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Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to a tool used to machine a workpiece, and more particularly, to a multi-axis adjustment apparatus for positioning a tool with respect to the workpiece during the machining or manufacturing process.
Description of Related Art
During a machining or manufacturing process, it may be desirable to adjust the pose or orientation of the tool with respect to a workpiece in order to obtain a finished workpiece. For example, a workpiece such as an aircraft wing structure may be worked upon in a manufacturing facility by automated machines. Further, the aircraft wing structure may include a portion that requires an orifice to be drilled and/or bored therethrough. Traditional manufacturing techniques for large structures, such as aircrafts, marine equipment, and/or other heavy machines usually require fixed monument tools that are incapable of being readily adjusted to machine an orifice that extends along the desired final orientation. Additionally, the orientation of the monument tool must be monitored, analyzed, and/or updated throughout the machining process. Further, some structures and/or workpieces may not fit within the operational envelop of the monument tool. A key element to accurately machining the orifice extending in the final desired orientation is to have a tool that can be adjusted in four degrees of freedom (i.e., vertical displacement (up/down), lateral displacement (left/right), pitch and yaw). Further, the tool should be able to be rigidly attached to or in relation to the workpiece such that boring the orifice through the workpiece from a first position to a second position does not cause the tool to be displaced with respect to the workpiece in regard to the specified orientation or alignment.
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The present invention relates to microparticles comprising a somatostatin analogue and to pharmaceutical compositions comprising the same.
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The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
The following is an example of a specific aspect in the prior art that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon. By way of educational background, another aspect of the prior art generally useful to be aware of is that, the prior art discloses a collet arbor. In some instances, the prior art reflects an external perspective view of one form of an collet arbor, together with a collet of the 3AT type, by which the collet arbor is specifically adapted to accommodate. The collet arbor is a composite comprising the clamping holder, the adapter, and a bushing, which are assembled in coaxial relation together with an internal screw, to accommodate the collet. The means by which comprise an axially projecting screw, provided for securely coupling the collet arbor assemblage in axial relation to the spindle of a lathe. In alternative placements, this may take the form of a screw-threaded socket. The assemblage, including: collet, bushing, screw, adapter, and clamping holder, are fitted together in telescopic relation, forming a chuck or collet arbor for holding a tool, for example, in a fixed relation to a lathe, particularly of the computerized numerical controlled type, during turning operations. In some instances, four ¼ in. holes, which may be interposed through the wall of flange, at symmetrically-spaced positions, around its periphery, permit the adapter to be rotated by means of a spanner wrench.
In addition, the following is another example of a specific aspect in the prior art that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon. By way of educational background, another aspect of the prior art generally useful to be aware of is that, the prior art discloses a spindle and tool holder for a machine tool. Furthermore, a tool holder carrier turret plate may be secured to a shaft mounted in the head and may have a plurality of circularly spaced apertures with retaining rings therein, holding a plurality of tool holders. Each of the plurality of tool holders may hold a particular tool for a particular type of machining operation to be performed by that tool on the work piece. A rotary drive for the turret plate may be provided in the head, and may be capable of positioning any one of the tool holders under the coupling plug. A computer numerical controller may also be coupled to the drive motors for the X-Y axes carriages and for the tool holder turret to position the work piece and tool holders according to a programmed sequence predetermined for the necessary operations on the work piece. In addition to the foregoing, it is also well know to those skilled in the art, complex hardware similar to rotary turrets, and air or hydraulic forces may be applied to hold collets into the spindle. Means for doing and performing these functions are all known in the art.
In view of the foregoing, it is clear that these traditional techniques are not perfect and leave room for more optimal approaches.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.
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Lithium secondary batteries have the advantages of high energy density, little self-discharge, excellent long-term reliability and the like, and are therefore broadly put to practical use as batteries for small-size electronic devices such as laptops and cellular phones. In recent years, high functionalization of electronic devices and utilization of lithium secondary batteries for electric cars have progressed, and the development of higher-performance lithium secondary batteries is demanded.
At present, carbon materials are common as negative electrode active materials for lithium secondary batteries, and various types of carbon materials are proposed in order to improve the battery performance.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a lithium secondary battery using an amorphous carbon material as a negative electrode active material and lithium manganate as a positive electrode active material, wherein the particle surface of the amorphous carbon material is coated with an oxidized film. Patent Literature 1 discloses that since the oxidized film suppresses formation of an inactive film to intercalation/disintercalation of lithium, and does not cause the extreme degrading even at high temperatures, the cycle life characteristics of the lithium secondary battery can be improved.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a lithium secondary battery which has a positive electrode and a negative electrode to intercalate and disintercalate lithium ions, and an organic electrolyte solution having an electrolyte containing lithium ions and dissolved therein, and in which the positive electrode and the negative electrode are arranged with a separator interposed therebetween; wherein a carbon material constituting the negative electrode is obtained by subjecting a non-graphitizable carbon to a heat treatment in an inert atmosphere or in such an atmosphere that the non-graphitizable carbon is slightly oxidized, removing decomposed gases, and thereafter subjecting the resultant to a heat treatment under pressure, and the density (butanol method) of the carbon material is 1.6 to 1.8 g/cc. Patent Literature 2 discloses as follows: lithium ions are intercalated and disintercalated mainly by 6-membered layers of the carbon material; then, the lithium ions intercalated by the 6-membered layers have only a low reactivity with the electrolyte solution; therefore, the capacity reduction of the negative electrode due to side-reactions can be reduced, and the lithium secondary battery excellent in the high-temperature storage characteristics can be realized.
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus for data processing in general, and in particular to a binary adder. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a high-speed carry-lookahead binary adder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Binary adders having a carry-lookahead are well known in the art. This type of binary adder is able to add two multiple-bit binary numbers while simultaneously computing a carry signal for each bit.
In order to compute the sum of two multiple-bit binary numbers A and B, a generate signal and a propagate signal are initially produced at each bit location. The equation for a generate signal G(i) is: G(i)=A(i)B(i), and the equation for a propagate signal P(i) is: P(i)=A(i)B(i)+A(i)B(i) or A(i)xB(i), where i denotes a bit location within the binary numbers and bit 0 is the most significant bit. These generate signals and propagate signals are then utilized to produce a carry signal for each bit. The generalized equation for a carry signal C(i) is: C(i)=G(i)+P(i) G(i+1)+P(i) P(i+1) G(i+2)+P(i) P(i+1) P(i+2) G(i+3)+. . . , etc.
Due to practical limitations such as fan-in, most carry-lookahead binary adders utilize several rows (or levels) of carry-lookahead circuits to produce carry signals while producing generate signals and propagate signals at each row. A row is commonly referred to a group or groups of circuits, the results of which are required by a subsequent row of circuits for further processing. For example, in a typical 64-bit carry-lookahead adder, groups of generate signals (G) and propagate signals (P) must first be produced in the first row for each bit. Then, a 4-bit group generate signal (G4) and a 4-bit group propagate signal (P4) are then produced at the second level for each group of four bits. The equation for a 4-bit group generate signal (G4) is: G4(i)=G(i)+P(i) G(i+1)+P(i) P(i+1) G(i+2)+P(i) P(i+1) P(i+2) G(i+3); and the equation for a 4-bit group propagate signal (P4) is: P4(i)=P(i) P(i+1) P(i+2) P(i+3).
Subsequently, a 16-bit group generate signal (G16) and a 16-bit group propagate signal (P16) are produced at the third level for each group of four 4-bit group generate signals (G4). The equation for a 16-bit group generate signal (G16) is: G16(i)=G4(i)+P4(i) G4(i+4)+P4(i) P4(i+4) G4(i+8)+P4(i) P4(i+4) P4(i+8) G4(i+12); and the equation for a 16-bit group propagate signal (P16) is: P16(i)=P4(i) P4(i+4) P4(i+8) P4(i+12).
The carry signal equations are then given as follows:
C(56)=G4(56)+P4(56) G4(60); PA0 C(52)=G4(52)+P4(52) G4(56)+P4(52) P4(56) G4(60); PA0 C(48)=G16(48)=G4(48)+P4(48) G4(52)+P4(48) P4(52) G4(56)+P4(48) P4(52) P4(56) G4(60); PA0 C(32)=G16(32)+P16(32) G16(48); PA0 C(16)=G16(16)+P16(16) G16(32)+P16(16) P16(32) G16(48); and PA0 C(0)=C.sub.OUT =G16(0)+P16(0) G16(16)+P(0) P16(16) G16(32)+P(0) P16(16) P16(32) G16(48).
As shown, a four-transistor stack is required within each carry-lookahead circuit to generate the last term of the carry equation, P.sub.i P.sub.i+1 P.sub.i+2 G.sub.i+3, and a three-transistor stack is required to generate the next-to-last term of the carry equation, P.sub.i P.sub.i+1 G.sub.i+2. Stacking transistors in this manner increases the delay and decreases the overall performance of the binary adder. Consequently, it would be desirable to provide an improved method for a binary adder to generate group propagate signals and group generate signals with minimal transistor-stacking such that the speed of the binary adder will be increased.
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Insulin resistance is important in the development of adult-onset diabetes mellitus and several lines of evidence indicate that an initial defect in adult onset diabetes is reduced insulin-stimulated recruitment of GLUT4 glucose transporter from a sequestered intracellular site to the cell surface in muscle and fat cells. An increase in cell surface (plasma membrane) GLUT4 amount allows for an increased rate of facilitated diffusion of glucose into cells. Presently available methods of determining or measuring GLUT4 translocation, such as methods involving assessment of 3H 2-deoxyglucose uptake, cell fractionation, counting radioactivity that binds to adherent cells on a multiwell plate, plasma membrane sheet assays and immunofluorescence microscopy are laborious and/or only semiquantitative. It would be of considerable interest to be able to measure GLUT4 glucose transporter protein translocation easily and quantitatively.
The present invention relates to a method of assessing translocation of a protein of interest in cells which occurs when the cells are exposed to a condition or treated in such a manner that a protein that is sequestered at an intracellular location moves (is translocated) to the cell surface (plasma membrane) or, alternatively, a protein at the cell surface moves (is translocated) to an intracellular location. It also relates to a method of determining whether a condition or set of conditions to which cells are exposed or contacted alters (induces, enhances or inhibits) translocation of a protein of interest known to undergo translocation under certain conditions. The protein whose movement is being assessed is referred to as a protein of interest. The method is carried out using a modified form of the protein of interest, referred to as a modified protein of interest or a reporter protein. The reporter protein is the protein of interest modified in such a manner that it comprises one or more tags that allow quantification of relative amounts of the protein that are at the cell surface and of the total amounts of the protein in the cells. For example, it can comprise one or more intracellular tag(s) and one or more extracellular tag(s). The extracellular tag(s) and the intracellular tag(s) are distinct tags; that is, they are different tags that can be detected separately/distinguished from one another (e.g., two fluorescent tags detectable at different wavelengths). The reporter protein moves within the cells in essentially the same way as the protein of interest. The intracellular tag e.g., an intracellular fluorescent tag corresponds to the total protein of interest in the cell and does not change in quantity depending on the location of the reporter protein in the cell. The intracellular tag is fused in-frame in the DNA or RNA sequence that encodes the protein. The extracellular tag (e.g., an epitope(s) or radioactive label) is detectable only if the tag is extracellular, since the detector used is one that is unable to (does not) cross the cell membrane; the detector can be, for example, an antibody or other compound that recognizes (binds) the extracellular tag. Thus, the extent to which the extracellular tag is detectable (e.g., the intensity of fluorescence due to the epitope tag(s)) is indicative of the extent to which the protein of interest is present at the cell membrane. The intracellular tag can be any fluorescent tag, such as Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP), Blue Fluorescent Protein (BFP), Red Fluorescent Protein (RFP) or a sequence of amino acids designed to bind a molecule that has fluorescent, radioactive, or other detectable characteristics. The extracellular tag is generally an epitope tag or tags that is recognized by an antibody. The antibody can be monoclonal or polyclonal and can itself be detectably labeled (e.g., fluorescently labeled) or can be recognized (bound) by a detectably labeled antibody (a labeled secondary antibody). For example, the epitope tag(s) can be recognized by a primary or secondary antibody labeled with phycoerythrin (PE). Any pair of fluorescent labels can be used, as long as they are detectable at distinct wavelengths (different wavelengths). If there are two or more intracellular tags and/or two or more extracellular tags, it is only necessary that there are distinct detectable differences (such as distinct/different wavelengths) that correspond to surface protein of interest and total protein of interest. Alternatively radioactive, colorimetric, luminescent or other detection strategies may be used. The only requirements are that 1) the two tags can be detected individually and each can be quantified and 2) the addition of tag(s) does not substantially alter trafficking of the protein of interest with cells.
The extent of translocation of the protein of interest is assessed by culturing or treating cells that contain the reporter protein (referred to as test cells) under a condition(s) to be assessed for their effects on translocation of the protein of interest to the cell membrane; determining the intensity of the intracellular tag (e.g., intensity of fluorescence of an intracellular tag, such as GFP, RFP or BFP) and the intensity of the extracellular tag (e.g., by measuring the intensity of fluorescence of epitope tag(s) by means of fluorescently labeled antibodies); calculating the proportion or fraction of and determining a value corresponding to the total cellular modified protein of interest that is present at the cell surface and comparing the resulting proportion with the corresponding proportion calculated for control cells. Control cells are the same type of cells as the test cells and are cultured or handled in the same manner as are the test cells, except that control cells are not cultured or treated under the conditions being assessed for their effects on translocation to the cell membrane. For example, if test cells are cultured in the presence of a hormone or growth factor, control cells are cultured under the same conditions as the test cells, except in the absence of the hormone or growth factor. Two measurements (such as fluorescence at two different wavelengths), F1 and F2, correspond, respectively, to cell surface protein of interest and total protein of interest in the cells. If the proportion of protein of interest at the cell membrane to total protein of interest is greater for test cells than for control cells, translocation has occurred in the test cells and the condition under which the test cells were cultured or treated (e.g., in the presence of a hormone or growth factor) is a condition that causes or enhances translocation from an intracellular location to the cell membrane. Translocation from the cell membrane to an intracellular location for a protein of interest can also be assessed using the modified protein of interest and the method of the present invention.
In a particular embodiment, the protein whose translocation is assessed is GLUT4 and the modified protein of interest is modified GLUT4, also referred to as GLUT4 reporter, which includes an intracellular tag and at least one, and preferably multiple, extracellular tag(s). For example, the intracellular tag is GFP, RFP or BFP and the extracellular tag(s) are epitope tag(s), which can be detected using a fluorescent or a radioactive label. The ratio of protein of interest at the cell membrane (F1) to total protein of interest in test cells (F2) is compared to the ratio of protein of interest at the cell membrane (F1) to total protein of interest in the control cells, (F2). If the proportion is greater in the test cells is greater than the control cells, the condition(s) is an enhancer of/causes translocation to the cell membrane.
As described below with specific reference to GLUT4, preferably three sets of values, each consisting of fluorescence intensities at two distinct wavelengths, are determined in the method of assessing change in the proportion of the protein of interest that is present at the plasma membrane (and, thus, the extent to which translocation has occurred). The two wavelengths, F1 and F2, correspond, respectively, to cell surface (plasma membrane) protein of interest and total protein of interest in the cell. The three sets of values are F1 and F2 in control cells, F1 and F2 in background cells and F1 and F2 in test cells. In some cases, separate background sets of values may be required for tests and for control cells so that there are four sets of values in all. Cell surface protein of interest can be measured by a fluorophore (e.g., PE) coupled to an antibody that binds to externalized epitope tag(s), such as myc epitope tag(s), but not to intracellular myc epitope tag, or by a secondary fluorophore-bearing antibody that recognizes a primary antibody that recognizes the myc epitope. The three sets of values are as described below with specific reference to GLUT4.
Insulin stimulates glucose uptake in muscle and adipose tissues by causing translocation of the GLUT4 glucose transporter from a sequestered, intracellular compartment to the plasma membrane. Described herein is a novel assay to measure changes in the proportion (fraction) of total GLUT4 present at the plasma membrane of cultured cells expressing a reporter protein, based on measurement of a detectable tag corresponding to cell surface amount of GLUT4 and measurement of a second (different) detectable tag corresponding to total amount of GLUT4 in the cells. The two tags can both be, for example, fluorescent tags that are detectable at different wavelengths or two different types of tags, such as a fluorescent tag corresponding to total cell GLUT4 and a radioactive label or an epitope(s) corresponding to GLUT4 at the cell surfaces. Various types of measurement can be used to detect the two tags. For example, if fluorescence is used to detect the two tags, then flow cytometry can be used to measure the tags quantitatively and on a cell-by-cell basis. This assay has been used to demonstrate that insulin stimulates GLUT4 translocation with identical kinetics at all times during differentiation of a subline of 3T3-L1 adipocytes, even in undifferentiated, confluent fibroblasts. This effect is invariably blocked by phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase inhibitors. In all cases, the reporter is reinternalized after insulin removal, and recycles upon insulin readdition.
As also described herein, insulin has been shown to trigger GLUT4 externalization in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, with initial kinetics and magnitude identical to those in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, when the CHO cells are cultured under the same conditions as those under which the 3T3-L1 adipocytes are cultured. Thus, CHO cells, 3T3-L1 fibroblasts, and 3T3-L1 adipocytes all contain an intracellular recycling compartment to which GLUT4 is targeted, and that is rapidly mobilized upon insulin addition.
Described herein is an assay for measuring the effects of conditions on translocation (movement of a protein of interest from an intracellular location to the plasma membrane or from the plasma membrane to an intracellular location). In a specific embodiment, the invention is an assay for measuring the effects of conditions, such as the presence of insulin and other stimulators, on targeting of GLUT4 to the plasma membrane of cells and, thus, for measuring their effects on glucose uptake. Also described herein is a method of assessing the effect of a drug on translocation of a protein of interest, such as GLUT4, from an internal (intracellular) location to the plasma membrane or from the plasma membrane to an intracellular location. The method is useful to identify drugs which alter translocation of the protein of interest. Of particular interest is a method of identifying drugs that alter GLUT4 translocation, such as drugs that increase the fraction of GLUT4 in the plasma membrane (in the absence and/or presence of insulin) or that enhance the effect of insulin on GLUT4 translocation to the plasma membrane and, thus, are useful in enhancing uptake of glucose into cells, since stimulation of glucose transport by insulin requires translocation of GLUT4 to the plasma membrane. An increase in GLUT4 at the cell membrane allows for a rapid increase in the rate of facilitated diffusion of glucose into the cell. Such drugs are useful, for example, in treating insulin resistance, such as occurs in adult-onset diabetes, obesity and polycystic ovary syndrome. Modified protein of interest; DNA encoding modified protein of interest; expression vectors, cells and cell lines containing DNA encoding modified protein of interest; and expression vectors, cells and cell lines expressing DNA encoding modified protein of interest are also described. Modified GLUT4 glucose transporter protein; DNA encoding modified GLUT4; expression vectors (e.g., retroviral vectors, such as replication-deficient retroviral vectors, adenoviral vectors and other expression vectors for eukaryotic cells), cells and cell lines containing DNA modified GLUT4; and expression vectors and cells and cell lines expressing modified GLUT4 are particular embodiments of this invention. They are useful in the methods described herein.
Described herein are the production of a DNA construct encoding one embodiment of modified GLUT4 and cells in which modified GLUT4 was expressed. Modified GLUT4 is GLUT4 protein which comprises at least one (one or more) detectable tag, such as at least one epitope tag in an extracellular domain and a detectable tag, such as a fluorescent tag, in an intracellular domain. The intracellular tag is fused in-frame in the modified GLUT4 protein. The epitope tag is, for example, present in the first extracellular domain of GLUT4 and is, for example, a myc epitope or myc epitopes. The fluorescent tag is, for example, GFP or BFP. In one embodiment of the construct described herein, GFP provides an internal control for the amount of protein present. For example, the externalized epitope tag is detected with a xe2x80x9credxe2x80x9d fluorescent antibody and GFP is detected using xe2x80x9cgreenxe2x80x9d fluorescence. Translocation can, as a result, be measured by the increase in the ratio of xe2x80x9credxe2x80x9d fluorescence to xe2x80x9cgreenxe2x80x9d fluorescence. This ratio can be measured, for example, using flow cytometry or a fluorescent plate reader. Translocation of modified GLUT4 is detected using an antibody which binds the epitope tag; the bound antibody can be identified by means of a labeled (e.g., fluorescently labeled) second antibody which binds the first antibody. Alternatively, the epitope binding antibody can itself be labeled, such as fluorescently labeled. In either case, detection of the fluorescent label is carried out using known methods, such as flow cytometry, fluorescent plate reader or microscopy. The eukaryotic (e.g., mammalian, avian, reptilian) cells in which modified GLUT4 is expressed can be primary cells or a cell line, such as mouse, human, hamster, rat, rabbit, guinea pig, monkey, dog, cat or human primary cells or cell lines derived from one of these sources.
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A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for measuring pressures exerted on the feet of standing humans or animals such as horses. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a two-dimensional map of pressures exerted on the bottom of a human foot by a shoe, for example, or on the hoof of an animal, particularly, a horse.
B. Description of Background Art
People who must be on their feet for long periods of time, whether standing or walking, are well aware of the discomfort and fatigue that may be brought on by reaction pressures exerted on the bottoms of the feet by the ground or other surface supporting the weight of the person. Accordingly, substantial efforts have been exerted by manufacturers of shoes, ski boots and other footwear, in an effort to more uniformly distribute the pressures exerted by footwear on the feet of the wearer. In conjunction with these efforts, a variety of devices for measuring the forces applied to the foot by footwear have been disclosed in the following United States patents:
Levin et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,453, Oct. 24, 1978, Foot Force Transducer, which discloses an apparatus for measuring foot forces during walking that uses a specially configured spring seated in a transducer plate to transmit static and dynamic forces on the foot during walking to strain gauges mounted on the transducer plate, which in turn, may be monitored and recorded for diagnostic purposes, particularly to aid in treating patients with lower extremities dysfunction.
Confer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,930, May 24, 1988, Force Sensing Insole For Electro-Goniometer, which discloses a force sensing insole that is adapted to be used in association with an electro-goniometer for analyzing the gait of a patient. The insole includes a body member composed of three overlying sheets of thin plastic material which are bonded together, with the intermediate sheet having cut-outs in each of the heel, ball and tow portions so as to define three separate internal chambers. A contact switch is positioned in each of the open chambers, and which comprises a plurality of parallel fingers formed of conductive ink on the inwardly facing surface of one of the outer sheets, and an area of conductive material on the inwardly facing surface of the outer sheet. The body member includes a laterally extending flexible strip, and which is adapted to flex and extend outwardly from the wearer's shoe. Also, lines of conductive ink are provided in the body member which extend from each of the contact switches to a terminal positioned at the end of the strip. In the preferred embodiment, switch closures are input to a radio frequency transmitter strapped to the waist of a subject, a remote receiver being used to monitor switch closures.
Franks, U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,621, Aug. 22, 1989, Foot Pressure Measurement System, which discloses a foot pressure measurement system in which pressure measurements are obtained from the variation of light output from an illuminated glass or transparent plate. A reflective material on the top surface of the plate causes an increase in light intensity escaping from the plate when pressure is applied to the reflective material. The accuracy and resolution of the pressure measurements are improved by obtaining a reference measurement of the background light intensity and distribution before pressure is applied and subsequently subtracting this background light from the light patterns produced when pressure is applied. The reflectance characteristics of the system are improved by using a photographic paper as the reflective material.
Seitz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,743, Sep. 5, 1989, Device For Measuring The Areal Distribution Of Compressive Forces, which discloses a device for measuring the areal distribution of compressive forces which act substantially vertically with respect to a deformable measuring surface. A matrix arrangement of force sensors is provided, each of which is formed as a capacitance at crossings of substantially perpendicular conductor paths. The conductor paths are fixed on the opposed surfaces of an elastically deformable area-type dielectric and adapted to be connected by conductive elements to evaluator electronics. The conductor paths are printed on plastic substrate films.
Podoloff et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,291, Jul. 23, 1991, Flexible Tactile Sensor For Measuring Foot Pressure Distributions And For Gaskets, which discloses a force and pressure sensor having two sets of parallel electrodes which are positioned facing one another and arranged so that electrodes of one set cross the electrodes of the second set at an angle to create a plurality of electrode intersections. Pressure-sensitive resistive material lies between the electrodes at each intersection. An adhesive layer is applied to at least one of the electrode sets in areas between electrode intersections to secure the first and second electrode sets in facing relationship, the adhesive layer preferably being applied in a pattern which provides passages where the adhesive layer does not exist to allow air to escape from interior areas of the electrode set. The thickness of the adhesive layer may be adjusted to permit preloading or to provide a threshold level for the sensor. In order to permit electrodes of the electrode set to be trimmed around their periphery, electrical contact to each electrode of the electrode sets is made intermediate the ends of the electrodes. This is accomplished by providing an insulating layer over the rear of each electrode set having holes therein at the desired intersection points and having a plurality of connecting conductors on the back of the insulating sheet, one for each electrode, which make contact with the corresponding electrode through the hole in the insulating sheet.
Fullen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,650, Jun. 28, 1994, System For Continuously Measuring Forces Applied To The Foot, which discloses a self-contained system for measuring forces applied to the foot of a user that includes a force sensor array positioned within the user's shoe between the foot and the inner sole of the shoe, the force sensor array including a multiplicity of individual force sensors arranged in a hexagonal pattern that covers the entire area of contact between the sole of the user's foot and the inner sole of the shoe, an electronic circuit module removably attached to the side of the shoe, and a flat interconnecting cable for electrically coupling the force sensor array to the electronic circuit module. The electronic circuit module includes a central processing unit, read-only memory, random access memory, and scanning circuitry for electronically continuously scanning the force sensor array to obtain information indicative of an instantaneous force sensed by each one of the multiplicity of individual force sensors of the force sensor array, for processing that information to obtain force data, and for storing the force data in the random access memory. An annunciator audibly signals the user when a force on the foot greater than a predetermined threshold force is sensed.
In addition to the aforementioned references, the following United States patents disclose devices generally adapted to the measurement of pressures exerted on body parts:
Bourland et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,772, Apr. 30, 1991, Pressure Mapping System With Capacitive Measuring Pad, which discloses a capacitive measuring pad for measuring the pressures exerted by various portions of a patient's body on a mattress. The pad is constructed of transverse conductive strips separated by a compressible insulator to form a matrix of pressure sensitive capacitive nodes. The nodes are repetitively scanned in sequence by a microcomputer to measure their respective capacitances, from which measurements a pressure map is then derived. The resulting pressure map may be displayed on a color graphics monitor with different colors representing different pressures. Node capacitance is found by measuring the response of the node to a driving signal of a known voltage. This measurement is accomplished by connecting one of the node's transverse conductive strips to a sense amplifier. In order to isolate the node of interest from the influence of surrounding nodes, all of the conductive strips except the two intersecting the selected node are connected to ground. Furthermore, the input impedance to ground of the sense amplifier is made negligibly small with respect to the other system impedance. In this way, only the conductive strip connected to the driving source has a voltage impressed on it, and the conductive strips of all other nodes in the system are maintained at ground potential, thus allowing an accurate measurement of the one capacitance.
Tamori, U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,949, Jan. 14, 1992, Surface Pressure Distribution Detecting Element, which discloses a detecting element for sensing surface pressure distributions comprising a substantially rigid insulating substrate, a plurality of scanning row electrodes, formed by metal deposition on said substrate, etched to form a pattern of substantially parallel electrodes which are spaced apart and oriented along a first axis, a thin resistive film, deposited on said substrate, having a resistance which varies as a function of contact area, a substantially resilient deformable surface layer, a plurality of scanning column electrodes, formed by metal deposition on said surface layer, etched to form a pattern of substantially parallel column electrodes which are spaced apart, said surface layer being bonded to said substrate by an anisotropic adhesive so that said column electrodes are oriented along a second axis which is perpendicular to said first axis, said surface layer transmitting pressure distribution to said row electrodes, resistive film, and column electrodes to form a matrix of variable contact resistances to provide analog information relating to the distribution of surface pressure applied to said surface layer.
Rincoe et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,656, Oct. 19, 1993, Apparatus And Method For Monitoring Contact Pressure Between Body Parts And Contact Surfaces, which discloses an apparatus and method for monitoring pressure between the surface of a body part and a contact surface employing a plurality of pressure sensors disposed in a matrix array between the contact surface and the body part. The sensors produce analog force signals proportional to pressure, and a monitor receives the analog signals and produces output signals, preferably digital, having pressure data corresponding to the pressure at each sensor. A computer processor receives the output signals from the monitor to create a force profile for the sensor array. The sensors may be scanned as a read event in variety of manners, including periodic continuous and triggered scanning. Where triggered scanning is desired, one or more switches act to initiate a read event. This monitoring apparatus and method is used, for example, to fit prosthetics, to monitor bed-ridden and wheelchair-bound patients, to reduce paid and sores caused by uneven distribution of pressure and to monitor pressure between a cast and a person. The sensors may be mounted on a single sheet or on strips for positioning along the body, and monitoring is accomplished by multiplexing and digitizing the analog force signals.
In addition to the references cited above, the present inventor disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/254,918, filed Jun. 6, 1994, novel Multi-Directional Piezoresistive Shear And Normal Force Sensors For Hospital Mattresses And Seat Cushions. Although the sensors disclosed in the aforementioned application are an important advancement in the field, the required characteristics of foot pressure sensors are somewhat different from those for hospital mattresses and seat cushions.
In addition to the problem of accurately mapping pressures exerted on human feet, a need exists for performing such measurements on the hooves of animals, particularly horses. Since the substantial weight of a horse is concentrated on relatively small portions of the horse's hooves, it should be the goal of the farrier who fits horseshoes to hooves to trim the hoof in a manner causing the weight of the horse to be distributed relatively uniformly over both those portions of the hoof in contact with the shoes, and those portions in contact with the ground. The present inventor is unaware of any prior art devices that are intended for, or particularly well adapted to, mapping pressures exerted on the hooves of an animal.
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The present invention relates generally to amplifier circuits, and more specifically to amplifier circuits for high frequency operation having a wide input range.
Low noise amplifier (LNA) that use differential amplifiers are often used in high performance analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits, as part of a buffer or gain block. An output of a differential amplifier is a measure of the difference between a pair of input signals, so that if the differential amplifier is made of matched transistor devices (e.g., ones that are structural replicates of each other and, accordingly, exhibit very similar DC and AC electrical characteristics), then common mode noise occurring at the inputs of the amplifier or the power supply is significantly reduced at its output. The difficulty in designing a multi-band LNA circuit comes from the fact that it has to provide different functions at different operating frequencies. Therefore, to design a multi-band amplifier, it must satisfy different operating bandwidths at different standards. In order to meet the trends of increasingly standards, the operation bandwidths and gain flatness performance of the multi-band LNA must be improved. The amplifier must be able to provide input matching, wide-band interference rejection and maximum gain flatness performance. However, conventional LNAs can not meet the required of multi-standard function or wide-band solution.
Thus, a critical need is prevalent for apparatus, systems and methods that enable differential amplifiers, especially when used in LNAs, to overcome at least the gain flatness limitations that limit the suitability to wideband applications.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.
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1. Field of the Invention
The device of this invention resides in the area of sutures and fasteners for closing the two sides of an incision or cut in human skin or other body tissue and more particularly relates to a device having a central body member from which extend elastic connectors connecting to a plurality of lateral members with multiple barb members formed thereon which lateral members are inserted laterally into the two sides of a cut or incision to join the two sides together at a junction at the central body member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sutures for closing incisions or wounds are well known in the prior art. Such sutures or ligatures are often attached to the shank end of a needle and are utilized by physicians to make stitches to close incisions or wounds so that they may heal. Sutures are formed not only of thread-like material, but are also available as a one-piece unit combined with a needle. Sutures are available in a wide variety of monofilament and braided suture material. Sutures can be formed of non-absorbable material such as cat gut, silk nylon, polyester polypropylene, linen, or cotton as well as bioabsorbable synthetic material such as polymers and copolymers of glycolic and lactic acid. Germicides can also be incorporated into the structure of sutures which can be retained by the suture substrate to provide long-lasting germicidal properties.
Also known in the prior art are fasteners which eliminate the need for sutures in many instances. These fasteners are commonly referred to as "staples" and are useful in joining tissue layers laterally, for example, closing wounds in skin or fascia. Such staples are dispensed by implanting devices loaded with such surgical fasteners, the use of which devices can accomplish in very short time what would take many minutes to perform by suturing. Some staples can be made of bioabsorbable materials. The use of such fasteners results in a significantly reduced loss of blood and also lowers the level of trauma to the patient. Such staples can be in the form of metal staples which have arms bent by the fastening device to hook the separated body tissue together. Staples can require the stapling apparatus to have an anvil member which must be positioned under the tissue to be stapled so that the arms of the staple can be bent inwards. Two-part fastening devices also have been used which incorporate a barbed staple, the arms of which are attached to a bottom retaining member. One drawback to employing staples requiring a retainer member be attached to it is that there must be means for positioning such retainer member under the body tissue to be joined, and one must have access to the body tissue both from above and below the body tissue. Metal staples applied to the body must also be removed by staple extractors.
Other types of surgical fasteners include skin tacks which are used to join two sides of an incision. Such skin tacks include a barbed tip on each end of the inverted U-shaped tack, the body of which is transversely positioned across an incision or cut and the tack applied so that the barbed tips engage straight downward into the skin to hold each side of the adjacent layers of body tissue together. In such fastening devices no back retainer is required.
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During well-drilling operations, formations are often encountered which lose physical and dimensional integrity when exposed to aqueous drilling fluids (muds). In most cases, such formations comprise reactive shales. Prior to the advent of oil-based, emulsion and invert emulsion muds, great difficulty was encountered in drilling these types of shales. On the other hand, while hydrocarbon-containing muds make drilling through reactive shales possible, they pose safety and environmental hazards and can interfere with well-logging operations.
A variety of water-based drilling additives has been developed over the years in an attempt to deal with shale drilling problems effectively while avoiding the problems encountered when oil-based muds were used. Vail et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 2,133,759, disclose muds containing alkali metal silicates. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,146,693, Vietti et al. disclosed a drilling fluid containing one of several sodium salts, including sodium silicate, the sodium salt content of the mud being in excess of 20% by weight. Sawsdon, in U.K. Patent Application 2,089,397A, disclosed an aqueous wellbore fluid for use in drilling, well completion, packing, perforating or workover fluid containing at least 20% by weight of potassium carbonate; optionally a water-soluble polymeric viscosifier, such as carboxymethylcellulose, was added to the wellbore fluid. Gray et al., in "Composition and Properties of Oil Well Drilling Fluid", 4th Edition (Gulf Publishing Company 1980), reported the use of potassium salts in drilling fluids to suppress the swelling of bentonite, potassium chloride being preferred. Another standard industry reference that describe the shale stabilizing effect of the potassium ion in polymer muds may be found in SPE 10100 "Fundamentals and Use of Potassium/Polymer Drilling Fluids to Minimize Drilling and Completion Problems Associated with Hydratable Clays," by R. P. Steiger, presented at the 56th Annual Fall Technical Conference, Dallas, Tex., Oct. 5-7, 1981. U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,341, to Block relates to a drilling fluid containing A10(OH) and a crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol together with a potassium salt, such as potassium chloride, as a clay-stabilizing composition. Coffey et al., in the Oil & Gas Journal, Jan. 27, 1987, described shale inhibition using an aqueous system, maintained at a pH of 9.0 or less, which contains an unidentified nonionic polymer combined with potassium phosphate complex of undefined composition. Peterson in U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,220 discloses the use of glycerin, polyglycerin, and mixtures thereof in a drilling mud to inhibit the swelling of clays.
The current technology of choice for aqueous-based shale-stabilizing muds involves the use of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PHPA) combined with potassium chloride. Scheuerman disclosed such a combination in U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,437 as part of a regimen for dealing with shale-drilling problems. Systems involving PHPA in combination with various electrolytes, including potassium chloride, at pH of 8.5 to 10.0, were also reviewed by Clark et al. in SPE/IADC 10681, presented at the Mar. 15-18, 1987 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference in New Orleans, La.
Cannon U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,109,858 and 2,191,312 generally disclose the addition of various polyhydroxy compounds, which includes certain carbohydrates such as sucrose, and an alkaline material, such as caustic soda, in aqueous drilling fluids for purposes of inhibiting shale swelling.
Fuller U.S. Pat. No. 2,713,029 discloses the addition to a drilling mud of water soluble carbohydrate mixtures obtained by thermal hydrolysis of lignocellulose at elevated temperatures and pressures. The mixtures are used in amounts within the range from about 0.02% to about 0.5% by volume to impart desirable low viscosities and gel strengths to the drilling mud.
Salathiel U.S. Pat. No. 2,785,125 discloses a water base drilling fluid containing 1-15 ppb starch and 0.5-10 ppb of a water soluble heat degradation product of a saccharide containing 1 to 4 sugar units. The starch and degradation product combine to reduce the fluid loss of the drilling fluid. Salathiel U.S. Pat. No. 2,786,027 discloses a water base drilling fluid containing 1-15 ppb starch and 0.5-5 ppb of an additive having an average molecular weight of about 90 to 3000 and a ratio of carbon to oxygen of 1.5 to 2.7. The starch and additive combine to reduce the fluid loss of the drilling fluid. Walker U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,317 discloses a water base drilling fluid having a liquid phase saturated with calcium hydroxide containing as an additive for reducing gel strength and yield point, from 1/8 to 8 ppb of hydrolyzed cereal solids which is comprised of from about 15% to about 25% di-saccharides, tri-saccharides, tetrasaccharides, and penta-saccharides, and from 75% to 85% hexa-saccharides and above. Penicone et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,981 discloses a drilling fluid for shale inhibition comprising a liquid phase containing: (a) a water phase comprising fresh water, sea water, brine, simulated brine, or mixtures thereof; and (b) a water-soluble component selected from the class consisting of polyhydric alcohols, glycol, glycol ethers, polypropylene glycols, polyethylene glycols, ethylene oxide-propylene oxide copolymers ("EO-PO"), alcohol-initiated EO-PO copolymers and/or mixtures thereof, the concentration of said water-soluble component in the total liquid phase being from about 5% to about 50% by volume.
Sheu et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,484 discloses aqueous drilling fluids containing the browning reaction product of a carbohydrate, such as pentose, hexose such as fructose and glucose, as well as di- and poly saccharides, such as sucrose, lactose, mannose, cellulose, starch, dextrin, dextran, carboxymethylcellulose, rice and derivatives of such carbohydrates. The preferred carbohydrate is molasses which contains a substantial amount of numerous non-reducing sugars, identified primarily as sucrose, which is inverted to fructose and glucose prior to undergoing the browning reaction.
While the systems developed thus far show improvement over the older water-based mud technology, they are sometimes inadequate when difficult shale formations are encountered and when operating at high formation temperatures. Operators are, therefore, forced to revert to hydrocarbon-containing fluids. It is desirable to provide improved additives for water-based muds that would minimize or completely avoid the need for oil-based systems when drilling problem shale formations.
Thus it is an object of this invention to provide a water base drilling fluid which is environmentally safe and which inhibits the swelling of shale. It is another object of this invention to provide a water base drilling fluid which contains an additive obtained from renewable farinaceous materials in sufficient quantity to decrease the activity of the aqueous phase thus inhibiting the swelling of shales contacted by the drilling fluid.
It is still another object of the invention to provide an additive for water base drilling fluids which decreases the aqueous activity of the drilling fluid and decreases the swelling of shales contacted by the drilling fluid.
These and other objects of the invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.
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Data centers generate a substantial amount of heat even when in standby. However fans which cool the data centers usually cease operation during standby.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a measuring cup used in kitchens during food preparation. The present invention relates to a measuring cup comprised a single piece of non flexible material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional measuring cup is usually in the form of a container having a handle, a pour lip and a solid bottom. A conventional measuring cup usually has one or more scale markings used to designate one volume or several volumes. A conventional measuring cup is usually in the form of a cylinder. A conventional measuring cup is used in kitchens to measure food products during food preparation.
A conventional measuring cup is used to measure dry ingredients such as flour and sugar, and liquids such as milk and water. Conventional measuring cups are not practical for measuring prepared foods such as mashed potatoes and gravy, hot oatmeal, cooked pasta and cheese sauce or rice pilav. Prepared foods such as these stick in measuring cups and are difficult to remove. Repeat use of the same measuring cup for different food products can result in cross contamination. Hot food can become cold during transfer from a measuring cup to a serving plate or to a serving bowl.
Conventional measuring spoons are used for measuring dry or liquid food products. Conventional measuring spoons are not intended for measuring large portions of food. Dried pasta measuring tools are limited to measuring dried pasta. They are not designed to measure a multitude of food products. Dried pasta measuring tools lack the capacity for measuring foods such as oatmeal, mashed potatoes or rice.
3. Objects and Advantages
The present invention is a set of hollow measuring cylinders to be used to measure food at the time of serving a meal. The measuring cylinder, selected for use, is to be placed on a plate or in a bowl. The food being measured by placing the food into the measuring cylinder until the cylinder is filled to scale. The measuring cylinder should be removed from the plate or the bowl leaving a correct portion size of food on the plate or in the bowl. Several measuring cylinders may be placed on the same plate to measure food at the time of serving a meal. The present invention eliminates the step of transferring food from a measuring cup to a plate or to a bowl. Hot food will stay hot when served directly to a plate or to a bowl. The measuring cylinders having a heat resistant, slippery, non stick surface prevents food from sticking to the cylinders and allows the cylinders to remain cool to the touch. The measuring cylinders having a non stick surface easily release from around the food product being measured. The measuring cylinders having the capacity to measure a multitude of food products including prepared foods such as oatmeal or rice.
The present invention is a solution to long felt but unsolved need of diabetics and overweight individuals for an improved food measuring tool. The present invention enables the dieter to quickly, easily and neatly measure a correct portion size for a multitude of food products.
Obesity is a major health problem in the United States. Obesity can lead to hypertension, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It is estimated that 60% of the population in the United States is overweight and weight loss aids of any kind are welcome by the medical profession.
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Some digital electronic systems include a memory that stores data, such as instructions used to control the operation of the digital electronic system, proprietary data, intellectual property, or any combination thereof. In some cases, a digital electronic system will include cryptographic features that help protect the contents of the memory from unauthorized access.
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1. Field of the Invention
A connector assembly for a planar vertical printed circuit board includes a housing having a pair of parallel space planar vertical side walls defining an open-topped vertical chamber in which the printed circuit board is mounted. First electrical connectors mounted on the vertical end edges of the printed circuit board include body portions that extend outwardly beyond the vertical edges of the side walls, which extending body portions contain access openings affording communication with first connector contacts in electrical engagement with the printed circuit board. Protective side cover members are fastened to the housing side walls to partially enclose the extending connector body portions, which cover members contain openings opposite the connector body access openings.
2. Description of Related Art
This invention relates to an electronic housing that permits the mounting of a plurality of printed circuit boards in series on a mounting rail. Such electronic housings are known as such but require further design improvement, in particular, regarding assembly and adaptability to differing connection techniques and unit sizes.
The present invention was developed to solve this problem by mounting a plurality of connectors vertically on the vertical end edges of the printed circuit board arranged in a housing chamber, which connectors are of the multi-contact type. To protect the portions of the connectors that protrude beyond the vertical edges of the side walls, protective side cover members are fastened to the housing side walls to partially enclose and to protect the protruding portions of the connectors.
In this way it is possible to adapt the electronic housing in a simple manner to different connection techniques. In each particular case, it is not necessary to design the complete housing anew; it is merely necessary to create differing side parts. It is furthermore possible in a simple manner, by varying the protective side cover members, to arrange two or more mutually parallel printed circuit boards in the housing, or to insert them with preassembled side parts simply as a unit into a housing chamber. Furthermore, for example, by changing the side cover parts or by the use of different side covers, one can provide electronic housings with more or less intensive ventilation function or cooling function.
Preferably, on the at least one cover member or on the printed circuit board, there are arranged multi-contact plugs, and the side cover parts can be fastened upon the plugs. In this way, one can clearly simplify assembly, because the multi-contact plugs and the side cover parts are preassembled on the printed circuit board and this sensitive component is well protected during assembly in the housing chamber. In this way, at least one printed circuit board, together with the multi-contact plugs and the side covers, form a preassembled unit which can be inserted into the housing chamber.
In a preferred manner, the multi-contact plugs are made as pin contact strips or as socket boards. Other models are conceivable, for example, as RJ45-plug or socket.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fiber optic connectors and specifically to testing the intermateability of fiber optic connectors.
2. Background Information
Fiber optic connectors are devices that transfer optical power between optical fibers but which need to be connected and disconnected repeatedly. Fiber optic connectors are connected by mating a connector plug with an adapter to form a connector assembly. In other words, a connector assembly is formed when two connector plugs are inserted into the opposite ends of an adapter. The connector plug is the male member of the connector assembly and is mounted onto the end of the optical fiber. The adapter is the female member of the connector assembly. Since the advent of fiber optics several different types of connectors have been designed and made commercially available. These different connector types are identified by their commercial designation and include those commercially designated as Biconic, FC, and SC. If the two plugs of a connector assembly are of the same type then both ends of the adapter are of same type or commercial designation. On the other hand, hybrid adapters having different openings for different connector types are available and are used to intermate different connector plug types.
Critical to the design of any fiber optic connector is the ability of the connector to provide minimal loss and reflection when mated or connected to another connector of the same type. In order to minimize the loss and reflection of a connection, the Telecommunications Industries Association/Electronic Industries Association (TIA/EIA), along with other national standard bodies, has promulgated design specifications for each type of plug and adapter. These specifications place limits on various physical plug and adapter parameters so as to achieve a prespecified or common level of performance. These physical parameter limits include, but are not limited to, the connector plug ferrule diameter tolerance, the inside diameter of the connector adapter sleeve and the contact angle of the connector plug.
As with any design specification, parameters are specified with tolerance margins that, if met, should provide the prespecified level of performance. Of course, when any item is mass produced, such as connectors, some are bound to fall outside the tolerance margins. Furthermore, in the case of fiber optic connectors, not only is intermateability performance required among connectors from the same supplier or manufacturer, but connectors are often mated among different suppliers. In fact, fiber optic connectors are regarded as off shelf items throughout the fiber optic industry and are expected to intermate and meet the prespecified levels of performance without regard to manufacturer. As such, there is a need to test connectors against industry standards to gather information on performance and reliability. In fact, fiber optic connector suppliers, as part of their quality control program, normally test fiber optic connectors so as to compile reliability data on their manufacturing operation. Purchasers of fiber optic connectors also maintain quality programs, such as testing samples of the connectors against various industry standards, so as to obtain data on the performance of the connectors that are employed in the purchaser's products or network facilities.
TIA/EIA has documented a series of intermateability standards as part of its TIA/EIA 604 "Fiber Optic Intermateability Standards (FOCIS)". Of particular import to this invention is TIA/EIA's documents 604-2, so called FOCIS-2, 604-3, FOCIS-3, and 604-4, FOCIS-4. FOCIS-2 is directed to connectors with the bayonet Fiber Optic Connectors (BFOC/2.5) commercial designation. FOCIS-3 and FOCIS-4 are directed to connectors with the SC and FC commercial designations, respectively. The, FOCIS-2, FOCIS-3, and FOCIS-4 documents specify requirements that, if met, should ensure that any combination (including hybrids) of each type of connector will mechanically intermate and will meet a common level of performance. In a nutshell, the FOCIS-2/3/4 documents require plugs and adapters with the same commercial designation to intermate while meeting prespecified levels of performance. Specifically, section 2.2 of the FOCIS-2/3/4 documents defines the adapter standard and section 3 defines the plug standards.
Among the plug intermateability requirements is a requirement on the distance the connector plug ferrule is allowed to travel relative to the body of the plug in response to a contact force exerted against the ferrule. These requirements are referred to in the art as the ferrule extension and contact force requirements. The connector plug ferrule is a mechanical fixture, generally a rigid tube, used to confine the stripped end of an optical fiber or cable. The movement of the ferrule is normally restricted by use of a spring and therefore the requirements are directed to both the amount of force required to displace the ferrule spring a certain distance and the normal rest length of the ferrule. A ferrule spring loading force, F, is specified for different distances, A, where A is defined as the distance of the mechanical reference plane of a connector plug-adapter assembly to the tip of the connector plug ferrule. FIG. 1A illustratively depicts the relationship of F and A for a connector plug 11 having a ferrule 12. For example, if no force, i.e., F=0, is exerted on the ferrule then the spring is expected to extend the ferrule its farthest distance, i.e., the normal rest length or no contact force length of the ferrule. As such, the rest length of an SC type connector ferrule is required to be greater than or equal to 7.15 mm, whereas for an FC type connector ferrule the rest length is required be greater than or equal to 3.8 mm. The full relationship, as given by the TIA/EIA, between A and F is given in Tables I and II below for SC and FC connector types, respectively, where A is measured from a reference plane 13 to the tip of ferrule 12. The requirements on other connectors are contained in other FOCIS documents.
TABLE I ______________________________________ EIA/TIA SC Type Ferrule Travel and Contact Force Requirements IF THEN ______________________________________ F = 0 A .gtoreq. 7.15 mm A .ltoreq. 7.1 mm F .gtoreq. 7.8 Newtons (N) A .gtoreq. 6.9 mm F .ltoreq. 11.8 N ______________________________________
TABLE II ______________________________________ EIA/TIA FC Type Ferrule Travel and Contact Force Requirements IF THEN ______________________________________ F = 0 A .gtoreq. 3.8 mm A .ltoreq. 3.7 mm F .gtoreq. 7.8 N A .gtoreq. 3.6 mm F .ltoreq. 11.8 N ______________________________________
Apparatus to measure the spring loaded force applied to a ferrule when fiber optic connector plugs are mated with each other has been proposed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (Document Title "IEC 1330-3-22: Fibre Optic interconnecting devices and passive components--Basic test and measurement procedures", final draft submitted Nov. 1, 1996). However, in order to assure the intermateability of fiber optic connectors, particularly from different manufacturers, I have found that another critical adapter dimension requirement is the adapter length. The adapter length, E, is defined as the distance from one mechanical plane 17 to the midpoint 18 between the two mechanical reference planes 17, 19 of a simplex adapter 310 as illustratively shown in FIG. 1B. For an SC type connector the adapter length, E, is specified as 6.9 millimeter (mm).ltoreq.E.ltoreq.7.1 mm. For a FC type connector E is specified as 3.6 mm.ltoreq.E.ltoreq.3.7 mm.
The adapter length and the ferrule extension and contact force requirements are directed to the intermateability between adapters and plugs of the same commercial designation. For example, if the adapter length is longer than required, then the ferrules of two intermated plugs will not be close enough to each other in the connector assembly to meet performance requirements. Thus, apparatuses and methods are needed that can be used to test the adapter length in addition to the ferrule extension and contact force of a connector against the requirements given in TIA/EIA documents FOCIS-3 and FOCIS-4 so as to ensure intermateability.
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Fin field effect transistors (finFETs) may be incorporated into integrated circuitry. Each finFET includes a fin (a tall thin semiconductor member) extending generally perpendicularly from a substrate. The fin comprises a pair of opposing sidewalls, and gate material is provided along at least one of the sidewalls. The gate material is spaced from the sidewall by gate dielectric material. A pair of source/drain regions is provided within the fin, and a channel region extends between the source/drain regions. In operation, the gate is utilized to selectively control current flow within the channel region.
The finFETs may be utilized as access transistors in integrated memory arrays; such as, for example, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) arrays. In some applications the finFETs may be incorporated into crosshair memory cells. In such applications the source/drain regions are on a pair of upwardly-projecting pedestals, and the channel region is along a trough extending between the pedestals. A charge-storage device (for instance, a capacitor) is electrically coupled with one of the source/drain regions, and a digit line is electrically coupled with the other of the source/drain regions. The gate is beneath the source/drain regions, and extends along the trough comprising the channel region. Example finFET structures, and example crosshair memory cells, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,741,758, and U.S. patent publication numbers 2009/0237996 and 2011/0193157.
It is desired to develop improved finFET devices which are suitable for utilization in highly integrated applications, to develop improved architectures for incorporating finFET devices into highly integrated memory and/or other circuitries, and to develop improved methods for fabricating architectures comprising finFET devices.
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A virtual machine (VM) is a software implementation of a machine (i.e., a computer) that executes programs like a physical machine would. Generally, access to resources in virtualized environments is associated with a high level of overhead because the VM typically cannot directly communicate with a virtualized resource. A hypervisor that hosts the VM typically has the burden of emulating the needed interface or driver on behalf of the VM. In other words, the hypervisor presents the VM with a virtual platform and monitors the execution of the VM and how the VM accesses the available hardware resources.
For example, for a VM to read or write data to a virtualized storage device, control of the read or write operations will have to be transferred between the VM and the hypervisor. The hypervisor may use any type of storage interface for storing the VM's data, including local file system, network file system, network block device, etc. In a purely emulated case, the VM has no knowledge that the provided interface (i.e., the block device) is not a real physical device, because the hypervisor emulates the interface in software. A high overhead is associated with such emulation. The operational overhead is even more costly, if there is a need for transferring control intermittently between the VM and the hypervisor during I/O operations.
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for filling an assortment of articles with feather down or a feather down like material. In particular, the present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for filling pillow casements with feather down or a feather down like material in a retail environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Feather down is used extensively in bedding and apparel. Typically obtained from birds, down is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. When used herein, the terms “feather down” or “feather down material” means both natural and man-made fibers which exhibit the commonly known characteristics of natural down. Feather down articles are typically manufactured using an outer casement or covering (commonly known as the “shell” or “tick”) which holds the feather down within its confines. While a variety of fabrics may be used for the outer material, cotton is typically used because of its ability to easily wick moisture. Shells can be made from using numerous fibers (cotton, rayon, silk) and weaves (Jacquard, Dobby, Damask, Sateen, Twill). The most important feature of such shells or casements is that the surface facing the feather down is permeable to air but not to the feather down.
Feather down offers excellent thermal properties, and has good lofting characteristics. This means that the feather down traps small pockets of air efficiently. The small pockets of air provide a thermal barrier. Feather down also has the added property that it can be packed into a very small space. Down filled pillows have long been known for both their softness and their ability to conform to shapes desired by the user, more so than foam or fiber pillows.
Despite its popularity, the manufacture of down-filled articles has inherent limitations, especially with regard to a retail environment. Typically, manufacturers of down-filled articles are restricted to large manufacturing facilities located far away from retail establishments due to the inherent messiness of feather-down during the filling process. This is because feather down is typically blown or dropped into the shell of the article. The intrinsic lightness and fluffiness of the feather down inherently results in some of the down dispersing into the open air. Thus, retail establishments typically feature only finished down-filled articles for which a customer may purchase a designer cover to go over the shell.
However, it has been found that many customers desire the ability to customize the manufacture of down-filled articles. Indeed, a number of consumers have expressed a particular desire to oversee and participate in the making of down-filled sleeping or upholstery pillows in the retail environment. For example, many customers simply wish to customize the firmness of their pillows by having more control over the amount of feather down put into a particular pillow.
While a variety of proposals have previously been made to allow customers to customize plush-filled animals in a retail setting, such proposals cannot be adapted to the use of down-filled articles. All previous proposals typically use a blowing mechanism to blow the stuffing into a plush animal. This blowing technique comprises a blower motor to propel a relatively heavy synthetic type filling into the animal shaped fabric casement. However, such casement filling processes which involve blowing will not allow for the conveyance of feather down filling in a clean and efficient manner. Feather down has virtually no mass and very minimal weight, making it virtually impossible to control using a blowing technique. The use of a prior art “blowing” technique to fill a fabric casement with feather down would inherently create a terrible mess in a retail establishment.
Thus, a need exists for an improved apparatus and method for using same which will allow the customized manufacture of feather-down articles in a retail setting. Further, a need exists for an improved apparatus and method for manufacturing feather-down articles which is more efficient and cleaner.
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(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parts feed apparatus incorporated in an automatic electronic parts mounter or the like and, more particularly, to a parts feed apparatus used to position and mount an electronic chip part (to be referred to as a chip part hereinafter) such as a resistor, capacitor, and a transistor on a printed circuit board
(2) Prior Art
A conventional parts feed apparatus of an automatic electronic parts mounter of the type described above is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Disclosure (Kokai) No. 57-148875 filed by the present applicant. In this parts feed apparatus, a tape feed mechanism is linked to a cover tape separating mechanism. Chip parts are sealed in a tape in a sandwich-like manner through a cover tape at equal intervals along the longitudinal direction of the tape. The tape is wound on a tape reel. The tape is intermittently fed from the tape reel and the chip parts are fed to a predetermined parts pickup position
However, in such a conventional parts feed apparatus, the cover tape. is separated at a location apart from the parts pickup position prior to pickup of the chip parts.
As a result, in the conventional apparatus, a chip part stored in the tape is dropped or pops to change its posture while it is fed from the cover tape separation position to the parts pickup position, thus easily causing defective parts pickup by a suction unit or the like. Furthermore, since the cover tape separation mechanism is linked to the tape feed mechanism, the tape feed speed cannot be increased too much in order to prevent undesirable movement of the chip part after separation of the cover tape
In order to eliminate the above drawbacks, conventionally, a chip parts cover or a shutter is provided to be opened immediately before the parts pickup position. However, since their mechanisms are complex, they do not allow a high-speed operation.
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The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant, botanically known as Petunia×hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Duesurstabu’.
The new Petunia plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Rheinberg, Germany. The objective of the breeding program is to create new trailing Petunia plants with numerous unique and attractive flowers.
The new Petunia plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in July, 2007 in Rheinberg, Germany of a proprietary selection of Petunia×hybrida identified as code number T05-0840-016, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Petunia×hybrida identified as code number F-22-1822, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Petunia plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Rheinberg, Germany in May, 2009.
Asexual reproduction of the new Petunia plant by terminal cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Rheinberg, Germany since May, 2009 has shown that the unique features of this new Petunia plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
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In drug metabolism research, it is often necessary to determine the amounts of drugs or metabolites excreted in the urine or feces of test animals. For exact determinations, neither sample can cross contaminate the other. Further, in microbiological studies, it is often necessary to collect and analyze the urine of a laboratory animal, and the collected sample cannot be contaminated by fecal flora. Still further, in research of this general type involving laboratory animals, it is often necessary to collect twenty-four hour urine samples from animals with diarrhea, and such samples must not be contaminated with feces.
While various collection systems have been developed in an attempt to permit the collection of samples of urine or feces from laboratory animals without cross-contamination, nevertheless most of the known collection systems have been undesirable since many have required that the animal be substantially or totally restrained when fitted with the collection system, and many of the known collection systems have been suitable solely for use on male animals or have not permitted separate collection of the urine and feces. Further, most of these known systems do not work on an animal with diarrhea, and to the best of our knowledge, none of these systems have been used on canines.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved fecal collection system for a four-legged animal, such as a canine, which overcomes the disadvantages associated with prior collection systems.
More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved fecal collection system for an animal, as aforesaid, which is usable on animals with diarrhea, which is usable on both male and female animals, and which permits attachment of a fecal collection bag to the animal in such manner as to permit effective separation from the urine and at the same time does not create any undue comfort to or require restraining of the animal.
In the improved fecal collection system of this invention, there is provided a fabric supporter positionable on the hindquarters of the animal, which supporter has a harness which secures same to the animal. A fecal collection bag is adhered to the anus of the animal, and an adjustable bag enclosure which is attached to the rear of the supporter is then wrapped around the collection bag to enclose same. The bag enclosure is adjustable so as to support the weight of the collection bag.
This improved collection system possesses numerous advantages. For example, the fabric supporter is preferably contoured to fit on the hind quarters of the animal, and the enclosure protects the collection bag and assists in maintaining it in position. The supporter, in the preferred embodiment, is constructed of a medium-weight nylon/polyester blend fabric trimmed with bias tape and Velcro, whereby the fabric washes easily and is resistant to tearing, and all of the Velcro areas and straps are fully adjustable so that the fabric supporter will fit a wide range of animals. The system can also be utilized with either male or female animals without requiring any structural modification thereof, and when used on female animals, the supporter is adjusted so that the vulva protrudes through the provided opening, thereby allowing the animal to urinate normally. The collection bag can also be fully exposed by opening the fabric enclosure, thus permitting inspection or emptying of the bag without removing the fabric supporter.
Summarizing the structure and function of a preferred embodiment of the invention, specifically as applied to a dog, the collection system includes a colostomy bag which has affixed thereto an adhesive blanket with a proper size opening provided for the anus. This adhesive blanket is positioned around the dog's perianal area. A contoured fabric supporter, having right and left flaps, is positioned behind the dog's rear legs and beneath the colostomy bag. The right and left flaps are then folded forwardly and upwardly across the hindquarters of the dog so that the flaps overlap. The flaps are suitably secured together, as by Velcro fasteners. A harness is secured to the supporter to attach it to the dog. This harness preferably includes a chest strap which extends from the right and left flaps forwardly around the chest of the animal. The chest strap also connects to a body strap which extends around the dog's body directly rearwardly of the front legs, and a collar strap which extends around the neck of the animal. A pair of leg straps is secured to the lower rear edge of the fabric supporter, in the central portion thereof, and extend forwardly between the rear legs and then upwardly around the sides of the body for attachment to the fabric supporter. All of the straps are preferably of Velcro or similar material to permit them to be readily fastened to one another or to appropriate Velcro strips provided on the supporter. The supporter preferably has a fabric tongue portion which projects downwardly from the center of the lower edge thereof, which tongue portion has a suitable opening therethrough so that the supporter can be utilized on a female dog, which usage requires that the supporter be adjustably positioned so that the vulva protrudes through this latter opening. A fabric bag enclosure is secured to the outer face of the supporter and projects rearwardly therefrom. This bag enclosure is of a sheetlike fabric material and is positioned below the colostomy bag, but can be folded into a tubular construction so as to surround and hence enclose the bag. The enclosure has releasable fasteners, such as Velcro strips, along the edges to permit its formation into the tubular enclosure. The lower end of the tubular enclosure is then adjustably folded upwardly and secured by a fastener, such as an additional Velcro strip, so that the weight of the bag is borne by the enclosure. The supporter and the bag enclosure have an elongated slot formed centrally therein and opening downwardly from the upper edge thereof, which slot extends downwardly to a position just below the anal opening of the dog, thereby permitting the colostomy bag to extend through the slot and at the same time provide clearance for the dog's tail.
The fecal collection system was tested in a study of dogs with possible protein loosing enteropathy. In this study, .sup.51 Chromium labeled albumin was injected intravenously and .sup.51 Cr excretion was measured in the feces and urine. Normal subjects excrete only trace amounts of .sup.51 Chromium in the feces. It is imperative that the feces not be contaminated by the urine, which contains a majority of the label. The results of this test indicated that separation of urine and feces was well-maintained by the collection system. Normal subjects have very little .sup.51 Cr in the feces. However, dogs with malabsorption problems, as confirmed by a Xylose Absorption Test, definitely showed increased fecal exretion. Hence, the collection system of this invention is able to successfully maintain separation of urine and feces during collection.
The overall structural and functional relationships of the collection system according to this invention, together with additional objects and purposes thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telephones and more particularly pertains to a telephone arrangement which may be utilized by more than one person at a time.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of telephones and speaker phones is known in the prior art. More specifically, telephones heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of multiple listeners or speakers are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. Such devices lack all privacy as to the incoming telephone call since it is amplified and audible to any within earshot. Typical prior art devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,099,514; 4,944,698; 5,059,141; 3,830,987; and 4,926,474.
In this respect, the dual telephone according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of permitting more than one user to use a telephone at the same time with the privacy of a single phone.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved telephone arrangement which can be used by more than one person simultaneously. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.
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Known industrial suction systems have a suction power within the range of approximately 15,000 Pa to approximately 35,000 Pa. The suction power of this industrial suction system is too small for reliably removing impurities from the cavities of workpieces especially workpieces such as have been subjected to a machining process.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup unit that varies optical characteristics of an objective optical system used in an endoscope and the like and an endoscope provided with the image pickup unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, endoscopes are widely used for observation, treatment, and the like of an inside of a body (an inside of a body cavity) of an organism or inspection, repairing, and the like of a plant facility for industrial use. In recent years, there is an endoscope in which an image pickup unit that can change a focal length is used for focus adjustment of a photographed image or a zooming function for performing magnification adjustment such as wide/tele. Note that a technique of the image pickup unit that can change the focal length in this way is used not only in the endoscope but also in various photographing devices.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-290134 discloses an image pickup unit provided in an endoscope apparatus. The conventional image pickup unit is configured to be capable of advancing and retracting a moving lens, which is a variable focus lens, along an optical axis to an always-focused focal position when an operation wire disposed in an insertion section is pushed and pulled from an operation section by a focus switching lever provided in the operation section.
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Motion is a fundamental principle. And, it is a fundamental aspect of life. By way of example, the quickening fetal movement can be the first clear sign to the expectant mother that she carries new life. And, at the other extreme of the life course, terminal illness is often heralded by progressive immobility. Patterns of human movement can change throughout life from the uncertain steps of the toddler, to the insecure swagger of the adolescent, to the self-assured gait of responsible adulthood, and the progressive unsteadiness of geriatric frailty.
For human beings, motion can be a window bridging our inner and outer lives. Our movements on the purely physical plane can have resonance within our inner being and reality. Likewise our inner state can be mirrored through our movements: the springing gait of optimism, the fine tremor of anxiety, or the slow shuffle of dejection. Our motions also can affect and reflect our health status. In addition, immobility can increase our risk of diseases such as osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, and possibly malignancy. Alterations in movement can result from anatomic changes (perhaps influenced by genetics), illness factors, environmental conditions, and lifestyle circumstances including obesity, nutritional factors, and psycho-behavioral factors such as anxiety and depression.
The interpretation of movement can play an essential role in the clinical practice of numerous medical specialties (e.g., pediatrics, sports medicine, geriatrics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, rheumatology, orthopedics, and several others). However, these motion-based assessments are often communicated as subjective clinical impressions by an expert observer. Attempts to more fully explicate what the clinician perceives often have captured very little of the extraordinary breadth of sensory information that is being processed during these expert evaluations. Accurate, precise motion data can provide significantly deeper insights into an individual's affective, cognitive, and physical performance status.
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Particularly in integrated circuit structures the active components of radio devices, such as amplifiers and mixers, are often realized as differential components, which means that the active component has two inputs and two outputs, whereby the input signal is a variable voltage between the two inputs and the output signal is a variable voltage between the two outputs. An alternative to the differential component is a single input and single output component where the input signal is a variable voltage between the input and a fixed ground potential, and the output signal is a variable voltage between the output and a fixed ground potential. An advantage of the differential structure is particularly that there is less variations in the component's performance caused by the manufacturing process. In the signal propagation direction there can be for instance a balun circuit, an amplifier, a filter or a mixer in front of the differential active component.
FIG. 1 shows a typical prior art differential amplifier 100, which has inputs RF+ and RF- provided with decoupling capacitors, and outputs OUT1 and OUT2. Two transistors Q1 and Q2 act as the amplifying components; the positive operating voltage Vcc is supplied to their collectors via the collector resistors RC and their emitters are connected via the emitter resistors RE and a constant current source Idiff to the ground potential. In addition to the input signal also a bias voltage Vb is supplied to both transistor bases via the biasing resistors Rb in order to bias the transistors Q1 and Q2 to the correct operating point. The output signal is taken at the collectors of the transistors Q1 and Q2.
In the operation of an amplifier according to the FIG. 1 a problem is created by its input impedance. In the signal propagation direction there is most commonly a filter (not shown in the figure) in front of the amplifier, whereby the filter can directly have a differential output, or its non-differential output can be duplicated with a so called balun before it is connected to the inputs of the amplifier. The frequency response of the filter depends on the input impedance of that component to which the signal is supplied from the filter. The input impedance of the amplifier shown in figure is as such very high, i.e. of the order of megaohms. In order to have a correct function of the circuit arrangement formed by the filter and the amplifier in series with it the input impedance of the amplifier must be adjusted to a value, which is a few tens or at most hundreds of ohms. 50 ohm has become a kind of a standard value for the impedances between RF components, but depending on the details of the filter structure a suitable value of the input impedance can also be for instance 100 or 200 ohms.
A simple way to adjust the input impedance of the amplifier according to FIG. 1 as 200 ohms is to select 100 ohms as the value of both biasing resistors Rb. Another common way to arrange the input impedance of the amplifier according to the FIG. 1 is that a resistor with a resistance equalling the desired input impedance is connected between the inputs RF+ and RF-. A disadvantage of these solutions is that they impair the noise characteristics of the amplifier.
FIG. 2 shows a more advanced solution, the so called collector feedback. In this solution the signal taken from the collectors of both amplifier transistors Q1 and Q2 is supplied to the bases of the additional transistors Q3 and Q4, and the signal to the amplifier outputs OUT1 and OUT2 is taken at the emitters of the transistors Q3 and Q4. The transistors Q3 and Q4 are supplied with the operating voltage from the common operating voltage source Vcc, and the emitters of both transistors are connected via an own constant current source Idiff3 and Idiff4 to the ground potential. From the emitter of the transistor Q3 there is a connection via the feedback resistor Rfb and a decoupling capacitor to the base of the transistor Q2, and from the emitter of the transistor Q4 there is a similar connection to the base of the transistor Q1. The input impedance can be affected by selecting the values of the feedback resistors Rfb in a suitable way. The circuit arrangement according to the FIG. 2 has generally a high gain and relatively good noise characteristics, but a poor reverse isolation. The last mentioned disadvantageous characteristic means that if undesired oscillations are coupled to the output of the amplifier, for instance from a mixer (not shown in the figure) in series with the amplifier, these oscillations will propagate relatively easily through the amplifier in a direction opposite to that of the signal, and thus these oscillations can be coupled from the input of the amplifier to other parts of the radio device causing interference there (for instance in the antenna).
FIG. 3 shows another prior art way to adjust the input impedance of an amplifier. The circuit arrangement is in other respects similar to that of FIG. 1, but the input signal is not supplied from the inputs RF+ and RF- to the bases of the transistors Q1 and Q2 but to the emitters, and the bases of the transistors Q1 and Q2 are interconnected, whereby the biasing can be made with one biasing resistor Rb. Regarding the radio frequencies the bases of the transistors Q1 and Q2 are connected via the decoupling capacitor to the ground potential. The input impedance is mainly determined by the value of the series resistances Rin. The circuit according to the FIG. 3 is suited only for very low values of the input impedances, because its gain G will always be lower than the ratio of the collector resistances RC to the serial resistances Rin, or G<RC/Rin. At greater values of the input impedance the circuit arrangement according to the FIG. 3 does not sufficiently amplify the signal.
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1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming a metallic barrier layer to connect electrically multi-layers in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, and in particular, relates to a method for forming a diffusion metallic barrier layer of a TiNO structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, aluminum alloy is used with a metallic barrier layer so as to prevent the junction spiking and decrease the resistance in a contact portion when a sub-micron device having a shallow junction is manufactured.
On the other hand, a double structure comprising Ti/TiN films is mainly used as the metallic barrier layer in convenience. The TiN film is used as a diffusion barrier to intercept the diffusing of Si atoms between the metal layers. For perfect intercepting, a composition rates of TiN must be 1 to 1.
However, the present sputtering equipment has difficulty in controlling the rates to be 1 to 1.
Also, the TiN film is not efficient in intercepting the diffusing of the atoms because of its porousness.
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A wireless communication system includes a Base Station (BS) and one or more User Equipments; (UEs). The user equipment can be fixed or mobile and can be referred to as another terminology, such as a Mobile Station (MS), a User Terminal (UT), a Subscriber Station (SS), or a wireless device. In general, the base station refers to a fixed station that communicates with the user equipments, and it can be referred to as another terminology, such as a Node-B, a Base Transceiver System (BTS), or an access point. Hereinafter, uplink (UL) transmission refers to transmission from a user equipment to a base station, and downlink (DL) transmission refers to transmission from a base station to a user equipment.
A wireless communication system has a cell structure in order to configure an efficient system. The cell refers to an area subdivided from a wide area in order to efficiently use the frequency. In general, a base station is deployed at the center of a cell in order to relay user equipments, and the cell refers to a service area in which one base station is deployed.
The next-generation multimedia wireless communication systems which are recently being actively researched are required to process various pieces of information, such as video and wireless data, in addition to the early voice-centered service with a higher data transmission rate.
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) having a high data transmission rate has recently been in the spotlight. The OFDM is a multi-carrier modulation scheme for dividing a frequency band into a number of orthogonal subcarriers and transmitting data in the divided frequency bands. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) is a scheme for providing multiplexing of a multi-user by combining Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) with OFDM.
If neighbor cells of the OFDM/OFDMA systems use the same subcarrier in a multi-cell environment, it can become a cause of interference to users. This phenomenon is called inter-cell interference. In particular, the inter-cell interference becomes a big problem to user equipments placed near the boundaries of the cells. In downlink transmission, a user equipment placed near the boundary of a cell is subject to strong interference resulting from neighbor cells. In uplink transmission, a user equipment placed near the boundary of a cell provides strong interference with neighbor cells and has a low transmission rate because of the loss of a path in a serving cell.
To reduce such inter-cell interference, neighbor cells can use different subcarriers. This method is however problematic in that radio resources that can be used by the base stations of respective cells are reduced.
A coordinated multi-cell method has been proposed in order to reduce such inter-cell interference in a multi-cell environment. If the coordinated multi-cell method is used, the performance of communication of a user equipment placed near the boundary of a cell can be improved. Discussions on a method of transmitting and processing data using the coordinated multi-cell method are in progress.
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Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. As demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, research and development continue to advance 3G technologies not only to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but to advance and enhance the user experience with mobile communications.
As networks become denser and interference limited, gains from interference suppression can be significant. Additional receive chains and the additional baseband processing needed for full equalization, however, will increase power consumption. If the data activity is very infrequent, enabling diversity chains during periods where there are no or few packets to be demodulated is particularly wasteful and drains limited power resources.
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This invention relates to a grade level and more particularly to the type of grade level which may be used on farm vehicles or the like for use in establishing contour lines during farming operations.
Many types of contour or grade levels have been previously devised but all of the previous devices suffer one or more shortcomings. Certain of the existing devices are not responsive to minute changes in grade and such a characteristic makes it practically impossible to establish or maintain proper grade or contour levels. Additionally, certain of the existing contour or grade levels "over-react" to changes in the level of the carrier vehicle and such "over-reaction" results in inaccurate grade level indications.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved contour or grade level.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a grade level having means thereon for retarding or dampening the pivotal movement of the mechanism provided therein.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a grade level comprising a pivotal combination of a weight and float immersed in a liquid.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved grade level which does not "over-react" to changes in grade.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a grade level which is extremely accurate.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a grade level which is economical to manufacture and durable in use.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the use of an adhesive based on crosslinkable silicone compositions for the temporary adhesive bonding of two chemically similar substrates. The term “temporary adhesive bonding” means that the substrates can be parted from one another again at a desired point in time. When the bond is parted, the adhesive layer remains almost completely on one of the two substrates, and so very little or no material of the adhesive layer requires removal by mechanical or chemical methods from the other substrate subsequently.
2. Description of the Related Art
In industrial operations, one requirement is for temporary adhesives between two chemically similar substrates that are to part specifically again from the desired substrate after use. Preference here is given to adhesive fracture between a substrate and the adhesive layer. Formulations used to date are capable of bonding two similar substrates, but without preferring one substrate. In accordance with the prior art, it has been possible so far to deliberately adjust the adhesive forces, by means of physical or chemical methods, only by way of pretreatment of the respective substrate. Examples of physical methods are abrading of the surface, UV irradiation, flame treatment, corona treatment, or plasma treatment. With pretreatment steps of these kinds, the surface or the near-surface layer of the substrate material is activated—that is, functional groups, primarily polar groups, are formed. Examples of chemical methods are pretreatment with adhesion-promoting additives (also called primers) or pretreatment with substances which prevent adhesion (also called release agents).
The market requirements from the fabricators of semiconductor components with regard to the chips to be fabricated, in particular, call for ever lower overall heights. One option for reducing the overall height of the shaped component is to make the wafers thinner. The grinding operation may be carried out before or after shape singularizing (dicing).
As a result of the wafers becoming increasingly large and increasingly thin, the structural strength of the wafer is reduced. As a result of this, the large, thin wafers may break when being worked on with the devices and materials that are commonly used, such as the dicing tapes that are nowadays used, for example, owing to insufficient mechanical support. Moreover, the wafer structures which protrude by up to 100 μm or more (bumps) may not be fully enclosed, without any voids, by the adhesive films (tapes) that are presently used, and so the voids which remain may lead in general, during vacuum working, to destruction or impairment of the thin wafer.
One possible technical solution to this problem is to bond the wafer to a hard substrate (for example, to another wafer or to a wafer support such as glass, for example) via a temporary adhesive layer, in order to increase the mechanical strength, and then to carry out the desired working operations, and finally to detach the wafer, which at this point has a thickness of only 10-100 μm, from the substrate again. The substrate attached via the adhesive serves here as a mechanical reinforcement during the grinding and downstream working operations.
Later working on the thinned wafer also includes the formation of resistant structures by plasma etching and operations such as, for example, metal plating and residue cleaning.
One possibility for fixing the semiconductor wafer on a support is represented by adhesive tapes. EP 0838086 B1 describes a tape composed of a thermoplastic elastomer block copolymer for use for the processing of semiconductor wafers. The limited elasticity of the material, however, leads to problems when wafers having surface structures (bumped wafers) are used. The thermoplastic properties of the material, moreover, lead to reduced heat stability, such stability being necessary for the back-side operations (plasma processes, CVD, etc.) that follow the thinning of the wafer (back-side grinding).
WO 2009/003029 A2 claims thermoplastic organic polymers (imides, amideimides, and amideimide-siloxanes) for use as a temporary adhesive between a wafer and a carrier.
WO 2009/094558 A2 describes the temporary adhesive bonding of a wafer and a carrier, the adhesive bond taking place not over the entire area but instead only in the edge region. Following a grinding operation and possible back-side operations, the adhesive bond is destroyed chemically, photochemically, thermally, or thermomechanically.
EP 0603514 A2 describes a method for thinning a semiconductor wafer, where the adhesive material used is suitable at most for temperatures of 200° C.
The US application US 2004/0121618 A1 describes a liquid adhesive which is suitable for spincoating operations and which consists of a thermoplastic polyurethane, and also dimethylacetamides and propylene glycol monomethyl ether as principal components.
EP 1089326 B1 claims a support for wafers that consists of a silicone elastomer covered with a dustproof film, the release force between the film and the silicone layer being from 5 to 500 g/25 mm (according to JIS K 6854). Also described is a method for producing a wafer support.
WO 2004/051708 A2 describes a method for the working of a wafer in which a release layer is applied between the front side of the wafer and the support layer (adhesive). The production of this release layer represents an additional step in the production chain, leading to prolonged working times and to higher production costs.
The major problem is that similar materials, such as, in this case, the previously processed silicon wafer, which on its surface may also contain materials other than silicon, is on the one hand to be joined firmly to a carrier, which likewise consists of silicon, using an adhesive layer, while on the other hand, after the steps that are customary in wafer processing, such as wafer grinding or thinning, coating, etc., for example, they are to be separated extremely simply and selectively at the wafer surface.
The systems used to date in accordance with the prior art are unsatisfactory for certain processing techniques such as, for example, the thermal deposition of silicon dioxide or high-temperature dielectrics, since the high-temperature stability of the polymers used is inadequate. In addition to the necessary temperature stability of up to more than 300° C., moreover, the correct balance and optimization of the formulation in respect of the mechanical parameters (during grinding of the wafer back), the chemical stability with respect to various chemicals customary in chip processing, the minimal release of volatile secondary products (risk of contamination), and the viscosity of the uncured adhesive (during application to the wafer) are important objectives in the development of a suitable material in the sandwich system under consideration.
Particularly within the semiconductor industry, therefore, there is a need for a selectively adhering adhesive for temporary adhesive bonding of two chemically similar substrates. The adhesive must be suitable for application by an industrially practicable process (for example, spray coating, printing, dipping, rotational coating), and at the desired point in time must be able to be parted from the desired substrate without residue by way of suitable methods. Furthermore, besides the supporting bond, e.g. a hard bond to the substrate, the adhesive is also to have certain elastic properties.
These requirements apply in particular for wafer bonding processes. The properties of the adhesive are to allow the processing of the wafer without breakage or damage to the latter, and are also to be able, furthermore, to enclose the front structures of the wafer in a supporting manner.
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Internal combustion engine pertains to inventions in which a combustible material (usually a gas) is ignited within an enclosed space or chamber, most typically following the Otto cycle. Expanding gas from combustion is converted into work by permitting the resulting products of combustion to act upon and through mechanical powers of internal parts, conveying this mechanical energy to external components.
Internal combustion engines offer convenience and reliability in creation of on demand energy production. This makes them highly desired in automotive, aviation, and marine transportation among a variety of applications. Due to increasing fuel costs, a growing demand exists for internal combustion engines with better fuel efficiency. However, only about ⅓ of the chemical potential energy is converted to mechanical energy by reciprocating internal combustion engines.
Beyond improved fuel efficiency, it is highly desirable that internal combustion engines retain an efficient output of torque energy both at high rotation speeds and at lower speeds useful for providing propulsion so that the engine may be used both to initiate movement as well as maintain velocity at cruising speeds. It is further desirable to achieve these results utilizing this internal combustion engine which does not require a dedicated exhaust configuration or stroke, complex valve arrangements, cyclically loaded moving parts, and a non-continuous momentum, and multi-directional fuel-exhaust flows. Minimizing carbon emissions is also desirable.
The present invention addresses these concerns by providing a continuous momentum direction of the internal components and uni-directional fuel-exhaust flow. The invention substantially reduces the number of moving parts required in the combustion process and that required to transmit mechanical energy. Fewer required parts allow this engine to be light weight, easier to fabricate, lower in cost, and more compact.
Some of the engines that are similar in some ways to this design are the Wankle engine (U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,721) and the Wave Rotor Engine (U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,342). These engines are only similar in regard to the usage of a rotary type compression-combustion zone. The combustion element of this invention is a unique pressure-shock wave (detonation) rotor-recoil system.
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The invention relates to the reading of information which is contained in radiation emitted by information storage media.
A luminescent foil or plate can be provided with latent information, e.g., an image, which is releasable in the form of radiation when the foil is stimulated or excited. Phosphor foils, which constitute one type of luminescent foil, are being substituted with increasing frequency for conventional x-ray film in medical diagnostics. As compared to conventional x-ray film, phosphor foils have the advantage of almost linear reproduction characteristics. The image quality is therefore much less susceptible to an overly large or excessively small dose during the production of an x-ray image. Phosphor foils also have the advantage that they can be reused. Thus, once an x-ray picture has been made and the recorded information read and stored in an electronic device, a phosphor foil can be erased and used for additional x-ray images. A further advantage of phosphor foils is that their mechanical handling characteristics are largely the same as those of conventional x-ray film. For the most part, existing loading and unloading apparatus for x-ray film handling devices, such as x-ray film cassettes, can accordingly be used for phosphor foils as well.
The German Patent Publication No. 37 31 203 A1 discloses a method and apparatus for handling phosphor foils. Here, a phosphor foil is first loaded in an x-ray film cassette. Data relevant for an x-ray exposure to be made on the foil are then entered in a semiconductor memory on the cassette at an identification station. These data include patient name, birth date, treating physician, etc. An x-ray exposure is subsequently made. To read the x-ray image, the cassette is inserted in a digital reading apparatus. The cassette is opened, and the phosphor foil is removed and excited by a scanning device. The phosphor foil emits light which is taken up by a light collecting device and converted into a grid of digital signals. These signals can be processed in a digital image processing unit.
When a phosphor foil is scanned to recover information, one of the considerations is to detect as much of the emitted radiation as possible. As a rule, the foil is excited by a laser beam which causes the stored x-ray energy to be released in the form of low-energy radiation, advantageously in the form of visible light having a predetermined wavelength.
The German Patent Publication No. 29 51 501 teaches a device for reading information in radiation. The device takes up the radiation emitted by a luminescent foil or plate and conducts it to a radiation detector. This device has a drawback in that rays which travel almost perpendicular to the foil either do not penetrate the light conducting arrangement leading to the radiation detector or impinge upon the conducting arrangement at a very large angle. In the latter case, the rays are poorly coupled when the light conducting arrangement consists of optical fibers.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to data recovery in data processing systems employing a database. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing processing system availability during database management system restart recovery without loss of data integrity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data processing systems typically manage large amounts of customer data and data generated by users within the data processing system. For many businesses, any loss in the ability to access data severely impacts the success of the business. Indeed, it is deemed catastrophic if the data is unavailable for a prolonged period of time. Thus, when system failures occur, the system must restart rapidly to minimize data outage.
Much business data is stored in databases, under the management of a database management system (DBMS). When a DBMS is restarted after system failure, part of the DBMS's restart function is to attend to work that was interrupted by the failure. This function is typically called restart recovery. It involves ensuring that committed work is not lost as a result of the failure, and ensuring that uncommitted work that persists the failure is undone.
In DBMSs that employ write-ahead logging (WAL), committed transactions are typically recovered by performing REDO (forward) processing of the log during restart recovery: uncommitted transactions are backed out by performing an UNDO (backward) processing of the recovery log. A further discussion of write-ahead logging, UNDO, REDO and other commonly known recovery methods may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,303 issued Jul. 26, 1994, entitled, "METHOD FOR PROVIDING DATA AVAILABILITY IN A TRANSACTION-ORIENTED SYSTEM DURING RESTART AFTER A FAILURE," assigned to the assignee of the current invention and incorporated herein, and in the following references:
1. C. J. Date, "AN INTRODUCTION TO DATABASE SYSTEM", Vol. 1, Fourth Edition, Addison Wesley Publishing Company, Copyright 1986, Chapter 18; PA1 2. H. F. Korth et al., "DATABASE SYSTEM CONCEPTS", McGraw-Hill Book Company, Copyright 1986, Chapter 10; PA1 3. C. Mohan et al., "ARIES: A TRANSACTION RECOVERY METHOD SUPPORTING FINE-GRANULARITY LOCKING AND PARTIAL ROLLBACKS USING WRITE-AHEAD LOGGING", IBM Research Report R J 6649 (63960), Jan. 23, 1989, Revised Nov. 2, 1990; PA1 4. C. Mohan, "COMMIT_LSN: A NOVEL AND SIMPLE METHOD FOR REDUCING LOCKING AND LATCHING IN TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEM", Proceedings of the Sixteenth VLDB Conference, August 1990; and PA1 5. C. Mohan et al., "TRANSACTION MANAGEMENT IN THE R* DISTRIBUTED DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM", ACM transactions on Database Systems, Vol 11, No. 4, December 1986, pgs. 378-396.
DBMSs that do not use WAL typically employ force-at-commit protocols. In these systems, the result of work completed is held in cache and the resultant data is not updated until the work has been fully committed. With force-at-commit systems, it is not necessary to perform REDO processing; UNDO processing is sufficient.
In both WAL and non-WAL systems, a DBMS's restart recovery processing can take a considerable amount of time. This is especially true if one or more long-running transactions were active at the time of failure. This is because the operations performed by the transactions must be backed out and prior art DBMSs do not traditionally start to process new transactions until all data recovery processing has been completed. Hence the data outage can be large.
What is needed is a method and apparatus for performing a DBMS restart recovery with partially delayed UNDO processing that provides processing system availability. The method would allow a portion of the restart recovery to be postponed until after the DBMS involved begins accepting new work (transactions). Further, the method and apparatus should ensure data consistency during recovery, where required, to preserve data integrity.
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The development of electronic products, such as cellular phones, computers and cameras, is towards smaller and smaller devices. The physical size of the devices should lessen as should their cost, which put high demands on, among other things, the layouts of integrated circuits required in the products, and the fabrication methods used for producing them.
The shielding of integrated circuit packages against electromagnetic interference (EMI) effects should also be made in as cost effective way as possible, while not compromising the quality requirements. Shielding is utilised for several reasons, a first reason being the fulfillment of government regulatory specifications, e.g. ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) specifications that for example put limits to allowed harmonics. Another reason for utilizing shielding is to provide immunity from other interfering wireless sources nearby, and yet another reason is to assure proper operation of a wireless transceiver itself by preventing transmission of non-intended radiation, such as from internal circuitry. Shortly, shielding is utilized in order to eliminate or at least minimize the effects of electromagnetic radiation.
There is a number of different ways to achieve shielding of an integrated circuit or electronic module. A commonly used solution is to mount a metallic hood to the module, for example by soldering. This however entails several drawbacks. A major drawback is the inflexibility of the fabrication process in that new tooling has to be provided in the production line for each change made to the module design. Another drawback is that the building height, i.e. the vertical height of the module increases, which of course is quite contrary to the wish of providing miniaturised modules and components. Further, the shielding efficiency is lessened due to holes in the metal, holes through which a moulding compound protecting the die is to be passed, or holes used for improving the inspectability of the module. Still further, the metallic hood constitutes an additional component to be manufactured and subsequently mounted on the module. Further yet, the mounting of the metallic hood also requires an extra space around the circuitry, for example in order to accomplish the soldering of the hood, again in contrary to the general goal towards smaller devices.
Another way to accomplish shielding of a module is to flip the package upside down and use the upper PCB copper plane as the shielding. However, this entails a more complex PCB (printed circuit board) and also an extra space requirement for accommodating solder balls of a ball grid array (BGA), if such surface-mount packaging is used. Further, this solution shows a very poor heat transfer performance and the heat dissipation for cooling the die is thus a major shortcoming.
Yet another way that has been contemplated for providing a shielding to a module is to integrate the shielding in the moulding compound, the moulding compound having a special composition containing absorbing/conductive fillers for absorbing and conducting the radiation, respectively. Further, the electrical performance of the device may also be affected by introducing such fillers. This solution would therefore probably be a very expensive solution involving substantial research and development costs.
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This invention relates to rotary internal combustion engines, and more particularly, to improved multi-piece apex seal assemblies therefore.
Rotary engine apex seals have historically worn too fast, thus limiting the life of the engine. Various attempts have been made to reduce apex seal wear by using lower friction and/or more wear resistant materials and by reducing the factors and forces which contribute to wear. For example, tilted apex seals are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,124,439, issued July 28, l964 to Froede, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,269,369, issued August 30, 1966 to Ehrhardt, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,438, issued December 10, 1974 to Sato, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,338, issued November 1, 1977 to Eiermann. Multi-piece apex seals have also been proposed. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,648, issued March 2, 1982 to Shimizu et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,259, issued November 9, 1982 to Morita. However, it would be desirable to provide an apex seal assembly with improved wear capabilities for use in the high speed and high temperature environment of a stratified charge rotary internal combustion engine.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to analog filter circuits, and particularly to a digitally programmable active-RC filter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Active-RC (resistor-capacitor) filters based on operational amplifiers (op-amps) offer the highest dynamic range among the different filtering techniques. This is mainly due to their superior linearity compared with other techniques. However, the lack of efficient programmability features hinders their wide use in integrated circuits (ICs), wherein tuning properties are essential to compensate for process, component and temperature variations. The MOSFET-C approach was suggested to provide the missing tuning property, but it suffers from poor linearity, and hence limited dynamic range. Also, its tuning range is limited, particularly for low power supply voltages.
Digitally programmable devices are attractive for mixed digital-analog applications. The digital tuning property allows direct interfacing with the digital signal processing (DSP) part available in most modern systems, providing power-efficient design solution. Banks of resistors and/or capacitors can be employed in active-RC filters to offer the programmability feature. However, they occupy relatively large silicon area. In addition, the switching transistors (quasi-static switches) within the banks are associated with finite non-linear resistances.
Thus, a digitally programmable active-RC filter solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
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{
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Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept is directed to a method, apparatus, and computer readable storage medium directed to a game that allows players to use a secondary currency or loyalty points earned in a casual game played online to augment play on an electronic gaming machine that is played in a physical casino for real money.
Description of the Related Art
Throughout the history of casinos, slot machines have been played in the same general manner. A player deposits cash (or coins, etc.) into a slot machine, plays numerous games (which can win or lose) and then cashes out when the player is finished playing (unless the player has no funds remaining).
A recent phenomenon is that of “casual play” games online. These are games, such as online gambling games, where players play online for free (not for real money). Players enjoy playing online because they get a somewhat “watered down” casino experience right from home. They are called “casual games” because typically the online games are not played for real money (and thus the play is “casual” because players do not have to worry that they will lose money).
Until now, there has been no merger or synergy of these two experiences. What is needed is a mechanism to conjoin these two experiences so that players who play casual games can use their casual play time to improve their play experience in real life casinos.
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Most industrial and semiconductor vacuum processes are performed in high vacuum environments, where pressures are between 10.sup.-4 to 10.sup.-8 torr. Ultra-high vacuums, where pressures are below 10.sup.-8 torr, often use the technique called "Getter Pumping". The present invention has advanced the use of the Getter pumping technique into high-vacuum applications, with significant performance-advantages over conventional pumping techniques.
Gettering is a process that pumps or purifies gases by chemical reaction with an active metal material. For example, oxygen is pumped by forming a metallic oxide. Getter material will not pump inert gases such as helium, argon, krypton, neon or xenon. Evaporable getters are presently in use in the vacuum industry for pumping. In this case, the getter material, usually titanium, is deposited by evaporation onto a substrate, such as the lid of a vacuum chamber, as a thin film. The thin film is quickly used up by reaction, and must be constantly replaced, in the pressure range of between 10.sup.-3 to 10.sup.-7 torr. In fact, it is difficult to replace the film fast enough to use in this pressure range, so this process is generally only used at ultrahigh vacuum (below 10.sup.7 torr), where there are fewer molecules requiring pumping.
Non-evaporable getters are materials that can be used by heating a solid material to temperatures high enough to make it react with the active gases to be pumped. In general, the gases will react on the surface of the getter material, and then slowly migrate into the bulk or body of the getter material. The temperature of a given getter material will control both the rate of reaction and the speed at which the migration occurs. A new charge of getter will be covered with reacted material and will require "activation" before it will pump efficiently. In most cases, this requires a short heating cycle that is at a higher temperature than the operating temperature. The pumping speed of the pump is dependent upon the amount of getter material available for reaction, and the amount of surface area available for reaction.
As stated above, the use of getter-materials as vacuum-pumping vehicles is well-known. The "gettering" process has been around since the early days of the electron tube industry. Materials that react with chemically-active gases to produce low, vapor-pressure compounds were placed in electron tubes to "get" the gases. The term has survived, as did the terms "getters" and "gettering".
Getter-materials are used in many products and processes where one needs to maintain a vacuum against small gas-loads. Sputter-ion pumps and titanium sublimation-pumps use getter-materials in their operation. Strip-mounted films of getter-material also are used as hydrogen pumps in accelerators. The common thread that runs through these gettering systems is that each is a relatively low-throughput device that is ideally suited for clean, ultra-high vacuum processors, where gas-loads are low.
As stated above, getter-pumps may be divided into two basic types: Deposited film (evaporable) or stable state (non-evaporable). Deposited-film, evaporable getters are the more common of the two. As explained above, thin films of getter-material are deposited on host surfaces, such as a chamber wall, where the gettering action takes place. These surfaces are at room temperature, or are cooled below room temperature. The deposited (getter) films are formed by sputtering, as in sputter-ion pumps, or by evaporation, as in sublimation pumps. Titanium is the most commonly deposited getter material. Unfortunately, these films are quickly used up by reaction with the pumped active gases, and must be continually renewed. This means that the gas-load the film is expected to pump is proportional to the rate of renewal needed for the film material. Although deposited films are perfectly capable of pumping a system down to high vacuum from roughing pressure, they have difficulty in meeting a steady gas-load at these pressures. These films also have lower pumping speeds at conventional roughing pressures, so they are difficult and time-consuming to use during the first part of a pump-down cycle. Deposited films do not reach their best performance-levels until ultra-high vacuum (UHV) levels are reached. In addition, they require a significant surface area upon which to be deposited. Although deposited-film getters are clean, their low throughput in high vacuum is compounded by their need for large host surfaces. This usually results in peeling and powdering of the exhausted films, necessitating frequent cleaning of the pump.
The second type, steady-state, or non-evaporable, stable getter pumps use the same pumping mechanism as the thin-film getters, in that they react with the active gases to be pumped. But their similarity stops there. Steady-state getter material remain as solid forms that continually sorb the gases. Normally, these materials are heated during operation. Heat helps diffuse the pumped, active gases into the bulk of the getter-material, which then continually exposes fresh getter-material surfaces. Steady-state getter-materials are commercially available in strip form, where a getter-film is bonded to a support strip, or in bulk forms, such as pills, pellets, or chunks. As in all gettering systems, a solid-state getter-material has a finite ability to sorb gases before it becomes saturated.
As stated before, most commercial vacuum processes only require high vacuum, not ultra-high vacuum, and, therefore have not used the getter-pumping method, because of the disadvantages summarized above. These high-vacuum (HV) commercial processes require short pump-down times and repeated pump-down cycles between process-loads. In many processes, however, fast pump-down is not enough. Cleanliness of the pumping process also is vital, as more stringent processes are developed.
Conventional, non-gettering, pumping techniques typically employ an oil-sealed mechanical pump, which cannot easily reach roughing pressures below several millitorr. The amount of gas that any getter-pumping system would have to sorb at these relatively-high pressures would exhaust its ability to pump, if it had to pump down repeatedly from these high pressures. An oil-sealed, mechanical pump requires an additional high-vacuum pump, such as a turbomolecular pump, to reach lower pressures before any gettering pump could be employed. Molecular-drag pump technology changed this by not only providing cleaner roughing, but by also allowing roughing pressures of 10.sup.-4 to 10.sup.-6 torr to be routinely achieved. Roughing to these pressures has opened a new application for getter pumping. Experiments with a small, strip getter-pump demonstrated that one can easily and quickly evacuate a chamber when roughing pressures are reduced below 10.sup.-4 torr. However, there is a problem with using a molecular-drag pump/getter strip pump system for industrial processes. When the pump has to re-evacuate the chamber shortly after it has been opened to air between process cycles, the throughput becomes limited. This limitation is traceable to the amount of surface area of getter material available for pumping. When the pump meets a steady-gas load, the getter surface becomes covered with reacted gas, which diffuses into the bulk of the material at a rate governed by its composition and temperature. If the surfaces are in equilibrium with a small gas load, the surface will not be able to recover its full pumping speed quickly enough to deal with a higher gas load when the system is opened to air and roughed down quickly.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cell in which the activity of a protein relating to transport of an intracellular sugar nucleotide, GDP-fucose, to the Golgi body is more decreased or deleted than its parent cell; a process for producing an antibody composition using the cell; a transgenic non-human animal or plant or the progenies thereof, in which genome is modified so as to have a decreased or deleted activity of a protein relating to transport of an intracellular sugar nucleotide, GDP-fucose, to the Golgi body; a process for producing an antibody composition from the animal or plant; and a medicament comprising the antibody composition.
2. Brief Description of the Background Art
In the Fc region of an antibody of an IgG type, two N-glycoside-linked sugar chain binding sites are present. In serum IgG, to the sugar chain binding site, generally, binds a complex type sugar chain having plural branches and in which addition of sialic acid or bisecting N-acetylglucosamine is low. It is known that there is variety regarding the addition of galactose to the non-reducing end of the complex type sugar chain and the addition of fucose to the N-acetylglucosamine in the reducing end [Biochemistry, 36, 130 (1997)].
It has been considered that such a structure of a sugar chain is determined by a glycosyltransferase which synthesizes a sugar chain and a glycolytic enzyme which hydrolyzes the sugar chain.
Synthesis of an N-glycoside-linked sugar chain is described below.
Glycoproteins are modified with a sugar chain in the endoplasmic reticulum (hereinafter referred to as “ER”) lumen. During the biosynthesis step of the N-glycoside-linked sugar chain, a relatively large sugar chain is transferred to the polypeptide chain which is elongating in the ER lumen. In the transformation, the sugar chain is firstly added in succession to phosphate groups of a long chain lipid carrier comprising about 20 α-isoprene units, which is called dolichol phosphate (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “P-Dol”). That is, N-acetylglucosamine is transferred to dolichol phosphate to thereby form GlcNAc-P-P-Dol and then one more GlcNAc is transferred to form GlcNAc-GlcNAc-P-P-Dol. Next, five mannoses (hereinafter mannose is also referred to as “Man”) are transferred to thereby form (Man)5-(GlcNAc)2-P-P-Dol and then four Man's and three glucoses (hereinafter glucose is also referred to as “Glc”) are transferred. Thus, a sugar chain precursor, (Glc)3-(Man)9-(GlcNAc)2-P-P-Dol, called core oligosaccharide is formed. The sugar chain precursor comprising 14 sugars is transferred as a mass to a polypeptide having an asparagine-X-serine or asparagine-X-threonine sequence in the ER lumen. In the reaction, dolichol pyrophosphate (P-P-Dol) bound to the core oligosaccharide is released but again becomes dolichol phosphate by hydrolysis with pyrophosphatase and is recycled. Trimming of the sugar chain immediately starts after the sugar chain binds to the polypeptide. That is, 3 Glc's and 1 or 2 Man's are eliminated on the ER, and it is known that α-1,2-glucosidase I, α-1,3-glucosidase II and α-1,2-mannosidase relates to the elimination.
The glycoprotein which was subjected to trimming on the ER is transferred to the Golgi body and are variously modified. In the cis part of the Golgi body, N-acetylglucosamine phosphotransferase which relates to addition of mannose phosphate, N-acetylglucosamine 1-phosphodiester α-N-acetylglucosaminidase and α-mannosidase I are present and reduce the Man residues to 5. In the medium part of the Golgi body, N-acetylglucosamine transferase I (GnTI) which relates to addition of the first outside GlcNAc of the complex type N-glycoside-linked sugar chain, α-mannosidase II which relates to elimination of 2 Man's, N-acetylglucosamine transferase II (GnTII) which relates to addition of the second GlcNAc from the outside and α1,6-fucosyltransferase which relates to addition of fucose to the reducing end N-acetylglucosamine are present. In the trans part of the Golgi body, galactose transferase which relates to addition of galactose and sialyltransferase which relates to addition of sialic acid such as N-acetylneuraminic acid are present. It is known that N-glycoside-linked sugar chain is formed by activities of these various enzymes.
Regarding the sugar chain of an antibody, Boyd et al. have examined effects of a sugar chain on the antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxic activity (hereinafter referred to as “ADCC activity”) and complement-dependent cytotoxic activity (hereinafter referred to as “CDC activity”) by treating a human CDR-grafted antibody CAMPATH-1H (human IgG1 subclass) produced by a Chinese hamster ovary cell (CHO cell) or a mouse myeloma produced by NS0 cell with various sugar hydrolyzing enzymes, and reported that elimination of the non-reducing end sialic acid did not have influence upon both activities, but the CDC activity alone was affected by further removal of galactose residue and about 50% of the activity was decreased, and that complete removal of the sugar chain caused disappearance of both activities [Molecular Immol., 32, 1311 (1995)]. Also, Lifely et al. have analyzed the sugar chain bound to a human CDR-grafted antibody CAMPATH-1H (human IgG1 subclass) which was produced by CHO cell, NS0 cell or rat myeloma YO cell, measured its ADCC activity, and reported that the CAMPATH-1H produced by YO cell showed the highest ADCC activity, suggesting that N-acetylglucosamine (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “GlcNAc”) at the bisecting position is important for the activity [Glycobiology, 5, 813 (1995); WO 99/54342].
Furthermore, regarding a sugar chain in an antibody, it is reported that addition-modification of fucose to N-acetylglucosamine in the reducing end in the N-glycoside-linked sugar chain of an antibody changes the ADCC activity of the antibody greatly (WO00/61739). These reports indicate that the structure of the sugar chain plays an important role in the effector functions of human antibodies of IgG1 subclass.
In general, most of the humanized antibodies of which application to medicaments is in consideration are prepared by using genetic recombination techniques and produced by using Chinese hamster ovary tissue-derived CHO cell as the host cell. However, as described above, since the sugar chain structure plays a remarkably important role in the effector function of antibodies and differences of the sugar chain structure of glycoproteins depend on host cells which produce the glycoproteins, development of a host cell which can be used for the production of an antibody having higher effector function is desired.
In order to adjust the activity of an enzyme relating to modification of a sugar chain in a host cell and modify the sugar chain structure of the produced glycoprotein, a method in which an inhibitor against an enzyme relating to the modification of a sugar chain is applied has been attempted.
Examples of an inhibitor against an enzyme relating to the modification of a sugar chain include tunicamycin which selectively inhibits formation of GlcNAc-P-P-Dol which is the first step of the formation of a core oligosaccharide which is a precursor of an N-glycoside-linked sugar chain, castanospermin and N-methyl-1-deoxynojirimycin which are inhibitors of glycosidase I, bromocondulitol which is an inhibitor of glycosidase II, 1-deoxynojirimycin and 1,4-dioxy-1,4-imino-D-mannitol which are inhibitors of mannosidase I, swainsonine which is an inhibitor of mannosidase II and the like. Examples of an inhibitor specific for a glycosyltransferase include deoxy derivatives of substrates against N-acetylglucosamine transferase V (GnTV) and the like [Glycobiology Series 2-Destiny of Sugar Chain in Cell (Kodan-sha Scientific), edited by Katsutaka Nagai, Senichiro Hakomori and Akira Kobata (1993)]. Also, it is known that 1-deoxynojirimycin inhibits synthesis of a complex type sugar chain and increases the ratio of high mannose type and hybrid type sugar chains. Actually, it has been reported that sugar chain structure of IgG produced by a hybridoma was changed and properties such as antigen binding activity or DCC activity were changed when the inhibitors such as castonospermine, N-methyl-1-deoxynojirimycin, swainsonine and tunicamycin were added to a medium [Molecular Immunol., 26, 1113 (1989)]. However, since these inhibitors have weak specificity and also cannot inhibit the target enzyme sufficiently, it is difficult to surely control the sugar chain structure of the produced antibody.
Also, an attempt has been made to modify the sugar chain structure of a produced glycoprotein by introducing an enzyme gene relating to the modification of sugar chains into the host cell, and specifically, it has been reported that 1) it is possible to produce a protein in which sialic acid is added in a large number to the non-reducing end of a sugar chain by introducing rat β-galactoside-α-2,6-sialyltransferase into CHO cell [J. Biol. Chem., 261, 13848 (1989)], 2) it is possible to express an H antigen in which fucose (hereinafter also referred to as “Fuc”) is added to the non-reducing end of a sugar chain (Fucα1-2Galβ1-) by introducing human β-galactoside-2-α-fucosyltransferase into mouse L cell [Science, 252, 1668 (1991)], and 3) it is possible to produce an antibody having a high addition ratio of the bisecting N-acetylglucosamine of N-glycoside binding sugar chains by producing an antibody using a β-1,4-N-acetylglucosamine transferase III (GnTIII)-introduced CHO cell [Glycobiology, 5, 813 (1995): WO 99/54342]. When the antibody was expressed by using a GnTIII-introduced CHO cell, it showed 16 times higher ADCC activity than the antibody expressed in the parent cell. However, since it has been reported that over-expression of GnTIII or β-1,4-N-acetylglucosamine transferase V (GnTV) shows toxicity upon CHO cell, it is not suitable for the production of antibody medicaments.
It has also been reported on a production example of a glycoprotein in which a produced sugar chain structure was changed by using, as a host cell, a mutant in which the activity of an enzyme gene relating to the modification of sugar chains was changed, and as its example, it has been reported that an antibody having a high mannose type sugar chain structure was produced by using a mutant clone of CHO cell in which the activity of 4-N-acetylglucosamine transferase I (GnTI) [J. Immunol., 160, 3393 (1998)] was deleted. In addition, expression of an antibody having a sugar chain structure in which sialic acid is not bound to the non-reducing side in the sugar chain and an expression example of an antibody having a sugar chain structure to which galactose is not bound, by using a CMP-sialic acid transporter- or UDP-galactose transporter-deficient cell line, respectively, have been reported, but no antibody having improved effector functions suitable for the application to medicaments has been found [J. Immunol., 160, 3393 (1998)]. Since the mutant clones have been obtained as clones resulting from the introduction of random mutation by mutagen treatment, they are not suitable as clones used in the production of pharmaceutical preparations.
Thus, in order to modify a sugar chain structure of a produced glycoprotein, attempts have been made to control the activity of an enzyme relating to the modification of sugar chains in host cells. However, in fact, since the sugar chain modification mechanism is varied and complicated and it cannot be said that physiological roles of sugar chains has been sufficiently revealed, it is the present situation that trial and error are repeated. Particularly, it has been revealed gradually that effector functions of antibodies have great influences by sugar chain structures, but a host cell capable of producing antibody molecules modified with a most suitable sugar chain structure has not been obtained yet.
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Conventionally, an information processing system with a plurality of servers has a failover capability with which, when any server has a fault, another server takes over the operation that is performed by the faulty server so as to prevent the service from being stopped.
An explanation is given below, with reference to FIGS. 18A to 18D, of an example of the failover capability. FIG. 18A is a diagram that illustrates a failover capability in an Active-passive mode. For instance, in the example illustrated in FIG. 18A, an information processing system includes an operating server #1 that provides a service A and a service B and includes a standby server #2 that does not provide any services. In this information processing system, if an error occurs in the server #1, the server #2 takes over the provision of the service A and the service B, whereby each of the services is continuously provided.
FIG. 18B is a diagram that illustrates a failover capability in an Active-Active mode. In the example illustrated in FIG. 18B, the information processing system includes the server #1 that provides the service A and the server #2 that provides the service B. In this information processing system, if an error occurs in the server #1, the server #2 takes over the provision of the service A, whereby each of the services is continuously provided.
FIG. 18C is a diagram that illustrates a failover capability in an N-to-1 mode. In the example illustrated in FIG. 18C, the information processing system includes the server #1 that provides the service A, the server #2 that provides the service B, a server #3 that provides a service C, and a standby server #4. In this information processing system, if an error occurs in the server #1, the standby server #4 takes over the provision of the service A, whereby each of the services is continuously provided.
FIG. 18D is a diagram that illustrates a ring-type failover capability. In the example illustrated in FIG. 18D, the information processing system includes the server #1 that provides the service A, the server #2 that provides the service B, the server #3 that provides the service C, and the server #4 that provides a service D. In this information processing system, if an error occurs in any of the servers #1 to #4, a different server that is specified in a ring form takes over the service that is provided by the server where the error occurs, whereby each of the services is continuously provided. For example, in the information processing system, if an error occurs in the server #1, the server #2 takes over the provision of the service A, whereby each of the services is continuously provided.
Furthermore, there is a known technology of injecting a simulated fault into a server that is included in an information processing system so as to perform a test to check whether the failover capability applied to the information processing system is properly implemented. For example, there is a known technology in which a simulated fault is generated in a server that is included in the information processing system by using a jig, such as a clip, or software for generating a simulated fault, and a test is performed to check whether the failover capability is properly implemented.
An explanation is given below, with reference to FIG. 19, of an example of the technology for performing a test to check whether the failover capability is properly implemented. FIG. 19 is an example of a flowchart that illustrates the steps of a cluster failover test. In the example illustrated in FIG. 19, an explanation is given of a case where a user performs a test to check whether a plurality of failover capabilities is properly implemented.
For example, a user designs a cluster of servers that are the subjects for a test (Step S1). Next, the user prepares for the servers that constitute the designed cluster (Step S2) and installs an OS (Operation System) in each of the servers (Step S3).
The user then makes settings for the failover capability and the service to be implemented by each of the servers (Step S4). The user then uses a jig or software to inject a simulated fault into a server so as to generate an error (Step S5). Afterward, the user checks whether the set failover capability is properly implemented (Step S6).
Next, the user performs a failback operation to restore the status of the information processing system to the pre-error status (Step S7). Furthermore, the user determines whether a test has been performed on all of the failover capabilities (Step S8) and, if a test has been performed on all of the failover capabilities (Yes at Step S8), the test for the failover capability is terminated.
Here, in some cases, damage occurs in data that is stored in the HDD (Hard Disk Drive) included in the server due to the type of injected fault, the OS is not properly operated and, as a result, a failback operation is not performed. Therefore, if a test has not been performed on all of the failover capabilities (No at Step S8), the user determines whether damage occurs in the data stored in the HDD of each of the servers (Step S9).
If damage occurs in the data stored in the HDD of any of the servers (Yes at Step S9), the user returns to Step S3 so as to reinstall the OS (Step S3). Conversely, if damage does not occur in the data stored in the HDD of each of the servers (No at Step S9), the user returns to Step S5 so as to inject a simulated fault into the server and generate an error (Step S5). As to the specific details of technologies as described about, see Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2000-057108, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 56-021253, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 07-262101, for example.
However, in the technology of injecting a fault by using a jig, software, or the like, if damage occurs in the data that is stored in the HDD of any of the servers, the OS is reinstalled; therefore, there is a problem in that the failover capability is not continuously tested.
For example, the OS data is sometimes damaged if the power source of a server is forcibly turned off while data is written in the HDD included in the server or if uncorrectable data is injected into the HDD. In such a case, as the user does not perform a failback operation properly, the user reinstalls the OS. As a result, the user does not continuously test the failover capability.
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Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for packaging an object with a tubular film, the apparatus comprising a main frame, a stretch frame for stretching the tubular film and to applying the tubular film to the object, and a top frame having a feeding device for delivering a tubular film from a film magazine to the stretch frame and having a cutting device to cut the tubular film to a predetermined length, wherein the top frame is moveable at the main frame between a working position and a maintenance position.
Such an apparatus is basically used as a universal applicable pallet load securing system based on stretch hood technology to secure a large range of stacked loads to a pallet. The system guarantees optimum product safety by protecting it against humidity, UV radiation and other weather conditions as well as against the danger of cargo shift during transport.
Description of Related Art
Such an apparatus is known from EP 2 069 206 B1 for packaging objects, in particular stacks of goods which are arranged on a pallet. The tubular film is delivered by the feeding device of the top frame from a film roll. The top frame is located on top of the main frame and delivers the tubular film from the film roll which is arranged beside the main frame. Hence, the tubular film is pulled up to the top frame by the feeding device and is supplied to a work space of the main frame underneath the top frame. The tubular film is cut and sealed by a combined cutting and sealing device to form a film hood which can be arranged over the stack of goods. The film hood protects the goods from external influences and gives increased stability to the stack. The film hood is grasped by a gripper device of the stretch frame, opened and stretched. Subsequently, the opened film hood is pulled downwardly over the stack of goods. Finally, the grippers are pulled out of the film hood so that the film hood completely shrinks over the stack of goods elastically. Alternatively or additionally, the film hood can be shrunk by applying heat to the tubular film. In order to maintain the top frame, especially the feeding device or the cutting device, the top frame can be moved from an upper working position downwardly in a vertical direction for lowering the top frame to a maintenance position within the main frame. Consequently, the maintenance and repair work may be handled in a comfortable position and at a low height. However, the operator or worker has to enter the work space which is generally not preferably because the work space is generally a dangerous area for workers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,636 B1 discloses a comparable apparatus wherein for maintenance reasons a gantry is provided on top of the main frame so that an operator can access the devices of the top frame. The top frame is fixed to the main frame and cannot be moved relative to the main frame.
The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which is easy to maintain without exposing an operator to a dangerous situation.
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It is well known that organoalkoxysilanes are useful as water-repellent agents for porous inorganic base materials, i.e., construction materials such as concrete, mortar, and masonry. Such water-repellent agents are normally used in the form of organic solutions prepared by dissolving organoalkoxysilanes in organic solvents. However, the organic solvents used for the above purposes are toxic and easily flammable. Furthermore, since they raise a question of environmental pollution, a need exists for water-repellent agents in the form of water-based emulsions prepared by emulsifying organoalkoxysilanes with the use of water as a diluent.
It has been proposed to use water-repellent agents in the form of emulsion compositions prepared by emulsifying an alkylalkoxysilane with the use of nonionic surfactants having a HYDROPHILE-LIPOPHILE BALANCE (HLB) within the range of 4 to 15. In this regard, reference may be had to Japanese Examined Patent Application (Kokoku) HEI 3-13195/U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,904 issued Mar. 10, 1987. For emulsion compositions prepared by emulsifying an alkylalkoxysilane with the combined use of both nonionic surfactants and anionic surfactants, reference may be had to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application (Kokai) HEI 4-114979.
However, since the alkylalkoxysilane and water are separated from each other over time, the aforementioned compositions are inferior to the organic-solvent type water-repellent agents with regard to their storage properties. Furthermore, when they are applied onto the surfaces of porous inorganic base materials, they cannot impart sufficient water-repellent properties to these surfaces.
It was proposed, therefore, to solve these problems by means of an emulsion composition prepared by emulsifying an organoalkoxysilane and an organopolysiloxane of a specific structure with the use of an anionic emulsifier. In this regard, reference may be had to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application (Kokai) HEI 6-313167. However, this emulsion composition required a significant drying time until the coated surface could reach sufficient water-repellent properties. In addition, the obtained water-repellent properties quickly deteriorated.
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One or more aspects relate, in general, to processing within a computing environment, and in particular, to facilitating such processing.
Various string operations, such as C string operations, have variable length termination semantics, regardless of the selected operating system. Therefore, traditional string operations that expect a known string length are not a good match for implementing such string operations.
To accelerate processing of strings and other sequences, the z/Architecture offered by International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y., introduced instructions with a defined terminator. Such instructions include, for instance, a Move String (MVST) instruction and a Compare Logical String (CLST) instruction. These instructions are implemented in hardware or microcode.
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The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for decomposition treating waste articles having cured thermosetting resin as binder, which is excellent in strength and heat resistance and widely used as industrial material.
Thermosetting resins such as unsaturated polyester resin and epoxy resin have been used in molding compounds, laminated plates, adhesives, paints and the like, because they are easy to mix with fillers and inorganic additives and reinforced by fibers.
Those thermosetting resins are crosslinked by curing reaction to have a three-dimensional structure and generally become an insoluble and non-meltable solid. Since it is difficult to decomposition treat the cured thermosetting resin, those cured thermosetting resin wastes have been disposed of as not suitable for recycling and reuse.
With the waste disposal problem getting serious in recent years, meanwhile, there has arisen necessity of recycling those cured thermosetting resin wastes, prompting research and development of technology for recycling the waste resins as raw materials by thermal decomposition. For example, fiber-reinforced unsaturated polyester resin is widely used in large structures such as fishing boats, tanks and housing materials, and it is a serious problem how to dispose their wastes.
Cured thermosetting resins are distinguished by their hardness, strength, heat resistance, inflammability, chemical resistance and other properties. Those advantageous features have in return made their waste disposal technologically difficult.
Because of their strength, thermosetting resins are widely used as structural material, often with such materials as metal. Since metals are higher in price than thermosetting resins, it is more important to recycle and reuse such metals.
Though small in size, on the other hand, copper-coated laminated plates and IC molds containing epoxy resin, phenol resin or the like as binder further contain such noble metals as copper, gold, silver and the like in addition to paper, fiber and the like. That is, separation of those metals is needed in addition to the decomposition treatment of thermosetting resin wastes.
However, the conventional treating techniques were insufficient for recycling those metallic components as resources for reuse.
In view of those problems, the object of the present invention is to promote recycling the cured thermosetting resin wastes as resource for reuse, which the prior art has attempted with limited success.
In concrete, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple method and apparatus for decomposition treating waste articles containing cured thermosetting resins to reuse those waste resins and other components therein as resources.
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The widespread use of chainsaws and similar high speed cutting devices, both commercially and individually, has resulted in many serious injuries to the users. The frequency and magnitude of these injuries have been a major concern to safety organizations, employers and insurance companies. Numerous protective and safety measures and devices have been proposed to protect the users of these devices.
Of interest to the present invention are the following:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) Date of Issue ______________________________________ 2,757,460 Bufis 08/07/56 2,872,745 Finegan 02/10/59 2,902,779 Cook 09/08/59 2,945,308 Pence 07/19/60 3,003,261 Graham et al 10/10/61 3,128,565 Graham et al 04/14/64 4,079,527 Antonius 03/21/78 4,503,566 Wheeler 03/12/85 4,526,828 Fogt et al 07/02/85 D 288,382 Birchwood 02/24/87 4,665,633 Edgerton 05/19/87. ______________________________________
Bufis discloses a pants protector formed of a thin waterproof material adapted to be fitted over the lower portion of the trousers leg and the upper part of the shoe to protect the same against the elements.
Finegan discloses a spat-like protector of duckbill design having a cuff of pliable leather to wrap around the ankle and a foot covering portion of tough flexible leather. The device is to protect the wearer from the shock of falling objects and to guard against spills.
Two piece rigid leggings constructed of resinous fiber reinforced plastic which encircle the leg from the knee to the vamp of the shoe are disclosed by Cook.
Pence discloses a metal snake guard comprised of two contoured sides hinged by leather strips. The protector extends from the knee to the ankle.
Graham et al, in both references, disclose a hunting boot protector having two pieces; a foot covering member and a leg covering member attached to the foot covering member. The device is constructed of a fiber impregnated resin plastic.
Antonius discloses a shoe having a flap, tab or strap to maintain a constant tautness across the toes, arch and ankle of the wearer. A continuous variable attachment means is provided.
Wheeler discloses a device to protect feet and legs against molten metal contact comprising a two-piece upper portion which wraps around a user's lower leg and a stiff flare portion to cover the top of the user's shoe.
Fogt et al disclose a protective material for gloves, leggings, aprons, sleeves and the like. The material comprises a textile base material, an intermediate layer of para aramid fiber having large pores and an outer layer of an elastomeric material. The elastomeric material extends through the pores of the intermediate layer.
Birchwood discloses a flexible shoe/boot heel protector.
Edgerton discloses a shoe top cover formed of a single thickness of flexible fabric to protect the shoe upper from paint or plastic dripping.
None of these references are directed toward providing protection to users of high speed cutting tools and which also permit the user to wear the protective device while engaged in normal walking and working situations. Even leather boots and so-called "safety shoes" do not provide protection against a high speed chainsaw.
U.K. Patent No. 4084 issued to Budischowsky, Mar. 31, 1904 discloses a cloth on leather gaiter formed of two pieces sewn together. A strip is provided to encircle the wearer's ankle so the gaiter can be worn over the user's shoe.
The applicant is aware of one type of protective device designed for use with chainsaws which is a protective chaps type of garment. The chaps are more fully described in Specification 6170-4D, January 1989 for Chaps, Chainsaw, published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service which covers the requirements for nylon covered para aramid chainsaw chaps. The chaps, which are intended for use by workers operating chainsaws, are cut resistant and provide protection for the legs and lower torso area. These chaps are widely used by employees in the lumber industry, but despite this use, there is still a disturbingly high incidence of serious injuries to the feet of employees caused by accidents with chainsaws.
U.K. Patent Application No. 2,219,727A, published Dec. 20, 1989, disclosed an item of protective clothing having a layer which is designed to "strand" when contacted by a chainsaw blade. The length of any strand of the material is considerably longer than the length or breadth of the actual fabric layer.
A satisfactory device to provide protection to the shoe, boot and ankle of a chainsaw operator was disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 746,054. In that disclosure, a protective cover is provided having an para aramid fabric lining and designed to be worn over a shoe or boot. However, there still exists room for improvement of the structure of the protective cover to provide greater safety to the operator of a chainsaw.
It is very important to adequately and positively secure the protective cover to the shoe or boot of the chainsaw operator in a manner to assure that the protective cover is not separated from the shoe or boot as a result of the forces applied to the cover by contact with the high speed blade of the chainsaw. The protective cover must be held firmly about the ankle of the wearer so that movement of the protective cover away from the ankle is prevented. Also, the cover cannot have open sides and must be held close to the shoe or boot so that, while worn, underbrush and other objects cannot enter between the boot and the cover and hinder the normal walking of the wearer. Furthermore, the front of the shoe or boot, must be held firmly in place. Contact of this portion of the cover, which is the most probable point of contact by a chainsaw, will result in separating of the cover from the shoe or boot if the cover is not held adequately in place. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 764,605 discloses means for detachably securing the protective cover to the sole plane of the shoe or boot.
While this protective cover is an advancement over the prior art, there exists a need for a cover which is permanently secured to the shoe or boot so that the user's feet and ankles are protected at all times while the shoe or boot is worn.
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Fruits have been preserved against microbial spoilage by drying to very low moisture levels since time immemorial. It is now known that microbial spoilage is a function of water activity rather than moisture content. Water activity is the ratio of the vapor pressure of water in a material to the vapor pressure of pure water at the same temperature. Microorganisms have limits on their ability to prevent the loss of water from their cells and, if the water activity of their environment is too low, the cells cannot regulate the water loss and either become dormant or die. For example, few bacteria can survive at water activities less than about 0.85, few yeasts can survive at activities less than about 0.80, and few molds can survive at activities less than about 0.71.
In addition to its role in microbial spoilage, the water activity of a fruit is important when the fruit is used in products such as breakfast cereals. The cereal flakes, commonly derived from corn, wheat, rice, or other grains, are generally very dry and crisp with moisture contents of less than about 5.0 weight percent and water activities of less than about 0.5. If a fruit having a water activity higher than that of the flakes is mixed with the flakes, there will be a transfer of water from the fruit to the flakes, causing the flakes to become soggy. Accordingly, to retard or eliminate microbial spoilage and to reduce or eliminate the flow of water to the cereal flakes, fruits having low water activities are used in breakfast cereals. To date, the primary means for obtaining a fruit with a low water activity is to dry it to a low moisture level.
The use of extremely dry fruit in breakfast cereals is not without disadvantages. Extremely dry fruit tends to be hard, shrivelled, poor-tasting, and otherwise undesirable organoleptically. A soft, firm, pleasant-tasting fruit having a higher moisture level, but still having a low water activity, would be very desirable for use in breakfast cereals and in other applications.
A number of processes have been disclosed for infusing fruit with sugar or other humectants by immersion in a concentrated aqueous solution. When the fruit's water activity exceeds that of the solution and the solution's humectant activity exceeds that of the fruit, there is diffusion of water from the fruit to the solution and diffusion of the humectant from the solution to the fruit until equilibrium is reached. An increase in humectant content lowers the water activity of the fruit by reason of the humectant's ability to "bind" water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,545, issued Oct. 4, 1988, (Augustine et al.) reviews a number of publications relevant to this topic (the relevant portions of said patent being incorporated herein by reference).
For example, Augustine et al. discuss U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,772, issued Mar. 17, 1981, (Shanbhag) which discloses a process for preparing fruits having a moisture content of about 18 to 34 weight percent and a water activity of about 0.40 to 0.65 for use in breakfast cereals. The fruits are infused with certain solutes to attain a lower water activity relative to their moisture content. Suitable solutes are edible polyhydric alcohols such as glycerol, mannitol, sorbitol, and propylene glycol, and sugars such as dextrose and sucrose. Shanbhag states that the process may be started with a fruit having a moisture content much higher than 15 weight percent and then dehydrating the fruit prior to infusion to produce an infused fruit having the desired moisture content. Example V of Shanbhag describes the infusion of commercial dehydrated peach slices.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,550, issued June 28, 1983, (Kahn) discloses in Example 11 another process for infusing fruit with solutes to control its water activity at about 0.45 to 0.65. Kahn bathes the fruit in a fructose-containing corn syrup comprising about 70 to 80 percent sugar solids, about 40 to 90 percent of which is fructose.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,711, issued Sept. 12, 1982, (Kahn) also discusses a process for infusing fruit with solutes. Kahn bathes the fruit in a series of at least two aqueous sugar solutions, the sugar in each of which comprises about 35 to 100 weight percent fructose, to gradually increase the sugar content of the fruit to about 32 to 55 weight percent. Kahn states that the gradual increase in sugar content minimizes "osmotic shock" and results in a reduced loss of volume by the fruit. Kahn teaches that the "driving force for the infusion of the sugar solutes of the infusion bath into the fruit is the osmotic pressure of the system resulting from the fact that the sugar solids concentration of the bath is greater than the water soluble solids content of the fruit prior to infusion." Kahn at col. 3, lines 3 to 8. Kahn further states that, in general, prior to infusion, the fruit is de-stemmed, the core is removed, and the fruit is washed and/or bathed in a solution of salt or acid (e.g., ascorbic acid).
Another fruit infusion process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,348, issued Nov. 5, 1985 (O'Mahoney) and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,434, issued Dec. 2, 1986 (O'Mahoney). O'Mahoney bathes the fruit in an aqueous sugar solution having about 30 to 84 weight percent solids, about 35 to 100 weight percent of which is fructose, which is stabilized against dilution by the addition of a concentrated sugar solution into the bath and the withdrawal of a substantially equal volume of diluted syrup. O'Mahoney states that this process enables fruit solute levels to be raised to the desired level before detrimental shrinkage of the fruit due to dehydration occurs. O'Mahoney also states that, in general, prior to infusion, the fruit is de-stemmed, the core is removed, and the fruit is washed (including bathing in aqueous salt of acid) and dried.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,033, issued Sept. 17, 1985, (Agarwala) discloses an infusion process especially adapted for fruits having a high pectin content, such as apples, pears, cherries, etc. The fruits are cooked in an aqueous sugar solution (at least 30% solids) at a pH of about 1.5 to 3.75 and then cooled below their gelling point to form a gel within and between the cells of the fruit. Fructose is disclosed as a suitable sugar.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,968, issued Dec. 21, 1982, (Waitman et al.) discloses a process for preparing a dried grape product comprising infusing a grape with a carbohydrate (e.g., glycerol, fructose, or high fructose corn syrup) and drying the infused grape to produce a raisin-like fruit. At col. 4, lines 61-68, Waitman et al. favorably compare their process to the process of drying a grape to form a raisin, then infusing the raisin and then again drying the infused raisin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,035, issued July 25, 1978, (Fulger) discloses a process for treating raisins and other fruits to improve their softness retention under storage conditions. The first step of the process is to contact the fruit with a hot, weak acid and then wash with water. After washing, the moisture content of the fruit is about 22 weight percent. The second step of the process is to contact the fruit with an edible polyalcohol humectant. Preferred humectants are glycerol and sorbitol. Other humectants disclosed include inverted sugar syrup. The third step is to wash with water and dry to a moisture content of about 12 to 20 weight percent. Fulger states that the acid treatment prior to contact with the humectant improves the fruit's absorption of the humectant. The treated fruit has a humectant content of about 3 to 20 weight percent. Water activities of the treated fruit are not given.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,112, issued Apr. 20, 1976, (Fulger) discloses another process for treating raisins and other fruits to improve their softness retention under storage conditions. In place of the acid treatment step disclosed in his '035 patent, Fulger discloses a number of other procedures which improve the fruit's absorption of the humectant. In particular, Fulger teaches that the removal of air bubbles and/or fruit waxes by application of a vacuum and/or washing with a surfactant or alkali is beneficial. Fulger also teaches that absorption of humectants is improved by raising the moisture level of the fruit prior to contact with the humectant:
It has also been found that the initial moisture content of the fruit, prior to exposure to the humectant, affects the rate at which the humectant will be absorbed. In general, the higher the initial moisture content of the raisins, the faster will be the rate of absorption. It is believed that at the higher moisture levels, the moisture dissolves fruit sugars in the fruit and enables the humectant to penetrate the fruit more easily.
Fulger at col. 4, lines 24 to 31.
Bolin, H. R. et al., "Effect of Osmotic Agents and Concentrations on Fruit Quality", Journal of Food Science 48(1):202-205 (1983), describe infusion of fruits in sucrose solutions and in high fructose corn syrups. Bolin et al. found that the high fructose corn syrup absorbed further in the fruit than the sucrose and that fruits infused in high fructose corn syrup exhibited lower water activities than those infused in a sucrose solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,082, issued Nov. 29, 1983, (Kahn et al.) discloses the generation of fructose within whole fruit or segments of fruit by inoculation with enzyme. At col. 2, lines 16-40, and col. 4, lines 26-29, Kahn et al. also refer to the enzymatic isomerization of glucose to fructose, as well as "inversion" of sucrose to fructose and glucose.
In summary, a variety of processes for infusing fruit with fructose and other humectants have been disclosed. The primary goal of many of the processes has been to increase the rate at which the humectant is absorbed by the fruit or to reduce damage to the fruit upon drying and on infusion. Kahn et al. '082 discloses the use of enzymes, as discussed above, to convert fructose to glucose as well as generally increase the fructose content. Augustine et al. disclose that predrying raisins enables one to obtain a higher fructose:dextrose ratio than is obtained by infusion alone.
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Worldwide, colorectal cancer is the third most common cause of death in cancer and approximately one million individuals are diagnosed each year. Despite optimal surgical treatment and modern adjuvant chemotherapy half of patients have recurrences and ultimately die within 5 years from diagnosis. The most important prognostic factors are presence of lymph node or distant metastases, being found in about 50% of all cases. Patients with locoregional lymph node metastases, Duke's C/stage III, have about 60% 5-year survival after surgery, and when distant metastases are present, the 5-year survival rate is less than 10%. The established, adjuvant treatment in stage III patients is 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy, improving absolute 5-year survival by approximately 10%. There is no evidence for a statistically significant survival benefit for chemotherapy in Duke's B/Stage II patients. However, 20% of patients being classified as lymph node negative will suffer from recurrent disease. Some of these patients are likely to be understaged, since it is widely accepted that accurate staging of colon cancer is difficult and heavily dependent on the number of lymph nodes analyzed by the pathologist. The sentinel node, originally defined in penile carcinoma, is the first lymph node to receive lymphatic drainage from a tumour. Sentinel node detection and analysis has recently been applied in colon cancer, improving staging considerably.
The immune system often appears informed about tumours, as shown by an accumulation of immune cells at tumour sites, which correlates with improved prognosis. Immuno competent cells respond to “danger” signals, which can be provided of growing tumours as a consequence of the genotoxic stress of cell transformation and disruption of the surrounding microenvironment. Under ideal conditions, these signals will induce inflammation, activate innate effector cells with antitumour activity, and stimulate professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs), particularly dendritic cells (DCs), to engulf tumour-derived antigens and migrate to draining lymph nodes to trigger an adaptive response by T and B lymphocytes. Thus, the immune system is capable of recognizing and eliminating tumour cells but unfortunately tumours often interfere with the development and function of immune responses. However, recent advances in cellular and molecular immunology suggest strategies, which may prevent antitumour responses. Briefly, the presence of a tumour indicates that the developing cancer was able to avoid detection or to escape or to overwhelm the immune response. Progressing tumours often exhibit strategies that promote evasion from immune recognition. Examples are physical exclusion of immune cells from tumour sites, poor immunogenicity due to reduced expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) or costimulatory proteins, and disruption of natural killer (NK) and natural killer T (NKT) cell recognition. Further, some tumours prevent triggering of an inflammatory response by secreting proteins such as interleukin 10 (IL-10) or vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that interfere with DC activation and differentiation, or by blocking the production of proinflammatory molecules by increasing expression of the STAT3 protein. Even if a response is induced, tumour cells may escape elimination by losing targeted antigens, rendering tumour-reactive T cells anergic, inducing regulatory T cells, or specifically deleting responding T cells. The tumour that finally develops reflects selection of poorly immunogenic and/or immune-resistant malignant cells.
In the adjuvant setting, tumour immunotherapy offers an appealing alternative to traditional cytostatics. One strategy has been to expand and activate NK cells in vitro with out specific antigen by culture with IL-2 followed by infusion of large numbers of these NK cells back into patients alone or with high doses of IL-2. This approach, or administration of high doses of IL-2 to expand and activate NK cells entirely in vivo, has yielded antitumour activity and remission in a subset of patients (Rosenberg S A et al., J Natl Cancer Inst 85, 622, 1993). However, life-threatening toxicity often develops, largely due to the release of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) from activated NK cells. Other attempts to stimulate the innate specific T cell immunity have been done by different types of vaccines. Promising results from animal studies entailed a study in which autologous tumour cells and an adjuvant immunomodulating agent, bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) was given in combination several times to 98 patients with colorectal cancer in a prospectively randomized study. No statistically significant differences were detected in survival but maybe a small decrease in recurrence rate in stage II colon cancer patients. Further studies were done but no statistical clinical benefit in disease-free interval or survival could be seen, not even when combined with 5-FU and Leucovorin. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is expressed by colon cancers and trials have been done to create a monoclonal antibody against CEA. In a study with 23 patients with advanced colorectal cancer 13 true anti-CEA responses were generated, but without clinical responses. Vaccines based on CEA antibodies in combination with 5-FU or based on CEA proteins have been done, but without any clinical responses. The first results with the murine anti-17-1A monoclonal antibody in stage III colon cancer seemed very promising with a 5 year reduction of overall death rate by 30% and a decrease in recurrence rate by 27%, but later analysis of a large randomized study showed no effectiveness superior to standard adjuvant chemotherapy treatment.
Recently, two targeted therapies have been registered for the use in metastatic colorectal cancer. Cetuximab is a monoclonal antibody blocking the epidermal growth factor receptor-EGFR) and Bevacizumab is the first registered monoclonal antibody targeting angiogenesis. Studies, so far, have shown a limited but significant additive increase in survival of metastatic colorectal cancer using a successive combination of these drugs. When comparing 5-FU/LV+irinotecan with 5-FU/LV+irinotecan+bevacizumab (including post-progression chemotherapy in 55% of both groups), the overall survival was 15.6 months and 20.3 months, respectively. However, side effects were very common, with a proportion of patients having severe adverse effects of 85%. Patients treated with bevacizumab developed hypertension in 22% of cases, arterial thrombothic event (10%) and gastrointestinal perforation (1.5%). At least 50% of the patients had hypertension, thrombosis or minor bleedings.
Thus, it is obvious that there is still a need for an effective and at the same time safe treatment of colon cancer and metastases of colon cancer.
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Much of today's computer based cryptography requires cryptographically strong random and/or pseudo-random number input (collectively referred to herein as random number input). The cryptographically strong random number input serves as a basis for the generation of cryptographically strong encryption keys. In some systems, a random number will form an encryption key “as is” (i.e., the random number will be used as an encryption key without modification). In other systems, a random number will be used to “seed” an encryption key generation process.
A common form of cryptography which often requires a random number input is public key cryptography. In a form of public key cryptography referred to as RSA (the Rivest, Shamir, and Adelman approach), three elements are required—a public encryption key, a private encryption key, and a modulus. The public encryption key is simply an arbitrary constant, which is usually recommended to be 3 or 65,537. The private encryption key is computed as a mathematical function of two randomly generated large prime numbers (i.e., two random number inputs) and the public encryption key. The modulus is merely the product of the two large prime numbers. To insure that a user can both send and receive encrypted data, the public encryption key and the modulus are publicly distributed over a network. The private encryption key is not distributed over the network, and is preserved in secrecy by its owner.
To send and receive encrypted data over a network, RSA public key cryptography requires the generation of public and private encryption keys for each user desiring to send and/or receive encrypted data over the network. When User A wants to send encrypted data to User B, User A encrypts their data using User B's public encryption key and modulus. Upon receiving User A's data, User B can decrypt User A's data using their private encryption key and modulus. In other words, User B uses User B's own private encryption key and modulus to decrypt data which User A encrypts using User B's public encryption key and modulus. The success of RSA public key cryptography is based on three principles: 1) if the randomly generated large prime numbers are truly large and truly random, it is extremely difficult for an attacker to factor the user's publicly distributed modulus, and as a result, it is extremely difficult for an attacker to determine the identity of the two prime numbers—a message sent to a specific user can only be decrypted if the two prime numbers factored into the specific user's modulus are known; 2) knowing the algorithm which is used to generate a user's modulus (i.e, multiplication) does not assist an attacker in factoring the user's modulus; and 3) users' private encryption keys can really be kept private since there is no need to transfer copies of these keys from one user to another.
The success of RSA public key cryptography therefore depends in part on the generation of two truly random large prime numbers. Many other forms of cryptography also depend on true random number generation. Unfortunately, random numbers are hard to come by in a computer, since by design, computers are very deterministic. If cryptography systems requiring truly random numbers are not provided with truly random numbers, it becomes much more likely that an attacker might be able to decipher encrypted data.
The problem of random number generation is compounded by the fact that many cryptography systems encrypt many different data packets, each of which, or only a small number of which, share the same random number input. Such systems therefore require a high volume of random number inputs, all of which have no relation to one another and are therefore truly random.
In addition to public key cryptography, other situations arise in which cryptographically strong random numbers are needed. For example, one situation is in zero knowledge proofs. A zero knowledge proof is a situation in which one party (a person or computer program) needs to prove to another party that they both share a secret (e.g., a password, access to a social security number, an account number, etc.). If the second party cannot prove to the first party that it already knows the secret, then the first party will not want to disclose and/or discuss the secret with the second party. Random numbers are often required as part of a zero knowledge proof. See, for example, the discussions of zero knowledge proofs found in “Strong Password-Only Authenticated Key Exchange” by David P. Jablon, www.IntegritySciences.com, Mar. 2, 1997; “Zero Knowledge Proofs of Identity” by U. Feige, A. Fiat, and A. Shamir, Proceedings of the 19th ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing, pp. 210-217 (1987); and “Strongbox: A System for Self Securing Programs” by J. D. Tygar and B. S. Yee, CMU Computer Science: 25th Anniversary Commemorative (1991); and “Multiple non-interactive zero knowledge proofs based on a single random string” by U. Feige, D. Lapidot, and A. Shamir, 31st Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science, Vol. 1, pp. 308-317 (October 1990). One method of conducting zero knowledge proofs is via Simple Password-authenticated Exponential Key Exchange (SPEKE). SPEKE is an attractive protocol for authentications conducted between wireless hand-held devices, set top boxes, diskless work stations, smart cards, etc.
Several solutions to the problem of true random number generation have been posed. A first of these solutions is used in versions of PGP, a software-based cryptography application sold by Network Associates of Santa Clara, Calif. PGP keeps a file comprising random numbers which are produced in response to the time intervals between keystrokes which a user makes as they input data into to the PGP program. One disadvantage of this system is that the random number file is kept in a user's file system. The file can therefore be read by a savvy attacker, and/or the values in the file could be forced to values which are supplied by the attacker. In either case, once the attacker knows the values which are queued to be used by the PGP program, it becomes much easier for the attacker to decipher data which is encrypted by the PGP program. Another disadvantage of the PGP program is that only a small amount of random number data is sometimes available since 1) a user is usually not required to input a lot of data into the PGP program, and few keystrokes are therefore made, and 2) depending on the computer and the operating system which the user is using, the time intervals between the user's keystrokes might be quantized to the point where only a few bits of random information are generated in response to each keystroke interval (e.g., four bits of data per keystroke interval). Furthermore, when a user makes numerous keystroke in succession, the speed at which the user makes successive keystrokes will often be quite uniform. An attacker's knowledge of any of the following can therefore be used to zero in on the range of random number data available to the PGP program: a user's typing speed; a user's computer type and speed; and a user's operating system.
Another problem with using user keystrokes for the generation of random number data is that some devices which need to generate random number data might never (or rarely) receive direct user input. For example, consider a server which runs entirely automated computer programs, and which is accessed by an operator via a keyboard only rarely. Or consider a disk which is directly connected to a network (e.g., a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device). In each of these cases, nearly all accesses to the device are initiated over a network (e.g., the Internet), and direct keyboard input to the device is rarely received. Such devices benefit much less from the PGP program's methods of generating random number data.
A second method which has been posed as a solution to the problem of true random number generation involves timing the time it takes to access a disk. A disk access is dependent on the location of the data being accessed, the rotational speed of the disk, and the time it takes to move a disk's heads. All of these factors can vary significantly from one disk access to another, and the time it takes to access a disk is therefore “in theory” a good source of random data. In actuality, however, the amount of random data which can be derived from a single disk access is limited by the resolution with which disk access times can be measured on a given system. Quite often, this resolution is low (e.g., eight bits). Furthermore, a disk access is relatively slow in comparison to the speed at which a computer can execute software which has already been loaded into the computer's cache and RAM memories. Computers on which a lot of files are encrypted therefore suffer performance penalties when they must wait on random number input generated in response to relatively slow disk accesses. A solution to this speed problem is the maintenance of a random number file. This, however, leads to the same data security problem posed by the PGP software program (i.e., since the file is stored in a user's file system, an attacker might be able to access the file, and/or seed the file with known values). Yet another problem with timing disk accesses is that absent a real need to access a disk, encryption software will have to request a disk access for the sole purpose of timing the disk access, and not for the purpose of retrieving substantive data from the disk. Such “dummy” accesses increase the mechanical wear on a disk and introduce system delays which might delay another user's legitimate access to the same disk.
A third method which has been posed as a solution to the problem of true random number generation involves adding to a microprocessor a circuit for amplifying and digitizing the thermal noise produced by the microprocessor. The problem with such a circuit is that it is very hard to verify that it is working properly (i.e., it is hard to test). Since the output of the circuit is intended to be random, the circuit can only be tested by acquiring significant amounts of data from the circuit, and then subjecting the data to complex analysis to determine if the data is in fact random. Another problem stems from the fact that implementing such a circuit as part of a microprocessor's hardware makes it impossible to run two microprocessors in “lock-step”. The ability to run two microprocessors in lock-step is an important feature, as it enables one to run the same software program on two microprocessors and compare the state of each microprocessor after execution of each instruction in the software program. If the states of the two microprocessors differ after the execution of an instruction, one can assume that one of the microprocessors is faulty. Since slight manufacturing variances in two supposedly identical microprocessors can alter the thermal noise produced by each, the states of the microprocessor's thermal noise circuits will obviously differ. It is therefore impossible to run microprocessors with thermal noise circuits in lock-step.
Other methods for generating truly random numbers tend to generate data which is progressively more random, but generate the data at a greater cost. For example, one researcher has reported that he connected a digital video camera to his computer and pointed it at three lava lights. He then took all of the bits from the digital image generated by the video camera and put them through a hashing function to generate a string of random bits. While the random numbers generated from this string of random bits might be cryptographically strong, it is not practical for most computer users to implement such a system. Radios and microphones coupled to analog-to-digital converters have also been proposed as sources of random data. However, these devices suffer from the same problems as digital video cameras. They can be expensive, and they do not come standard on all computer systems.
The ultimate source of random data comes from measuring the arrival times of byproducts of radioactive decay. The decay can be background decay (i.e., naturally occurring decay which occurs in the environment around us, but at extremely small levels which require very sensitive detectors to measure) or decay of a radioactive source in a measurement instrument.
Due to the shortcomings and disadvantages of the above methods for generating random numbers, a need exists for a truly random number generator which: 1) generates truly random numbers, 2) is testable, 3) is cost-effective, and/or 4) is very difficult for an attacker to seed with known values and/or reset.
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Institutions are relying increasingly on their data communication network infrastructures for efficient communication and data transfer. With this increasing reliance on network computing has arisen a significant need for mechanisms to regulate connectivity to and communicability within such networks. This need has been partially filled by internet protocol (IP) firewalls. IP firewalls typically restrict access to fixed sets of network resources by applying a set of protocol level filters on a packet-by-packet basis or by requiring prospective users to become authenticated before gaining access to the resources. Authentication has generally required users to supply certain signature information, such as a password. While this requirement of signature information has reduced the risk of unauthorized access to firewall-protected resources, firewalls have proven an imperfect and inflexible regulatory solution. Because firewalls are protocol-specific, firewalls have not provided a means for regulating network connectivity in a multi-protocol environment. Moreover, because firewalls regulate access to particular network resources, they have failed to provide a means for regulating access to sets of network resources which can vary as a function of user identity.
Protocol-independent mechanisms have also been deployed for authenticating users of the resources of institutional networks. However, such authentication mechanisms are only known to have been deployed to challenge remote users attempting to log-in over dial-up phone lines. Such mechanisms are not known to regulate the network access of local users logging-in over a LAN interfaces, such as Ethernet or Token Ring interfaces. Moreover, such mechanisms have, like firewalls, provided an inflexible solution which is unable to regulate access to customized or personalized sets of resources within the network based on user identity.
The flexibility limitations of the foregoing log-in challenge mechanisms have been partially overcome by independently implementing virtual local area networks (VLANs) within institutional networks. VLANs are sub-networks which typically include a plurality of network devices, such as servers, workstations and PCs, that together form a logical work group within a larger network. Because VLAN membership is assigned based on policies rather than physical location in the network, network bandwidth has been conserved and network security enhanced by assigning VLAN membership based on considerations of efficiency and need and restricting the flow of network traffic across VLAN boundaries.
While significant security and efficiency gains have been realized by policy-based VLANs, the solution they have offered is far from complete. VLAN membership has generally been assigned to end systems without reference to the identity of the users of such systems. In the current technology, for instance, VLAN membership is typically assigned by comparing network traffic with a configured set of rules which classify the traffic, and by inference the system which originated the traffic, into one or more VLANs. The identity of the user who sent the traffic is not considered in the assignment process. The failure to consider user identity leaves some network security issues unaddressed. Particularly, a person not authorized to use the resources of a VLAN may be able to gain access to its resources by transmitting data packets which the configured rules will classify into the VLAN, either by communicating over a member end system or by spoofing the required identifiers. Known VLAN assignment methods have also failed to contemplate providing conditional access to users based on the day of the week, the time of day, the length of access or a combination of such factors. Furthermore, current networking equipment and policy-based VLANs in particular have not offered collateral functionality, such as the ability to dynamically track where local users are connected to the network. Such a tracking mechanism would greatly simplify tasks such as network troubleshooting by allowing the network location of a user requesting technical support to be easily determined.
Accordingly, there is a need for comprehensive services for regulating communicability in institutional networks which are not subject to the inflexibility of conventional user log-in mechanisms or the lack of consideration for user identity of conventional VLAN assignment techniques. There is also a need for services which authenticate local users of institutional networks before establishing network communicability. There is a further need for user authentication services which provide collateral functionality, such as the ability to dynamically track the whereabouts of network users.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to printing, displaying and other processes involving bit-map images; and more particularly to a system for rotating images prior to printing or displaying on a raster scanning device.
2. Description of Related Art
Data used to create images on raster scanning devices, such as dot matrix printers, laser printers, cathode ray tube displays and other types of digital display systems, is typically stored in a bit-map format. The bit-map is organized so that as data is read from the bit-map, it is presented to the printer or other display as a sequence of data words corresponding to each pixel to be printed or displayed. Typically, the data in the bit-map is organized in an address space so that an automatic address generating system can be used to transfer the data from the storage device to the printer or display. Because of the organization of the data, the orientation of images represented by the data is defined when it is written into the bit-map.
In addition, for some systems, bit-map images are created by combining smaller bit-maps of individual images or characters as a given screen or page of printing is being processed. For instance, individual letters are often addressed from a bank of character bit-maps, called a font memory, that are all oriented to be printed with a normal or vertical orientation on the page.
Occasionally, it is desirable to rotate images which have been stored in bit-maps, such as the bank of character bit-maps mentioned above. By rotating the images, a page can be printed on which the letters appear rotated to the normal or vertical position.
In addition, as data processing systems become more complicated and include different types of printers or other display equipment, it is possible that the orientation of data in bit-maps will be required to be changed depending on the particular printer or display device being used. For example, a first printer may scan the bit-map data in a horizontal line direction while a second printer may have a vertical scan format. In order to adapt the bit-map to a vertical scan format, the organization of the bit-map requires alteration.
While systems for rotating the scan direction of images are known, such systems are impractical or impossible to be used with large bit-map images where substantial amounts of data must be stored and operated upon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,476 issued to Lotspiech, describes one method for rotating the scan format of bit-mapped images. However, the Lotspiech method is relatively slow, requiring steps of reading each data word in its original scan format, transferring only selected bit positions within each word to a temporary storage, and reconstituting the rotated bit-map scan format based on the selected bit positions. Prior art systems for rotating bit map images have been unable satisfactorily to rotate bit-mapped images rapidly and automatically without intensive processing by a controlling computer.
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The present invention relates to electron microscopy, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for a confocal scanning transmission electron microscope.
The imaging of samples with high resolution and in three dimensions is of critical importance for many fields, such as biology, materials science and semi-conductor development, among others. One of the major tools in modern biology research is the confocal laser microscope (M. Minsky, “Memoir on Inventing the Confocal Scanning Microscope”, Scanning (USA) 10, 128-138, 1988). The principles and elements of operation include a laser beam focused by an objective lens on a sample at a certain focal plane. The back-scattered light, often from fluorescent markers, is separated from the laser beam by a beam splitter and focused on a pinhole aperture, producing a strong signal in the detector. The key to its depth sensitivity is that light generated not at the focal place is out-of-focus on the pinhole and, consequently, produces much less signal in the detector. In other words, the principal light rays for the focal plane are towards the pinhole aperture and those focused above and below the focal plane are excluded, demonstrating the principle of depth sensitivity of the microscope. Thus, there is a strong difference in light intensity on the detector between light originating from the focal plane and light not originating from the focal plane. The beam is scanned in x and y direction in the focal plane to obtain an image from one plane, then the focus is changed to a new plane and again an image is recorded. This process is repeated, thereby stepping through a series of z values, thus obtaining a three dimensional (3D) image. The image is often deconvoluted with the point spread function (equal to the 3D probe shape) to obtain a sharp 3D image.
The main disadvantage of confocal laser microscopy is that the resolution is not better than a few hundreds of nanometers (nm), due to the wavelength of light. To obtain 3D images with a better resolution several other techniques exist, for example, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and electron tomography. But all techniques have their disadvantages. NMR has limited applicability and requires large quantities of a sample in solution, X-ray crystallography requires high-quality crystals with many repeating units of the object of interest, AFM is a surface technique only, electron tomography has many practical difficulties due the required tilt series and has limited resolution.
A few years ago it was proposed to build a confocal electron microscope by N. J. Zaluzec (U.S. Pat. No. 6,548,810), which included an electron source, a scan unit, a lens, a specimen, a second lens, a second scan unit, a pinhole aperture and a detector. The main difference between the Zaluzec '810 invention and the laser confocal microscope is that the detection is not through the objective lens, but that a second lens is employed to project the beam on the pinhole aperture. The reason for this is that the amount of back-scattered electrons with exactly the same energy as the beam is extremely low and, therefore, it is not feasible to use the reversed optical path. The use of a second lens and a second scan unit introduces a major problem, since the scan operation has to be aligned and synchronized between two units with nanometer precision, which is practically almost impossible due to external mechanical vibrations, electromagnetic field, temperature fluctuations, and drift and hysteresis of the microscope.
A partial solution to this problem was found at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, avoiding the pinhole and using an aberration corrected (P. D. Nellist, et al., “Direct Sub-angstrom Imaging of a Crystal Lattice”, Science 305, 1741, 2004) scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). The use of an aberration corrected STEM provided a sufficiently large beam opening angle to provide depth sensitivity, thus optaining the electron optical variant of the wide field microscope. The depth sensitivity with aberration corrected STEM was demonstrated by locating hafnium atoms in a Si/SiO2/HfO2 advanced device structure with a vertical resolution of approximately 7 nm (K. van Benthem, et al., “Three-Dimensional Imaging of Individual Hafnium Atoms Inside a Semiconductor Device”, Applied Physics Letters 87, 034104-1, 2005). Data on biological samples, i.e., conventional thin sections (osmium stained and epoxy embedded) of mammalian cells, showed a depth resolution of 50 nm (N. de Jonge, et al., “3-Dimensional Aberration Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy for Biology”, in “Nanotechnology in Biology and Medicine”, ed. Vo-Dinh, T., 2007 (CRC Press), pp 13.1-13.27). The disadvantage of this method is that the image in one z-plane is mixed with a strong out-of-focus signal from the adjacent planes.
What is needed in the art is a method and an apparatus for a high-resolution three dimensional electron microscope.
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{
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In many telecom and information technology applications, hot pluggable modules are desired. A hot pluggable module is an electronic module that provides any number of different functions, but which can be plugged into a system without removing power from the system. In other words, it can be inserted into a hot or powered receptacle that is designed to couple the module to the system.
Modules for telecom applications may need to operate from either a +24 volt or −48 volt power supply provided at the receptacle and therefore need to correct the polarity of the supply. They should exhibit minimum power losses or heat dissipation, and should provide for dual voltage (24 and 48) start-up/shutdown threshold control. Such modules should also provide some form of start-up delay and should control or limit their inrush current. Further, the modules should hold up during supply drop-out; that is, block reverse current flow.
Existing power input circuits for modules can be quite complex, yet do not provide all of these desired features.
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{
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Conventional flip charts or easel pads typically require a multiplicity of superposed sheets fastened together along a margin, usually at the top, and secured to a backing sheet or other support whereby the sheets depending from the margin can be flipped over the chart or torn from the pad. Often, it is desirable to remove one or more of the sheets from the chart as they are being used and to post the removed sheets, for example, by taping the removed sheets to a wall surface. This is an awkward procedure at best and frequently requires two individuals to tape the removed sheet to the wall surface.
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The present invention relates to apparatus to facilitate identifying containers. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus adapted to be secured to containers, for example, pharmaceutical containers, to distinguish the containers from other containers, e.g., identical containers, without the apparatus.
Pharmaceuticals are an important and beneficial development of modern life. Humans often take or ingest more than one pharmaceutical to treat different conditions. It is important that the correct pharmaceutical be selected, from the plurality of pharmaceuticals in the user's possession, to treat a specific condition. Taking a wrong or incompatible medication, for example, in the event of an acute attack, such as an asthma attack, can result in substantial detriment to, or even the death of, the user.
Pharmaceutical containers are frequently of the same size even though they contain quite different, and even incompatible, medications. Pharmaceutical containers often contain detailed written labels which are adhered or glued to the container prior to being provided to the user. Such labels identify, in detail, the pharmaceutical included in the container, the frequency of use, and, possibly, when such pharmaceutical is to be avoided. The glued on labels, noted above, clearly distinguish the pharmaceutical in one container from the pharmaceuticals in other containers.
However, there are circumstances which may prevent such glued on labels from providing information to distinguish one container from other containers. For example, in emergency situations, in the event of an acute attack, for example, such an attack which impairs the user, or in the event the user is visually impaired and/or in an unlighted environment, among other situations, the information on the glued on label may be inadequate to distinguish the containers.
It would be advantageous to provide a system for easily and rapidly distinguishing between containers, for example, pharmaceutical containers, even in situations where it is difficult, or even impossible, to read information from labels which are adhered to or glued on the containers.
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{
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an elastic roller for an electrophotographic apparatus or the like, and a process of manufacturing such an elastic roller.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Elastic rollers of various different constructions have been proposed for use on electrophotographic apparatus. A rubber roller formed by coating a roller core with an elastic rubber layer is a typical roller for such a purpose. When soft elasticity is essential, a rubber roller is formed by coating a roller core with a sponge rubber layer and coating the circumference of the sponge rubber layer with a heat-resistant elastic layer. Such a roller is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication (Kokai) Nos. 58-23072, 59-37580 and 59-61864. Such a known elastic roller is fabricated through steps of applying an adhesive to the circumference of a roller core, putting a prefabricated sponge rubber tube on the roller core, coating the circumference of the sponge rubber tube with an elastic resin layer, and grinding the elastic resin layer to finish the elastic roller. Another known elastic roller is fabricated through steps of wrapping around a roller core with a masticated rubber stock containing a gas producing ingredient, making the rubber stock foam within a mold, and covering the circumference of the rubber layer with an elastic resin. However, these elastic rollers require a complicated manufacturing process and a high manufacturing cost due to expensive materials. A third known elastic roller is fabricated through steps of wrapping around a roller core with a masticated rubber stock containing a gas producing ingredient, and making the rubber stock form and vulcanizing the foamed rubber within a mold so that a smooth skin layer is formed. Although this elastic roller can be manufactured at a comparatively low manufacturing cost, free toner remaining on a recording sheet and paper powder is liable to adhere to the surface of the elastic roller entailing offset and roller lap-up after the elastic roller has passed about 10,000 recording sheets because the elastic roller has poor release property and the outer surface of it is as glossy and smooth as mirror. If this elastic roller, i.e., the elastic sponge rubber roller with skin, is impregnated with silicone oil to solve such a problem by enhancing the release property, the silicone oil contained in the skin layer swelled with the silicone oil is transferred to recording sheets entailing the contraction and deformation of the foam rubber layer, so that recording sheets are liable to be creased by the elastic roller. Furthermore, the release property of the skin layer becomes ineffective in a short time of operation.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication (Kokai) No. 63-139380 proposes a pressure roller for fixing. This fixing pressure roller is equipped with a coating layer formed by coating outer surface of a rubber sponge roller with a mixture of a fluororubber and a silicone resin or a fluororesin and hardening the coating of the mixture. However, the coating is worn and removed in the long run by recording sheets and, finally, the skin layer is exposed unavoidably entailing the foregoing problems.
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The present invention relates to internal combustion engine driven generator assemblies and, more particularly, to such assemblies which include a generator driven by an internal combustion engine, such as a diesel engine, devices for controlling and monitoring operation of the engine and generator, and wherein the engine and generator are situated in a thermally and acoustically insulated housing provided with ports for cooling intake and exhaust air and an aperture for an exhaust pipe.
The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment wherein the generator is driven by a diesel engine.
Diesel engine powered generator assemblies which are situated indoors, such as in factories and the like, are generally arranged with the engine and generator mounted on a unitary base plate laterally adjacent to each other on the same level. Power transmission from the engine to the generator is usually provided in the form of an elastic coupling and, if required, speed reduction gears. An elastic coupling is required due to the vibration of the diesel engine during operation. Reduction gears are generally needed when the generator comprises a four-pole machine which requires the rotor to rotate at a speed of about 1,500 rpm since the speed of rotation of the diesel engine is usually higher. A cardan shaft may also be used to transmit power between the diesel engine and the generator.
Although an assembly having a construction of the type described above is not very wide, its length is relatively large and, therefore, conventional engine driven generator assemblies require significant floor space.
The noise level accompanying operation of a generator assembly wherein the engine and generator are not enclosed within an acoustically insulated housing is very high, usually approaching 100 dB. In conventional arrangements the noise generated by the exhaust gas can be suppressed by means of a silencer suspended from the ceiling which requires special piping and suspension members. The fuel tank for the engine is generally provided as a unit which is separate from the assembly requiring installation of separate fuel conduits and the like.
The in-line placement of the engine and generator further requires two separate air conditioning ports in the engine room, one for the intake air and one for the exhaust air.
An engine driven generator assembly as described above may be enclosed in a housing provided with heat and sound insulation. In such a case, however, the dimensions of the assembly are even greater than in the case described above and the required floor area correspondingly increases. Moreover, an enclosed assembly of this type necessitates the provision of two air conditioning ports in the engine room in which the assembly is located.
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The present invention relates to error-correcting coding, and more particularly, to an error-correcting apparatus including multiple error-correcting modules functioning in parallel and a related method.
Various types of noise, distortion, and interference are commonly seen factors that deteriorate signal communication quality and cause the output of a communication channel to be different from its input. Error-correcting coding is a technique that can be adopted in digital communication systems to help transceivers resist the above-mentioned factors, reduce the probability of errors, and enhance the reliability of the outputted data.
Concatenated coding is a kind of error-correcting coding technique that implements multiple levels of coding. Generally speaking, inner and outer codes are commonly applied to provide two levels of coding. For example, convolutional codes or Trellis-Coded-Modulation (TCM) codes could be used as the inner codes, which help to overcome scattered random errors. Reed-Solomon (RS) codes or BCH codes could be used as the outer codes, which help to overcome burst errors.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a block diagram of a receiver for decoding concatenated codes. The receiver 100 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a demodulator 110, an inner decoder 120, a deinterleaver 130, and an outer decoder 140. The demodulator 110 may comprise analog-to-digital converters for converting analog signals into digital signals, a mixer for transferring frequency from a radio frequency (RF) into an intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband, filters for anti-aliasing, a synchronization means for timing or frequency recovery, and an equalizer for compensating fading or impairment channel effects. After some or all of the above-mentioned operations are performed, the demodulator 110 then generates a demodulated signal.
Depending on which kind of inner code is utilized, the inner decoder 120 could be implemented by a convolutional decoder or a TCM decoder, which inner decodes the demodulated signal to generate an inner code decoded signal. Then, the deinterleaver 130 deinterleaves the inner code decoded signal to generate a deinterleaved signal. The deinterleaver 130 plays an important role in scattering some kinds of burst noise in order to share the error-correction burden.
Depending on which kind of outer code is utilized, the outer decoder 140 could be implemented by an RS decoder or a BCH decoder. For example, when RS codes are utilized as the outer codes, an RS error decoder can be used as the outer decoder 140. The RS error decoder 140 can correct a maximum of t errors for (n, k, 2t) RS codes. In other words, the RS error decoder 140 has an error correction capability of t errors. However, in some communication systems, especially in terrestrial broadcasting systems, complex multi-path channels would induce severe fading or interference that the equalizer of the demodulator 110 cannot compensate entirely. In such circumstances, burst noise may causes errors of the inner decoder 120 to propagate to the outer decoder 140 and even the deinterleaver 130 cannot scatter them efficiently. The outer decoder 140 with only t-error correction capability may not be sufficient.
If the demodulator 110 is able to detect burst noise or the inner decoder 120 has a mechanism to mark unreliable symbols as erasure indicators, the outer decoder 140 can be upgraded to an RS error-erasure decoder. Different from the above-mentioned RS error decoder, an RS error-erasure decoder can correct x errors and y erasures for (n, k, 2t) RS codes, only if 2x+y≦2t. That is, if an RS error-erasure decoder implements the outer decoder 140, a correction capability of t errors or 2t erasures can be achieved. In other words, the RS error-erasure decoder 140 has the opportunity to correct codewords with an actual error number that is larger than t if it is informed with some error locations marked as erasures.
However, for receiver-ends, sometimes it is not easy to mark erasure locations exactly and efficiently. Besides, the inner decoder 120, which can be implemented by a TCM decoder or a Viterbi decoder, might have a memory effect that causes error propagation to occur. For example, a few distorted symbols occurring at the output end of the demodulator 110 may be corrected by Viterbi algorithm at the moment, but may cause error propagation for decoding some clear symbols later. For a transceiver that has blind data paths, it is difficult to identify whether a data-stream at the output end of the inner decoder 120 is corrected or just error propagated. In this situation, the uncertainty of an exact erasure marking procedure increases in severe burst noise and in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) situations. Then, an erroneous location marking for erasure will deteriorate the error correction capability of error-erasure decoder.
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This invention relates to vertical deflection circuits.
To provide vertical trace current to a vertical deflection winding, conventional vertical deflection circuits include, for example, two output transistors formed as a push-pull output stage. During vertical retrace, the current in the deflection winding is reversed in direction to be ready for the next trace interval. Typical deflection circuits may use a retrace capacitor coupled to the deflection winding to form a resonant retrace circuit for generating a resonant retrace current. A damping resistor coupled to the deflection winding damps any resonant oscillations of the deflection winding current after resonant retrace has been completed. It is desirable to design the vertical deflection circuit such that, during resonant retrace, the resonant retrace current is prevented from flowing in the output stage and in the damping circuit, thereby eliminating undesirable dissipation.
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The present invention relates to a sealing device for the passage of a cable between two volumes that are at different pressures, especially for the penetration of a submarine cable into a volume at a pressure less than the pressure of the surrounding water.
At the present time there are various systems for providing the sealed penetration of a submarine cable subjected to dynamic forces into a volume at a pressure less than the pressure of the surrounding water, for example in a submerged machine, a cabinet or any other volume.
The over-molding system, with or without bonding, which is not suitable for high pressures, is relatively bulky, requires special tooling, is relatively tricky to implement, cannot be dismantled without destroying it and, in the variant with bonding, cannot be used for all cable jacket materials.
The gland (called stuffing box) system, consisting in axially compressing several annular packing elements made of elastomer in a box for the purpose of gripping these elements radially inward against the cable jacket and outward against the box is likewise limited in pressure and is effective only in the short term, but does have the advantage of being able to be dismantled, of being more compact, of being not very expensive and of being able to be used for all cable jacket materials.
The so-called cuff system, comprising a cuff mounted on a metal insert, is suitable even for very high pressures, can be used for all cable jacket materials and is very effective over time, but is bulky, requires special tooling, is difficult to implement and cannot be dismantled.
The so-called equipressure system, which makes use of a volume of liquid maintained under pressure, is a system which is complex, bulky and difficult to implement.
The subject of the present invention is a cable sealing device, especially for the penetration of a submarine cable into a volume at a pressure less than the pressure of the surrounding water, this device making it possible, by very simple means, to remedy most of the difficulties and problems encountered with the known sealing systems mentioned above.
The sealing device forming the subject of the invention, for the passage of a cable between two volumes at different pressures, especially for the penetration of a submarine cable into a volume at a pressure less than the pressure of the surrounding water, comprises a gland with at least one packing element in the form of an annular body made of elastomer, compressed axially in a box for the purpose of it being clamped radially inward against the cable jacket and outward against the box. The annular element of the packing element closest to the high-pressure volume is extended, along its inside diameter, toward said volume by a sleeve which, in the manner of a cuff, surrounds and grips the cable jacket from the inside of the box of the gland right into the high-pressure volume.
This packing element with an integrated cuff combines the advantages of the gland system with the advantages of the cuff system, remedying at the same time most of the drawbacks of each of these two systems. The device is particularly simple, easy to implement, compact and able to withstand high pressure differences. Because of its compactness, it allows a particular cable which is fitted with it to be wound on the drum. No bonding of the cable jacket is necessary, as is the case for the usual cuff system. The device can therefore be dismantled without any problem and can be used in any cable jacket material whatsoever.
The sleeve forming the cuff has advantageously, at least at its free end, in the relaxed state, an inside diameter less than the outside diameter of the cable jacket.
Preferably, the sleeve forming the cuff has a length greater than its diameter, advantageously a length greater than the outside diameter of the annular body of the packing element of which it forms part, and preferably a length at least equal to twice this diameter.
The thickness of the sleeve forming the cuff is small compared with the radial thickness of the annular body of the packing element of which it forms part. The thickness of the sleeve is advantageously less than ⅕ of the thickness of said annular body and preferably less than {fraction (1/10)} of the inside diameter of this annular body.
The sleeve may advantageously have the form of a truncated cone converging from the annular body toward its free end.
Advantageously, the sleeve may have an outside rim at its free end.
An illustrative and nonlimiting embodiment of a sealing device according to the invention will be described below in greater detail, with reference to the appended schematic drawings; in these drawings:
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This invention relates generally to knives and more particularly to an arrangement for adjusting the handling characteristics of knives.
Knives come in varying shapes and lengths and different kinds of knives are wielded in different ways to accomplish their respective purposes. For example, a boning knife has a blade which is relatively short and narrow and is used in a cutting action pivoting about the user's wrist. In contrast, a chef's knife has a relatively heavier and longer blade and is used in an action which typically pivots about the end of the blade. For comfort and ease of use, it is therefore desirable to impart in the construction of each type of knife a balance and heft commensurate with its dimensions and intended manner of use. The precise parameters of these characteristics, of course, will vary with the type of knife.
In the manufacture of a line of kitchen knives it is desirable to use similar or common parts, particularly in the handles of such knives. It is also desirable to utilize the same types of handle materials for such knives. Ideally, all handles used in a line of knives should be constructed in the same size, shape and material for making a matched set of knives. Knife handles in a matched set of knives are conventionally made of one type of material, whether it be plastic, wood, metal or other material. However, doing so makes it very difficult, at the same time, to impart the unique desired heft and balance characteristics in each type and size of knife within the product line. Conventionally, either the handles are made in different sizes and shapes, or for sake of economy, compromises are made in the handling characteristics of some of the knives.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an arrangement for optimizing the handling characteristics of different kinds and sizes of knives within a product line while retaining a high degree of commonality of parts and materials so that the knives can be made in matched sets.
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Maximum power transfer occurs when an alternating current (AC) generator output impedance matches a load impedance. For radio frequency (RF) applications this is especially important as RF generating devices are most efficient when operating at their design impedance. A subset of RF generating devices may be, for example but are not limited to, RF transmitters and power amplifiers, and a subset of RF loads may be antennas used for transmitting RF. Generally, RF transmitters operating in the high frequency (HF), very-high frequency (VHF), ultra-high frequency (UHF), and microwave bands require a well-defined load impedance, e.g., 50-ohm or 75-ohm, to efficiently operate into for maximum RF power transfer. However, most antennas are not 50 or 75 ohms except at some specific frequency when carefully designed and adjusted to that frequency and load impedance. Therefore, to match the load impedance of a transmitting antenna to the output impedance of a RF transmitter an antenna matching network or “antenna coupler” may be used between the transmitter and antenna when the transmitter and antenna must operate at several different frequencies.
Typically, an inductor-capacitor (L-C) matching network is required which may be configured as a T-network (FIG. 1), also known as a high pass filter, or an L-network (FIG. 2) which may be configured as a low pass filter. Another configuration of the L-network is the π-network (FIG. 3) which has a first capacitor on the source side and a second capacitor on the load side.
The T-network has the following issues: a) there may be multiple L-C matching solution combinations which may have significant component stresses due to high RF currents and/or voltages, b) a “correct” (best) matching solution may be difficult to find, and c) the T-network requires more components to provide the correct matching solutions. The L-network may require unusually large values of inductance and/or capacitance, and the π-network, like the T-network, requires more components to provide the correct matching solutions.
Present technology automatic antenna matching networks will do an iterative selection of capacitance and inductance values until a match between the RF load and RF source is found, e.g., lowest voltage-standing-wave-ratio (VSWR). This, however, may take seconds and many sequential relay operations to achieve.
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In the field of material classification, it has been considered to classify material through the use of so-called bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). In this approach, the object is illuminated from multiple different angles by multiple different light sources arranged in a hemispherical dome around the object, and reflected light from each light source is measured so as to form the BRDF, whereafter feature vectors are derived and the unknown material from which the object is fabricated is classified.
It has also been considered to include the notion of spectral BRDF, in which each light source is formed from six (6) differently-colored LEDs, so as to permit spectral tuning of each light source, thereby to differentiate between different materials with increased accuracy.
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a thin-film device, and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A transparent electrically conductive film composed of oxide, such as an ITO film composed of compound of indium (In), tin (Sn), and oxygen (O), is frequently used in a flat panel display or a photoelectric transfer device, since it has a sheet resistance of a few ohms per a unit area even if it has a small thickness such as hundreds of nanometers, and it has high transmittance to visible light.
Furthermore, a study to a thin-film transistor including a channel layer composed of transparent oxide semiconductor such as In—Ga—Zn—O has been recently started. Such oxide semiconductor contains highly ionic bonds, and is characterized by a small difference in electron mobility between crystalline state and amorphous state. Accordingly, relatively high electron mobility can be obtained even in amorphous state.
Since an amorphous film of oxide semiconductor can be formed at room temperature by carrying out sputtering, a study about a thin-film transistor composed of oxide semiconductor to be formed on a resin substrate such as a PET substrate has been started.
For instance, a thin-film transistor composed of oxide semiconductor is suggested in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-033172 (paragraph 0041), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-179233 (paragraphs 0014-0016), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-86808 (paragraph 0053), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-60170 (paragraph 0037), and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-502597 (paragraphs 0021-0023).
In a thin-film transistor composed of oxide semiconductor, donor defects caused by oxygen holes existing in a semiconductor film, in particular, oxygen holes existing at an interface layer between a semiconductor film and an electrically insulating film exert much influence on electric characteristics of the thin-film transistor.
The above listed Publications are accompanied with a problem of insufficient control to oxygen holes existing at an interface layer.
In particular, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-502597 alleges that it is possible to reduce oxygen holes by annealing oxide semiconductor at 300 degrees centigrade or higher in oxidation atmosphere. Though such annealing may be effective to reduction in oxygen holes existing at an upper surface of an oxide-semiconductor film, such annealing is not effect to reduction in oxygen holes existing at a lower surface of an oxide-semiconductor film (that is, a region of oxide semiconductor close to an interface between an underlying insulating film and oxide semiconductor formed on the underlying insulating film). This is because such annealing is difficult to penetrate an oxide-semiconductor film.
It may be possible to oxidize even a lower surface of an oxide-semiconductor film by carrying out annealing at 600 degrees centigrade or higher for enhancing penetration of oxidation, however, in which case, there would be caused problems that it is not possible to use a cheap glass substrate as an electrically insulating substrate, and that if a metal film exists below an oxide-semiconductor film, annealing causes metal of which the metal film is composed to diffuse into the oxide-semiconductor film, and resultingly, the oxide-semiconductor film is contaminated.
Thus, it was not possible to fabricate a thin-film transistor composed of oxide semiconductor and having desired characteristics sufficiently applicable to a display driver, on a cheap glass substrate with high reproducibility and high fabrication yield.
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With agricultural harvesters, crop throughput is sensed for automatic adjustment of crop conveyance and/or crop processing devices. The crop throughput is also frequently sensed for the purpose of partial area-specific cultivation.
With the aid of a measured crop throughput, the ground speed of the harvester in a field can be adjusted by a corresponding control in such a way that a desired crop throughput is attained, which corresponds to an optimal utilization of the harvester.
A method is known for the determination of the crop throughput with corresponding sensors in the harvester (see, for example, EP 1243173 A1). Since the measurement takes place only after the crop has been taken up by the harvester, a rapid change in the crop throughput with such sensors cannot be promptly compensated for by a corresponding change of the traveling speed. As a result this can result in a low load or overload (even clogging) of the crop processing devices.
DE 10 2011 017 621 A1 proposes detecting the upper portion of a group of plants on a field by means of a laser distance sensor. The signal of the laser distance sensor also provides information regarding the density of the group of plants, since with groups full of gaps, rays penetrating to the ground result in larger variations in the traveling times and thus the evaluated distances, while dense groups give more homogeneous distance values.
Furthermore, a radar distance sensor is used. The rays of the radar distance sensor penetrate the group of plants and enable an adjustment of a ground profile. The ground profile (in combination with the measurement values of the laser distance sensor) is used to determine the height of the plants.
The intensities and traveling times of radar waves reflected from the plants are detected in order to evaluate the geometric density of the plants as well as their moisture and mass density. The “geometric density” means the volume of the plants per unit volume or area of the field.
These intensities and traveling times are used to adjust the ground speed of the harvester in a predictive manner to provide a desired mass throughput.
The system does not, however, compare the distance sensor values with others throughput sensor values that are detected on board the harvester. Therefore throughput predicted by the distance sensors is based exclusively on the measurement values of the two distance sensors (e.g. radar and laser). If these two sensors are not calibrated with sufficient accuracy for the particular group of plants to be harvested, then the throughputs calculated based on the sensor signals will be inaccurate.
DE 101 30 665 A1 describes a combine harvester with a laser distance sensor that oscillates back and forth around the vertical axis and successively scans the group of crops standing in front of the combine harvester in the lateral direction.
The traveling times of the reflected waves are detected by a receiver, which, with the aid of the traveling times and the geometric arrangement of the distance meter, determines the vertical area of the group of crops. In addition, with the aid of the intensity of the reflected waves, the volume density (space filling degree) of the crops is estimated.
The system determines the predicted throughput rate (measured in volume per unit time), by multiplying the volume density with the vertical area and speed. A moisture sensor, which views the group of crops in a predictive manner, determines the moisture of the crops so as to determine the mass density and, finally, with the aid of the throughput rate, to determine the expected mass throughput. The mass throughput, in turn, is used by the system to automatically determine an appropriate ground speed. With the aid of a measurement value, determined sensorially on board a combine thresher, using a crop throughput sensor, which, for example, detects the drive torque of a threshing drum, the throughput rate can be determined.
DE 10 2011 085 380 A1 describes another harvester with sensors which consider, in a predictive manner, the group of plants and work with electromagnetic waves, from whose signals statistical parameters are derived that are compared by sensors interacting with crops gathered by the harvester to automatically determine relationships between the statistical parameters and the crop characteristics and subsequently, to use the signals of the predictive sensors, taking into consideration the evaluated relationships for the automatic control of the harvester. The crop parameters are, among other things, the group density and the moisture. The predictive sensors can, for example, detect the intensities and polarization of the reflected waves.
The arrangements in accordance with DE 101 30 665 A1 and DE 10 2011 085 380 A1 also take into consideration sensor values obtained on board the agricultural harvester, so as to evaluate more precisely the magnitudes obtained from the signals of the sensors that work in a contactless manner, with the aid of the determined relationships.
In DE 101 30 665 A1, a correction table is produced, which corrects the crop throughputs determined with the electromagnetic sensor, with the aid of the throughputs measured on board. DE 10 2011 085 380 A1 determines relationships between statistical parameters of the crops and the detected throughputs.
In both systems, the sensor values obtained on board the agricultural harvester are thus used indirectly, in order to first convert, with them, the values of the contactless sensors into a more accurate crop throughput, which is then, in turn, used as a single regulation input magnitude for the control of the speed.
The function of the speed regulation is based on absolute measurement values of the contactless sensors, whose accuracy may not attain satisfactory results. Furthermore, the methods, under steady-state conditions, are not always accurate and as a result of the needed evaluation times of the statistical parameters, have long reaction times.
It is the goal of the present invention to provide an agricultural harvester in which the aforementioned disadvantages are not present or are present to a reduced extent.
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This application relates to a method and apparatus for executing computer programs and, specifically, to a method and apparatus that ensures that a computer program being downloaded and/or executed conforms to a programming platform standard.
Computer programs are usually written in some type of xe2x80x9chigh level languagexe2x80x9d such as Java, C++ or Visual Basic. (xe2x80x9cJavaxe2x80x9d is a trademark or registered trademark in the United States and other countries of Sun Microsystems, Inc.) High level languages are more easily understood by human beings than are programs written in the machine language understood by computers.
Some high level languages are designed to be executed in a runtime environment, such as the Java runtime environment. Such an environment is often called a xe2x80x9cplatform.xe2x80x9d Such a platform will often have a standard API (Application Program Interface). A xe2x80x9cplatform standardxe2x80x9d defines, for example, what is an allowable class or method in the language and what is not. A platform standard also defines what kinds of actions the program can take. For example, the Java programming language was developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun Microsystems, Inc. has recently defined a platform standard known as xe2x80x9cPure Java.xe2x80x9d Pure Java programs are programs that adhere to the Pure Java standard. Even though a particular class or method may be syntactically allowable by the Java language specification, it may not be allowed by the Pure Java compatibility test suite. For example, xe2x80x9cextensionsxe2x80x9d to the Java API may not conform to xe2x80x9cPure Java.xe2x80x9d
A program that does not conform to the Pure Java standard can pose risks to a computer system. For example, such a program may allow computer viruses to infiltrate the system. As an example, the Java language generally allows the execution of xe2x80x9cnativexe2x80x9d code (i.e., code written in a programming language other than Java) from within a Java program. Such native code can include a virus program capable of escaping from the Java runtime environment into other portions of the computer memory and storage media. Such viruses could corrupt a user""s hard drive, overflow the program stack, or perform similar types of damage, either intentionally or unintentionally. It is desirable to ensure that such damage does not occur. Thus, in the Pure Java standard, the user is not allowed to write calls to native methods.
Another risk is that a program not written in Pure Java is not guaranteed to be cross-platform compatible. A program written in Pure Java will run on any system with a Java runtime environment. A program that is not written in Pure Java may not run on all Java runtime environments.
Most conventional browsers for the World Wide Web allow a user to execute computer programs from within a Web page being viewed by the user. For example, if the user is using a Java-enabled browser to view a Web page and the user visits a Web page incorporating a Java applet, the browser causes the Java applet to be downloaded from a remote computer and executed by a Java runtime environment within the browser.
Current Java-enabled browsers include Netscape Communicator and Netscape Navigator, available from Netscape Communications Corporation and Internet Explorer, available from Microsoft Corporation.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus for ensuring that code being executed and/or loaded by a computer conforms to a platform standard. As an example, one embodiment of the present invention validates Pure Java platform standard conformance of Java programs downloaded from a remote server to ensure that they conform to the xe2x80x9cPure Javaxe2x80x9d platform standard. This checking can be performed at the time that the program is downloaded across a network firewall and/or at one or more times before and during the execution of the program.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, program code that conforms to the xe2x80x9cPure Javaxe2x80x9d platform standard should contain an indication within the code that the code conforms to the platform standard. In the described embodiment, whenever a computer program (xe2x80x9cfilesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccodexe2x80x9d) is downloaded across a firewall, the firewall checks to ensure that all code crossing the firewall contains such an indication. Code that does not indicate conformance with the Pure Java standard is not passed through the firewall. The runtime environment optionally also performs a similar check.
In addition, in another embodiment of the present invention, the runtime environment performs yet another check for each loaded file or class before execution. Alternatively, the runtime environment can check to ensure that every class, function, method, instruction (e.g., each instruction of the Java virtual machine, byte code, or p-code), or each group of instructions contains an indication of conformance to the Pure Java standard before execution.
Of course, unscrupulous code producers can indicate that their code conforms to the standard when, in fact, it does not. A check to determine whether a program alleges conformance will not catch xe2x80x9cdishonestxe2x80x9d code producers. Thus, another embodiment of the present invention also performs an additional runtime check of the code. This runtime check can be a static check prior to code execution. Alternately, a semantic check can be performed at predetermined times during program execution. Various embodiments of the present invention perform a runtime check at various points. Such checks are performed, for example, at any or all of the following: prior to loading a main class, prior to loading each class, prior to executing a main method, prior to executing each method, and prior to executing each instruction.
In yet another embodiment, xe2x80x9cruntimexe2x80x9d checking can also be done in the firewall, as long as it does not appreciably affect the performance of the firewall.
Another embodiment of the present invention allows validation of conformance of Java applications that are loaded into a machine in some way other than via a network. Such an embodiment may not include a check at the firewall, since the application may be loaded into the machine from a non-networked source. For example, a Web browser can be used to view local files (i.e., files resident on the same machine as the browser) that include Java instructions or applets. Because such instructions or applets may not have entered through the firewall, it is desirable to duplicate the check for indication of conformance during run time.
In accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention relates to a method of verifying that a computer program written in a programming language conforms to a platform standard for the programming language, comprising the steps, performed by a data processing system of: receiving the computer program, by a firewall of the data processing system; determining, by the firewall, that the received computer program is a computer program of a type to be checked for conformance; determining whether the computer program contains an indication that it conforms to the platform standard; and passing the computer program through the firewall only when the computer program contains an indication that it conforms to a platform standard.
In further accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention relates to a method of verifying that an application program written in a programming language conforms to a platform standard for the programming language, comprising the steps, performed by a data processing system of: receiving the application program, by an execution environment of the data processing system; from a source outside the execution environment; determining, by the execution environment, whether the application program contains an indication that it conforms to the platform standard; and executing the application program, by the execution environment, only when the execution environment determines that the application program contains an indication that it conforms to the platform standard.
A fuller understanding of the invention will become apparent and appreciated by referring to the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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The present invention relates to a mirror having an illuminating device, and more particularly relates to a mirror of this type for motor vehicles.
Mirrors of this type with illuminating devices are known to the prior art. Typical constructions often include an approximately rectangular trough-like housing within which there is an illuminating device which comprises at least one electric light source and a diffusion screen covering the light source. The mirror is mounted on a pivoted cover which can be swung out of the housing. Traditional prior art embodiments are of relatively complicated construction and, as a rule, are too large to be installed conveniently in a sun-visor body or in the ceiling of a motor vehicle.
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WO 2014/173 476 A1 has disclosed a front vehicle part of a motor vehicle, in which a wedge element is provided in a corner region which points away from the vehicle center line between a bumper and a crash box which is provided between the bumper and the longitudinal carrier of a motor vehicle frame, in order for it to be possible to support loads which even occur laterally outside the longitudinal carrier on the bumper via a defined force path on the longitudinal carrier.
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The monomaleate salt of 1-((2R,4R)-2-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-1-methylpiperidin-4-yl)-3-(4-cyanophenyl)urea has the structure of Formula (I):
The compound 1-((2R,4R)-2-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-1-methylpiperidin-4-yl)-3-(4-cyanophenyl)urea (PF-04449913) has been assigned the International Nonproprietary Name (INN) glasdegib, as described in WHO Drug Information, Vol. 29, No. 1, page 89 (2015), referencing the alternative chemical name N-[(2R,4R)-2-(1H-benzoimidazol-2-yl)-1-methylpiperidin-4-yl]-N′-(4-cyanophenyl)urea. The maleate salt of Formula (I) may also be referred to herein as 1-((2R,4R)-2-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-1-methylpiperidin-4-yl)-3-(4-cyanophenyl)urea maleate or glasdegib maleate.
Preparation of glasdegib as a hydrochloride salt is described in International Patent Application No. PCT/IB2008/001575, published as WO 2009/004427, and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,148,401 and 8,431,597, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Glasdegib is an inhibitor of the smoothened receptor (Smo), a component of the hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway that is a potential therapeutic target in a number of human cancers, in particular hematologic malignancies including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), myelofibrosis (MF) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The discovery of glasdegib and its preparation as a dihydrochloride monohydrate salt has been described by Munchhof et al. (Med. Chem., Lett, 2012, 3:106-111). A process for the asymmetric synthesis of glasdegib has been described by Peng et al. (Org. Lett., 2014, 16:860-863).
The present invention provides crystalline glasdegib maleate having improved properties, such as improved chemical and thermal stability upon storage, and decreased hygroscopicity, while maintaining chemical and enantiomeric stability.
The invention also provides a crystalline glasdegib imidazole complex (1:1) and a crystalline glasdegib (S)-mandelate salt, which are useful for the preparation of glasdegib maleate and other salts in high yield and with high chemical purity.
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It is generally known to supply commercial aircraft with conditioned air for heating and cooling when the aircraft is stationary at a gate. In this application, the term gate is meant to refer to any place that an aircraft receives or discharges passengers or cargo. This may be by way of a telescoping corridor, stairs, or any other facility. Typically, conditioned air is supplied to the aircraft from a pre-conditioned air (PCA) unit that has a ducting system associated with the gate that is a part of the airport terminal. The air is delivered from the gate to the aircraft with a flexible and usually insulated air hose. When not in use, the hose is stored under the terminal. When hooked up to an aircraft the blowers of the PCA are energized, and air flows to the aircraft. This means it is unnecessary for the airplane's fuel powered auxiliary power unit (APU) to produce conditioned air for the stationary aircraft. The pilot can turn off the APU, thus preventing the increased cost and pollution caused by burning the fuel.
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to all forms of footwear, including street and athletic, as well as any other products benefiting from increased flexibility, better resistance to shock and shear forces, and stable support. More particularly, the invention incorporates devices as a unitary integral component with at least one internal (or mostly internal) sipe, including slits or channels or grooves and any other shape, including geometrically regular or non-regular, such as anthropomorphic shapes, into a large variety of products including footwear using materials known in the art or their current or future equivalent. Still more particularly, the unitary internal sipe component provides improved flexibility to products utilizing them, as well as improved cushioning to absorb shock and/or shear forces, while also improving stability of support, and therefore the siped devices can be used in any existing product that provides or utilizes cushioning. These products include footwear and orthotics; athletic, occupational and medical equipment and apparel; padding or cushioning, such as for equipment and furniture; balls; tires; and any other structural or support elements in a mechanical, architectural or any other device. Still more particularly, the integral component with at least one sipe can include a media such as a lubricant or glue of any useful characteristic such as viscosity or any material, including a magnetorheological fluid.
The invention further relates to at least one chamber or compartment or bladder surrounded, partially or completely, by at least one internal (or mostly internal) sipe for use in any footwear soles or uppers, or orthotic soles or uppers, and for other flexibility, cushioning, and support uses in athletic equipment like helmets and apparel including protective padding and guards, as well as medical protective equipment and apparel, and other uses, such as protective flooring, improved furniture cushioning, balls and tires for wheels, and many other uses.
The internal sipe integral component invention further can be usefully combined with the applicant's prior footwear inventions described in this application, including removable midsole structures and orthotics and chambers with controlled variable pressure, including control by computer.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Existing devices are generally much less flexible than would be optimal, especially products for human (or animal) users, whose non-skeletal anatomical structures like bare foot soles generally remain flexible even under significant pressure, whereas the products interfacing directly with them are often much more rigid.
Taking footwear soles as one example, cushioning elements like gas bladders or chambers or compartments are typically fixed directly in other midsole foam plastic material to form a structure that is much more rigid than the sole of the human wearer's bare foot. As a result, the support and cushioning of the bare foot are seriously degraded when shod in existing footwear, since the relatively rigid shoe sole drastically alters by obstructing the way in which the bare foot would otherwise interact with the ground underneath a wearer. The natural interface is interrupted.
The use of external sipes—that is, sipes in the form of slits or channels that are open to an outside surface, particularly a ground-contracting surface—to provide flexibility in footwear soles has been fully described by the applicant in prior applications, including the examples shown in FIGS. 55A-55C, 56, 57, and 73A-73D. Such external sipes principally provide flexibility to the footwear sole by providing the capability of the opposing surfaces of the sipe to separate easily from each other. External sipes are structurally unlike natural anatomical structures (since to be effective, they must be much deeper than surface skin texture like finger prints, the closest anatomical analogy), however, and tend to introduce significant instability by creating excessive shoe sole edge weakness adjacent the sipes, while also collecting debris in the sipes, both seriously reducing their performance. In addition, the optimal pattern and depth of such sipes is difficult to ascertain directly and tends to be a trial and error process guided by guessing, rather than the much easier procedure of following the design of the anatomical structure with which it is intended to interface to create natural flexibility.
The use of a integral component with internal sipes in footwear soles like those described in this application overcome the problems of external sipes noted above and are naturally more optimal as well, since they more closely parallel structurally the anatomical structures of the wearer's bare foot sole. As one example, simply enveloping the outer surface of existing cushioning devices like gas bladders or foamed plastic EVA or PU with a new outer layer of material that is unattached (or at least partially unattached) thereby creates an internal sipe between the inner surface of the new compartment and the outer surface of the existing bladder/midsole component, allowing the two surfaces to move relative to each other rather than being fixed to each other. Especially in the common form of a slit structure seen in many example embodiments, the flexibility of the internal sipe is provided by this relative motion between opposing surfaces that in many the example embodiments are fully in contact with each other, again in contract to the separating surfaces of external sipes; such surface contact is, of course, exclusive of any internal sipe media, which can be used as an additional enhancement, in contrast to the flexibility-obstructing debris often clogging external sipes. As a result, the footwear sole in which at least one integral internal sipe component is incorporated becomes much more flexible, much more like the wearer's bare foot sole itself, so that foot sole can interact with the ground naturally. The resulting footwear sole with internal sipes has improved, natural flexibility, improved cushioning from shock and shear forces, and better, more natural stable support.
A limited use of internal sipes has also been described by the applicant in prior applications, including the examples shown in FIGS. 12A-12D, 60A-60E, and 70-71, which are generally unglued portions coinciding with lamination layer boundaries, such as between bottomsole and midsole layers. This approach requires completely new and somewhat difficult approaches in the assembly of the footwear sole during manufacture, as well as significantly greater potential for problems of layer separation (especially bottom sole) since the inherent reduction in gluing surfaces makes the remaining gluing surfaces critical and under increased load; significantly increased positional accuracy in the application of glue is required. Also, the use of lubricating media (and the potential control thereof, including by microprocessor) is also more difficult, since the sipe is formed by existing parts and is not discretely enclosed with the new outer layer to contain the media, as it is in the new invention described in this application.
In contrast, the new invention of this application is a discrete device in the form of an integral component that can easily be inserted as a single simple step into the footwear sole during the manufacturing process or, alternatively, inserted in one single simple step by a wearer (into the upper portion of a midsole insert, for example, much like inserting an insole into an shoe), for whom the new extra layer provides buffering protection for the wearer from direct, potentially abrasive contact with a cushioning component (forming a portion of the inner, foot sole-contacting surface of the shoe sole, for example).
In addition, the new invention allows easier and more effective containment of a lubricating media (including media with special capabilities, like magnetorheological fluid) within the integral internal sipe, so that the relative motion between inner surfaces of the sipe can be controlled by that media (and, alternatively, by direct computer control); it avoids the need for the use of closed-cell midsole materials or a special impermeable layer applied to the footwear sole material to prevent the sipe media from leaking away.
Accordingly, it is a general object of one or more embodiments of the invention to elaborate upon the application of the use of a device in the form of an integral component with one or more internal sipes to improve the flexibility, cushioning, and stability of footwear and other products.
It is still another object of one or more embodiments of the invention to provide footwear having an integral component with at least one internal (or mostly internal) sipes, including slits or channels or grooves and any other shape, including geometrically regular or non-regular, such as anthropomorphic shapes, to improve flexibility, cushioning and stability. It is still another object of one or more embodiments of the invention to include an integral device with one or more internal sipes that include a media such as a lubricant or glue of any useful characteristic such as viscosity or any material, including a magnetorheological fluid.
It is another object of one or more embodiments of the invention to create a shoe sole with flexibility, support and cushioning that is provided by siped chambers or compartments or bladders in the footwear sole or upper or orthotics. The compartments or chambers or bladders are surrounded, partially or completely, by at least one internal (or mostly internal) sipe for use in any footwear soles or uppers, or orthotic soles or uppers, and for other flexibility, cushioning, and stability uses in athletic equipment like helmets and apparel including protective padding and guards, as well as medical protective equipment and apparel, and other uses, such as protective flooring, improved furniture cushioning, balls and tires for wheels, and many other uses.
It is another object of one or more embodiments of the invention to create footwear, orthotic or other products with at least one outer chamber; at least one inner chamber inside the outer chamber; the outer chamber and the inner chamber being separated at least in part by an internal sipe; at least a portion of an inner surface of the outer chamber forming at least a portion of an inner surface of the internal sipe; and the internal sipe providing increased flexibility, cushioning, and stability for the footwear, orthotic or other product.
A further object of one or more embodiments of the invention is to combine the integral component with at least one internal sipe with the applicant's prior footwear inventions described in this application, including removable midsole structures and orthotics and chambers with controlled variable pressure, including control by computer.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the summary and detailed description of the invention, which follow, taken with the accompanying drawings.
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1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a drain hose used to drain wash water and a washing machine having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A washing machine is provided with a tub, a rotary tub accommodating a laundry, such as clothes, inside the tub, and a motor to drive the rotary tub. The washing machine performs a series of operations including a washing operation, a rinsing operation, and a spin-dry operation.
The wash water having been used during the washing operation or the rinsing operation is pumped out by a drain pump and forcedly drained to the outside the washing machine. In addition, during the spin-dry operation, water separated from the laundry is introduced to the drain pump and then is discharged to the outside the washing machine.
In general, a drain hose is provided between the tub and the drain pump to connecting the tub to the drain pump.
The wash water drained after being used during the washing or rinsing operation or the wash water separated from the laundry during the spin-dry operation flows into the drain hose at a lower side of the tub and then is mixed with air inside the drain hose. If wash water with air mixed flows through inside the drain hose, cavitation occurs. The cavitation prevents the wash water from smoothly flowing or causes a turbulence that generates abnormal noise.
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The present invention relates to the control of power transistors with capacitive control such as MOS transistors and insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT).
More particularly, the invention aims at achieving a control system wherein the control circuit is insulated from the power circuit, a short pulse being liable to switch on the power transistor until the occurrence of a short pulse with an opposite polarity for turning off this power transistor.
An object of the invention is to provide a particularly simple circuit, liable to operate at a low frequency without limitation of the duty cycle and which allows rapid switching of the power transistor.
Another object of the invention is to provide a control circuit comprising means for interrupting the conduction of the power transistor in case of short-circuit in the load.
A further object of the invention is to provide a control circuit comprising means for supplying to the portion of the control circuit insulated from the power circuit an indication that a short-circuit has occurred in the load.
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1. Technical Field
The embodiments herein generally relate to electrical circuits, and, more particularly, to a digital approach for image rejection correction in low intermediate frequency conversion tuners.
2. Description of the Related Art
A local oscillator (LO) is a device used to generate a signal which is combined with a signal of interest to mix the signal to a different frequency. The LO produces a signal which is injected into the mixer along with the signal from the antenna. This effectively changes the antenna signal by heterodyning with it to produce the sum and difference (e.g., with the utilization of trigonometric angle sum and difference identities) of that signal one of which will be at the intermediate frequency (IF) which can be handled by an IF amplifier. Image rejection (IR) is a measure of a receiver's ability to reject signals at its image frequency. IR is normally expressed as the ratio, in dB, of the receiver's sensitivity at the desired frequency to the sensitivity at the image frequency. A distortion component signal is calculated based on the difference between the current detection signal and the audio signal.
In a low intermediate frequency (LIF) conversion tuner, a desired signal in the radio frequency (RF) is down converted to a LIF signal through the LO, which consists of an in-phase component and a quadrature component. In reality, amplitude and phase of the in-phase component and the quadrature component are usually not balanced. This leads to a leakage of the alternative channel into the desired signal channel band, which is usually referred as image leakage. The image leakage component is a distortion to the desired signal, and its strength depends on the magnitude of the amplitude and the phase imbalance offsets during the LIF down conversion. It is desirable to cancel or remove the image component due to the amplitude and the phase imbalances to improve the received signal quality. The process is usually referred as IR correction.
FIG. 1 is a mathematical flow diagram of a low intermediate frequency down conversion mixer 100. FIG. 1 illustrates how in-phase and quadrature component mismatches are introduced in a quadrature mixer 100, which includes both a phase mismatch and a gain mismatch. For clarity, the gain mismatch (1+α) is put into the in-phase path (cosine), and the phase mismatch (φ) is put into the quadrature path (sine). Within the mixer 100, a received signal x(t) is mixed at nodes 102, 104 with two signals at a predetermined frequency provided from a quadrature generator (not shown). The received RF signal x(t) is mixed with a LO cosine function to generate yr(t) and with the LO sine function to generate yQ(t). A complex IF signal output from the mixer 100 can be expressed as y(t)=yI(t)+i·yQ(t). After some mathematical manipulation, y(t) can be expressed as:
y ( t ) = y I ( t ) + ⅈ · y Q ( t ) = [ ( 1 + α ) cos ( 2 π f c t ) - ⅈ · sin ( 2 π f c t + φ ) ] · x ( t ) = G · ( ⅇ - ⅈ · 2 π f c t + I · ⅇ ⅈ · 2 π f c t ) · x ( t ) ( 1 ) where , G = 1 2 ( 1 + α + ⅇ - ⅈ · φ ) , I = 1 + α - ⅇ ⅈ · φ 1 + α + ⅇ - ⅈ · φ 0 ( 2 )
If α≠0, there will be amplitude imbalance, and it φ≠0, there will be phase imbalance. However in practical analog receivers, there is usually some mismatch, which results in image leakage through the quadrature mixer 100.
FIG. 2 is a graphical diagram 200 showing an IR problem. FIG. 2 illustrates the spectral distribution of an exemplary combination of signals in image leakage. At the input, a desired signal, whose complex baseband representation is S, is present at a frequency fc+fLIF, while an alternative channel, whose complex baseband representation is A, is present at the image frequency of S, fc−fLIF. Signal A represents a signal in a different channel than signal S and has a larger magnitude than signal S. In the illustrated example, signal A is two channels removed from signal S and is referred to as an alternate channel signal relative to signal S. As signals S and A are complex, conjugate signal versions S* and A* exist in the negative frequency plane at frequencies −(fc+fLIF), and −(fc−fLIF), respectively. The amount of image leakage into the desired band is proportional to the magnitude of the interference components I due to the amplitude and phase imbalance offsets.
Traditionally, a combined analog and digital approach is employed to achieve the IR corrections. In these approaches, a training signal is usually required from the analog domain. Interactions between the analog and the digital domain make these types of approaches not very attractive, and the IR performance is also limited to certain degree.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical head, which controls an output of a light source according to a front monitor system, and an optical reproducing apparatus and an optical recording and reproducing apparatus mounted with the optical head.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recording and reproduction of various kinds of optical recording media, it is necessary to control an output of a light source of an optical head used for an optical recording and reproducing apparatus so as to be accurate and to be stable under changes of an environment such as temperature and also over time. In a semiconductor laser serving as a light source used for an optical head, because its output fluctuates due to fluctuation in temperature and secular change, power control is performed by Auto Power Control (APC) to realize stabilization of a power level of light beams irradiated on an optical recording medium such as an optical disk.
As a representative system of this APC, a rear monitor system and a front monitor system are known. The rear monitor system is a system for detecting a light beam, which is emitted from a rear side of a semiconductor laser chip toward an inside of a laser package, using a photo-detector provided in the laser package. In this system, it is possible to reduce the size of an optical head because the photo-detector is provided in the laser package. At present, this rear monitor system is adopted in a read-only apparatus.
However, because a light beam emitted from an end face on an opposite side of an irradiation surface of a semiconductor laser is detected in the rear monitor system, there is a problem in that detection accuracy and the like deteriorate. Therefore, the front monitor system is adopted in recording applications that require particularly high accuracy. The front monitor system is a system for separating a part of a light beam emitted from a semiconductor laser serving as a light source, detecting the separated beams to feed back the separated beams to a drive circuit for the semiconductor laser, and controlling an output of the semiconductor laser according to an intensity of the separated beams. Note that, because the front monitor system is more accurate than the rear monitor system, the front monitor system may be used for the read-only apparatus.
An optical head adopting the conventional front monitor system (e.g., Japanese Patent No. 2555239 (paragraphs 0019 to 0020 and FIG. 1)) will be explained with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. FIG. 12 is a side view showing a schematic structure of a conventional optical head and FIG. 13 is a plan view showing the schematic structure of the conventional optical head.
As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, a light beam emitted from a light source 1 consisting of, for example, a semiconductor laser is split into three beams for tracking error signal generation in a diffraction element 2, changed to parallel beams by a collimating lens 3, and made incident on a beam splitter 4 as P-polarized light. The beam splitter 4 has a characteristic of transmitting about 90% of the P-polarized light and reflecting about 10% of the P-polarized light.
As shown in FIG. 12, the light beams transmitted through the beam splitter 4 are reflected on a rising reflection mirror 5, whereby an optical path of the light beams is bent. Then, the light beams are changed to circularly polarized light when the light beams are transmitted through a quarter-wave plate 6 and made incident on an objective lens 7. The light beams are changed to focused light and condensed on an information track on an information recording surface of an optical recording medium 8. Note that the objective lens 7 is mounted on an actuator 9 that is movable in at least a focusing direction and a tracking direction with respect to the optical recording medium 8.
Light reflected on the information recording surface of the optical recording medium 8 is transmitted through the objective lens 7 and converted into linearly polarized light in a direction perpendicular to the forward path up to the quarter wave plate 6. Then, the linearly polarized light is reflected by the reflection mirror 5 and made incident on the beam splitter 4 as S-polarized light.
Because the beam splitter 4 reflects almost 100% of the S-polarized light, as shown in FIG. 13, the light beams reflected on the beam splitter 4 are changed to focused light in a focusing lens 10 and given astigmatism for focus error signal generation in an anamorphic lens 11. Then, the focused light is made incident on a photo-detector 12 and converted into an electric signal in a light-receiving section of the photo-detector 12.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 13, the light beams reflected on the beam splitter 4, which are about 10% of the light beams emitted from the light source 1, are made incident on a photo-detector 13 for front monitor. Then, the light beams are converted into an electric signal for output monitor of the light source 1 by a light-receiving section of the photo-detector 13, and the electric signal for output monitor is used for feedback control of an output of the light source 1.
In addition, there is known a method of splitting a light beam emitted from a light source and detecting a part of the light beam with a photo-detector for front monitor to thereby perform feedback control of an output of a light source (e.g., JP 2003-151167 A (paragraphs 0025 to 0033 and FIG. 1)). This conventional technique will be explained with reference to FIG. 14. As shown in the figure, a light beam emitted from the light source 1 is made incident on a beam splitter 4. The beam splitter 4 transmits almost 100% of P-polarized light and reflects almost 100% of S-polarized light. Light beams made incident as the P-polarized light are transmitted through the beam splitter 4, converted into parallel light fluxes by a collimate lens 3, and made incident on the quarter wave plate 6. The parallel light fluxes converted into circularly polarized light by the quarter wave plate 6 are guided toward the reflection mirror 5. Most of the light fluxes including those at the center are reflected by the reflection mirror 5 to travel to the objective lens 7. A part of the light fluxes in the periphery travel straight ahead without being made incident on the reflection mirror 5 and are made incident on the photo-detector 13.
The light beams traveling to the objective lens 7 form a spot on an information track of the optical recording medium 8 through the objective lens 7. Then, the light beams reflected on the optical recording medium 8 are transmitted through the objective lens 7 again, reflected on the reflection mirror 5, and made incident on the quarter wave plate 6. Then, the light beams are converted into S-polarized light by the quarter wave plate 6 and transmitted through the collimate lens 3. Thereafter, the light beams are reflected by the beam splitter 4, made incident on the photo-detector 12, and converted into an electric signal.
On the other hand, the light beams traveling to the photo-detector 13 without being made incident on the reflection mirror 5 are made incident on the light-receiving surface of the photo-detector 13 and converted into an electric signal. This electric signal is fed back to a drive circuit of the light source 1, whereby output control for the light source 1 is performed.
Further, there is known a method of reflecting or diffracting a part of peripheral light fluxes of a light beam emitted from a light source to thereby make the light fluxes incident on a photo-detector for front monitor and convert the light fluxes into an electric signal, and feeding back the electric signal to a drive circuit of the light source to thereby perform output control for the light source (e.g., JP 10-255314 A (paragraphs 0012 to 0016 and FIG. 1) and JP 2002-270940 A (paragraph 0010 and FIG. 7)). Here, the term “peripheral light fluxes” refers to light beams other than those in an effective range which are used for recording and reproduction effectively among light beams.
Moreover, there is known a method of reflecting a part of peripheral light fluxes of a light beam emitted from a light source on a part of an optical element constituting an optical head and making the light fluxes incident on a photo-detector for front monitor to perform output control for the light source. For example, a reflection surface is provided in a part of an optical element such as a diffraction grating, a collimate lens, and a beam splitter, light beams are reflected on the reflection surface, and the reflected light of the light beams is made incident on the photo-detector for front monitor.
However, in the case of the optical head described in Japanese Patent No. 2555239, a light beam from the light source is split by the beam splitter or the diffractive element into light beams for front monitor. Thus, an intensity of light beams for recording and reproduction traveling to the optical recording medium weakens. On the other hand, speedup of recording and reproduction of information is demanded, and in particular, in order to increase recording speed, it is necessary to irradiate light beams with a high intensity on the optical recording medium. Therefore, there is a problem in that it is not in accord with the demand for speedup of recording and reproduction of information to split a light beam for recording reproduction and using the split light beams as light beams for front monitor.
In the optical head described in JP 2003-151167 A, because peripheral light fluxes not used for recording and reproduction of the optical recording medium are used, an intensity of light beams for recording and reproduction does not weaken due to splitting of a light beam. However, in the photo-detector for front monitor, a portion for holding the photo-detector must be provided outside the light-receiving section, and there is a problem in that this portion blocks effective light fluxes when the photo-detector receives peripheral light fluxes. In addition, it is necessary to hold the light-receiving section of the photo-detector for front monitor substantially vertically with respect to incident light fluxes to secure stability of photoelectric conversion efficiency and a light-receiving amount. There is a problem in that the size of the optical head increases when the photo-detector for front monitor is arranged in this way.
In the optical head described in JP 10-255314 A and JP 2002-270940 A, a special optical element is required separately for guiding light beams to the photo-detector for front monitor, and there is a problem in that this leads to an increase in cost of the optical head and the optical recording and reproducing apparatus using the optical head. In addition, when light beams are diffracted using the diffractive element, if the diffraction angle is small, it is necessary to hold the photo-detector for front monitor substantially vertically with respect to incident light fluxes to secure stability of photoelectric conversion efficiency and a light-receiving amount. In this case, there is a problem in that the size of the optical head increases. If the diffraction angle is large, it is difficult to improve diffractive efficiency. In addition, there is a problem in that light diffracted in another direction changes to stray light to cause noise or adversely affect a servo system of the optical recording and reproducing apparatus.
In the optical head for reflecting a light beam on a part of the optical element, it is necessary to reflect the light beam on the optical element itself. Thus, there is a problem in that the size of the optical element itself increases. When an optical element made of glass is used, a process for providing a C-cut surface as a reflection surface is required, which leads to an increase in manufacturing cost. In addition, since the reflectance of the C-cut surface is increased by polishing the optical element, it is difficult to apply polishing treatment or mirror coating to the optical element in addition to the polishing.
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An instruction set, or instruction set architecture (ISA), is the part of the computer architecture related to programming, and may include native data types, instructions, register architecture, addressing modes, memory architectures, interrupts, exception handling, and external input and output (I/O) operations. The term instruction generally refers herein to macro-instructions—that is, instructions that are provided to the processor (or instruction converter that translates (e.g., using static binary translation, dynamic binary translation including dynamic compilation), morphs, emulates, or otherwise converts an instruction to one or more other instructions to be processed by the processor) for execution—as opposed to micro-instructions or micro-operations (“micro-ops” or “uops”)—which is the result of a processor's decoder decoding macro-instructions.
The ISA is distinguished from the microarchitecture, which is the internal design of the processor implementing the instruction set. Processors with different microarchitectures can share a common instruction set. For example, Intel® Pentium 4 processors, Intel® Core™ processors, and processors from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. of Sunnyvale Calif. implement nearly identical versions of the x86 instruction set (with some extensions that have been added with newer versions), but have different internal designs. For example, the same register architecture of the ISA may be implemented in different ways in different microarchitectures using well-known techniques, including dedicated physical registers, one or more dynamically allocated physical registers using a register renaming mechanism (e.g., the use of a Register Alias Table (RAT), a Reorder Buffer (ROB), and a retirement register file; the use of multiple maps and a pool of registers), etc. Unless otherwise specified, the phrases register architecture, register file, and register are used herein to refer to that which is visible to the software/programmer and the manner in which instructions specify registers. Where a specificity is desired, the adjective logical, architectural, or software visible will be used to indicate registers/files in the register architecture, while different adjectives will be used to designation registers in a given microarchitecture (e.g., physical register, reorder buffer, retirement register, register pool).
An instruction set includes one or more instruction formats. A given instruction format defines various fields (number of bits, location of bits) to specify, among other things, the operation to be performed (opcode) and the operand(s) on which that operation is to be performed. Some instruction formats are further broken down though the definition of instruction templates (or subformats). For example, the instruction templates of a given instruction format may be defined to have different subsets of the instruction format's fields (the included fields are typically in the same order, but at least some have different bit positions because there are less fields included) and/or defined to have a given field interpreted differently. Thus, each instruction of an ISA is expressed using a given instruction format (and, if defined, in a given one of the instruction templates of that instruction format) and includes fields for specifying the operation and the operands. For example, an exemplary ADD instruction has a specific opcode and an instruction format that includes an opcode field to specify that opcode and operand fields to select operands (source1/destination and source2); and an occurrence of this ADD instruction in an instruction stream will have specific contents in the operand fields that select specific operands.
Scientific, financial, auto-vectorized general purpose, RMS (recognition, mining, and synthesis), and visual and multimedia applications (e.g., 2D/3D graphics, image processing, video compression/decompression, voice recognition algorithms and audio manipulation) often require the same operation to be performed on a large number of data items (referred to as “data parallelism”). Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) refers to a type of instruction that causes a processor to perform an operation on multiple data items. SIMD technology is especially suited to processors that can logically divide the bits in a register into a number of fixed-sized data elements, each of which represents a separate value. For example, the bits in a 256-bit register may be specified as a source operand to be operated on as four separate 64-bit packed data elements (quad-word (Q) size data elements), eight separate 32-bit packed data elements (double word (D) size data elements), sixteen separate 16-bit packed data elements (word (W) size data elements), or thirty-two separate 8-bit data elements (byte (B) size data elements). This type of data is referred to as packed data type or vector data type, and operands of this data type are referred to as packed data operands or vector operands. In other words, a packed data item or vector refers to a sequence of packed data elements, and a packed data operand or a vector operand is a source or destination operand of a SIMD instruction (also known as a packed data instruction or a vector instruction).
By way of example, one type of SIMD instruction specifies a single vector operation to be performed on two source vector operands in a vertical fashion to generate a destination vector operand (also referred to as a result vector operand) of the same size, with the same number of data elements, and in the same data element order. The data elements in the source vector operands are referred to as source data elements, while the data elements in the destination vector operand are referred to a destination or result data elements. These source vector operands are of the same size and contain data elements of the same width, and thus they contain the same number of data elements. The source data elements in the same bit positions in the two source vector operands form pairs of data elements (also referred to as corresponding data elements; that is, the data element in data element position 0 of each source operand correspond, the data element in data element position 1 of each source operand correspond, and so on). The operation specified by that SIMD instruction is performed separately on each of these pairs of source data elements to generate a matching number of result data elements, and thus each pair of source data elements has a corresponding result data element. Since the operation is vertical and since the result vector operand is the same size, has the same number of data elements, and the result data elements are stored in the same data element order as the source vector operands, the result data elements are in the same bit positions of the result vector operand as their corresponding pair of source data elements in the source vector operands. In addition to this exemplary type of SIMD instruction, there are a variety of other types of SIMD instructions (e.g., that has only one or has more than two source vector operands, that operate in a horizontal fashion, that generates a result vector operand that is of a different size, that has a different size data elements, and/or that has a different data element order). It should be understood that the term destination vector operand (or destination operand) is defined as the direct result of performing the operation specified by an instruction, including the storage of that destination operand at a location (be it a register or at a memory address specified by that instruction) so that it may be accessed as a source operand by another instruction (by specification of that same location by the another instruction).
The SIMD technology, such as that employed by the Intel® Core™ processors having an instruction set including x86, MMX™, Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE), SSE2, SSE3, SSE4.1, and SSE4.2 instructions, has enabled a significant improvement in application performance. An additional set of SIMD extensions, referred to the Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) (AVX1 and AVX2) and using the Vector Extensions (VEX) coding scheme, been released and/or published (e.g., see Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developers Manual, October 2011; and see Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions Programming Reference, June 2011).
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Radio communications systems are used in a variety of telecommunications systems, television, radio and other media systems, data communication networks, and other systems to convey information between remote points using radio-frequency transmitters. To communicate such information, radio communications systems employ radio transmitters. A transmitter is an electronic device which, usually with the aid of an antenna, propagates an electromagnetic signal such as radio, television, or other telecommunications. Transmitters often include signal amplifiers which receive a radio-frequency or other signal, amplify the signal by a predetermined gain, and communicate the amplified signal.
A common problem in radio transmitters, radio-frequency amplifiers, and other electronic devices is non-linearity of signal gain. Non-linearity may cause amplifier gain to be dependent upon input signal amplitude and as a result may cause harmonic distortion and other undesired effects. Of particular concern is third-order non-linearity which is in many cases the dominant type of non-linearity, resulting in a phenomenon known as third-order intermodulation. In a radio transmitter, harmonics may be introduced from both a baseband signal and a local oscillator used to modulate the baseband signal. Such harmonics can impact the performance of a transmitter in at least two ways, both of which can generate signal components outside of an allowed spectral mask, and thereby, may cause spectral interference to other devices.
The first mechanism is the intermodulation between harmonics of the local oscillator and baseband signals, know as counter-intermodulation. The second mechanism is the harmonic distortion of an upconverted radio-frequency signal by the radio-frequency amplifier of the transmitter. Modulators may be designed to reduce counter-intermodulation. However, non-linearties in radio-frequency amplifiers may cause regeneration of the counter-intermodulation.
Traditional approaches to solving the above problems have disadvantages. For example, a technique known as inductive degeneration is often applied in radio-frequency circuits to improve circuit linearity. However, this technique does not address the problem of counter intermodulation. As another example, a technique known as derivative superposition may be used to cancel third-order non-linearity. However, derivative superposition is not effective in reducing counter-intermodulation regeneration. As a further example, an output of the modulator of a transmitter may be high-pass filtered to reduce counter-intermodulation, but such approach does not eliminate non-linearities of the amplifier which may regenerate the counter-intermodulation.
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Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method therefor; particularly, it relates to such a semiconductor device which has a stacked cap layer, such that a nitride layer thereof is protected so as not to be damaged by an etchant material, and a manufacturing method therefor.
Description of Related Art
Please refer to FIGS. 1A-1B, which are cross-sectional views illustrating a conventional manufacturing method for a semiconductor device. As shown in FIG. 1A, in the manufacturing method for a conventional semiconductor device 10, a semiconductor stacked structure 19 is formed on a substrate 11. A stacked cap layer 15 is formed on the semiconductor stacked structure 19. The semiconductor stacked structure 19 includes a gate structure 13 and a spacer layer 14. The semiconductor stacked structure 19 is formed on the substrate 11 by the steps of: first, forming a shallow trench isolation (STI) structure 12 in the substrate 11; next, forming the gate structure 13 and the spacer layer 14 on the STI structure 12. As shown by the cross-sectional view of FIG. 1A, the gate structure 13 includes, from bottom to top: a first gate structure 131, a nitride dielectric layer 132, an oxide dielectric layer 133 and a second gate structure 134. The spacer layer 14 includes an oxide spacer layer 14b and a nitride spacer layer 14a. According to the cross-sectional view of FIG. 1A, the stacked cap layer 15 includes, from bottom to top, a first oxide cap layer 151, a nitride layer 152 and a second oxide cap layer 153. A protection layer 16 is formed on the stacked cap layer 15, wherein the protection layer 16 is etched to form an opening 161.
As shown in FIG. 1B, in the following steps for manufacturing the conventional semiconductor device 10, the substrate 11 is etched, and an etchant material (e.g., sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)) is introduced into the opening 161. Undesirably, because sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) would attack the nitride layer 152 of the stacked cap layer 15 (as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1B), the nitride layer 152 will be damaged, to adversely affect the robustness of the conventional semiconductor device 10 is affected.
In view of the above, to overcome the drawbacks in the prior art, the present invention proposes a manufacturing method for a semiconductor device having a stacked cap layer, wherein the nitride layer of the stacked cap layer is protected and not to be damaged by the etchant material.
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The present invention relates to a servo system which carries out a feedback control of positions, speeds and so on of machine tools and so on.
In recent years, a serial multi-drop method is generally used to connect a controller, such as a numeric control apparatus or a motion controller, for controlling a plural number of shafts to servo drive units. FIG. 5 is a wiring diagram of an exemplified system utilizing a drive-unit-built-in servo motors in which a servo drive unit is incorporated. The figure shows that a controller 1 and a drive-unit-built-in servo motor 5a are connected by a cable 4a and a second drive-unit-built-in servo motor 5b and the drive-unit-built-in servo motor 5a are connected by a cable 4b. A third one and a succeeding one are connected in series in the same way, and the drive-unit-built-in servo motors 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d respectively comprise rotary switches 19a, 19b, 19c and 19d for shaft number identification.
FIG. 6 shows a detailed signal diagram of the exemplified system. The figure shows that the send data from the controller 1 are transmitted as serial data for all shafts through the identical lines. From the serial data received, the servo drive units in the drive-unit-built-in servo motors respectively select data which correspond to their respective shaft numbers and drive servo motors based on the data. (FIG. 6 does not show detailed circuits, servo motors and other components beyond line drivers and line receivers of the servo drive units inside the drive-unit-built-in servo motors. The drive-unit-built-in servo motor 5d is omitted in the figure.) At this moment, the shaft numbers are identified on the basis of the settings of hardware such as rotary switches 19 provided inside the servo drive units.
The signals from the drive-unit-built-in servo motors are output to the identical line by time division and transmitted to the controller 1. An emergency stop (EMG) signal is output from the controller 1 and transmitted to the first drive-unit-built-in servo motor 5a. The drive-unit-built-in servo motor 5a transmits logical sum of the received EMG signal and an alarm signal of its own to the second drive-unit-built-in servo motor 5b. The processing proceeds in the same way till the final shaft and the output from the drive-unit-built-in servo motor of the last shaft is transmitted to the controller 1.
Since distances between the drive-unit-built-in servo motors in the exemplified system shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are long, a total cable length is so extensive that there has been a fear that communication on the side of the last shaft may be disabled by such as an influence of reflected waves. In the exemplified system, since each of the drive-unit-built-in servo motors is connected to two cables, a large space needed for the connector on the side of the servo motors and a complicated cable arrangement have been the problems.
Another problem has been that, since the shaft numbers are set by setting such hardware as the rotary switches 19 attached to the drive-unit-built-in servo motors, alteration in the setting is not always easy, depending on the location of the servo motors. Still another problem has been that the structure becomes complicated since such hardware as the rotary switches 19 needs to have an anti-splash structure.
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This invention relates generally to flat panel display devices and particularly to a color selection electron beam guide assembly for such devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,368 to F. J. Marlowe discloses a flat panel display device in which a backplate and a faceplate are spaced in parallel planes. A plurality of vanes extend between the backplate and faceplate to divide the envelope into a plurality of channels and to support the faceplate and backplate against atmospheric pressure after the envelope is evacuated. Arranged in each of the channels is a pair of spaced apart parallel beam guide meshes which extend longitudinally along the channels and transversely across the channels. The beam guide meshes serve as guides along which electron beams are propagated the lengths of the channels. Color displays can be produced by propagating three electron beams, one for each of the primary colors red, green and blue, in each channel.
The inside surface of the faceplate is provided with a phosphor screen which luminesces when struck by electrons. When a color display is to be produced, the screen includes three phosphors each of which emits one of the three colors of light. A plurality of extraction electrodes are arranged along the backplate and are used to eject the electron beams from between the beam guide meshes to direct the electron beams toward the phosphor screen. Deflection electrodes are provided on the sides of the support vanes and are electrically energized to cause the electron beams to transversely scan the channels. Accordingly, each of the channels contributes a portion of the total visual display of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,823 to T. L. Credelle, discloses a structure for converging the electron beams at the shadow mask of a flat panel display device of the type described in the Marlowe patent. In the Credelle patent, convergence electrodes are provided on the support walls to cause the three electron beams to converge at the shadow mask.
The inventions described in the above-referenced patents are quite satisfactory for the purposes intended. However, the generating of a color display requires that three electron beams propagate in each of the channels and, accordingly, each channel must include three electron guns and the electron beam propagation structures must be capable of simultaneously propagating three electron beams. Additionally, the electron beams should be converged at a color selection shadow mask and the converged beams must be scanned transversely across the channel. For these reasons, such a display device is quite complex. Accordingly, it would be highly advantageous if a color display could be produced utilizing a single electron beam in each of the propagation channels.
The instant invention fulfills this need by the provision of a color selection electron beam guide assembly wherein a color display is produced utilizing a single electron beam in each channel of the display device.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to automated pharmaceutical distribution systems and particularly to container transport systems for use in prescription filling systems. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatus for transporting cylindrical containers (e.g. bottles) through tubing from one station to another within an automated prescription filling system.
2. Description of Related Art
NOTE: hereinafter, the present invention is discussed in the context of a preferred embodiment for automated pharmaceutical prescription-filling systems, but one having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the present invention, along with the principles and practices thereof, may be utilized for filling containers of any small objects, and that all such small object container filling applications are considered to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Automated pharmaceutical prescription-filling systems answer a need for high-volume pharmaceutical deliveries. The initial purpose of such systems was to reduce relatively high rates of medication errors associated with manual prescription filling, and to create means for increased volume needed for modern times. Side benefits have been lower costs, reduction of personnel, inventory control, substance control, automated documentation, quick turn-around times and relief to professional pharmacists from the tedium of monitoring a multitude of high-volume orders. The use of central fill mail order service to fill prescriptions has been highly successful in lowering the costs of providing drugs to consumers.
Most semi-automated systems remain relatively labor intensive. Dispensing machines which automatically count tablets or capsules often still require manual intervention to complete an order. For example a pharmacist or technician may have to position a patient's prescription container under the correct pill dispensing chute, or further handle it manually before shipping. The advantages of a system which automatically fills prescriptions, combines multiple prescriptions for a single patient and prepares the order for mailing are readily apparent.
A number of issues must be resolved to automatically fill and combine multiple prescription orders into a single package. In automated prescription filling systems, bottle handling requires means for transporting the bottles while tracking their exact location and status within the process. Many automated prescription filling systems move the bottles around between stations using carriages, or trays commonly known as “pucks” or “totes.” The trays prevent the bottles from becoming jammed, tipped over or damaged in transit. Trays with multiple bottle positions (“totes”) require that all bottles in them pass through the system together, thus preventing separate directivity for each bottle. Further, such trays are heavy and must be returned from the end of the system back to its beginning to be used again. Individual bottle carriers or trays (“pucks”) alleviate this grouping problem but still involve a separate device to contain the bottles which must be moved around the system independently using conventional conveyors and pushers, and once emptied, returned to beginning loading points for re-use. A need exists for a system which does not rely on pucks and totes to shepherd such containers through an automated prescription filling system.
Automated prescription filling systems which dispense with pucks and totes encounter another obstacle, the problem of damage and abrasion of the contents of the bottles as they move through the system by themselves. An empty bottle can move very fast under the influence of a propulsion system, and it can stop abruptly, spin and otherwise move about without concern for the condition of its contents. A bottle filled with pharmaceuticals, however, must be handled gently enough that its contents do not abrade against themselves and do not suffer jolts and abrupt stops which may break or otherwise damage the pharmaceuticals. Means is needed for a bottle propulsion system which handles containers, particularly filled containers, without causing damage product or other contents.
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A single frequency network (SFN) is a broadcast network where several radio frequency (RF) transmitters concurrently send the same signal over the same frequency channel. One goal of SFNs is efficient utilization of the radio spectrum, allowing a higher number of programs in comparison to traditional multi-frequency network (MFN) transmission. An SFN may also increase the coverage area and decrease the outage probability in comparison to the MFN, since the total received signal strength may increase to positions midway between transmitters.
Broadcasting from two or more nearby RF transmitters on the same frequency can lead to reception problems in the overlap areas—the areas in which the RF signal level from multiple transmitters is similar in strength. Broadcasting the same signal from two or more RF transmitters on the same frequency can produce a cascade of effects. For instance, listeners located closer to any one of the transmitters where the signal is significantly stronger (usually 6 dB or greater) may hear only the closer transmitter due to the “capture effect” of a receiver. Listeners located in “equal signal” areas or fringe areas can experience serious reception problems where transmitter footprints overlap.
For SFN to work effectively, the broadcast signal from each transmitter should arrive at the receiver at the same time. A signal leaving the control site can be subject to three delay factors: control to transmitter site network link path delay, the RF “flight time” in the air from the transmitter to the receiver, and the encode/decode delay of the source program material. For an effective SFN system, the delay factors must be either compensated for or well controlled.
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1. The Field of the Invention
The invention relates to connectors for electrically connecting integrated circuit packages, known also as active device substrates (ADS), to printed circuit boards. The housings of the connectors in this particular area of the art are secured to the board permanently, relatively speaking. Accordingly, means are associated with the housings to removably retain the ADS therein.
2. The Prior Art
The active device substrates of interest herein are of the type having integrated circuit semiconductors, i.e., "chips", mounted on a ceramic substrate. Thin, conductive traces or pads radiate from the chip outwardly to the substrates four sides. The substrates are relatively fragile which presents a problem; i.e., means to bias the substrate against the contact elements with sufficient force to maintain good electrical contact without breakage. Clearly, the force must be applied uniformly to the substrate. Representative prior art patents meeting the aforementioned requirement include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,130,327 and 4,220,383. Both patents disclose connectors having contact elements in an insulative housing into which an ADS is received. Contact surfaces on the upper ends of the elements engages the pads on the substrate. Leads or pins on the lower end of the elements in U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,327 are adapted for insertion into holes in a PCB. The lower ends of the elements in U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,383 are adapted for abutting engagement against traces on the board; i.e., a "surface to surface" connection. Both patents includes covers which bias the substrate against the aforementioned contact surfaces.
Further, both patents disclose contact elements which possess spring characteristics such that they can tolerate the downward deflection imposed on them by the cover without taking a set.
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One of the basic problems with conventional wire terminals is that they are subject to default through vibration. This means that in a building where many wire terminals may be used, and particularly in industrial type buildings, ambient vibrations in the structure are present which are induced by, for instance, air conditioning, heating or other machinery. Conventional wire terminals, because they have a tapered-type design in which a number of wires are forced together and wedged in a capheld conical spring, have a tendency to come off due to vibration in which the terminal rotates counter-clockwise over time. If the terminal does not come off, it can loosen up, and as a result, the electrical integrity of the connection is compromised. This produces hot spots and other types of faults which sometimes can be particularly difficult to trace.
Moreover, in conventional wire terminal, the plastic insultated outer jacket works as a tight girdle to restrain the tapered helical spring electrical member from expanding in a radial direction. This spring is basically seated against the outer walls of the insulator and is prevented from movement in any direction. Moreover, the spring has a closed end which limits how far the wires can be pushed into the terminal. The closure of the spring at one end does not permit accommodation of a broad range of wires, and since the spring is unable to move radially, it cannot adjust properly to the number of wires which have been inserted, thereby even further limiting the size and range of wires to be connected. Moreover, by its very construction, the conventional wire terminal also tends to create a tapered helical girdle into which the wires are inserted which produces a force component which attempts to push the wires out of the wire terminal.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device having a circuit comprising thin-film transistors on a substrate with an insulating surface and to a method of manufacture thereof. More specifically, the invention relates to a constitution of an electrooptical device represented by a liquid crystal display and of an electronic apparatus mounting the electrooptical device. In this specification, the semiconductor device generally denotes devices that function by utilizing semiconductor characteristics and includes the electrooptical devices and the electronic apparatus mounting the electrooptical devices.
2. Related Art
The thin-film transistor (hereinafter abbreviated to TFT) can be fabricated on a transparent glass substrate and therefore has been actively applied to active matrix liquid crystal displays. Because the TFT formed of a semiconductor layer having a crystal constitution (hereinafter referred to as a crystalline TFT) has a high mobility, high resolution image display can be realized by integrating functional circuits on the same substrate.
In this specification, the semiconductor film having the crystal constitution includes a single crystal semiconductor, a polycrystalline semiconductor, and a microcrystal semiconductor. It also includes semiconductors disclosed in official gazettes JP-A7-130652, JP-A8-78329, JP-A 10-135468, and JP-A 10-135469.
To construct an active matrix liquid crystal display, the pixel area alone requires 1 to 2 million crystalline TFTs and, when peripheral functional circuits are constitution, additional numbers of crystalline TFTs are necessary. To operate the liquid crystal display stably requires securing reliability of individual crystalline TFTs.
The characteristic of a field-effect transistor such as TFT can be constitution as comprising a linear region where a drain current increases in proportion to a drain voltage, a saturation region where the drain current saturates even if the drain voltage increases, and a cut-off region where the current ideally does not flow even when the drain voltage is applied. In this specification, the linear region and the saturation region are called ON regions of TFT and the cut-off region is called an OFF region. The drain current in the ON region is called an ON current and the current in the OFF region an OFF current.
The pixel area of the active matrix liquid crystal display comprises n-channel TFTs (herein after referred to as pixel TFTs) and, because a gate voltage with an amplitude of about 15-20 V is applied thereto, needs to satisfy both of the characteristics of the ON region and the OFF region. On the other hand, the peripheral circuits for driving the pixel area basically comprise CMOS circuits and their characteristics of the ON regions are mainly important. The crystalline TFTs, however, have a problem that the OFF current easily increases. Further, a degradation phenomenon has often been observed when driving the crystalline TFT for an extended period of time results in the mobility and ON current decrease and the OFF current increases. One of the possible causes is presumed to be a hot carrier injection phenomenon caused by a high electric field near the drain.
In the field of the MOS transistor, a lightly doped drain (LDD) constitution has been known as a method for reducing the OFF current and alleviating the high electric field near the drain. This constitution has a low concentration impurity region on the inner side of the source and drain regions, i.e., on the side of the channel forming region. This low concentration impurity region is called an LDD region.
The LDD constitution is also known to be formed similarly in the crystalline TFT. For example, with the gate electrode as a mask, a first impurity injection process forms a low concentration impurity region that will form an LDD region, and then sidewalls are formed on both sides of the gate electrode by using an anisotropic etching technique. With the gate electrode and the sidewalls as a mask, a second impurity injection process forms a high concentration impurity region that will form a source region and a drain region.
Although the LDD constitution can render the OFF current lower as compared with that of the ordinary constitution TFT, the LDD constitution has a drawback that because a series resistance component increases for the constitution reason, the TFT ON current, too, is reduced. Further, the deterioration of the ON current cannot be prevented completely. To compensate for this drawback a constitution has been known to be used in which the LDD region overlaps the gate electrode with the gate insulating film interposed therebetween. There are several methods for making this constitution, such as GOLD (Gate-drain Overlapped LDD) and LATID (Large-tilt-angle implanted drain). In this overlapping constitution the high electric field near the drain can be alleviated to increase the tolerance for hot carriers and at the same time prevent reduction in the ON current.
It is also confirmed that in the crystalline TFT, too, the provision of the LDD constitution increases withstandability against hot carriers as compared with that of the simple constitution TFT having only the source region, drain region and channel forming region, and that the use of the GOLD constitution produces an excellent effect. This fact is described in “A Novel Self-aligned Gate-overlapped LDD Poly-Si TFT with High Reliability and Performance,” by Mutsuko Hatano, Hajime Akimoto and Takeshi Sakai, TEDM97-523.
In the crystalline TFT, forming the LDD constitution has proved to be an effective means for suppressing the hot carrier injection phenomenon. Further, the use of the GOLD constitution is found to be able to prevent a reduction in the ON current, which was observed in the LDD constitution, and also to produce a preferable result in terms of reliability.
Although the GOLD constitution can prevent degradation of the ON current, it has a drawback that when a high gate voltage is applied thereto at the OFF characteristic, the OFF current is increased, as observed in the pixel TFT in particular. An increase in the OFF current in the pixel TFT produces undesired effects such as increased power consumption and abnormal image display. This is constitution due to an inverted layer which, because of the characteristic of the OFF region, is formed in the LDD region overlapping the gate electrode.
As described above, to realize a high level of reliability in the crystalline TFT requires a comprehensive study on the constitution of the device. For this reason, it has been desired that the GOLD constitution be formed. With the conventional method, however, although the LDD region can be formed self-aligningly, the process of forming the sidewall film by an anisotropic etching is not suited for processing a large area glass substrate like the one used in the liquid crystal display, Further, because the length of the LDD region is determined by the width of the sidewall, the degree of freedom in designing device dimensions is severely restricted.
If, as in the pixel TFT, the characteristics of both the ON region and the OFF region are important and an attempt is made to meet the required level of their reliability and prevent an increase in the OFF current, the conventional GOLD constitution is not sufficient.
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Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to non-contact registration of pressure, sound and ultrasound waves and more particularly to a non-contact, all optical system for detecting ultrasound or other types of pressure waves.
State of Technology
Ultrasound is widely used in various applications such as in the medical field and for the detection of defects in solid-state material or components. Typically, the ultrasound waves are injected in to the material and the reflected signal from an object (such as a crack in a homogeneous material or a cyst or tumor in a tissue or organ system) is detected and/or imaged using an appropriate ultrasound detector system. Typically, an impedance matching material is used to effectively couple the ultrasound wave energy from the emitter to the material and the reflected signal from the material to the detector for minimizing loss of signal.
The ultrasound signal to be detected can also be generated via other means. In this case, the object of interest becomes the primary emitter of the ultrasound signal. One such example is associated by the absorption of another form of energy by a defect or defective region which in turn leads to localized energy deposition followed by heating, spatial expansion and subsequently the emission of a pressure wave by this defect. When this process is modulated at ultrasound frequencies, the repeated production of pressure waves leads to the generation of the ultrasound waves that originate in the defect location.
Another method suitable for biomedical applications is associated with the injection of light pulses that is absorbed by structures of interest such as cysts, tumors and normal or abnormal blood concentrations. The resulting pressure waves following the absorption of light energy can then be used to achieve detection or imaging of the tissue structure of interest. Contrary to the highly diffusive way the light propagates in tissues, ultrasound waves exhibit comparatively very limited attenuation and thus, is capable for transporting the signal information through greater distances inside the tissue.
Ultrasound waves are typically strongly reflected by a surface or object that presents impedance mismatching (such as the skin-air interface or at the surface of a solid state material). For this reason, an impedance matching fluid is typically used to achieve best coupling of the ultrasound wave energy to the detection system. This limits the use of ultrasound methods to detection schemes that require the detector to be in contact with the system under examination (such as the tissue).
The present invention provides a medium that when applied on the surface of an object, such as tissue, allows for remote detection and registration of the ultrasound waves reaching the surface using light-based methods. The method is also suitable for detecting of pressure waves outside the ultrasound frequency range, thus it can be used to detect sound waves or any type of pressure waves that can be transmitted through the tissue or other material of interest.
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1. Field
Provided is a blood vessel pressing cuff for pressing a blood vessel in order to measure blood pressure, a blood pressure measuring apparatus including the blood vessel pressing cuff, and a blood pressure measuring method using the blood pressure measuring apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As people's interest in health continuously increases, various blood pressure measuring apparatuses are being developed. Blood pressure measurement methods include a Korotkoff sound method, an oscillometric method, a tonometric method, and the like. In the Korotkoff sound method, which is a typical pressure measurement method, when pressure is sufficiently applied to a body part where arterial blood flows, to stop the flow of the arterial blood and then is released, pressure at a moment when an initial pulse is heard is measured as systolic pressure and pressure at a moment when no more pulse is heard is measured as diastolic pressure.
The oscillometric method and the tonometric method are used in digital blood pressure measuring apparatuses. Like the Korotkoff sounds method, in the oscillometric method, a sphygmus wave generated when pressure is sufficiently applied to a body part where arterial blood flows to stop the flow of the arterial blood and then is released at a uniform speed, or a sphygmus wave generated when pressure is applied to the body part to raise the pressure at a uniform speed, is sensed so as to measure systolic pressure or diastolic pressure. When compared to a moment at which the sphygmus wave has a maximum amplitude, pressure when the sphygmus wave is at a certain level of the maximum amplitude may be measured as the systolic pressure or the diastolic pressure.
Alternatively, pressure when amplitudes of the sphygmus wave greatly vary may be measured as the systolic pressure or the diastolic pressure. When pressure is applied and then is released at a uniform speed, the systolic pressure is measured before the sphygmus wave reaches the maximum amplitude and the diastolic pressure is measured after the sphygmus wave has reached the maximum amplitude. On the other hand, when applied pressure is raised at a uniform speed, the systolic pressure is measured after the sphygmus wave has reached the maximum amplitude and the diastolic pressure is measured before the sphygmus wave has reached the maximum amplitude. In the tonometric method, blood pressure may be continuously measured by using the amplitude and shape of a sphygmus wave generated when pressure that does not completely stop the flow of arterial blood is applied to a body part.
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The present invention relates to a multifocal lens containing a holographic element and providing at least two optical powers.
Various bifocal lens design concepts for ophthalmic lenses, which are placed on or in the eye to correct visual defects, e.g., contact lenses and intraocular lenses, are available. One conventional bifocal ophthalmic lens design is the concentric simultaneous vision type. A concentric simultaneous bifocal lens has alternating optical zones that are concentrically placed. The concentric alternating optical zones have different radii of curvature to provide separate powers for near images and far images and, thus, focus near and far images onto a common focal region. Although concentric simultaneous bifocal lenses have been available for some time, they have not been used widely. This is because images projected on the retina by a concentric simultaneous bifocal lens are composed of both near and far images, and the overlapping images make neither of the near and far images completely clear. For example, when a distant object is viewed through a concentric simultaneous bifocal lens, images of near objects are simultaneously present, veiling or fogging the image of the distant object. In addition, because the light entering the concentric simultaneous bifocal lens is shared by the two optical zones, contrast and intensity of the focused images are sacrificed, especially under low light conditions.
Another conventional bifocal ophthalmic lens design is the diffractive simultaneous vision type. These lenses have a diffractive optical element and a refractive optical element, and utilize both optical elements to simultaneously project distant and near images on the retina. As with concentric simultaneous bifocal lenses, a diffractive simultaneous bifocal lens splits the light entering the eye into near and far images and projects the images simultaneously on the retina. Consequently, neither of the near and far images is completely clear and creates the contrast and intensity problem under low light conditions.
Yet another conventional bifocal ophthalmic lens design is the translating type. A translating bifocal constant lens generally follows the design of a conventional bifocal lens for eye glasses. A translating lens has two distinct localized viewing sections that have different optical powers. The position of the bifocal lens on the eye must shift from one section to the other when the wearer wishes to see objects that are located at a distance different from the objects currently in focus. One major problem inherent in a conventional translating bifocal ophthalmic lens is the difficulty encountered when the wearer tries to shift the position of the lens on the eye. The lens must move or shift a relatively large distance on the eye to change from one viewing section to the other, and the shift from one viewing section to the other must be complete before clear vision can be realized.
Recently, actively controllable approaches for providing a bifocal function in an ophthalmic lens have been proposed. A simultaneous vision type bifocal lens having sectionally-applied thermocromic coatings is an example. The bifocal lens is designed to activate the thermocromic coating on the distant optical zone of the lens, when the wearer looks down to focus on a near object. The activated thermocromic section of the lens blocks light from going through the distant optical zone, thereby preventing the veiling or fogging affect of the light originating from near objects. This approach is not highly practical in that currently available thermocromic coating materials do not activate and deactivate fast enough for the concept to be practical. Another approach uses a lens that charges its focal length with an aid of a switchable battery or photocell. This approach also is not currently practical in that the electronic circuitry and the power source must be made small enough to be packaged in an ophthalmic contact lens and must be highly reliable and durable.
There remains a need for an ophthalmic lens that reliably provides multifocal functions without the deficiencies of prior art multifocal lenses.
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The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Various steps discussed in this section and throughout this application may be performed by either database administrators or database users. This application does not attempt to differentiate between the two types of individuals. Therefore, any step said to be performed by either a “user” or “administrator” may also be performed by both a user and an administrator. Furthermore, many of the steps that are said to be performed by a user or administrator may also be performed by database application programmed by a user or administrator, while any step said to be performed by a database application may also be performed manually by a user or administrator.
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Field of the Invention
This invention relates to RF systems and more particular to directional couplers.
Description of the Related Art
The physical implementation of radio frequency (RF) information transmission systems requires the amplification of the RF signal before it is injected into the communication channel. Examples of communication channels are free space in conjunction with antennas, coaxial cables, and wave guides. The amplification of the RF signal is provided by the RF power amplifier (PA). Many systems that include an RF power amplifier require sensing the amount of power generated at the output port of the PA for multiple reasons, e.g., power level control by way of feedback, reliability, and safety. A common approach to satisfying the requirement specified above is the addition of a directional coupler inserted between the RF PA output and the point of injection of the RF signal into the communication channel. The directional coupler siphons a very small but predictable portion of the RF signal destined for the communication channel and presents it to a dedicated port, the coupled port, where it is evaluated by other subsystems present in the system.
A directional coupler is an RF component typically comprising four signal ports: an input port, an output port, a coupled port, and an isolated port. FIG. 1 shows a portion of an RF system according to prior art. The output 9 of the RF power amplifier block 10 is coupled directly to the input port of the directional coupler. The output port of the directional coupler, node 3, is coupled to the input of the communication channel illustrated in FIG. 1 as resistor 6. The communication channel input impedance is usually the characteristic impedance of an RF transmission line, customarily 50-ohm. The directional coupler of FIG. 1 has the coupled port shown as node 4 and the isolated port shown as node 5. The isolated port, node 5, is connected to resistor 7, typically 50-ohm, illustrating either a physical resistor or in general terms, any port that presents an impedance appropriate for the described connection. When the PA injects RF signal power on node 9, a fraction, defined as the coupling ratio, of the RF power traveling towards the load 6, typically −20 dB (1%), appears at the coupled port 4. The directional coupler is designed such that the coupled port 4 presents a signal substantially representative of the RF power traveling from the PA 10 towards the load 6, while the isolated port 5 presents a signal substantially representative of the RF power traveling from the load 6 towards the PA 10. A significant figure of merit for the directional coupler is represented by the directivity of the coupler defined as the ratio of the power presented at the coupled port to the power presented at the isolated port, in the presence of a perfect impedance match at node 3.
As further shown in FIG. 1, the PA 10 includes an RF amplifier stage 1 and a matching network 2. The matching network 2 plays the role of an impedance transformation network, which converts the relatively high load impedance (e.g., 50-ohm) into a lower impedance (e.g., 5-ohm) as seen by the output of the final RF amplifier stage 1. It is common practice in the art to design the matching network to expect a load impedance on node 9 of 50-ohm. It is also common practice in the art to design the directional coupler 8 to expect a load impedance on node 3 of 50-ohm and further present an impedance of 50-ohm at node 9 so as to satisfy the 50-ohm expectation of the matching network 2. Moreover, the directional coupler is designed for 50-ohm impedances at the coupled port 4 and isolated port 5.
Various prior art embodiments have demonstrated the ability to construct the three parts shown in FIG. 1 within a PA module that satisfies the requirements set forth above. However, both the best achievable module performance and the smallest achievable physical dimensions of the module implementation are hampered by the rigid system partition depicted in FIG. 1.
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The dispensing and transportation of hazardous fluids, particularly hazardous injectable medicaments, has many complexities. On its simplest level, a needle and syringe combination is typically used to withdraw injectable medicament from a storage container, the needle is capped, and then the syringe is transported to the injection site. The storage container is most often sealed with a pierceable septum formed of an elastomeric material such as latex rubber or the like, captured in an access port. A sharp needle is inserted into the access port piercing the septum to position the distal, open end of the cannula past the septum to make fluid connection with the interior of the access port. Upon withdrawal of the sharp cannula, the elastomeric septum reseals itself, thus maintaining a sterile environment within the storage container. The outer surface of the septum of the injection site is wiped with an antiseptic before each use to prevent septic agents from being drawn into the access port by the piercing movement of the needle.
A similar process may be used to inject the medicament into an intravenous catheter inserted into the vein of a patient, or into a connector in an intravenous fluid line attached to such an intravenous catheter.
However, this simple system particularly fails in the safe handling of hazardous injectable medicaments. Firstly, while it is always dangerous to dispense fluid through sharp needles, because of the dangers of accidental needle stick of medical personnel and the attendant risks of transmitting blood borne diseases, this is particularly true when the injectable medicament is itself a hazardous substance. Such substances include, by way of example only, chemotherapeutic agents and radionuclide agents commonly used for medical imaging purposes. In such cases, accidental needle sticks pose the additional risk of exposure to highly dangerous substances.
Secondly, the traditional needle tipped syringe is not hermetically sealed to contain fluids, at best generally depending on the frictional fit of a syringe barrel and a needle cap to contain liquids. A capped needle is prone to leakage, and syringes containing hazardous agents are apt to leave a trail of contamination behind them during transport. This particularly acute in the transport of radioactive medicaments that are traditionally transported to an intended site of use in a shielded metal transportation vessels, often known as “pigs.” Any leak during transport, even of a minute amount of radioactive material, contaminates the interior surface of the “pig,” which then poses risks to unsuspecting handlers until the “pig” undergoes a painstaking decontamination before it may be reused. Attempts have been made, such as that seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,542 to Brown, to design transport containers that try to contains spills, but a more productive approach would be to prevent contamination in the first place.
Many attempts have been made to increase the safety of administering medicaments through needle and syringe combinations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,537,257 to Wien is typical of the approach of trying to guard the sharp needle tip to decrease the chance of accidental needle sticks. Often, these take the form of having retractable guards, as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,921,382 to Lee et al. Handling of needle tipped syringes containing hazardous fluid may be minimized with devices such as that seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,809 to Kuperus, where a radionuclide is reconstituted from a lyophilized preparation within the administering syringe, thus halving the number of manipulations that must be made with a typical needle-tipped syringe. However, the risk of needle related accidents, while perhaps attenuated, will remain with all these inventions, and for as long as a needle is part of the apparatus.
Finally, the system of using needles and syringes to dispense, transport, and administer hazardous agents suffers from the dangerous drawback of being “universal” in their access to medical appliances. Since all medical injection needles and elastomeric septum sealed connectors operate in an essentially identical manner, syringes containing hazardous agents may be attached to a large number of injection sites, including patients for whom these hazardous substances are not intended. Furthermore, since essentially all hypodermic needles and syringes in common use interconnect in the same manner and with the same size connectors, commonly know in the art as “Luer lock” connections, there are currently no points in the storage, transport, or administration cycle where hazardous vessels may be isolated from use in everyday intravenous access equipment. In short, there is nothing to prevent a dangerous radionuclide or chemotherapeutic agent from being mistakenly injected into the intravenous tubing of a patient who is not supposed to receive it. The instant invention of a method and apparatus for the handling of hazardous fluids solves these problems utilizing unique series of self-sealing elastomeric interlocking connectors.
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The invention concerns a crankshaft seal flange comprising a support, comprised at least partially of plastic material and comprising at least one dynamic seal that extends about the circumference of an inner wall of a passage of the support, and comprising at least one sensor, provided for detecting the rotary speed and the position of the crankshaft, which is comprised substantially of an electronic component group.
Crankshaft seal flanges serve for sealing crankshafts in motor vehicles. The seal flanges are screwed onto the corresponding crankshaft housing. The crankshaft is extending through the passage of the support of the seal flange and the dynamic seal is resting seal-tightly against its circumference. In order to detect the rotary speed as well as the position of the crankshaft, the seal flange is provided with a sensor which is interacting with a trigger wheel that is fixedly seated on the crankshaft. The sensor is a separate component that is screwed onto the support. In order for the sensor to assume an exact position, a radial guide for the sensor is provided on the support and is located in one lateral face of the seal flange and extends into the inner wall of the support. When the sensor is mounted, between it and the sidewall of the guide a gap remains that is extending from the inner wall of the support in outward direction.
Since the sensor is screwed onto the support, it is complicated to position the sensor in an exact position relative to the seal flange or the support because, when tightening the screw, it cannot be prevented that the position of the sensor, that is affected by tolerances anyway, changes radially, tangentially as well as axially. Also, the sensor connection is sensitive to vibrations and shocks so that the measuring precision can be impaired. For connecting the sensor to the seal flange, connecting elements are required that not only make the manufacture of the seal flange more expensive but also lead to a cumbersome and complex assembly. The screws as well as the centering bushing on the sensor are required as connecting elements. On the seal flange. a threaded centering insert must be provided into which the screw is screwed for fastening the sensor.
Over time, the radially extending gap between the guide wall and the sensor causes deposits to be formed in this area which are undesirable in use of the seal flange. Also, by means of this radial gap, dirt from the exterior can be introduced into the seal flange. The connecting elements cause the sensor area to have a certain size and accordingly require a large installation space. Due to the radial gap, swirls are generated in the area of the sensor when the seal flange is in use so that the measuring precision and the sealing function are impaired.
The invention has the object to configure the crankshaft seal flange of the aforementioned kind in such a way that, while providing a simple and inexpensive manufacture, a reliable measuring action of the sensor as well as a reliable testing of the seal tightness of the seal flange are enabled.
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It is well known that adding glass fibres to a plastic makes the plastic much stronger and less easily deformed. This composite material can be used to replace metals, but it has two problems. One is that it is rather less stiff, and the other is that it is more brittle, which means that it cracks too easily when hit, and when cracked can be too easily broken. The stiffness (or Young's modulus) can be improved if the glass fibres are replaced by carbon or boron fibres. Unfortunately, these composites are much more brittle than glass fibre composites.
It is also known that composites can be made more tough (i.e. less brittle) by (1) using tough fibres, or (2) by making the plastic matrix tougher, or (3) by sticking the matrix to the fibres less well, or (4) by using very large diameter fibres. Unfortunately, (1) tough fibres such as Kevlar (T.M.) do not impart such a high Young's modulus to the composite as do carbon or boron fibres; (2) making the matrix tougher has only a small effect on composite toughness; (3) reducing the adhesion between matrix and fibres reduces some important strengths of the composite (e.g. the shear strength); and (4) making large diameter fibres which are strong is extremely difficult and expensive. Thus, known procedures cannot be used to make economic composites which combine great toughness, high strength, and great stiffness. This subject has recently been critically reviewed in Proc. ICF4 1 557 (1977), G. A. Cooper and M. R. Piggott.
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The present invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning the peripheral surface of a photoconductive drum in an electrophotographic copier. More particularly, the invention is directed to a cleaning device which is capable of being brought into, and out of, contact with the peripheral surface, and which comprises a spray-tube for the supply of cleaning liquid, cleaning elements, such as a scraper, a cleaning roller, and a lever arrangement which positions the cleaning roller and the scraper.
In copiers utilizing liquid toner, the cleaning of the photoconductor is, in most cases, effected by means of a rubber-elastic scraper, in conjunction with a roller, the latter being made of a foamed material. A device of this type is described in German Auslegeschrift No. 2,600,950. In this known cleaning device spring arrangements are provided which attempt to pivotally lift the cleaning device from the photoconductor-drum. In order to prevent such separation, a lever, fastened to an outer end of a supporting shaft of the cleaning device, is provided which opposes the spring force of the spring arrangements and against the elastic forces of the cleaning device. By rotary movement, the free end of the lever is brought into engagement with a securing member, as a result of which the cleaning device is brought into pressure-contact with the peripheral surface of the drum. First and second lever arrangements which are in engagement with one another are provided for carrying the cleaning elements of the cleaning device.
A cleaning arrangement for a photoelectrostatic copier, with a scraper, is described in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,758,766. According to this disclosure, the copier comprises a first arrangement which brings the scraper out of contact with the photoconductor-drum, when the copier is not operating, and a second arrangement which pivots a cleaning roller out of contact with the photoconductor-drum or, at least, reduces the contact pressure thereof. In this arrangement, liquid developer is supplied as cleaning liquid to that portion of the photoconductor-drum which is located between the scraper and the squeeze-off roller. The apparatus for actuating the scraper and the squeeze-off roller are coupled together in such a manner that the scraper and the squeeze-off roller are simultaneously brought into, and out of, contact with the photoconductor-drum.
Cleaning devices are likewise described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,080,059 and 4,165,172, in which the device includes a cleaning roller and a rubber-elastic scraper, as well as a spray-tube for the supply of the cleaning liquid. The tube is located in such a manner that the cleaning liquid is dammed-up between the scraper, which is bearing against the peripheral surface of the photoconductor-drum, and the squeeze-off roller.
The known cleaning devices share the feature that, during the copying process, the rubber-elastic scraper, and the cleaning roller, together, are pivoted into contact with the photoconductor-surface. The cleaning liquid for wetting and rinsing the photoconductor surface is supplied between the scraper and the cleaning roller which, for example, may be of a foamed material. In this step, the cleaning roller is utilized primarily for dissolving-off the residual toner-image from the photoconductor-surface. At the same time, the rubber-elastic scraper scrapes the liquid toner from the photoconductor-surface in such a manner that this surface is afterwards clean and dry. As a result of supplying cleaning liquid, generally liquid toner, between the cleaning roller and the scraper, the zone between the roller and the scraper is wetted, thus diluting the thickened toner adhering to the photocondcutor-surface in front of the scraper, and allowing for the toner to be rinsed away. In the case of drum-lengths of up to a maximum of 350 mm, which are used for copying-formats DIN A4 and DIN A3, the diluted toner can still flow away sufficiently rapidly towards the edges of the drum, without being dammed-up between the cleaning roller and the scraper. If, however, longer drums are to be cleaned, the problem arises in that toner is dammed-up between the scraper and the cleaning roller to an excessive height, because it cannot flow away to the edges quickly enough due to the long drum-length. If now, following completion of the copying and cleaning operation, the cleaning device is lifted off, the dammed-up toner runs off downwardly, over the drum surface, in a flood, resulting in possible wetting of the sub-assemblies, such as the corona and the paper feed devices, which are located in the vicinity of the photoconductor-drum, thus adversely affecting their operation.
Another disadvantage of a cleaning device of this type is that residues of toner liquid can dry on the surface of the drum. Because it is necessary that these residues be dissolved before the start of a new copying operation, a preliminary process step of applying the developer liquid or the cleaning liquid, which is generally the solvent for the toner, is required, as a result of which dissolving-off process the preliminary running time of the copier before a new copying cycle, is lengthened.
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Non-volatile memory is employed in a wide variety of electronic devices such as, for example, mobile handsets, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDA's), pagers and handheld personal computers. The non-volatile memory in these devices contain firmware, application software, data, and configuration information that makes the devices operational, and may be provided by the manufacturers of the electronic devices, by system operators of telecommunication carrier networks, or by third parties developers. If defects are found in such firmware/software, or if new features are to be added to such devices, the software and/or firmware in the affected electronic devices may need to be updated. Errors and/or interruptions that may occur during the updating of such operational code may leave the electronic device in a partly or completely non-functional state. To avoid this problem, present methods of updating such software and/or firmware involve returning the electronic device to the manufacturer, to the system operator, or to the third party, so that an update of memory contents may be performed using a direct connection to the electronic device. This is both costly and inconvenient to both the user of the electronic device, and to one performing the update.
Configuration parameters and other information for an electronic device may be stored in the non-volatile memory of such devices, and information about the device capabilities, the hardware, software and manufacturer of the device, and particulars for a given instance of the device in a network may be stored in databases used by, for example, device management and customer service operations. Such databases may be accessible to device management and customer service operations through database access mechanisms using, for example, structured query language (SQL) or similar database management tools.
Updates to firmware and/or software in an electronic device may be developed by a number of parties including, for example, the manufacturer of the electronic device, the provider of services of a communication network accessed by the electronic device, or a third party. Users may subscribe to multiple network-based information services, and may receive numerous messages at the electronic device concerning information available, scheduled events, news, and the like. The volume of such information may impair the user's ability to maximize enjoyment and usefulness such services.
Electronic devices such as, for example, cellular phones and wireless enabled personal digital assistants are highly capable. A particular user of such a device, however, is limited by the common functionality offered to all users of a particular make, model and/or version of device. Customization of device capabilities is complex or not unavailable, and users/subscribers may not be aware of, or may find it difficult to learn how to perform personalization of their mobile device. This is particularly true of mass market devices. Customers wishing to tailor the features and capabilities of a device to their needs and wants may seek help from, for example, a customer care representative of the device manufacturer or the provider of wireless network service, but may find that support is poor or non-existent. Point-of-sale centers for such devices also frequently do not provide personalization services. Customer care representatives may be unable to determine what can be personalized in the particular device of the user/subscriber and/or may be untrained and/or unable to help the user/subscriber with such services.
In many cases, personalization of electronic devices may involve firmware, software application, and/or configuration parameter updates. The vast majority of users/subscribers have no idea what is involved, and are not capable of determining the impact such updates on other software applications, on device firmware and/or features of the electronic device. In some cases, the electronic device of a user/subscriber may not be functioning properly, which can complicate any upgrade/customization effort. Firmware, application software, and/or configuration parameters may be out of date. Customer care representatives may be not know or be equipped to determine the effects of a particular update on each of the vast array of electronic devices in use, and may be of little help in furthering user progress in customizing the functionality and user interface of those electronic devices.
During an actual update to firmware, software applications, and/or configuration parameters in an electronic device, a user/subscriber may find themselves staring at the device, waiting for the update activity to complete. Many users/subscribers are anxious about personally performing an update, and may find this a stressful yet boring task. In some cases, no indication is provided on the electronic device to show the progress of such update activities, and the user/subscriber is left uneasily wondering whether the update is proceeding normally, or whether the update has gone awry and left the device non-functional. In general, the user/subscriber experience during firmware, software application, and device configuration updates is very poor.
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 the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical path selection switch utilizing a thermo-optic effect which is, in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network, a key device of an optical cross-connect system required for high-speed and low-cost communication trunk, or an optical add-drop multiplexer (ADM) which adds an optional-wavelength signal to a WDM optical signal or drops an optional-wavelength signal off from a WDM optical signal, more specifically to a stacked thermo-optic switch fabricated based on a design concept which is to arrange optical waveguides in a stacked configuration in order to achieve a low operation power, a high extinction ratio, and low-loss characteristics in these optical switches.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For optical cross-connects or optical ADMs which are essential for WDM systems, a high-performance optical switch is indispensable.
Among optical switches, those which make connection between physically separated optical paths are referred to as space division optical switch. As a space division optical switch, an optical path selection switch using a glass or polymer material having low optical propagation loss is promising. As the switching mechanism, a thermo-optic effect is often used (see, for example, NTT R&D, vol. 44, No. 7, p. 547-552).
Thermo-optic optical path selection switches include those which utilize adiabatic propagation, those which utilize an anisotropic directional coupler (DC), and those which are based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI).
The adiabatic type is an optical path selection switch composed of Y-branching or X-branching optical waveguides in a plane parallel to the substrate, which is known as a digital switch because stable switching operation of saturated output can be achieved when adequate refractive index differences between branches are given (Y. Hida et al., "Electron Lett." vol. 33, 1997, p. 626, or N. Keil et al., "ECOC' 96" 2.71).
The DC type is composed of directional couplers in a plane parallel to the substrate, in which optical path is switched between two states of complete coupling symmetric DC and uncoupling asymmetric DC by a thermo-optic effect (N. Keil et al., "Electron Lett." vol. 31., 1995, p. 403).
The MZI type is provided with a specific phase difference of 0 or 180 degrees using a thermo-optic phase shifter to switch the optical path.
Although the digital switches and DC type switches are stable in operation and provide high extinction ratio, they have disadvantages of large power consumption.
As an integrated matrix switch, a 16.times.16 switch which uses MZI type thermo-optic switches using a silica glass optical waveguide (Goh et al., Proceedings of the 1998 IEICE General Conference C-3-129), a 4.times.4 switch which uses DC type thermo-optic switches (N. Keil et al., Electron. Lett. vol. 31, p. 403, 1995) and the like are known. The former has problems of large power consumption, large switch circuit, and complexity of a driver circuit which are disadvantages of MZI type silica thermo-optic switch. The latter is difficult to be developed to a low-loss large-scale switch because of large propagation loss which is a disadvantage of polymer optical waveguide. Further, a delivery-and-coupling type matrix switch formed by connecting a 1.times.8 MZI type silica thermo-optic switch and a splitter by optical fiber is being studied as a practical solution (Watanabe et al., Proceedings of 1996 Electronic Information Society B-1081), which, however, has no prospect for solving the problem of complexity of fiber wiring, in addition to the problem of the unit switch itself.
As an optical ADM device, there is an example in which WDM multiplexer/demultiplexers and MZI type thermo-optic switches are formed on a single substrate using silica glass optical waveguides (Okamoto et al., Proceedings of the 1995 IEICE General Conference C-254). This uses the same number of thermo-optic switches as multiplexed wavelengths, which has the above-described disadvantage of MZI type silica thermo-optic switch and a problem in chip fabrication yield associated with upscaling.
Further, from the view point of network system, in the optical cross-connect application, stability of switching operation and thorough reduction of coherent crosstalk are even further required. In addition, though it is still before a practical application stage, estimated packaging scale of optical cross-connect in the future will never be small, and it is expected that in the future, all types of optical waveguide switches including digital type, DC type, and MZI type will be required not only for basic switching performance but also for down-sizing and cost reduction. As to the optical ADM application, since optical ADM itself is in a hierarchy closer to the user than optical cross-connects, which means a larger market size, requirements are even stricter for cost reduction and down-sizing. However, performance of optical waveguide switches at present does not meet these system requirements.
As described above, since current optical path selection switches utilizing the thermo-optic effect including both digital and DC types use optical waveguide circuits spreading out in a plane parallel to the substrate, what drives the switch is a temperature gradient in a direction parallel to the substrate. Because a heater is required to be set at a position away from a core to give a temperature gradient in this direction from the heater lying on a clad, the switch has problems of inferior heating efficiency which results in an increased operation power. Further, there is also a problem that since a temperature gradient occurs in a direction perpendicular to the substrate which has no relation to the switching operation, it is difficult to prevent degradation of switching characteristics such as an increase in optical propagation loss.
Still further, optical cross-connect switches which are now being developed are mainly of a large-sized construction combining a plurality of discrete switches with couplers in a delivery-and-coupling configuration, and high-density wiring by optical fibers reaches its limit. Yet further, as to optical ADM devices, an attempt is being made for a single chip ADM utilizing advanced design and fabrication technologies, however, in the present situation where further down-sizing is difficult in view of design, yield of chip fabrication is an important problem. As described above, in the current optical path selection switches as a whole, there are no decisive solutions in connection with down-sizing and cost reduction.
It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide a stacked thermo-optic switch which can most efficiently utilize a temperature gradient produced by heating with a heater, is low in power consumption and loss, and high in extinction ratio.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a method for down-sizing and cost reduction in a waveguide switch construction.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to zirconium alloys for a nuclear fuel cladding having a superior corrosion resistance by reducing an amount of alloying elements and methods of preparing a zirconium alloy nuclear fuel cladding using thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
As nuclear fuel used in a nuclear power plant for power production in operation, a zirconium alloy for a nuclear fuel cladding is used. Nowadays, a zirconium alloy such as Zircaloy-4, Zircaloy-2, ZIRLO, M5, etc. is used as the nuclear fuel cladding. However, Zircaloy-4 commonly used as the nuclear fuel cladding in a power plant from 1960s are recently replaced with a novel alloy such as ZIRLO, M5, etc. The novel alloy including ZIRLO and M5 has a good corrosion resistance in a normally operating reactor when comparing with the commonly used Zircaloy-4 and contributes to the improvement of the performance of the nuclear fuel. Through the improvement of the corrosion resistance of the nuclear fuel cladding, the nuclear fuel may be used safely for an extended time period, thereby improving the economic feasibility of a nuclear power generation.
The improvement of the corrosion resistance, which is the most important characteristic of the nuclear fuel cladding under development, may be accomplished by appropriately combining alloying elements along with a manufacturing method. Particularly, the corrosion resistance of the nuclear fuel cladding may be remarkably increased by using niobium (Nb) as a main element among the alloy elements of the zirconium alloy, when comparing with Zircaloy-4 alloy. However, the zirconium alloy including the niobium may have quite different phase transition properties from Zircaloy-4 alloy. Thus, the development on a manufacturing technology according to the change of the alloy elements is also necessary at the same time.
Technology on improving the corrosion resistance of the zirconium alloy through the adjustment of the alloy elements and the control of a heat treatment are disclosed as follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,161A discloses a method of preparing a zirconium alloy nuclear fuel cladding including 0.2 to 1.7 wt % of tin, 0.18 to 0.6 wt % of iron, 0.07 to 0.4 wt % of chromium and 0.05 to 1.0 wt % of niobium.
JP 8067954A discloses a method of preparing a zirconium alloy nuclear fuel cladding including 0.4 to 1.7 wt % of tin, 0.25 to 0.75 wt % of iron, 0.05 to 0.3 wt % of chromium, 0 to 0.1 wt % of nickel and 0 to 1.0 wt % of niobium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,023A discloses a method of preparing a zirconium alloy including 0.5 to 2.0 wt % of niobium, 0 to 1.5 wt % of tin, and 0.25 wt % of at least one element selected from the group consisting of iron, chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, copper, nickel, and tungsten.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,959A discloses a zirconium alloy for a nuclear fuel cladding including 0.5 to 3.25 wt % of niobium and 0.3 to 1.8 wt % of tin.
Operating conditions of a reactor have been continuously changed to a direction of increasing the economic feasibility of a nuclear power generation. As the operating conditions for increasing the economic feasibility of the nuclear power generation, a power uprate, a load follow, an ultra high burnup, an ultra long cycle operation, etc. have been known. Under such operating conditions, even the recently used novel alloy claddings in place of Zircaloy-4 may be expected to hardly maintain integrity for a long time. Accordingly, the development on the cladding maintaining a good performance under severe operating conditions may be an essential factor of the improvement of the economic feasibility in a nuclear power generation.
In addition, among the necessary performance of the cladding, safety under an emergency condition in the event of an accident becomes important more and more.
When a cooling function of a nuclear reactor is malfunctioning in an accident due to a natural disaster such as an earthquake, tsunami, etc. or by a man made hazard, the cladding may be exposed to a high temperature and may be rapidly oxidized, thereby generating hydrogen having a risk of an explosion. The hydrogen explosion generated in a power plant is required to be prevented without fail because the explosion may induce a disaster accompanying the leakage of radioactive substances. Thus, the nuclear fuel cladding is required to have a good oxidation resistance at a high temperature even when exposed to an accident condition. When the nuclear fuel cladding has a good oxidation resistance at a high temperature even in an accident, time for managing may be increased before the hydrogen explosion, and the safety of the nuclear power generation may be remarkably improved. However, the development on the nuclear fuel cladding until now has been conducted for mainly improving the economic feasibility under a normal operation without considering the safety in an accident condition greatly. Thus, the preparation on confirming the safety in an accident condition is urgently in need.
Accordingly, the present inventors have studied on a zirconium alloy nuclear fuel cladding by which the economic feasibility of the nuclear power generation may be increased and the safety in an accident condition also may be improved, and have developed a zirconium alloy having a good oxidation resistance under a normal operating condition of a reactor as well as an accident condition by improving a corrosion resistance by reducing the amount of alloying elements.
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"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Aluminium hydroxide is a known compound. Said known aluminum hydroxide has so far been utilized for medication as an antacid drug, often in combination with other antacid drugs. From the literature, e.g. White et al., J. Pharm. Sci. 64, 468 (1976); Kerkhof, J. Pharm. Sci. 66, 1533 (1977), it seems that the effect of said drug results apparently from the activity of aluminium carbonate admixed therewith.
From the literature it is known that said commercially available aluminium hydroxide has no dietary effect, i.e. it does not absorb foodstuffs and other nutritional factors. Thus, for example, the following statements can be found in the literature:
1. "Relatively large doses of aluminium hydroxide cream did not alter the nitrogen or fat content of the feces of three normal dogs on a standard diet." Beazell et al., Am. J. Digest. Dist. 5, 164-165 (1938). PA1 2. The results show that the ingestion of aluminium hydroxide was without appreciable effect upon the utilization of fat and carbohydrate." "Administration of aluminum hydroxide to a normal subject did not interfere with the utilization of carbohydrate, fats or proteins of the diet." Grondahl et al., Am. J. Digest, Dis. 12, 197-199 (1945). PA1 3. "There appears to be no significant effect of alumina gel upon the tolerance curves of amino acids, ascorbic acid, glucose and neutral fats. Certainly in the case of neutral fats the results are unequivocal." Hoffman et al., Gastroenterology 6, 50-61 (1946). PA1 4. "Absorption of foodstuffs and nutritional factors is not sufficiently depressed to be important and the composition of the feces is unaffected." The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, Goodman and Gilman, 3rd. Ed., The Macmillan Company, N.Y. 1965, pp. 995-997.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a keyswitch with height adjusting function, and more particularly, to a magnetic keyswitch utilizing a magnetic attractive force to adjust its height and a related keyboard with the foresaid keyswitch.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the advanced technology, the portable electronic device trends towards the thin-typed aesthetic design. An input interface (such as the keyboard) of the thin-typed electronic device must have the thin-typed design accordingly because of limited configuration space of the thin-typed electronic device. A travel stroke of the thin-typed keyboard is short, the user cannot feel sufficient force feedback when using the thin-typed keyboard, and a keyboard capable of varying its entity structural height is produced to adjust longitudinal height of each keyswitch on the keyboard according to different operation modes of the keyboard. A conventional adjustable keyboard utilizes gravity force to descend a keycap of the each keyswitch to lowest position; however, a drop path of the keycap driven by the gravity force is unstable and the keycap with long-term repetitive usage cannot be descended to the predetermined lowest position accurately. Therefore, design of an adjustable keyswitch and a related keyboard capable of adjusting the structural height and having preferred operational reliability is an important issue of the computer industry.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a universal input switching power supply, and more particularly to a high efficiency universal input switching power supply.
2. Description of the Related Art
The universal input switching power supply may use a high line voltage range (185V to 265V) of an AC power source or a low line voltage range (90V to 130V) of an AC power source and provides a constant output voltage of a DC power source. Every country sets a normal high and low line voltages of the AC power, for example, in Taiwan, the normal high line voltage is 220 ACV and the normal low line voltage is 110 ACV.
With reference to FIG. 4, a conventional universal input switching power supply mainly has a full bridge rectifier (50), a power factor corrector (hereinafter PFC) circuit (51) and a DC to DC converting circuit (52). The full bridge rectifier (50) is coupled to the external AC power source (AC IN) and converts the AC power source (AC IN) to a first DC power source. Since the PFC circuit (51) is connected to the full bridge rectifier (50), a voltage of the first DC power source is boosted to a second DC power source with higher voltage if the PFC circuit (51) uses a structure of a boost converter. On the contrary, the voltage of the first DC power is decreased when the PFC circuit (51) uses a structure of a buck converter. Using the boost converter as the PFC circuit (51) for an example, a PFC controller (511) of the PFC circuit (51) drives a first power switch (S1) to turn on or off by outputting a PWM signal. The voltage of the second DC power source from the PFC circuit (51) will be close to 400V. The 400V of the voltage of the second DC power source is further supplied to the DC to DC converting circuit (52). A PWM controller (521) of the DC to DC converting circuit (52) outputs a PWM signal to a second power switch (S2) to adjust current value of a primary side of a transformer (522). Pulse widths of the PWM signal from the DC to DC converting circuit (52) is modulated according to an output voltage (VO) of the universal input switching power supply. Therefore, the DC to DC converting circuit (52) stabilizes the output voltage (VO) of the universal input switching power supply at different voltages of the AC power source conditions.
The PFC circuit (51) of the above universal input switching power supply outputs 400V of the voltage of the second DC power source to the DC to DC converting circuit (52) when the universal input switching power supply is coupled to 220V AC power source (AC IN). Therefore, the DC to DC converting circuit (52) converts the 400V of the voltage of the second DC power source to a 12V or 5V of a voltage of a third DC power source. However, a transmitting efficiency of the universal switching power is not good, especially coupling to 110V AC power source (AC IN). That is, the PFC circuit (51) has to converts the 220V or 110V of the voltage of the AC power source to 400V DC power source. In general, the PFC controller (51) using the structure of the boost converter has about 96% transmitting efficiency at using 220V AC power source condition. However, the PFC controller (51) modulates a large pulse width of the PWM signal to the first power switch (S1) to output 400V DC power source when the universal input switching power supply is coupled to the 110V AC power supply. Therefore, a conductive term of the first power switch (S1) is increased, a conductive resistor of the first power switch (S1) consumes more energy of the AC power source.
Accordingly, an transmitting efficiency of the PFC circuit (51) coupled to the 110V AC power source is decreased to about 94% that is lower than that of the PFC circuit coupled to the 220V AC power source.
Another type of the universal input switching power supply, a PFC circuit uses a structure of a buck converter. The PFC circuit outputs 80V of the voltage of the second DC power source to a DC to DC converting circuit. A transformer of the DC to DC converting circuit is smaller than that of the above DC to DC converting circuit for boost converter. Therefore, the universal switching power efficiency is also not good, especially coupling to the high voltage of the AC power source. In general, the PFC circuit has to convert the 220V or 110V of the voltage of the AC power source to 80V of the DC power source through the full bridge rectifier. The PFC controller using the structure of the buck converter has 96% transmitting efficiency at using 110V AC power source condition. On the contrary, an transmitting efficiency of the PFC circuit coupled to the 220V AC power source is about 94% and is lower than that of the PFC circuit coupled to the 110V AC power source.
Based on foregoing description, each of the universal switching power supplies can not provide good transforming efficiency for different voltages of the AC power sources.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a universal input switching power supply to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
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