever a still image may be used during operation. Their use is extensive as is evidenced by the fact that the average commercial broadcast television station maintains a total file on the order of about 2000 to 5000 35 millimeter transparency slides. The maintenance of the total file represents a laborious operation which requires introduction of new slides, the discarding of obsolete slides and the maintenance of an accurate index so that they can be readily obtained when needed. When slide program sequences are to be assembled, they must be manually carried to the Telecine island, cleaned and manually loaded. Even with the cleaning operation, dust particles and scratches and the like may easily result in an unsatisfactory end product even when the projectionist is careful. Moreover, following their use during broadcasting, the slides must be removed and returned to the file. The entire assembling, use and refiling of the slides represents a substantial labor investment because of the many manual operations that are required. The Telecine operation is considered to be one of the most antiquated operations in many modern broadcast stations and is basically incompatible with a fully automated station operation.
In contrast to the Telecine island or the use of opaque graphic material as the source for generating video still images, the present invention facilitates the use of a recording and playback apparatus that will record and reproduce still images, with the still image video information being stored on magnetic media. The magnetic recording and playback apparatus utilizing the present invention facilitates the use of a self clocking digital data code to transmit digital data between distant points and, hence, the use of standard computer disc drives (though modified in some respects) as the magnetic storage media and thereby eliminates the many problems that are associated with slide transparencies. Since the still images are recorded on magnetic media, the problems of physical degradation during use, e.g., dust particles and scratches, are not experienced. Moreover, since the recorded information can be easily accessed, the same still image may be used by operators at different locations almost simultaneously.
The present invention is a phase locked clock generator for use in decoding a digital data stream of the kind in which the data content is determined by a sequence of signal state changes, either in the form of narrow data pulses or signal level transitions, each change being located in one of two positions within a data cell interval. The phase locked clock generator is useful for decoding digital data streams in which the signal state changes are located at either an edge position or a midpoint position of the data cell interval. The exemplary embodiment of the phase locked clock generator is disclosed herein as used in a decoder arranged to decode digital data streams encoded according to the code rules described in either U.S. Pat. No. 3,108,261 or No. 4,027,335. As will be described hereinbelow, digital data streams encoded according to each of the code rules described in those patents have signal state changes located at either the edge or midpoint positions of the data cells. The phase locked clock generator is arranged to provide clock pulses at a nominal rate of two times the encoded data clock rate so that, when properly phase locked, a clock pulse will be provided synchronously with the edge and midpoint positions of each data cell of the encoded digital data stream. For phase locking the clock generator, a narrow data pulse corresponding to each signal state change is provided to a phase comparator for comparison with the clock pulses. The phase comparator includes a current source that responds to the data and clock pulses to provide current to a charging circuit for an interval determined by selected edge transitions of the pulses received by the comparator. The charging circuit is coupled to the clock generator so that the generator is servoed to provide clock pulses to the phase comparator with its selected edge transition located at the midpoint of the narrow data pulse. In the absence of data pulses, the current source is controlled to provide current to the charging circuit that maintains the clock signal provided by the clock signal generator at a nominal frequency and phase.
While the phase locked clock pulse generator of the present invention is suited for use in apparatus for recording and reproducing still images and a preferred embodiment is described herein as arranged for such use, the phase locked clock pulse generator can be arranged for other uses wherein digital data in a self clocking code form is required to be decoded.
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Pedal-assisted bikes are bicycles with an auxiliary electric motor having the following specifications: maximum continuous power rating of the electric motor: 0.25 kW; motor supply gradually reduced and interrupted when 25 km/h is achieved; motor supply interrupted before 25 km/h if the cyclist stops pedalling.
The electric motor is controlled by means of a processing and control unit which controls the power supply according to the pedal force of the user, balancing the engagement of the transmission gradually from when pedalling starts, to make this smooth and regular.
For this purpose, pedal-assisted bikes have a force sensor in correspondence to the pedals or a speed sensor positioned in the pedal crank or both.
In traditional pedal-assisted bikes, the electric motor is housed directly in the hub of the motorised wheel and is powered by a battery pack which, instead, is fitted on the bicycle frame.
Considering the need to equip the bike with all the aforementioned components designed to perform various different functions, the traditional pedal-assisted systems are usually conceived, right from the design stage, to be fitted on a specific bike model.
Only rarely in fact is it possible to develop a kit able to adapt to several bike models, taking into account the considerable differences between the bicycles on the market, in particular their frames which, of course, have shapes and dimensions so different as to prevent a practical and complete standardisation of pedal-assisted systems.
It must also be underlined that the fitting of a kit for pedal-assisted bikes during the after-sales stage, even if this were possible, usually calls for the performance of inconvenient and not very practical operations concerning the adjustment and the fitting of the various components to the frame which more often than not cannot be performed by the end user and requires the intervention of an expert technician.
To partially overcome the aforementioned drawbacks, the integration is known in the motorised wheel of not only the electrical drive motor but also of the battery pack, as described for example in the patent document WO 2010/091323.
This constructive solution however is not without drawbacks either.
In this respect, it should first of all be noticed that the integration of the battery pack in the motorised wheel only in part simplifies pedal-assisted system fitting and removal operations because it in any case remains necessary to install force and/or speed sensors on the bike pedal crank, as well as all other components.
To this must be added that, quite apart from where the battery pack is positioned either on the wheel or on the frame, the motorised wheels for pedal-assisted bikes can not always be combined in a practical and easy way with the traditional mechanical gears usually used to reduce or multiply the motion transmission ratio from the pedal crank.
The fact that the hub of the motorised wheel is almost completely occupied by the electric motor in fact determines the fact that this wheel cannot be combined with gear change devices inside the hub, such as, e.g., the Rohloff gear change but can only be combined with external devices, such as traditional derailleur gears, which nevertheless are not standardised and vary according to the bike model.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an air blanket warming system for incorporating a remote temperature sensor mounted adjacent the air blanket to provide a temperature signal representative of the heated air delivered to the air blanket and includes an improved conduit unit, remote temperature sensor unit, and improved air blanket.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known to provide heated air to portions of the human body to maintain the human body temperature and/or to provide curative heat treatment to a patient. Air blankets are frequently used in operating rooms and critical care units and include a disposable air blanket that can be formed from a thin plastic or thin plastic paper configuration with appropriate apertures on one side of the blanket to bathe a patient with warm air. During the operation, the temperature of the patient can therefore be controlled. In a post-operative setting, it is possible to treat the patient for hypothermia. The concepts and use of the application of both heated and cold air is well known such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,110,022 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,601,189.
Air blankets or thermal blankets generally use a heater unit that is portable and includes a cabinet having operator controls for setting temperatures with an internal heater unit and blower unit for delivering a controlled temperature of air to a flexible conduit. The flexible conduit extends from the cabinet to the thermal blanket. A temperature sensor is mounted at the egress of the cabinet housing to measure the heated air for purposes of controlling the heater unit within the housing. The flexible conduit is replaceable and connects to an appropriate coupler port on an inflatable thermal blanket. The blanket is disposable and is usually offset from the heater or source cabinet by a distance of approximately 24 to 36 inches of flexible hose length. The temperature sensor that is within the cabinet is physically and thermally isolated from the inflatable blanket by the hose and also frequently by interspaced components such as filters and connectors.
The flexible hose diameter is typically 2xc2xd inches and the air flow velocity is from a range of 1200 to 2000 feet a minute. The temperature of the warm air delivered to the flexible hose ranges from approximately ambient temperature to 48 degrees Centigrade. If the room temperature is about 20 degrees Centigrade, there is a drop of about 4 degrees Centigrade that can occur at the highest delivered air temperature as the air flows in the hose to the thermal blanket. This temperature drop, however, is highly dependent on not only the room temperature but also any turbulence generated in the hose air flow due to bends in the hose. Additional descriptions of thermal blankets can be found for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,324,320, and 4,660,388.
The prior art is still seeking to improve the warming air apparatus for addressing the issue of hypotherapy in patients undergoing surgery and to further assist in the re-warming process after surgery or prolonged exposure to cold environment.
The present invention provides a fluid blanket warming system or thermal blanket system that can be applied to a patient to address hypothermia and includes a blanket unit made of a light weight material such as plastic and/or plastic and paper having an approximately hollow core to form a plenum chamber for the receiving of a gas such as heated air. A coupling port is provided to enable the admission of the gas from a heat source. Generally, the heat source is in a portable housing cabinet that supports a heater unit for heating the gas and a blower unit for providing forced air to the heater unit. A control circuit controls the temperature of the heater unit and the air can be filtered as it enters into the cabinet and also as it leaves the cabinet. A flexible conduit can be removably connected to a port on the cabinet housing for the delivery of the heated gas to an inflatable blanket unit. The inflatable blanket unit can come in various configurations and shapes and can include segmented or channel sections to assist in erecting the blanket when it is heated. The inner surface of the thermal blanket adjacent to the patient will be porous to thereby pass the thermally controlled air to the appropriate application of the patient""s body. Regardless of the particular configuration or construction of the thermal blanket, it will have a coupling port for removable connection with the flexible conduit.
A temperature sensor unit is mounted adjacent the thermal blanket unit and is in direct contact with the heated gas received from the heater unit to provide a temperature signal that is representative of the heated gas, such as air, as it is delivered to the thermal blanket unit. The control circuit thereby can drive a heater unit and blower unit within the cabinet to provide a pre-determined temperature for the patient which will take into account any temperature loss from the heater unit across the flexible conduit to the thermal blanket.
In one embodiment of the invention, the temperature sensor unit can be mounted within a coupler that can connect to the coupling port of the thermal blanket. The temperature sensor unit can include a heat conductive support member extending across the flow path of the heated gas so that the temperature sensor can accurately respond to the actual temperature. This heat conductor member can be in the form of a cross arm configuration that is structurally formed from a plastic resin substrate cladded with a heat conductive metal, such as copper, stainless steel, nickel, etc. The temperature sensor unit can be mounted at the inter-connection or junction of the arm members and since the heat conductive arms extend across the flow path, it can accurately average the temperature regardless of laminar or turbulent flow at the entrance to the thermal blanket.
An alternative embodiment of the invention can have the temperature sensor unit mounted directly on a coupler that can be removably attached to a thermal blanket rather than having it attached to a coupler on a flexible conduit.
A further alternative embodiment can have the temperature sensor unit directly mounted on the thermal blanket.
In an embodiment of the invention, a conduit unit for fluidly interconnecting a thermal blanket with a housing having a heater unit can comprise an elongated flexible conduit with a first coupler at one end of the conduit configured for removable connection to the heater housing and a second coupler at the opposite end of the conduit configured for removable connection to the air blanket or thermal blanket. A temperature sensor unit is mounted to sense the temperature of the air heated by the heater unit as it exits the second coupler. An electrical connector can extend from the temperature sensor unit through the first coupler and can have an end or terminal portion adapted to be electrically connected to transmit a temperature signal from the temperature sensor unit to a control circuit so that the heater unit can be controlled to a pre-determined temperature for a patient.
Finally, a second temperature sensor can also be mounted to provide a redundant measurement adjacent the first temperature sensor and a safety alarm circuit can shut off the air warming system, if the temperature level extends beyond predetermined limits.
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Recently, demands for a high-resolution and high-quality video have increased in various fields of applications. As an image has higher resolution and higher quality, an amount of data on the video increases more.
Accordingly, when image data is transferred using media such as existing wired or wireless broadband lines or video data is stored in existing storage media, the information transfer cost and the information storage cost increase.
High-efficiency video compressing techniques can be used to effectively transfer, store, and reproduce information on high-resolution and high-quality videos.
Inter prediction and intra prediction can be used to enhance video compression efficiency. In the inter prediction, pixel values of a current picture are predicted using information of other pictures. In the intra prediction, the pixel values are predicted using inter-pixel relationships in the same picture.
Various methods for making a video equal to an original video can be applied to a processing unit of a predicted picture, for example, a block. Accordingly, a decoder can decode a video more accurately (more closely to an original video), and an encoder can encode a video to reconstruct the video more accurately.
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The invention relates to an electrical machine.
Magnetic bearings are being increasingly used in electrical machines because no friction losses occur on them, as in the case of mechanical bearings. However, magnetic bearings have the disadvantage that disturbances can lead to their failure. (The simplest disturbance situation is a conventional electrical power failure). If the disturbance occurs during operation of the electrical machine, the shaft of the electrical machine is still rotating at high speed when the magnetic bearing fails. It is therefore necessary to provide so-called safety bearings, which hold the shaft in the event of failure of the magnetic bearings, and guide it at least while it is brought to rest, for example during transition from the state in which the shaft is moving to it being brought to rest.
A first approach in the prior art for refinement of the safety bearings was to use essentially conventional roller bearings. In this case, the shaft is guided in the roller bearing with play, in which case it is normally guided by the magnetic bearing, with the roller bearing acting as a safety bearing only when the magnetic bearing fails. Roller bearings are successful, particularly in the case of small electrical machines, in which the shaft is not heavy. Roller bearings have the advantage that the so-called “backward whirl” is suppressed, rotation of the entire shaft in the opposite rotation direction to the rotation applied to it, about its rotation axis.
Roller bearings are not suitable for holding large, heavy rotors: there is only a point or line contact between the roller bodies and the bearing rings, thus resulting in very high surface pressures. These high loads can damage the roller bearings and can block the bearing. In the case of large, heavy shafts, such as those which are used in turbocompressors for feeding gas, dry sliding bearings are nowadays used as safety bearings. Dry sliding bearings essentially comprise a ring which is mounted on the stator and in which the shaft can then rotate in the event of failing of the magnetic bearings. Since the risk of backward whirl rises as the coefficient of friction between the shaft and the safety bearing increases, the aim is to minimize the coefficient of friction by choice of suitable materials for this ring. By way of example, specific bronze alloys are used as friction coatings, but they are subject to severe wear.
The problem of wear in a dry sliding bearing is solved in U.S. Pat. No. 5,739,609 by splitting the ring in two: one ring element is attached to the stator, and a second ring element is mounted in the first ring element. In the event of wear on the inner surface, the second ring element can then be replaced. A sliding means is used in this case in order to make it easier to replace the second ring element. However, during operation the second ring element remains rigid with respect to the first ring element, which is attached to the stator, so that nothing is fundamentally changed with regard to the method of operation as a dry sliding bearing.
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Because of high performance of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), its applied fields have been expanded year by year (Randall K,. Saiki et al. (1988) Science 239, 487-491). Even a DNA fragment of one molecule can be amplified by the PCR. A direct sequencing method, which is one for sequencing a product amplified by the PCR, is also useful (Corinne Wong et al. (1988) Nature, 330, 384-386). This method enables to reveal information concerning sequence of numerous samples quickly and simultaneously without preparation of libraries and screening thereof.
The direct sequencing method, however, suffers from two serious problems.
First, primers and 2'-deoxyribonucleoside-5'-triphosphates (2'-dNTPs) which have not incorporated remain in reaction systems and interfere the sequencing reaction. Accordingly, the residual primers and 2'-dNTPs must be removed from the PCR products before sequencing in conventional methods. Various kinds of methods for purification of the PCR products are known and which include purification by electrophoresis, ethanol precipitation, filtration, HPLC and the like (see, for example, Dorit R. L. et al. (1991) Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Vol .II, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 15.2.1-15.2.11). However, all of these methods are complicated.
Second problem is the quick renaturation of PCR products. When the PCR products are renatured into a double-stranded DNA, they are no longer a single-stranded template and interfere the annealing between primers and single-stranded templates. For minimizing the renaturation, there have been proposed, for example, quenching after the denaturation, biotilation of one primer and adsorption of PCR products onto a streptavidin coated surface, use of exonuclease, asymmetric PCR and the like (see, for example, Barbara Bachmann et al. (1990) Nucleic Acid Res. Vol. 18, 1309). However, most of these methods are time-consuming and complicated.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a completely novel method for determining DNA nucleotide sequence, which does not require to remove the primers and 2'-deoxyribonucleoside-5'-triphosphates (2'-dNTPs) unreacted and remained in PCR reaction systems and which also does not require denaturation so that the problem of quick renaturation of PCR products could be obviated.
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The collection and disposal of raked leaves and grass clippings is a common component of domestic yard work. It is typically a two-person task, one person holding a plastic bag in an open position while the other person gathers and deposits the leaves or grass clippings. What is needed is an improved bag stand which can be quickly and easily assembled in the yard, which will hold the plastic bag in an open, upright position at a convenient height, is stable in its support of the bag, and which can be easily disassembled and stored in a compact form when the task is completed.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pump provided with a housing and a rotor that rotates within the housing, the pump drawing fluid into the housing and forcing the drawn fluid to the exterior of the housing. The present invention also relates to an ink jet printer mounting this pump.
2. Description of the Related Art
Rotary pumps are known to the art. One example of a rotary pump is set forth in Principles of New Machinery, 1997, Tenth Edition, p. 203 (27.13 Cary's rotary pump, part 1) “Kikai no so Fukkan Iinkai Hensha, Rikogakusha”. This pump is termed a Cary's rotary pump.
As shown in FIG. 9, a Cary's rotary pump 70 is provided with a housing 73, a rotor 74, a pair of blades (separating members) 76a and 76b and a compressed spring 75. An inlet port 71 and an outlet port 72 are formed in the housing 73. The rotor 74 is cylindrical, and has a groove 78 therein extending across its diameter. The rotor 74 rotates while making contact with a portion of an inner face of the housing 73 between the inlet port 71 and the outlet port 72. The pair of blades (the separating members) 76a and 76b are housed in the groove 78. The compressed spring 75 is housed between the pair of blades (the separating members) 76a and 76b. The compressed spring 75 presses the pair of blades (the separating members) 76a and 76b against the inner face of the housing 73.
When the rotor 74 rotates, the pair of blades 76a and 76b rotates integrally with the rotor 74 while making contact with the inner face of the housing 73. Centrifugal force operating on the pair of blades 76a and 76b increases the force pressing the pair of blades 76a and 76b against the inner face of the housing 73.
The pair of blades 76a and 76b and the rotor 74 separate a cavity within the housing 73 into three divided spaces. That is, the cavity within the housing 73 is separated into: a divided space 77a linked with the inlet port 71, a divided space 77b linked with neither the inlet port 71 nor the outlet port 72, and a divided space 77c linked with the outlet port 72.
When the pair of blades 76a and 76b are rotating integrally with the rotor 74, this rotation occurring in a clockwise direction, and while the pair of blades 76a and 76b are making contact with the inner face of the housing 73, the volume of the divided space 77a linked with the inlet port 71 increases, and the volume of the divided space 77c linked with the outlet port 72 decreases. The increase in volume of the divided space 77a linked with the inlet port 71 draws fluid such as water, air, or the like, into the housing 73 from the inlet port 71. The decrease in volume of the divided space 77c linked with the outlet port 72 elevates the pressure of the fluid drawn into the housing 73, and this pressurized fluid is discharged to the exterior of the housing 73 from the outlet port 72.
In the case of, for example, an ink jet printer, ink must be supplied to an ink jet head from an ink cartridge. During ordinary printing, pressure decreases in an ink passage within the ink jet head when ink is discharged from the ink jet head, and ink is consequently drawn into the ink jet head. There is no need to force ink towards the ink jet head during ordinary printing.
However, air bubbles or the like may be entrapped in the ink passage within the ink jet head when, for example, the ink cartridge has been changed. In this case, it is necessary to discharge the entrapped air bubbles or the like by forcing ink towards the ink jet head (this process is termed purging). A pump must be provided between the ink cartridge and the ink jet head for performing the purging operation.
The pump for the ink jet printer is required to force ink out through the outlet port when the pump is rotating, and required to allow ink to flow from the inlet port to the outlet port when the pump is not rotating.
However, in the conventional rotary pump 70 shown in FIG. 9, the inlet port 71 and the outlet port 72 is separated by the rotor 74 and the pair of blades 76a and 76b when the rotary pump 70 is not moving. Consequently, fluid cannot flow from the inlet port 71 to the outlet port 72 when the rotary pump 70 is not moving.
It is possible to maintain a passage between the inlet port 71 and the outlet port 72 by forming a cut-away portion in an outer peripheral surface of the rotor 74 of the rotary pump 70 shown in FIG. 9. This allows a pump 70 to be realized in which fluid flows from a supply source to a supply destination even when the pump 70 is not moving.
This type of rotary pump is disclosed in Laid-Open Japanese Patent Application Publications 2004-268272 and 2004-270455. The pump disclosed in these publications comprises the rotor having the cut-away portion in its outer peripheral surface, and the passage from the inlet port to the outlet port is maintained when the pump is halted.
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1. Field
The present invention relates to technology for non-volatile storage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor memory has become more popular for use in various electronic devices. For example, non-volatile semiconductor memory is used in cellular telephones, digital cameras, personal digital assistants, mobile computing devices, non-mobile computing devices and other devices. Electrical Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) and flash memory are among the most popular non-volatile semiconductor memories.
Both EEPROM and flash memory utilize a floating gate that is positioned above and insulated from a channel region in a semiconductor substrate. The floating gate is positioned between the source and drain regions. A control gate is provided over and insulated from the floating gate. The threshold voltage of the transistor is controlled by the amount of charge that is retained on the floating gate. That is, the minimum amount of voltage that must be applied to the control gate before the transistor is turned on to permit conduction between its source and drain is controlled by the level of charge on the floating gate. Thus, a memory cell (which can include one or more transistors) can be programmed and/or erased by changing the level of charge on a floating gate in order to change the threshold voltage.
Each memory cell can store data (analog or digital). When storing one bit of digital data (referred to as a binary memory cell), possible threshold voltages of the memory cell are divided into two ranges which are assigned logical data “1” and “0.” In one example of a NAND type flash memory, the threshold voltage is negative after the memory cell is erased, and defined as logic “1.” After programming, the threshold voltage is positive and defined as logic “0.” When the threshold voltage is negative and a read is attempted by applying 0 volts to the control gate, the memory cell will turn on to indicate logic one is being stored. When the threshold voltage is positive and a read operation is attempted by applying 0 volts to the control gate, the memory cell will not turn on, which indicates that logic zero is stored.
A memory cell can also store multiple levels of information (referred to as a multi-state memory cell). In the case of storing multiple levels of data, the range of possible threshold voltages is divided into the number of levels of data. For example, if four levels of information is stored, there will be four threshold voltage ranges assigned to the data values “11”, “10”, “01”, and “00.” In one example of a NAND type memory, the threshold voltage after an erase operation is negative and defined as “11.” Positive threshold voltages are used for the states of “10”, “01”, and “00.” If eight levels of information (or states) are stored in each memory cell (e.g. for three bits of data), there will be eight threshold voltage ranges assigned to the data values “000”, “001”, “010”, “011” “100”, “101”, “110” and “111.” The specific relationship between the data programmed into the memory cell and the threshold voltage levels of the memory cell depends upon the data encoding scheme adopted for the memory cells. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,762 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0255090, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, describe various data encoding schemes for multi-state flash memory cells. In one embodiment, data values are assigned to the threshold voltage ranges using a Gray code assignment so that if the threshold voltage of a floating gate erroneously shifts to its neighboring physical state, only one bit will be affected. In some embodiments, the data encoding scheme can be changed for different word lines, the data encoding scheme can be changed over time, or the data bits for random word lines may be inverted to reduce data pattern sensitivity and even wear on the memory cells. Different encoding schemes can be used.
When programming an EEPROM or flash memory device, such as a NAND flash memory device, typically a program voltage is applied to the control gate and the bit line is grounded. Electrons from the channel are injected into the floating gate. When electrons accumulate in the floating gate, the floating gate becomes negatively charged and the threshold voltage of the memory cell is raised so that the memory cell is in a programmed state. More information about programming can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,859,397, titled “Source Side Self Boosting Technique For Non-Volatile Memory,” and in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2005/0024939, titled “Detecting Over Programmed Memory,” both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Typically, the program voltage applied to the control gate during a program operation is applied as a series of pulses. In many implementations, the magnitude of the pulses is increased with each successive pulse by a predetermined step size.
Because multi-state memory cells have multiple ranges of possible threshold voltages, some memory cells will need to be programmed to a higher threshold voltage than in comparison to binary memory cells. Larger magnitude programming pulses are needed to program memory cells to higher threshold voltages. Additionally, as technology scales to finer geometries, it may be more difficult to maintain the same cell coupling ratio; thereby, requiring larger voltages for the programming pulses in order to achieve the same programming effect. The voltage of the programming pulses is, however, limited by a number of factors including practical limitations on the design of the charge pump on the memory chip, and junction and oxide breakdown.
Thus, while there is a need for higher voltage programming pulses, there is a limitation on the maximum voltage that can be achieved.
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According to a survey by JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association), an average viewing time of the TV per day is 4.5 hours. With changes in life style today, however, it is known that the TV is not always watched for 4.5 hours.
For example, when the TV is viewed while making preparations to go to the company or to school or eating breakfast in the morning, the TV screen is not viewed uninterruptedly and eyes may be shifted or a conversation may be held with others when a program such a weather forecast that is sufficiently understood only with audio input is broadcast. Then, an interesting keyword broadcast in current affairs news or sports news may cause the viewing of the TV screen to start again, which is frequently observed behavior.
That is, so-called “viewing while doing something else” in which the TV is just turned on as a substitute for a clock in the morning and more recently, the sound of the TV is just heard while operating a PC (personal computer) in the evening is increasing as typical view forms of the TV. If such “viewing while doing something else” is done, power is uselessly consumed while the TV screen is turned on. Thus, a display apparatus that analyzes a user's viewing state by providing an image sensor in a periphery of the TV screen and detecting a lace by the image sensor and exercises power saving control optimal to the viewing state.
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In applications requiring force transmission in hydraulic systems, there is a desirability for utilization of actuator pairs. In the prior art when the actuators are arranged in parallel, a very small differential in pressure across the pistons in each of the actuators can result in a mismatch in piston movement within the cylinders. Such mismatch in piston movement (differential movement between the pistons) results in a lateral deflection of the actuators. Such lateral deflection impairs performance of the actuator pair and thus reduces the reliability thereof. In addition, the pistons, as a result of the lateral deflection, may bind within the cylinders, thereby reducing the life of the actuators through unusual wear of the pistons, the seals and the internal cylinder walls.
To correct the foregoing problems, when the application requires the utilization of parallel actuators, very complicated pressure synchronization systems must be employed. Such complicated systems in turn reduce the reliability and increase the cost of manufacture as well as maintenance of the system.
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Standards have been established for the exchange of electrical signals among processing devices. Processing devices include integrated circuit systems built on and using printed circuit boards by an increasingly wide array of suppliers. Architecture standards ensure that the various devices will, in fact, be able to communicate with one another as well as with central processing units that control the operation of such devices. These devices include high speed communication devices.
A channel is a pathway, e.g., physical, optical, etc., between the transmitters/receivers of individual devices such as cards, central processor, memory, etc., of a data transmission system as well as external interfaces. It is an important goal to provide a signal exchange between systems with little or no disruption.
Increasingly, an important feature of a communication channel is to provide for the transfer of greater quantities of signals (bandwidth) at faster propagation rates (high speed). Unfortunately, physical limitations, impedance, jitter, crosstalk, etc. associated with the physical interconnections and signal drivers and receivers can restrict high bandwidth, high speed signal transfer.
As transmission speeds move to 10 Gbps and beyond, designers must consider individual performance capabilities of components as well as the capabilities they exhibit when implemented in a system architecture. The interaction between components and channel results in unpredictable losses. This unpredictable nature limits the effectiveness of better materials and devices intended to compensate for predictable losses.
Many popular forms of encoding of the serial data result in signal frequencies in excess of 1 GHz. At such high frequencies, ISI (intersymbol interference) is often a problem. Intersymbol interference in a digital transmission system is the distortion of the received signal, which distortion is manifested in the temporal spreading and consequent overlap of individual pulses to the degree that the receiver cannot reliably distinguish between changes of state, i.e., between individual signal elements. At a certain threshold intersymbol interference will compromise the integrity of the received data. Intersymbol interference may be measured by eye patterns.
The integrity of the received data may be restored through equalization. Equalization may be used to correct the overlap of individual pulses, such that a receiver can again distinguish between individual signal elements. The equalized signal may then be subsequently processed with far less chance of error.
In digital communications an “eye diagram” is used to visualize how the waveforms used to send multiple bits of data can potentially lead to errors in the interpretation of those bits. Eye measurements are often used as an indication of the quality of the received and/or equalized signal. However, channel impairments tend to close the eye. More specifically, distortion of a signal waveform due to intersymbol interference and noise appears as closure of the eye pattern. A closed eye is indicative of a signal that cannot be received without an excessively high error rate. Thus, providing equalization to open the eye is essential. The sources of eye closure include jitter in the transmit and receive devices, ISI, and crosstalk. The statistical eye is a mathematical construct similar to an eye diagram, in which the statistical nature of these sources of eye closure are taken into account.
The statistical eye is an algorithm that effectively shows the probability of a given eye opening, given measurements of channel S-parameters, crosstalk S-parameters, and device (transmit and receive) jitter. Or, if a given eye opening at a given probability level is specified, the statistical eye becomes a tool to verify channel compliance. The original statistical eye algorithm incorporates two forms of equalization: feed-forward and decision-feedback. It is capable of determining the best equalizer of a given size or the best equalizer subject to a set of constraints. Channel compliance can then be verified assuming that interoperating devices will use equalizers of a given complexity.
Some communicating devices may implement Continuous-Time Equalization. This is an analog filter that shapes the frequency response—usually to invert the frequency response magnitude of the channel. Given that such devices exist, it can be seen that there is a need for a method and apparatus that incorporates Continuous-Time Equalization into the statistical eye channel compliance.
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This invention relates generally to digital signal processing, and more particularly to a processing core that can be arranged to perform multiple complex signal processing functions.
Rapid advancements in digital multi-media applications is presenting increasingly more difficult challenges in designing the physical layer of communication equipment. Higher bandwidth and greater data throughput require faster and more efficient modems. For example, the processing of a real-time high quality MPEG video stream at 10.76 MHz or higher is likely to require dedicated hardware. This is due to the fact that many high speed applications, such as cable and terrestrial TV modems, ADSL modems, and ATM modems have base-band processing requirements in the order of Giga operations per second. As an added complexity, multiple communication standards exist, and many more are emerging.
In the prior art, adaptability has been achieved in several ways. One technique uses software configurable hardware. For example, field programmable gate arrays can implement modems that can accommodate different modulation formats for terrestrial, cable, telephone line, satellite, and wireless communications. This is an expensive solution not suitable for mass production. In another technique, multiple carrier recovery circuits are fabricated on a single chip. A particular circuit is selected based on a given type of demodulation format. As above, cost factors detract from this solution. General purpose microprocessors have been used. However, today""s high bandwidths make software solutions impractical.
In order to arrive at a particularly useful and versatile processing core, several widely used types of digital signal demodulators/receivers can be analyzed to determine commonly employed and recurring functions that are potential candidates for implementation in a processing core. In particular, various formats can respectively include receiver processing front-ends for Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)xe2x80x94FIG. 1, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)xe2x80x94FIG. 2, Vestigial Side Band (VSB)xe2x80x94FIG. 3, and Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DS-SS) Wideband Code Division Multiplexing (W-CDMA)xe2x80x94FIG. 4.
As shown in FIG. 1, a typical QAM demodulator front-end 100 includes two multipliers 111-112, two interpolators 121-122, an equalizer 130, and a carrier recovery circuit 140. The demodulator 100 takes a serial digital signal as input 101 and produces I and Q signals as output 109. A constant modulus algorithm is used during startup. Operating in either T or T/2 mode, the equalizer typically uses a delay line configured as complex, FIR filters with decision feed-back, feed-forward, or feed-back components having programmable lengths. Adaptive filters can have over a hundred taps requiring an equal number of terms in the computed vector products of the complex numbers.
As shown in FIG. 2, a OFDM receiver front-end 200 can include a serial-to-parallel converter (S/P) 210, an inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) 220, a parallel-to serial converter (P/S) 230, two multipliers 241-242, and an adder 250. The receiver takes a serial signal 201 as input and generates a demultiplexed serial signal as output 209. In order to map between time and space domains, generally, X(k)=xcexa3x(n)exe2x88x92j(2xcfx80/N), the FFT operates on blocks of, for example 2K or 8K terms.
As shown in FIG. 3, a VSB front-end 300 typically includes two multipliers 311-312, timing and carrier recovery circuits 320 and 330, and an equalizer 340. The equalizer here is similar to the QAM equalizer of FIG. 1, however, the VSB front-end uses a real mode equalizer, instead of a complex mode equalizer. In a real mode equalizer only the I-channel carries data, whereas in a complex mode equalizer, such as QAM, both the I- and Q-channels carry data. Input is provided on line 301, while the output appears on line 309. A normalized least means square method may be used for fast convergence. To realize both QAM and VSB modes, the processing core would have to switch between real and complex multiplications and additions.
As shown in FIG. 4, a W-CDMA receiver front-end 400 can include a down sampler 410, a root raised cosine filter (SCR) 420, and multiple instances of a despreader 430 and a coherence detector and rake combiner 440. A spread spectrum signal is the input, and a parallel signal can be fed to a channel detector 450. The down-sampler converts the input signal to base band, the SRC performs a FIR function, and element 440 equalizes the signal.
The analysis identifies a number of basic functions that could be implemented by arrangements of a common processing core. The basic functions are summarized in Table 1. In the table, the size and width are examples of typical implementations for digital video broadcast signal processing.
Therefore, it is desirable to construct a fundamental multi-functional circuit module or processing core that can be arranged alone, or in multiples to handle a number of different communication signal processing functions.
In accordance with the invention, a configurable communication signal processing core includes a set of particular arithmetic units and registers which are interconnected to operate in a plurality of different basic modes suitable for use in a number of digital modem functions.
Specifically, the processing core includes a multiplier having a first input and a second input and an output producing a product. An adder is connected to receive the product from the multiplier as a first input to produce a sum. A first register is connected to receive and store the sum from the adder, and to provide a second input for the adder in response to a clock signal. A second register is connected to receive and store the output of the first register in response to an inverse of the clock signal to enable the addition of two products in a single clock cycle.
In one embodiment, the processing core is fabricated on a single semiconductor chip having externally accessible signaling pins. In addition, the core can include a first multiplexer selecting the second input for the adder, a second multiplexer selecting the first input for the multiplier, and a third multiplexer selecting the second input for the multiplier.
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The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced exponential growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling down has also increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are needed.
For example, the scaling down of a conventional complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistor faces challenges of rapidly increasing power consumption due to an off-state current leakage. The off-state current leakage is caused by the decreasing thickness of a gate oxide film associated with the scaling down of the CMOS transistor. Accordingly, what is needed is a method or device for further scaling down of a transistor.
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The present invention relates to a SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) device or the like electronic component that houses electronic device chip in the package. The present invention relates also to a method for manufacturing the electronic components.
FIG. 5 shows a plan view of a conventional SAW device, while FIG. 6 shows the cross sectional view. As shown in these drawings, a conventional SAW device is manufactured by first stacking a first ceramic frame body 101 on one of the surfaces of a ceramic substrate 100, and a second ceramic frame body 102 on the first ceramic frame body 101, and these frame bodies together with the substrate are fired to form an integrated package 103. An internal contact electrode 104 and a shield electrode 105 are formed on certain predetermined areas of the package 103, and a seam ring 110 is provided on the upper-end surface of the package by means of silver brazing. And then, the internal contact electrode 104, the shield electrode 105 and the seam ring 110 are gold plated on the surface.
A SAW chip 107 is comprised of comb-formed electrodes for input/output formed on a piezoelectric substrate (not shown), and reflector electrodes and contact electrodes coupled with the comb-formed electrodes provided at both sides of the comb-formed electrode. The SAW chip 107 is mounted on the bottom surface of a cavity of the package 103; namely, it is mounted on the shield electrode 105 provided on the surface of ceramic substrate 100, with an adhesion layer 106 interposed in between. Next, a pattern recognition is conducted from above the package 103, namely from the seam ring 110 side towards the SAW chip 107, for detecting boundaries between the second ceramic frame body 102 and the first ceramic frame body 101, and between the internal contact electrode 104 and a non-internal contact electrode portion 108a, 108b.
A location for bonding a wire 109 on the internal contact electrode 104 is determined based on the two boundaries detected through the above procedure as well as the dimensional particulars of the package 103.
In accordance with the location determined as above, the SAW chip 107 and the internal contact electrode 104 are interconnected by the wire 109, and then a lid 111 is welded on the seam ring 110 of package 103.
In the above-described conventional technology, however, it is extremely difficult to establish the location at a high accuracy level, because of a displacement which occurs when silver-brazing the seam ring 110.
If a location thus determined is not accurate enough, the wire 109, for example, could be connected erroneously with the shield electrode 105, or an defective connection between the wire 109 and the internal contact electrode 104 might arise.
The present invention aims to offer an electronic component, in which an electronic device chip can be aligned to a certain specific location at a high accuracy level and an accurate location is established at a high accuracy level for bonding a wire on the internal contact electrode. A method for manufacturing the electronic components is also offered by the present invention.
The outline structure of an electronic component of the present invention is that it is provided with a pattern suitable for aligning a SAW device chip or the like electronic device chip and an interconnection wire accurately to certain specified places of a package of the electronic component.
The outline of a method for manufacturing the electronic components of the present invention is that the package is provided with a stepped level-difference on the inner wall of cavity, and aligning of at least either said device chip or interconnection wire to a certain specified location is effected after detecting the boundary formed by the stepped level-difference and the inner bottom surface of said package at a high accuracy level.
Practically described, an electronic component of the present invention comprises a package, which having a cavity formed within and the cavity is provided with a stepped level-difference on the inner wall surface; an internal contact electrode provided on the upper end-surface of said stepped level-difference of the inner wall; a shield electrode; provided on the inner bottom surface of said package; a device chip disposed on the shield electrode; and an interconnection wire for connecting the device chip with said internal contact electrode. Said inner bottom surface is provided with a non-electrode portion, which region is used for aligning at least either said device chip or said interconnection wire to a certain specific location. Said non-electrode portion can be used as a recognition pattern for aligning at least either the device chip or the interconnection wire to a certain specific location in the package. Since the non-electrode portion is different in color from the shield electrode formed on the inner bottom surface of the package, a place for mounting the device chip and a spot for bonding the interconnection wire on the internal contact electrode can be determined accurately by making use of the non-electrode portion.
Another electronic component of the present invention comprises a ceramic substrate; a first ceramic frame body formed on one of the surfaces of said ceramic substrate; a second ceramic frame body formed on said first ceramic frame body; stepped level-differences formed between said ceramic substrate and said first ceramic frame body and between said first ceramic frame body and said second ceramic frame body; an internal contact electrode formed on one of the surfaces of said first ceramic frame body, which surface being in the same side as a junction formed between said first ceramic frame body and said second ceramic frame body, which internal contact electrode extending over the side faces of said first ceramic frame body and said ceramic substrate as far as the other surface of said ceramic substrate; a shield electrode formed on the one surface of said ceramic substrate for having said device chip thereon, and said device chip is mounted on said shield electrode; and an interconnection wire for connecting said device chip with said internal contact electrode. The inner bottom surface of said package is provided with a non-electrode portion, which region is used for aligning at least either said device chip or said interconnection wire to a certain specific location. As already described above, the non-electrode portion may be considered as a recognition pattern for aligning at least either the device chip or the interconnection wire to a certain specific location. Thus a place for mounting the device chip and a spot for bonding the interconnection wire on the internal contact electrode can be determined at a high accuracy level.
Other features of the electronic component of the present invention include that it is provided with said non-electrode portion for at least two, said device chip is disposed on said shield electrode at an area that is specified by connecting said two non-electrode portions. When viewed from above the package, one of the sides of said non-electrode portion is coincidental with one of the sides of said internal contact electrode. Furthermore, one of the sides of said internal contact electrode, or the extension, is crossing substantially at a right angle with one of the sides of said non-electrode portion, or the extension. The clearance formed between the opposing inner walls of a package is greater at the lower stepped level-difference than at the upper stepped level-difference. In the electronic component of the present invention, a place for mounting the device chip and a spot for bonding the interconnection wire on the internal contact electrode can be determined at a higher accuracy level by taking advantage of the above-described features. In the electronic component of the present invention, the upper surfaces of the internal contact electrode and the device chip are disposed on substantially the same plane. With such configuration, both of the internal contact electrode and the device chip are brought into the focused zone together during the pattern recognition. This contributes to determining the bonding location of the interconnection wire on the internal contact electrode at a higher accuracy level.
Further, in the electronic component of the present invention, the length, in the direction from the internal contact electrode to the device chip, of a side of the non-shielded electrode portion is greater than the focus displacement margin of a lens used for recognizing said boundary formed by the internal contact electrode and the non-electrode portion. With the above configuration, boundary between the internal contact electrode and the non-electrode portion can be recognized at a high precision level. Furthermore, a side of the non-shielded electrode portion facing the internal contact electrode is longer than the gap between said internal contact electrodes. With the above configuration, boundary between the internal contact electrode and the shield electrode can be recognized at a high reliability level, even if there happens a displacement with the non-shielded electrode portion.
A method for manufacturing the electronic components in accordance with the present invention comprises a first step for mounting a device chip in a package, which package having a cavity provided with stepped level-differences opposing to each other on the inner wall surface and a plurality of internal contact electrodes on the upper-end surface of said stepped level-difference; a second step for detecting a boundary formed by said stepped level-difference and the inner bottom surface of said package, as viewed from the above, for at least two, and determining spots for coupling said internal contact electrode with said device chip by means of the interconnection wire, based on results of the detection; a third step for electrically connecting said device chip with said internal contact electrode using said interconnection wire; and a fourth step for sealing said package with a lid at the opening. In accordance with the above-described method of manufacture, the internal contact electrode and the device chip can be connected reliably with the interconnection wire.
Further, in a method for manufacturing the electronic components in accordance with the present invention, the package of which having a shield electrode at the inner bottom surface and the inner bottom surface of the package, when viewed from the above, is provided with a non-shielded electrode portion in a zone facing said stepped level-difference, a spot for bonding the interconnection wire is determined after detecting, in the first step, a boundary formed by said non-shielded electrode portion and said stepped level-difference for at least two. In accordance with this method of manufacture, spots for bonding the interconnection wire on the internal contact electrode and the device chip can be determined, more accurately.
A method for manufacturing the electronic components in accordance with the present invention, the package of which having a cavity provided with stepped level-differences opposing to each other on the inner wall surface and a plurality of internal contact electrodes on the upper-end surface of said stepped level-difference, comprises a first step for determining a place for mounting a device chip after detecting a boundary formed by said stepped level-difference and the inner bottom surface, as viewed from the above, for at least two; a second step for mounting said device chip in said package at the inner bottom; a third step for electrically interconnecting said device chip and said internal contact electrode with the interconnection wire; and a fourth step for sealing said package with a lid at the opening. In accordance with the above-described method of manufacture, a device chip can be mounted in a package at a high reliably level.
Furthermore, a method for manufacturing the electronic components in accordance with the present invention, whose package having a shield electrode formed on the inner bottom surface and provided with a non-shielded electrode portion on said inner bottom surface at the end facing said internal contact electrode, determines a place for mounting a device chip, as viewed from the above in the first step, after detecting a cross point formed by one of the sides of said, or the extension, and one of the sides of said internal contact electrode, or the extension, for at least two. In accordance with the method, a device chip can be mounted in a package in a more reliable manner.
A method for manufacturing the electronic components in accordance with the present invention, whose package having a cavity provided with opposing stepped level-differences on the inner wall surface and provided internal contact electrode on the upper end-surface of said stepped level-difference, comprises a first step for determining a place for mounting the device chip in the package after detecting, as viewed from above the package, said boundary formed by the stepped level-difference and the inner bottom surface for at least two, a second step for mounting said device chip in said package, a third step for determining spots for interconnecting said internal contact electrode and said device chip with the interconnection wire after detecting, as viewed from above the package, said boundary formed by the stepped level-difference and the inner bottom surface for at least two, a fourth step for electrically interconnecting said device chip and said internal contact electrode with the interconnection wire, and a fifth step for sealing said package at the opening with a lid. In accordance with the above-described method of manufacture, a device chip can be mounted in a package and the device chip and the internal contact electrode can be interconnected with an interconnection wire at a higher reliability level.
Furthermore, in a method for manufacturing the electronic components in accordance with the present invention, the package of which having a shield electrode on the inner bottom surface and provided with a non-shielded electrode portion on the inner bottom surface at a side facing the internal contact electrode, a place for mounting the device chip is determined after detecting, in the first step, a cross point formed by one of the sides of said non-shielded electrode portion, or the extension, and one of the sides of said internal contact electrode, or the extension, for at least two, and spots for bonding the interconnection wire are determined, in the third step, after detecting a cross point formed by one of the sides of said non-shielded electrode portion, or the extension, and one of the sides of said internal contact electrode, or the extension, for at least two. In accordance with the above-described method of manufacture, a device chip can be mounted in a package and the device chip and the internal contact electrode can be interconnected with an interconnection wire at a higher reliability level.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to slip sensing robot gripper systems, and relates more particularly to a robot gripper system, operating on the springback phenomenon, the high speed return to rest configuration (springback acceleration) of a resilient pad which is suddenly released after being deformed linearly when a lightly gripped object suddenly releases energy stored by linear deformation of the gripper pad, which can determine slipping of an object lightly to facilitate controlled gripping, controlled slipping and controlled sliding of objects.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are a great number of robot gripper systems which have been deployed or at least described in publications, some with relatively sophisticated feedback and servo systems to facilitate grasping of objects without damage. Remote pickup devices normally depend upon a human operator for intelligent control via various sensing and servo devices. Operating alone, however, the robot normally does not have sufficient sensing or intelligence to make the necessary determinations for controlled slipping of objects.
Robots may be equipped with a variety of sensing mechanisms, including optical viewing, weight measuring devices, strain gages and length measuring devices, among others. A particular problem with these prior art devices, however, is that they are not sensitive to the complicated dynamics of initial slippage of a gripped object during the processes of pickup and release. The human hand-brain combination handles initial slippage easily and elegantly. A person may control the slippage of a pencil in hand, letting the pencil slip in a controlled slide so as to come to rest in the writing position.
Controlled slippage in robot grippers has not normally been deployed; there is no known body of slip sensing art in robotics upon which to build. Certain vehicle safety programs have included skid sensing devices, again without common deployment; skid sensing devices tend to be optimized for rotating wheels and cannot be used directly in robotic grippers.
The following are representative of the prior art:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,850, Bartholome, AUTOMATIC TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM, July 10, 1973, shows a wheel slippage detector comprising an angular accelerometer and a linear accelerometer which press against one another to measure the ratio of wheel angular acceleration to vehicular linear acceleration. Closure of the loop is obtained by interrupting the vehicle ignition circuit to slow the vehicle upon detection of a skid, and to control flow of brake fluid, so as to control slippage for maximum braking efficiency.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,148, Ringwall et al., TACTILE SENSOR, Dec. 15, 1981, shows a tactile feel system for a robot, in which a number of pneumatic passages are each equipped with a resilient light reflective tab and an optical fiber, and deformations of the tabs, indicating the presence and shape of the object, may be sensed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,234, Hill et al., MANIPULATOR WITH ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCER MEANS, Sept. 9, 1975, shows an array of electromechanical transducers for force and slip sensing. Slip sensors include " . . . rotatable disks . . . extending outwardly from the opposing jawfaces." Hill does not show any slip sensor operating on the springback phenomenon.
Japanese Patent No. 52-33253, Hoshino, shows a hydraulic technique for increasing pressure and moving the gripper upwards until no slip is sensed. Hoshino does not show any slip sensor operating on the springback phenomenon.
Japanese Patent No. 52-33254, Hoshino, shows a similar hydraulic technique for increasing pressure until no slip is sensed. Hoshino does not show any slip sensor operating on the springback phenomenon.
Japanese Patent No. 53-13767, Aoki, shows a pneumatic gripper which applies force controlled in response to position with respect to an array of photodetectors and light emitting elements. Aoki does not show any slip sensor operating on the springback phenomenon.
USSR author's certificate No. 433,023, Liberman et al., ROBOT MANIPULATOR, Urals Polytechnic Institute--Kirov, Nov. 18, 1974, shows a robot manipulator with an electromechanical position transducer for slip sensing. A mechanical belt in one gripper face rotates the stem of a potentiometer for slip sensing. This USSR author's certificate does not show any slip sensor operating on the springback phenomenon.
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On occasion there is a need to inject fuel into high temperature supersonic air flow. There is a need to retract the fuel injectors when they are not in use to avoid overheating and therefore one must be able to insert and retract the fuel nozzles.
The fuel is introduced simultaneously at a plurality of closely spaced locations. Therefore a plurality of injectors are joined in a header system in the form of a rake. Because of the differential thermal expansion between the wall containing the supersonic air flow and the header system, each injector must be able to move parallel to the surface of the wall through which it passes as well as in and out of the wall. It must at the same time seal against egress or leakage of hot gas from the gas flow path.
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1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to testing, and more specifically, to testing porosity of a gold layer of a contact structure.
2. Related Art
In many semiconductor applications today, contact pads commonly use a gold layer to which connections are made during subsequent assembly. Therefore, the porosity, contamination, and associated defects of the gold contact layer affect the quality and reliability of the resulting assembly. Testing the gold contact layer is therefore needed to reduce assembly failures and thus improve yield.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vehicle lamp unit. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vehicle lamp unit having a bezel member and a light pipe structure attached to the bezel member.
2. Background Information
Most vehicles typically include various lamp assemblies for illuminating exterior areas about the vehicle. For example, most vehicles have a pair of vehicle headlamp assemblies in the front of the vehicle and a pair of vehicle tail light assemblies in the rear of the vehicle. Vehicle lamp assemblies typically function as parking lamps, daytime running lamps, fog lights, off-road utility lights as well as various other signaling devices. In addition to providing light, tail light assemblies can also be decorative with respect to the vehicle. Many modern automotive vehicle lamp assemblies have begun using light emitting diodes (LEDs) as a form of light source. Automakers often combine two separate light sources for lamp units, such as using a light pipe and a reflector structure to provide an aesthetically pleasing illuminated appearance along the edges of a lamp assembly. In the case of vehicle tail light assemblies, it has also been increasingly popular to mount the vehicle tail light assemblies onto a movable panel of a vehicle, such as a trunk lid or a rear door.
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In recent years, devices have come into widespread use which subject an image to compression encoding by employing an encoding format handling image information as digital, and at this time compress the image by orthogonal transform such as discrete cosine transform or the like and motion compensation, taking advantage of redundancy which is a feature of the image information, in order to perform highly efficient transmission and storage of information. Examples of this encoding format include MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) and so forth.
In particular, MPEG2 (ISO/IEC 13818-2) is defined as a general-purpose image encoding format, and is a standard encompassing both of interlaced scanning images and sequential-scanning images, and standard resolution images and high definition images. For example, MPEG2 has widely been employed now by broad range of applications for professional usage and for consumer usage. By employing the MPEG2 compression format, a code amount (bit rate) of 4 through 8 Mbps is allocated in the event of an interlaced scanning image of standard resolution having 720×480 pixels, for example. By employing the MPEG2 compression format, a code amount (bit rate) of 18 through 22 Mbps is allocated in the event of an interlaced scanning image of high resolution having 1920×1088 pixels, for example. Thus, a high compression rate and excellent image quality can be realized.
MPEG2 has principally been aimed at high image quality encoding adapted to broadcasting usage, but does not handle lower code amount (bit rate) than the code amount of MPEG1, i.e., an encoding format having a higher compression rate. It is expected that demand for such an encoding format will increase from now on due to the spread of personal digital assistants, and in response to this, standardization of the MPEG4 encoding format has been performed. With regard to an image encoding format, the specification thereof was confirmed as international standard as ISO/IEC 14496-2 in December in 1998.
Further, in recent years, standardization of a standard called H.26L (ITU-T Q6/16 VCECG) has progressed with image encoding for television conference usage as the object. With H.26L, it has been known that though greater computation amount is requested for encoding and decoding thereof as compared to a conventional encoding format such as MPEG2 or MPEG4, higher encoding efficiency is realized. Also, currently, as part of activity of MPEG4, standardization for taking advantage of a function that is not supported by H.26L with this H.26L taken as base to realize higher encoding efficiency has been performed as Joint Model of Enhanced-Compression Video Coding. As a schedule of standardization, H.264 and MPEG-4 Part10 (Advanced Video Coding, hereafter referred to as H.264/AVC) become an international standard in March, 2003.
Further, as an extension thereof, standardization of FRExt (Fidelity Range Extension) including a coding tool necessary for business use such as RGB, 4:2:2, or 4:4:4, 8×8DCT and quantization matrix stipulated by MPEG-2 has been completed as of February 2005. Accordingly, H.264/AVC can be used as an encoding format capable of suitably expressing even film noise included in movies, and has come to be employed for wide ranging applications such as Blu-Ray Disc (registered trademark) and so forth.
However, nowadays, needs for further high-compression encoding have been increased, such as intending to compress an image having around 4000×2000 pixels, which is quadruple of a high-vision image, or alternatively, needs for further high-compression encoding have been increased, such as intending to distribute a high-vision image within an environment with limited transmission capacity like the Internet. Therefore, with VCEG (=Video Coding Expert Group) under the control of ITU-T mentioned above, studies relating to improvement of encoding efficiency have continuously been performed.
Now, with motion prediction compensation according to the H.264/AVC format, prediction efficiency is improved by performing prediction/compensation processing with quarter-pixel precision.
For example, with the MPEG2 format, half-pixel precision motion prediction/compensation processing is performed by linear interpolation processing. On the other hand, with the H.264/AVC format, quarter-pixel precision prediction/compensation processing using a 6-tap FIR (Finite Impulse Response Filter) filter as an interpolation filter is performed.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for describing prediction/compensation processing of quarter-pixel precision with the H.264/AVC format. With the H.264/AVC format, quarter-pixel precision prediction/compensation processing is performed using 6-tap FIR (Finite Impulse Response Filter) filter.
In the example in FIG. 1, a position A indicates integer-precision pixel positions, positions b, c, and d indicate half-pixel precision positions, and positions e1, e2, and e3 indicate quarter-pixel precision positions. First, in the following Clip() is defined as in the following Expression (1).
[ Mathematical Expression 1 ] Clip 1 ( a ) = { 0 ; if ( a < 0 ) a ; otherwise max — pix ; if ( a > max — pix ) ( 1 )
Note that in the event that the input image is of 8-bit precision, the value of max_pix is 255.
The pixel values at positions b and d are generated as with the following Expression (2), using a 6-tap FIR filter.
[Mathematical Expression 2]F=A−2−5·A−1+20·A0+20·A1−5·A2+A3 b,d=Clip1((F+16)>>5) (2)
The pixel value at the position c is generated as with the following Expression (3), using a 6-tap FIR filter in the horizontal direction and vertical direction.
[Mathematical Expression 3]F=b−2−5·b−1+20·b0+20·b1−5·b2+b3 orF=d−2−5·d−1+20·d0+20·d1−5·d2+d3 c=Clip1((F+512)>>10) (3)
Note that Clip processing is performed just once at the end, following having performed product-sum processing in both the horizontal direction and vertical direction.
The positions e1 through e3 are generated by linear interpolation as with the following Expression (4).
[Mathematical Expression 4]e1=(A+b+1)>>1e2=(b+d+1)>>1e3=(b+c+1)>>1 (4)
FIG. 2 is a diagram describing prediction/compensation processing relating to color difference signals with the H.264/AVC format. With the H.264/AVC format, quarter-pixel prediction/compensation processing is performed as described above with reference to FIG. 1, but in the case of 4:2:0 signals, 1/8-pixel precision prediction/compensation processing is performed regarding color difference signals.
In the example in FIG. 2, the black dots are pixels of integer-pixel precision stored in frame memory, and the A through D given to the black dots represent the pixel values of the pixels. If we say that the position (dx, dY) of a white dot is a position indicated by motion vector information in ⅛-pixel precision within a rectangular region surrounded by the pixels indicated by A through D, a prediction pixel value v at the position of the white dot is generated as with the following Expression (5).
[ Mathematical Expression 5 ] v = ( s - d x ) ( s - d y ) A + d x ( s - d y ) B + ( s - d x ) d y C + d x d y D s 2 where s = 8. ( 5 )
Also, what sort of processing with which to select motion vectors obtained in decimal-pixel precision as described above is important in obtaining compressed images with high encoding efficiency. One example of this processing is a method implemented in reference software (reference software), called JM (Joint Model), disclosed in NPL 1.
Next, a motion search method implemented in JM will be described with reference to FIG. 3.
In the example in FIG. 3, pixels A through I represent pixels having pixel values of integer-pixel precision (hereinafter referred to as integer-pixel precision pixels). Pixels 1 through 8 are pixels having pixel values of half-pixel precision around the pixel E (hereinafter referred to as half-pixel precision pixels). Pixels a through h are pixels having pixel values of quarter-pixel precision around the pixel 6 (hereinafter referred to as quarter-pixel precision pixels).
With JM, as a first step, a motion vector which minimizes a cost function value such as the SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference) within a predetermined search range is obtained. Let us say that the pixel corresponding to the motion vector obtained in this way is the pixel E.
Next, as a second step, a pixel with a pixel value which minimizes the above-described cost function value is obtained from the pixel E and the pixels 1 through 8 of half-pixel precision surrounding the pixel E, and this pixel (the pixel 6 in the case of the example in FIG. 2) is taken as the pixel corresponding to the optimal motion vector of half-pixel precision.
Then, as a third step, a pixel with a pixel value which minimizes the above-described cost function value is obtained from the pixel 6 and the pixels a through h of quarter-pixel precision surrounding the pixel 6. Thus, the motion vector corresponding to the obtained pixel is the optimal motion vector of quarter-pixel precision.
As described above, quarter-pixel precision prediction/compensation processing is performed with the H.264/AVC format, and multiple techniques for further improving encoding efficiency have been proposed for this quarter-pixel precision prediction/compensation processing.
For example, with the H.264/AVC format, the filter coefficients for the interpolation filter to generate pixel values of sampling positions as to decimal-pixel precision motion vectors described above with reference to FIG. 1 have been predetermined, as described in NPL 2.
Accordingly, proposed in NPL 3 is to adaptively switch the filter coefficients such that the prediction residual is the smallest for each prediction frame.
That is to say, with NPL 3, first, as a first step, normal H.264/AVC format motion prediction processing is performed, and motion vector values are calculated for each motion compensation block.
As a second step, filter optimization is performed such that the motion residual is minimal for the motion vector values obtained in the first step.
Then, as a third step, motion search is performed again using the filter coefficient obtained in the second step, and the motion vector value is updated. Thus, encoding efficiency can be improved.
Filter coefficients and motion vector values can be optimized by further repeating the above steps.
Also, as described above, the macroblock size is defined as 16×16 pixels with the H.264/AVC format. However, a macroblock size of 16×16 pixels is not optimal for a large image frame such as with UHD (Ultra High Definition; 4000 pixels×2000 pixels) which is the object of next-generation encoding formats.
Accordingly, it is proposed in NPL 4 and so forth to extend the macroblock size to be a size of 32 pixels×32 pixels, for example.
Note that the above-described FIG. 1 through FIG. 3 will also be used hereinafter to describe the present invention.
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1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an emitter and, in particularly, to an emitter employed with the carbon nanotubes and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are widely used as field emitters for field emission displays (FEDs) and liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Such CNTs have good electron emission characteristics, and chemical and mechanical durability.
Conventional field emitters are typically micro tips made of a metal such as molybdenum (Mo). However, the life span of such a micro tip is shortened due to effects of atmospheric environment, such as non-uniform electric field, and the like. A somewhat viable alternative has been carbon nanotubes having a high aspect ratio, high durability, and high conductivity preferably adopted as field emitters.
In order to obtain a high current density from carbon nanotube emitters, carbon nanotubes must be uniformly distributed and arranged perpendicular to a substrate. The carbon nanotube emitters are generally grown from a substrate using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD). However, the carbon nanotubes formed by this process may be entangled with each other on the top thereof, which result in a poor morphology of CNTs and poor performance on emitting. Alternatively, the carbon nanotube emitters may also be manufactured by printing a paste obtained by combining carbon nanotubes with a resin to a substrate. This method is easier and less costly than CVD and thus preferred to CVD. However, the carbon nanotubes formed by this process are too dense to emit electrons effectively because of the strong screening effect generated between adjacent carbon nanotubes.
What is needed, therefore, is a carbon nanotube emitter and a method for manufacturing the same that can overcome the above-described shortcomings.
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A conventional Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular communication network 10, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a Radio Access Network (RAN) 12 including a number of Evolved/E-UTRAN Node Bs (eNBs) 14-1 through 14-3 (generally referred to herein collectively as eNBs 14 and individually as eNB 14) that provide wireless radio access to wireless devices, otherwise known as user equipment devices (UEs) (not shown). The eNBs 14 communicate with one another via X2 connections and communicate with a core network 16 via S1 connections. The core network 16 includes one or more Mobility Management Entities (MMEs) 18, which are control nodes that are responsible for, among other things, tracking UEs as they move through the LTE cellular communication network 10. The MMEs 18 are also responsible for assigning the UEs to Serving-Gateways (S-GWs) 20. The S-GWs 20 route and forward user data packets, while also acting as mobility anchors for the user plane during inter-eNB handovers and as anchors for mobility between LTE and other 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) technologies.
FIG. 2 illustrates a heterogeneous deployment of both eNBs 14 and Home Evolved/E-UTRAN Node Bs (HeNBs) 22-1 through 22-3 (generally referred to herein collectively as HeNBs 22 and individually as HeNB 22) that has been proposed to improve coverage and increase capacity of the LTE cellular communication network 10. The addition of low-power base stations (LP-BSs), such as the HeNBs 22, to the LTE cellular communication network 10 poses new problems not present in a conventional homogeneous cellular communication network. Like the eNBs 14, the HeNBs 22 use S1 connections to communicate with the core network 16 (not shown) and X2 connections to communicate with other HeNBs 22 and eNBs 14. In particular, there is a need for systems and methods that improve management of X2 communication between base stations and, in particular, between the eNB 14 and the HeNBs 22.
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Cognitive disorders, i.e. impairments of memory and learning processes, have a significant detrimental effect on the quality of life of patients affected by it. Clinically recognized cognitive disorders vary from mild cognitive impairment through to dementia of varying severity. Cognitive disorders may also be associated with several disease or disorders such as schizophrenia, depression or Parkinson's disease.
Mild cognitive impairment (“MCI”) is believed to be a transition stage between the cognitive changes of normal aging and the more serious problems caused by Alzheimer's disease. Dementia is a clinically recognized broad-spectrum syndrome entailing progressive loss of cognitive capabilities. Dementia can be one of many symptoms of various neurological diseases or the main abnormality associated with the disease, as it is the case in Alzheimer's disease. Most common causes of dementia include cerebral atrophy associated with Alzheimer's disease, Lewy-bodies disease, front-temporal lobe degeneration, Pick's disease, vascular narrowing or blockage in the brain (i.e. vascular dementia also known as multi-infarct dementia), Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, head trauma, HIV infection or Down's syndrome.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain primarily associated with aging. AD is one of several disorders that cause the gradual loss of brain cells and is one of and possibly the leading cause of dementia. Clinical presentation of AD is characterized by loss of memory, cognition, reasoning, judgment, and orientation. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is often the first identified stage of AD. As the disease progresses, motor, sensory, and linguistic abilities also are affected until there is global impairment of multiple cognitive functions. These cognitive losses occur gradually, but typically lead to severe impairment, and the disease leads eventually to death in the range of three to twenty years.
Currently there are only a few medications that have been shown to afford at most a modest, mostly transient benefit to the patients suffering from cognitive impairment. Cholinesterase inhibitors (anticholinesterases), such as donepezil (Aricept®), galanthamine (Razadyne®, Razadyne ER®, Reminyl®, Nivalin®) and rivastigmine tartrate (Exelon®) have been shown to be efficacious in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease dementia. Exelon® has recently been approved for the treatment of mild to moderate dementia associated with Parkinson's disease. Memantine, a NMDA receptor antagonist, is the first approved Alzheimer's disease medication acting on the glutamatergic system (Axura®, Akatinol®, Namenda®, Ebixa®). These drugs however have not only proven limited efficacy but also considerable side effects which in some cases lead to discontinuation of the therapy. With the increase in the life span and general aging of the population there is a need to develop drugs which could delay or alleviate the cognitive function in aging patients.
Cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS) is an intrinsic part of the illness, affecting the majority of the patients, and often pre-dates its onset. It affects a wide range of cognitive functions, particularly memory, attention, motor skills, executive function and social cognition following dysregulation of several neurotransmitter systems. No treatment are currently specifically approved for CIAS (O'Carroll, Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 6, 161-168 (2000); Millan et al., Nature Rev. Drug Discovery 11, 141-168 (2012)).
Levetiracetam or (S)-(−)-alpha-ethyl-2-oxo-1-pyrrolidine acetamide, is a laevorotatory compound, disclosed in the European patent No. EP-162036 as being a protective agent for the treatment and the prevention of hypoxic and ischemic type aggressions of the central nervous system. Levetiracetam has the following structure:
Levetiracetam has been approved, and is marketed as Keppra®, in many countries including the European Union and the United States for the treatment of various forms of epilepsy, a therapeutic indication for which it has been demonstrated that its dextrorotatory enantiomer (R)-(+)-alpha-ethyl-2-oxo-1-pyrrolidine acetamide completely lacks activity (Gower et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol. 222, 193-203 (1992)).
It has been repeatedly reported however that levetiracetam has no impact on the cognitive function both in animals as well as in humans (Lamberty et al, Epilepsy & Behavior 1, 333-342 (2000); Klitgaard et al. Epilepsy Research 50, 55-65 (2002); Shannon H & Love, P. Epilepsy & Behavior 7, 620-628 (2005); Higgins et al. Psychopharmacology 207, 513-527 (2010)).
Further racetam-type drugs include piracetam, oxiracetam, aniracetam, pramiracetam and phenylpiracetam, which have been used in humans and some of which are available as dietary supplements. Of these, oxiracetam and aniracetam are no longer in clinical use. Pramiracetam reportedly improved cognitive deficits associated with traumatic brain injuries. Although piracetam exhibited no long-term benefits for the treatment of mild cognitive impairments, recent studies demonstrated its neuroprotective effect when used during coronary bypass surgery. It was also effective in the treatment of cognitive disorders of cerebrovascular and traumatic origins; however, its overall effect on lowering depression and anxiety was higher than improving memory. As add-on therapy, it appears to benefit individuals with myoclonus epilepsy and tardive dyskinesia. Phenylpiracetam is more potent than piracetam and is used for a wider range of indications. In combination with a vasodilator drug, piracetam appeared to have an additive beneficial effect on various cognitive disabilities.
Pyrrolidone derivatives in particular for the treatment of epilepsy are disclosed in WO 2006/128693:
In said formula R3 may be—among others—a 1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl and R4 may be a substituted or unsubstituted aryl.
One specific triazole pyrrolidone compound having the following formula is disclosed in WO 2006/128693
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There is a need to polymerize olefins such as ethylene and propylene to satisfy the large market demand for various plastics. In the past, olefins have been polymerized by means of a catalyst containing chromium deposited onto a support which may be silica, alumina, zirconia or thoria. The synthesis of these catalysts in some cases comprises transferring the described support to a mixing tank to form an isopentane (iC5) slurry. Once the slurry is formed a titanium ester such as titanium isopropoxide, Ti(OPr)4, was added to the slurry. This process then requires drying the slurry to a free-flowing powder. In this dry form the mixture is then transferred to the fluid bed activator and activated in air at temperatures of 550° C. to 850° C. An analogous process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,632 to Delap et al., and a similar process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,163 to Crump et al. These methods are time consuming and costly. Accordingly, there is an incentive to investigate and bring to market cheaper and faster methods of catalyst preparation. Specifically, a need exists for a process that is simpler, faster and does not require the use of a titanium ester such as Ti(OPr)4. The claimed invention fills such a need by providing a simpler process for the production of titanated supports, as described herein.
According to C. E. Marsden in Plastics, Rubber and Composites Processing and Applications Vol. 21, No. 4, 193–200 (1994), the promotional effect of titanium on chromium catalysts for ethylene polymerization is to reduce polymer molecular weight (higher melt index) and broaden the molecular weight distribution. Additionally according to C. E. Marsden, the catalysts exhibit rapid start of polymerization (reduced induction time) and higher activity.
EP patent 0,314,385 assigned to Mobil Oil discloses the preparation of titanated chromium on silica catalysts useful for gas phase polymerization of ethylene. The combination of the catalyst is introduced with at least one organomagnesium compound, RMgR′, either prior to feeding or within the polymerization vessel. The catalyst may be titanated using a number of titanium halides, alkyl titanium halides, alkyl titanium alkoxides, alkoxy titanium halides or titanium alkoxides.
EP patent 0,882,740 assigned to FINA discloses the titanation of chromium based catalysts under specific conditions. Alkyl titanium alkoxides or titanium alkoxides are added to the chromium containing catalysts while at a temperature of at least 300° C. in a fluidized bed under nitrogen.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,011 assigned to Chemplex discloses the modification of chromium on SiO2 catalyst by the addition of a titanium ester to a bed of fluidized catalyst held at a temperature of at least 300° C. The esters have the general formula RnTi(OR1)m, wherein n+m=4.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,343 assigned to Chemplex discloses titanation of silica prior to the addition of the chromium compound to the titanated support. The chromium compound is a tetravalent alkoxide and the titanated support is prepared using titanium esters of the general formula RnTi(OR1)m, wherein n+m=4, TiX4, TiO2, alkanolaminetitanates, and titanium acetylacetonate compounds. Titanation is accomplished by mixing the support and the titanium compound and heating at a temperature of about 150–1200° C.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,979 assigned to Chemplex discloses the preparation of catalyst by dry blending Chromium(acac)3 with a silica support. The mixture is then heated to a temperature of 230–540° C. The catalyst is titanated by adding the liquid titanium compound to a fluidized bed of the chromium catalyst or by passing vapors of the titanium compound through the fluidized bed of the chromium catalyst.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,368,303 to McDaniel discloses a catalyst produced by forming a silica hydrogel; drying said hydrogel to form a xerogel; anhydrously incorporating a titanium compound into said xerogel; wherein chromium is introduced by either coprecipitating same with said silica hydrogel, by combining a water-soluble chromium compound with said hydrogel, or adding anhydrous solution with said hydrogel, or adding anhydrous solution of a chromium compound soluble in non-aqueous solvents to said xerogel; and after said drying and after said chromium is introduced, activating the resulting dried, chromium-containing composition by means of an activation procedure which comprises treatment at an elevated temperature in an atmosphere containing oxygen. In this manner, McDaniel does not disclose the use of a solid titanium compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,987 to Hawley discloses a method for preparing a polymerization catalyst comprising the steps of contacting a material comprising silica-supported chromium oxide or a compound oxidizable to chromium oxide with a solution of a permanganate compound; heating the thus-contacted material in a reducing atmosphere at a temperature in the range of about 600° C. to about 1000° C.; and then heating the material in an oxygen-containing atmosphere at a temperature in the range of about 450° C. to about 1000° C. for at least about one-half hour. In this manner, Hawley does not disclose the use of a solid titanium compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,864 assigned to Phillips Petroleum discloses the use of titanium polymers for titanation. The polymers are prepared from Ti(OR)4 and water. The soluble titanium polymer, e.g., TiO2(O-iC3H7)6 is most conveniently added to a hydrocarbon slurry of the support.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,703 assigned to BASF discloses the preparation of a chromium on silica catalyst by combining a slurry of silica in an alkane with finely divided CrO3, then adding alcohol, then adding Ti(OR)4, then the mixture is dried, and then the mixture is heated as a fluidized bed first in nitrogen and then in air.
A process for the preparation of activated catalyst for the polymerization of olefins in the absence of a solvent was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,993 to Koch. Koch discloses a three stage process, which includes a preactivation stage of heating a mixture of a powdered chromium salt with a support to a temperature below the melting temperature of the chromium salt for a period of between 0.5 hours and 18 hours, and then heating the mixture to an activation temperature. This method takes about 23 hours to complete. In this manner, Koch does not disclose a process which includes the reaction of a solid titanium compound.
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This invention relates to an improved baby stroller which may be transformed into a vehicle and vice versa. During family outings, it typically occurs that infants are too young not to be transported to the site of the outing in a stroller but are old enough to have graduated to bulky toys such as tricycles and pedal-driven toy automobiles. The transport of all this bulk often makes such outings an annoying production. A need exists for a stroller which is easily transformable into a toy, thereby greatly reducing the logistics of a an excursion with the kids.
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Conventional database management systems receive queries from client applications and provide a result set to the client applications in response. Such queries typically conform to a query language (e.g., Structured Query Language (SQL)), and specify a data source (e.g., database table) and parameters describing the data to be included in the result set.
Occasionally it is desirable for the parameters to include tabular data. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a conventional system for consuming such parameters. As shown, an example Query Client may include an Advanced Business Application Programming (ABAP) kernel, a Database Interface/Database Shared Library and an SQL Database Connector. The ABAP kernel includes an internal table (itab) stored in volatile memory (e.g., Random Access Memory) and which describes data to be included in a result set.
In one example, the ABAP kernel may begin with a query: 1*SELECT <result> FROM <table> FOR ALL ENTRIES IN itab WHERE . . . <col> <op> <itab_comp> . . . . In order to process the query, the ABAP kernel dissasembles the tabular itab into scalar values and passes these values to the DBI/DBSL as Query Parameters. After further processing by the SQLDBC, the resulting SQL statement generally appears as: N*SELECT <result> FROM <table> WHERE (col1, . . . , colM) IN (il1, . . . , iln), . . . ), and is passed to a Receive Buffer of a Data Server.
An SQL layer of the Data Server reconstructs the tabular data from the Query Parameters and an Engine executes the query using the reconstructed tabular data. As shown, execution of the query by the Engine of the Data Server requires an m*n search of the Target Table. Moreover, since the query was divided into N statements, the ABAP kernel performs up to N rows DISTINCT handling.
Systems are desired to efficiently incorporate tabular data into query parameters.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in a knowledge-base computer system which solves a problem of a design procedure or control procedure constituted by information including ambiguous applied conditions, or if-then rules.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional knowledge-base computer system is generally arranged to flexibly execute a procedure by utilizing previously memorized procedure and solution for a design or control in the form of information unit such as a frame. Such a computer system includes an input section, an output section, an inference section and a knowledge base section. The computer system is designed to seek a value of output information by means of the object oriented method. That is, when output information to be outputted is requested in a frame knowledge, input information related to the output information is searched from the knowledge base section. Until the input information satisfies the condition for obtaining the output information, every input information is repeatingly obtained while a newly obtained and unsettled information is taken into consideration to be searched. Thus, the conventional knowledge-base computer system is designed such that the frame knowledge has to perfectly provide the applied condition for the output information. Accordingly, when the condition for judgement in a frame is not clear, the answer "its frame output information" can not be obtained.
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Opto-electronic devices that make use of organic materials are becoming increasingly desirable for a number of reasons. Many of the materials used to make such devices are relatively inexpensive, so organic opto-electronic devices have the potential for cost advantages over inorganic devices. In addition, the inherent properties of organic materials, such as their flexibility, may make them well suited for particular applications such as fabrication on a flexible substrate. Examples of organic opto-electronic devices include organic light emitting devices (OLEDs), organic phototransistors, organic photovoltaic cells, and organic photodetectors. For OLEDs, the organic materials may have performance advantages over conventional materials. For example, the wavelength at which an organic emissive layer emits light may generally be readily tuned with appropriate dopants.
As used herein, the term “organic” includes polymeric materials as well as small molecule organic materials that may be used to fabricate organic opto-electronic devices. “Small molecule” refers to any organic material that is not a polymer, and “small molecules” may actually be quite large. Small molecules may include repeat units in some circumstances. For example, using a long chain alkyl group as a substituent does not remove a molecule from the “small molecule” class. Small molecules may also be incorporated into polymers, for example as a pendent group on a polymer backbone or as a part of the backbone. Small molecules may also serve as the core moiety of a dendrimer, which consists of a series of chemical shells built on the core moiety. The core moiety of a dendrimer may be a fluorescent or phosphorescent small molecule emitter. A dendrimer may be a “small molecule,” and it is believed that all dendrimers currently used in the field of OLEDs are small molecules. In general, a small molecule has a well-defined chemical formula with a single molecular weight, whereas a polymer has a chemical formula and a molecular weight that may vary from molecule to molecule. As used herein, “organic” includes metal complexes of hydrocarbyl and heteroatom-substituted hydrocarbyl ligands.
OLEDs make use of thin organic films that emit light when voltage is applied across the device. OLEDs are becoming an increasingly interesting technology for use in applications such as flat panel displays, illumination, and backlighting. Several OLED materials and configurations are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,844,363, 6,303,238, and 5,707,745, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
OLED devices are generally (but not always) intended to emit light through at least one of the electrodes, and one or more transparent electrodes may be useful in an organic opto-electronic devices. For example, a transparent electrode material, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), may be used as the bottom electrode. A transparent top electrode, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,703,436 and 5,707,745, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties, may also be used. For a device intended to emit light only through the bottom electrode, the top electrode does not need to be transparent, and may be comprised of a thick and reflective metal layer having a high electrical conductivity. Similarly, for a device intended to emit light only through the top electrode, the bottom electrode may be opaque and/or reflective. Where an electrode does not need to be transparent, using a thicker layer may provide better conductivity, and using a reflective electrode may increase the amount of light emitted through the other electrode, by reflecting light back towards the transparent electrode. Fully transparent devices may also be fabricated, where both electrodes are transparent. Side emitting OLEDs may also be fabricated, and one or both electrodes may be opaque or reflective in such devices.
As used herein, “top” means furthest away from the substrate, while “bottom” means closest to the substrate. For example, for a device having two electrodes, the bottom electrode is the electrode closest to the substrate, and is generally the first electrode fabricated. The bottom electrode has two surfaces, a bottom surface closest to the substrate, and a top surface further away from the substrate. Where a first layer is described as “disposed over” a second layer, the first layer is disposed further away from substrate. There may be other layers between the first and second layer, unless it is specified that the first layer is “in physical contact with” the second layer. For example, a cathode may be described as “disposed over” an anode, even though there are various organic layers in between.
As used herein, “solution processible” means capable of being dissolved, dispersed, or transported in and/or deposited from a liquid medium, either in solution or suspension form.
As used herein, and as would be generally understood by one skilled in the art, a first “Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital” (HOMO) or “Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital” (LUMO) energy level is “greater than” or “higher than” a second HOMO or LUMO energy level if the first energy level is closer to the vacuum energy level. Since ionization potentials (IP) are measured as a negative energy relative to a vacuum level, a higher HOMO energy level corresponds to an IP having a smaller absolute value (an IP that is less negative). Similarly, a higher LUMO energy level corresponds to an electron affinity (EA) having a smaller absolute value (an EA that is less negative). On a conventional energy level diagram, with the vacuum level at the top, the LUMO energy level of a material is higher than the HOMO energy level of the same material. A “higher” HOMO or LUMO energy level appears closer to the top of such a diagram than a “lower” HOMO or LUMO energy level.
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(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved device, method and system for automatically displaying the structure of coded musical chords for teaching purposes. A desired coded chord is demanded by depressing switches having coded markings corresponding to the desired coded chord and a further switch is activated to display the component parts of the selected desired coded chord.
(b) Description of Prior Art
Many types of chord teaching devices and methods are knoqn to help a person to play a musical instrument or to learn to read or write music. The majority of known devices are very large in size and expensive to procure. In some cases, the devices are incorporated into musical instruments such as pianos, organs, etc. Many of the known instruments are restricted to keyboards of the type as utilized on pianos, organs, or other like instruments and are very difficult to operate, therefore making it difficult for children to use.
Another disadvantage of known prior art instruments is that these have very limited capacities and do not provide a useful tool to professional musicians and teachers.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voice coil motor, and more particularly, to a voice coil motor with a lateral attraction force.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to perform a more accurate position control for a set of lenses or an access arm of a hard disk drive, a voice coil motor (VCM) is adopted to move the set of lenses or the access arm of the hard disk drive. The structure of a VCM is primarily a coil placed within a magnetic circuit including a permanent magnet.
In an optical system employing a VCM, there is an interaction propelling force between the coil and the permanent magnet according to Fleming's left-hand rule that moves a carrier physically connected to the permanent magnet when a current flows through the coil; at the same time, a set of lenses which is attached to the carrier is moved correspondingly, so as to achieve optical zoom and focus functionalities. Based on applying a specific current value through the coil, an accurate control for optical zooming and focusing can be achieved.
In an optical system employing a VCM, the attractive force in a lateral direction between a magnetic device and a plurality of guide posts of the VCM causes friction force between a lens carrier and a plurality of guide posts. The added friction force is sufficient to maintain the lens carrier and other devices thereon at a specific position without applying the current to a coil. For example, Taiwanese Patent Application No. 1400861, entitled “VOICE COIL MOTOR APPARATUS WITH STABLE MOVING”, as shown in FIG. 6A˜6B, the voice coil motor comprises the lens carrier 80 (mainly constructed by a set of magnetic sensing elements), the guide posts 801 and 802 and electromagnetic drive mechanism (mainly constructed by the coil) on the base 200. After the lens carrier 80 is equipped with the base 200, the guide posts 801 and 802 fixed on the base 200 contacts against the opening structure 701 and 702 of the lens carrier 80.
Based on the attraction force of the set of magnetic sensing elements, the guide posts 801 and 802 fixed on the base 200 contacts against the opening structure 701 and 702 of the lens carrier 80 and the lens carrier 80 is rotated along the R direction. Based on rotation of the lens carrier 80, there is at least one contacting line C6 between opening structure 702 and the guide posts 802, and there are at least two contacting line C4 and C5 between opening structure 701 and the guide posts 801.
A flatness requirement of the opening structure 701 and 702 of the lens carrier 80 is higher for maintaining the contacting line C4, C5 and C6 in a straight line and stable moving of the lens carrier 80. However, A flatness requirement of the opening structure 701 and 702 of the lens carrier 80 is too hard to be successfully produced in quantity.
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The present invention is directed to bicycles and, more particularly, to bicycle devices that include an electrical component powered by a power supply.
Bicycle-mounted gearshift systems, and automatic gearshift systems in particular, comprise running condition (e.g., speed) detecting means for detecting the running condition of the bicycle, a gearshift apparatus, and gearshift control means for upshifting and downshifting the gearshift apparatus in accordance with the running condition of the bicycle. The gearshift control means typically comprises a motor or other electronic actuating device that automatically operates the gearshift apparatus. The electrical components usually are powered by a common DC power supply such as a dynamo or secondary cell. Bicycle computers used with such systems often have a liquid crystal display (LCD), for example, for displaying various types of information to the rider. Such information may include time, the bicycle speed, running distances, cadence (crank RPM), the gearshift position, and other information related to the running conditions.
Because the surrounding brightness differs between daytime and nighttime, there are cases when it is convenient to have the display operate differently when riding the bicycle at these times. For example, at night it is more difficult to view the display, so some bicycle computers are equipped with a backlight. The backlight may comprise a reflective panel disposed behind the liquid crystals of the display, and a light-emitting diode (LED) that directs light onto the reflective panel.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system having a process chamber such as the heat process and load lock chambers of the vertical type and serving to support and rotate substrates such as semiconductor wafers, which are to be processed, in the process chamber. The present invention also relates to a method of supporting and rotating the substrates in the process chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
When the heat-diffusing, heat-oxidizing or CVD film forming process is to be applied to the semiconductor wafers, the heat process apparatus of the vertical type is usually used. In the case of the heat process apparatus of the vertical type, a wafer boat is rotated round a vertical shaft in a process tube so as to enable a certain processing rate to be achieved. A boat supporting and rotating system has a double-magnet structure in which an outer (or drive) magnet and an inner (or driven) magnet are combined with each other to seal the process chamber from outside. When the outer magnet is rotated in this case, the inner one is also rotated following the outer magnet. In short, the boat supporting and rotating system is intended to use the magnetic interaction of the outer and inner magnets to transmit rotation force to the wafer boat. The wafer boat is rotated together with the inner magnet in this case.
Rare earth magnets are used as these inner and outer ones. They have a strong coercive force and an excellent heat resistance, but they are fragile and easily broken. They are therefore nickel-plated to prevent particles from being caused from them. When impact is added to them, however, the layer of nickel-plate is peeled off from them and metal contamination is caused accordingly. When magnetic material is thus exposed, it is eroded by erosive process gas and the amount of particles thus caused is increased accordingly.
In order to prevent oil contamination, the boat supporting and rotating system uses ceramics bearings which make it unnecessary to use lubricating oil in the bearing casing. However, each of these ceramics bearings is a combination of materials of different kinds. Particles are thus easily caused. When the process tube is exhausted after the wafer boat is carried into it, particles in the bearing casing of the boat supporting and rotating system are scattered into the process tube to thereby contaminate the wafers. In the case of the conventional boat supporting and rotating system, therefore, particles scattered into the process chamber cause metal contamination. This causes the productivity of the apparatus to become low.
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1. Technical Field
Disclosed herein are methods and systems to receive and process optical signals, including free-space optical (FSO) signals, including methods and systems to control a gain applied to an optical signal in response to time-varying intensity fluctuations, to translate the optical signal to a substantially constant-intensity optical signal.
2. Related Art
Free Space Optics (FSO) systems are used for line-of-sight communications, and may be used over distances of several kilometers (km).
There is a move towards designing free space optical communications systems to couple received light into a single-mode fiber. This may permit relatively large optical bandwidths to be accessed using elements developed and utilized in terrestrial and sub-sea optical fiber networks, such as high density optical multiplexers and demultiplexers, optical attenuators, optical filters, and optical amplifiers.
Free space optical (FSO) links are inherently different than fiber optic links, in that a FSO communication link may suffer from attenuation effects, line-of-sight limitations, and/or optical turbulence along a beam path. In addition to inducing beam spread above a diffraction limit, turbulence may introduce disruptive intensity fluctuations at a receive terminal, where large power swings may occur in millisecond scales. Power collected at a single mode FSO terminal output may vary dynamically with, for example, greater than 40 dB swings in the received signal due to scintillation.
Attenuation changes may lead to excessive errors with intensity-modulated direct detection data communications, both when amplitude variations occur over a time scale comparable to the bandwidth of the decision circuits designed to determine the presence of a mark or a space, when variations couple through the decision electronics affecting the decision threshold, or when the undesirable amplitude modulation exceeds an amplitude range of decision circuits.
Attenuation changes may be exacerbated by conventional fixed gain optical pre-amplifiers, such as erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), because they may output power levels well above a damage threshold of a detector in response to rapid power transients in a “Q-switch” effect.
High power levels may exist, for example, where a distance between FSO communication systems are relatively close to one another, such as within approximately 10 kilometers (km), and may arise over longer distances during benign turbulence, such as up to 100 km distances.
There is also a possibility of damage to sensitive optical detectors in cases where the upper limit of the power variations exceeds the damage threshold of the optical detector. For example, commercially available high-sensitivity receivers, such as avalanche photodiodes, have relatively limited dynamic ranges and suffer from saturation and damage from large power variations.
Conventional FSO systems utilize front-end, time-dependent loss mechanisms, such as an attenuator, prior to a receive-side optical amplifier to stabilize energy received from a fiber-coupled free-space optical terminal. Attenuation devices, by design, decrease the optical signal level to the receiver, even at minimum attenuation, and may thus reduce the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR), of the received signal from which data is extracted, and may reduce the power of a received signal at a receiver input below an optimal level.
Optical amplifiers include, among others, doped fiber amplifiers (DFAs) and Raman amplifiers.
DFAs use a doped optical fiber as a gain medium to amplify an input optical signal. The input optical signal and a pump laser are multiplexed into the doped fiber, where the input signal is amplified through interaction with the dopant ions. The pump laser excites dopant ions into a higher energy from where they decay via stimulated emission of a photon at a wavelength of the input signal wavelength, and return to their lower energy level.
In an erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), a fiber core is doped with trivalent Erbium ions, and may be pumped with a laser at a wavelength of 980 nm or 1,480 nm, and may exhibit gain in the 1,550 nm region.
In addition to decaying via stimulated emission, electrons in the upper energy level may also decay by spontaneous emission, in which photons are emitted spontaneously, or randomly, in all directions. A portion of the spontaneously emitted photons may be amplified by other dopant ions via stimulated emission, and are thus referred to as amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). Forward-propagating ASE may co-propagate with the amplified input signal and may thus degrade amplifier performance. Backward or counter-propagating ASE may reduce a gain of the amplifier.
Raman amplifiers are based on stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) phenomenon, in which a photon of a lower frequency input optical signal induces inelastic scattering of a photon of a higher-frequency pump laser, within a non-linear gain medium lattice, such as an optical fiber. The inelastic scattering produces a photon coherent with the input optical signal, and resonantly passes surplus energy to vibrational states of the gain medium.
Raman amplifiers include distributed and lumped Raman amplifiers. In a distributed Raman amplifier, a transmission fiber is used as the gain medium. The transmission fiber may be a highly nonlinear fiber with a relatively small core to increase interactions between the input optical signal and the pump laswer and thereby reduce the length of fiber needed. In a lumped Raman amplifier, a dedicated, shorter length of fiber is used as the gain medium.
A Raman amplifier pump laser light may be coupled into the transmission fiber in the same direction as the signal (forward-pumped), in the opposite direction (reverse-pumped), or both.
A Raman amplifier pump laser may use more power than that of an EDFA for a given gain, but may provide more distributed amplification within a transmission fiber, which may increase the distance the amplified light can travel, and may provide amplification over a wider range of regions.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to architectural paint colors and, specifically, to an architectural paint color matching and coordinating system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Architectural paint (“house paint”) is commonly provided in various colors. Paint color display systems have been developed to display various paint color samples to assist consumers in selecting paint colors. Such systems typically involve a display board, pamphlet, or book having ink-based or paint color samples.
Paint colors are sometimes referenced with respect to systems for arranging and describing color, generally referred to as color-order systems. One well-known color-order system is the Munsell system. According to the Munsell system, colors are characterized by three attributes: hue, value, and chroma. Hue is the attribute of color which is commonly described by words such as “red,” “yellow,” “green,” “blue,” “purple,” etc. Value is the attribute of color which is described by the words “light,” “dark,” etc. Chroma is the attribute of color which is described by the words “bright,” “dull,” etc. For example, the colors of a tomato and a brick may be equal in hue and value, yet the colors are not identical. The difference is that the tomato is brighter, having a higher chroma.
Munsell color space is a three-dimensional space including and describing visual relationships between colors. This color space is based on a collection of actual physical samples arranged so that adjacent samples represent distinct intervals of visual color perception. Although based on physical samples, Munsell color space is theoretically capable of describing all possible colors. According to the Munsell system, color space is described with respect to three dimensions: hue, value, and chroma. Theoretically, the Munsell location of every possible color can be described by three coordinates, corresponding to the hue, value, and chroma of the given color. Although in theory Munsell color space is capable of describing all colors, it is understood that it may not be possible to create physical samples of all of the colors which could theoretically fit within Munsell color space. In particular, not all theoretical colors within the perceived Munsell color space can be made into paints.
Within Munsell color space, a vertical axis, known as the value axis, represents color value. In other words, the value (lightness/darkness) of color is determined by the vertical position within color space. Color becomes lighter as the vertical position increases. The hue of color is determined by the angular position about the vertical value axis. The various hues, i.e., shades of red, yellow, green, blue, purple, etc., are represented by vertical planes extending radially from the value axis. Moreover, every angular position about the axis, from 0° to 360°, represents a different hue. The chroma (brightness/dullness) of color is determined by the radial distance from the value axis. Color is dull (gray) near the axis and becomes brighter, or more “chromatic,” as the radial distance from the value axis increases.
The Munsell system is one of a number of color-order systems based on actual physical samples. Another class of color-order systems are not based on physical samples. One of the most important of these systems is the CIE System (Commission International de l'Eclairage or International Commission on Illumination). The premise of the CIE System is that the stimulus for color is provided by a proper combination of a source of light, an object, and an observer. The CIE System describes color with reference to a standard source of illumination and a standard observer.
One widely used non-linear transformation of the CIE System is CIELAB, an opponent-type space in which color is described by three coordinates L, a, and b. In CIELAB space, L is the lightness of color (similar to Munsell value), a is a redness-greenness coordinate, and b is a yellowness-blueness coordinate.
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This invention relates to cinematographic systems and more particularly, it concerns a programmable viewer system by which an exposed photographic film strip, contained in a multi-purpose cassette, may be processed, viewed by projection and rewound automatically in accordance with information supplied by the condition of the cassette and film strip contained therein.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,830,564 issued Aug. 20, 1974 to John F. Batter, Jr., 3,909,120 issued Sept. 30, 1975 to Joseph A. Stella and 3,941,465 issued Mar. 2, 1976 to Irwin E. Figge, et. al. are representative of a larger number of prior art disclosures directed to a motion picture system in which a cassette contained film strip may be exposed, processed and viewed by projection of successive image frames formed on the film strip without removal from the cassette, principally as a result of a one use processing facility provided in the cassette. The system represented by this prior art has evolved to a point where one desiring to take and view motion pictures need merely place the cassette in an appropriately designed motion picture camera, expose the film strip in traditional fashion, remove the cassette from the camera and place it in a viewer apparatus, operable upon rewinding the film strip to apply cassette contained processing fluid to the strip, and within minutes of time, view the motion pictures he has taken by projection of light through the processed film strip.
Because the exterior appearance of the cassette remains unchanged whether processed or unprocessed and also because the same cassette will be re-used to view the processed film strip after it has once been processed, the viewing apparatus is appropriately automated to discern the condition of the film strip in the cassette and to program respective process, project or rewind operational modes in accordance with the information provided by the condition of the film strip in the cassette. Also because the viewer represents a basic piece of equipment constituting a major portion of the system from a cost standpoint, it must be capable of operation as effective for repeated viewing of the film as it is for processing the film strip in the first instance. Furthermore, to be competitive with more traditonal motion picture "projectors", the viewer as well as the cassette must be capable of accomodating such features as a motion picture "sound" capability.
Although the present state of the art relating to viewer/processors for such cinematographic systems has demonstrated functional viability, there is need for improvement particularly in the electro/mechanical organization of such equipment by which functional reliability of existing systems may be retained or improved but with lower manufacturing costs from the standpoint of both individual component manufacture and component assembly. Also such systems in general have developped to a point where the cassette contained film strip may be provided with a sound recording medium capable of use with a sound system in the viewer/processor. Problems have arisen, however, in reducing the manufacturing costs associated with providing a sound capability as an option to an existing "silent" viewer/processor design.
Many of the features of the viewer disclosed herein are the subject matter of other applications which are being filed concurrently herewith and which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fuel cell system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, the fuel cell is formed with a plurality of unit cells that is connected in series. Each unit cell generates electric power from a fuel gas containing hydrogen that is supplied to the anode, and an oxidant gas containing oxygen that is supplied to the cathode. The amount of supply of a reactant gas (i.e., the fuel gas or the oxidant gas) needed for each unit cell depends on the required generated current (i.e., load current). Therefore, in a fuel cell system, the amount of supply of the reactant gas is controlled in accordance with the load current so as not to become insufficient.
However, for some causes, a reactant gas in one or more unit cells may sometimes become lack of the amount of supply with respect to the needed amount. Examples of such cases include the case where a gas channel in a unit cell is occluded by the water produced due to the electric power generation, or the case where water is frozen in a gas channel and therefore occludes the gas channel. If the reactant gas becomes lack of the amount of supply with respect to the needed amount, the required current cannot be caused to flow solely by the power generation reactions of the reactant gases (i.e., normal power generation reactions). However, since the unit cells are connected in series, even the unit cell being lack of the supply of the reactant gas is required to cause the flow of the same amount of electric current as the other normal unit cells. Therefore, when the current is forced to flow in the unit cell lacking in the supply of the reactant gas, the following abnormal chemical reactions may occur.
A unit cell lacking in the supply of the fuel gas needs to extract electrons from the anode despite the absence of hydrogen. In consequence, there occur an oxidation reaction of water (2H2O→O2+4H++4e−), an oxidation reaction of carbon (C+2H2O→CO2+4H++4e−) and an elution reaction of Pt (Pt→Pt2++2e−) as well as an oxidation reaction of an electrolyte component, etc. On the other hand, a unit cell lacking in the supply of the oxidant gas needs to receive, at the cathode, electrons despite the absence of oxygen. In consequence, there occurs a phenomenon in which protons move from the anode side to the cathode side through an electrolyte membrane, and recombine with electrons. That is, a so-called “hydrogen pump phenomenon” occurs.
In particular, the abnormal chemical reactions due to the supply shortage of the fuel gas cause damage and degradation of the MEA (Membrane Electrode Assembly). Therefore, in the fuel cell system, it is important to detect the supply shortage of the fuel gas during an early period. Such detection may be achieved by measuring the voltage of each unit cell. The anode potential of the unit cell lacking in the supply of the fuel gas increases in response to the abnormal chemical reactions, and becomes higher than the cathode potential. That is, a so-called “reverse potential phenomenon” occurs. Therefore, via the voltage (i.e., the reverse potential) monitoring of each unit cell, it may be determined whether the supply the fuel gas is lacking.
According to fuel cell systems of related arts, if a cell voltage of any unit cell falls below a pre-set threshold voltage, a predetermined voltage recovery process is performed; for example, the load current is set to a lower value, or the power generation is temporarily stopped. Technologies related to the reverse potential of a fuel cell are described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-147178 (JP-A-2006-147178), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-67254 (JP-A-11-67254), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-30979 (JP-A-2004-30979), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-73501 (JP-A-2006-73501), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-49259 (JP-A-2006-49259), and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-241236 (JP-A-2004-241236).
When the fuel cell starts up at low temperature, in particular, starts up at a temperature below the freezing point, gas channels may be occluded by ice or water, and thereby the fuel gas may be insufficiently supplied to the fuel cell. To remove the ice or water occluding a gas channel, the self-heating of the fuel cell may be utilized. To increase the self-heating of the fuel cell, it is effective to cause the amount of supply of the oxidant gas to be in a shortage state. Therefore, by supplying the oxidant gas less than the required amount of the oxidant gas from the load current, the over-voltage of the cathode may be increased and therefore the self-heating of the fuel cell may be accelerated.
When the oxidant gas is supplied insufficiently, the cathode potential greatly falls from a steady operation potential. Furthermore, the resistance of the MEA becomes greater at low temperature, so that the voltage loss due to the resistance of the MEA also becomes conspicuous. As a result, the cell voltage may sometimes become negative, as in the case of the supply shortage of the fuel gas. However, unlike the increase in the anode potential due to the supply shortage of the fuel gas, the decrease in the cathode potential due to the supply shortage of the oxidant gas is allowable. If this is not allowed, the warm-up of the fuel cell cannot be accelerated, so that the startability of the fuel cell at low temperature will decline.
However, only the cell voltage may be measured practically, and thereby each of the anode potential and the cathode potential cannot be practically measured unless a reference electrode is provided. Therefore, according to the fuel cell system of the related arts, when it is forced to insufficiently supply the oxidant gas for the purpose of warming up the fuel cell system at low-temperature startup, it cannot be determined whether the reverse potential of a unit cell resulted from the increase in the anode potential. Hence, the threshold voltage used for the determination as to whether to start the aforementioned voltage recovery process cannot but be set to a higher value for the preferable protection of the membrane electrode assemblies.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image sensing device, and more particularly, to a pixel designed to increase a speed at which charges are transmitted, an image sensor with a wide extended dynamic range, and an image sensing device including the image sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image sensor includes a plurality of pixels that receive external light and produce electric charges, and converts an optical image into an electrical signal.
FIG. 1 illustrates a semiconductor device 101 in which pixels of a conventional charge coupling device (CCD) type imaging device are formed. Referring to FIG. 1, the semiconductor device 101 includes a plurality of pixels 111, a plurality of vertical transmission lines 161, and a single horizontal transmission line 171.
Each of the pixels 111 includes a photo diode area 121, a transmission gate area 131 formed on one side of the photo diode area 121, a vertical transmission area 141 formed adjacent to the photo diode area 121, and a channel stop area 151 formed on the three remaining sides of the photo diode area 121.
The vertical transmission lines 161 each include vertical transmission areas 141 and are all connected to the horizontal transmission line 171.
In the convention pixel 111, the photo diode area 121 has a rectangular shape, and the transmission gate area 131 is formed on a portion of a side of the photo diode area 121. Because the shape of the photo diode area 121 is rectangular, charges generated in the photo diode area 121 are collected at corners of the rectangular photo diode area 121. The collection of the charges at the corners of the rectangular photo diode area 121 delays transmission of the charges generated in the pixels 111 to the horizontal transmission line 171 via the vertical transmission lines 161. This delayed transmission causes a reduction of the speed of imaging by an imaging device.
In addition, since light-receiving elements included in a conventional image sensor receive identical amounts of light, it is difficult for the conventional image sensor to have a high dynamic range. In a current situation, an image sensing device must use two or more image sensors to obtain a high dynamic range. However, the use of two or more image sensors increases the costs for manufacturing the image sensing device, resulting in a high-priced image sensing device.
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{
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a machine for shaping wooden curved corner molding.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Recently, it has become increasingly common to use soft or rounded corners as opposed to sharp, right angle corners in new dwellings. The use of soft corners has given rise to the problem of extending baseboard or chair rail molding around the corner. With square corners, it is merely necessary to make a miter joint at outside corners. There is also the problem of ensuring that the curved corner molding, i.e. the piece of molding extending around the corners is the same thickness as the adjacent straight sections of molding. One solution to these problems is to use a hydraulic tracer lathe to cut the curved molding. However, such lathes can be expensive and the cutting process is complicated. Moreover, it is difficult to accurately duplicate the profiles of the straight lengths of molding, and sanding is required to yield a satisfactory finished product.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of radiation imaging, and in particular to radiation imaging devices having an array of image cells.
2. Related Art
A variety of imaging devices comprising an array of image cells are currently known. A charged coupled image sensor (also known as a charged coupled device (CCD)) is one example of such an imaging device. A CCD type device operates in the following way. Charge is accumulated within a depletion region created by an applied voltage. For each pixel (image cell) the depletion region has a potential well shape and constrains electrons under an electrode gate to remain within the semiconductor substrate. Voltage is then applied as a pulse to the electrode gates of the CCD device to clock each charge package to an adjacent pixel cell. The charge remains inside the semiconductor substrate and is clocked through, pixel by pixel, to a common output. During this process, additional charge cannot be accumulated.
Another type of imaging device which is known is a semiconductor pixel detector which comprises a semiconductor substrate with electrodes which apply depletion voltage to each pixel position and define a charge collection volume. Typically, simple buffer circuits read out the electric signals when a photon is photo-absorbed or when ionizing radiation crosses the depletion zone of the substrate. Accordingly pixel detectors of this type typically operate in a pulse mode, the numbers of hits being accumulated externally to the imaging device. The buffer circuits can either be on the same substrate as the charge collection volumes, as disclosed in European Patent Application EP-A-0287197, or on a separate substrate that is mechanically bonded to a substrate having the charge collection volumes in accordance with, for example, the well known bump-bonding technique, as disclosed in European Patent Application EP-A-0571135.
Another type of imaging device is described in International patent application WO95/33332, which describes an Active-pixel Semiconductor Imaging Device (ASID). The ASID comprises an array of pixel cells including a semiconductor substrate having an array of pixel detectors and a further array of pixel circuits. The pixel detectors generate charge in response to incident radiation. Each pixel circuit is associated with a respective pixel detector and accumulates charge resulting from radiation incident on the pixel detector. The pixel circuits are individually addressable and comprise circuitry which enables charge to be accumulated from a plurality of successive radiation hits on the respective pixel detectors. The device operates, for example, by accumulating charge on a gate of a transistor. Accordingly, analog storage of the charge value is obtained. At a determined time, the charge from the pixel circuits can be read out and used to generate an image based on the analog charge values stored in each of the pixel circuits.
CCD devices suffer from several disadvantages, including limited dynamic range due to the limited capacity of the potential well inside the semiconductor substrate, and inactive times during which an image is read out. Pulse counting semiconductive pixel devices also suffer from limited dynamic range. As these devices read the pixel contact when a hit is detected, they suffer from saturation problems at high counting rates. The semiconductor pixel device according to WO95/33332 provides significant advantages over the earlier prior art by providing a large dynamic range for the accumulation of images.
However, CCD imaging devices and imaging devices of the type described in WO95/33332 suffer from a potential disadvantage in that the output signals from the individual pixel cells represent the accumulation of radiation intensity at that pixel cell between readout times. This means that radiation hits of varying energies could lead to an inaccurate count of the number of radiation hits. For example, a relatively small number of higher energy radiation hits would give the same output signal as a higher number of lower energy radiation hits (for example, scattered radiation hits).
Embodiments of the present invention seek to mitigate the problems of known imaging devices described above.
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The present invention relates to a socket-type connector for flat cables or, more particularly, to a connector for flat cables capable of connecting flat cables with high reliability, resistance against corrosion and stability against mechanical shocks and vibrations.
There are known various types of connectors for flat cables on the market. Each of them has a basic structure comprising a plug part for fixing the end of the flat cable to a lead wire and a jack part which serves to receive the lead wire and fix it to a substrate plate or circuit board with electric connection. Since the electric connection is obtained by thrusting this jack part into a socket made of an insulator and conductor, certain inconveniences are unavoidable when it is desired to electrically connect a multiplicity of terminal contact points with each other. Furthermore, such a connector is usually expensive because the parts of metal should be imparted with anti-corrosiveness by plating with gold or the like precious metal and the structure thereof is very complicated while the performance of such a connector is not always satisfactory sometimes with troubles in connection.
On the other hand, an alternative method is already well known in which the electric connection between a connecting part of an electrode assembly having a large number of contact points and a substrate plate having a large number of electroconductive stripes corresponding to the contact points is established through an anisotropically electroconductive sheet having electroconductive fibers oriented in a matrix of an insulating material in the direction of the thickness of the sheet. When such a method is applied to the electric connection of flat cables, however, there is a disadvantage that, when the insulating material at the end portion of the flat cable has been removed to expose the metal-made cable wires for electric connection, cross contact of the wires may take place so that no exact one-to-one connection can be obtained between each of the cable wires and one of the electrodes on the substrate plate corresponding thereto.
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A prize game apparatus that is configured so that the layout of the game field can be changed has been known (Namco Bandai Games Inc., “Clena-Flex”, [online], [searched on Jan. 27, 2009] URL: http://www.bandainamcogames.co.jp/job/work/cf/index html). The above prize game apparatus is designed so that the prize placement section can be secured at an arbitrary position in the game field by inserting a screw into a hole formed in the prize placement section and a hole formed in the support section provided in the game apparatus or another prize placement section. This makes it possible to provide a prize game apparatus that keeps the player from getting bored.
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The present invention pertains to heart valve prostheses and in particular, to "mechanical" prosthetic heart valves that may use pivoting bi-leaflet valve members.
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{
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The current art teaches three known methods of transporting natural gas across bodies of water. A first method is by way of subsea pipeline. A second method is by way of ship transport as liquefied natural gas (LNG). A third method is by way of barge, or above deck on a ship, as compressed natural gas (CNG). Each method has its inherent advantages and disadvantages.
Subsea pipeline technology is well known for water depths of less than 1000 feet. The cost of deep water subsea pipelines is very high and methods of repairing and maintaining deep water subsea pipelines are just being pioneered. Transport by subsea pipeline is often not a viable option when crossing bodies of water exceeding 1000 feet in depth. A further disadvantage of subsea pipelines is that, once laid, it is impractical to relocate.
Liquefied natural gas systems, or LNG systems, require natural gas to be liquefied. This process greatly increases the fuel's density, thereby allowing relatively few numbers of ships to transport large volumes of natural gas over long distances. An LNG system requires a large investment for liquefaction facilities at the shipping point and for re-gasification facilities at the delivery point. In many cases, the capital cost of constructing LNG facilities is too high to make LNG a viable option. In other instances, the political risk at the delivery and/or supply point may make expensive LNG facilities unacceptable. A further disadvantage of LNG is that even on short routes, where only one or two LNG ships are required, the transportation economics are still burdened by the high cost of full shore facilities. The shortcoming of a LNG transport system is the high cost of the shore facilities which, on short distance routes, becomes an overwhelming portion of the capital cost.
Natural gas prices are currently increasing rapidly due to an inability to meet demand. Unfortunately, the LNG import terminals existing in the United States are presently operating at capacity. New import terminals of the type currently used in the United States cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build. Moreover, it is very difficult and expensive to find and acquire permissible sites for such facilities. Besides the space needed for the import tanks, pumps, vaporizers, etc., large impoundment safety areas must also be provided around all above-ground LNG storage and handling vessels and equipment. LNG import facilities also consume large amounts of fuel, gas and/or electrical energy for pumping the LNG from storage and vaporizing the material for delivery to gas distribution systems.
Compressed natural gas, or CNG, can be transported by way of barge or above deck on a ship. For the method to work, the CNG is cooled to a temperature around −75 degrees Fahrenheit at a pressure of around 1150 psi. The CNG is placed into pressure vessels contained within an insulated cargo hold of a ship. Cargo refrigeration facilities are not usually provided aboard the ship. A disadvantage of this system is the requirement for connecting and disconnecting the barges into the shuttles that takes time and reduces efficiency. Further disadvantages include the limited seaworthiness of the multi-barge shuttles and the complicated mating systems that adversely affect reliability and increase costs. In addition, barge systems are unreliable in heavy seas. Finally, current CNG systems have the problem of dealing with the inevitable expansion of gas in a safe manner as the gas warmed during transport.
The amount of equipment and the complexity of the inter-connection of the manifolding and valving system in the barge gas transportation system bears a direct relation to the number of individual cylinders carried onboard the barge. Accordingly, a significant expense is associated with the manifolding and valving connecting the gas cylinders. Thus, the need has arisen to find a storage system for compressed gas that can both contain larger quantities of compressed gas and to simplify the system of complex manifolds and valves.
Current systems place their cargo of natural gas compressed is the hold of floating vessels. The hold is sealed off as a closed space and then the entire hold is refrigerated. As the refrigerated gas warms during the trip, the released vapor gas tends to collect in the hold causing a dangerous explosion situation. To counter this problem, current system use nitrogen gas systems to displace the vapor gas with inert nitrogen gas. The nitrogen gas system, however, is very expensive and requires increased costs in order to maintain working order. In addition, the nitrogen gas system uses valuable space on the floating vessel that can be used to hold more cargo.
A need exists to transfer compressed natural gas safely across heavy seas to locations greater than 500 nautical miles.
A need exists for a system that can solve the concerns of the inevitable expansion of gas experienced as CNG warms during transport.
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1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to a submarine optical cable comprising a polymeric composition suitable for filling the interstices within said cable, in order to control a longitudinal flow of water accidentally penetrated inside said cable.
2. Background Art
Submarine optical cables are subjected, in case of accidental rupture thereof, to a sudden ingress of a sea-water flow at high pressure (e.g. 100 bar, when the cable is at 1000 m below the sea level). Such high pressure water flow may propagate for a relevant length inside the cable if suitable water blocking means are not provided in the cable, thus damaging a remarkable portion of said cable which has then to be replaced.
A number of cables designed for submarine installation are known in the art.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,213 relates to a submarine cable comprising a pressure resistant steel tube containing optical fibers, surrounded by two layers of steel wires and by an outer metal tube made of copper or aluminum. Dams of a sticky compound and/or of a jelly of plastic material are disposed at regular intervals inside the central tube and in the gaps between the lay of wires disposed between the central tube and the outer tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,062 discloses an undersea cable comprising a central metallic tube, filled with a sealing compound, e.g. silica gel, and containing optical fibers embedded therein, said tube being surrounded by a helical lay of metallic (preferably steel) wires. Interstices between wires and between the helical lay and the central tube are filled with a sealing material, such as a polyurethane resin, which opposes longitudinal propagation of water along the cable. Alternatively, the central tube can be made of plastic and in this case the helical lay also presents the characteristics of an arch for withstanding pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,649 relates to a submarine cable wherein the voids inside the cable are filled with a material having adequate elongation property and creep characteristics, in order to withstand the high pressure water flow following an accidental rupture of the cable. As filling material, a polyurethane resin is disclosed, said resin being comprised of not less than 10% by weight, preferably not less than 30% by weight of a hydrocarbon polyol/polyisocyanate mixture and from about 5 to 90%, preferably from 10% to 70% of a hydrocarbon oil. In the working examples a paraffinic oil is employed as a mineral oil, in a maximum amount of 56% by weight.
The applicant has now observed that while prior art resin filling compositions, in particular polyurethane based resins, has been developed with selected mechanical characteristics allowing the resin to effectively block the longitudinal water flow inside a submarine cable, (e.g. following an accidental rupture of the same), no attention has been paid in the prior art cables to the mechanical interaction between the filling compositions and the optical fibers disposed inside the optical core.
The Applicant has in fact observed that commercial polyurethane-based filling composition, when cross-linked, reach a relative high hardness. The Applicant has further observed that mechanical stresses can be generated in the cable structure, in particular during the manufacturing process of the cable, such as during the stranding of metal armoring wires around the optical core (e.g. as a consequence of a slight variations in the circular cross-section of the stranded metallic wires). Due to the relatively high hardness of the resin filling material disposed around the optical core, said mechanical stresses can be transmitted onto the optical core, thus causing a permanent deformation on the structure of the same, with consequent possible attenuation of the signal transmitted by the optical fiber contained therein.
Applicant has noticed that this problem becomes much more relevant when Large Effective Area (LEA) fibers are used in the optical cable, which fibers are much more sensitive to bending-induced losses (also known as the microbending and macrobending phenomena) than standard dispersion-shifted fibers (SDS fibers). The term LEA fibers is intended to encompass those optical fibers having a large effective area, in particular optical fibers having an effective area of at least 7 μm2 or greater. In particular, said LEA fibers may be used in wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) and high bandwidth systems.
The Applicant has now observed that the resin filling material, while being capable of guaranteeing the desired water-blocking performances, shall have at the same time a relatively reduced hardness, in order not to negatively affect the signal transmission within the optical fiber in case of mechanical stresses produced onto the cable, and particularly onto the optical core.
The Applicant has further observed that certain components of conventional polyurethane resins may negatively interact with some material forming the structural elements of the cable. In particular, ester compounds which may be used as plasticizers in conventional polyurethane resin composition may negatively interact with the polymeric material of the optical core of submarine cables. The Applicant has thus found that by suitably formulating a polyurethane resin composition, in particular by using a relatively high amount of mineral oil and a rather limited amount of ester compounds, it is possible to obtain a good compatibility between the polyurethane resin and other polymeric materials of the cable.
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The planting of corn, soybeans, and other crops is typically performed by driving a tractor through the field pulling a toolbar implement. The toolbar implement consists of a frame supported by wheels or tracks and having a transverse bar to which multiple planting units are attached. The planting units are spaced apart along the transverse bar to correspond to the seed rows that will be planted. The term “toolbar” is used interchangeably in the industry to refer to the implement as a whole and to the transverse bar specifically. As used herein, the term “toolbar” refers specifically to the transverse bar to which the planting units are attached and the term “toolbar implement” refers to the implement as a whole.
Toolbar implements are also used in other farming operations. For example, multi-functional row units are often attached to the toolbar implement to simultaneously till (also known as cultivate or plow), plant, and fertilize in one pass through the field. This method of farming is known as strip tillage, zone tillage, or strip till farming. As used herein, the term “row unit” refers to any type of planter, tiller, fertilizer, multi-functional unit, or the like that is attached to a toolbar implement.
Toolbar implements commonly contain toolbars that have widths of 20 feet (which can accommodate 8 planting units spaced thirty inches apart), 30 feet (which can accommodate 12 planting units spaced thirty inches apart), and more. The toolbars are so wide that they commonly are hinged so that the overall width of the implement can be reduced for storage and to travel upon public roads.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a typical wheeled toolbar implement. The implement contains a main longitudinal frame having a connector at the front and a hitch at the rear. The toolbar is divided into three sections, a hinged left wing, a fixed center, and a hinged right wing. In FIG. 1, the two wings are shown extended (the working position). In FIG. 2, the two wings are shown folded forward against the main frame (the storage and transport position). Spaced apart on the center toolbar are four wheel assemblies. Each wheel assembly contains a bracket, a motion dampener, a lift arm, and a wheel. The lift arms are hydraulic cylinders controlled by the tractor operator that can raise the frame for storage or transport. Row units are attached to the center toolbar in the spaces between the wheel assemblies.
While toolbar implements containing wheels are more common, toolbar implements containing track assemblies are becoming more popular. Track assemblies make contact with the ground with larger surface areas (footprints) and therefore reduce soil compaction and improve the ability to operate in wet fields. A toolbar implement with track assemblies is disclosed in Houck, U.S. Pat. Appln. Publn. No. 2006/0090910, May 4, 2006. The Houck implement has left and right wing toolbars that are located aft of (behind) and above the track assemblies. A track assembly for a toolbar implement is described in Rosenboom, U.S. Pat. No. 7,726,749, issued Jun. 1, 2010, incorporated by reference.
Many farmers would like to convert their wheeled toolbar implements to tracks. Unfortunately, tracks take up so much more space that interference problems usually arise. As a result, track assemblies generally cannot simply be substituted for wheels.
Accordingly, there is a demand for an improved method for converting a wheeled toolbar implement to a tracked toolbar implement. There is also a demand for an improved toolbar implement having tracks instead of wheels.
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Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) encompasses several chronic inflammatory conditions, most significantly ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). While these two conditions share many common features—diarrhea, bloody stools, weight loss, abdominal pain, fever, and fatigue—each has unique features. A complete discussion of Crohn's disease will be addressed in a future article. Ulcerative colitis and associated risk factors, pathogenesis, nutrient deficiencies, conventional treatment approaches, natural treatment approaches, and extra-intestinal manifestations of the disease.
Ulcerative colitis affects the colon and rectum and typically involves only the innermost lining or mucosa, manifesting as continuous areas of inflammation and ulceration, with no segments of normal tissue. The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America defines several varieties of UC. Disease involving only the most distal part of the colon and the rectum is termed ulcerative proctitis; disease from the descending colon down is referred to as limited or distal colitis; and disease involving the entire colon is called pancolitis. UC may be insidious, with gradual onset of symptoms, or the first attack may be acute and fulminate.
More mild symptoms include a progressive loosening of the stool, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea. As the disease progresses from mild to more severe, the patient may also experience weight loss, fatigue, loss of appetite that may result in nutrient deficiencies, mucus in the stool, severe rectal bleeding, fever, and anemia. It is estimated that 1-2 million Americans suffer from IBD; approximately half of these have ulcerative colitis. UC can occur anytime in life, but is usually diagnosed prior to age 30. The disease appears to affect men and women equally. Approximately 20 percent of people with UC have a close relative with IBD. Caucasians have a higher incidence of UC, with Jewish people of European descent 3-6 times more likely to develop the disease. Regions with a low incidence of UC include Asia, Japan, Africa, and South America.
Differing cytokine and other inflammatory-mediator profiles have been identified for UC and CD. The classic lesions of UC, involving the mucosal layer with extensive epithelial damage, abundant neutrophils, and crypt abscesses have led to a search for an immune mechanism to explain the epithelial damage. Signs of increased oxidative stress are in evidence in the intestinal mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis and may be secondary to inflammation. One study examined signs of oxidative stress and plasma antioxidant levels in controls compared to patients with UC and CD. Oxidative DNA damage was noted in both IBD groups compared to controls, measured by production of 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG). UC patients were found to have significantly lower plasma levels of vitamins A and E and several carotenoids compared to controls; there were no differences between UC and CD groups.
Mucosal biopsies of UC patients were analyzed and shown to have increased reactive oxygen intermediates, DNA oxidation products (8-OHdG), and iron in inflamed tissue compared to controls. Decreased levels of copper and zinc, cofactors for the endogenous antioxidant superoxide dismutase, were also observed.
Managing acute pathology of often relies on the addressing underlying pathology and symptoms of the disease. There is currently a need in the art for new compositions to treatment or delay of the onset of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and its associated complications progression.
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The present apparatus relates to fluid connectors including a fluid carrying tubular member which is coupled to a fitting body connected to a device which uses the fluid. In an automotive application, the fluid carrying components are connected at one end to an automatic transmission and at another end to a cooler disposed within a vehicle radiator. Other automotive applications using fluid connectors include turbo connections.
Such quick connectors typically include a resilient clip carried on the fitting body which is adapted to snap behind a raised shoulder of an end form on the tubular member when the tubular member is fully inserted into the fitting body to lock the tubular member in place.
Assurance caps can be used to insure full insertion of the tubular member in the body. As assurance cap is carried by the tubular member and slides over the tubular member insertion end of the body and snaps over the outer edges of the resilient clip. If the tubular member is not fully inserted in the body such that the resilient clip is not seated behind the raised shoulder on the tubular member, raised portions of the resilient clip extend further radially outward from the body and interfere with the complete movement of the assurance cap to its fully installed position thereby providing an indication to the installer that the tubular member is not fully latched in the body.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device and method for measuring cross-sectional or edge boundary dimensions and the weight per unit length, typically weight per foot (WPF). More particularly, the invention relates to the measuring of the edge boundaries of steel products by computerized tomography during rolling thereof.
2. Background Art
In prior art manufacturing processes, the principal parameters for controlling manufacturing operating conditions are weight per unit length, i.e., weight per foot, measurements in combination with measurements of several key dimensions. In this type of process, many dimensional measurements are required, preferably to ultimately obtain a cross-sectional profile of the product. The prior art methods of obtaining these measurements generally involve taking optical measurements of the object dimensions, determining cross-sectional area and then multiplying the product cross-sectional area by its density. However, with this technology it was very difficult to obtain weight per unit length measurement accuracies of up to about 0.1%. In addition, optical measurement of the cross-sectional profile of complex shapes such as I-beams, pipes or tubing is very difficult due to an inaccessibility to the inner surface thereof.
The prior art also teaches the use of radiation transmission for measuring the product thickness, typically of flat rolled products. Although results regarding measurements of product thickness have been generally good using these techniques, no known prior art method has taught how to use product dimension determination by radiation transmission to determine the edge boundaries of cross-sectional area, and/or weight per unit length of various products, especially complicated and intricate shapes.
One prior art system presently marketed under the trade name .gamma.-TRISCOPE by Fuji Electric Company and Kawasaki Steel Corporation employs penetration and absorption of .gamma.-rays to continously measure the wall thickness of pipes during manufacturing operations. However, this prior art system generally requires stationary radiation sources operating with a stationary small number of detectors, does not effect 360.degree. scanning, and cannot be readily employed to measure crosssections of intricate and complicated shapes.
Other non-medical uses of radiation systems, e.g., medical CAT systems, are discussed in: "Applications of Computerized Axial Tomography in the field of Nondestructive Testing", MATERIAL PRUF, 22, No. 5, May 1980, pp. 214-217, by V. P. Reimers et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference. This system involves the use of a CAT system having an X-ray source to reconstruct images of extruded aluminum sections, blocks and pipes and wood telephone poles. However, there is no discussion of how to use the system for on-line measurements during production of, for example, rolled steel shapes, nor of any arrangement for determing product dimensions or weight per unit length of complex shapes.
Other prior art systems include medical CAT systems which generally employ a stationary ring of radiation detectors, and a moving low energy level, e.g., 150 KeV X-ray source to scan a patient's body. An image is thus reconstructed which a physician qualitatively examines on a CRT to obtain desired information. Examples of such systems are disclosed in: U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,725; U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,352; U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,863; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,036. However, no known prior art system teaches the use of an arrangement of detectors and radiation sources to calculate necessary dimensional data on-line in a manufacturing process.
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This invention relates to a method and device for electronic scanning of control-fields of a control member on cylinder and straight bar knitting machines.
Instead of the generally known purely mechanical needle selector mechanisms for multi-system circular knitting machines as well as for straight bar knitting machines, recently various proposals have become known for electromagnetically or piezoelectrically acting needle selection mechanisms which act directly upon the needles themselves or upon pushrods in a conventional arrangement. These cannot however in most cases function because the distance of travel and the resistance of such conventional parts are too great.
The real obstacle which stands in the way of good functioning was in the case of many proposals to be attributed to this fact. Even the designers of successful new devices likewise keep adhering to tradition, in that they hitherto without exception further developed applied needle-pushrods with a special cam track. Thus there have resulted long pushrods and long needle travel distances, and thereby also long cylinders and in the case of straight bar knitting machines very wide needle beds. Also very complicated selection processes and also corresponding also parts for changing the sliders in and out in the pushrod cam have been employed, which through the long cylinder and the complicated auxiliary parts required per needle caused considerable increases in cost.
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The present invention relates to electrical busway and particularly to an improved, compact busway phase transposition assembly.
It is quite common in electrical busway applications to require physical transpositioning of the individual busbars at some point in a busway run in order to facilitate proper phasing of the electrical connections of the individual busbars at each end of the busway run to separate electrical instrumentalities. One example is where a busway run interconnects two switchboards. Since the busway typically consists of rigid busbars in essentially side-by-side relation, it is physically impossible to interconnect the individual busbars of the two switchboards with the proper phasing without, at some intermediate point, physically transpositioning the busbars of the connecting busway run. Busway phase transposition assemblies heretofore utilized in this and other analogous situations are extremely bulky and both difficult to fabricate and install.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an improved busway phase transposition assembly.
A further object is to provide a busway phase transposition assembly of the above character which is compact in size, efficient in construction and convenient to install.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to programmable integrated circuits. More particularly, the present invention relates to field-programmable-gate-array (FPGA) integrated circuits and to non-volatile lookup tables for use in such integrated circuits.
2. The Prior Art
Programmable integrated circuits such as FPGA integrated circuits are known in the art. An emerging trend has been to employ non-volatile memory elements in FPGA integrated circuits.
Some FPGA integrated circuits employ look-up-tables (LUTs) to implement programmable logic functions. Volatile-memory based FPGA integrated circuits that use LUT technology are available from, for example, Xilinx of San Jose, Calif. Non-volatile memory elements may be advantageously employed in LUT-based FPGA integrated circuits.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ultrasonic devices for cosmetic and dermatological applications. More particularly, the invention is concerned with methods and apparatus facilitating the use of ultrasonic energy coupled to anatomical tissue to precondition the skin to allow the penetration of medical and cosmetic compounds, to drive these compounds into and through the epidermis, into the dermis, into the anatomical tissue below the dermis and into the blood supply when required. The invention is particularly effective to control the depth of penetration and the dosage of medications to be delivered to eliminate the harmful side effects associated with some of the systemically delivered medications.
2. Description of Prior Art
Numerous attempts have been made in the past to deliver medications through the skin by chemical, electrical and ultrasonic means. The application of chemicals to modify the skin structure to allow the penetration of drugs was found to be dangerous because while it provided access for drugs to penetrate, it left the body unprotected against harmful environments. The application of electrical fields to create transient transport pathways by a method called electroporation, and the method to electrically charge drug molecules to increase their penetration through the skin called iontophoresis, have both been proven ineffective to deliver therapeutically adequate dosage of medications through the skin. Past applications of high frequency (0.5 to 3 megahertz) and high intensity (0.5 to 5 W/cm.sup.2) therapeutic ultrasound, called sonophoresis, were found to be uncertain, inefficient, and the method found limited clinical applications.
The efforts of the prior art of ultrasonically induced drug delivery (sonophoresis) were focused on driving drug molecules through the skin by the applications of high (megahertz) frequency high energy ultrasonic pressure waves. This procedure particularly suffered from the disadvantage of tissue heating and the associated modification and sometimes destruction of healthy cells. Once adequate ultrasonic power is applied either in a continuous wave ultrasonic modality, or maximum burst length that is practicable without adverse tissue heating effects to force drug molecules through the highly resistive outermost sealing layer of the skin, the stratum corneum (SC), the drugs typically will proceed uncontrollably through the less resistive dermis into the blood system, creating systemic absorption of the drugs which is undesirable in most dermatological applications.
What has occurred to date is that notwithstanding the teachings of the prior art, the ability to deliver dermatological drugs topically, safely, effectively, inexpensively, and easily in a home environment has remained unsolved.
Responding to the above described unresolved needs, the object of this invention is to provide a method and apparatus for the pretreatment of the skin to open up passageways through the epidermis and to allow the penetration of medications or cosmetics for a limited time period, in such a method which seals the skin automatically within a short period of time after the topical application of the drugs to restore the environmental protection of the body.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus of ultrasound medicated drug delivery where the amount of the drug (dosage) and the depth of the penetration of the drug is controlled.
A further object of the invention is the elimination of paring of warts to provide access for the therapeutic compounds into the deeper structure of the warts, without surgical procedures. This is a particularly important feature when treating AIDS patients.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus to speedily restore the sealing properties of the skin upon the completion of the ultrasound medicated delivery of the medication and to provide immediate environmental protection of the body. Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the examination of the drawings and the specification.
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Many programmable controllers, including many HVAC controllers, have a microcontroller or microprocessor that executes a software program stored in memory. In many cases, the software program is executed using an interpreter engine. An interpreter engine typically takes a program stored in a meta-language or the like, compiles and interprets the program, and then execute the interpreted instructions. In many cases, the interpreter engine executed the software program either wholly or partially from random-access memory (RAM).
One common problem with many programmable controllers is that they can require a substantial amount of RAM memory in order to execute even relatively simple software programs. This can be especially true when the programmable controller uses an interpreter engine to execute the program code. RAM, being a relatively expensive form of memory, can greatly increase the cost of manufacturing and producing a programmable controller. The least expensive form of a processor is often a microcontroller, which typically only has a limited amount of on-board RAM. What would be desirable, therefore, is a low cost programmable controller that can execute relatively complex software programs using only a minimal amount of RAM resources.
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Transducers are used in a wide variety of electronic applications. One type of transducer is known as a piezoelectric transducer. A piezoelectric transducer comprises a piezoelectric material disposed between electrodes. The application of a time-varying electrical signal will cause a mechanical vibration across the transducer; and the application of a time-varying mechanical signal will cause a time-varying electrical signal to be generated by the piezoelectric material of the transducer. One type of piezoelectric transducer may be based on bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators and film bulk acoustic resonators (FBARs). As is known, certain FBARs and BAW devices over a cavity in a substrate, or otherwise suspending at least a portion of the device will cause the device to flex in a time varying manner. Such transducers are often referred to as membranes.
Among other applications, piezoelectric transducers may be used to transmit or receive mechanical and electrical signals. These signals may be the transduction of acoustic signals, for example, and the transducers may be functioning as microphones (mics) and speakers and the detection or emission of ultrasonic waves. As the need to reduce the size of many components continues, the demand for reduced-size transducers continues to increase as well. This has lead to comparatively small transducers, which may be micromachined according to technologies such as micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology, such as described in the related applications.
The materials that comprise the membrane often have properties that are temperature dependent. Notably, the piezoelectric materials, electrodes and contacts are temperature dependent. For example, FBAR devices in which the material of the piezoelectric element is aluminum nitride (AlN) and the material of the electrodes is molybdenum (Mo), have a resonance frequency that depends on temperature, which has an impact on device performance. Moreover, in certain applications, membrane-based devices will be commonly subjected to increased temperatures relative to the ideal temperature or design point, while in other applications the membranes are subjected to reduced temperatures relative to the ideal temperature or design point.
What is needed, therefore, is an apparatus that overcomes at least the drawbacks of known transducers discussed above.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and particularly, to a large storage capacity semiconductor memory device operating at high speed with low current consumption.
2. Description of the Background Art
Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is known as one of semiconductor memory devices. In DRAM, information is stored in a capacitor in an electric charge form, the electric charges stored in the capacitor are read out on a corresponding bit line through an access transistor to be amplified by a sense amplifier circuit for data reading.
In such a DRAM, a memory cell consists of one transistor and one capacitor and therefore, an occupation area thereof is small and a large storage capacity memory can be implemented on a small occupation area.
For the purposes of a high speed operation and reduction in current consumption of a semiconductor memory device and for down-sizing of a processing system in recent years, components of the memory device has been miniaturized. With progress in miniaturization of the elements or components, an area of a memory cell capacitor is also reduced and accordingly, a capacitance value thereof is made smaller. With a smaller capacitance of a memory cell capacitor, an amount of held electric charges is decreased when data of the same voltage level is written to the capacitor. In order to compensate for such a reduction in held electric charge amount, a periodical refresh operation is performed. In the refresh operation, data stored in a memory cell capacitor is read out onto a bit line and then, the data is amplified by a sense amplifier to rewrite the amplified data to the original memory cell capacitor.
Therefore, in a smaller element, when a data retention characteristics is degraded, a refresh interval is required to be shorter in order to compensate for such a degradation of the data retention characteristics. When a refresh interval is made shorter, however, an external processor cannot access the DRAM during a refresh operation, resulting in degradation of performance of the processor.
Furthermore, when a refresh interval is shorter, a current consumed in refresh operations increases. Therefore, it is particularly difficult to meet a low standby current condition required in a data holding mode (for example, a sleep mode) of a battery-powered portable equipment or the like. DRAM with a shorter refresh interval could not be applied to an application such as a battery-powered portable equipment or the like requiring a low current consumption.
A pseudo SRAM (PSRAM), which is DRAM operating like an SRAM (static random access memory), has been known as one of a countermeasure for solving such a refreshing problem associated with DRAM. In PSRAM, to in one cycle in memory access, a cycle of performing an ordinary data write/read and a refresh cycle of performing refresh are continuously performed. Since refresh is performed in one access cycle, the refresh can be hidden from external access, whereby DRAM can be apparently operated as SRAM.
In a case of PSRAM, however, two cycles are required in one access cycle and therefore, a problem that a cycle time cannot be made shorter arises. Especially, in a current fabrication technology at the 0.18 xcexcm level, it is difficult to realize an operating cycle ranging from 70 to 80 nanoseconds (ns), which is required for SRAM.
Configurations for performing refresh independently of external access are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2-21488 (1990), Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 61-11993 (1986), Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 55-153194 (1980) and others.
FIG. 50 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of an array portion of a conventional dynamic type semiconductor memory device. In FIG. 50, normal word lines WL and refresh word lines RWL are provided corresponding to respective rows of memory cells MC. In FIG. 50, there are representatively shown two normal word lines WL0 and WL1, two refresh word lines RWL0 and RWL1, and two memory cells MC0 and MC1. Normal bit lines BL and /BL and refresh bit lines RBL and /RBL are provided corresponding to the memory cell columns.
The memory cells MC (MC0 and MC1) each include: a data access transistor Tr1; a refresh access transistor Tr2; and a capacitor C storing information. A main electrode node (storage node) SN of the capacitor C is coupled commonly to the access transistors Tr1 and Tr2. In the memory cell MC0, the access transistor Tr1 couples the storage node SN to the normal bit line BL in response to a signal on the normal word line WL0, while the refresh access transistor Tr2 connects the storage node SN to the refresh bit line RBL in response to a signal on the refresh word line RWL0.
In the memory cell MC1, the normal access transistor Tr1 connects the storage node SN to the bit line /BL in response to a signal on the normal word line WL1 and the refresh access transistor Tr2 connects the storage node SN to the refresh bit line /RBL in response to a signal on the refresh word line RWL1.
A refresh sense amplifier RSA, which is activated in response to a refresh sense amplifier activating signal xcfx86RSE, is provided to the refresh bit lines RBL and /RBL. A sense amplifier SA, which is activated in response to activation of a sense amplifier activating signal xcfx86SE, is connected to the normal bit lines BL and /BL. The normal bit lines BL and /BL are coupled to an internal data line pair IOP through a column select gate CSG responsive to a column select signal Y.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 50, in an ordinary data access, the normal word line WL (WL0 or WL1) is driven into a selected state. In this case, data stored in the memory cell MC (MC0 or MC1) is read out onto the bit line BL and /BL. Then, the data read out onto the normal bit line BL and /BL is differentially amplified by the (normal) sense amplifier SA. Thereafter, the column select gate CSG is made conductive by the column select signal Y to couple the normal bit lines BL and /BL to the internal data line pair IOP and data write/read is performed.
The refresh word line RWL (RWL0 or RWL1) is driven into a selected state asynchronously with the data access operation. Responsively, a storage data of the memory cell MC (MC0 or MC1) is read out onto the refresh bit lines RBL and /RBL and the memory cell data is differentially amplified and latched by the refresh sense amplifier RSA to then rewrite the data to the original memory cell.
Accordingly, a refresh operation can be internally performed asynchronously with a data access operation and therefore, the refresh operation in the semiconductor memory device can be hidden from an outside, whereby the semiconductor memory device can be accessed independently of an internal refresh cycle.
As shown in FIG. 50, data access and refresh can be performed asynchronously with each other by separately providing the normal bit line pair BL and /BL for performing data access and the refresh bit line pair RBL and /RBL for performing refresh.
However, when refresh and data access are simultaneously in performed on the same memory cell prior to a sense operation, a problem as described below occurs. That is, for example, when the normal word line WL0 and the refresh word line RWL0 are simultaneously driven into a selected state, the capacitor C of the memory cell MC0 is connected to the bit lines BL and RBL through the access transistors Tr1 and Tr2. The bit lines BL and RBL have substantially the same parasitic capacitance with each other. Hence, electric charges stored in the capacitor C are transmitted to the bit lines BL and RBL so as to be distributed thereon. That is, a change in voltage on the bit line is reduced to be, in this case, xc2xd times as large. The sense amplifier SA amplifies a voltage difference (readout voltage) xcex94V between the bit lines BL and /BL as shown in FIG. 51. Hence, when the capacitor C is connected to the bit lines BL and RBL before the sense amplifier SA operates, the readout voltage is xcex94V/2 as shown with a broken line in FIG. 51. Therefore, an operating margin of the sense amplifier SA is smaller and therefore, correct sensing of data cannot be performed.
In a case that the sense amplifiers SA and RSA are simultaneously activated, if memory cell data are read out in reverse directions, a readout voltage is small, and erroneous data reading occurs, according to operating characteristics of the respective sense amplifiers SA and RSA since the sense amplifiers SA and RSA are electrically connected together through the access transistors Tr1 and Tr2 of the memory cell MC0.
In order to avoid such a conflict between a data access operation and a refresh operation, a configuration in which a refresh operation is ceased in data access is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2-21488(1990). That is, as shown in FIG. 52, when the normal word line WL is selected, a refresh enable signal /REN is rendered inactive to inhibit a refresh operation for the period till a sense operation on the normal bit lines BL and /BL is completed.
In this case, when data access is performed in advance of refresh, data access can be performed while preventing a data conflict. However, this prior art reference gives no consideration to a case where refresh is performed in advance of data access, followed by the data access. Accordingly, in this case, when refresh is performed in advance, followed by data access, conflict between data cannot be avoided, a readout voltage is smaller, whereby a problem arises that data read and refresh cannot be correctly performed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor memory device capable of reducing a cycle time without lowering data retention characteristics.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor memory device capable of performing correct data access without increasing an access time even when refresh and normal row selection are simultaneously performed.
A semiconductor memory device according to the present invention includes: a plurality of memory cells arranged in rows and columns; a plurality of normal bit line pairs each provided corresponding to the respective memory cell columns, and each having memory cells on a corresponding column connected thereto, each bit line pair having first and second normal bit lines; and a plurality of refresh bit line pairs provided correspondingly to the respective memory cell columns, and each having memory cells on a corresponding column connected thereto, each bit line having first and second refresh bit lines. Each of the plurality of memory cells includes: a first transistor connected between one of the first and second normal bit lines of a corresponding normal bit line pair and a storage node; and a second transistor connected between the storage node and one of the first and second refresh bit lines of the corresponding column.
A semiconductor memory device according to the present invention further includes: a plurality of normal word lines, provided corresponding to respective rows of memory cells, each having first transistors of memory cells on a corresponding row connected thereto; a plurality of refresh word lines, provided correspondingly to respective rows of memory cells, each having second transistors of memory cells on a corresponding row connected thereto; a refresh row select circuit for selecting a refresh word line, specified according to a refresh address, of the plurality of refresh to word lines; a normal row select circuit for selecting a normal word line specified according to an external address, of the plurality of normal word lines,; a determining circuit for determining coincidence/non-coincidence between the refresh address and the external address; a comparator for comparing activation timings of a refresh requesting signal and a memory cell select cycle start instructing signal; and access circuitry for performing data access through a refresh bit line pair when the determining circuit detects coincidence and the comparator indicates that activation of said refresh requesting signal is earlier.
In a case where a refresh address and an external address specify the same row, when the refresh request is activated earlier, data access is made through a refresh bit line pair. Thus, it is not necessary to defer data access, and data access (data write/read) can be performed at high speed, even if arbitration is performed between a refresh operation and a data access operation.
Furthermore, since a refresh operation is performed asynchronously with an external access, an external device can perform data access at high speed without considering the refresh operation, thereby enabling construction of a high speed processing system.
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To date in general, radiographic imaging apparatuses that detect radiation rays radiated to and transmitted through objects are widely used. Such image taking has generally been performed with the film-screen method or the computed radiography (CR) method. In either of the above methods, a container case, which is standardized as a cassette, is used in taking an image. The container case contains a photographic sensitive film or a phosphor plate that stores an image as a latent image.
Recently, a digital radiography (DR) method, in which a radiographic image is taken and digitized using semiconductor sensors, has also been developed. This method has been in practical use in portable radiographic imaging apparatuses. However, since the radiographic imaging apparatus using the DR method includes a number of electronic components therein, the DR method radiographic imaging apparatus is heavy compared to a related art radiographic imaging apparatus using the cassette method despite efforts that have been made to make the DR method radiographic imaging apparatus lighter.
PTL 1 discloses a cassette carrier into which a radiographic imaging apparatus is inserted in a direction parallel to a radiation detecting surface.
The radiographic imaging apparatus is inserted into the cassette carrier disclosed in PTL 1 in the direction parallel to the radiation detecting surface. Since such a cassette carrier is constructed so as to cover the radiation detecting surface of the radiographic imaging apparatus, the cassette carrier becomes heavy in weight and portability thereof is reduced.
Also in this cassette carrier, since a side surface adjacent to the radiation detecting surface is narrow in width, there is a possibility that the radiographic imaging apparatus is damaged when it is subject to external shock. The cassette carrier having an exposed side surface does not sufficiently protect the radiation detecting surface against external shock.
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Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to variable displacement hydraulic piston pumps, and more particularly, to such pumps which include an adjustable stop assembly for varying the fluid displacement of the pump. A piston pump of the type to which the present invention relates is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,160, now assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and incorporated herein by reference.
The variable displacement piston pump of the above-incorporated patent includes an adjustable maximum displacement stop assembly for limiting the maximum angle of the swashplate (yoke) to something less than the maximum angle possible for the particular pump design. As is well know to those skilled in the art, for a given input speed to the pump, the rate of fluid flow provided by the pump is proportional to the angle of displacement of the swashplate. Therefore, many piston pumps, especially those intended for industrial uses (as opposed to mobile applications) are designed for a maximum displacement (maximum flow) and then are xe2x80x9csetxe2x80x9d or adjusted for a particular use by having the swashplate positioned at a particular angle, less than the maximum, which angle (effectively, a new xe2x80x9cmaximumxe2x80x9d displacement) will provide the desired flow rate. Once the desired swashplate displacement is set, the adjustable stop assembly is prevented from further movement by some suitable locking means.
In the adjustable stop assembly of the above-incorporated patent, there is a control piston which is linked to the yoke, the control piston defining an internal, hexagonal cavity in which is disposed a hexagonal stop member. The stop member is in threaded engagement with an adjusting screw, such that rotation of the adjusting screw results in linear movement of the hexagonal stop, and therefore, linear movement of the control piston also. It is the linear movement of the control piston which directly changes the displacement angle of the swashplate.
It should be noted that in the adjustable maximum displacement stop assembly of the cited patent, the control piston, the hexagonal stop, and the adjusting screw are all coaxial with each other.
The prior art adjustable stop assembly has been generally satisfactory in performance, i.e., in achieving and maintaining the desired displacement angle of the swashplate. However, the inherent requirement for certain parts of the assembly to be non-circular (preferably, hexagonal) adds substantially to the cost and difficulty of manufacture of at least two components of the assembly, in this case, the control piston and the stop. In addition, the prior art assembly required a mechanical connection between the swashplate and the control piston, partly for the purpose of preventing rotation of the control piston. In the prior art assembly, if the control piston were permitted to rotate, there would be no linear movement of the control piston. Typically, the mechanical connection between the swashplate and the control piston is a member referred to as a xe2x80x9cchain linkxe2x80x9d, which is not an especially difficult or complicated part, but on some applications of the pump, does represent one additional part which serves no purpose, other than to prevent rotation of the control piston.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved variable displacement hydraulic piston pump, and an improved adjustable maximum displacement stop assembly therefor which overcomes the above-described disadvantages of the prior art.
It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide such an improved adjustable stop assembly which eliminates the need for expensive and difficult-to-manufacture non-circular parts.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an improved adjustable stop assembly in which is not necessary to provide means for preventing rotation of the control piston.
The above and other objects of the invention are accomplished by the provision of an improved adjustable stop assembly for limiting maximum yoke angle of a hydraulic pump having a fluid displacement proportional to the angle of the yoke, the adjustable stop assembly including a control piston for inclining the yoke to define a desired yoke angle. A stop member defines a set of internal threads and is disposed within a cavity defined by the adjustable stop assembly. The assembly also includes an adjusting screw disposed for rotational motion, comprising means operable to retain the adjusting screw reciprocally stationary relative to the adjustable stop assembly. The adjusting screw further comprises a first set of external threads for engagement with the internal threads of the stop member whereby rotation of the adjusting screw causes axial travel of the stop member thereby displacing the control piston.
The improved adjustable stop assembly is characterized by the cavity defining a generally cylindrical internal surface, and further defining a first axis about which the internal surface is concentric. The set of internal threads defined by the stop member defines a second axis, the first and second axes being transversely offset.
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Fittings for flexible hose utilizing a swaged collar are usually assembled to the hose at the factory, or by a hose distributor, and such assemblers utilize power equipment for swaging the hose fitting components upon the hose. However, there is often a need to assemble a swaged fitting upon a hose at the site of use, or by the direct user, such as a farmer or construction worker, and small manually operated hose fitting swagers have long been available for such use. Typical manual swaging apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,785,050; 3,858,298 and its reissue patents U.S. Pat. Nos. Re 29,801 and Re. 29,802; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,022.
As significant forces are required to swage the fitting component it is known to use manually operated hydraulic jacks or screws to produce the necessary forces. For instance, in the above identified patents screws are utilized in conjunction with anti-friction ball nut devices to produce the necessary force with a minimum of friction in order to reduce the manual effort required during the swaging operation.
Small portable swagers of the known type may be mounted within a workbench vise during use, or on a support surface, or may remain unsupported and are often provided with an anti-torque handle for such usage. However, a small power operated swager which is economically practical for consumer use has not heretofore become available, and the construction of prior art swagers is such as to render the electric powering of such devices very difficult.
It is an object of the invention to provide a manual swager for fittings for flexible hose wherein the swager uses a screw actuator which is axially fixed.
Another object of the invention is to provide a manually operated hose fitting swager which may be power driven without requiring modification.
An additional object of the invention is to produce a portable swaging apparatus for assembling swaged fittings to flexible hose wherein the swager utilizes a screw threadedly cooperating with an adapter, and the adapter encompasses the screw during use.
In the practice of the invention an elongated frame includes first and second ends. At one end a swaging die is located, and a screw is rotatably mounted at the other frame end. The bearing support for the screw permits the screw to rotate, but the screw is prevented from being displaced in an axial direction.
The central region of the frame includes linear tracks or guides, and an adapter threadedly associated with the screw through a ball nut slidingly cooperates with the frame track wherein the adapter is capable of linear movement toward and away from the swaging die, but is restrained against rotation. The adapter is of a tubular configuration and receives the screw at all positions of the adapter.
The adapter includes a fitting receiving recess in opposed relationship to the swaging die, and a fitting received within the adapter recess is translated toward the die upon rotation of the screw passing that portion of the fitting through the die which requires swaging.
The upper end of the screw includes a drive head, usually of hexagonal form, whereby a wrench may be applied to the head for rotating the screw. However, as the screw and head are not axially displaced during operation, power means such as an electric drill or torque wrench may be applied to the screw head for power operation of the swager.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lattice filter using a resonator consisting of a crystal vibrator or an elastic surface wave vibrator or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 4 shows structure of a prior art lattice filter. In FIG. 4, between a first input end 11 and a first output end 12, and between a second input end 13 and a second output end 14, there are provided first resonators 15, 15, each having the same characteristic respectively. Also, between the first input end 11 and the second output end 14, and between the second input end 13 and the first output end 12, there are provided second resonators 16, 16, each having the same characteristic respectively.
In this case, the first resonator 15 has a series resonance frequency f1s and a parallel resonance frequency f1p higher than the series resonance frequency f1S, and the second resonator 16 has also a series resonance frequency f2s and a parallel resonance frequency f2p higher than the series resonance frequency f2S. Also, the parallel resonance frequency of one or the other of the first and second resonator, for example f2p of the second resonator 16, is substantially equal to the series resonance frequency f1s of the first resonator 15, which is the other resonator. Accordingly, reactance curves of these resonators 15, 16 become as shown in FIG. 5.
Further, in these two types of resonators 15, 16, as shown in FIG. 5, their reactance curves have such relationship that they cross each other in a region of lower frequencies than the series resonance frequency f2s of the second resonator 16, and that they cross each other in a region of higher frequencies than the parallel resonance frequency f1p of the first resonator 16. Such crossing relationship can be obtained by setting physical dimensions within the respective resonators.
As a result, a transmission characteristic when a signal is inputted between the first input end 11 and the second input end 13 becomes a characteristic of a band pass filter which has between the series resonance frequency f2s of the second resonator 16 and the parallel resonance frequency f1p of the first resonator 16 as the passing band as shown in FIG. 6.
Also, at frequencies fL and fH at which each other""s reactance curves cross, phases at two output ends 12 and 14 become the same and therefore, no signal is generated between these two output ends 12 and 14, but a characteristic which attenuates as shown in FIG. 6 is obtained.
Therefore, in order to widen the passing band, a difference (xcex941=f1pxe2x88x92f1s, xcex942=f2pxe2x88x92f2s) between the series resonance frequency and the parallel resonance frequency of each resonator 15, 16 is made larger, or the parallel resonance frequency f2p of the second resonator 16 is made lower than the series resonance frequency f1s of the first resonator 15, whereby the series resonance frequency f1s of the first resonator 15 can be spaced apart from the parallel resonance frequency f2p of the second resonator 16.
However, the difference between the series resonance frequency and the parallel resonance frequency in each resonator cannot be made much large because of constraints in the physical dimensions, but also for the similar reason, it becomes impossible to freely set a frequency at which the reactance curves cross each other as well.
Also, there is the problem that when the series resonance frequency of the first resonator is spaced apart from the parallel resonance frequency of the second resonator that is higher than the series resonance frequency, a ripple occurs in the transmission characteristic of the passing band.
Thus, in a lattice filter according to the present invention, even when the difference between the series resonance frequency and the parallel resonance frequency of each resonator cannot be made large, it is an object to make it possible to widen the passing band without causing any ripple in the passing band.
As means for solving the above-described problem, there is provided a lattice filter comprising: two first resonators which are substantially equal to each other in the first series resonance frequency and are substantially equal to each other in the first parallel resonance frequency, that is higher than the first series resonance frequency; two second resonators which are substantially equal to each other in the second series resonance frequency and are substantially equal to each other in the second parallel resonance frequency, that is higher than the second series resonance frequency; two first inductance elements which are substantially equal to each other in the inductance; and two second inductance elements which are substantially equal to each other in the inductance, wherein one of each of the first resonator and the first inductance element is connected to each other in series, and is inserted between the first input end and the first output end while the other of each of the first resonator and the first inductance element is connected to each other in series, and is inserted between the second input end and the second output end; and one of each of the second resonator and the second inductance element is connected to each other in series and is inserted between the first input end and the second output end while the other of each of the second resonator and the second inductance element is connected to each other in series and is inserted between the second input end and the first output end, whereby the parallel resonance frequency of the second resonator is caused to substantially coincide with the series resonance frequency based on the first resonator and the first inductance.
Also, a reactance curve based on the first resonator and the first inductance element and a reactance curve based on the second resonator and the second inductance element are caused to cross each other in a region of lower frequencies than a series resonance frequency based on the second resonator and the second inductance element.
Also, the reactance curve based on the first resonator and the first inductance element and the reactance curve based on the second resonator and the second inductance element are caused to cross each other in a region of higher frequencies than the parallel resonance frequency of the first resonator.
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U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,227,367; 5,733,866; and 5,665,698 hereby incorporated by reference as iset forth in their entirety disclose polycyclic chemicals that are suitable for use as fragrance chemicals. Those with skill in the art appreciate how differences in the chemical structure of the molecule can result in significant differences in the odor, notes and characteristics of a molecule. These variations and the ongoing need to discover and use the new chemicals in the development of new fragrances allows perfumers to apply the new compounds in creating new fragrances.
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Subject matter of this disclosure pertains to the financial services industry, but it is not so limited. Financial services consist mainly of information flow from the customer to the broker (investment information); from customer to broker (placing orders); broker to market center (order entry); market center to broker (order execution); and finally, back to the customer (execution confirmation). Hence, they lend themselves to communications via electronic media such as the Internet and other data and computer networks.
One aspect of the financial services industry is new issuances to offer and issue shares of stock and/or debt in a company or entity to the public. This process of identifying potential buyers and gauging their demand is referred to in the investment banking field as book building. In non-securities based applications this process is called building an order boo. The current process of book building by investment bankers typically includes several stages. In the first step, the underwriter or investment banking firm determines which investors will be invited to participate. Typically this involves certain favored investors. Next, the underwriter obtains indications of interest from those invited to participate. These might be in the form of bids of various types. At this point, the underwriter has an appreciation of the demand curve for the new issue, including and when bids were submitted and/or revised. At this point, the underwriter arrives at an issuance price, although it is not understood how this is done by those outside the investment banking community. As a result, there is frequently oversubscription, where more shares or debt instruments are requested than are available. There have been a number of techniques used to deal with oversubscription; for instance, distribution of shares on a pro-rata basis.
In general, this process is believed to be relatively inefficient and unattractive, at least from the standpoint of the issuers. As currently carried out, book building is neither democratic nor equitable nor open to the public. A number of abuses have been identified in the current system. One is spinning of shares in the so-called “hot” (highly in demand) initial public offerings to favored investment banking clients. Amongst abuses in addition to the spinning problem are underpricing by investment bankers of initial public offerings. It is believed that underpricing has certain advantages for investment bankers but deprives the issuer of funds creating a “conflict-of-interest” between the investment banker and their customer, the issuer. It is believed that underpricing occurs both with equity (stock) and with debt issuances. Other abuses include “tie-ins,” unlawful quid pro quo side agreements, yield burning, artificial inflation of after-market prices in the secondary market (“laddering”), and biased recommendations by research analysts working for investment banks.
Underpricing is believed especially to damage the issuers and the markets. Also connected with underpricing abuses is post-issuance flipping, i.e., immediate sales by the favored recipients of initial public offerings. In addition, current approaches do not provide for quantity discounts for large purchasers, or purchasers who help set the price with early indications-of-interest. Furthermore, as a result of its monopoly power in pricing new issuances, the underwriting industry faces antitrust issues.
In addition, there are globalization issues in connection with securities offerings due to the presence of competitive international markets and differing regulations between countries.
People have recognized these problems and some solutions have been implemented; however, all are unsatisfactory. One method is direct public offerings of securities via the Internet. There have been over 200 direct public offerings carried out via the Internet in the United States. They typically involve relatively little participation by underwriters with instead the issuer offering the equities direct to the public. Of course, this system does not provide any actual specific pricing mechanism.
Other approaches to new issuances include Internet options such as the well-known Dutch auction of initial public offerings. In this case, most of the pricing and allocation decisions are removed from the discretion of the issuer and/or underwriter. Investors express their interest level and price threshold, and the offering price is set at the highest level at which all the shares to be offered might be sold (i.e., the “clearing price”). Any bidder might bid for as many shares as he wants. The actual offering price is fixed at the maximum price at which all shares are cleared (sold) with regard to the portfolio of bids. Allocation sometimes includes reduction of the number of shares offered to each bidder, perhaps on a pro rata basis.
There are drawbacks to Dutch auctions. First, there is lack of transparency and feedback in that the bidders are bidding “blind” and are typically uncertain as to what other bids are being offered. Consequently, there is little or no information provided back to the bidders, except perhaps informally. Because of the lack of feedback, Dutch auctions also typically exhibit underpricing problems. The company's investment bankers often still set the final offering price at their discretion, since they can manipulate the number of shares on offer and hence the price. Uncertainties regarding bids, and the lack of consistent methods of valuation and related pricing information, constitute an inadequate approach to determining appropriate initial prices, thereby minimizing attractiveness of the Dutch auction, at least in the United States equity market.
Another approach which has been used is an new issuance entirely via electronic mail, involving the issuer taking conditional offers to buy shares without deeming it to be a pre-effective sale under the U.S. SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) rules. In this case, the issuer circulates an e-mail notice after posting a prospectus on the Internet. Bidders are allowed to bid on the shares after opening an account to do so.
Then, before the actual effectiveness of the registration statement in connection with the stock issuance, an e-mail notice is sent requesting reaffirmation of the offers to buy without an actual commitment to buy. Subsequently, after the registration statement of the issuance is effective, an e-mail notice is sent to each bidder stating that the offering is about to price, and that the offers will be binding unless withdrawn immediately. Again, this approach includes no particular provision of providing bidding information back to the bidders.
Similar options have been used in the debt market; for instance, for municipal bonds issued by public entities. These consist primarily of numerical auctions. Typically, the bidder cannot see all bids and only the latest best price (i.e., lowest yield) is visible. However, except for the auctions of U.S. Treasury securities, auction systems for other types of debt instrument have been relatively rare.
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The subject matter described and/or illustrated herein relates generally to a power connector having a pair of contact springs that oppose each other with a receiving space therebetween.
In some electrical systems, power is delivered to a circuit board or other electrical component through a busbar and a power connector. A busbar typically comprises a planar body of conductive material (e.g., copper) having opposite sides that are configured to be engaged by the power connector. To this end, existing power connectors include a pair of contact springs that oppose each other with a receiving space therebetween. The busbar is configured to be inserted into the receiving space. As the busbar is inserted, the contact springs engage the busbar and are deflected away from each other by the busbar. When the power connector and the busbar are operatively coupled, each of the contact springs is biased against one of the sides of the busbar.
The contact springs of conventional power connectors are typically formed from a common piece of conductive sheet material (e.g., copper), which is hereinafter referred to as a “contact blank.” The contact blank may be stamped from a larger piece of sheet material. The contact blank includes the contact springs and a joint portion that joins the contact springs. The contact blank is folded along the joint portion so that the two contact springs are properly positioned with the receiving space therebetween.
However, contact springs that are shaped from the same contact blank may have certain limitations. In some instances, the method of manufacturing the contact springs from a common contact blank may be relatively costly. For example, due to the dimensions of the contact blank, it may be difficult to selectively plate the contact springs using a strip-plating process. Consequently, the process that is used to plate the contact springs may apply an excessive amount of plating material (e.g., silver). In addition, the dimensions of the contact blanks may not be suitable for a manufacturing process known as reel-to-reel processing. In reel-to-reel processing, a sheet that includes the stamped contact blanks is reeled from a payoff reel to a take-up reel. While moving between the reels, the stamped blanks may undergo a number of modifications for shaping and plating the contact springs. Processes that use reeling may be less costly and time-consuming than manufacturing processes that do not use reeling. Contact springs that are formed from a common contact blank, however, may not be suitable for reel-to-reel processing.
Accordingly, a need exists for contact springs that may be used in power connectors and that may be manufactured through less expensive methods than conventional contact springs that are formed from a common contact blank.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
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The present invention relates generally to computer implemented extraction of temporal information pertaining to business entities and events.
There currently exist a number of applications that make use of geographical location. For instance, online web-search engines are often invaluable for searching for a location of a business or directions to a particular business. However, very few applications exploit temporal context.
Unfortunately, information pertaining to temporal properties of entities such as hours of operation of business organizations and event timings is often unstructured and difficult to parse. As a result, it is typically difficult to extract temporal information so that it is machine-understandable. On the other hand, leveraging information on the Internet has become even more vital due to the popularity of mobile Internet-enabled devices.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
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