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1. Field
The presently disclosed subject matter relates to a clip for gripping a component such as a pipe, tube, conduit, wire, wire harness, etc., to attach the component(s) to a support, such as a vehicle body, and more particularly, to a two piece clip device for gripping component(s) and attaching to a vehicle body. The clip can be configured to minimize the transfer of vehicle body vibrations to the attached component(s) while also safeguarding against detachment from the vehicle body should the damper material fail. The clip also isolates the pipes from transferring noise into the body.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Various clamping structures are provided in vehicles to retain components such as fuel pipes, brake pipes and wire harnesses. In some cases, the pipes and cables held by such clips may resonate and transmit vibrations generated by the vehicle engine, fuel pumps, road vibration, etc. These vibrations can be transmitted to the passenger cabin and/or other vehicle components, and in some cases can be heard and/or felt by passengers of the vehicle and/or become destructive forces that deteriorate vehicle components. To reduce transmission of such vibrations, vibration absorbing clamps are used to attach certain components, such as fuel pipes, brake pipes or wire harnesses to a support such as a vehicle body to prevent the transmission of vibrations between the vehicle and the components. In these conventional vibration absorbing clamps, a single unitary clip may be provided having c-shaped receiving portions for receiving the components. These c-shaped receiving portions may be lined with a soft plastic vibration absorbing material to absorb vibrations that attempt to transmit between the component and the clip. Other conventional vibration absorbing clamps provide hard plastic pipe grippers for gripping pipes and which include vibration damping materials disposed between a base and the pipe grippers to absorb vibrations.
The unitary design of conventional vibration absorbing clamps often results in vibrations being transferred between the vehicle and components mounted on the clamps. This occurs despite the use of vibration absorbing materials. In addition, in many cases, the vibration absorbing material or damper becomes brittle due to age, sunlight, adverse environmental conditions, etc. In this case, when the vibration absorbing material or damper becomes brittle or deteriorates, the clamp becomes less effective and may actually fail because the component that is being held either slips out or vibrates out of the clamp. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved structure for a clip device capable of being mounted to a vehicle and capable of retaining components in a manner so that vibrations are prevented from being transmitted from the components to the vehicle or vice versa, and which provides a fail safe type of feature that would allow the clip to function even after the damper or vibration material is deteriorated or destroyed in some manner. | {
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FIG. 1 shows a conventional method for separating a multi-component signal. A mixture of amplitude-frequency modulated signals (AM-FM) and sinusoidal signals occurs frequently in acoustics applications, biological systems, and as signals received by vehicular collision avoidance radars that transmit continuous wave frequency modulation (CWFM) signals.
A single component AM-FM sinusoidal signal is represented asx(t)=A(t)cos(2πft+φ(t)), (1)where A(t) indicates a time-varying amplitude envelope and φ is the phase angle. A K multi-component signal 110 is given byy(t)=Σi=1KAi(t)cos(2πfit+φi(t)),0<t<T (2)where T is a signal duration.
Gianfelici et. al., in “Multicomponent AM-FM Representations: An Asymptotically Exact Approach,” IEEE Trans. Audio, Speech and Language Processing, vol. 15, no. 3, March 2007, describe a method called an Iterated Hilbert Transform (IHT). Generally, the Hilbert transform is a linear operator that takes a function, u(t), and produces a function, H(u)(t) in the same domain. The IHT can be used to estimate instantaneous frequencies of the components 150 of the signal in equation (2). The performance of IHT is suboptimal when the amplitude of a component is within a close range, e.g., A2/A1=2, in a two component case. The IHT is followed by a Teager-Kaiser energy detector (TKED) based frequency estimator 160, which outputs 170 direct current (DC) component signals.
Santhanam et al., in “Multicomponent AM-FM Demodulation via Periodicity-based Algebraic Separation and Energy-based Demodulation,” IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 48. no. 3, March 2000, describe a method called PASED 150, which is a non-linear method that can separate mixed periodic signals with similar strengths.
PASED works well even when the signals have a small spectral separation. However, PASED needs to know both the period of each signal component and the number of components in the mixture.
Therefore, PASED is generally prefaced by a Double Differencing Function (DDF) 120 to estimate the parameters of the input signal. The parameters include the number of components and their periods. With noisy signals, DDE is also suboptimal.
Therefore, the conventional PASED 130 may not output an optimal separation in low signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) cases. The PASED also uses a zero DC constraint 140 for each sinusoid expected to be in the multi-component signal. If the signal is not integrated over the correct period of a sinusoid, then the DC-constraint is violated, because the integration does not result in a zero value. | {
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This invention relates to an actuator for separating electrical contacts and more particularly to such an actuator which provides rapid contact separation in a high power circuit.
It is a common requirement in high power circuits to have electrical contacts which under particular conditions must be opened or closed in extremely short periods of time. Accelerating attraction or repulsion coils are known for imparting motion to moving members carrying electrical contacts to thereby cause separation between the moving contact and a stationary contact. Devices utilizing such coils are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,524,957; 3,524,958; and 3,524,959 all issued Aug. 18, 1970. Multiple coil assemblies for causing separation of contacts in high power circuits are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,188 issued June 29, 1971; U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,623 issued Dec. 29, 1970; U.S. Pat. No. 3,531,608 issued Sep. 29, 1970; and U.S. Pat No. 3,549,842 issued Dec. 22, 1970.
In a high power AC circuit the advantage of opening or closing electrical contacts in time periods much less than half a cycle of the AC wave is evident when it is considered that the circuit may be thereby broken during one of the short periods of time when the instantaneous power in the circuit is relatively low. This requires precise timing of the actuation of the contacts such that opening and closing takes place at or near one of the AC wave zero crossing points. Consequently, a mass carrying one of the contacts must be moved over a distance in an extremely short period of time. If the mass is of the order of a few kilograms, the distance a few centimeters, and the time in the order of a millisecond, it may be seen that large forces must be generated to obtain the desired result. Known methods and structure for obtaining rapid contact opening and closing include imparting a destructive hammer blow to the mass carrying the moving contact. Other structure and methods include provision of repulsion coils and supplying excessive power to the coils, thereby overheating and subjecting the coils to excessive voltage stress, so that a flash over problem exists as the insulation between the coil turns is "punched through".
A repulsion coil actuator is needed which provides a high rate of contact separation without damaging the coils in the actuator, and which also provides for absorbing kinetic energy and contact latching after actuation. | {
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(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of video acquisition, processing, and distribution. In particular, the present invention relates to an apparatus, a computer system, and a method for recording, editing, reviewing, and distributing video segments.
(2) Description of Related Art
For many years, it has been the practice, in professional sports, such as football, basketball, and soccer, to manually accumulate statistical data on the game and on the performance of the players and of the teams. In football, for example, much of this data relates to line-ups, individual statistics, team statistics, defensive statistics, ball possession, etc. Such data is typically accumulated during a game by a human and then, after the game is over, entered into a computer database.
Historical and statistical data relating to major league games and the performance of the players involved therein represents an important tool for coaches or other sports experts to prepare strategies for future sports confrontations. Typically, the statistical data is manually recorded during a game while the game is recorded on a videotape concomitantly. For football, by way of non-limiting example, two to three camcorders record each play of the game. Camcorders are positioned above one end zone, midfield and optionally at the line of scrimmage. Each camera records for a few seconds the scoreboard prior to the play. An assigned person fills out statistical data for each play on paper.
At the end of the game, the tapes are immediately consolidated into a set of three tapes: offensive, defense, and special plays. These tapes are dubbed and a copy given to the visiting team, along with a copy of the play information sheets. In this way the video information and the accompanying statistical data associated therewith are stored onto two different media: the videotape and the paper.
When review is desired, coaches typically ask a human editor to create a tape showing specific plays, the request being specific to the types of plays the coach is interested in. For example, a coach might ask for all offensive fourth down and long yardage plays performed during the last three months by their next opponent. The editor manually reviews the play sheets, retrieves the appropriate tapes based on those offensive fourth down and long yardage plays the editor finds in the play sheets, and assembles a new tape based on the coach's specification. Some teams manually enter the play information sheets into a computer database. However, the editor still needs to pull the proper tapes, identify the plays responsive to the request and find the correct plays on a tape manually, e.g., by fast forwarding until the play is found.
The current system for recording and processing sports events is, however, burdensome. For example, during recording of a game the camera operator is required to focus on the scoreboard, film it, and then re-focus on the play--all in a span of a few seconds. This procedure is tedious and subject to errors. Moreover, the editing step, in current systems, involves a human operator both for the assembly of a tape containing a certain game and the assembly of a tape containing specific clips from different games. Furthermore, the current systems and methods utilize both a videotape with a game recorded thereon and statistical sheets with statistical data recorded thereon. The handling of information on two separate storage media is not desirable and can be inconsistent.
It is desirable to provide an apparatus and method for reviewing and editing and distributing video segments where the involvement of human operators is substantially reduced or eliminated. It is also desirable to provide an apparatus and method for obtaining reviewable searchable statistical information and video information stored on a single removable storage medium such as a videotape. It is also desirable to provide for an apparatus and method for annotating a video segment of information, representing a play, with a scoreboard generated, by a computer, from statistical information corresponding to the respective segment. | {
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Minimally invasive medical procedures generally employ small diameter instruments that can be inserted through a small incision or a natural orifice to reach a work site inside the body of a patient. One type of instrument that is useful for minimally invasive procedures is a bipolar vessel sealer. A bipolar vessel sealer can seal a blood vessel by simultaneously clamping the vessel closed and directing an electrical current through the vessel tissue to cauterize the vessel tissue and thereby seal the vessel. Such vessel sealers generally have jaws that must be able to apply clamping pressure that is sufficient for sealing of the vessel. Another general requirement of a vessel sealer is that the jaws of the vessel sealer be long enough to hold a flattened vessel without the edges of the vessel protruding from the closed jaws. Accordingly, the jaws must be correspondingly longer for sealing larger vessels. Long jaws and high clamping pressures create reaction torques and forces in the structure of the vessel sealer. However, miniaturized instruments used in minimally invasive procedures generally have small components that are actuated using cables that extend along the length of a tube that is inserted in a patient. These components have strength limitations that limit the amount of force and torque that the vessel sealer can deliver.
The clamping pressure applied during vessel sealing is equal to the ratio of the applied force to the area over which the force is applied. Accordingly, the surface areas of the faces of the jaws of a vessel sealer can be reduced to achieve the desired clamping pressure without exceeding the force or torque limitations of the actuation structure. Since the length of the jaw is set by the size of the largest vessel to be sealed, only the width of the jaw can be decreased to reduce the area of the jaw face. However, there are limits in how thin jaws can be made. If the jaws of a vessel sealer are too thin, the jaws will be weak and could deflect or bend under load when sealing a vessel or when being used for purposes such as blunt dissection or grasping. Blunt dissection can use the tip of the vessel sealer to move or separate tissues and may apply forces that the thinnest portions of the jaws must support. Similarly, the vessel sealer could be used as a general grasper and would need the ability to securely grasp both fine and bulk tissue under varying loads. A vessel sealer is thus sought that can apply the clamping pressure required for reliable sealing of vessels without exceeding the strength limitations of the actuating structure while still being able to support working forces during use for vessel sealing or other purposes. | {
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This invention relates generally to the joining together of two members and relates, more particularly to the joining, or bonding, together of items having surfaces which are defined by thermoplastic material.
Conventional methods of joining thermoplastic items, as by welding, involve heat conduction, convection, or radiation and friction, and the heat generated for these methods may be external or internal to the items, or both. For example, the high frequency or dielectric welding of thermoplastics is based on AC-generated waves passing through the plastic sheet or film, causing internal heating through molecular friction, with the subsequent temperature increase of the substrate material. However, this system is limited in that it is only applicable to a substrate with a sufficiently high dielectric loss tangent, i.e. a polymer with active polar groups. For this reason, this technique is usable only for polymers with the aforementioned chemical characteristics.
Other known techniques for welding thermoplastics, most of which involve the softening of areas to be joined to fusion temperature include hot gas welding, hot tool welding, induction welding, spin or friction welding, vibration welding or ultrasonic welding.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method for joining together of items, or substrates, comprised of any of a number of types of thermoplastic material.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a method which accommodates the rapid, low energy joining/bonding of thermoplastic materials.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide such a method which is well-suited for the sealing of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and printed wired boards (PWBs) during the manufacture of these boards. | {
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In FIG. 4 the outside of a common and normal suitcase 5 with a fixed retractable handle 60 is shown, where the handle 60 is halfway retracted.
The handle 60 is formed by two rods 61 of fixed length, whose upper tips are linked by a grip 62.
As for the handle 60, the suitcase 50 is divided into two parts, the body part 51 and the cover part 52, on the base wall .alpha. (suitcase wall) of cover part 52 the handle 60 is mounted as shown in FIG. 3.
The inside of the base wall .alpha. is as follows: in order to allow the rods 62 to be retracted freely, two storage tubes 63 are fitted parallel on the longitude, both the upper and lower ends of these tubes, are fixed onto the base wall .alpha. by upper fixture construction 64 and lower fixture construction 65 respectively.
Therefore as shown in FIG. 3, the storage tubes 63 usually extended to the whole length of the base wall.
But the body part 51 is naturally built strong enough to withstand some rough handling. Therefore the storage tubes 63, which are built into the base wall .alpha. do not really need to serve as a reinforcement of the suitcase 50.
Also for all users it is sufficient enough if the length of the rods 61 when they are completely extracted from the storage tubes 63, reaches half of the length of base wall .alpha..
In short, in a normal suitcase 50, the length measurements of the storage tubes 63 are unnecessarily long.
Therefore this part, which is meaningless and raises the production costs and the weight of the suitcase and reduces its effective inside capacity.
So the aim of this invention is to reduce the length of the rods of the retractable handle and the storage tubes as much as possible to avoid unnecessary production costs and weight as well as the reduction of effective inside capacity and so we present this fixture construction suitcase handle.
In order to accomplish the above mentioned aim, the built in construction suitcase handle is characterized by the retractable that can easily be stored into the storage tubes which are attached to suitcase wall and that the length of the above mentioned storage tubes is shorter than the length of the above mentioned suitcase wall.
The length of the storage tubes should be between 2/3 and 1/3 of the length of the suitcase wall.
Also the place where the lower part of the storage tubes is fixed to the synthetic resin suitcase wall is best formed at the same time the wall is made. | {
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Mechanization, the substitution of mechanical power for that of men or animals, can be traced back to antiquity. The handling of material provides many examples of the way in which man has sought to lighten his labors by employing mechanical devices, for example in building, in mining, and in raising water. The mechanization of processes, on the other hand, did not become wide spread until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century with the invention of the cotton gin. The term "automation" has been defined as the technology of automatic working in which the handling methods, the processes, and the design of the processed material are integrated to utilize the mechanization of thought and effort in order to achieve an automatic chain of processes. The use of men within this definition is not precluded, but becomes a part of the overall objective of reducing the number of persons whose effort is required to produce the particular result.
In the food processing and handling industry, automation has created a high standard of cleanliness and productivity for the products produced thereby. Industry sectors such as biscuit and cookie manufacturers, have taken great strides in introducing automatic mixers and ovens to handle and process their food products.
However, one sector of the food handling and processing industry which has not been adequately automated is that of filling of fruit and other juices into plastic containers and then sealing the containers. A substantial amount of hand labor has been engaged in by this sector of the food handling industry, leading to a higher risk of contaimination and a relatively low productivity. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio communication system, and in particular to a method for determining sizes of packet data units when control packet data units are transmitted at the same time in an E-UTRA communications system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The following description contains many terms related to the E-UTRA communications system. For simplicity of explanation, the following acronyms will be used.
AM=Acknowledged Mode
MAC=Medium Access Control
PDU=Packet Data Unit
RLC=Radio Link Control
SDU=Service Data Unit
TB=Transport Block
TP=Transmission Payload
TM=Transparent Mode
UE=User Equipment
UM=Unacknowledged Mode
UMTS=Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
Radio Link Control (RLC) is a protocol for a user equipment-Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UE-EUTRAN) radio interface. Communications packets are transmitted between a physical layer, a MAC layer, and an RLC layer. The RLC layer consists of three RLC entities: a TM entity, a UM entity, and an AM entity. Amongst these entities, the AM entity exchanges status information using Control PDUs to guarantee reliable transmissions. This system of receiving transmission acknowledgments enables a transmitting AM entity to retransmit RLC PDUs that are not received by a receiving AM entity. The AM entity is therefore bi-directional
An AM entity includes a transmitting side and a receiving side. The MAC layer selects a TB size in a next transmission timing. In the transmitting side, RLC SDUs are segmented and/or concatenated into AM Data PDUs of a variable length at a segmentation/concatenation unit according to the TB size selected by MAC. If Data PDUs to be retransmitted do not fit into the new TB size selected by MAC at the particular transmission opportunity notified by MAC, the AM entity segments the retransmission PDUs into retransmission PDU segments. The number of times re-segmentation can occur is not limited. The Data PDU may therefore contain segmented and/or concatenated RLC SDUs (depending on the size of the PDU). Length indicators are used to define boundaries between RLC SDUs within Data PDUs.
The AM entity can request a status report from the peer AM entity to confirm whether transmitted Data PDUs are received, by setting a polling bit in the Data PDUs. The receiving side of the peer AM entity will then generate Control PDUs, where Data PDUs buffered in the Retransmission buffer are deleted or retransmitted based on a status report found within the Control PDUs.
The PDUs are delivered to a unit that completes the Data PDU header based on an input from an RLC Control Unit that indicates values to set in various fields (e.g. Polling Bit). Once a complete RLC SDU has been received in the peer AM entity, the associated Data PDUs are reassembled by a Reassembly Unit and delivered to upper layers.
In the current E-UTRA RLC spec [1], the RLC SDUs are segmented and/or concatenated in accordance with the TB size selected by MAC at the particular transmission opportunity notified by MAC. When a Control PDU is also transmitted or two or more RLC entities with equal logical channel priority have data to transmit, the segmentation/or concatenation according to TB size selected by MAC may not be suitable. This situation is illustrated by the following examples. | {
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Calcium carbonate has been heretofore utilized in wide fields, such as of rubber, plastic, paint, ink, sealing medium, paper, pesticide, neutralizer, food additive and cosmetics. Among them, there is a method which utilizes calcium carbonate as a support (carrier) for liquid-form products as illustrated in Patent Literatures 1 and 2 to improve workability.
This method enables a higher concentration of a silane coupling agent or the like to be supported in a powder of calcium carbonate, either alone or in the form of a mixture with a high-liquid-absorptive inorganic filler. For example, in the case where a specific amount of a silane coupling agent or the like is incorporated in rubber, a handling property is improved. However, a limited loading makes it difficult to exhibit the effect of incorporating calcium carbonate.
On the other hand, Patent Literature 3 and others illustrate cases where the supported amount is small. If a specific amount of a silane coupling agent or the like is to be incorporated in rubber, a higher amount of the carrier must be loaded. This lowers a reinforcing property, for example. Patent Literature 1: International Publication WO 2006/025423 Patent Literature 2: Japanese Paten Laid-Open No. Sho 56-104950 Patent Literature 3: International Publication WO 2004/009711 | {
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Computing platforms are generally capable of operating on a direct power source or on battery power when a direct power source is unavailable. Battery power is naturally a finite resource and must be recharged periodically. Considerable thought has gone into methods and techniques for extending the operating time of a computing platform while operating on battery power. Many computing platforms utilize both central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) within an overall system. One technique for reducing overall system power consumption and extending battery life is to reduce the frequencies at which the CPU and GPU operate while on battery power. This technique does not necessarily reduce the amount of work performed by the CPU or GPU—rather it slows down the pace at which the work is done. Another approach may be to reduce the actual workload associated with an application executing on either the CPU or GPU. Accordingly, there may be a need for improved techniques to solve these and other problems. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic coupler having a thin film coil and magnetoresistive elements, and performing signal transmission in a contactless manner between a plurality of electric circuits isolated from one another.
2. Background Art
As a device for transmitting a signal in a contactless manner from one electric circuit to the other circuit among a plurality of electric circuits isolated from one another, a photo-coupler or a pulse transformer has been known in the past. However, significant aging deterioration occurs in the photo-coupler, including deterioration due to consumption of a light emitting diode (LED), or reduction in current transmission rate, in addition, significant delay in signal transmission. On the other hand, since the pulse transformer uses a winding coil, signal transmission delay is small therein. However, the pulse transformer has a problem of large size or weight, and a low operable temperature. In some coupler, the winding coil of the pulse transformer is substituted by a thin film coil. However, the coil does not efficiently receive a magnetic field, resulting in increase in power consumption.
Thus, a magnetic coupler has been developed for overcoming the difficulty (for example, refer to Published Japanese Translation of a PCT patent application No. 2003-526083, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 2001-94174, 2001-135534, 2001-135535, 2001-135536, 2001-135537, 2001-196250, 2001-93763, and 62-40786). The magnetic coupler detects change in current, flowing through a signal line from one electric circuit system, in a contactless manner, and transmits an electric signal to the other electric circuit system. Therefore, the magnetic coupler is now noted as a device having an excellent operational reliability while having a simple configuration. | {
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It is required that a toner binder used for a dry toner fulfills conflicting performances that the toner can be fixed even at a low hot-roll temperature (low-temperature fixing property) and the toner is not fused to a hot-roll even at a high hot-roll temperature (anti-hot offset property).
Conventionally, styrene-acrylic resin, polyester, epoxy resin and the like are used for toner binders, and a crosslinking polyester has been frequently used by virtue of being excellent in low-temperature fixing property.
In recent years, demanded for a toner binder and toner formed therefrom are a better low-temperature fixing property than before from the viewpoint of energy saving and a better anti-hot offset property from the viewpoint of downsizing of an apparatus such as copying machines and the like.
With a view to improving the low-temperature fixing property and anti-hot offset property of a toner binder of polyester, methods of mixing two polyesters having different molecular weight distributions have been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 214368/1985, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 225244/1988, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 313760/1992 and soon), and the low-temperature fixing property and anti-hot offset property disclosed in these methods tend to be balanced better than those of conventional polyesters. However, toner binders in the prior art are formed by mixing two polyesters, which are not so much different in softening point, together. Meanwhile, in order to manufacture a toner binder having a better low-temperature fixing property and a better anti-hot offset property, it has been necessary to mix two polyesters, which are much different in softening point, together.
Also, the above-mentioned prior art involves the following problems separately.
More specifically, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 214368/1985 describes that a preferred mixing ratio of two polyesters (a, b) is such that (a) is at least 50 percent by weight and (b) is at most 30 percent by weight. Limitation in the mixing ratio has been inconvenient in achieving a better low-temperature fixing property of a toner binder. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 225244/1988 describes “It is preferable that the softening point Tsp of the second polyester is lower than a temperature which is 20° C. higher than the softening point Tsp of the first polyester”. The allowable range of a difference in softening point is disadvantageously too small to manufacture a toner binder having a better low-temperature fixing property and a better anti-hot offset property. Further, in the Laid-Open publication, the object of mixing two polyesters is directed to an improvement in pulverization property of a toner and self-crosslinkability of a toner adhered to a cleaning roller due to heat in addition to an improvement in low-temperature fixing property and anti-hot offset property. Therefore, nonlinear polyesters are selected for the first and second polyesters. Accordingly, the toner binders involve defects in transparency, and there has been room for improvement in the case of use for, in particular, color toner. Also, according to the disclosure of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 313760/1992, a toner binder is a mixture of polyesters and 20 parts of styrene-acrylic resin are added to 80 parts of toner binder at the time of manufacture of a toner. In some cases, toner with the styrene-acrylic resin added is inadequately decreased in lowest fixing temperature and a printed surface is poor in gloss.
Further, precise investigation has not been made in the prior art on the mixing condition of two polyesters. A toner binder formed by powder mixing polyesters, which are much different in softening point, together involves a problem that adequate dispersion of pigment cannot be made at the time of kneading of a toner. The pigment dispersibility is improved when a difference in softening point between two polyesters being subject to powder mixing is made small, but there is not attained the essential object of mixing two polyesters, directed to improvement in low-temperature fixing property and anti-hot offset property.
Hereupon, the first object of the invention is to provide a polyester toner binder, which is better in low-temperature fixing property and anti-hot offset property than that of the prior art.
The second object of the invention is to provide a toner binder having an excellent pigment dispersibility.
The third object of the invention is to provide a toner binder having other excellent qualities, which are generally required of a toner binder, such as stability of a toner, which is formed from the toner binder, in hot humid environment and cold, low and humid environment, heat storage stability, good charging property, and excellent glossiness of a printed surface if required.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a polyester toner binder having excellent low-temperature fixing property, anti-hot offset property and pigment dispersibility. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom lens system, and more specifically, to a compact and lightweight two lens unit zoom lens system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, it has been difficult to produce zoom lens systems for cameras (e.g. instant cameras) using film of sizes larger than the standard size film (135 mm film). This is because the lens movement amount for focusing and the lens movement amount for zooming should be large for the zoom lens system used in such a camera because of the greatness of the film size. This increases the size of the peripheral mechanical construction and the size of the camera body becomes excessively large as a result. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process control system, and more particularly to a centralized supervisory process control system which uses digital controllers for distributed processing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Referring to FIG. 1 schematically showing a typical centralized process control system, a plurality of digital controllers 1 for distributed processing are connected to transmission lines 2 which lead to a centralized supervisory computer (to be referred to as "supervisory computer", hereinafter) 3. Each controller 1 for distributed processing carries out process control of single-loop or multi-loop type. The function of the supervisory computer 3 includes
(i) the centralized supervision of temporary loop parameters, i.e. measured values of various variables, the magnitudes of manipulated variables, and the like of each control loop under its supervision (to be collectively referred to as the "temporary parameters", hereinafter), by collecting them through the transmission lines 2 and displaying them; PA1 (ii) the centralized supervision of control program parameters, i.e., various set points, the proportional gain (or proportional band PB) and the integral action rate (or integral time I) and the derivative action time constant (or derivative time D) of the proportional plus integral plus derivative (P.I.D.) control action, upper/lower limits for alarming, and the like of each control loop under its supervision (to be collectively referred to as the "control parameters", hereinafter), by collecting them through the transmission lines 2 and displaying them; and PA1 (iii) centralized supervision and control, such as modification of the above-mentioned control parameters from the supervisory computer 3 through the transmission lines 2. PA1 (a) The controller tends to have as many software operating modules mounted thereon as possible provided that they have a finite probability of actual use in the field, so that the number of operating modules increases with the expansion of its application, resulting in an increased memory capacity. Thus, the controller having a wide application has an increased memory capacity, and hence its mean time between faults (MTBF) is reduced and it becomes costly and uneconomical. PA1 (b) Although it is true that the number of plants requiring a large number of operating modules to form complicated control loops and to carry out complicated control operations is increasing, the majority of the controllers actually installed are still used with simple loop formation and comparatively simple control operations. Thus, for controllers to be used with simple control loops, provision of those software modules which are not used is uneconomical. PA1 (c) In the above digital controller of the prior art, the software is complicated. Besides, the operation of the ROM writer for making the software wiring requires certain degree of experience. PA1 (d) Before replacing a faulted controller with a spare controller, it is necessary to write the software wiring on a ROM by a ROM writer and mount the ROM on the spare controller. Alternatively, the software wiring may be loaded from a keyboard or a cassette. In any case, due to the need of the software wiring, very quick replacement with the spare controller is hard to achieve even in emergency. PA1 (e) When a fault occurs, the following difficulties are encountered in the conventional controller.
FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a typical digital controller 1 for distributed processing of the prior art. Analog input signals IA1 through IAn from a process being controlled are applied to a multiplexer 101, so that they are successively converted into digital signals by an analog/digital converter 102. The digital signals from the analog/digital converter 102 are delivered to a bus 103 and stored in a memory 113. A display with keyboard switches 115 mounted on the front panel and sidewall of the controller 1 is connected the bus 103 through a display interface circuit 114. Digital input signals ID1 through IDn from the process are stored in the memory 113 through digital input interface circuit 105 and the bus 103.
Various data carried by the stored input signals are processed by the control program of the controller 1 at the central processing unit (CPU) 112. The processed signals are applied either to an output holder 108 through a digital/analog converter 106 and a demultiplexer 107, or to another output holder 110 through a digital output interface circuit 109. The output holders 108 and 110 have dual functions; namely, to hold the above output signals for a period corresponding to the sampling period of the digital system of the controller 1 and, in the case of any fault in the controller 1, to hold the levels of above output signals immediately before the fault occurrence. A transmission interface circuit 104 connected to the bus 103 acts to transmit data from the controller 1 toward the outside circuit and to collect data from the outside circuit. Preferably, the transmission interface circuit 104 is connected to the transmission line 2 of FIG. 1.
The software of the digital controller 1 for distributed processing is often in the form of a program mounted on a read only memory (ROM). More particularly, from the standpoint of standardization and interchangeability, subroutines for those unit mathematical operations and unit control operations which are expected to be frequently used are written on a ROM as software modules (to be referred to as the "operating modules", hereinafter), as shown by the operating modules or subroutines 203a through 203k on a ROM 203 of FIG. 3A. Preferably, the ROM 203 is made as a part of the memory 113 of FIG. 2, and it may be in the form of an eraseable programmable ROM (EPROM) or a mask ROM. A desired control program of software is written by connecting only those operating modules which are necessary for actual control by a software wiring 202 to be described hereinafter.
The software wiring 202 of the operating modules will be described by referring to an example of cascade control of FIG. 3B. In the control system of FIG. 3B, to control the temperature in the furnace 21, the fuel flow through a fuel pipe 22 is detected by a flow meter 23, and the flow rate data signal is delivered to the controller 1. Based on temperature data signal from a thermometer 24 monitoring the temperature in the furnace 21 and the above flow rate data signal, the controller 1 manipulates the opening of a fuel valve 25, so as to control the combustion at a burner 26 and accordingly the temperature in the furnace 21.
Referring to FIG. 3C showing a block diagram of the software for effecting the above cascade control, the temperature data signal is represented by an analog input signal IA1 applied at an input point 201. To make correction for the non-linearity of the detector, or the thermometer 24, the analog input signal IA1 is processed by a linearizer module 203e. The corrected signal is applied to a PID module 203f. The output signal from this PID module 203f is used as a set point for another PID module 203f. Similarly, the operating modules in the block diagram of FIG. 3C are connected. It is noted that the connection among the operating modules of FIG. 3C is made not by hardware wiring but by software wiring.
In FIG. 3C, such software wiring 202 is enclosed by the broken lines. In practice, the entire software wiring 202 is preferably written on a ROM by a ROM writer in the field so as to meet the needs of actual processes to be controlled. The ROM thus written is mounted on the controller 1 to make it ready for control operation. Alternatively, the software wiring may be loaded on a non-volatile memory of the controller 1 from a keyboard or a cassette recorder before starting the control operation.
Accordingly, as far as the hardware is concerned, the above-described controller 1 for distributed processing intrinsically lacks individuality, and its individuality is given in the field by providing the software wiring when it is applied to the actual plant. Thus, the controllers which lack hardware individuality can be universally applied to a variety of plants by giving required individuality through software wiring in the field. However, the conventional control system using such controllers has the following shortcomings.
To avoid this disadvantage, one may think of provision of two kinds of controllers, one with simple formation and one with highly complicated formation, but this is against the merit of standardization and inter-changeability.
As OUTPUT HOLD, in case of a fault, the manipulated variable to be applied to the process being controlled is held at a level immediately before the occurrence of the fault, and such level of the manipulated variable is kept until the recovery from the fault. However, this method cannot respond to any change in the process after the occurrence of the fault, so that it is very dangerous to use this method as a backup for an extended period of time. PA2 As HARD MANUAL, a circuit for manual control of the manipulated variable applicable to the process being controlled is separately prepared by using only those instruments which have a comparatively low rate of fault, such as the power source, potentiometers, and the like, so that upon detection of the occurrence of a fault, the output from the controller is automatically switched to that of the above circuit for manual control. With the HARD MANUAL, continuous supervision by operating persons and manual control operation are necessary until the recovery of the normal operation either by the repairing of the faulted controller or by replacement of the faulted controller with the spare controller. However, it is practically impossible to effect manual backup operation in case of a control system including a complicated loop formation.
In short, the controller of the prior art does not have any satisfactory backup in the case of fault. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydrophilic member which has an amphiphilic surface, that is, a surface having both hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity, and can permanently maintain this nature.
2. Background Art
A part of the present inventors has previously proposed a method for highly hydrophilifying the surface of articles by photoexcitation of a semiconductor photocatalyst (WO 96/29375 and WO 97/23572). According to this method, the surface of articles can be highly hydrophilified to a contact angle of the surface with water up to about 0xc2x0.
When this method is applied to, for example, transparent articles such as windshields for vehicles, door mirrors, windowpanes for buildings, eyeglass lenses, or mirrors, the surface thereof is highly hydrophilified, preventing the surface of the articles from being fogged by moisture condensate or steam or from being blurred by water droplets adhering on the surface thereof. Further, when the method is applied to buildings or articles which are disposed outdoors, oil repellent or hydrophobic dust and contaminants adhering on the hydrophilified surface are easily washed away by raindrops, thus permitting the surface to be cleaned.
The present inventors have clarified the state of the surface hydrophilified by the application of the method described in WO 96/29375 and WO 97/23572 and found that the hydrophilic surface has hydrophobic nature as well and that the properties of the hydrophilified surface can be further improved. The present invention has been made based on such finding.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a hydrophilic member which has an amphiphilic (hydrophilic and hydrophobic) surface and can permanently maintain this property.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for producing a member having an amphiphilic surface and a method for amphiphilifying (hydrophilifying and hydrophobifying) the surface of a member.
The hydrophilic member according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a substrate and a layer, containing a photocatalyst, provided on the substrate. The surface of the layer containing a photocatalyst has a hydroxyl group fixed thereon upon photoexcitation of the photocatalyst. Furthermore, the surface of the layer containing a photocatalyst has a water molecule physically adsorbed in the vicinity of the hydroxyl group upon photoexcitation of the photocatalyst.
The hydrophilic member according to another aspect of the present invention comprises: a substrate; and a layer, containing a photocatalyst, provided on the substrate, the photocatalyst comprising a metal oxide, only oxygen atoms at bridging sites in the metal oxide being substantially exposed on the surface of the layer.
The process for producing a member having an amphiphilic surface according to the present invention comprises the steps of: providing a substrate; and forming a layer containing a photocatalyst on the substrate.
The method for amphiphilifying the surface of a member according to the present invention comprises the steps of: providing a substrate; forming a layer containing a photocatalyst on the substrate; and photoexciting the photocatalyst to amphiphilify the surface of the layer. | {
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In the fields of optical communication or optical measurement, optical waveguide elements having optical waveguides on a surface of an dielectric substrate are widely used. Among the optical waveguide elements, an optical modulator having a Mach-Zehnder type waveguide to perform optical modulation such as light intensity modulation is widely used due to advantages such as readiness of integration and high efficient optical modulation.
In the optical modulator having the Mach-Zehnder type waveguide (hereinafter, referred to as a “MZ-type waveguide”), an electric field is applied to at least an arm (branching waveguide) in the MZ-type waveguide to control phases of the light waves propagating through the corresponding arm. In addition, the LiNbO3 substrate is apt to be subject to a drift phenomenon, in which an operational point of the modulation signal is shifted by change of temperature or DC bias control over a long time period. For this reason, as disclosed in PTLs 1 to 3, the DC bias applied to the optical modulator is adjusted to find a suitable operational point by monitoring output light from the optical modulator or radiation-mode light radiated from a Y-multiplexer of the MZ-type waveguide.
As shown in FIG. 1(a), in an ideal Y-multiplexer of the MZ-type waveguide, a gap between the branching waveguides in a crotch portion of the Y-multiplexer where two branching waveguides 1 are combined becomes zero so that radiation-mode light (high-order light) is radiated in a place where the shape is changed from the coupling portion 2 to the output waveguide 3 (the boundary between the regions B and C). In addition, it is possible to determine the modulation condition of the optical modulator by monitoring the radiation-mode light (refer to PTL 2).
However, in a shape of the optical waveguide in practice, the gap G between the branching waveguides is rarely set to zero as shown in FIG. 1(b). This is because the minimum line width to form the optical waveguide is finite. Due to the influence of such a gap, in a place where the branching waveguides 1 are combined (the boundary between the regions A and B), a mode mismatching between the light waves is generated to produce so-called mode mismatching light, by which a part of the light waves propagating through the waveguide leaks.
The mode mismatching light causes degradation of optical characteristics of the optical modulator. Particularly, because of increasing propagation loss and degradation of an extinction ratio, or since the mode mismatching light interferes with the radiation-mode light, or the mode mismatching light itself is detected by monitoring means, it is disadvantageously difficult to accurately detect the radiation-mode light.
Meanwhile, some attempts have been made to thin the dielectric substrate used in the optical modulator to be equal to or smaller than 20 μm to reduce a drive voltage for driving the optical modulator or matching velocities between the propagation light and the drive signal. However, as disclosed in PTL 4, since the light waves leaking from the optical waveguide propagate through the thinned dielectric substrate while they are constricted within the substrate, it is difficult to separate the radiation-mode light from the mode mismatching light and, in some cases, it is also difficult to separate the signal light from the radiation-mode light.
Furthermore, in the thinned optical modulator, a typical line width of 5 to 7 μm of the optical waveguide is reduced to approximately 2 to 4 μm (the thickness of the substrate reaches several hundreds of micrometers). Therefore, the influence of the gap Gin the coupling portion (Y-multiplexer) of the branching waveguide increases in comparison with that of typical portions so that generation of the mode mismatching light becomes significant.
In PTL 4, the applicant discloses a method of forming the Y-multiplexer of the MZ-type waveguide in a 2×3 branching waveguide in order to separate the radiation-mode light from the signal light. However, in the configuration of the 2×3 branching waveguide disclosed in PTL 4, problematically, a part of the mode mismatching light generated when two branching waveguides are combined may be recombined with the optical waveguide and mixed with the radiation-mode light or the output light. | {
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The present invention is directed to a baseplate for labels such as name tags, signs, symbols, and the like which may be fixed on the face of the baseplate In various kinds of conferences, seminars exhibitions, training courses and similar occasions, name tags are often distributed to the participants. The name tags are fastened to garments by means of plastic covers or casings provided with a safety pin or a corresponding fastening means. A baseplate of the above type is disclosed in Finnish patent application Ser. No. 854,533 to Seppanen. That application discloses a baseplate with a pin fixed into a recess either by a label adhered over the recess or by bending the edges of the recess at least one point such that a portion of the baseplate covers the pin. This method of fixing the pin in place makes special demands on the label or requires an additional working stage when the edge of the recess is bent over the pin. Moreover, it is necessary to use designations on the labels to differentiate groups, e.g., different departments, home offices, etc. from one another since known baseplates have indistinguishable visual features.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a baseplate with a detachable pin such that the pin may be fixed in place on the baseplate without requiring the use of special labels and without requiring an additional working stage in the production of the baseplate.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a baseplate such that name tags belonging to different groups of persons may be distinguished visually without having to read the labels on the baseplates. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to hand-holdable optical scanners for scanning record media. The invention is particularly useful in the optical scanner described in our Israel Patent Application No. 114,367 filed Jun. 27, 1995, and is therefore described below with respect to that application.
Our Israel Patent Application 114,367 describes a hand-holdable optical scanner for scanning printed text on record media and for simultaneously translating the words from one language into another, or from one definition to another in the same language. Critical requirements of such an optical scanner include compactness in construction and reliability in operation. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an article for attracting deer, and, in particular, deer hair in an air permeable container.
2. Discussion of Background
Deer rely on their sense of smell for information about their surrounding environment. Depending upon the particular scent they detect, deer may respond by indifference, fear or attraction. The scent of a female deer, for example, will attract a male deer. A hunter, wildlife enthusiast, or photographer may try to duplicate a particular attractive scent to attract deer.
One method in which deer communicate is by using the scent of volatile compounds secreted by their tarsal glands. The tarsal gland is located on the inside hind legs of deer as illustrated in FIGS. 2-3. The tarsal gland is a source of identification with each deer having its own unique smell. To utilize the tarsal glands, a deer will rub its two tarsal glands together while urinating over them. This urine contains an odor that identifies certain characteristics of the deer such as gender, social status, and physical condition. The tarsal gland tissue (sebaceous gland) secret sebum that adheres to the tarsal hair which selects certain fat soluble compounds from the urine, which gives the tarsal hair its individually pungent smell. Deer are naturally curious about the smell of a new deer in their area.
During mating season or rut, bucks use the secretions from their tarsal glands to mark their territory and attract does. A buck will mark off his breeding territory by creating several mating scrapes. A scrape is a circular area that has been cleared of leaves or other debris. Upon clearing the area, the buck will mark the scrape by urinating over his tarsal glands. These scrapes will be worked on a regular basis. This serves to announce and maintain the buck's presence and dominance to the does and other bucks in the area. Does may be attracted to the area of a dominant buck during estrus, while less dominant bucks generally avoid confrontation with the dominant buck. The presence of another buck's scent on scrapes of a dominant buck, presents a direct challenge to the dominant buck.
Various products have been devised to duplicate these natural odors that attract deer. Numerous patents on deer attractants have been issued on fluids, such as deer urine, that are sprayed or dispensed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,940 issued to Christenson, II, combines the use of deer urine with the tarsal gland. In this patent, the tarsal gland is dried, either naturally, by convection heating or by freeze-drying, until use. The gland is rehydrated to activate it by adding a quantity of urine at the hunting site. Unfortunately, tarsal gland tissue has a limited shelf life. If the gland is not preserved, the tissue becomes "spoiled" very quickly thereby making it unattractive to deer and impossible to market. Moreover, preservation methods, such as freeze-drying, tend to alter and destroy the volatile compounds carried by the tarsal hair so that the rehydrated odor does not have its intended attractive effect. Therefore, there is a need for a deer attractant that contains all of the naturally occurring volatile compounds and has a long shelf life. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having large nozzles and small nozzles which eject droplets having different volumes.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a thermal-jet type of inkjet recording apparatus, which ejects droplets by using thermal energy generated by heating elements, a recording head (hereinafter, simply called a “head”) having large nozzles and small nozzles which eject droplets of different volumes is used widely in order to achieve high-definition image recording. By varying the size (surface area) of the dots formed by the respective droplets ejected from the large and small nozzles, it is possible to represent a wide variety of densities.
When using a head of this kind, the flight speed of the droplets ejected from the small nozzles is faster than the flight speed of the droplets ejected from the large nozzles, and hence there is a difference between the large and small nozzles in the time from the ejection of the respective droplets until they land on the recording medium. In particular, in a method which records by repeatedly moving the head in the breadthways direction of the recording medium (a serial scanning method), displacement arises in the deposition positions of the droplets, due to this difference in the flight speed, and hence there is a problem in that image deterioration occurs. In order to resolve problems of this kind, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-137240, deposition position displacement caused by difference in the flight speed of the respective droplets ejected from the large and small nozzles is corrected by controlling the ejection timings of the large and small nozzles.
However, it has been found that there are limitations on the improvement of image quality that can be achieved by simply controlling the ejection timings of the large and small nozzles. This is because not only do the respective droplets ejected from the large and small nozzles have different flight speeds, but they also differ in terms of the length of the droplet (the length of the column of the liquid), and the number and size of satellite droplets generated concomitantly with the main droplet, and the like. Therefore, similar shapes cannot be achieved for the large and small dots formed by the droplets comprising a main droplet and satellite droplets in this way, by means of simply controlling the ejection timing so as to cancel out difference in the flight speed of the droplets, as described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-137240.
In particular, in a region where the volume of the droplets ejected from the nozzles is equal to or less than 2 to 3 picoliters (pl), the ratio of the size of the satellite droplets with respect to the size of the main droplet becomes larger and the effect of same on the recorded image becomes greater. If the satellite droplets have a great effect in this way, then complicated calculation is required in the image processing, such as halftoning, and this creates major practical problems. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Integrated circuits are often formed from different processes depending on the desired functionality. Multiple chips of one function are generally constructed on a single wafer and then cut apart to create a single die or “chip.” In other instances, the multiple chips can have multiple functions and include die partitioning and multiple functional die integration. The chips have inputs and outputs (“I/O”) that need to be electrically connected to I/O connections of other chips. For example, a processing chip may need to be connected to a memory chip to properly perform a function. One way to electrically join two chips is to use an active or passive device known as a “bridge.” A bridge provides a pathway from an I/O connection of one chip to an I/O connection of another chip. The bridge can be a silicon die with connecting routes that are passive or have an active function. However, using a bridge to provide the connections often increases the manufacturing complexity of the semiconductor device and may, therefore, also limit who can manufacture the semiconductor device. The foregoing is often true for bridges formed in substrates which can limit the process to foundries (manufacturers of chips) as opposed to Outsourced Assembly and Test (OSAT) facilities (limited to wafer level manufacturing). Some wafer level processes that form redistribution layers (RDL) after bridge and chip placement risk having to discard the expensive chips due to low RDL yields.
Thus, the inventors have provided an improved method and apparatus for forming a wafer-level die bridge. | {
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This invention relates to a device for retaining the rudder of a stored aircraft in place to prevent destruction of the rudder from flapping in the wind when the airplane is stored in an open area, and more particularly to such a device which will fail safe should the aircraft be taken into flight without first removing the retainer from the rudder.
Retainers for the rudder of an aircraft are known in the art, and it is a common practice for aircraft operators to clamp the rudder of the airplane when stored in an open area, so as to prevent the destruction of the rudder from flapping in the breeze. Unfortunately, aircraft operators have also been known inadvertently to attempt to fly the plane with the rudder of the aircraft still clamped in place, resulting in a severly hazardous situation, since the aircraft is virtually uncontrollable without the use of the rudder.
By use of this invention, should an attempt be made to fly the aircraft without first removing the retainer from the rudder, the retainer will automatically be released from the rudder of the aircraft upon the initial movement of the aircraft. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and particularly to an image forming apparatus using a stepping motor for a drive mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art
In image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, and multifunction peripherals (MFPs), a stepping motor is used as the drive source, in some cases. In such image forming apparatuses, a constant-current drive system (hereinafter referred to as a “constant-current system”) is employed as a system for controlling a stepping motor in many instances. In the constant-current system, at the start of driving, a relatively high voltage is applied to a stepping motor until a target current flows. When the current flowing in the stepping motor attains the target current, then pulse width modulation (PWM) control is performed to maintain the target current. That is, in the constant-current system, after the current flowing in the stepping motor attains the target current, the current is continuously monitored, and control to maintain the target current is performed. For the control to maintain the target current, a switching system of rapidly repeating on/off operations for applying voltage is employed.
Regarding image forming apparatuses as mentioned above, various techniques have been hitherto disclosed.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 07-067016 discloses a technique that, in an image processing apparatus, corrects the rotary torque of a motor into an optimum state using the rotation speed and the rotation direction of the motor as parameters.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-180003 discloses a technique that, in an image forming apparatus, detects change in the rising of a drive current for a motor and counts the number of chopping of the drive current to detect the conditions of rotation of the motor, and controls the drive current based on the detected conditions.
Note that, in image forming apparatuses, various sensors are provided in addition to such motors to detect paper jam in a paper feed mechanism, the presence or absence of an ink cartridge attached in an image forming unit, and so forth.
As the aforementioned target current, a current is set which is anticipated in the case where the load on a portion with which the stepping motor is used is maximum. This is intended to ensure operations without causing step out of the motor even when the load on the above portion is maximum. Note that the step out refers to a phenomenon in which when the cycle of pulse signals of a drive voltage provided to a stepping motor becomes too short, operations of the rotor of the stepping motor cannot follow such a cycle, with the result that the rotor does not rotate normally.
The setting of the constant-current value mentioned above is specifically described with reference to the drawing.
FIG. 24 is a graph showing the relationship between changes over time of the load torque required for driving a stepping motor and the constant-current value to be set. With reference to FIG. 24, the load torque increases with time as indicated by the line A. The load on a portion with which the stepping motor is used is maximized at the initial stage in use, where continuous printing operations is carried out for a predetermined time, and in specific environments or a combination of these conditions. In the conventional constant-current system, to ensure operations of the motor without causing the step out of the motor even when an image forming apparatus is in such conditions as described above and the load torque is maximized, or even when a change occurs suddenly to temporarily increase the load torque, the constant-current value in accordance with the maximum load torque, as indicated by the line B, is set.
When the image forming apparatus is not in the conditions as described above, that is, in most of the times during which the image forming apparatus is driven, the load is not maximum as shown in FIG. 24. During such a time, the stepping motor operates with the current setting that causes excessive motor output with respect to the load torque required.
If the motor output is excessive with respect to the load, surplus energy is produced in addition to the required energy. The surplus energy increases the vibration of the stepping motor. As a result, there arises a problem that the noise generated when the image forming apparatus is driven becomes large.
The motor output is excessive in most of the times during which the image forming apparatus is driven, and therefore there is also a problem that energy is excessively consumed in the image forming apparatus.
Further, heat generation in the stepping motor and the drive power source increase because of generation of surplus energy, and therefore there is also a problem that a cooling mechanism is sometimes needed.
Further, in an image forming apparatus as described above, reduction in manufacturing costs is thought much of, just as for generally-used devices, and there is a demand for making the image forming apparatus have as few components as possible to promote downsizing. | {
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In many cases it is of interest to be able to measure the density of materials without damaging or changing it, and to be able to determine the presence and the amounts of materials having different densities. For instance, within the forest industry the possibility of distinguishing between different qualities is becoming increasingly important. Already at the felling stage it is important to know the density of the logs, on the one hand in order to be able to directly detect and to reject parts that are decayed or otherwise damaged and consequently without value, and on the other to be able to calculate the price of the timber (which at least in Sweden nowadays is set on the basis of density and not on volume). Also in sawmills density measuring is of interest. Improved knowledge of logs makes log classification easier, allowing sorting-out of damaged logs or logs exhibiting too many knots or being resinous.
Also in other branches measurements of this type may be of great importance. For instance, they make it easy to determine the quality of oil in order to estimate the amount of water, metal impurities and other components contained therein, which is important in order to allow engine oil changes to be performed at sufficiently frequent intervals and to prevent wear and breakdown. In addition, the method may be used in the handling of waste to be sorted according to type, to determine the quality of building elements, and so on.
For the purpose of measuring density, it has been known for a long time to allow electromagnetic radiation to penetrate an object to be measured and thereafter to measure the intensity and to calculate the amount of the original intensity that has been absorbed. Examples of such methods and devices are found in SE 466 365, DE 28 46 702, U.S. Pat. No. 3,136,892 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,453. Without exception, radiation of one wavelength only is used in these examples, and consequently one obtains only one indication of the radiation intensity along each radiation path through the object to be measured. This indication may be used to determine the mean density of the object to be measured and changes thereof along the object but not to distinguish the presence of and the amount of different types of materials upon each measurement. In accordance with the examples given such information may be gained only from a large number of radiation paths that depart from different points (tomography). | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to safety devices used in motor vehicles and the like and more particularly to seatbelt retractors.
2. Prior Art
With the advent of an awareness of vehicle safety and government regulation, a number of safety devices such as seatbelts have been provided in vehicles and particularly in automobiles. A typical prior art seatbelt for use in automobiles and the like is fastened at one end to a take-up spool having a torque in the wind-up direction of the belt applied to it. When the wearer places the seatbelt about his body, the wearer usually pulls out some extra length of seatbelt and after the buckle is coupled to the tongue plate, the excess seatbelt is automatically wound up by the aforementioned torque. Immediately thereafter, the wearer consciously or unconsciously adjusts the tension of the seatbelt by certain motions of his body such as, for example, bending the body slightly forward, or tensing the stomach muscles thus pulling the belt out a little. However, because the torque action on the take up spool tends to pull the belt in such that the tension gradually increases, an increased amount of discomfort is caused to the wearer. As a result of this discomfort, the wearer tends to discontinue use of the seatbelt and develop an aversion to wearing same. Such an aversion to the use of seatbelts is likely to increase the chance of injury to the non-wearer in an accident.
Accordingly, the present invention attempts to solve the shortcomings of the prior art discussed hereinabove. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to measuring transfer impedance, particularly the transfer impedance of structures, to assess vulnerability to lightning.
2. Background Art
Buildings of all types and their contents are vulnerable to the ever-present threat of lightning. High-value electronics, computers, communications systems, explosives, and human life are all particularly vulnerable to the effects of lightning. While many buildings have a metallic sub-structure that provides some protection against the effects of lightning, it is currently unknown how most buildings will fare in protecting their contents when struck. Hospitals, banks, bunkers for nuclear weapons, shelters for explosives, and buildings that house flight-control systems can all benefit from an analysis of their susceptibility to the effects of a lightning strike.
Past experimental and analytical work to assess the ability of typical explosives shelter to protect their contents from the effects of a direct lightning strike reveal several results. First, the typical shelter of reinforced concrete is intrinsically a very effective shield against a direct lightning strike if its mesh of rebar is electrically well bonded, that is, electrically well connected, rod-to-rod, mesh-to-mesh, and roof-to-floor. This means that the shelter itself conducts nearly all the lightning energy to ground with very little spectral energy transmitted into the shelter. If not well bonded, however, the shelter is an ineffective shield, and significant electric fields can be transmitted into the shelter. Second, the conventional lightning protection systems appliqued to shelters are ineffective and conduct only a small part of the lightning energy to ground. Third, the response of the shelter to lightning can be effectively determined from known lightning characteristics and the shelter transfer impedance from the roof to the floor. The important frequency range for this transfer impedance is about 1 kiloHertz (kHz) to 1 megaHertz (MHz). Indeed, this shelter impedance is well-modeled with a simple series R/L circuit having resistance (R) in the range of milliOhms and inductance (L) in the range of tens of nanoHenries. "Rocket-Triggered Lightning Studies for Protection of Critical Assets," M. E. Morris, et al., IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, May/June 1994; "Sandia-Led Research May Zap Old Beliefs About Lightning Protection at Critical Facilities," J. German, Sandia Lab News, Apr. 25, 1997.
Patents in related technological fields include U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,461, to Butters, entitled "Apparatus for and Method of Measuring a High Voltage Electric Field," which discloses an apparatus for measuring a high voltage electric field, but does not disclose determination of transfer impedance. This technology does not disclose a dipole antenna, nor does it apply synchronous detection such as that of the present invention as will be discussed below. U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,143, to Daniel, entitled "Lightning Ground System Attachable Admittance Testing Instrument," discloses a lightning ground testing instrument but does not determine transfer impedance, nor does it have any system elements similar to the field probe of the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 5,256,974, to Padden, entitled "Method and Apparatus for a Floating Reference Electric Field Sensor," discloses an apparatus for sensing electric fields with a dipole antenna, but does not determine transfer impedance or measure phase. U.S. Pat. No. 5,654,641, to Query, et al., entitled "Method and Device for Testing the Effectiveness of a Lightning Ground System," discloses measuring current or the magnetic field of an exposed conductor, but does not disclose the use of synchronous detection or any system element similar to the field probe of the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,345, to Rogers, entitled "Apparatus and Method for Low Cost Electromagnetic Field Susceptibility Testing," discloses the use of a detector probe for monitoring a signal level at a test point as an AM radio frequency carrier. This system does not determine transfer impedance, nor does it contain any system elements similar to the unique field probe of the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,366, entitled "Electromagnetic Field Susceptibility Test Apparatus and Methods," and U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,715, both also to Rogers, entitled "Apparatus for Low Cost Electromagnetic Field Susceptibility Testing," disclose similar technologies to that of the Rogers '345 Patent and also lack the same features from the present invention. All of these patents are dissimilar from the present invention in a variety of ways. For example, none disclose the ability to determine transfer impedance (both amplitude and phase), or the use of a fat half-dipole packaging for shielding and an electromagnetically invariant antenna configuration. None disclose the ability to use low drive signals and detect extremely low electric fields. None of the aforementioned devices are extremely immune to noise, or distribute optical isolation and battery power for explosives safety. Furthermore, the implementation of the present invention is optimized for impedance frequency ranges specific to lightning susceptibility.
The past experimental work that has been performed was with natural rocket-triggered lightning that produced direct strikes upon an instrumented shelter. However, the instrumentation and control equipment for this potentially hazardous experimental work required a cumbersome instrumentation trailer. FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c represent a simplified view of a shelter response to lightning. An actual lightning strike produces a shelter drive current, I.sub.d, and an internal electric field voltage, V.sub.ef, as illustrated in FIG. 3a. For a poorly bonded shelter, V.sub.ef can be high enough to damage electronics or to actuate squibs or detonators. FIG. 3b illustrates the shelter transfer impedance, Z.sub.s, which analytically produces a closely similar internal field, V.sub.ef, if a similar drive current, I.sub.d, is applied to it. In FIG. 3b, V.sub.ef =Z.sub.s I.sub.d /h. FIG. 3c illustrates a low drive current measurement to determine Z.sub.s where Z.sub.s =V.sub.ef h/I.sub.d. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network device for processing data in a network and more particularly to parsing of data received by a network device that allows for enhanced processing speeds and data handling.
2. Description of the Related Art
A network may include one or more network devices, such as Ethernet switches, each of which includes several modules that are used to process information that is transmitted through the device. Specifically, the device may include port interface modules, designed to send and receive data over a network, a Memory Management Unit (MMU), to store that data until it is forwarded or further processed and resolution modules, that allow the data to be reviewed and processed according to instructions. The resolution modules include switching functionalities for determining to which destination port data should be directed. One of the ports on the network device may be a CPU port that enables the device to send and receive information to and from external switching/routing control entities or CPUs.
Many network devices operate as Ethernet switches, where packets enter the device from multiple ports, where switching and other processing are performed on the packets. Thereafter, the packets are transmitted to one or more destination ports through the MMU. The MMU enables sharing of packet buffer among different ports while providing resource guarantees for every ingress port, egress port and class of service queue.
However, many of these prior art network devices do not have sufficient handling capacity and often these prior art devices are linked together to provide greater flexibility and the ability to handle greater throughput. Combining these prior art devices in linked combinations produces other problems that must be addressed, that may not need to be considered in a single network device. One issue that arises occurs when multiple types of data must be parsed and analyzed and there is a need to provide enhanced parsing and analysis to compensate for problems that can occur. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The agricultural sprayer for applying liquid herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers to farm fields and crops growing in farm fields, includes a spray boom with a center section, a left wing and a right wing mounted on the front of a trailer with a hitch adapted to be connected to a tractor.
2. Prior Art
Agricultural sprayers are available that are mounted on a tractor as well as sprayers that are mounted on a trailer. The tractor mounted sprayers can include a tractor that is designed specifically for application of liquids. Such tractors are high clearance units that are generally not suitable for tillage or harvesting operations. Such tractors and integral sprayer units can spray a number of acres per hour. When tractors with integral sprayer units are not needed for spraying, they are idle. A farm must be relatively large to justify such a sprayer.
Tractor mounted sprayer attachments that mount directly on a tractor are also available. The tractors that carry such sprayer attachments are also useable for tillage or harvesting operations, when a portion or all of the sprayer attachment is removed. These units require time to convert to and from spray units. During the conversion they are not useable for spraying or any other function. They are out of commission. During use as sprayer units, they are less maneuverable than tractors with integral sprayers that are used for spraying only. They are also heavier then dedicated sprayer tractors and cause more soil compaction. Due to their increased weight, sprayer attachments mounted on conventional farm tractors also require more fuel per hour than an integral sprayer unit with the same capacity sprayer.
Trailer mounted sprayers include a trailer frame supported by two or more wheels journaled on one or more axles. A hitch assembly on the front of the trailer is adapted for connection to the draw bar of the tractor. A tank is mounted on the frame. A sprayer boom is mounted on the trailer frame. Pipes, with a plurality of spaced apart nozzles, are mounted on the sprayer boom. A pump and liquid metering valve is connected to the tank and to the pipes. The pump is driven by the tractor through a power take off shaft or through a hydraulic motor. Farm tractors used today in North America have power take off drive shafts that can drive a shaft connected to the sprayer pump as well as an internal hydraulic pump that can supply hydraulic fluid under pressure to a remote hydraulic motor connected to a sprayer pump mounted on the trailer frame.
The sprayer boom may spray a strip that is sixty (60) or more feet wide during each pass through a field. The boom, to spray such a strip, may include a short center boom section, a left wing assembly and a right wing assembly. Each wing assembly includes an inner wing section pivotally attached to the trailer frame and one or more outer wings pivotally attached to the inner wing section. Hydraulic cylinders are provided for folding both wing assemblies to a transport position. A boom vertical lift assembly permits the elevation of the nozzles to be adjusted to a position between about eighteen inches (18″) above the ground and a position about fifty inches (50″) above the ground. A self-leveling assembly of some type permits one trailer wheel to move up over a rock and down and across a furrow without moving outer ends of the boom vertically a significant distance.
A center boom section as well as the left and right wing assemblies are mounted on the rear of the trailer-frame on some sprayers. In this position to the rear of the trailer axle, movement of the trailer wheels up and over a six inch (6″) high ridge will pivot the trailer about the connection to the tractor and raise the boom upward more than six inches (6″). Movement of both trailer wheels across a six inch (6″) deep furrow will lower the boom more then six inches (6″). Vertical movement of the tractor will also move the boom at the rear of the trailer in the opposite direction from the vertical movement of the tractor rear wheels. Vertical movement of the boom places large forces on the sprayer boom and the trailer frame and makes it necessary to reduce tractor speed if the field to be sprayed is rough. Reduction of tractor speed reduces productivity, thereby increasing the per acre cost of spraying.
The left wing assembly and the right wing assembly on some trailer sprayers have been moved forward to a position near the front of the liquid storage tank. In the forward position, both wing assemblies are midway between the tractor rear wheels and the trailer wheels. In this position, passage of the trailer wheels up over a six inch (6″) ridge will raise the boom only about 3 inches (3″). Passage of the trailer wheels across a six inch (6″) deep furrow will lower the boom assemblies about 3 inches (3″). Movement of the tractor rear wheels vertically will also move the boom wing assemblies about half the vertical distance moved by the tractor wheels. Mounting the boom wing assemblies forward of the liquid storage tank reduces vertical wing assembly movement, thereby substantially reducing loads on wing booms and the trailer frame. Some manufacturers of trailer mounted sprayers have moved the wing assemblies forward while leaving the boom center section at the rear of the trailer. They could not move the boom center section forward because the trailer frame interferes with vertical boom adjustment. This arrangement works reasonably well on relatively flat fields. A field that has terraces generally requires the tractor to move in an arcuate path parallel to the terrace. When following an arcuate path, the center boom on the rear of the trailer will overlap one wing boom nozzle and leave an untreated strip between the other wing boom nozzle and the center boom. The overlapping spray may provide excessive spray and damage crops. The missed strip may, for example, leave a narrow strip of weeds that are not killed by an herbicide. A few weeds that go to seed can result in seeding most of a field. A few insects that escape an insecticide can damage an entire crop. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates generally to stairway railings and more specifically it relates to an adjustable stair railing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous stairway railings have been provided in prior art that are adapted to be mounted on flights of stairs to allow people to hold onto the railings, when traveling up and down the stairs. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described. | {
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1. Field of the Invention:
The invention relates to medicaments for therapy of skin disorders. These medicaments may include materials which are known for the treatment of skin disorders, and are used as external topical agents on the skin. The invention also relates to medicaments for non-skin disorders, in which the medicaments are applied transdermally.
2. Discussion of the Background:
As a rule, ointments, creams, lotions or tinctures which incorporate specific active ingredients, are used topically for skin disorders. A prerequisite for the therapeutic effectiveness of these active ingredients is that they are liberated in therapeutic amounts from the respective matrix. Only if this occurs can the active ingredients penetrate into the skin and from there reach the sites at which their activity is required.
Liposomes are novel medicinal vehicles. Liposomes are defined as spheroidal structures comprised of one or more lipid double layers, and having an aqueous interior cavity. They may be prepared from phospholipids, for example, lecithin by mechanical breakdown to produce fine particles. Techniques for preparing liposomes, and use of liposomes as pharmaceutical or cosmetic vehicles with the active ingredients deposited in the interior cavities of the liposomes, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,957,971, German No. OS 28 18 655, German No. OS 28 34 308 and British Pat. No. 2,013,609. The state of the art in 1982 regarding the preparation of liposomes and their use as pharmaceutical vehicles is disclosed in Pharmazie in unserer Zeit 11:97-108 (1982). According to the latter article, application of pharmaceutical-containing liposomes has been tested by intravenous, intramuscular, and subcutaneous injections, and also by oral administration.
There is, therefore, a prejudice in the art against the testing of medicinal formulations using liposomes as the vehicle wherein such formulations are applied locally on the skin, e.g., topical application in skin disorders. This is based on the knowledge of skin structure and extensive experience with skin application. Specifically, the prejudice against topical application relates to the presence, underneath the stratum corneum (the horny superficial layer of the skin), of a denser layer of cells, the stratum conjunctum or stratum compactum, having the function of impeding penetration or substances from the exterior.
The most frequently used active ingredients in external treatment of skin disorders are corticosteriods and trihydroxyanthracenes. However, these materials have low penetrability through the skin after being liberated from their vehicles. Therefore, when they are employed in, for example, ointments or creams they must be present in relatively high concentration and large excess in order to achieve an adequate therapeutic effect. | {
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The invention relates to a vehicle brake system. In particular, the invention relates to a coordination of the functions of hydraulic brake boosting and electronic brake force distribution.
Vehicles that have brake systems actuated hydraulically or electrohydraulically conventionally comprise a plurality of mutually independent brake circuits. The use of a plurality of mutually independent brake circuits serves the purpose of redundancy, so that it is still possible to brake the vehicle even if one of the brake circuits should be unable to function. Furthermore, a braking response of the vehicle may be influenced in that during a braking operation the brake circuits are actuated differently. Especially in the case of heavy cars and lorries it is customary to provide one brake circuit for a front axle and another brake circuit for a rear axle. Such a brake circuit split is also known as a “black-and-white split” or “front/rear split brake circuit”.
In many motor vehicles actuation of the brake system is made easier for the driver by means of brake force boosting. In this case, the force generated by the driver by means of an actuation of the brake pedal is transmitted to a master cylinder and additionally increased by a specific factor by means of a brake booster. This assistance makes it easier for the driver to achieve a high brake pressure and hence a high deceleration effect, while as a result of the direct introduction of the hydraulic pressure generated by the driver into the brake circuit a braking of the motor vehicle itself remains possible even in the event of failure of the brake boosting.
The additional force needed to boost the brake force summoned up by the driver is drawn for example by a vacuum brake booster from a vacuum that is conventionally generated by a drive motor of the motor vehicle in a vacuum accumulator. In this case, there are a number of situations, in which such a brake booster is not, or is insufficiently available to assist a braking operation to a required extent. For example, the vacuum accumulator gradually empties while the drive motor is not running. After starting of the drive motor the vacuum accumulator therefore first has to be re-evacuated, which takes a specific time, during which the capacity of the brake booster is not fully deployable. In another example, the motor vehicle is exposed to a low external air pressure, for example at high altitude, so that a boosting effect of the vacuum brake booster because of the slight difference between the vacuum and the air pressure acting from outside may likewise be lower than that requested by the driver.
In order to bridge such situations of insufficient brake boosting, in the background art it is known to provide a hydraulic pump that is designed, where necessary, to generate an assisting hydraulic pressure in a brake circuit (hydraulic brake boost, HBB). A correspondingly powerful design of the hydraulic pump additionally allows the vacuum brake booster to be of smaller dimensions, thereby leading to reduced costs.
If the driver of a vehicle requests a very high brake pressure, then because of the dynamic axle-load distribution of the vehicle during braking a braking effect that may be generated via the front axle is greater than that of a rear axle. Wheels of the rear axle therefore tend to have a higher wheel slip than wheels of the front axle. An undesirable reduction of the directional stability of the vehicle that results from an excessive wheel slip at wheels of the rear axle may be counteracted by an electronic brake force distribution (EBD) becoming active at the rear axle. The EBD reduces the brake pressure of the rear axle brakes by means of an actuation of suitable valves in the rear-axle brake circuit, with the result that the wheel slip at the rear axle is limited.
In certain operating situations the hydraulic brake boosting attempts to increase a brake pressure in a rear axle brake, while the electronic brake force distribution however does not allow the brake pressure generated by the hydraulic pump to reach the brakes. As a result, the HBB system and the EBD system work against one another in these situations.
The underlying problem of the invention is therefore to indicate a method of operating a brake system that avoids the previously described drawbacks. | {
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This invention relates to data processing technique and more particularly to technique which is effective when applied to microcomputers. The present invention relates to a technique which can be utilized effectively, for example, for an output system of an external sync signal in a single-chip microcomputer having a sync signal.
In conventional single-chip microcomputers such as Model "HD6301V", a product of Hitachi, Ltd., a pin is provided for exclusively outputting an external sync signal called an "E clock" to peripheral devices. This single-chip microcomputer HD6301V includes therein a program storage ROM (read-only memory) and a working RAM (random access memory) and operates by itself, or in other words, a microcomputer system is constituted and operates inside the chip. Besides such a single-chip mode, the microcomputer has an external expansion mode in which the chip constitutes integrally a microcomputer system in cooperation with peripheral devices such as ROMs and RAMs that are connected thereto in order to expand the address space.
In this external expansion mode, the E clock described above is outputted from the single-chip microcomputer to the outside as a sync signal for the exchange of signals between the single-chip microcomputer and the peripheral devices. In the single-chip mode where the peripheral devices are not connected, therefore, the external sync signal (E clock) is not necessary.
However, in the conventional single-chip microcomputers of the type in which the external sync signal is generated inside them, the external sync signal is outputted to the output pin not only in the external expansion mode, but also in the single-chip mode.
In this case, there occurs the problem that noise develops in the signal supplied to a pin, which is disposed next to the E clock output pin, because adjacent external terminals (pins) have an undesirable coupling capacity. In the single-chip microcomputers, such as HD6301V in particular, the pin adjacent to the E clock output pin receives an input strobe signal SC as an input signal in the single-chip mode. Therefore, noise develops in this input strobe signal SC through the coupling capacity, so that erroneous data is likely to be latched.
Furthermore, an output buffer circuit which outputs the E clock as the external sync signal is constituted by circuit elements having greater sizes than other circuit elements because it must provide a great driving force, and the current consumption becomes great.
The single-chip microcomputer HD6301V having the E clock as the external sync signal is described on pages 279 to 318 of "HITACHI MICROCOMPUTER DATA BOOK, 8-BIT SINGLE-CHIP" published by Hitachi, Ltd., Feb., 1985. | {
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In distributed switching systems, switching entities such as Network Processing Units (“NPUs”) independently perform information forwarding, forwarding entry learning, and aging out of forwarding entries. Aging out of forwarding entries requires complex hardware circuitry because switches such as metro Ethernet switches may be associated with a very large number of Virtual Local Area Networks (“VLANs”), and each VLAN may have its own aging timer set by the operator. A VLAN may span any number of switching units and aging may need to be performed uniformly across NPUs within the same VLAN. Aging timer mechanisms in hardware can be very complex in distributed switch systems, meaning that many switching systems offer constrained aging functionality. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for coating alkali and alkaline earth metals and more particularly lithium onto a substrate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Presently, there is a high level of interest in industry in designing thin layer lithium batteries. These batteries include a lithium anode, a transition metal oxide-polymer composite as a cathode, and an electrolyte which may be a solid or a liquid and which includes a dissolved lithium salt.
A principal objective of the designers of these batteries, particularly in applications in which large electrode areas are needed, is to make them as thin as possible while satisfying market needs in terms of capacity, current density, shelf-life and the like.
While methods for making lithium anodes are known, these methods typically provide an anode containing much more lithium than is necessary to meet the electrochemical requirements of the cell. As a consequence, lithium is wasted, the battery is more expensive, and the battery is substantially thicker than necessary. For example, the most common method for fabricating lithium anodes is cold extrusion, but it is difficult to extrude lithium metal into strips thinner than about 100 microns. U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,113, describes a method for alleviating this difficulty by rolling the lithium between smooth polymeric surfaces having sufficiently low critical surface energy to prevent adhesion, however, even this method is limited to thicknesses not less than about 40 microns. In addition, pre-produced lithium strips having a thickness of less than 50 microns are extremely expensive. As such, they do not present a commercially attractive alternative.
Other methods for coating lithium are known in the art as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,184 to Dremann et al. which involves rubbing a heated substrate with a rod of lithium metal and U.S. Pat. No. 3,928,681 and European Published Application No. 285,476 wherein metal substrates are coated as they are conveyed through an alkali metal melt or across a roller which has been immersed in the alkali metal melt. Each of these methods has drawbacks which would make them difficult to implement in an industrial setting. For example, if the apparatus according to European Published Application No. 285,476 would unexpectedly shut down, the roller could quickly corrode and the apparatus would be rendered inoperable. | {
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The invention relates to an apparatus for the insertion of weft threads in a weaving machine and to a method for the insertion of weft threads in a weaving machine as well as to a weaving machine with an apparatus of this kind and for carrying out a method of this kind.
In DE 32 00 638 A1 an air jet weaving machine is described which comprises a nozzle with a mixing tube for the insertion of weft threads and a reed for beating up the latter. A thread clamp is arranged in the mixing tube of the nozzle in order to firmly clamp the weft thread during the severing or during the standstill of the weaving machine and thereby to prevent a jumping back of the weft thread in the nozzle. This arrangement of the thread clamp permits arranging the mixing tube close to a weft thread guiding passage which is formed in the reed, so that during the insertion the deviation in the desired position of the weft thread between the mixing tube and the weft thread guiding passage can be kept small.
WO 02095105 A1 discloses, in FIGS. 5 and 6 of the specification, an apparatus for the insertion of weft threads in a weaving machine which contains a plurality of nozzles, each with a mixing tube. The nozzles are each provided with a clamping device 1A which are connected via lines 15 to control valves 17 in order to charge the clamping devices with compressed air or vacuum. The control valves 17 are activated by a control system 20.
In the conventional apparatuses for the insertion of weft threads the latter are held firmly in the individual nozzles after the insertion by means of a retaining air flow in normal operation in order to prevent a jumping back of the weft threads in the nozzles. In contrast, when the weaving machine is stopped, the weft threads are held firmly by clamping devices which are arranged in the mixing tube of the nozzles; and the retaining air flow is interrupted since there is the danger when the machine stands still for a longer period of time that the weft threads will be damaged by the retaining air flow. The clamping devices have the disadvantage however that they complicate the threading in of individual weft threads into the associated nozzles, since the clamping devices must be opened individually via the weaving machine control system for the threading in. The individual control of the clamping devices is connected with additional cost and complexity since in addition to one control valve per clamping device a supply line for the compressed air is also needed. | {
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The disclosures herein relate generally to heat sinks used in a computer chassis and more particularly to a heat sink having variably spaced fins providing a pressure gradient to enhance natural convection cooling.
The many electrical components in a computer chassis create excessive heat which must be removed to keep the system functioning. Many heat removal schemes are used in this environment including fans, heat sinks and combinations thereof. Heat sinks are often mounted in an abutting relationship with a thermal plate, such as that provided on a microprocessor module, which conducts heat from the module to the heat sink.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,451 a computer system utilizes a heat sink which optimizes the benefits of both linear airflow and turbulent airflow within the computer housing. The heat sink has rows of metal fingers extending from a metal sheet. A fan generates linear airflow within the housing. The heat sink is attached to a heat producing element such that the rows of fingers are placed parallel to the direction of airflow in the housing. The fingers are spaced apart within a single row to generate turbulence in the airflow, and the rows are spaced apart to prevent the turbulence of one row from interfering with the turbulence of an adjacent row.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,181 an apparatus for cooling an integrated circuit device has a fan detachably mounted to a heat sink, and the heat sink is in turn mounted to an exposed surface of the integrated circuit. The heat sink includes a pair of mounting posts, and the fan assembly includes corresponding mounting recesses for receiving the mounting posts. The mounting recesses are dimensioned to form an interference fit with the corresponding mounting posts, in order to retain the mounting posts within the mounting recesses. Alternatively, the fan assembly has biased tabs, which are received within corresponding recesses formed on the integrated circuit device to detachably mount the fan to the heat sink and integrated circuit. An electrical connector with biased terminals is mounted on the fan, and the biased terminals engage corresponding terminals on the integrated circuit upon mounting the fan to the heat sink.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,652, a unitary heat sink is formed of aluminum and includes a planar contact portion for contacting the top of an IC. A number of leg portions extend from the contact portion such that each leg portion has a distal end. The leg portions, being made of the same material as the contact portion, are configured to have a sufficient resiliency such that deformations of the leg portions provide a spring force in the range of 5 to 16 lbs. against the top of the IC.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,339, a heat sink assembly for the central processor of a computer is provided in which the heat sink is selected from metal materials for good thermal conductivity. The heat sink comprises an array of heat conductive posts which define a free space for a fan. A number of grooves disposed between the posts are provided to engage a base plate. The fan is coupled to the base plate and can rotate in the free space. Two columns or rows of the heat conductive posts take the form of a hook such that the base plate when compressed can be engaged with these hooks. The base plate is provided with protrusions to secure to the grooves.
A present trend in the electronics industry is to provide systems not only to be thermally compatible, but more importantly to comply with acoustic requirements, i.e. noise. In addition, cost, component space and reliability requirements prohibit the use of auxiliary fans to be implemented in low-end, cost effective systems. Recent thermal arrangements pose a challenge to provide innovative solutions to thermal management of high power processors in the system.
Without an auxiliary fan in the system, and with the microprocessor residing adjacent a rear end of the chassis, there is a very low air velocity measured at the heat sink/processor interface. A great deal of simulation and experimentation has been performed to attempt to enhance the venting patterns on the power supply and the system chassis. The installation of an auxiliary fan is not always an acceptable solution because it increases the unit cost, noise, and introduces an added reliability concern.
Therefore, what is needed is a heat sink cooling device which does not rely on a fan supplement to enhance air flow across the heat sink and is capable of a self-generated increase in the flow of cooling air across the heat sink to enhance natural convection. | {
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(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrostatic chucks of the type in which the temperature of a wafer is to be controlled by transferring heat from plasma or the like to the wafer, thereby making uniform the temperature distribution of the wafer.
(2) Related Art Statement
In the electrostatic chuck, a number of projections or embossed portions are ordinarily projected from an installation surface of an insulator layer, and top surfaces (contact surfaces) of the projections are contacted with a semiconductor wafer. DC voltage is applied to an internal electrode within the insulating layer, and Johnson-Rahbeck force is generated at contact interfaces between the semiconductor wafer and the contact surfaces of the projections to attract the semiconductor wafer on the contact surfaces.
Owing to this, the attraction force for the semiconductor wafer can be enhanced by increasing the area of the contact surfaces (top surfaces) of the projections.
In the thermal CVD or etching of the semiconductor wafer, high density plasma is generated above the semiconductor wafer. In etching, the semiconductor wafer is attracted by the electrostatic chuck, and a cooling flange is provided at a lower side of the electrostatic chuck. Rise in temperature of the semiconductor wafer is prevented by releasing the heat inputted to the semiconductor wafer from the high density plasma to the electrostatic chuck. In the thermal CVD, the temperature of the semi-conductor wafer is controlled to a desired temperature by releasing the heat, which is inputted from the high density plasma to the semiconductor wafer, to the electrostatic chuck from the semiconductor wafer at a constant rate.
However, such a system for controlling the temperature of the semiconductor wafer has the following problem. That is, if heat is inputted to the semiconductor wafer from the high density plasma in the above electrostatic chuck, it is generally difficult to control the degree of the heat conduction from the semiconductor wafer to the electrostatic chuck.
In order to enhance the attracting force for the semiconductor wafer, the area of the contact surfaces of the projections needs to be increased. However, increases in the occupying ratio of the projections causes the following problem.
First, the contact state between the projections and the semi-conductor wafer changes depending upon slight variations in hardness of the contact surfaces of the projections, changes in uneven surfaces, etc., so that the heat contact resistance at the contact surface of each of the projections varies. For this reason, since heat cannot be stably released from the semiconductor wafer to the electrostatic chuck, the uniformity in the temperature of the semiconductor wafer is likely to be deteriorated.
In addition, since the contact heat conduction occurs between the semiconductor wafer and the projections, heat easily transfers between them. Therefore, if the area of the contact surfaces of the projections is increased and the temperature of the semiconductor wafer attempts to be controlled particularly to 100xc2x0 C. or more, and further within a temperature range of 300xc2x0 C. to 400xc2x0 C., for example, the temperature of the semiconductor wafer largely decreases through the contact heat conduction form the semiconductor wafer to the projections. Consequently, the temperature of the semi-conductor wafer cannot be increased in this case.
It is considered that this problem is solved by reducing the heat transmitted from the semiconductor wafer to the electrostatic chuck via the projections through decreasing the area of the contact surface of each of the projections or through reducing the number of projections. However, in this case, the area of the portions of the semiconductor that contact the projections decreases, and the temperature distribution of the semiconductor wafer largely varies, because the amount of heat conducted through heat radiation from the semiconductor wafer to the installation surface of the electrostatic chuck is very small.
Further, this problem is to be solved by flowing a backside gas through a gap between the rear surface of the semiconductor wafer and the insulating layer under a constant pressure and transferring the heat of the semiconductor wafer to the insulating layer through heat conduction with the backside gas. In this method, the heat inputted to the semiconductor wafer transfers into the electrostatic chuck through both the contact heat conduction via contacting between the contact surfaces of the projections and the wafer and the heat conduction with the backside gas. Thereby, variations in the temperature distribution of the semiconductor wafer must be lessened.
However, if the area of the contact surfaces of the projections decreases, the Johnson-Rahbeck force acting between the contact surfaces and the semiconductor wafer decreases. Consequently, the electrostatically attracting force for the semiconductor wafer decreases.
On the other hand, when the backside gas is flown between the rear surface of the semiconductor wafer and the insulating layer under constant pressure, buoyancy acts upon the semiconductor wafer with the backside gas. Owing to this, the attracting force actually acting upon the semiconductor wafer is a value obtained by subtracting the buoyancy upon the semi-conductor wafer with the backside gas from the electrostatically attracting force acting upon the wafer from the electrostatic chuck. If the area of the contact surfaces of the projections is reduced as mentioned above, the function of the buoyancy becomes relatively large, so that the attracting force for the semiconductor wafer becomes insufficient. If the pressure of the backside gas is reduced to avoid such a problem, the heat conduction with the backside gas is insufficient to deteriorate the uniformity of the temperature of the semiconductor wafer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrostatic chuck in which a backside gas is flown in the state that a wafer is attracted to the chuck, heat is inputted to the wafer and the heat of the wafer is transferred to the electrostatic chuck via projections and the backside gas and which facilitates the temperature controlling, and particularly the temperature controlling in a high temperature range for the wafer, and enhances the uniformity of the temperature of the wafer.
The present invention relates to the electrostatic chuck comprising a chuck body, an insulating layer formed on a surface of the chuck body and having an installation surface on which a wafer is to be installed, an inner electrode installed inside the insulating layer, and projections projecting from said installation surface and having contact surfaces to which the wafer is to contact, wherein a back side gas is flown into a space defined by said installation surface, said projections and said wafer, heat is supplied to the wafer, and heat of the wafer is conducted to the electrostatic chuck through the projections and the backside gas, the total area of the contact surfaces of the projections is not more than 1 % of the area of the inner electrode, and the height of the projections are not less than 1 xcexcm and not more than 10 xcexcm.
The present inventors largely reduced the total area of those contact surfaces of the projections which contacted the wafer to not more than 1%, thus largely reduced the ratio of the heat conduction through the contact heat conduction, and thereby facilitated the temperature controlling, particularly the temperature controlling of the semiconductor wafer.
The inventors also discovered that even if the ratio of the contact surfaces of the projections is considerably reduced like this, the heat conduction is effectively effected from the semiconductor wafer to the electrostatic chuck with the backside gas and the uniformity of the temperature of the semiconductor wafer is highly maintained by controlling the height of the projections to not less than 1 xcexcm and not more than 10 xcexcm.
This is further explained. In the prior art, the height of the projections of the electrostatic chuck is around 15 to 50 xcexcm, and heat is transferred between the insulating layer and the semiconductor wafer through heat convection of the gas. Therefore, it is considered disadvantageous to lower the height of the projections from the point of view of the heat conduction.
However, it was clarified that actually controlling the height of the projections to 1 to 10 xcexcm is advantageous for Cheat conduction from another point of view. That is, it seems that a Coulomb force acts between charges located near the surface of the insulating layer and the charges at the semiconductor wafer in addition to the attracting force originating from the Johnson-Rahbeck force at the contact area between the projections and the semiconductor wafer, and it was clarified that the electrostatically attracting force for the semiconductor wafer is not lowered beyond expectation. As a result, the present inventors succeeded in making the temperature distribution of the semiconductor wafer uniform by increasing the pressure of the backside gas between the rear surface the semiconductor wafer and the installation surface of the insulating layer and effectively perform heat conduction with the backside gas. To attain the above function and effects, it is necessary to set the height of the projections to not more than 10 xcexcm. From the above point of view, the height of the projections is preferably not more than 8 xcexcm.
On the other hand, it is clarified that as the height of the projections decreases, the contributory rate of the above Coulomb force increases to further enhance the electrostatically attracting force. However, if the height of the projections is less than 1 Em, the wafer is attracted to the chuck at portions other than the projections. Therefore, the height of the projections needs to be not less than 1 xcexcm. If the height of the projections is less than 5 xcexcm, the backside gas is unlikely to be distributed over the entire rear surface of the wafer even under elevated pressure of the backside gas, so that the efficiency of the heat conduction decreases, and the uniformity of the temperature of the semiconductor wafer deteriorates. Probably, this is considered to the effect that if the height of the projections is less than 5 xcexcm, the heat convection has no contribution, and the heat radiation becomes predominant. From this point of view, the height of the projections is preferably not less than 5 xcexcm.
From the point of view of further suppressing the contact heat conduction through the projections, the total area of the contact surfaces of the projections is preferably not more than 0.9 %, more preferably not more than 0.6 % of the area of the inner electrode.
From the point of view of stably supporting and attracting the wafer, the total area of the contact surfaces of the projections is preferably not less than 0.2 %, more preferably not less than 0.4 % of the area of the inner electrode.
The area of those contact surfaces of the projections which contact the wafer means an area of those contact surfaces of the projections which contact the rear surface of the wafer in ordinary attracting. This area is ordinarily equal to the total area of the top surfaces of the projections. However, if a part of the projections is lower and does not contact the rear surface of the wafer in the ordinary installation condition, for example, the area of the top surfaces of the parts of the projections is not included in the above total area.
The area of the inner electrode and that of the contact surface of the projection are both measured in a vertical direction to the installation surface.
The height of the projection is measured with a dial gauge or a three-dimensional shape measurement device.
Heat is inputted to the semiconductor with plasma, particularly preferably with die high density plasma, but heat radiation may be employed for this purpose.
These and other features, advantages will be appreciated with the understanding that some modifications, changes and variations could be made by the skilled person in the art to which pertains. | {
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Internet browsers are known in the art. Such browsers are commonly used in personal computers, tablet computers and mobile telephones. With the advent of mobile telephones that integrate internet communication within a handheld telephone, internet browsers are increasingly in use in mobile telephones.
The interaction of a user with an internet browser typically involves the user viewing an internet page presented on the screen of a computer or a mobile telephone, wherein the page comprises elements that may include text and/or graphical information. In addition, internet pages often contain elements referred to as hyperlinks, which enable the user to visit another internet page by selecting the hyperlink (for example, by the click of a computer mouse). The hyperlink usually is visually represented by a text or graphical element. The hyperlink may be selected by a computer mouse click. However, with the advent of touch sensitive screens that are widely used in mobile telephones and tablet computers, the selection of hyperlinks is often achieved through the touch of a finger on the screen, or via the touch of a stylus on the screen.
A typical user experience with an internet browser would therefore involve the user navigating to a particular internet page, which would initially be displayed as a blank page, with the various text and graphical elements subsequently appearing within the page once they are, individually, downloaded to the device via the internet. Because of the need to download these elements, it is often the case that the various graphical elements (which may be of a considerable file size) will appear on the screen, sometimes one by one, over the course of a period of time. This period of time is dependent on factors including the speed of the internet connection and the file size of the graphical elements. In practice, this time period is often 5-10 seconds (or more) in duration.
One problem with many such prior art arrangements stems from the fact that, prior to the downloading of these graphical elements, the spacing that they will eventually occupy on the display screen is not reserved, but may be occupied by elements that have downloaded fastest. For this reason, as the internet page loads, the appearance of additional graphical elements causes a rearrangement of the text and graphical elements already displayed on the screen. This typically involves a downward displacement of any content that is below the specified position of the graphical element. For example, consider the situation where an internet page comprises a list, wherein each item on the list is indicated by a quantity of text (such as the titles of various items for purchase) and also by a graphical element (such as a picture of each item for sale). As this hypothetical page loads, the first elements to appear would typically be the text. As each individual image subsequently downloads and is rendered on the display, the distance between consecutive items within the list typically increases, because of the appearance of the images. Where a page has a large number of such images as part of a list (such as on an internet auction website), the process of downloading of images and consequent rearrangement of the visual elements within the display can take a considerable length of time.
In the above example, many of these visual elements (text and/or images) would be hyperlinks, i.e., elements that the user is required to select in order to visit a desired internet page. The rearrangement of visual elements during download of the internet page therefore gives rise to a particular problem, wherein a user may bring their finger to touch the screen to select a particular hyperlink, but will find instead that in the time it has taken for their finger to reach the screen, a rearrangement has taken place such that their finger touches a hyperlink that they did not intend to touch. This gives rise to the navigation to an internet page that the user did not intend to visit (or the execution of a command or downloading of a file, in the case of selecting certain page elements that are programmed to initiate such events), which may have a range of undesirable consequences. The most harmless (albeit undesirable) consequences include the frustration and unnecessary use of time in needing to navigate back to the original page, waiting for it to fully reload, before making the correct selection. More serious consequences, however, include the downloading of undesirable internet content, the unintended completion of an internet purchase, or the purchase of an unintended item or service.
Numerous internet browsers have been provided in the prior art. While these internet browsers may be suitable for the particular purpose of viewing internet pages, these browsers only allow for accurate selection of hyperlinks if care is taken to allow sufficient time to elapse in order to enable all elements within an internet page to fully download.
To fully understand the cause of this problem with the prior art arrangements, one must consider the neuropsychological mechanisms underpinning the commission and control of a motor action by the human brain. This involves a multi-step process, wherein visual information is received and processed, and a judgment is made as to whether to perform a motor action. The commissioning of a motor action involves an interaction between a network of brain areas, including the frontal cortex (which has a role in decision making), the basal ganglia (which have a role in the control of movements) and the motor cortex (which contains motor connections that ultimately extend to the various muscles within the body). Once a motor action has been commissioned but has not yet been performed, a brief period of time exists within which the brain retains the ability to abort or modify the action if the circumstances requiring it change. However, there is a subsequent period of time within which the brain is unable to abort or modify the action, even if such a change were required. In neuropsychological experiments, this phenomenon is measured as the “stop-signal-reaction-time”.
For this reason, the brain is unable to abort or modify the motor action it has initiated to select a hyperlink once this “point of no return” has been reached. Should the hyperlink be displaced downward on the screen and replaced by an undesired hyperlink prior to the contact of the finger with the screen, then the user will be unable to inhibit their motor action resulting in the wrong internet page being visited.
Several further circumstances can compound this problem. Firstly, the problem is greater with motor actions that involve a larger distance of movement of the finger (such as the touching of a finger onto a screen) as compared to movements over a smaller distance (such as the pressing of a mouse button). Clearly as smartphones and touch sensitive computer tablets become more prevalent, this problem will become more prevalent. Secondly, where the user has difficulties with mobility, either due to disability or due to the natural process of lengthening of reaction times that occurs with ageing (a population that finds increasing importance in the use of mobile telephones and the internet), in these circumstances the problem is dramatically more marked.
An additional compounding factor that causes this problem to be particularly marked in some prior art arrangements is that the functioning of internet browsers is inherently susceptible to delays due to bandwidth constraints affecting the ability of the user to download data or of the host sever to serve data. A particularly prevalent reason for such bandwidth constraints is the fact that, when internet browsers operate from mobile devices they often download data via the means of a cellular radio telephony connection, the download speed of which is heavily dependent upon cellular signal strength. Paradoxically, the stated and intended use of mobile devices in enabling cellular communication in non-fixed locations, therefore is seen to be the same factor that is directly associated with increasing affectation by the problems, stated above, with the prior art arrangements. | {
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Mobile devices become smaller and at the same time more complex.
One challenge in mobile phone user interface design is that the spatial requirements for the keypad to shrink along with the other mechanical parts. This is especially pronounced in the thickness of the parts, as the devices are driven to more slim design.
Another challenge in mobile phone user interface design is to provide a user interface that is intuitive, easy to learn, behaves in a consistent, predictable manner and makes the best use of limited operation face surface area. A user interface needs to provide a sufficient number of controls to manage the inherent complexity of the mobile phone whilst ensuring that there are not too many controls are options available to the user at any one time, thereby causing confusion.
Thus, aspects of the invention aim to provide a user interface that is better adapted to meet these contradicting demands.
The above also applies to various types of mobile devices, such as mobile phones, PDA's, music or multimedia players, cameras, navigation devices, etc. | {
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In a typical cellular radio system, wireless terminals (also known as mobile stations and/or user equipment units (UEs)) communicate via a radio access network (RAN) to one or more core networks. The radio access network (RAN) covers a geographical area which is divided into cell areas, with each cell area being served by a base station, e.g., a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be called, for example, a “NodeB” (UMTS) or “eNodeB” (LTE). A cell is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio base station equipment at a base station site. Future RANs may look different in that a single UE may be served by multiple RBSs. Each cell is identified by an identity within the local radio area, which is broadcast in the cell. The base stations communicate over the air interface operating on radio frequencies with the user equipment units (UE) within range of the base stations. In some versions of a radio access network, several base stations are typically connected (e.g., by landlines or microwave) to a controller node (such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC)) which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural base stations connected thereto. The radio network controllers are typically connected to one or more core networks.
The number of radio access technologies available for uses such as cellular telephony and mobile broadband has grown rapidly in the later years. In the beginning of the 1990's there were only a few standards available, such as NMT, GSM and IS-95, used almost exclusively for voice telephony. Many additional radio access technologies (RATs) have been developed, such as W-CDMA, CDMA2000, EDGE, IEEE 802.16 and LTE, to mention a few. A multi-mode user terminal that can use several different RATs, such as the examples above, obtains improved coverage, e.g., so that users can use their terminals when traveling.
In this heterogeneous RAT environment, there is also a regulatory interest towards increasing flexibility in spectrum allocations with the advantage that the radio environment can be adapted to current usage patterns, and thus, limited radio resources can be more efficiently used. As a result, different RATs may be allocated to different frequencies in different locations, and these allocations may change over time.
FIG. 1 illustrates a heterogeneous RAT environment where a user equipment 12 may obtain service from multiple base stations (BSs) 14 that offer different radio access technologies (RATs). For example, one base station offers one RAT, DVB-H, on frequency band F1.1. Another base station offers two RATs, GSM on frequency band F2.1 and UMTS on frequency band F2.2. The remaining base station offers three RATs, WiFi on frequency band F3.1, GSM on frequency band F3.2, and UMTS on frequency band F3.3. As the question marks above the UE 12 indicate, one problem is to determine how to inform UEs about the specific RAT offerings and associated frequency bands.
One way to distribute information in radio environments with multiple RATs in a geographic region so that UEs can determine available RATs and how to connect to them is to use a Cognition enabling Pilot Channel (CPC). A wide-area, out-of-band CPC transmitter broadcasts, using a particular RAT and frequency already known to the UEs, information identifying which RATs (e.g., GSM, UMTS, W-CDMA, LTE, WiFi, and/or WiMax, etc.) are available and at what different frequencies in the different locations in a coverage area served by the CPC transmitter. The CPC transmitter may transmit using different frequencies than the frequencies used by the RATs and for that reason may be called an out-of-band wide area CPC transmitter.
One example way of dividing a wide-area radio access information coverage area up is in quadratic area elements like the mesh shown in FIG. 2. A wide area radio access information broadcast transmitter 18 transmits information for all of the mesh areas included in a service area 10. The wide area transmitter 18 transmits information for each mesh element “i” that includes location information of the mesh element, operator information, RAT information, frequency ranges associated with each RAT, and whether secondary usage is allowed and under what rules. Secondary usage refers to a situation where a UE is allowed to operate in a frequency band licensed to a certain RAT and/or operator but without connecting to that RAT and/or operator. Instead, the UE uses the frequency band for other communication purposes, e.g., for device-to-device communication with another party. Generally, secondary usage of frequency bands assumes that the UE (secondary user) somehow ensures that the quality of the primary service offered on the band is not degraded due to interference caused by the secondary usage.
With the introduction of more flexible and adaptable connection possibilities in UEs and the more dynamic spectrum arena that is likely to become reality in the future, the market for the introduction of local Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) hotspots becomes more attractive. A hotspot is a radio base station with small coverage and typically high capacity; one example is a WiFi hotspot at a coffee shop. A hotspot may, by using dynamic spectrum access mechanisms for example, obtain access to spectrum bands with more favorable propagation characteristics than provided by today's ISM band. Moreover, DSA hotspots could use discontiguous spectrum and aggregate a large bandwidth allowing for very high throughput.
To connect to a hotspot today, e.g., a WLAN hotspot, a UE needs to scan for hotspots in a limited frequency range. Even though the hotspot frequency band and the RAT used by the hotspot are already established, this UE scanning is still rather slow and power consuming. But if DSA is used, a UE wanting to connect to a DSA hotspot has even less information on where, in frequency, to scan for the hotspot or on what RAT is used by the DSA hotspot. The effect is a significant increase in the average scanning time and hence in connection time for users wanting to connect to the DSA hotspot resulting in lower user satisfaction, which is a significant drawback for the usefulness of hotspots.
To better attract users, it would be desirable for a DSA hotspot to efficiently announce its presence to nearby UEs and for UEs to be able to quickly connect to the hotspot without a time and energy consuming spectrum scanning.
The CPC could solve these problems by announcing to a UE on what frequencies it can connect to the hotspot and what RATs the hotspot is using. However, a wide-area CPC transmitter like that shown in FIG. 2 will have problems coping with many local DSA hotspots because of the large amount of information processing and transmission involved.
Furthermore, a wide-area CPC approach requires some degree of UE positioning meaning that a UE needs to know which CPC information is relevant for its present location. Since a hotspot typically has a small coverage area, that positioning has to be rather precise. Particularly for indoor use, which is where many hotspots are expected to be located, this could be a problem because GPS and similar positioning systems do not work indoors. Setting a high requirement on positioning precision may also be limiting to outdoor users since more complex UEs might be required (e.g., integrated GPS).
Another problem is that as local DSA hotspots change their operating frequencies and/or change the RAT(s) used to a dynamic local (in both time and space) frequency spectrum situation, it will be difficult to keep this information updated in a wide-area CPC transmitter. | {
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This invention has for its background methods for applying refractory coatings or facings to sealing elements, such as piston rings, packing rings and other seals for use in restricting or preventing the flow of fluids between superficially contacting, relatively slidable surfaces.
Prior art disclosing suitable refractory coatings and methods for applying the same to piston rings includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,905,512; 3,133,739; 3,133,341; 3,281,156; 3,539,192; 3,606,359; 3,690,686 and 3,697,091. | {
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The present invention relates to a device for grooming pets and in particular, to a comb with which both shedding or stripping of loose hair and grooming of the vital hair are combined.
An early step in the process of dressing pets, particularly dogs or other animals with relatively long hair, requires the use of a shedding comb which loosens the decaying hair from the skin of the animal and carries the hair for disposal. The conventional shedding comb is formed of a strip of sheet metal, one edge of which is machined or die cut with a series of teeth by which the shedding or hair stripping operation is performed. The conventional shedding comb, is formed with irregular teeth and because of the nature of cuts by which the cutting teeth are formed, they are ragged and have rough edges. As a consequence, not only do the shedding teeth loosen the animal's hair but they tend to cut even those active and living hairs which should not be removed. Further, the metal shedding comb digs into the skin of the animal and frequently cuts and scars the animal below the level of the hair, this is extremely uncomfortable to the animal and is a major source of infection. In a subsequent step, the animal requires combing of the hair, to remove knots and tangles and to ultimately smooth the hair.
Thus, in addition to the shedding comb, a separate grooming or smoothing comb is required. The animal handler thus requires two combs, each separately used, resulting in added expense and handling.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a combing device which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art and to provide an improved device for grooming long haired animals such as dogs.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a shedding comb which avoids pulling the hair by the roots, avoids scratching or cutting the skin of the animal and which provides for a more effective loosening and removal of the hair.
It is a further object of the present invention, to provide a shedding comb in combination with a straight grooming comb whereby grooming of the animal can be made with the same device.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a comb for grooming animals such as dogs, cats and the like, which will increase the speed at which such grooming is accomplished.
These objects and advantages, as well as others, will be apparent from the following disclosure. | {
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The present invention relates to a miscroscope-attachment camera with exposure-metering for the photographic recording of an object or detail of same.
It is known with regard to such cameras to carry out integrated measurements of object-brightness over the entire image field; and furthermore, it is also known to selectively measure the brightness of a given image detail.
To convey to the observer the image field on the one hand, and to inform him on the other which partial domain therein is measured with respect to brightness in the case of detailed metering, it is known to mirror or reflect both markings of the image field and markings of the detailed partial domain into the observation beam. Therefore, the image-field markings and centrally therein the measured domain markings have been arranged to that end on a common support plate from which these markings are reflected into the observation beam. Such a prior art device, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein is disclosed in the LEITZ-Prospect No. 540/36b/Engl. (April 1975): "The LEITZ System Camera".
However, it is a drawback of this device that the measuring spot for the detailed metering is fixed in the center of the image field. This means, in the case where the desired detail is off center, that one must point at the object in such a manner that initially the desired detail falls into this center. If this drawback is to be eliminated, it is obvious to shift the metered-field markings and the measuring beam in lieu of the object, as is done in exposure meters.
The problem encounted in this respect however is to carry out the shifting so that the image-field marking retains its position and only the metered field or its marking is displaced. | {
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A PCCR-based approach to determining the gaze of an eye may use an image of the eye either in its bright-pupil condition (a retinal retro-reflection complements the iris image) or dark-pupil condition (a cornea-scleral reflection complements the iris image). In a given situation, the respective images may be of different quality, and it may even be impossible to carry out an uninterrupted gaze tracking based on just one of these imaging modes. Therefore, to be able to choose the optimal mode, some available eye trackers comprise double reference illuminators for creating the reflections. A first reference illuminator, for use in imaging in the bright-pupil mode, is then arranged coaxially with the optic axis of a camera (image sensor), whereas a second reference illuminator, for use in the dark-pupil mode, is arranged off the camera axis. Such a reference illuminator may be a compound light source arranged round the camera objective in a concentric ring; cf. FIG. 3 in Applicant's patent SE 524003.
It is known in the art (see, e.g., the paper General Theory of Remote Gaze Estimation Using the Pupil Center and Corneal Reflections by E. D. Guestrin and M. Eizenmann, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 53, No. 6, pp. 1124-1133 (June 2006), included herein by reference) that the eye's position and orientation, at a given point in time, cannot be unambiguously determined unless the locations of two distinct corneal reflection (or glints, or first Purkinje reflections) can be extracted from one image of the eye or from several, simultaneous images. If two reference illuminators are used simultaneously, however, coexisting glints will mutually blur the measurements by reflections and the like. If the reference illuminators are used alternately (e.g., by time interlacing), then a small time delay will necessarily separate the two images, to the detriment of the accuracy, particularly if the delay falls in the duration of a saccade. The delay also makes the eye tracking slower. A similar drawback becomes noticeable if the bright-pupil image is used for providing an initial guess in the process of finding the location of the pupil centre in the dark-pupil image. This is practiced in the art, as described, notably, in patent application US 2004/0005083. Since the two images cannot be acquired simultaneously, such initial guess is sometimes of little avail.
As many of those skilled in the art will acknowledge, the accuracy of eye tracking is highly dependent on the resolution of the camera used for imaging the eye with the glints. Indeed, the virtual image of the reference illuminator formed by reflection in the cornea is shrunk by a factor 100 or more (assuming a corneal focal length of 4 mm and an illuminator-to-eye distance of at least 400 mm). On the other hand, to avoid serious round-off errors, the image of the reference illuminator should occupy a region of at least, say, ten camera pixels. Hence, for an eye tracker to be useful, a reasonably high performance is required from the camera, which therefore defines a least possible price of the product.
Conventional eye trackers generally perform optimally if the studied person does not move during a measurement session. Particularly annoying are head movements that change the angle between the head and the camera of the eye tracker, because this may introduce obscuring objects into the line of sight from the reference illuminator to the eye or into the line from the eye to the camera. Notably, spectacle frames, eyelashes, eyebrows, nose and protruding brow bones may cause problems of this kind.
It is probably similar considerations that have led to the widespread use of ring-shaped reference illuminators in eye trackers. Conventionally there is a larger ring for providing off-axis illumination and a smaller ring arranged around the circumference of the camera objective to be as coaxial as possible. By surrounding all sides of the camera objective with luminous points, the risk of having the tracked eye obscured is decreased. However, a ring-shaped illuminator is imaged in the cornea as an inhomogeneous spot having lower luminance than a solid light source would. This is detrimental to image contrast and makes it more difficult to find the location of the reflection of the light source. The problem is most severe in the case of the coaxial, smaller illuminator, which is further shrunk by reflection in the convex cornea, as seen above.
In view of the above shortcomings associated with available eye trackers, there appears to be a need for improved eye-tracking devices as regards accuracy, speed, reliability and cost efficiency. | {
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Known automatic transmissions for automotive vehicles include step ratio controls for effecting speed ratio changes in response to changing driving conditions. The term “speed ratio”, for purposes of this description, is defined as transmission input shaft speed divided by transmission output shaft speed.
A so-called speed ratio upshift occurs when the driving conditions require a ratio change from a lower ratio (high speed ratio) to a higher ratio (low speed ratio) in the transmission gearing. The gearing may include, for example, either a planetary type gear system or a lay shaft type gear system. An automatic gear ratio shift is achieved by friction torque establishing devices, such as multiple disk clutches and multiple disk brakes. The friction torque establishing devices include friction elements, such as multiple plate clutches and band brakes, which may be actuated hydraulically or mechanically.
A step-ratio automatic transmission uses multiple friction elements for automatic gear ratio shifting. A ratio change from a low gear ratio to a high gear ratio occurs in a synchronous clutch-to-clutch upshift as one friction element is engaged and a second friction element is disengaged. One friction element may be referred to as an off-going clutch (OGC). It is released while a second friction element, which may be referred to as an oncoming clutch (OCC), engages to create the upshift. The upshift event is divided into a preparatory phase, a torque phase and an inertia phase.
During the preparatory phase, a transmission controller reduces the OGC torque capacity to prepare for its release and simultaneously, adjusts the position of an OCC actuator to prepare for its engagement. During the torque phase, the controller increases the OCC torque capacity in a controlled manner while the OGC is still engaged or allowed to slip at a controlled slip rate. This causes torque that is transmitted through the OGC to drop significantly in accordance with an increase in torque capacity of the OCC. The controller may maintain enough OGC torque capacity to keep the OGC securely engaged or locked during the torque phase, which immediately follows the preparatory phase. Alternatively, the controller may allow the OGC to slip at a controlled rate.
During the torque phase of a conventional control system, torque transmitted through the OGC decreases when the transmission output shaft torque drops. This creates a so-called torque hole. A large torque hole can be perceived by the vehicle occupants as an unpleasant shift shock. The inertia phase begins when the OGC is released or has no significant torque capacity. | {
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The invention relates to a method for operating a jamming laser in a DIRCM system on board an aircraft in a manner that is safe for eyes.
Military and, increasingly civilian aircraft, are at risk of attack by surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). The most common SAMs are so-called MANPADS (Man-Portable Air Defense Systems) with a seeker head operating in the infrared spectral range.
One possible countermeasure is the emission of directed infrared laser radiation modulated with a suitable jamming sequence against the oncoming SAM, in order to jam its seeker head and cause it to miss its target. Systems of this kind are known as DIRCM (Directional Infrared Countermeasures) systems and are disclosed, for example, in German Patent Document DE 4402855 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,369,885 B1.
In order for it to be effective, the intensity of the jamming radiation generated by the DIRCM system must be significantly higher than the infrared radiation from the aircraft being protected. Using jamming intensities that are too low is counterproductive, as it makes it easier for the oncoming SAM to locate its target.
Furthermore, the jamming radiation must fall within the wavelength range detected by the seeker head of the oncoming SAM. Since commonly found MANPADS use different spectral ranges within the infrared spectrum, a correspondingly broad range of this spectrum must therefore be contained in the DIRCM jamming radiation.
A laser modulated with a suitable jamming sequence is normally used to generate this jamming radiation, the laser being capable of simultaneously emitting a plurality of wavelengths distributed over the infrared spectrum.
The high laser intensities required result in a laser safety problem. The eye safety range of a DIRCM system, for example, is up to several hundred meters according to the European Laser Safety Regulation EN 60825-1. It is, therefore, important to ensure that there are no personnel without laser protection within this laser safety distance when operating the DIRCM system. This leads to restrictions on the licensing and use of a DIRCM system, particularly in situations such as take-off and landing, when the potential threat is greatest and protection from a DIRCM system is therefore most important.
In order to ensure that the required laser safety range is observed, restrictions on use are provided with the help of additional sensor technology. Hence, for example, in accordance with ANSI standard Z 136.6-2005, Section 4.2.7.2 and Section 10.5.9 (Laser Institute of America), the laser is switched off when the aircraft is at an altitude below the laser's NOHD (Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance) or ENOHD (Extended Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance). The altitude is normally determined in aircraft by a radar altimeter. The disadvantage of this method is that below an altitude corresponding to the NOHD or ENOHD, the aircraft is left unprotected by a DIRCM, right at the very moment when the threat is greatest.
In the case of military applications and licenses, it is usually the pilot's responsibility to block activation of the laser system if he cannot rule out the possibility that personnel within the laser safety range could be at risk. However, this approach is not acceptable for civilian applications and licenses. Because many military aircraft are now also licensed and used for civilian purposes, this approach represents a major disadvantage for military aircraft too.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a method that enables a DIRCM system to be operated in a manner that is safe for eyes, wherein any restrictions on the use of the DIRCM system resulting from this are to be minimized. Furthermore, the equipment costs are to be kept low. In particular, the method is also be applicable to DIRCM systems, which do not have the design capability to receive back reflections from the laser light transmitted itself (open-loop DIRCM).
Due to its optical system and the intensities required for operation, the DIRCM system requiring protection has a laser safety distance of a few hundred meters (e.g. ENOHD in accordance with EN 60825-1) with an operationally required maximum laser deployment time of several seconds. The fixed laser safety distance resulting from these properties is referred to below as the “original laser safety distance” of the DIRCM system.
The jamming laser according to the invention is provided with a locking device, which can suppress the emission of the laser radiation. This locking device can act through the laser beam modulation mechanism already present in the DIRCM system or it may also be realized independently of this as a selective, mechanical radiation blocking device, for example.
Furthermore, the DIRCM system according to the invention is provided with a measuring device, which continuously determines the laser energy radiated since the start of combat by the DIRCM in each case. This may involve the monitor diodes normally present at the laser source, for example, or continuous evaluation of the modulation signal.
Due to the laser intensities and modulations used in a DIRCM, it emerges when determining the necessary laser protection distance D that this is a direct, monotonously rising function of the total energy radiated since the start of combat, in other words, D=D (energy). Conversely, for each laser protection distance D to be observed, the maximum possible value for the radiated energy can also be determined, for which the permitted laser radiation in the safety distance D in accordance with EN 60825-1 is not exceeded.
The eye-safe operation of the DIRCM system is now achieved according to the invention, in that the maximum possible value for the radiated energy is determined depending on the altitude of the aircraft fitted with the DIRCM, such that the corresponding laser protection distance is smaller than the current altitude above ground measured by a radar altimeter, for example. The laser radiation is then suppressed by means of the locking device, when the measured energy value reaches the maximum value determined for the altitude.
In the preceding example, the maximum value of the permitted energy radiated was determined depending on the current altitude. It is generally the case that the maximum value of the radiated energy may depend on the aircraft's flight condition. This applies, for example, when individual safety distances D are required for each different stage of the flight. Hence, the take-off and landing runways in civil aviation are safety zones up to a specific width, which must be kept free of personnel. As an aircraft hovers over the runway, the safety distance D to be protected would therefore be the shortest distance to the limit of this safety zone, for example. Based on a safety zone with a width of 30 m to the right and left of the runway and an altitude of 20 m, this produces, for example: D=(302+202)1/2=36 m.
The DIRCM system operated according to the invention at all times fulfills the requirements of ANSI Z 136.6-2005, Section 4.2.7.2 and Section 10.5.9 (Laser Institute of America), i.e., the operation of this system is eye-safe. However, the cost of this is the restriction that the laser emission and therefore also possible engagement with an attacking SAM may have to be suspended for laser safety reasons.
However, this restriction on use is minimal due to the method according to the invention. In the above example, the minimum height below which combat is no longer permitted is considerably lower than the original laser safety distance of a DIRCM not fitted according to the invention.
A DIRCM system normally radiates a plurality of wavelengths in the infrared range. When calculating the original laser safety distance, the ENOHD for wavelengths that are detected by customary optical instruments, such as binoculars, must therefore be taken into account in accordance with EN 60825-1. These wavelengths in the near-infrared range are referred to as spectral range 1 below. For longer wavelengths in the mid- and far-infrared range, only the NOHD, which is significantly smaller than the ENOHD, need be taken into account in accordance with EN 608251. This wavelength range is referred to as spectral range 2 below.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the spectral ranges 1 and 2 distinguished by the Laser Safety Regulation undergo separate treatment, in order to further minimize any necessary restriction on use due to laser protection reasons. This is explained in greater detail using the following exemplary embodiment.
The jamming laser in an embodiment of this type is provided with a locking device for each of the spectral ranges 1 and 2, both of which can suppress the emission of the laser radiation independently of one another. These locking devices may act through the laser beam modulation mechanism already present in the DIRCM system or they may also be realized independently of this as a selective, mechanical radiation blocking device, for example.
Accordingly, the DIRCM system is now provided with two measuring devices, which each continuously determine the laser energy radiated since the start of combat by the DIRCM independently for the individual spectral ranges 1 and 2. This may happen through the aforementioned monitor diodes or through continuous evaluation of the modulation signal. The laser energies determined are referred to below as energy 1 and energy 2.
Due to the laser intensities and modulations used in a DIRCM, it emerges when determining the necessary laser protection distance D that this is a direct, monotonously rising function of the energy 1 and energy 2 radiated in total since the start of combat, in accordance with EN 60825-1, in other words D=D (energy 1, energy 2). Conversely, for each laser protection distance D to be observed, the possible maximum value pairs for energy 1 and energy 2 may also be determined, for which, taken together, the permitted laser radiation in the safety distance D according to EN 60825-1 is not exceeded.
The eye-safe operation of the DIRCM system is achieved in accordance with this embodiment, such that the possible maximum value pairs for energy 1 and energy 2 are determined depending on the altitude of the aircraft fitted with the DIRCM, such that the laser protection distance is smaller than the current altitude above ground measured by a radar altimeter, for example. By means of the locking devices, the laser radiation in spectral range 1 is then suppressed when the measured value for energy 1 reaches the maximum value determined for the altitude; the laser radiation in spectral range 2 is suppressed when the measured value for energy 2 reaches the maximum value determined for the altitude.
The maximum values for energy 1 and energy 2 ensure that the total radiation in the required safety distance D does not exceed the permitted value according to Laser Safety Regulation EN 60825-1. When determining this total permitted radiation value in accordance with the Laser Safety Regulation, the energies radiated in the two spectral ranges under consideration are applied with different weighting factors, as required by the Laser Safety Regulation. A division of the total permitted radiation value between the two spectral ranges may be stipulated, particularly according to operational deployment conditions, e.g. the type of SAMs that will probably be involved in combat, etc.
The two maximum values for energy 1 and energy 2 are stipulated in advance depending on distance, such that the radiation in spectral range 1 is suppressed before that in spectral range 2, so that there is still a sufficient, eye-safe radiation budget for combat in spectral range 2.
At low altitudes, the limit for energy 1 may also be around 0, so that for laser protection reasons combat is only still possible in spectral range 2.
At even lower altitudes, the limit for energy 2 will also be around 0, so that no combat is possible for laser protection reasons. However, if a DIRCM has a suitable optical design, this altitude can be kept very low (in the range of a few meters).
Due to the different treatment of the two spectral ranges, the restriction on use that is necessary for laser safety reasons is significantly minimized and relates almost exclusively to combat in spectral range 1, which is only possible from a low minimum height during take-off and down to a low minimum height during landing. This minimum height is, in particular, significantly lower than the original laser safety distance of a DIRCM system not fitted according to the invention.
A general advantage of the method according to the invention is that the energies actually radiated in a jamming sequence are used to determine the switch-off limits. Where a jamming sequence has a low duty cycle, this leads to a significantly later switch-off than when the maximum possible laser radiation output is used to determine the switch-off limits or laser safety distance. In this way, restrictions on use are likewise minimized.
Since no change in radiation intensity and jamming laser modulation is made without activating the locking device, there are no further functional restrictions on the DIRCM system protected according to the invention.
The equipment costs of implementing the method according to the invention can be kept low.
Furthermore, the method according to the invention can also be used for DIRCM systems, which do not have the design capability to receive back reflections from the laser light transmitted itself (open-loop DIRCM). | {
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This invention relates to motor vehicle door assemblies and more particularly to a door module for use in forming a motor vehicle door assembly.
In the assembly of a present day motor vehicle door the inner panel of the door is typically provided with an opening and a door module, typically from a supplier, is fastened in the opening by the OEM on the assembly line. The door module typically carries door accessory items such as the window regulator mechanism. Following installation of the door module the inside door handle mechanism is installed. Alternatively, the inside door handle mechanism is installed on the door module by the supplier and shipped to the OEM. Whereas these procedures are generally satisfactory, they are labor intensive and therefore rather costly. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention generally relate to molecular separation methods, and more particularly to macromolecular separation based on differential mobility.
2. Description of the Related Art
In biology and chemistry, there is wide interest in the ability to sort polyelectrolytes and molecules by their length, in particular for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing purposes. The need for genome sequencing and the demand for genetic diagnosis and testing tools for health related applications require high throughput and low cost sequencing methods. Electrophoresis is generally described as the movement of charged molecules, such as proteins in the presence of an electric field. Generally, the separation of molecules in an electric field is based on the size, shape, and charge of a particular molecule. A description of end label free-solution electrophoresis (ELFSE) is provided in Mayer et al., “Theory of DNA Sequencing Using Free-Solution Electrophoresis of Protein-DNA Complexes,” Anal. Chem. 1994, 66, 1777-1780, the complete disclosure of which in its entirety is herein incorporated by reference.
Other conventional electrophoresis techniques generally consist of slab or capillary electrophoresis using dilute or entangled polymers. Although those techniques have been shown to successfully separate fragments with hundreds of bases (i.e., DNA bases—adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine) the time required to achieve an efficient separation is a major limitation to the development of high throughput sequencing systems. To increase the mobility of polyelectrolytes in sieving matrixes and, hence, in DNA sequencing speed, higher electric fields are often used. However, these resulting higher velocities and higher electric fields generally lead to a decrease in resolution and a degradation of the sieving medium. Therefore, new physical separation mechanisms are necessary in order to improve throughput by both decreasing the size of the sampled population and increasing the processing speed. | {
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This invention relates to data and information communication within an automobile and particularly to automotive mirror assemblies adapted to communicate wirelessly with other vehicular accessories and/or with personal accessories of occupants of the vehicle. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Organizations can store data on local data storage systems (on-premises) and may utilize remote data storage systems (off-premises) for backup, disaster recovery, etc. For example, an online retailer may store customer data on a plurality of locally-hosted servers, while storing backup copies of the data on a remote data center in the “cloud.” The use of on-premises and off-premises storage systems is known as a “hybrid” storage system or “hybrid cloud.”
Many multi-system storage environments implement data deduplication technologies to improve storage capacity utilization by reducing the amount of duplicated storage across storage devices. Data deduplication systems reduce the total amount of physical storage that is required to store data by ensuring that duplicate data is not stored multiple times. However, current multi-system storage environments implement similarity based deduplication systems that assume that all of the repository data is on-premises, and furthermore, these similarity based deduplication systems are not capable of supporting hybrid clouds. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The technical field of the present invention relates to a display device and a semiconductor device, a method for driving the same, and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a display panel provided with a touch sensor has attracted attention. The touch sensor is classified by principle of operation under resistive touch sensors, capacitive touch sensors, optical touch sensors, and the like. In any of the sensors, an object is in contact with a display panel or in the vicinity of the display panel, whereby data can be input.
A display screen also serves as an input region by provision of a sensor (also referred to as a photosensor or a photoelectric conversion element) which detects light, as an optical touch sensor for a display panel.
In a display panel provided with a photosensor, light is emitted from the display panel to an object. The emitted light is reflected by the object to enter the photosensor. The photosensor generates current in accordance with luminance of the received light and data of an image of the object is obtained as electrical data.
As an example of a device provided with such a display panel, a display device having an image capturing function, that is, a so-called scanner function, which is provided with an area sensor that captures an image of an object, is given (e.g., see Patent Document 1).
Further, a technique for personal authentication with a touch sensor provided in a device which does not necessarily have a display panel, such as a fingerprint authentication device, has been proposed. | {
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The art of lithographic printing is based upon the immiscibility of oil and water, wherein the oily material or ink is preferentially retained by the image areas and the water or fountain solution is preferentially retained by the non-image areas of the printing plate. When a suitably prepared surface is moistened with water and an ink is then applied, the background or non-image areas retain the water and repel the ink while the image areas accept the ink and repel the water. The ink on the image areas is then transferred to the surface of a material upon which the image is to be reproduced, such as paper, cloth and plastics. Commonly, the ink is transferred to an intermediate material called the blanket which in turn transfers the ink to the surface of the material upon which the image is to be reproduced.
Lithographic printing plates can be either negative-working or positive-working, and comprise one or more photosensitive layers on a suitable substrate, such as a metal or polymeric support. The photosensitive layer generally includes one or more photosensitive components that may be dispersed in a suitable binder. Alternatively, the photosensitive component can also be the binder material. Certain useful printing plates can be used either as positive-working or negative-working.
A negative-working printing plate generally has a light sensitive layer composed of a photosensitive component such as an unsaturated resin on a suitable substrate. Upon exposure to light, the exposed areas are hardened, leaving non-exposed areas removable during development. The exposed, hardened areas are therefore oleophilic and will accept ink while the non-exposed underlying areas of the substrate are hydrophilic.
A positive-working printing plate generally has a light sensitive layer composed of a photosensitive component such as an o-diazoquinone or an o-diazonaphthoquinone compound. Upon exposure to light the photosensitive component is converted to the corresponding carboxylic acid. The use of an alkaline developer will remove only the exposed areas of the photosensitive layer, leaving the surface of the support. Since the surface of the support is hydrophilic, the uncovered non-image area attracts water and repels the oily ink. The image area remaining after development is oleophilic, repels water and attracts the printing ink.
Various aqueous solutions are known for use as developers for both positive-working and negative-working printing plates. It is known to use a dispersion of a silicate to develop positive-working printing plates, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,434 (Yamasue et al). These solutions include alkali metal silicates, in which the ratio of SiO.sub.2 to M is from 0.5 to 0.75 ("M" being the alkali metal) at about 1-4% SiO.sub.2 concentration. This corresponds to a SiO.sub.2 to K.sub.2 O ratio of from 0.638 to 0.96 for the developer composition. The replenisher has different ratios of from 0.319 to 0.96. Moreover, the 1-4% concentration corresponds to 10-40 g Si.sub.2 O/1000 g of total composition. However, many of such developers are overly active and attack or remove the unexposed image on the plates. The replenishment rate of such developers is critical because the operational range of the developers is very narrow.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,880 (Seino et al) describes silicate-containing developers wherein the SiO.sub.2 to the alkali metal oxide molar ratios are much higher, that is between 1.6 and 2.0, and the % SiO.sub.2 concentration is from about 2 to about 9%, corresponding to 18.4 to 91.9 g SiO.sub.2 /1000 g of composition. These developers have relatively low activity, resulting in slow or incomplete development within the time necessary for practical commercial use. Thus, higher amounts of alkali hydroxide (alkali oxide) must be included. Such higher amounts can be disadvantageous due to cost, residue on the plates and the potential for clogging processing equipment.
It would be desirable to have a single developer solution that can be used for either positive-working or negative-working printing plates. Such a developer should have suitable activity (not too low or too high) within the desired processing time, and lower replenishment rates. Moreover, if replenishment is done, the replenisher should have the same composition as the developer. | {
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The present invention relates to Serrate genes and their encoded protein products, as well as derivatives and analogs thereof. Production of Serrate proteins, derivatives, and antibodies is also provided. The invention further relates to therapeutic compositions and methods of diagnosis and therapy.
Genetic analyses in Drosophila have been extremely useful in dissecting the complexity of developmental pathways and identifying interacting loci. However, understanding the precise nature of the processes that underlie genetic interactions requires a knowledge of the protein products of the genes in question.
Embryological, genetic and molecular evidence indicates that the early steps of ectodermal differentiation in Drosophila depend on cell interactions (Doe and Goodman, 1985, Dev. Biol. 111:206-219; Technau and Campos-Ortega, 1986, Dev. Biol. 195:445-454; Vassin et al., 1985, J. Neurogenet. 2:291-308; de la Concha et al., 1988, Genetics 118:499-508; Xu et al., 1990, Genes Dev. 4:464-475; Artavanis-Tsakonas, 1988, Trends Genet. 4:95-100). Mutational analyses reveal a small group of zygotically-acting genes, the so called neurogenic loci, which affect the choice of ectodermal cells between epidermal and neural pathways (Poulson, 1937, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 23:133-137; Lehmann et al., 1983, Wilhelm Roux""s Arch. Dev. Biol. 192:62-74; Jxc3xcrgens et al., 1984, Wilhelm Roux""s Arch. Dev. Biol. 193:283-295; Wieschaus et al., 1984, Wilhelm Roux""s Arch. Dev. Biol. 193:296-307; Nxc3xcsslein-Volhard et al., 1984, Wilhelm Roux""s Arch. Dev. Biol. 193:267-282). Null mutations in any one of the zygotic neurogenic locixe2x80x94Notch (N), Delta (D1), mastermind (mam), Enhancer of Split (E(spl), neuralized (neu), and big brain (bib)xe2x80x94result in hypertrophy of the nervous system at the expense of ventral and lateral epidermal structures. This effect is due to the misrouting of epidermal precursor cells into a neuronal pathway, and implies that neurogenic gene function is necessary to divert cells within the neurogenic region from a neuronal fate to an epithelial fate. Serrate has been identified as a genetic unit capable of interacting with the Notch locus (Xu et al., 1990, Genes Dev. 4:464-475). These genetic and developmental observations have led to the hypothesis that the protein products of the neurogenic loci function as components of a cellular interaction mechanism necessary for proper epidermal development (Artavanis-Tsakonas, S., 1988, Trends Genet. 4:95-100).
Mutational analyses also reveal that the action of the neurogenic genes is pleiotropic and is not limited solely to embryogenesis. For example, ommatidial, bristle and wing formation, which are known also to depend upon cell interactions, are affected by neurogenic mutations (Morgan et al., 1925, Bibliogr. Genet. 2:1-226; Welshons, 1956, Dros. Inf. Serv. 30:157-158; Preiss et al., 1988, EMBO J. :3917-3927; Shellenbarger and Mohler, 1978, Dev. Biol. 62:432-446; Technau and Campos-Ortega, 1986, Wilhelm Roux""s Dev. Biol. 195:445-454; Tomlison and Ready, 1987, Dev. Biol. 120:366-376; Cagan and Ready, 1989, Genes Dev. 3:1099-1112).
Sequence analyses (Wharton et al., 1985, Cell 43:567-581; Kidd and Young, 1986, Mol. Cell. Biol. 6:3094-3108; Vxc3xa4ssin, et al., 1987, EMBO J. 6:3431-3440; Kopczynski, et al., 1988, Genes Dev. 2:1723-1735) have shown that two of the neurogenic loci, Notch and Delta, appear to encode transmembrane proteins that span the membrane a single time. The Notch gene encodes a xcx9c300 kd protein (we use xe2x80x9cNotchxe2x80x9d 1 to denote this protein) with a large N-terminal extracellular domain that includes 36 epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like tandem repeats followed by three other cysteine-rich repeats, designated Notch/lin-12 repeats (Wharton, et al., 1985, Cell 43:567-581; Kidd and Young, 1986, Mol. Cell. Biol. 6:3094-3108; Yochem, et al., 1988, Nature 335:547-550). Delta encodes a xcx9c100 kd protein (we use xe2x80x9cDeltaxe2x80x9d to denote DLZM, the protein product of the predominant zygotic and maternal transcripts; Kopczynski, et al., 1988, Genes Dev. 2:1723-1735) that has nine EGF-like repeats within its extracellular domain (Vassin, et al., 1987, EMBO J. 6:3431-3440; Kopczynski, et al., 1988, Genes Dev. 2:1723-1735). Molecular studies have lead to the suggestion that Notch and Delta constitute biochemically interacting elements of a cell communication mechanism involved in early developmental decisions (Fehon et al., 1990, Cell 61:523-534).
The EGF-like motif has been found in a variety of proteins, including those involved in the blood clotting cascade (Furie and Furie, 1988, Cell 53: 505-518). In particular, this motif has been found in extracellular proteins such as the blood clotting factors IX and X (Rees et al., 1988, EMBO J. 7:2053-2061; Furie and Furie, 1988, Cell 53: 505-518), in other Drosophila genes (Knust et al., 1987 EMBO J. 761-766; Rothberg et al., 1988, Cell 55:1047-1059), and in some cell-surface receptor proteins, such as thrombomodulin (Suzuki et al., 1987, EMBO J. 6:1891-1897) and LDL receptor (Sudhof et al., 1985, Science 228:815-822). A protein binding site has been mapped to the EGF repeat domain in thrombomodulin and urokinase (Kurosawa et al., 1988, J. Biol. Chem 263:5993-5996; Appella et al., 1987, J. Biol. Chem. 262:4437-4440).
Citation of references hereinabove shall not be construed as an admission that such references are prior art to the present invention.
The present invention relates to nucleotide sequences of Serrate genes (Drosophila Serrate and related genes of other species), and amino acid sequences of their encoded proteins, as well as derivatives (e.g., fragments) and analogs thereof. Nucleic acids hybridizable to or complementary to the foregoing nucleotide sequences are also provided. In a specific embodiment, the Serrate protein is a human protein.
The invention relates to Serrate derivatives and analogs of the invention which are functionally active, i.e., they are capable of displaying one or more known functional activities associated with a full-length (wild-type) Serrate protein. Such functional activities include but are not limited to antigenicity [ability to bind (or compete with Serrate for binding) to an anti-Serrate antibody], immunogenicity (ability to generate antibody which binds to Serrate), ability to bind (or compete with Serrate for binding) to Notch or other toporythmic proteins or fragments thereof (xe2x80x9cadhesivenessxe2x80x9d), ability to bind (or compete with Serrate for binding) to a receptor for Serrate. xe2x80x9cToporythmic proteinsxe2x80x9d as used herein, refers to the protein products of Notch, Delta, Serrate, Enhancer of split, and Deltex, as well as other members of this interacting gene family which may be identified, e.g., by virtue of the ability of their gene sequences to hybridize, or their homology to Delta, Serrate, or Notch, or the ability of their genes to display phenotypic interactions.
The invention further relates to fragments (and derivatives and analogs thereof) of Serrate which comprise one or more domains of the Serrate protein, including but not limited to the intracellular domain, extracellular domain, transmembrane domain, membrane-associated region, or one or more EGF-like (homologous) repeats of a Serrate protein, or any combination of the foregoing.
Antibodies to Serrate, its derivatives and analogs, are additionally provided.
Methods of production of the Serrate proteins, derivatives and analogs, e.g., by recombinant means, are also provided.
The present invention also relates to therapeutic and diagnostic methods and compositions based on Serrate proteins and nucleic acids. The invention provides for treatment of disorders of cell fate or differentiation by administration of a therapeutic compound of the invention. Such therapeutic compounds (termed herein xe2x80x9cTherapeuticsxe2x80x9d) include: Serrate proteins and analogs and derivatives (including fragments) thereof; antibodies thereto; nucleic acids encoding the Serrate proteins, analogs, or derivatives; and Serrate antisense nucleic acids. In a preferred embodiment, a Therapeutic of the invention is administered to treat a cancerous condition, or to prevent progression from a pre-neoplastic or non-malignant state into a neoplastic or a malignant state. In other specific embodiments, a Therapeutic of the invention is administered to treat a nervous system disorder or to promote tissue regeneration and repair.
In one embodiment, Therapeutics which antagonize, or inhibit, Notch and/or Serrate function (hereinafter xe2x80x9cAntagonist Therapeuticsxe2x80x9d) are administered for therapeutic effect. In another embodiment, Therapeutics which promote Notch and/or Serrate function (hereinafter xe2x80x9cAgonist Therapeuticsxe2x80x9d) are administered for therapeutic effect.
Disorders of cell fate, in particular hyperproliferative (e.g., cancer) or hypoproliferative disorders, involving aberrant or undesirable levels of expression or activity or localization of Notch and/or Serrate protein can be diagnosed by detecting such levels, as described more fully infra.
In a preferred aspect, a Therapeutic of the invention is a protein consisting of at least a fragment (termed herein xe2x80x9cadhesive fragmentxe2x80x9d) of Serrate which mediates binding to a Notch protein or a fragment thereof.
As used herein, underscoring or italicizing the name of a gene shall indicate the gene, in contrast to its encoded protein product which is indicated by the name of the gene in the absence of any underscoring. For example, xe2x80x9cSerratexe2x80x9d shall mean the Serrate gene, whereas xe2x80x9cSerratexe2x80x9d shall indicate the protein product of the Serrate gene.
FIGS. 1A-1F. Phenotypic interactions between Notch and Serrate. (FIG. 1A) wa spl wing blade showing characteristic wild-type symmetry, venation, and marginal wing bristles and hairs. (FIG. 1B) nd/Y male. Distal wing notches and loss of posterior hairs are evident. (FIG. 1C) SerD/+ heterozygote. Note similarity to nd/Y wing blade in (FIG. 1D) nd/Y; SerD/+ transheterozygote wing blade. Mutant wing shows typical xe2x80x9cfig leafxe2x80x9d shape, distorted wing veins, and loss of the majority of marginal bristles and hairs, with the exception of the anterodistal wing margin. (FIG. 1E) +/Y; SerD/Dp(3R)CosP479BE (N+) male. The extra N+ copy suppresses the heterozygous SerDdominant phenotype (compare to FIG. 1C). Also note suppression of the Confluens phenotype (see text). (FIG. 1F) SerD/SerD homozygote. Note the increased severity of the phenotype relative to SerD/+ (compare to FIG. C).
FIG. 2. Molecular map of the Serrate-encoding region. Approximately 85 kb of cloned genomic DNA from the 97F chromosomal region are presented along with the restriction sites of three enzymes [(B) BamHI; (E) EcoRI; (H) HindIII]. The locations of individual DNA alterations associated with Serrate allelic breakpoints are displayed above the genomic DNA (for descriptions of mutant alleles, see Section 6, infra; (rev 3 and rev 2-11) Serrev 3 and Serrev 2-11, respectively, (R128) T(Y:3)R128. The shaded box from coordinates 0 to +3 represents the region of EGF homology detectable by Southern hybridization. The BamHI site adjacent to the EGF homology was arbitrarily chosen as position 0. Map orientation is with the centromere to the left. At the bottom of the figure are shown the individual recombinant phage isolates. The C1 and C3 cDNAs together constitute the larger of the two Serrate messages (xcx9c5.6 kb). Intron positions and coding capacities have been approximated solely upon cross hybridization of the cDNAs with the genomic DNA regions.
FIGS. 3A-3F. Serrate sequence analysis. The complete 5561 bp sequence (SEQ ID NO:1) derived from cDNAs C1 and C3 is shown. Nucleotide numbering is at left, amino acid numbering of the predicted open reading frame (ORF) is at right. The deduced protein product appears to be a transmembrane protein of 1404 amino acids (SEQ ID NO:2). Hydrophobic regions are denoted inside dashed boxes; amino acids 51 to 80 represent the likely signal peptide; amino acids 542 to 564 represent the potential membrane associated region; amino acids 1221 to 1245 represent the putative transmembrane domain. The first cysteine of each of the fourteen EGF-like repeats is denoted with a solid black box, and each repeat is underlined. The partial EGF-like repeat is considered xe2x80x9cdegenerate,xe2x80x9d since the fourth cysteine residue of this repeat has been changed to lysine (shown in boldface type at amino acid position 268). The initial cysteine of this repeat is denoted with an open box (amino acid 284), and the repeat is underlined. Amino acid insertions occur in the fourth, sixth, and tenth EGF-like repeats and are denoted by hatched underlines.
FIGS. 4A-4C. The Serrate transcript and deduced protein product. (FIG. 4A) The composite transcript shown was constructed from the C1 and C3 cDNAs, which overlap by 109 bp. Selected restriction enzyme cleavage sites are shown. The hatched box represents the 4212 bp ORF. Open boxes represent the 442 bp 5-untranslated leader and 900 bp 3xe2x80x2-trailer sequence. (FIG. 4B) Kyte-Doolittle hydropathy plot of the deduced 1404 amino acid protein. (SP) Putative signal peptide; (MA) potential membrane associated region; (TM) likely transmembrane domain. (FIG. 4C) Cartoon representation of the gross structural features of the predicted Serrate protein. The darkly shaded region, including the partial EGF-like repeat (PR) is xcx9c250 amino acids in length and homologous to the Delta protein. Bracketed EGF-like repeats labeled (A, B, and C) contain insertions of amino acids and thus differ from the canonical EGF-like structure. Other features of the protein include the signal peptide (SP), a cysteine rich region, a transmembrane domain (TM), and an intracellular region of xcx9c160 amino acids.
FIG. 5. Temporal profile of Serrate transcript accumulation. Each lane contains five xcexcg of poly(A)+ RNA. The stage of the embryonic RNAs is denoted in hours after egg laying; (L1, L2, and L3) RNA from the first, second and third larval instar periods; (EP and LP) early and late pupal stages; (M and F) adult male and female RNAs, respectively. A composite cDNA subclone (constructed from C1 and C3) was used as a hybridization probe. Serrate transcription is represented primarily as a 5.5 kb and 5.6 kb doublet beginning at 4-8 hours of embryogenesis. A transient 3.4 kb transcript is observed only during 2-4 hr of embryogenesis. The pupal and adult RNAs were fractionated on a separate gel for a longer period of time for better resolution. Equivalent loadings of RNA were noted by ethidium bromide staining of the RNA gels and confirmed by subsequent probing with an actin SC probe shown at bottom; (Fyrberg et al., 1983, Cell 33:115-123). Minor bands were not consistently observed in other blots and may reflect other EGF-homologous transcripts
FIGS. 6A-6L. Whole-mount in situ Serrate transcripts. Embryos are oriented with anterior to the left and dorsal side up unless otherwise noted. (FIG. 6A) Dorsal view of an early stage embryo (mid-dorsal focal plane). Earliest expression occurs in the ectoderm of the foregut (FG) and presumptive clypeolabrum (CL). (FIG. 6B) Dorsal view of a germ band-extended embryo (late stage 10). Additional expression occurs near the proctodeum (PR), within the eighth (A8) and ninth (A9) abdominal segments, and in the labial and maxillary primordia (arrow). (FIG. 6C) Lateral view of an early stage 11 embryo. The lateral (LE) and ventral (VE) expression patterns are out of register and do not include the tracheal pits (TP). (FIG. 6D) Germ band-extended embryo (mid stage 11) dissected and flattened such that the dorsal surfaces are at the lateral edges. Extensive expression is observed between the labial (LB), maxillary (MX), and mandibular (MN) lobes, and within the hypopharynx (HP) and clypeolabrum (CL). Expression is also apparent in the salivary gland placodes (SP) that have moved to the ventral midline. Note relationship between lateral and ventral patterns and elaboration of expression in the tail region [presumptive telson (TL)]. (FIG. 6E) Germ band-retracting embryo (stage 12; lateral view). Lateral expression (LE) is beginning to coalesce. (FIG. 6F) Lateral view of a germ band-retracted embryo (stage 13). The lateral expression is beginning to extend both dorsally and ventrally in each thoracic and abdominal segment and is most pronounced in the first thoracic segment (T1). A portion of the lateral expression now appears to include the presumptive trachea (T). Ventrally, note different expression (VE) patterns in the thoracic versus abdominal segments. (FIG. 6G) Lateral view of an early stage 14 embryo. Outline of the presumptive trachea (T) is distinct from the overlying epidermal expression. Arrows denote the zigzag pattern of lateral expression. (FIG. 6H) Dissected embryo (stage 14) opened along the dorsal midline and laid flat. Two areas of hindgut expression (HG1 and HG2) are apparent; HG1 occurs near the origin of the Malpighian tubules. (FIG. 6I) Ventral view of a stage-16 embryo focusing on the ventral nerve cord (VNC). Earlier expression in the salivary gland placodes (SP in FIG. 6D) now constitutes the SD. Expression in the proventriculus (PV) and the maxillary/mandibular region (MX/MN) is slightly out of focus. (FIG. 6J) Dorsomedial focal plane of same embryo as in FIG. 6I; head involution is nearly complete. The in-pocketings of expression in the thoracic segments (T1, T2, and T3) may represent imaginal disc primordia. Pharyngeal expression (PH) is a combination of clypeolabrum and hypopharyngeal expression noted earlier. FIG. 6K Dorsal view of the same embryo as in FIG. 6I and FIG. 6J. Note individual expressing cells in the brain lobes (BC). Expression in the fully differentiated trachea (T) and hindgut (H1) is evident. (FIG. 6L) Flattened preparation of early stage 16 embryo. Expression within the telson (TL) now constitutes a ring around the presumptive anal pads.
FIG. 7. Amino acid comparison of amino-terminal Serrate-Delta homology. Conserved regions are indicated at the top of the figure (*=identical amino acids; xe2x80x2=conservative changes in sequence). Serrate (see SEQ ID NO:2) is shown above line, Delta (SEQ ID NO:4) below. The sequence begins at Serrate amino acid position 59; the partial EGF-like repeat of both Serrate and Delta is boxed. The Serrate amino acid sequence (amino acids 79-282 of FIGS. 3A-3F) placed into the chimeric xcex94EGF Notch construct and determined to be sufficient for Notch binding is presented in boldface type. The positions of the synthetic degenerate primers (designated FLE1 through FLE4R) are shown; refer to FIGS. 8A-8C for nucleotide composition.
FIGS. 8A-8C. Nucleotide comparison of amino-terminal Serrate-Delta homology. The nucleotide sequence corresponding to the amino acid sequence in FIG. 7 is shown (Serrate sequence: see SEQ ID NO:1 ; Delta sequence: SEQ ID NO:3). The DNA encoding the partial EGF-repeat is boxed. The Serrate nucleotide sequence (nucleotides 676-1287 of FIGS. 3A-3F) placed into the chimeric xcex94EGF Notch construct determined to be sufficient for Notch binding is presented in boldface type.
FIGS. 9A-9G. Nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:5) and protein sequence (SEQ ID NO:6) of Human Serrate-1 (also known as Human Jagged-1 (HJ1)).
FIGS. 10A-10G. xe2x80x9cCompletexe2x80x9d nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:7) and amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:8) of Human Serrate-2 (also known as Human Jagged-2 (HJ2) generated on the computer by combining the sequence of clones pBS15 and pBS3-2 isolated from human fetal brain CDNA libraries. There is a deletion of approximately 120 nucleotides in the region of this sequence which encodes the portion of Human Serrate-2 between the signal sequence and the beginning of the DSL domain.
FIGS. 11A-11B. Nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:9) of chick Serrate (C-Serrate) cDNA.
FIGS. 12A-12B. Amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:10) of C-Serrate (lacking the amino-terminus of the signal sequence). The putative cleavage site following the signal sequence (marking the predicted amino-terminus of the mature protein) is marked with an arrowhead; the DSL domain is indicated by asterisks; the EGF-like repeats (ELRs) are underlined with dashed lines; the cysteine rich region between the ELRs and the transmembrane domain is marked between arrows, and the single transmembrane domain (between amino acids 1042 and 1066) is shown in bold.
FIG. 13. Alignment of the amino terminal sequences of Drosophila melanogaster Delta (SEQ ID NO:4) and Serrate (SEQ ID NO:2) with C-Serrate (SEQ ID NO:10). The region shown extends from the end of the signal sequence to the end of the DSL domain. The DSL domain is indicated. Identical amino acids in all three proteins are boxed.
FIG. 14. Diagram showing the domain structures of Drosophila Delta and Drosophila Serrate compared with C-Serrate. The second cysteine-rich region just downstream of the EGF repeats, present only in C-Serrate and Drosophila Serrate, is not shown. Hydrophobic regions are shown in black; DSL domains are checkered and EGF-like repeats are hatched. | {
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The present invention generally relates to improvements in a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), and more particularly relates to a PACS performing multi-level image data processing.
A PACS is one of the latest generation of devices for medical diagnosis, storage, communication, and visualization. Typically, a PACS is implemented in conjunction with the medical imaging capabilities of hospital diagnostic equipment such as an X-ray imaging, ultrasound imaging, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), CAT scan, or other imaging device. The type of diagnostic imaging equipment is typically generically referred to as the imaging modality. Using an ultrasound system as an example, prior art ultrasound systems have typically been incarnated as stand-alone devices. Such stand-alone systems typically possess a display screen for observation of the ultrasonic diagnosis or are able to generate a printed image of a snapshot of the diagnosis. Such stand-alone systems typically were not able to electronically store images due to real-time processing constraints and storage capacity constraints.
However, recent improvements in the computing and networking fields have lead to the development of PACS systems, that is, systems that are able to store or archive the massive quantities of digital information that comprise each digital diagnostic image. Networking advancements have lead to the development of networks of sufficient bandwidth to transport such massive digital diagnostic images away from the stand-alone imaging device to a dedicated computer network, typically within the same facility. Once the data underlying the diagnostic image has been communicated to the dedicated network, the image may be stored, processed, reanalyzed, reproduced, or re-transmitted, for example. A PACS thus provides a large increase in flexibility of image treatment. An image of the patient may be stored and analyzed in several fashions, or may be transmitted to a specialist for review, for example.
However, because of the demands of processing huge-bandwidth images such as diagnostic images, present PACS systems operate in one of two ways. The first manner of operation positions a high-end workstation, such as an AMBER workstation as a gateway between the modality and the PACS. The workstation processes the digital data representing the diagnostic image received from the modality, typically in real time. The final processed image is then relayed to a storage medium within the PACS for later use. Typically, the processing employed by the workstation is in response to user-configured parameters such as frequency, contrast, or depth of the image. Typically, the workstation receives the raw digital data from the modality, processes the raw data to optimize the user-configured parameters, and then stores the final, processed image.
Also, typically, the massive amounts of digital data received by the workstation, once combined into a final image, are greatly reduced in size. However, once the final image has been supplied to the storage medium, very little further processing may be applied to the image. The amount of further processing is limited because the processing of the workstation typically eliminates data that is extraneous to the user-configured parameters. That is, for example, if an ultrasonic image at a depth of two inches within the patient is desired, the modality may still receive the entirety of the ultrasonic signal corresponding to a variable depth within the patient. The workstation typically receives the raw digital signal, synthesizes the desired image, and relays the image to the storage medium. If an image at a different depth is desired, a new diagnostic image must be performed. Because the workstation""s processing constraints dictate a high-end workstation, the first type of PACS systems are typically equipment-expensive. However, because the output of the workstation is typically a smaller image file, the first type of PACS systems are typically bandwidth-efficient. Bandwidth efficiency may often be preferable because it may allow the sharing or communication of the resultant digital images over commercial, non-dedicated networks such as the internet. However, the transmitted image may not be further manipulated.
The second type of PACS typically eliminates the workstation, or substitutes a reduced-application workstation that provides little processing, if any. In the second type of PACS system, the raw digital data is transported directly to a storage medium within the PACS without substantial processing. The raw digital data may then be retrieved from the storage medium for later non-real-time processing on a mid- to lower-end workstation that would be unable to process the raw digital information in real time. Although the second type of PACS may be less equipment-expensive with the elimination of the high-end workstation, the addition of the high-bandwidth communication channel directly to the PACS and the addition of a very fast storage medium represent significant cost. Also, the intra-networking of the PACS itself must be supplemented to reflect the vastly larger raw digital files that must be transported. In addition, the large, raw digital files are typically not externally transportable via less expensive non-dedicated communications channels, such as the internet, because of their size. Although the second type of PACS may be employed to generate processed digital images similar to the processed digital images supplied by the high-end workstation of the first type of PACS, because of the lesser scale of the workstation of the second type of PACS, the repeated formulation of such images may be quite time consuming. The formation of such images may become especially time-consuming if the PACS system is in use by more than one clinician or at more than one site, as is typically the case. The internal bandwidth constraints of the second type of PACS system may be especially severe if new raw data is being received from a modality at the same time as previously received data is being supplied to the workstation. Thus, although the second-type of PACS may provide a lower cost option, networking and bandwidth difficulties may make the second type of PACS inapplicable in a large clinical setting. In addition, while the raw digital data may reside in storage in the second type of PACS, and may thus be available to form images corresponding to differing user parameters, in a multi-user environment use of the second type of PACS system to perform multi-image analysis may not be practical.
As will be appreciated, the two types of PACS are not interchangeable without large-scale infrastructure expenditures. That is, to switch from one type of system to the other, either a high-end workstation must be procured or a high-bandwidth network must be installed.
Thus, a need has long existed for an improved PACS system providing improved imaging flexibility at a less expensive equipment and networking cost. A need has also long existed for a cost and practically effective system for allowing clinicians to perform multi-image analysis. Additionally, a need has long existed for a cost-effective system for transporting manipulatable image files through a commercial, non-dedicated network such as the internet.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) system having multi-level image data processing. The preferred embodiments of the present invention maximize computational efficiency, cost efficiency, network bandwidth efficiency and image manipulation flexibility. The preferred embodiments of the invention perform a first level of image data processing by partially preprocessing raw digital image data received from a modality at an acquisition workstation and then storing the partially processed image data on the PACS. Preferably, the preprocessing at the acquisition workstation is performed on frequency control related parameters while contrast control parameters remain unprocessed, although contrast control parameters may also be used. The partially processed image data may be retrieved later from the PACS and the processing completed using a second level of image data processing with user-selected and variable parameters at an image workstation. Fully processed images may then be stored in a PACS image data base. In addition, partially or fully processed imaged may be transmitted to an external network such as the internet. | {
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A demand exists for cellulose fiber containing nonwoven materials that are colored, have textile aesthetics and performance, and remain fast under harsh chemical and abrasive use. It is highly desirable for such nonwoven materials to be laundrable and durable. It is also desirable for such substrates to be lightfast.
These nonwoven materials can be used to replace traditional textiles in applications including, but not limited to, wipers, wearing apparel, equipment protection, and bedding. Such products are used in a wide range of industries including: manufacturing, medical, printing, spray paint, garment and food services.
Insoluble colorant pigments are used to color cellulose fiber containing nonwoven materials. These pigments are generally inorganic or contain a synthetic organic base. A fixing agent is typically used to improve fastness because these colorant pigments are insoluble in the application medium and do not readily migrate into cellulose fibers or fix onto them. Useful fixing agents include alum, caseins, starches, acrylics, rosin sizes, polyvinyl alcohols, and cationic colorant fixatives. Generally speaking, these fixatives only modestly improve durability.
Soft polymeric adhesive binders or resins are also used as fixing agents. They improve durability by encapsulating and binding the insoluble pigment to fiber surfaces. Binders and resins have limited use because they are a surface treatment and generally have only moderate fastness. Deeper shades of color require excess pigment and binder or resin that tend to rub off or crock. Moreover, high levels of pigment act as fillers and can physically weaken a sheet. Binders or resins also stiffen nonwoven materials and impair textile-like aesthetics while often negatively impacting liquid distribution and absorbency properties.
Binders and resins are often soluble in many common volatile and semi-volatile commercial and industrial liquids and solvents and could leach from the nonwoven material leaving undesirable residues and streaks. When used on hot surfaces or at high temperature, binder or resin on colored nonwoven materials may migrate, soften, degrade, alter the nonwoven material properties and/or leave residues. Another disadvantage of binder and resin coloring systems is that they are often added to dried sheets using size presses, saturation techniques or printing operations and then again dried. Many binders are also applied as a secondary process off-line to the basesheet production which also increases costs.
Dye colorants are also used to color cellulose fibers and cellulose fiber containing nonwoven materials. Dyestuffs, dye colorants, or dyes are generally categorized into numerous classes according to application. These categories include: basic, acid, direct (including cationic directs), mordant, azoic, disperse, reactive, sulfur and vat dyes. These dyes have a wide range of cost, dyeing properties and fastness. In addition, the method of applying such dyes varies widely from simple introduction to suspended stocks and webs to multistage chemical processes.
Dyes are physically or chemically bonded to fiber to provide durable color. They are bonded typically by one or more forces including physical entrapment, hydrogen bonding, van der Waals forces, coordinately bonded, ionic forces or covalent bonds. Generally speaking, dyes are usually fast or permanent in only some aspects or under certain conditions.
It is desirable for dye colorants to be resistant to light and water. It is also desirable for a dye colorant to withstand other influences encountered in commercial and industrial applications of cellulose fiber containing nonwoven materials. These include, but are not limited to, bleaches and detergents used during laundering and soaking for stain removal; cleaners including acids such as vinegar and bases; and a large list of industrial chemicals including oils, cutting oils, and solvents having a wide range of dipole moments such as: acetone, methylene chloride, 1,1,1 trichloroethane and various alcohols, ketones, benzene, naphthalene and mineral spirits.
Generally speaking, basic dyes have poor light fastness and are susceptible to uneven coloring of cellulose fibers (e.g., paper fibers). Acid dyes are readily susceptible to water bleeding because of their low affinity to cellulose fibers. Direct or substantive dyes will color cellulose fibers without the use of dyeing assistants or mordants. However, they tend to lack the overall chemical fastness needed even with the use of mordanting, cationic fixing agents, formaldehydes or coupling compounds. Direct dyes lack overall fastness since the forces binding them are easily broken.
Generally speaking, mordant dyes have no affinity for cellulose fibers and require use of a metallic oxide treatment for good fastness properties. Azoic dyes require coupling of two dye components onto the fiber but lack overall chemical fast requirements and are normally limited to only a few cellulosic applications. Disperse dyes are typically used to color hydrophobic fibers and are fine-size organic compounds with limited solubility and crock resistance.
Reactive dyes can be described as acid, basic or mordant dye with an attached reactive group that is capable of covalent bonding to a cellulose fiber.
Good fastness is typically obtained by converting soluble compounds into relatively insoluble compounds within the fiber. Sulfur and vat dyes are insoluble and therefore must be chemically modified before coloring fiber. With these dyes, the insoluble dye is first reduced to the soluble leuco compound and after integration into fiber, oxidized back to the insoluble form using typically sodium sulfide for sulfur dyes and sodium perborate for vat dyes.
Cellulose fibers may be dyed utilizing a variety of methods ranging from dyeing individual fibers to consolidated webs and by dyeing at points within the nonwoven web construction process. Exemplary methods include beater or stock coloring within the slush or slurry to dyeing webs by padding, jig dipping, dyebaths, squeezing, extraction operations, foam curtain dyeing and printing. Many of these methods are off-line textile finishing processes.
Specialized pad-batch, pad-thermofix, and pad-steam methods and modified versions for continuous operations with numerous steps have also been developed for reactive dyes by padding the web with dye solution. The web is then either stored for extended reaction times in a vapor tight enclosure or steam heated, further padded, and afterwards the web is washed of spent chemical.
Low speed continuous pad-jig methods and pad-steam methods are often employed for permanent dyeing of webs with vat dyes. Suitable reaction times have been achieved especially at elevated temperatures. After chemical dyeing using reactive and vat dyes, a washing step(s) is added to remove unreacted exhausted chemicals since the reaction is not 100% complete. More permanent colorants generally require several chemical process steps and extended reaction times.
While reactive dyes, vat dyes and sulfur dyes appear desirable for use with cellulose fibers, application of these dyes requires more than one process step and is often hampered by slow line speeds needed to achieve adequate reaction times.
Accordingly a need exists for a simple process for applying reactive dyes, vat dyes and sulfur dyes to cellulose fibers and to cellulose fiber containing nonwoven materials to produce durable coloration. This need extends to a continuous or one-step process for applying such dyes to the described substrates so they are colorfast. This need also extends to a process for applying such dyes that is suitable for high-speed manufacturing processes. There is also a need for colorfast cellulose fibers, nonwoven materials containing colorfast cellulose fibers, and colorfast nonwoven materials that include cellulose fibers that are prepared in a simple, one-step process. | {
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The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Electrical components, such as semiconductors, transistors, etc., typically have pre-designed temperatures at which the electrical components optimally operate. Ideally, the pre-designed temperatures approximate the temperature of the surrounding air. But the operation of electrical components generates heat which, if not removed, will cause the electrical component to operate at temperatures significantly higher than its normal or desirable operating temperature. Such excessive temperatures may adversely affect the operating characteristics of the electrical component and the operation of the associated device.
To avoid or at least reduce the adverse operating characteristics from the heat generation, the heat should be removed, for example, by conducting the heat from the operating electrical component to a heat sink. The heat sink may then be cooled by conventional convection and/or radiation techniques. During conduction, the heat may pass from the operating electrical component to the heat sink either by direct surface contact between the electrical component and heat sink and/or by contact of the electrical component and heat sink surfaces through an intermediate medium or thermal interface material (TIM). The thermal interface material may be used to fill the gap between thermal transfer surfaces, in order to increase thermal transfer efficiency as compared to having the gap filled with air, which is a relatively poor thermal conductor. In some devices, an electrical insulator may also be placed between the electrical component and the heat sink, in many cases this is the TIM itself. | {
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Because typical LCD devices have the advantages of portability, low power consumption, and low radiation, they have been widely used in various portable information products such as notebooks, personal digital assistants (PDAs), video cameras, and the like. Furthermore, LCD devices are considered by many to have the potential to completely replace CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors and televisions.
In FIG. 3, a conventional normal-white type LCD 10 includes an LCD panel 100 and a backlight module 110 facing the LCD panel 100. The backlight module 110 is configured to illuminate the LCD panel 100 with even planar light.
The LCD panel 100 is a normal-white type LCD panel, and includes a first substrate 101, a second substrate 102 facing the first substrate 101, a liquid crystal layer 103 sandwiched between the two substrates 101 and 102, and a first polarizer film 104 and a second polarizer film 105 respectively disposed at outer sides of the two substrates 101 and 102. Polarization axes of the first polarizer film 104 and the second polarizer film 105 are perpendicular.
The backlight module 110 includes a light source 111, a light guide plate 112, and a reflecting film 113. The light guide plate 112 includes a light incident surface 1120, a top light emitting surface 1121 adjacent to the light incident surface 1120, and a bottom surface 1122. The light source 111 is located at a side of the light incident surface 1120 and configured to emit polarized light “c”. The reflecting film 113 is located at a side of the bottom surface 1122 to reflect light from the bottom surface 1122 back to the light guide plate 112.
After the polarized light emitted by the light source 111 reaches the light guide plate 112, some of the polarized light is emitted directly by the light emitting surface 1121 of the light guide plate 112 and reaches the second polarizer film 105. Other polarized light is emitted by the bottom surface 1122, and is then reflected by the reflecting film 113 back to the light guide plate 112. Finally, the other polarized light reaching the light guide plate 112 is emitted from the light emitting surface 1121 thereof and reaches the second polarizer film 105.
Some of the light reaching the second polarizer film 105 with a polarization axis parallel to a polarization axis “b” of the second polarizer film 105 (hereinafter, “first polarized light”) can pass through the second polarizer film 105 to illuminate the LCD panel 100 (see below).
In detail, when driving voltages are not applied to the normal-white type LCD 10, the polarization axis of the first polarized light is rotated by 90° to become parallel with a polarization axis “a” of the first polarizer film 104 when the first polarized light passes through the liquid crystal layer 103. Thus the rotated first polarized light having the polarization axis parallel to the polarization axis “a” of the first polarizer film 104 can pass the first polarizer film 104 so that the LCD panel 100 emits light and can display images.
When driving voltages are applied to the normal-white type LCD 10, the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 103 twist to become oriented approximately perpendicular to the two substrates 101, 102 and thus the polarization axis of the first polarized light cannot be rotated by the liquid crystal layer 103. Understandably, the first polarized light reaching the first polarizer film 104 has the polarization axis perpendicular to the polarization axis “a” of the first polarizer film 104 and therefore cannot pass the first polarizer film 104. Thus the LCD panel 100 does not emit light and has no image.
Normally, because the polarization axis of the first polarized light is not fully parallel to the polarization axis “b” of the second polarizer film 105, only some (or most) of the first polarized light can pass through the second polarizer film 105 to eventually emit from the LCD panel 100, while the other first polarized light having polarization axes perpendicular to the polarization axis “b” of the second polarizer film 105 is absorbed by the second polarizer film 105. This may considerably reduce the operating efficiency of the normal-white type LCD 10.
What is called for, thus, is a backlight module overcoming the limitations described, and an LCD utilizing such a backlight module. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to magnetic heads for recording signals by applying magnetic fields perpendicular to recording media such as discs including hard layers. The present invention particularly relates to a magnetic head prevented from writing data on a recording medium during non-recording.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view of a known magnetic head H1. The magnetic head H1 is a type of perpendicular recording magnetic head for applying a magnetic field perpendicular to a recording medium M to perpendicularly magnetize a hard layer Ma included in the recording medium M. The magnetic head H1 has an opposed face opposed H1a to the recording medium M.
The recording medium M has, for example, a disc shape, further includes a soft layer Mb, and rotates on its center axis. The hard layer Ma is located far from the magnetic head H1 and has high coercive force. The soft layer Mb is located close to the magnetic head H1 and has high magnetic permeability.
A slider 1 is made of a non-magnetic material such as Al2O3—TiC and has an opposed face 1a opposed to the recording medium M. The rotation of the recording medium M creates an air flow, which separates the recording medium M from the slider 1 or allows the slider 1 to slide above the recording medium M. In FIG. 13, the movement direction of the recording medium M with respect to the slider 1 is referred to as an A direction.
The slider 1 has a trailing end face 1b. A non-magnetic insulating layer 2 made of an inorganic material such as Al2O3 or SiO2 lies on the trailing end face 1b. A reading section HR lies on the non-magnetic insulating layer 2.
The reading section HR includes a lower shield layer 3, a reading element 4, an inorganic insulating layer (gap insulating layer) 5, and an upper shield layer 6. The inorganic insulating layer 5 lies between the lower shield layer 3 and the upper shield layer 6. The reading element 4 is located in the inorganic insulating layer 5 and is a type of magnetoresistive device such as an AMR device, a GMR device, or a TMR device.
A first coil-insulating base layer 7 lies on the upper shield layer 6 in that order and a plurality of second coil layers 8 made of a conductive material such as Cu are arranged on the first coil-insulating base layer 7.
The second coil layers 8 are covered with a first coil-insulating layer 9 made of an inorganic material such as Al2O3 or an organic material such as a resist.
A main magnetic pole layer 10 lies on the first coil-insulating layer 9. The main magnetic pole layer 10 extends from front end face 10c of the magnetic pole layer 10 in a height direction and has a predetermined length. The main magnetic pole layer 10 extends in a track width direction (the X direction in FIG. 13) and has a width equal to a track width Tw. The main magnetic pole layer 10 can be formed by, for example, a plating process and is made of a material, such as Ni—Fe, Co—Fe, or Ni—Fe—Co, having high saturation magnetic flux density.
A gap layer 13 made of an inorganic material such as Al2O3 or SiO2 lies on the main magnetic pole layer 10.
A second coil-insulating base layer 14 lies on the gap layer 13 and first coil layers 15 made of Cu are arranged on the second coil-insulating base layer 14. The first and second coil layers 15 and 8 have end portions which arranged in the track width direction (X direction) and which are electrically connected to each other. The first and second coil layers 15 and 8 form a solenoidal coil layer that surrounds the main magnetic pole layer 10.
The first coil layers 15 are covered with a second coil-insulating layer 16 made of an inorganic material such as Al2O3 or an organic material such as a resist. A return path layer 17 made of a ferromagnetic material such as permalloy lies over the second coil-insulating layer 16 and the gap layer 13.
The return path layer 17 has a connecting section 17b. A lead layer 19 located close to the connecting section 17b extend from the first coil layers 15 in the height direction (Y direction) and lies on the second coil-insulating base layer 14. The return path layer 17 and the lead layer 19 are covered with a protective layer 20 made of an inorganic non-magnetic insulating material or another material.
In the magnetic head H1, if a recording current is applied between the first and second coil layers 15 and 8 through the lead layer 19, the current flowing between the first and second coil layers 15 and 8 induces a recording magnetic field around the main magnetic pole layer 10 and the return path layer 17. The magnetic flux φ1 of the recording magnetic field emanates from the front end face 10c of the main magnetic pole layer 10 and passes through the hard layer Ma and the soft layer Mb. This allows a recording signal to be written on the recording medium M. The magnetic flux φ1 returns to the front end face 17a of the return path layer 17.
With reference to FIG. 14, in the magnetic head H1, which is of a perpendicular magnetic recording type, the magnetization direction of the main magnetic pole layer 10 is perpendicular to the opposed face H1a during recording. The direction perpendicular to the opposed face H1a is the same as the direction of the magnetic shape anisotropy of the main magnetic pole layer 10. Therefore, the magnetization of the main magnetic pole layer 10 is likely to be directed perpendicularly to the opposed face H1a during non-recording. This causes an unintended signal to be written on the recording medium M. A reduction in the size of the main magnetic pole layer 10 and a reduction in track width cause this phenomenon to be serious.
In order to prevent unintended writing during non-recording, a magnetic head disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-139676 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1) includes a main magnetic pole layer and an auxiliary layer which is disposed thereon and which is rendered ferromagnetic or non-magnetic by light irradiation. The auxiliary layer is made of alloy containing K, Co, Fe, C, and N. The auxiliary layer is rendered non-magnetic by irradiation with a blue beam emitted from a blue semiconductor laser or rendered ferromagnetic by irradiation with a red beam emitted from a red semiconductor laser. During recording, the auxiliary layer is rendered non-magnetic by irradiation with the blue beam such that a recording operation is not disturbed. During non-recording, the auxiliary layer is rendered ferromagnetic by irradiation with the red beam. When the auxiliary layer is ferromagnetic, an end portion of the auxiliary layer has a large volume and has closure domains. This prevents the magnetization of the end portion of the auxiliary layer from being directed perpendicularly to a face of this magnetic head that is opposed to a recording medium. Patent Document 1 also discloses that the auxiliary layer is allowed to have magnetic anisotropy in the direction (a track width direction) parallel to the opposed face such that the magnetization of the end portion of the auxiliary layer is directed in parallel to the opposed face during non-recording.
The magnetic head disclosed in Patent Document 1 has problems below. Since magnetic phase transition is allowed to occur in the auxiliary layer by irradiation with a laser beam, a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus must include a laser beam irradiation device. This causes a complication in the apparatus. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the size and manufacturing cost of the apparatus.
Furthermore, the magnetization of the main magnetic pole layer must be directed in parallel to the opposed face against the magnetic shape anisotropy of the main magnetic pole layer and the auxiliary layer must be ferromagnetically coupled with the main magnetic pole layer tightly. In order to comply with an increase in recording density, the main magnetic pole layer must have a smaller size in the track width direction. The reduction in the size of the main magnetic pole layer decreases the bonding area between the auxiliary layer and the main magnetic pole layer, resulting in the reduction in the ferromagnetic coupling between the auxiliary layer and the main magnetic pole layer. In addition, the reduction in the size of the main magnetic pole layer in the track width direction increases the magnetic shape anisotropy perpendicular to the opposed face. This leads to difficulty in controlling the magnetic domains present in the end portions of the main magnetic pole layer. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The invention relates generally to product-processing apparatus and method for its cleaning, especially apparatus processing products conveyed on conveyor belts with product repositioners.
Product-processing apparatus, such as chillers, steam cookers, and blanchers, are often used to cook or cool food products, such as vegetables, nuts, and shrimp. In continuous shrimp cookers, for example, shrimp are conveyed through a steam-filled chamber on a conveyor belt by a main drive motor. To uniformly cook the shrimp, which may sit on the conveyor belt in a thick layer, it is often necessary to reposition the shrimp one or more times along the belt's carryway path through the cooking chamber. The conveyor belt is guided around an upper, forward roller and a lower, rearward roller in an S-shaped back flip along the conveying path. Shrimp drop off the upper portion of the belt winding around the upper roller and land on the lower portion of the conveyor belt exiting the lower roller. In this way, the shrimp are repositioned on the belt with previously unexposed portions exposed to the cooking steam. Such a repositioning S-flip for a flighted belt is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,028,618, “Cooler Apparatus and Method,” Oct. 4, 2011, to Robert S. Lapeyre. In the Lapeyre cooker, the upper roller and the lower roller rotate at a greater speed than the belt is driven by the main drive motor. The belt slips on the rollers, and the relative sliding scrapes debris and slime off both the belt and the rollers. But when the belt is lightly loaded, the slip decreases and the belt tends to build up upon exiting the S-flip ahead of the slower moving drive sprockets. The slack in the belt on the carryway necessarily means that the belt is taut and highly tensioned in the return. As the slack continues to build in the carryway, the belt can break in the return. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Amongst such detectors, the invention relates more particularly to those which use an appropriate detector to take advantage of an optical effect that relies on a relatively intense light pencil being reflected by some of the particles making up the smoke to be monitored, which smoke passes through a dark chamber containing said detector.
Given the intensity of the light pencil, if it were to be emitted continuously, the resulting electricity consumption of the device would be very large.
To avoid that drawback, proposals have already been made to emit said pencil in the form of light pulses of short duration t that are spaced apart from one another by identical much longer periods T, where the durations t are of the order or 1 millisecond or 100 microseconds, for example, while the periods T are of the order of 5 seconds to 10 seconds, detection then being performed on the basis of electrical response signals generated by the detector solely during the durations t, with the values of said signals being compared in turn with a value representing the above threshold so as to trigger the alarm if the threshold is exceeded.
To create said pulses of duration t, it is preferable to act as follows: a capacitor is charged during the periods T by means of a small electrical current, and at the end of each of said periods the capacitor is discharged during times t, and the current pulses of duration t generated in this way are applied to a light source, which current pulses give rise to light pulses of the same duration and forming the light pencil.
In general, in order to avoid untimely triggering of the alarm, as could be set off by the detector being suddenly illuminated, e.g. due to the device being scanned by an intense light beam itself created directly from a hand-held flashlight or indirectly by reflection of the sun on a glossy surface moving in view of the device, an alarm indicating a risk of fire is triggered only after verifying that the previously programmed trigger threshold has continued to be exceeded for a plurality of successive light pulses (see document EP-A-0 011 205).
If the spacing between said successive light pulses reaches or exceeds 5 or 10 seconds, the duration of such a safety check can run to half a minute or more, and that is prohibitive. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to gaming machines and, in particular, to controller-based linked gaming systems.
2. Statement of the Problem
Gaming machines are well known and include a variety of games such as slot, poker, and keno. Gaming machines can also be programmed to play a variety of games. Players insert monetary amounts by inserting coin, token, paper currency, or magnetic card; pushing credit buttons; or other suitable entry of monetary value to play one or more games on a particular gaming machine. Such monetary amounts are usually translated into a number of units of the lowest unit of currency receivable by the machine, referred to herein as the unit bet. Such operation is well known in the art.
Upon entry of a monetary amount, the gaming machine determines therefrom which games and/or payoffs the player qualifies for based upon an internal game in the machine and on an associated internal pay table in the machine. The player is then normally required to take some action to institute playing of the game such as pushing a play button or pulling a lever arm. The player then plays the game according to the rules of the game. The player either wins the game or loses the game. If the player wins the game, the player is given the payoff established by the gaming machine for the particular game being played. This payoff varies considerably from type of game played to the type of winning combination in the rules of the game. Typically, the payoff is a return of monetary amounts equal to or in excess of the monetary amounts entered to play the game. Winning or losing the game completes the gaming cycle. If the player loses the game, the player typically loses the amount wagered and there is no payoff. The gaming machine then conditions itself so as to be able to again receive monetary amounts to begin another game cycle and the process repeats. Such individual stand-alone conventional gaming machines are found in numerous casinos throughout the world and are made by a number of different manufacturers. Conventional gaming machines include a variety of different slot machines (video or mechanical), poker, keno, etc.
In order to attract more players to such gaming machines, progressive gaming systems were developed. Progressive gaming systems permit the player to play individual gaming machines as discussed above. To add to the excitement of play, the individual gaming machines are linked together to allow players to compete for an additional common award or "progressive jackpot." The progressive jackpot award can amount to a substantial amount of money. Progressive gaming systems are also found in casinos throughout the world. In some environments, the progressive jackpot award is an expensive vehicle, such as a motorcycle or sports car. In progressive gaming systems, a programmed controller is provided for linking the machines together. The controller receives the unit bets from the linked machines as well as machine identification information from each machine and supplies to the players, either through displays provided on their respective machines and/or a common overhead display, information as to the common progressive jackpot.
In one type of progressive system, the controller controls the progressive game during each progressive game cycle by first establishing a jackpot-win amount in a random manner between maximum and minimum jackpot values. The controller has an internal random number generator for making this random selection. The controller also establishes a base value which is used as an initial amount for a current progressive jackpot amount, which is the progressive jackpot amount reported by the controller to the machine displays and/or the overhead display and display to the players. The current jackpot amount is recalculated or incremented by the controller each time a game is played at each gaming machine. The controller does this by adding to the current progressive jackpot amount an increment value based on the number of unit bets entered at the individual gaming machines in the progressive gaming system multiplied by a fixed progressive increment rate per unit bet. This is a continuous process since players at different machines are inserting monetary amounts to start game play at different times.
To this end, each gaming machine, as above indicated, reports its unit bet information to the controller or a communication link upon a player playing the gaming machine so that the current progressive jackpot value can be appropriately incremented. The gaming machine is also identified with conventional signaling to the controller with the bet information so that the controller knows which gaming machine resulted in the increment.
After each increment of the current progressive jackpot, the controller compares the new current jackpot value with the jackpot-win value, which it previously randomly established and stored. If the new value is less than a jackpot-win value, the controller merely updates the current jackpot value and communicates the updated value to the displays at the gaming machines and/or the overhead display. The controller then continues to monitor the unit bet information indicative of game play from the gaming machines and to increment the current progressive jackpot value based thereon.
When an increment to the current jackpot value causes the value to reach or become equal to the jackpot-win value, the controller determines that the jackpot has been won by the gaming machine, which resulted in the aforesaid increment. The controller communicates this to the winning gaming machine and the appropriate payment of the jackpot-win amount is made to the player. This suddenly surprises the player as it comes unexpectedly and adds excitement to the game.
After a jackpot has been won, the controller then institutes a new progressive game cycle in which it resets the progressive jackpot by randomly selecting, from values between the maximum and minimum jackpot values, a new jackpot-win value. The controller then also resets the current jackpot value to the base value and begins incrementing this value based on the fixed progressive increment. As before, this incrementing continues until the current jackpot value reaches the newly selected progressive jackpot-win value and the progressive jackpot is won again. The controller then repeats the progressive game cycle based on continued game play, as described above. The above type of linked random jackpot controller-based systems have been sold by the assignee of the present invention under the trademark MYSTERY JACKPOT and, for example, is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,909. The '909 patent specifically teaches that the jackpot payout need not be a fixed jackpot-win value and that the award could be issued based upon conditions at the machine and paid when the next winning combination occurs at the machine. For example, the payout criteria might be to payout a jackpot equal to the award for the next winning combination established at the machine.
Another prior art slot promotion is called "Double Jackpot Time." Here, all gaming machines that are eligible receive "double jackpots" (i.e., 2.times.) for a period of time. At first, these "double jackpots" were manually operated by an attendant. To eliminate the cost of personnel, the double jackpots became automated. Variations arose including 3.times. and 5.times. pays. These conventional bonusing games are unpredictable from a casino-funding viewpoint and are usually short in duration--especially for the 3.times. and 5.times. pays. A need exists to manage both time-wise and finance-wise the bonus time for such games.
A need exists to improve upon the above progressive gaming system and the conventional "Double Jackpot" bonus games to attract players, to retain players at the gaming machine by extending play, and to add more excitement in playing the progressive gaming system. A need exists to extend the time period for "Double Jackpot Time" without bankrupting the system. A need exists to heighten player anticipation during "Double Jackpot Time" type bonus games. A need also exists to provide players with a feeling of group participation as they play a progressive game. A need further exists to provide regulation of the award of bonus jackpots during the bonus mode time period with respect to time of play and depletion of the bonus pool. A need finally exists to provide this form of regulation yielding stable system expectations. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to golf balls and specifically to multi-component golf balls.
Conventional golf balls can be divided into two general types of balls, a two-piece ball and a three-piece ball. The difference in play characteristics resulting from these different types of balls can be significant.
Two-piece balls are generally more popular with the recreational golfers because they provide a very durable ball while also providing maximum distance. Two-piece balls are made with a single solid core, usually made of a crosslinked rubber, which is encased by a cover material. The combination of the core and cover materials provides a hard ball that is virtually indestructible by golfers. Further, such a combination imparts a high initial velocity to the ball which results in improved distance. However, because these materials are very rigid, two-piece balls have a hard feel when struck with a club.
Three-piece or wound balls are preferred by more advanced players due to their superior feel characteristics. Three-piece balls typically have either a solid rubber or liquid center core around which many yards of a stretched thread or yard are wound. The wound core is then covered with a durable cover material. Three-piece balls are generally softer and provide more spin, which enables a skilled golfer to have more control over the ball""s flight. This higher spin characteristic however can be a problem with those who are not advance players as the high side spin rate causes the ball to deviate from a straight path. Furthermore, these higher spinning balls typically have a shorter distance as compared with two-piece balls.
In the past golf balls have been designed which attempt to provide a three-piece ball""s feel while simultaneously providing a two-piece ball""s distance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,805 discloses a golf ball having a solid core surrounded by a cavity and an outer layer. The cavity is filled with a liquid so that the outer layer is separated from the solid core by the layer of liquid. This type of golf ball is designed so that the outer layer moves independently of the core to create a gyro moment. The gyro moment stabilizes the spin rate of the golf ball during flight. However, as the ball is struck with a club the ball is deformed or compressed causing the liquid layer to be squeezed or moved as the outer cover momentarily comes into contact with the inner core. This momentary contact causes the inner core to move or spin in synchronization with the outer layer, thereby defeating the purpose of the disjunction between the inner core and the outer layer.
Accordingly, it is seen that a need remains for a golf ball which has an outer layer which is disjoined from the inner core during all phases of flight. It is to the provision of such therefore that the present invention is primarily directed.
In a preferred form of the invention a golf ball comprises a spherical core, a spherical cover mounted concentrically about the core so as to define a spherical cavity therebetween, and a layer of unbound, granular particles positioned within the spherical cavity. With this construction, the layer of granular particles provides a disjunctive layer between the core and the cover. | {
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An integrated circuit (“IC”) die may be assembled into an IC package. One or more IC packages may be physically and electrically coupled to another packaging element, such as a printed circuit board (“PCB”) and/or a heat spreader to form an “electronic assembly”. The “electronic assembly” may be part of an “electronic system”. An “electronic system” is broadly defined herein as any product comprising an “electronic assembly”. Examples of electronic systems include computers (e.g., server, router, desktop, laptop, hand-held, Web appliance, etc.), wireless communications devices (e.g., cellular phone, cordless phone, pager, computer with wireless network, etc.), computer-related peripherals (e.g., printer, scanner, monitor, wireless network card, etc.), entertainment devices (e.g., television, radio, stereo, tape and compact disc players, video cassette recorder, camcorder, digital camera, MP3 (Motion Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer 3) player, etc.), and the like.
In the field of electronic systems there is competitive pressure among manufacturers to drive the performance of their equipment up while driving down production costs. This is particularly true regarding the packaging of IC's, where each new generation of packaging may provide increased performance, particularly in terms of an increased number of components and higher clock frequencies, while generally being smaller or more compact in size. As the internal circuitry of IC's, such as processors, operates at higher and higher clock frequencies, and as IC's operate at higher and higher power levels, the amount of heat generated by such IC's may increase their operating temperature to unacceptable levels. However, the performance and reliability of IC's may diminish as the temperature to which they are subjected increases, so it becomes increasingly important to adequately dissipate heat from IC environments, including IC packages.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a significant need in the art for apparatus and methods for packaging an IC that minimize heat dissipation problems associated with high clock frequencies and high power densities. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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To configure an item of equipment, it is for example possible to use an interactive interface protocol such as the known TELNET protocol. This protocol is standardized but the data accessible are not. This poses a problem, in particular in respect of a considerable amount of network equipment as is often the case.
Among other things, management comprises the prediction and detection of faults. In the known state of the art, mention may be made by way of example of document WO 02/46928 which discloses a system which processes information obtained from sensors associated with variables catalogued in an administration information base named MIB (Management Information Base). To allow its interpretation and large-scale processing in relation to numerous items of equipment, the definitions of the variables are specified by means of a standardized language named SMI (Structure of Management Information). A protocol named SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), likewise standardized, makes it possible to access the variables by exchanging queries/responses between equipment of the network.
As is the case for example in document WO 02/17094, the variables may relate to devices which are rather sensors of temperature, alarm states or IP type network addresses than more complex equipment. For such devices, one then speaks of objects catalogued in one or more various MIBs. This document discloses means for interfacing the devices under SNMP.
The technique based on the SNMP/SMI/MIB trio has reached a certain degree of maturity. The specifications of the MIBs themselves and also those of the objects catalogued therein, are specified both in terms of semantics and size. The formulation of the MIBs is fine-tuned, possibly by means of automated handlers such as those proposed for example in document U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,431. The absolute identification of the objects by the standards (X208 and X209), the absolute identification of the instances of objects by the instance index, imply that the MIBs provide a normative benchmark prized by operators. The SNMP protocol is widely used for numerous types of equipment and services such as attested to by documents WO 01/44924, EP 115 8720 or else WO 02/47322.
However, the SNMP protocol is not satisfactory for transporting a sizeable volume of data since it adds a considerable overhead in terms of additional information. The queries/responses mode (polling) makes it difficult to optimize the internal management of the data in the network equipment. The growth in the communication throughput of equipment is augmenting the risk of mantissa overshoot in computers with the cascade effect of consequently increasing the frequency of queries/responses that is required in order to avoid this overshoot of mantissas. The exchanging of the identifiers of instances between machines, considerably increases the bandwidth required, to a first approximation by a factor of three, to the detriment of the useful bandwidth for the data of the users. Although approximately 85% of the objects of the MIBs are fields of tables, although approximately 99.9% of the instances are instances of these objects, that is to say of fields of tables, the SNMP protocol does not optimize the consultation of the tables. While the fields of a table row have the same index, the SNMP protocol repeats the index for each field, thus adding an extra throughput of around one hundred bytes per table row consulted. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Priority is claimed to Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-273999, filed Sep. 21, 2004, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-090130, filed in Mar. 25, 2005, which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oxide superconductor with a c-axis oriented parallel to a substrate and an a-axis (or b-axis) oriented perpendicular to the substrate, especially to bismuth based (hereunder “Bi-based”) oxide superconductor thin films, specifically Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10±X (where X is a positive number less than unity, hereunder “Bi-2223”) or Bi2Sr2CuO6±Y (where Y is a positive number less than unity, hereunder “Bi-2201”), in order to obtain a high performance layered Josephson junction using an oxide superconductor especially a Bi-based oxide superconductor, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
A feature of a Josephson device, which uses a superconductor, is its high speed operation and low power consumption. When applied to an integrated circuit, it can perform high speed switching with little electric power. In addition to the high speed switching, the Josephson device shows a small heat production than a high density integrated circuit, in which heat production is a problem common to semiconductor devices. Therefore, it is expected that the Josephson device exhibits a higher speed operation performance compared to a semiconductor.
Conventionally, Nb metal or NbN was used as a superconductor in a Josephson device. However, because the superconductive transition temperature is low, the Josephson device was usually operated at a liquid helium temperature of 4.2K. Compared to this, since an oxide superconductor has a higher superconductive transition temperature, a Josephson device using an oxide superconductor can be operated at around a liquid nitrogen temperature, and thus be it is favorable in the view of resource and energy saving.
A superconductive device that shows the Josephson effect is called a Josephson junction. A Josephson junction, which is suitable for constituting an integrated circuit using superconductive devices, is favorable to be manufactured as a layered junction that has a very thin barrier layer of a normal conductor or an insulator inserted between two superconductive thin films as shown in FIG. 1, as it enables precise dimensional control and the manufacture of many junctions. In practice, a laminated junction is also being used as a Josephson junction in superconductive integrated circuits using Nb metal.
A problem that requires a breakthrough in order to realize manufacturing of a layered Josephson junction using an oxide superconductor, is closely related to the crystal structure of oxide superconductors. Yttrium based (hereunder “Y-based”) oxide superconductors and Bi-based oxide superconductors have more remarkable anisotropy of superconductive characteristics such as coherence length, magnetic flux penetration depth, or critical current density, than for conventional superconductors such as Nb.
The crystals of these superconductors have orthorhombic lattice or tetragonal lattice structure, but the strength of the superconductive coupling in the c-axis direction is weaker than the coupling in the in-plane direction of a surface that is perpendicular to the c-axis. Superconductivity of an oxide superconductor is thought to occur in a CuO plane composed of a copper (Cu) atom and an oxygen (O) atom.
Therefore, the anisotropy of the superconductive coupling derives from the fact that the CuO plane is oriented perpendicular to a c-axis (namely, in the a- or b-axis direction), and not in the c-axis direction. Accordingly, the coherence length (the inter-electronic distance in which a superconducting electron pair is formed) which is closely related in a Josephson junction, is significantly shorter in the c-axis direction than in the a-axis direction. This tendency is more remarkable in a Bi-based superconductor, whose crystal structure has bigger anisotropy than that of a Y-based superconductor, and the coherence length in the c-axis direction is as short as 0.2 nm.
Thus, an oxide superconductor, especially a Bi-based superconductor such as Bi-2223 or Bi-2201 has extremely short coherence length in the c-axis direction. Therefore, in order to manufacture a Josephson junction layered in the c-axis direction using c-axis oriented films it is essential to form a flat and very thin barrier layer. However, in making a barrier layer very thin, a rough surface caused by deposit and so on becomes a problem, which makes it difficult to form a very thin uniform barrier layer, and which causes current leakage between superconductors sandwiching the barrier layer from each side. Therefore this type of Josephson junction has not been obtained yet. Moreover, even if the Josephson junction can be formed, the Josephson critical current density Jc and the Josephson characteristic parameter IcRn are small, and good characteristics may not be obtained.
Accordingly, in order to obtain a high performance layered Josephson junction using a Bi-based oxide superconductor, it is essential to manufacture a junction in the non c-axis direction in which the coherence length is longer than in the c-axis direction. Among these directions, the direction in which the coherence length is the longest is the a-axis (or b-axis) direction. Therefore, in order to obtain a high performance layered Josephson junction using a Bi-based oxide superconductor, it is preferable to manufacture a Bi-based oxide superconductor thin film whose c-axis is oriented parallel to the substrate and whose a-axis (or b-axis) is oriented perpendicular to the substrate.
As one of the methods to realize this, there is known (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 5-7027) a method of manufacturing an oxide superconductor film comprising; a step for forming a composition modulated film composed of oxides on a substrate by supplying active oxygen and a part of the metallic components of a Bi-based oxide onto the substrate, and a step for forming an oxide superconductor thin film on the composition modulated film by supplying active oxygen and all of the metallic components of the Bi-based oxide. However, according to this method, the proportion of the c-axis that is parallel to the substrate varies depending on conditions, and it can not be said that a Bi-based oxide superconductor thin film of good quality can be obtained.
Another method is proposed (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 9-246611) that a Josephson device using a Bi-based oxide superconductor thin film whose c-axis is oriented parallel to the substrate and whose a-axis (or b-axis) is oriented perpendicular to the substrate, has excellent performance. However, there is no disclosure of any specific process to obtain the good quality Bi-based oxide superconductor thin film whose c-axis is oriented parallel to the substrate and whose a-axis (or b-axis) is oriented perpendicular to the substrate. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Solid State Drives (SSDs) using flash memories have become a viable alternative to Hard Disc Drives (HDDs) in many applications. Such applications include storage for notebook, tablets, servers and network-attached storage appliances. In notebook and tablet applications, storage capacity is not too high, and power and or weight and form factor are key metric. In server applications, power and performance (sustained read/write, random read/write) are key metrics. In network-attached storage appliances, capacity, power, and performance are key metrics with large capacity being achieved by employing a number of SSDs in the appliance. SSD may be directly attached to the system via a bus such as SATA, SAS or PCIe.
Flash memory is a block-based non-volatile memory with each block organized into and made of various pages. After a block is programmed into the flash memory, it must be erased prior to being programmed again. Most flash memory require sequential programming of pages within a block. Another limitation of flash memory is that blocks can only be erased for a limited number of times, thus, frequent erase operations reduce the life time of the flash memory. A flash memory does not allow in-place updates. That is, it cannot overwrite existing data with new data. The new data are written to erased areas (out-of-place updates), and the old data are invalidated for reclamation in the future. This out-of-place update causes the coexistence of invalid (i.e. outdated) and valid data in the same block.
Garbage Collection (GC) is the process to reclaim the space occupied by the invalid data, by moving valid data to a new block and erasing the old block. But garbage collection results in significant performance overhead as well as unpredictable operational latency. As mentioned, flash memory blocks can be erased for a limited number of times. Wear leveling is the process to improve flash memory lifetime by evenly distributing erases over the entire flash memory (within a band).
The management of blocks within flash-based memory systems, including SSDs, is referred to as flash block management and includes: Logical to Physical Mapping; Defect management for managing defective blocks (blocks that were identified to be defective at manufacturing and grown defective blocks thereafter); Wear leveling to keep program/erase cycle of blocks within a band; Keeping track of free available blocks; and Garbage collection for collecting valid pages from a number of blocks (with a mix of valid and invalid page) into one block and in the process creating free blocks are examples of block management required to effectuate writing and programming of flash memory. Flash block management requires maintaining various tables referred to as flash block management tables (or “flash tables”). These tables are generally proportional to the capacity of SSD.
Generally, the flash block management tables can be constructed from metadata maintained on flash pages. Metadata is non-user information written on a page. Such reconstruction is time consuming and generally performed very infrequently upon recovery during power-up from a failure (such as power fail). In one prior art technique, the flash block management tables are maintained in a volatile memory, and as mentioned, the flash block management tables are constructed from metadata maintained in flash pages during power-up. In another prior art technique, the flash block management tables are maintained in a battery-backed volatile memory, utilized to maintain the contents of volatile memory for an extended period of time until power is back and tables can be saved in flash memory. In yet another prior art technique, the flash block management tables are maintained in a volatile random access memory (RAM), the flash block management tables are periodically and/or based on some events (such as a Sleep Command) saved (copied) back to flash, and to avoid the time consuming reconstruction upon power-up from a power failure additionally a power back-up means provides enough power to save the flash block management tables in the flash in the event of a power failure. Such power back-up may comprise of a battery, a rechargeable battery, or a dynamically charged super capacitor.
Flash block management is generally performed in the solid state drive (SSD) and the tables reside in the SSD. Alternatively, the flash block management may be performed in the system by a software or hardware, commands additionally include commands for flash management commands and the commands use physical addresses rather than logical addresses. An SSD with commands using physical addresses is referred to as Physically-Addressed SSD. The flash block management tables are maintained in the (volatile) system memory.
A storage system (also referred to as “storage array”, or “storage appliance”) is a special purpose computer system attached to a network, dedicated to data storage and management. The storage system may be connected to Internet Protocol (IP) Network running Network File System (NFS) protocol or Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocol or Internet Small Computer System (iSCSI) protocol or to a Storage Area Network (SAN) such as Fiber Channel (FC) or Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) for block storage.
These storage systems typically provide one or two network ports and one or more external network switches are required to connect multiple hosts to such systems. External network switches are costly and take rack space in the space constraint data centers.
There are also substantial latencies and processing associated with the above mentioned protocols which makes the storage system slow to respond.
In a storage system employing physically-addressed SSD which maintains the flash block management tables on the system memory that has no power back-up means for the system and no power back-up means for the system memory, the flash block management tables that reside in the system memory are lost and if copies are maintained in the flash onboard the SSD, the copies may not be updated and/or may be corrupted if power failure occurs during the time a table is being saved (or updated) in the flash memory.
Hence, during a subsequent power up, during initialization, the tables have to be inspected for corruption due to power fail and, if necessary, recovered. The recovery requires reconstruction of the tables to be completed by reading metadata from flash pages and results in further increase in delay for system to complete initialization. The process of complete reconstruction of all tables is time consuming, as it requires metadata on all pages of SSD to be read and processed to reconstruct the tables. Metadata is non-user information written on a page. This flash block management table recovery, during power-up, further delays the system initialization, the time to initialize the system is a key metric in many applications.
Yet another similar problem of data corruption and power fail recovery arises in SSDs and also Hard Disc Drives (HDDs) when write data for write commands (or queued write commands when command queuing is supported) is cached in a volatile system memory and command completion issued prior to writing to media (flash or HDD). It is well known in the art that caching write data for write commands (or queued write commands when command queuing is supported) and issuing command completion prior to writing to media significantly improves performance.
Additionally, file systems and storage systems employ journaling or logging for error recovery, the journal or log associated with a command or commands is saved in a persistent storage. In the event of a power fail or system crash or failure, the journal or log is played back to restore the system to a known state.
As mentioned before, in some prior art techniques, a battery-backed volatile memory is utilized to maintain the contents of volatile memory for an extended period of time until power returns and tables can be saved in flash memory.
Battery backup solutions for saving system management data or cached user data during unplanned shutdowns are long-established but have certain disadvantage including up-front costs, replacement costs, service calls, disposal costs, system space limitations, reliability and “green” content requirements.
Additionally, storage systems suffer from becoming inoperable upon encountering a single point of failure. If a component within the storage system fails, the data in the storage system becomes unavailable to the servers until it is serviced.
What is needed is a storage system that reliably operates even in the face of a point of failure. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to media distribution systems and more particularly, to systems and methods for receiving and re-distributing media content provided by multiple sources, such as broadcast, internet, satellite, cable, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
Media content, such as entertainment programming, music, news, etc., is distributed by an ever-increasing number of sources. For example, programming can be distributed by conventional over-the-air broadcast means, by cable, by a satellite TV or radio provider, or via the Internet.
Unfortunately, the ability to receive content from all of these sources requires a wide variety of equipment, such as a satellite dish and set-top box, a computer with high-speed Internet access, a satellite radio receiver, etc. This equipment can be expensive, as well as complicated to set up and operate. Furthermore, with the exception of conventional over-the-air broadcasters, virtually all media providers require the user to subscribe to their service, and pay a corresponding monthly fee.
While existing satellite radio, satellite TV, cable TV and broadcast TV content providers offer a large number of channels with diverse programming content, there is a need to simplify the means by which a user receives media content from multiple providers. | {
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1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an anti-electromagnetic interference electrical connector and a terminal assembly thereof.
2. Related Art
In an electrical connector in the art, for example, in a double data rate (DDR) connector, the arrangement of the terminals is to arrange signal terminals and the ground terminals in a staggered manner. Each signal terminal transfers a signal through a current flow, when the current flows to transfer data through the signal terminal; a magnetic field is generated around the signal terminal. Furthermore, in the electrical connector, the number of the small-sized terminals is enormous, resulting in a very small gap between the terminals. As a result, when the signal terminals generate the magnetic field, an EMI phenomenon occurs, which affects the transfer efficiency between the signal terminals. This has therefore become a subject to be solved in this field.
A signal terminal performs signal transmission through high-frequency current switching. Therefore, when a high-frequency current passes through the signal terminal and is switched rapidly, a magnetic field is generated around the signal terminal.
In an electrical connector in the art, the number of the small-sized signal terminals is enormous, resulting in a very small pitch between the terminals. When the signal terminals generate the magnetic field, the EMI phenomenon is likely to occur between the adjacent signal terminals, causing a transmission error and affecting a transmission efficiency of the signal terminals.
In order to eliminate the EMI phenomenon between the adjacent terminals, taking a DDR connector as an example, a terminal arrangement manner thereof is to arrange the signal terminals and the ground terminals in a staggered manner with intervals, so that the ground terminals shield the EMI between the adjacent signal terminals. However, these ground terminals can only shield the EMI to a limited degree; if the arrangement of the terminals is more intensive, a shielding effect of the ground terminals is very limited. | {
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1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to hydraulic control systems, and more particularly to such systems in which a plurality of hydraulic actuators are to be precisely positioned in dependence on the magnitude of a similar plurality of electrical control signals.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
There are numerous such control systems, and this invention would represent a significant advantage in connection with many of them. One exemplary and very significant application of such controls is in aircraft systems where hydraulic controls are provided for adjusting mechanical variables in jet aircraft engines. The gas turbine engines which are used to power conventional jet aircraft have commonly used hydraulic actuators for control of air valves, fuel valves, engine variable geometry, and the like. As engine designers attempt to achieve more and more performance from the gas turbine, the number of hydraulic actuators has increased significantly, and may approach 17 in number. Even gas turbine engines used on older commercial aircraft typically have on the order of six hydraulic actuators. In many cases, the actuators control functions which are critical, such as fuel supply, and on such critical functions, if control is lost, so is the engine.
Heretofore, each hydraulic actuator was provided with a device to convert an electrical input signal into a mechanical actuator position. Most typically, that had been done with a torque motor connected to and driving a hydraulic servo valve; the servo valve, in turn, controlled the supply of hydraulic fluid to the actuator. The torque motor, being dedicated to the associated actuator, could be driven for as long as additional actuator movement was desired. However, both torque motors and servo valves are fairly expensive, and both are fairly weighty components, particularly for aircraft applications where weight savings on the order of pounds can translate into substantial operating cost savings over the life of the aircraft.
Multiplexing of hydraulic circuits is not broadly new. It can be used for example in sharing a single transducer among a number of hydraulic or pneumatic channels, such as illustrated in Moore et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,645,141. The opportunity to share a control servo valve among multiple actuators is also suggested in the literature, but on a manually controlled rather than a simultaneous multiplexed real time basis, insofar as applicant is aware. In contrast, in a true hydraulic multiplexed system, control is being maintained over all of the channels, while servicing those channels individually and separately, but with sufficient frequency to maintain the outputs as representative of the inputs in substantially real time.
Applicants are aware of a concept having been proposed to reduce weight and cost in aircraft control systems, by using a single pilot valve multiplexed among a plurality of actuators. In substance, the pilot valve has a spool which is rotated for multiplexing and which is positioned vertically by the torque motor to establish control positions. The spool and valve would be modified to provide a plurality of outlet ports at different angular positions of the spool such that the vertical control position of the valve combined with a plurality of angular multiplex positions could be used to sequentially deliver hydraulic fluid to a plurality of actuators. A position sensor on the rotary multiplexer would be used to coordinate multiplexed electrical signals for the pilot valve with the time slots of the multiplexer.
It is applicant's belief that a system of that type could not be reduced to practice for any but the most rudimentary systems because of a number of limitations, the most prominent one being the substantially reduced flow rate to any given actuator for a servo valve of any reasonable size. The flow rate reduction is a result of two factors --1) reduced flow through a pilot valve which is configured as a multiplexer, and 2) the fact of multiplexing itself which has flow going to an actuator only during its time slot. For a three channel system, the flow rate per cycle as compared to a standard non-multiplexed pilot valve would be reduced by a factor of about 18. Thus, while in principle the system might work in applications where speed of response and fineness of control are not important criteria, in a jet engine control, for example, the concept would not appear to be workable.
Even in this proposed concept, two types of actuators would be required, a first electrically responsive device for modulating the hydraulic flow in accordance with electrical control signals relating to desired actuator position, and the second actuator type for controlling the multiplexer and selecting the channel to which the modulated signal is passed. Typically, a torque motor would be used for controlling the modulation function as has been done in non-multiplexed systems. With respect to multiplex selections, since the system was rotary, in the case where a gear box drive take-off is available, the rotary commutator can simply be driven by the controlled equipment, and that type of drive is usually highly reliable. If no drive take-off from the controlled equipment is available, it may then become necessary to provide a separate dedicated drive motor for the rotary multiplexer. In order to provide good system reliability, it is necessary to choose a highly reliable motor, and even when that is done, the total system can be less reliable than using a gear box drive take-off.
In rotary systems, particularly those with a gear box drive take-off, the force available for operating the multiplexer is usually not a problem. A drive of sufficient capacity to continue rotating the multiplexer under all expected operating conditions can be provided without substantially increasing the size or weight of the system, realizing that such an increase would be contrary to the size and weight reduction to which the multiplexing concept was originally directed. | {
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There is a variety of types of containers for housing products. For example. it is known to package products in rigid containers such as metal cans, glass bottles, or rigid plastic containers. Rigid containers, when empty, represent a high volume of empty space. As a result, rigid empty containers are cumbersome to ship to the destinations where they will be filled and sealed with product. In addition, such empty containers require significant space for storing and discarding.
It is also known to construct containers from flexible materials, such as ahem or rolls of plastic material. Such flexible containers have been in existence for a number of years. These containers offer many advantages over rigid containers. For example, flexible plastic bottles and cartons offer distinct advantages over metallic cans and glass bottles, In this regard, such flexible containers are lighter, typically far less expensive to produce, and much easier to discard.
However, there are inherent disadvantages with flexible containers. For example, flexible containers do not have the sturdiness of typical rigid containers. The sturdiness of the container can become an issue with respect to the stability of the container when they are filled with product and stood upright for storage, display, or other purpose. Moreover, heavier flexible containers are difficult to pick up and carry conveniently.
To overcome this stability issue, flexible containers have been formed with reinforced bottoms or sides. Such a container is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,464. In order to create such reinforced enforcements, layers of plastic film or paper are doubled in select locations along or adjacent to the container bottoms as they are manufactured. These double layers are fused by a heat sealing or stitching process. Such constructions, however, result in multiple layers of films or paper being brought together at junctions. In this regard, as many as six layers often meet and are interfused at a seam or junction. This multi-wall construction results in seals that possess a tendency to leak due to capillary action.
An additional problem with many flexible containers is that there is a lack of consistency in the production process. Typically, the manufacturing process associated with such product requires a web of film to be drawn through a series of forming stations where various folds, cuts, or seals are made to the film. In many of these manufacturing processes it is difficult to control and ensure the accuracy and consistency of the resultant product given the number of manipulations to the film and the number of folding, sealing and forming stations. In addition, there are hermetic sealing problems with the multi-wall bags presently available. To this extent, the bags are not “insect-tight” causing problems when the containers are stored with product. Also, the containers are not resealable for storage in-between uses.
A still further problem with flexible containers is their propensity to burst open. This is especially an issue should the container be dropped.
Moreover, another issue with such containers is their shape. Due to the flexible nature of the containers, the containers will take on the shape of the product contained therein and/or a bag-like shape. This makes it difficult to store the filled containers, stack same, and/or package the containers for shipping. Generally, the multi-layer bags have to be stored and displayed in a horizontal flat condition making it difficult to handle the bags. Moreover, it is also difficult to see the labeling on the bags when they are piled on top of each other in the horizontal flat condition.
The lack of stability also causes problems for the user when the user is trying to scoop or pour product from the bag.
Another problem with the current flexible bags is that they are not easily transported after the bags are filed with product at the distribution center or the manufacturing plant or after the filled bags arrive at the point of purchase location. Generally, packaged products are transported via conveyor systems at the manufacturing plant or paint of purchase location. Often times, the conveyor systems include sharp turns (e.g., 90° turns) and gaps. The poor stability and awkward size of the large multilayer bags can not maneuver around the turns or through the gaps. As a result, the large multi-layer bags can not be transported on conveyor systems like other packaged products: They must be handled by hand.
There therefore is a need for an improved flexible container for storing and carrying a product, conveniently opening and closing the container and method for making such containers. | {
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1. Field
This disclosure relates to a driver tool and, in particular, to a medical use torque-limiting driver that disengages at a predetermined torque limit.
2. General Background
Torque is a measure of force acting on an object that causes that object to rotate. In the case of a driver and a fastener, this measurement can be calculated mathematically in terms of the cross product of specific vectors:τ=r×F
Where r is the vector representing the distance and direction from an axis of a fastener to a point where the force is applied and F is the force vector acting on the driver.
Torque has dimensions of force times distance and the SI unit of torque is the Newton meter (N-m). The joule, which is the SI unit for energy or work, is also defined as an N-m, but this unit is not used for torque. Since energy can be thought of as the result of force times distance, energy is always a scalar whereas torque is force cross-distance and so is a vector-valued quantity. Other non-SI units of torque include pound-force-feet, foot-pounds-force, ounce-force-inches, meter-kilograms-force, inch-ounces or inch-pounds.
Torque-limiting drivers are widely used throughout the medical industry. These torque-limiting drivers have a factory pre-set torque to ensure the accuracy and toughness required to meet a demanding surgical environment.
The medical industry has made use of both reusable and disposable torque-limiting drivers. In a surgical context, there is little room for error and these drivers must impart a precise amount of torque.
Reusable drivers require constant recalibration to ensure that the driver is imparting the precise amount of torque. Recalibration is a cumbersome task but must be done routinely. Such reusable devices also require sterilization.
Disposable drivers are an alternative to the reusable drivers. Once the driver has been used, it is discarded.
Disposable drivers are traditionally used for low torque applications. The standard torque values in these applications typically range from about 4 to about 20 inch-ounces. It has, however, been a challenge to develop a reliable disposable driver capable of imparting higher torques for larger applications.
Piecemeal drivetrain systems have been developed to gear-up or otherwise impart greater torque with disposable devices. Such piecemeal systems provide interchangeability of parts to a device, within which torque is transferred from part-to-part of a piecemeal system. | {
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As a method for producing a thin film semiconductor device used for IC cards and the like, there is disclosed, in Patent Literature 1, a method for forming a porous layer on the surface of a semiconductor wafer, producing a wafer having a semiconductor film, which is to be an area for forming a device, formed on the surface of the porous layer and forming the thin film semiconductor device by delaminating the wafer along the porous layer after forming the device on the semiconductor film.
According to this method, since the semiconductor wafer is thinned by the delamination, it is not necessary that a back surface side (the opposite side to the surface on the side of forming the device) of the semiconductor wafer after forming the device is removed by grinding, polishing, and the like, unlike a conventional method. As a result, less material loss is incurred, wastes such as cutting chips can be reduced, and thus an environmental advantage can be obtained. Moreover, the number of production wafers to be used can be reduced by reusing the semiconductor wafer after the delamination, and accordingly advantage of the reduction in production cost is greatly expected.
However, when the semiconductor wafer is reused, it is delaminated (separated) along the porous layer, and a minute break or chip is thereby generated on the delaminated surface (separated surface). It is consequently necessary to remove the porous layer having this delaminated surface completely and to form the porous layer again. Therefore, there arises a problem that the thickness of the wafer is thinned by at least an amount corresponding to the thickness of the porous layer whenever the wafer is reclaimed.
In the event that the semiconductor wafer to be reused is thinned whenever the wafer is reclaimed as described above, the whole thickness of the wafer for fabricating the semiconductor device is also thinned. Therefore, when the number of reuse increases, the thickness does not satisfy standard of the whole thickness of the wafer in the device fabrication, and thus the wafer cannot be used in a device fabrication process. There consequently arises a problem that the number of reuse of the wafer is limited. | {
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In today's manufacturing environment, monitoring a production process and collecting statistical information on the status of the production process is considered essential in achieving world class quality standards.
Usually, in order to register a defect occurring in a workpiece, an operator fills out a tally sheet where a brief written identification of each occurred defect should be included. At the end of a shift, a quality engineer enters data taken from all tally sheets into a computer system for computation and graphing in order to analyze the entered data and to undertake needed corrective actions.
Unfortunately, many manufacturing companies may find little benefit from data thus collected. Sometimes, the vague nature of the data collected does not provide causal clues, and the difficulty in collecting the data slows down the production process itself and leads to both errors in the data content and decreases productivity effectiveness.
Contemporary data collectors like, for example, Genesis models QA3000/QA8300, are intended, among many other functions, for structuring a data-base on the basis of user-defined identifiers of the defect occurred, such as model, serial number, location of the defect, severity, disposition and so on. The Genesis collectors accept inspection input from keyboard, bar code wand, cases scanner, CCD wand and/or voice recognition circuits. However, these collectors are expensive, and sometimes provide much more functions than the manufacturing company either expects or wants.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to devise an easy-to-use and inexpensive system for data entry and analysis which would provide in-depth readily-useable information on the status of the production process without slowing the production process itself. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switching circuit, and more particularly, to a radio frequency (RF) switching circuit used in transmit-receive switching of wireless communication devices such as multi-band/multi-mode portable terminals used in a sub-microwave band or a microwave band.
2. Description of the Related Art
Research or development is actively ongoing on products such as multi-band/multi-mode mobile terminals. Particularly, global system for mobile communication (GSM) 4band mobile terminals are being actively developed. A new universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) mode is also added to realize better multi-band performance. Also, a switching circuit employing a small, high-performance single-pole/multi-throw (SPMT) switch capable of transmit-receive switching is demanded, as well as the multi-band performance of using transmission schemes of different frequency bands. The SPMT switching circuit is strongly required to reduce harmonic distortion and insertion loss.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams of a related art switching circuit, illustrating switching of a transmission part. FIG. 2A is a basic conceptual diagram, and FIG. 2B is an equivalent circuit diagram. A switching circuit in FIGS. 2A and 2B is an SP5T type switching circuit. In general, an antenna is connected to a common port, and switching is made such that one of port1 to port5 is selectively connected to the common port. In general, a high-power signal is supplied to the port1 and the port2, and a low-power signal is supplied to the port3 to the port5. As shown in FIG. 2A, input (I) terminals 1 to 5 of the port1 to the port5 are connected with power amplifiers 1 to 5, respectively. Switches for connecting any one port to the common port connected with the antenna include switches SW1 to SW5, and complementary switches SW1 to SW5.
An example of FIG. 2B illustrates a state in which the port1 to which a high-power signal is connected is connected to the common port. In the following description, the common port is referred to as a common output port, the port3 to the port5 are referred to as first input ports, and the port1 and the port2 are referred to as second input ports. Here, if the port1 which is one of the second input ports is connected to the common output port, a transmission signal is input to the port1 through the amplifier 1 from the I terminal 1, and this signal is output from the common output terminal. At this time, an output signal from the antenna contains harmonics because distortion components caused at the switch SW1 in an ON state and distortion components caused at the switches SW2 to SW5 in an OFF state are also output to the antenna. In general, the switches SW1 to SW5 and the switches SW1 to SW5 each include a semiconductor circuit, i.e., a field effect transistor (FET). In general, when the switches including the FETs are turned ON or OFF, signal distortion occurs, generating harmonics.
In the example of FIGS. 2A and 2B, there are four switches being in an OFF state and connected with the antenna via the common output port. As ports increase in number, the harmonic distortion increases.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing relation between the number of branches in an OFF state and signal degradation caused by the harmonics. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the signal degradation resulting from the harmonics increases with an increase in the number of branches in an OFF state. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 2003-318717 and 2006-303775 disclose related art techniques for reducing insertion loss and harmonic distortion of an RF switching circuit.
The invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-318717 removes a specific frequency component by using a series resonant circuit and a transistor connected to the series resonant circuit, thereby compensating for resonance caused in an OFF state of the transistor.
Also, the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-303775 changes a phase of a voltage applied to capacitance between a gate and a source of an FET constituting a switch and capacitance between a gate and a drain, thereby reducing the harmonic-distortion rate.
However, the inventions fail to sufficiently reduce the harmonic distortion or insertion loss with respect to an increase in the number of ports. | {
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Antimicrobial compositions are used in a variety of automated processing and cleaning applications to reduce microbial or viral populations on hard or soft surfaces or in a body or stream of water. For example, antimicrobial compositions are used in various applications including kitchens, bathrooms, factories, hospitals and dental offices. Antimicrobial compositions are also useful in the cleaning or sanitizing of containers, processing facilities or equipment in the food service or food processing industries, such as cold or hot aseptic packaging. Antimicrobial compositions are also used in many other applications including but not limited to clean-in-place systems (CIP), clean-out-of-place systems (COP), washer-decontaminators, sterilizers, textile laundry machines, filtration systems, etc.
Whatever the application, an antimicrobial or “use” composition is a composition containing a defined minimum concentration of one or more active components which exhibit desired antimicrobial properties. One such category of active antimicrobial component are peracids, such as peroxycarboxylic acid (peracid), peroxyacid, peroxyacetic acid, peracetic acid, peroctanoic acid, peroxyoctanoic acid and others.
The concentration of active components in the use composition is chosen to achieve the requisite level of antimicrobial activity. In use compositions in which one or more peracids are the active component, and in the instance of a recirculating process, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide tends to increase over time while the concentration of peracid decreases. However, in order to maintain the requisite level of antimicrobial activity, the amount of peracid in the use composition must be maintained at a defined minimum concentration. In addition, as the amount of hydrogen peroxide in the use composition increases, the use composition may exceed a defined maximum concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the solution. In some applications, for example bottling line cleansing, the allowable amount of residual hydrogen peroxide is subject to government regulations. Once the hydrogen peroxide concentration exceeds the maximum concentration, the spent use composition is discarded and a new use composition generated.
To ensure that the amount of peracid is maintained at or above some minimum concentration and to determine when the amount of hydrogen peroxide reaches or exceeds a maximum concentration, it is necessary to determine the concentration of peracid(s) and hydrogen peroxide in the use composition. In the past, to determine both the peracid concentration and the hydrogen peroxide concentration in a use composition has required multiple time consuming manual titrations, several different reagents and relatively large volumes of use composition. Moreover, past devices and methods for determining both peracid and hydrogen peroxide concentrations were effective over only a narrow range of concentrations. | {
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Patent document 1 (WO 2009/154300) describes 1-(4-methoxybutyl)-N-(2-methylpropyl)-N-[(3S,5R)-5-(morpholin-4-ylcarbonyl)piperidin-3-yl]-1H-benzimidazole-2-carboxamide hydrochloride which has a rennin inhibitory action and is useful as a prophylactic or therapeutic agent for hypertension or various organ disorders caused by hypertension, and the like. | {
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This invention relates to doors for mine stoppings, and more particularly to so-called "man doors" for use in masonry and metal mine stoppings.
So-called "stoppings" are widely used in mines to stop off flow of air in passages in the mines, a "stopping" generally being a masonry (e.g., concrete block) or metal wall installed at the entrance of a passage to block flow of air therethrough. It is often desired that such stoppings be provided with a door, which is referred to as a "man door", for occasional access to the blocked-off passage. A serious problem is encountered, however, in providing a door for a stopping because heaving and shifting of the stopping, as often occurs, results in the parallelograming of the door frame, which may result in jamming and buckling of the door and leakage of air through the stopping.
This invention is in the same field as and may be regarded as representing an improvement upon the doors for a mine stopping disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,082,331 and 4,118,894. | {
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Digital video capabilities can be incorporated into a wide range of devices, including digital televisions, digital direct broadcast systems, wireless broadcast systems, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop or desktop computers, tablet computers, e-book readers, digital cameras, digital recording devices, digital media players, video gaming devices, video game consoles, cellular or satellite radio telephones, so-called “smart phones,” video teleconferencing devices, video streaming devices, and the like. Digital video devices implement video coding techniques, such as those described in the standards defined by MPEG-2, MPEG-4, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264/MPEG-4, Part 10, Advanced Video Coding (AVC), the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard presently under development, and extensions of such standards. HEVC is being developed by the Joint Collaboration Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) of ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and ISO/IEC Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG). A draft of HEVC is available from http://phenix.int-evry.fr/jct/doc_end_user/documents/8_San%20Jose/wg11/JCTVC-H1003-v22.zip. H.264/AVC includes a Scalable Video Coding (SVC) and a Multiview Video Coding (MVC) extension, which are described in “Advanced video coding for generic audiovisual services,” ITU-T Recommendation H.264, March 2010. The video devices may transmit, receive, encode, decode, and/or store digital video information more efficiently by implementing such video coding techniques.
Video coding techniques include spatial (intra-picture) prediction and/or temporal (inter-picture) prediction to reduce or remove redundancy inherent in video sequences. For block-based video coding, a video slice (e.g., a video frame or a portion of a video frame) may be partitioned into video blocks, which may also be referred to as treeblocks, coding units (CUs) and/or coding nodes. Video blocks in an intra-coded (I) slice of a picture are encoded using spatial prediction with respect to reference samples in neighboring blocks in the same picture. Video blocks in an inter-coded (P or B) slice of a picture may use spatial prediction with respect to reference samples in neighboring blocks in the same picture or temporal prediction with respect to reference samples in other reference pictures. Pictures may be referred to as frames, and reference pictures may be referred to a reference frames.
Spatial or temporal prediction results in a predictive block for a block to be coded. Residual data represents pixel differences between the original block to be coded and the predictive block. An inter-coded block is encoded according to a motion vector that points to a block of reference samples forming the predictive block, and the residual data indicating the difference between the coded block and the predictive block. An intra-coded block is encoded according to an intra-coding mode and the residual data. For further compression, the residual data may be transformed from the pixel domain to a transform domain, resulting in residual transform coefficients, which then may be quantized. The quantized transform coefficients, initially arranged in a two-dimensional array, may be scanned in order to produce a one-dimensional vector of transform coefficients, and entropy coding may be applied to achieve even more compression. | {
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Certain cyclopentanone derivatives are already known in the art of perfumery and in that of flavours. Some of them represent very valuable materials whose utility in the field is well established. Jasmone, methyl jasmonate and methyl dihydrojasmonate for instance [see S. Arctander, Perfume and Flavor Chemicals, Montclair N.J. (1969) USA; Sect. 1788, 2093 and 2076, respectively], are known to possess floral, jasmin-like odoriferous notes of great elegance. Analogous properties are shown by 2-n-hexyl- and 2-n-pentyl-cyclopentanone [S. Arctander, op. cit.; Sect. 1659 and 1534, respectively], whereas scientific literature reports that 2,2,5-trimethyl-cyclopentanone, 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-cyclopentanone and 2-methyl-2,5,5-tripropyl-cyclopentanone possess weak odours of minty, camphery and anise type of no recognized utility for the art. | {
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In the production and/or processing of material webs the demand for an improvement in productivity leads to higher and higher production outputs of the apparatuses used and as a consequence thereof also to higher and higher speeds of the material webs and/or higher machine speeds.
Forces acting on a material web which at low speeds do not yet constitute a problem lead at high speeds to phenomena such as flapping of the material web, for example, and as a result cause said material web to tear. Such uncontrolled and undesirable tears always result in machine downtime and consequently in a production outage. A further problem in connection with tears of said kind is that the material web runs out of control through the apparatus or a subsection of the apparatus if the occurrence of tearing is not detected quickly enough.
In order to enable the cause of a material web tear to be analyzed, first analysis devices are currently being deployed which utilize, inter alia, laser scanners, video systems, photoelectric sensors, tear detectors, etc. The documents DE 42 16 653 A1 and DE 42 16 653 A1, for example, disclose methods and first analysis devices for detecting tearing of a material web.
Reliable detection of tears is not the only requirement, however. Regular quality controls and continuous acquisition of other measurement and influencing variables which affect the production and/or processing of a material web are also necessary. Various other analysis devices are provided for that purpose.
To be cited as typical examples of apparatuses for the production and/or processing of material webs, e.g. consisting of paper, cardboard, plastic film, metal foil, textiles or composites comprising two or more of said materials, are, inter alia, paper machines, presses, calenders, rotary punching machines, rotary cutting machines, and the like.
There are thus available to the operator of an apparatus for producing and/or processing a material web signals supplied by the various first and further analysis devices for performing state and process monitoring in the region of the apparatus.
Correlating different signals with one another, in particular more than two signals, is proving to be difficult at the present time. Measurement and influencing variables that are attributable to the operator of the apparatus, environmental factors and so forth are likewise difficult to correlate with one another and with signals in relation to tear detection. | {
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Immunological analysis methods are widely used in clinical tests of serum, plasma, urine and the like since they are capable of more simply and quickly performing measurements by using an automatic analyzer.
In order to expand the use of immunological analysis methods, a reagent which has higher detection sensitivity in a low-value range and reliability than existing reagents may be demanded. Means for adding a surfactant to an immunological analysis reagent are known; however, they are often used as a means for controlling the reactivity to avoid matrix effects and the like or as a means for amplifying the change in absorbance (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
As a method of expanding the measurable range of an immunological analysis reagent, there are a method of raising the detection upper limit of the measurement range and a method of lowering the detection lower limit.
For increasing the sensitivity by lowering the detection lower limit in the measurable range of an immunological analysis reagent, there is a method by which the sensitivity in a low-value range is increased by increasing the amount of immunobilized on particles, antibodies or antigens that are contained in the reagent. However, even when the sensitivity in a low-value range is increased, if the reproducibility is poor, good measurement accuracy in a low value-range would not be attained.
When a highly reactive component is used to increase the sensitivity in a low-value range, there are cases where the reagent stability is deteriorated and agglutination reaction proceeds during storage of the reagent due to autoagglutination, or agglutination reaction may proceed also in the blank sample due to the occurrence of non-specific agglutination.
When the sensitivity in a low-value range is increased, for example, in an automatic analyzer used for measuring the change in absorbance, since there is set an upper limit in the change in absorbance, the sensitivity in a high-value range may be limited, so that a broad measurement range may not be attained.
Since the above-described problems arise when trying to lower the detection lower limit of a measurement range, it is difficult to expand a measurable range. | {
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In the field of therapeutics, the use of syringes for injecting fluids into tissues or natural cavities in the body is extremely widespread. A syringe is known to be composed essentially of a cylindrical barrel in which a plunger slides, a body whose base bears a nozzle of a suitable shape to which can be fitted a hollow needle, for example a needle made of steel or nickel, the barrel thus forming a reservoir for the fluid to be injected. The structure or composition of the plunger can vary according to the model. It is, in any case, provided at one of its ends with a joint to ensure sealing with the barrel of the syringe and, at its other end, which is always external to the barrel of the syringe, a plunger head to facilitate its handling. This classical syringe makes it possible to perform in the habitual manner the operations required for an injection as commonly practised, that is in the first place, detaching the joint at the bottom of the syringe and then, by applying traction to the plunger to extract it from the barrel of the syringe, drawing in a certain quantity of fluid. Then, with the syringe in inverted position, that is with the needle pointing upwards, a slight pressure on the plunger causes any air remaining in the reservoir to be discharged, this operation possibly being followed by the drawing in of a complementary quantity of fluid and again the essential discharge of the air.
Before injection properly speaking, slight re-aspiration is practised after insertion for checking purposes.
There are known disposable syringes used for vaccinations which are pre-filled in the laboratory and with which it is no longer possible to draw in fluid after the injection. However, as most syringes used are not pre-filled and since it has to be possible for the to and fro movements of the plunger to be performed for the operations described above, or for manipulations in an empty condition, it is not possible to adopt this system. | {
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Visual display units, (flat) screens, displays, television sets and monitors with high resolution comprise an electrical connection interface, in particular in form of a DVI data transmitting interface and/or HDMI data transmitting interface. In addition to various control signals, several differential TMDS encoded signals for the transmission of audio and video data as well as the required clock signal between at least one data source and at least one data sink are carried via this interface.
In this connection, TMDS (=Transition-Minimized Differential Signaling) is basically a digital transmission standard for uncompressed multimedia data, having been developed to eliminate electromagnetic disturbances occurring at analogue transmission; in this way, TMDS is used for instance at DVI transmissions (DVI=Digital Visual Interface) and/or at HDMI transmissions (HDMI=High Definition Multimedia Interface) in order to control screens with very high resolution, wherein TMDS encoded signals may comprise data rates in the region of several gigabits per second.
According to page 38 of version 1.3a of the HDMI specification dated 10 Nov. 2006 (participating companies: Hitachi Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., Philips Consumer Electronics International B.V., Silicon Image Inc., Sony Corporation, Thomson Inc., Toshiba Corporation), the TMDS technology uses a current driver in order to generate a differential low voltage signal on the sink side of a direct current coupled transmission line.
The termination voltage or supply voltage defines the upper voltage value for each of both terminals of the differential signal whereas the lower voltage value is determined by the current source of the HDMI source and by the terminating resistor at the sink. The terminating resistor and the characteristic impedance of the cable are to be adapted to each other.
In detail, the electrical connection is effected between the connection interface of the data source and the connection interface of the data sink, for example by means of a copper cable KK (with impedance Z0 per differential pair of copper wires; cf. FIG. 3). The TMDS encoded signals are provided as output current signal from the data source by means of an output current driver (transmitter TM with current source SQ and changeover switch D, D′; cf. FIG. 3).
The correct line termination in the receiver (receiver RC; cf. FIG. 3) is effected by the direct voltage coupled transmission channel KK between the data source and the data sink. At this line termination in form of two ohmic resistors RT, RT′ connected in parallel (cf. FIG. 3) in the receiver RC, the input signal voltage necessary for the input amplifier EV is generated with reference to the supply voltage AVCC.
FIG. 3 shows the above-described with regard to the prior art in form of a conceptual schematic circuit diagram for a differential TMDS signal wherein it can be further taken from FIG. 3 that the receiver RC adopts the direct voltage supply of the output current driver of the transmitter TM. In addition, the connection interface of the data source provides a voltage supply in the order of about five volt for the data sink, wherein said voltage supply may be loaded with not more than about 55 milliampere.
As to the depicted prior art, it has to be considered that TMDS encoded signals of an HDMI data connection are to be able to support data transmission rates of several gigabits per second and per differential pair of wires AD, AD′ (cf. FIG. 3) of the copper cable KK. This involves that highest-quality and thus expensive copper cables are to be used in case of longer distances between data source and data sink. | {
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In recent years, a variety of electronic devices such as organic semiconductors or light-emitting elements in which an organic compound which has photoelectric function as well as reversible oxidation-reduction characteristics and can form amorphous film in itself is used as an organo-electronic material, for example, as a hole transporting agent, have attracted considerable attention. Such an amorphous film of organic substances are formed by preparing a coating composition comprised of a binder resin such as polycarbonate resin and the organic compound dissolved in a suitable organic solvent and then by coating and drying the composition, as described in JP-A-11-174707. An organic amorphous film is also formed by preparing a coating composition comprised of a multinuclear aromatic tertiary amine called a “star-burst” compound dissolved in a suitable organic solvent and then by coating the composition on a substrate and drying it, as described in JP-A-08-291115.
According to a method using a binder resin among the methods mentioned above, the organic compound is diluted with the binder resin in the resulting amorphous film and influenced by the binder resin so that the organic compound cannot exhibit sufficiently the functions that it originally has as an organo-electronic functional material. In addition, if the organic compound forms an amorphous film that is stable at normal temperature with the aid of a binder resin, the organic compound has a low glass transition temperature so that the film is poor in heat resistance and has a problem in stability and life.
Under these circumstances, polynuclear aromatic tertiary amine compounds called the “star-burst” molecules are attracting considerable attention since they are capable of forming amorphous film in themselves at normal temperatures, as described above. The star-burst molecules are divided into three groups based on their molecular structures: compounds having a triphenylamine structure (triphenylamines), compounds having a triaminobenzene structure (triaminobenzenes) and compounds having a triphenylbenzene structure (triphenylbenzenes).
Examples of the triphenylamines include, for example, 4,4′,4″-tris-(N,N-diphenylamino)triphenylamine (TDATA) and 4,4′,4″-tris(N-phenyl-N-m-tolylamino)triphenylamine (m-MTDATA), as described in JP-A-01-224353, and in addition, 4,4′,4″-tris(N-(2-naphthyl)-N-phenylamino)triphenylamine (2-TNATA), as described in JP-A-08-291115.
These triphenylamines are reversible in oxidation-reduction process and can form amorphous film by a vapor deposition method, however, TDATA and m-MTDATA have a problem in heat resistance. TNATA has a glass transition temperature of about 110° C. and is superior in heat resistance, but it is readily crystallized so that the amorphous film formed therewith is lacking in stability.
Examples of the triphenylbenzenes include, for example, 1,3,5-tris(4-(N,N-diphenylaminophenyl)benzene (TDAPB) and 1,3,5-tris(4-(N-tolyl-N-phenylaminophenyl)benzene (MTDAPB), as described in Bando Technical Report, Vol. 2, pp. 9-18, 1998 (Bando Chemical Industries, Ltd.). These triphenylbenzenes also can form amorphous film and have oxidation potentials in the range of 0.6-0.7V, but they are irreversible in oxidation-reduction process so that they are not suitable for practical use as an organo-electronic functional material such as a hole transporting agent.
On the other hand, examples of the triaminobenzenes include 1,3,5-tris(N-methylphenyl-N-phenylamino)benzene (MTDAB). The triaminobenzenes also have oxidation potentials in the range of 0.6-0.7V, but they are irreversible in oxidation-reduction process so that they are also not suitable for practical use as an organo-electronic function material.
The present inventors have presented 1,3,5-tris(N-(p-methylphenyl)-N-(-1-naphthyl))aminobenzene (p-MTPNAB) and 1,3,5-tris(N-(p-methylphenyl)-N-(4-biphenyl)amino)benzene (p-MTPBAB) as such organic compounds that are reversible in oxidation-reduction process, have oxidation potentials in the range of 0.5-0.7V, are superior in heat-resistance, and can form amorphous film by a vapor deposition method, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-079441.
The above-mentioned p-MTPNAB and p-MTPBAB are reversible in oxidation-reduction process and have high oxidation potentials as well as high glass transition temperature, i.e., 87° C. and 98° C., respectively. However, when they are subjected to repeated oxidation-reduction process, peak currents of oxidation curves tend to fall, and accordingly, there is a fear that they have not enough stability and durability for use as organo-electronic functional material.
On the other hand, a hole transporting agent comprising a polynuclear aromatic tertiary amine compound having a biphenyl skeleton is also known. Examples of such polynuclear aromatic tertiary amine compounds include 4,4′-bis(N-(3-methylphenyl)-N-phenylamino)-biphenyl (TPD), as described in JP-A-07-090256, and 4,4′-bis(N-(1-naphthyl)-N-phenylamino)biphenyl (α-NPD), as described in JP-A-05-234681 However, an organic electroluminescence element manufactured by using these compounds as a hole transporting agent needs a high voltage to be driven.
The invention has been completed to solve the problem involved in the known organo-electronic functional materials as mentioned above. Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide an organo-electronic functional material which has an opto-electronic function, is reversible in oxidation-reduction process, can form amorphous film in itself, and has a high glass transition temperature, and shows only a slight change of peak current when being subjected to repeated oxidation-reduction process, and is hence superior in stability. | {
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In fluid handling systems, it is frequently advantageous to control the fluid pressure at one or more points within the system to avoid damage to components (e.g., rupture and/or leakage). There is a continuing need to methods to control fluid pressure within fluid handling systems such as, for example, water purification apparatus. | {
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The present invention relates to a tactile device for communicating with and conveying information to visually impaired people. More particularly, it relates to a device to safely and conveniently create a refreshable, tactile “image” which can be sensed by the user.
Many blind people use Braille to read, and various other tactile devices are known for communicating with blind people, including devices that use vibrating motors, but there is a need for a device that can communicate sketches or shapes “on the fly” to a visually impaired person. The present invention arose out of a project in which blind people wanted to have a way to sense where they were and where they were going as they were travelling along the road in a car, but there is also a need for this type of communication in many other settings. For example, there is a need to communicate shapes “on the fly” in a classroom, when a teacher is drawing a sketch on the blackboard for the students. The ability to provide tactile pictures or images for blind people could also be used for entertainment and for other purposes. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light source device used for a picture display device or the like, and more particularly to a light source device that synthesizes laser beams emitted from a plurality of semiconductor laser devices and concentrates the beams into an optical fiber in order to obtain a predetermined light output.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional light source device, which synthesizes laser beams emitted from a plurality of semiconductor laser devices and concentrates the beams into an optical fiber, in order to obtain a predetermined light output, is configured to include: a plurality of chip-like semiconductor lasers arranged and fixed on a heat block; collimator lens arrays provided corresponding to the semiconductor lasers; a condenser lens that concentrates collimator light flux generated by the collimator lens arrays into one optical fiber; and a box-like package that air-tightly seals these multiplexing optical systems.
According to the light source device of this kind, to concentrate laser beams emitted from the semiconductor laser devices into an optical fiber, the semiconductor laser devices, the collimator lens arrays, the condenser lens, and the optical fiber must be fixed with a predetermined positional precision in a state that inclinations of these parts precisely match with each other. To fix these parts in this manner, there is proposed a structure in which inclinations of precisely formed parts are measured by a laser automatic collimator and in this state, these parts are positioned precisely by a mechanical hand and are adhered and fixed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-284851 (Page 7 and FIG. 1)).
When a semiconductor laser device having an emission wavelength in a range of 350 to 450 nanometers is used, organic gas (out gas) components of e.g., an adhesive for fixing multiplexing optical systems are deposited on a light emitting unit and an optical member, and this deteriorates laser characteristics. To solve this problem, there is proposed a light source device in which the concentration of organic gas in a package is limited to less than 1000 parts per million (ppm), and inert gas having an oxygen concentration in a range of 1 to 100 ppm is enclosed into the package (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 4115732 (Page 5 and FIG. 2)).
According to the conventional light source devices, parts such as a semiconductor laser device, a collimator lens array, a condenser lens, and an optical fiber are individually adjusted in position and assembled while measuring inclinations thereof. It is necessary to perform positioning operations many times for each semiconductor laser device, and thus there is a problem that the operability in assembling is not good.
Further, because an adhesive is interposed between joint surfaces of these parts, there is a possibility that a positioned part is deviated when the adhesive is cured. Therefore, it is necessary to form each part extremely precisely and the device become expensive, yet there is a problem that positional deviation or optical deviation (inclination of optical axis and aberration) between the laser device and a lens cannot be optimally adjusted, and the coupling efficiency is deteriorated. Further, when an ultraviolet cure adhesive is used, one of parts that are to be bonded must have ultraviolet permeability, and thus materials used for the parts are limited.
It is also necessary to air-tightly seal the optical system, to manage the concentration of organic gas in a package, and to enclose inert gas in the package. Therefore, there is a problem that the device becomes more expensive and the operability in assembling is deteriorated, and thus the device cannot be easily applied to inexpensive consumer devices.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a light source device capable of easily and precisely adjusting positions of optical axes of a semiconductor laser device and a lens. | {
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This invention relates to a decoder circuit for generating logical signals in response to the actuation of a keyboard provided with symbols associated with respective logical signals for use with a keyboard which is provided with a plurality of symbol fields. The symbol fields are adapted to be provided with respective ones of said symbols and are separated by gaps between adjacent keys and defined by a plurality of adjacent keys. The adjacent keys are adapted to be jointly depressed by a finger of an operator, wherein a plurality of adjacent keys are associated with each of said symbol fields in such a manner that each key of the keyboard, with the exception of keys disposed at the edges of the keyboard, is associated with four adjacent symbol fields. Only alternate keys of each column of keys of the keyboard are connected to electric switches for generating the logical signals. Each of these switches comprises a contact connected to one of a plurality of row conductors associated with respective rows of keys; and another contact connected to one of a plurality of column conductors associated with respective columns of keys.
Decoder circuits may be used in association with keyboards which are of the type briefly described hereinbefore and disclosed in, for example, German Pat. specification No. 27 29 157 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,593, assigned to the assignee hereof.
In the prior art keyboard described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,593, the number of keys of each row of keys is larger by one than the number of symbols associated with each row; and the number of keys of each column of keys is larger by one than the number of symbols associated with the said column. For this reason, the number of row conductors connected to respective rows of keys is larger by one than the number of symbols of a row of symbols; and the number of column conductors associated with a column of keys is larger by one than the number of symbols of a column of symbols.
If the signals that can be derived from the row conductors and column conductors are decoded in such a manner that input signals are delivered to individual column conductors and the output signals are then read from the row conductors, the above-mentioned difference between the number of symbols in a row of keys and the number of row conductors, and between the number of symbols in a column of keys and the number of column conductors, will give rise to difficulties if such decoding is effected with known decoder circuits. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a suspension bar for garment boxes. More specifically, the invention relates to such a suspension bar which comprises a truss-like wire structure. The invention also relates to means, disposed at the ends of the bar, for engaging side walls of the garment box whereby to suspend the suspension bar in a garment box.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to use bars for suspending garment hangers or other items, and wire-like bars for this purpose are illustrated in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,120,511, Risdon, June 14, 1938, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,642,147, Voorhies, Feb. 15, 1972. However, the bars as taught in these patents are not contemplated for use in garment boxes and additionally, they do not comprise truss-like structures.
Garment boxes (also referred to as wardrobes) are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,057,460, Richer, Oct. 9, 1962 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,597, Brennan, Sept. 2, 1975. Both of these patents also teach suspension bars for use with the garment boxes. However, the suspension bar of the Richer patent is of a cardboard construction so that it is limited to the weight it can carry. The suspension bar of the wardrobe in Brennan is made of sheet steel and is therefore relatively heavy and expensive because of the quantity of steel which must be used to make it. In addition, because the edges of the sheet steel bars are rough, they could cut a user so that handling such bars could be dangerous. In addition, each size of a sheet steel bar must be made with a different die, and the cost of each die is extremely high. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image processing device, a projector, and an image processing method.
2. Related Art
There has been known an interactive system provided with a projector for projecting an image, and a light emitting pen operated by the user on the image projected (see, e.g., JP-A-2012-173447). The light emitting pen is a pointing body for emitting an infrared ray from the pen tip, and the projector detects the infrared ray from the light emitting pen to recognize the operation content of the user.
When the projector projects a projection image on a horizontal projection surface such as a desk, the user performs the operation in a variety of positions in the periphery of the desk in some cases. However, in the interactive system according to related art, since the direction of the projection image projected by the projector is fixed to a predetermined direction, there has been a disadvantage that the projection image is difficult to be viewed by the user depending on the position where the operation is performed. As described above, there is a problem that the convenience of the user is insufficient when operating the projection image. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Electromagnetic interference (EMI) can cause disruption to electrical systems. One way to prevent EMI from affecting electronic circuitry is to shield the electronic circuit, a technique generally known as EMI shielding. Typically, EMI is performed by encasing the electronic components in metal having no gaps in the metal that would allow EMI to penetrate, for example, a Faraday cage. In general, a continuous metal contact is provided to ensure EMI shielding. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A cellular communications system projects any number of cells over the earth at diverse locations. A spectrum is allocated in frequency, in time, by coding, or a combination of these, to the cells so that communications taking place in nearby cells use different channels to minimize the chances of interference. On the other hand, communications taking place in cells located far apart may use the same channels, and the large distance between communications in common channels prevents interference. Over a large pattern of cells, a frequency spectrum is reused as much as possible by distributing common channels over the entire pattern so that only far apart cells reuse the same spectrum. An efficient use of spectrum results without interference.
One problem which cellular communications systems address is the transitioning of communications between cells, as well as the selection of an initial cell. Relative movement between end users and cells causes the end users and the communication links directed thereto to move between cells. In order to permit continuous communications in an ongoing call, the system must "handoff" an in-process call when the end user crosses a cell boundary. If a call is not handed-off to a new cell upon leaving an old cell, the call will eventually be lost because the strength of signals over which communications take place would diminish to a point where the system's radio equipment cannot receive the end user's transmissions, or vice versa.
This selection of a new cell is also necessary for servicing cell determination, a process wherein a subscriber unit transitions to a new cell in order to be available to receive or initiate communications.
Conventional cellular communications systems address the transition problem (e.g., handoff and servicing cell determination) by monitoring and comparing signal strength. A currently used channel associated with one cell may be monitored and compared by a subscriber unit in another cell. Communications are then passed off to the cell with the stronger signal.
The conventional transition technique may work adequately when the distances between subscriber units and system transceivers are relatively small, when the speeds of movement between cells and subscriber units are slow, and when transitions are relatively evenly distributed in time. Historically, such conditions existed for conventional terrestrial cellular systems. In such systems cells did not move with respect to the earth, and the movement between cells and subscriber units resulted from subscriber unit movement in accordance with conventional modes of transportation. However, as traditional cells become congested and are sub-divided into micro-cells, transitions occur more frequently.
Also in satellite cellular systems, where radio equipment is located on satellites orbiting the earth in moving orbits, transitions between cells are also frequent, and the conventional transition techniques may be inadequate.
For example, orbiting satellites are located a relatively large distance from subscriber units, often on the order of several hundred kilometers. The smaller this distance, the greater the speed of the satellite relative to a particular position on the earth. Speeds of over 20,000 km/hr are typical. This fast movement relative to a subscriber unit introduces widely and rapidly varying propagation delays and Doppler frequency offsets into signals transmitted between a satellite and a subscriber unit.
As a mobile subscriber moves from one cell to another cell, a transition procedure is employed. The gateway or switching network indicates to the mobile subscriber to change frequencies from a channel which was used in the first cell to a new frequency of a new channel used in the second cell.
Because there are a number of contiguous cells to which a mobile subscriber may travel, a method for determining into which cell the subscriber is to transition is required. If the subscriber is transitioned into an incorrect cell with a new frequency, the mobile subscriber's call will become lost and disconnected, or calls directed to or originated from him will be undeliverable. Such transition decision making is typically accomplished by measuring the amplitude of the signal received from the mobile subscriber. One such terrestrial cellular telephone system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,879, issued on Mar. 31, 1987, to S. Goldman.
Modern terrestrial cellular systems, using higher frequencies for communications, improve the detectability of relative motion between subscriber units and transceivers. Motion may be detected by evaluating Doppler values introduced by motion. Also in satellite cellular systems, the cells projected on the earth are much larger than those of the terrestrial systems. In addition, the satellite moves quite rapidly and as a result, subscribers must be transferred from one cell to the next much more often than in terrestrial systems.
Accordingly, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a method for selecting target cells using Doppler data for servicing cell determination and handoffs in a cellular communication system. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In the offshore oil and gas industry, large floating vessels, such as a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel or a floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessels, are used to receive produced hydrocarbons from subsea wells or manifolds or from nearby platforms or other subsea equipment, process them (in the case of an FPSO vessel), and store them until the oil and/or gas can be offloaded onto a tanker or other equipment. The FPSO/FSO vessel can be moored using a turret mooring system in which a fixed turret column is held by an internal or external vessel structure using a bearing arrangement. The vessel-bound components can weathervane freely around the turret, which is fixed via a number of anchor lines with respect to the seabed. This arrangement allows the FSO/FPSO vessel to adopt the direction of least resistance against waves, wind, and currents.
A turret-moored FPSO/FSO vessel makes use of swivels to allow for the transfer of fluids across the rotary-turret interface while the vessel weathervanes around the turret. Conventional, large diameter swivels have been limited in their pressure capacity i.e. the pressure differential or difference between pressures of the process fluid and the ambient environment up to a maximum of about 600 bars. It is desirable to provide swivel systems that can be used with higher pressure process fluids. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a mask-programmable logic macro and a method for programming a logic macro.
The design of digital electronic circuits is characterized nowadays by a continual increase in the circuit complexity, a continuous drive toward miniaturization and severe time and cost pressure for the circuit users and manufacturers. In order to be able to react rapidly in the event of changing requirements made of digital circuits, so-called FPGA (field programmable gate arrays) have therefore been developed, which represent logic circuits which can be programmed by the user himself. FPGA have an array arrangement of programmable logic macros which can each perform logic functions. A complex logic chip with logic functions is then achieved by programming connections or the interconnection of the logic macros with one another.
The individual logic macros or logic cells are based essentially on arrangements of look-up tables which realize a Boolean function. A look-up table having N inputs should thus be able to realize 22N Boolean functions. In the case of three input signals, these are for example 256 possible Boolean functions. The flexibility of FPGA architectures by virtue of programmability that is possible “in the field” requires a complicated area-intensive connection system, configuration memory elements and an extensive wiring. As a result of which FPGA components have comparatively slow processing times and are additionally expensive to develop and procure.
So-called application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) represent a compromise between comparatively easy adaptability of their logic functions and high processing speed. ASICs that may be mentioned are in particular gate arrays containing a regular arrangement of digital basic elements which can be combined with one another by interconnections in the production process.
Structured ASICs are partly prefabricated and predefined electronic circuits which are converted into application specific logic circuits during the fabrication process by specially adapted masking steps, by way of example. The production process usually involves process-technologically setting switches for the definition of the signal paths within the ASIC, such as for example by vias or applied metal connections.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,218 B1 describes for example a method for producing programmable logic cell arrays in which logic cells are formed by means of standardized masks. What is disadvantageous in this case is primarily the fact that in production for forming an individual logic cell of this type, it is necessary to use a plurality of different masks for the required standard elements. Moreover, only a limited number of Boolean functions can be realized by means of the logic elements of U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,218 B1.
A logic macro that can be used flexibly should be able, however, to realize all possible Boolean functions given a predetermined number of input signals, that is to say 22N Boolean functions given N input signals. German patent 3148410 C2 discloses a programmable logic cell having three inputs, transistors connected in series essentially being arranged such that they are connected up in programmable fashion between a supply voltage and an output. Input signals are passed in each case to the control terminals of the transistors. A desired Boolean function is obtained by virtue of the fact that the controllable paths of the transistors can be bridged by further transistors in programmable fashion. The logic circuit in accordance with German patent 3148410 C2 also has the disadvantage that only a limited number of Boolean functions can be realized. Moreover, the programmability “in the field” requires a high outlay on circuitry which is manifested in a complicated production method comprising many processing steps. Consequently, the prior art also does not include any logic macros which can be adapted flexibly by a small number of programming steps specified in the production process.
There is a need, therefore, for a programmable logic device that addresses the shortcomings of the prior art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to simulation of semiconductor chips. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and an apparatus for simulating phase lock loops (PLLs) in integrated circuits.
2. Related Art
Most integrated circuits include one or more phase locked loops (PLL) for clock synthesis, clock and data recovery circuits, or frequency synthesis circuits. When integrated circuits ran at relatively low frequencies (clock speeds), timing jitters within the PLLs were not significant and were generally ignored. However, with increasing frequency as well as larger process variation (from advanced manufacturing techniques), the timing jitters of PLLs have become problematic. Specifically, the timing jitters may cause failure of an integrated circuit for various timing issues. Thus, to properly simulate an integrated circuit the timing jitters of any phase locked loops within the integrated circuit must also be accurately simulated.
Phase lock loops are too complicated to be simulated directly. Thus, analysis and simulation of phase locked loops are performed by dividing the PLL into functional sub-blocks. Because timing jitters are related to phase noise, the phase noise of each sub-block of the PLL is computed separately. The phase noise of the sub-blocks are then combined to obtain the phase noise of the PLL. The phase noise of the PLL is then converted to PLL timing jitter values.
FIG. 1(a) illustrates the functional sub-block of a phase locked loop 120 and a reference oscillator 110. Specifically, the functional sub-blocks of phase locked loop 120 include a phase detector 121, a charge pump 123, a loop filter 125, a voltage controlled oscillator 127, and a divider 129. The construction and function of phase locked loops are well known thus, only a brief functional description of phase locked loop 120 is provided. Specifically, reference oscillator 110 provides an input clock signal IN to phase locked loop 120, which generates an output clock signal OUT having a frequency that is N (an integer) times greater than the frequency of input clock signal IN. Internally, output signal OUT is divided by DIVIDER 129 to produce clock signal OUT/N, which has a frequency equal to the frequency of output clock signal OUT divided by N. Phase detector 121 receives both input clock signal IN and clock signal OUT/N. Phase detector 121 controls charge pump 123 based on whether the clock edges of clock signal OUT/N are ahead or behind the clock edges of input clock signal CLK. Charge pump 123 controls voltage controlled oscillator 127 through loop filter 125. When the clock edge of clock signal OUT/N is ahead of the clock edge of input clock signal IN, phase detector 121 causes charge pump 123 to decrease the frequency of voltage controlled oscillator 127. Conversely, when the clock edge of clock signal OUT/N is behind the clock edge of input clock signal IN, phase detector 121 causes charge pump 123 to increase the speed of voltage controlled oscillator 127. Thus, the frequency of output clock signal OUT is maintained at approximately N times the frequency of input signal IN.
However, the method of calculating timing jitter described above fails when the phase noise simulation of any sub-block fails. Many sub-blocks of the PLL are very difficult to simulate. In general “digital circuits” having input/output waveforms with sharp transitions and/or sharp corners are difficult to simulate. Thus, phase detectors, frequency dividers (with high divide-by ratios) as well as voltage controlled oscillators in combination with frequency dividers are the most difficult to simulate.
In general, the simulation of the sub-blocks of the PLL involve solving a system of non-linear equations for the voltages and currents in the sub-blocks of the PLL. The method to create the system of non-linear equations for a particular PLL is well known and not described herein. For example, Phase-Locked Loops: Theory and Applications by John L. Stensby, (1997) describes the process for creating the system of non-linear equations for a PLL. In general, the system of non-linear equations represent Kirchhoff's current law in the frequency domain, which states that the sum of the currents entering a node equal the sum of the currents exiting the node. Solving the system of non-linear equation involves finding a residual value (i.e. the amount by which Kirchhoff's current law is violated) to a satisfactorily low level.
A harmonic balance method is used to solve the system of non-linear equation. FIG. 1(b) illustrates harmonic balance system 150 having a linear system construction unit 153, a preconditioner 155, a linear system solver 157, and a non-linear system calculation unit 159. Harmonic balance system 150 receives a system of non-linear equations 151 representing the PLL sub-block being simulated and produces solution 160 using a dual iterative method. Harmonic balance systems are well known in the art and thus only described briefly herein. Specifically, linear system construction unit 153 uses Newton's method to construct a system of linear equations, which are used to calculate the Fourier coefficients of the solution for the system of non-linear equations. Newton's method is an iterative process that begins with an initial guess and tries to converge to a solution. Specifically, if the system of non-linear equations is represented by F(x)=0, where F is a matrix, and x is a vector. The system of linear equations used in the Newton method is J*d=−F, where J is a Jacobian matrix that is the first derivative of F(x), F is the residual and d is the Newton correction vector, which must be derived. For clarity and ease of understanding the system of linear equations is represented as A*x=b, where A is the Jacobian Matrix J, b is equal to −F, and x is a vector equivalent to the vector d.
The system of linear equations is solved using an internal iterative solver (typically a Krylov Solver, such as the generalized minimal residual method (GMRES)) represented by linear system solver 157. Linear system solver 157 attempts to calculate the vector x that satisfies the equation A*x=b; by calculating an approximation vector x_app, so that a residual is lower than a linear system accuracy threshold LSAT. Specifically the residual for linear system solver 157 is equal to the norm of A*x_app−b. However, linear system solver 157 may not be able to solve or would take too long to solve most of system of linear equations generated by Newton's method. Thus, a preconditioner 155 conditions the system of linear equations to assist linear system solver 157. Specifically, preconditioner 155 creates a first preconditioned set of linear equations and linear system solver 157 generates an approximate solution to the first preconditioned set of linear equations. Then preconditioner 155 and linear system solver 157 and repeatedly generates approximate preconditioned sets of linear equations and generates approximate solutions for each preconditioned sets of linear equations to converge on a adequate solution to a preconditioned set of linear equations. The solution is then converted into a solution to the set of linear conditions (non-preconditioned). If an appropriate vector x, is found, linear system solver 157 provides the vector x to non-linear system calculation unit 159 which uses vector x to generate an approximate solution to the system of non-linear equations. If the approximate solution satisfies a non-linear system accuracy threshold NLSAT than the approximate solution is provided as solution 160. Otherwise, the approximate solution is used as the starting point for another iteration by linear system construction unit 153. However, even with preconditioner 155, linear system solver 157 might still not be able to solve the system of linear equations in a reasonable amount of time.
As explained above, the digital sub-blocks of phase lock loops are extremely difficult to simulate. The difficulty results in very slow convergence or even divergence in linear system solver 157 even with the assistance of preconditioner 155. Hence there is a need for a method and system for rapidly simulating phase locked loops. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for purifying contaminated water or contaminated ground water and to a method of effectively purifying contaminated water or contaminated ground water by using the apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
With the recent advances in industrial technologies, a large amount of halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds (for example, chlorinated ethylene, chlorinated methane and others) have been used and their disposal and treatment have become a serious problem. Most of the environmental pollutants derived from chlorinated organic compounds will permeate into soil without decomposition and gradually dissolve in ground water to expand the contaminated area through ground water. Thus, it is strongly desired to establish a technology for purifying the contaminated environment to return it to the original state, in addition to never cause such serious pollution again.
In one method to purify ground water, the contaminated ground water is pumped up and purified on-site, by aerating the drawn ground water in an aeration tower to pass the pollutant into the gas phase. The pollutant in the gas phase is removed by an activated carbon column not to cause air pollution by directly releasing the gas into the air.
Purification methods utilizing degradation activities of microorganisms, i.e., bioremediation, have bean also proposed to purify ground water.
In connection with another purification method, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-66376 discloses an apparatus where a halide solution of NaCl or NaBr is electrolyzed in an electrolytic bath, and the original gas containing a malodorous component is passed through the catholyte and then through the anolyte to remove the smell. With such an apparatus, however, malodorous gas may not be treated steadily, because it includes three steps of aeration in the anolyte, recovery of the gas, and aeration in the catholyte in the process.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-17816 discloses a method of treating an organic waste liquid, where aluminum chloride or iron chloride is dissolved in the organic waste solution and the chloride is electrolyzed under UV irradiation. According to the specification, hypochlorous acid is generated from the electrolyzed chloride and the organic compounds in the waste are decomposed by active oxygen generated from hypochlorous acid by UV irradiation.
This method also might not achieve a steady treatment, since the chloride compound concentration in the waste will vary.
It is also known that a functional water can be obtained by electrolyzing water. For example, acidic electrolyzed water has sterilizing properties (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-180293) or can cleanse contaminants on semiconductor wafers (EP 605882A).
Photodecomposition is also known. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-299753 and No. 10-180040 disclose a photodecomposition apparatus utilizing a phenomenon that UV-B, and C can decompose certain pollutants.
The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that can effectively purify contaminated water including ground water, without secondary pollution problems, and not requiring activated carbon or microorganisms. Another object of the present invention is to provide a purification method using the apparatus.
One aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for purifying contaminated water such as ground water.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a purifying apparatus for water containing a pollutant comprising:
an aerator in which a contaminated water containing a pollutant is aerated with a gas to generate a gas containing the pollutant;
a chlorine-containing gas generator that generates a chlorine-containing gas;
a mixing section where the pollutant-containing gas generated from the contaminated water and the chlorine-containing gas generated in the chlorine-containing gas generator are mixed; and
light-irradiation means for irradiating the mixed gas with light to decompose the pollutant contained in the mixed gas.
The purification apparatus for contaminated water of the present invention is desirably constituted so that the aerator is in a well.
The chlorine-containing gas generator that generates a chlorine-containing gas includes, in addition to a chlorine cylinder, aerators to aerate a functional water that generates chlorine-containing gas by aeration. Specifically, an aerator to blow air to the surface of the functional water, a jet device to contacting the spray of functional water from a nozzle into contact with air, or a bubbler can be preferably used.
The chlorine-containing gas generator may comprise a water tank, means for generating functional water, means for introducing air into the water tank, means for discharging a chlorine-containing gas generated, and means for discharging the functional water used for generating a chlorine-containing gas.
The means for generating functional water may comprise a water tank, means for feeding an electrolyte-containing water into the water tank, and a pair of electrodes and a power source to apply an electric potential to the electrolyte-containing water in the water tank.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for purifying contaminated water comprising the steps of:
obtaining a pollutant-containing gas by aerating a contaminated water containing a pollutant;
obtaining a chlorine-containing gas;
mixing the pollutant-containing gas and the chlorine-containing gas to form a mixed gas;
decomposing the pollutant in the mixed gas by irradiating with light the mixed gas introduced into a treatment region in a treatment tank: and
discharging the mixed gas after decomposition treatment from the treatment region. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Portable data terminals (PDTs) such as laser indicia reading devices, optical indicia reading devices, barcode scanners and barcode readers, for example, typically read data represented by printed indicia such as symbols, symbology, and bar codes, for example. One type of symbol is an array of rectangular bars and spaces that are arranged in a specific way to represent elements of data in machine readable form. Optical indicia reading devices typically transmit light onto a symbol and receive light scattered and/or reflected back from a bar code symbol or indicia. The received light is interpreted by an image processor to extract the data represented by the symbol. Laser indicia reading devices typically utilize transmitted laser light. One-dimensional (1D) optical bar code readers are characterized by reading data that is encoded along a single axis, in the widths of bars and spaces, so that such symbols can be read from a single scan along that axis, provided that the symbol is imaged with a sufficiently high resolution.
In order to allow the encoding of larger amounts of data in a single bar code symbol, a number of one-dimensional (1D) stacked bar code symbologies have been developed which partition encoded data into multiple rows, each including a respective 1D bar code pattern, all or most all of which must be scanned and decoded, then linked together to form a complete message. Scanning still requires relatively higher resolution in one dimension only, but multiple linear scans are needed to read the whole symbol.
A class of bar code symbologies known as two-dimensional (2D) matrix symbologies have been developed which offer orientation-free scanning and greater data densities and capacities than 1D symbologies. 2D matrix codes encode data as dark or light data elements within a regular polygonal matrix, accompanied by graphical finder, orientation and reference structures.
Conventionally, a PDT includes a central processor which directly controls the operations of the various electrical components housed within the PDT. For example, the central processor controls detection of keypad entries, display features, wireless communication functions, trigger detection, and bar code read and decode functionality. More specifically, the central processor typically communicates with an illumination assembly configured to illuminate a target, such as a bar code, and an imaging assembly configured to receive an image of the target and generate an electric output signal indicative of the data optically encoded therein.
The output signal is generally representative of the pixel data transmitted by an image sensor of the imaging assembly. Because the pixel data may not be high enough quality for the processor to reliably decode the bar code in the image, PDTs generally successively capture images, or image frames, until a reliable decode is complete. Further, where the bar codes being decoded vary from 1D and 2D symbologies, the PDT generally sequentially executes decode algorithms for the multiple symbologies. This process can be time-intensive because the processor must wait for the pixel data to be stored in memory before it can access the data in order to execute a decode algorithm and then must further wait for a decode algorithm to complete before a second decode algorithm can execute. Further, in many settings such as warehouses, shopping centers, shipping centers, and numerous others, PDTs are used to decode bar codes in serial fashion such that a faster decode operation generally increases throughput.
Attempts have been made to increase decode speed particularly by multi-threading. Multi-threading, or hyper-threading, allows multiple threads to use a single processing unit by providing processor cycles to one thread when another thread incurs a latency such as a cache miss, for example, which would cause the processor to incur several cycles of idle time while off-chip memory is accessed. Using multi-threading, the central processor idle time is minimized but not substantially parallelized. Further, context switching between threads can significantly increase overhead, as the state of one process/thread is saved while another is loaded, further minimizing any efficiency gain.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a PDT system architecture that will allow for faster, substantially parallel, bar code decoding operations.
It will be appreciated that for purposes of clarity and where deemed appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated in the figures to indicate corresponding features. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
There are known various shapes of tablets. One of them is a tablet which is longer in one direction when seen in plan (for example, see Patent Literature 1). Concrete examples of them are a substantially rectangular tablet (51) having smooth corners when seen in plan as shown in FIG. 4(a), a standard elliptical tablet (53) having its both ends (52) formed by semi-circles each of which has a diameter of a tablet width (W) when seen in plan as shown in FIG. 4(b) and a substantially oval tablet (55) having its side edges (54) each formed in the shape of a smooth arc (hereafter referred to as an ‘oval tablet’).
Among them, the oval tablet (55) has a side edge (54) formed by an arc having a radius (R1), for example, about 1.5 times a tablet length (L), to which an end arc having a further smaller radius (R2) is connected smoothly so as to form an end portion (52). This oval tablet (55) has only a projected area of about 80% when compared with a rectangular tablet (56) having a width (W) and a length (L) (see FIG. 4(c)). So in order to keep the volume of this oval tablet large, it is necessary, for example, to increase the thickness of the tablet when compared with the standard elliptical tablet (53). However, there was a problem that if the thickness of the tablet is increased, the tablet could hardly be swallowed when it was dosed.
On the other hand, as for the substantially rectangular tablet (51) and the elliptical tablet (53) when seen in plan, the projected area is large in plan view. For example, in the case of the standard elliptical tablet (53), usually, the projected area is about 86% to 90% with respect to the rectangular tablet (56) (see FIG. 4(b)) having the width (W) and the length (L), although it may be different depending on the ratio of the width to the length. Further, as to the substantially rectangular tablet (51) when seen in plan, apparently, the ratio of its projected area is much higher. Thus as for these tablets, it is possible to easily retain the volume large without increasing the thickness of the tablet and the like dimension.
However, each of these substantially rectangular tablet (51) and the elliptical tablet (53) has a long linear portion at a side edge (54) in plan view, so that when it is subjected to the film-coating treatment, the long linear portion of this side edge (54) sticks to the other tablet through a coating agent to produce a so-called “twinning” defective product (hereafter referred to as “twin tablet”), which entails a problem of being not easy to improve the yield. Here, the twinning defective product also includes a defective product comprising at least three tablets mutually stuck.
Patent Literature 1: Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 5-37924 | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Ink jet printing is a non-impact method that produces droplets of ink that are deposited on a substrate such as paper or transparent film in response to an electronic digital signal. Thermal or bubble jet drop-on-demand ink jet printers have found broad application as output devices for personal computers in the office and the home.
Thermal ink jet printers use a plurality of nozzles each containing a resistor element to fire ink droplets toward the print substrate. Nozzle openings are typically about 25-50 micrometers in diameter. These small openings are easily plugged by precipitating, crystallizing or flocculating materials or by particulate foreign matter. The nozzle openings are exposed to the atmosphere, thereby rendering the ink subject to evaporation or reaction with oxygen or carbon dioxide with the potential to produce particulate, non-dispersed material causing formation of a plug in the nozzle openings. In dye-based inks, evaporation can cause crystallization or precipitation of the dye or solid additives, commonly referred to as "crusting." In pigment-based inks this evaporation can cause precipitation of the dispersant, flocculation of the pigment dispersion, and precipitation of solid additives.
Accordingly, a critical requirement for an ink jet ink is the ability to remain fluid upon exposure to air, so called "decap" conditions. This allows a pen to function after a period of non-use ("long-term decap") or during operation of infrequently utilized nozzles ("short-term decap"). A major concern with all ink jet printers is pluggage of nozzles during operation and between operations. Decap time is a measure of the interval of time that a nozzle can remain exposed to air and continue to print.
Initial evaporation generally causes an increase in viscosity which affects the ability of the nozzle to fire a drop of ink since ink jet pens are designed to operate within specific viscosity ranges. The inception of pluggage may cause distortion of the image, which may appear as a drop of ink which is displaced from its intended position or a splitting of the drop into two or more droplets displaced from the intended target position. In addition, "streamers" or "banners" may appear as artifacts attached to the right side of the alphanumeric characters. On some occasions the drop may reach its intended position but at a lower drop volume producing a lower optical density image. Ultimately the plugged nozzle will fail to fire and no image will be generated.
In a decap test, a series of successive drops are fired at predetermined and increasing time intervals. For example, if the time interval between firings is set at five minutes, then the printings will take place after intervals of 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, etc. The interval of time needed to cause failure of the first, fifth and thirty-second consecutively printed drops are recorded. The first drop failure interval is important because it is the critical measure of the reliability of the system without the need for engineering or software cures for printing failure. In addition, it affects the productivity or printing rate because programmed routines must be used to clear the pluggage, so-called "spitting" and these routines interrupt the actual printing chore. The thirty-second drop decap time determines the period of time that a nozzle can remain uncapped and recover after 32 non-printing firings.
Several methods of addressing the crusting problems are known in the art. For example, most ink jet printers are designed to prevent excessive evaporation of solvent from pen nozzles by seating the pen cartridge in an air tight chamber when not in use. These devices become ineffective with continued printer use because dried ink deposits at the rubber seals and the system loses its air-tight condition. Also, it is possible to shut down a printer inadvertently and prematurely, thereby not allowing the printer routine to place the pen nozzles in the air-tight capping chamber.
Another device to combat pluggage is a elastomeric wiper that removes solid formed at the surface of the nozzle. This device is often ineffective because the depth or hardness of the plug resists mechanical removal.
Another pluggage fix is the use of forced air or vacuum suction to clear the nozzle. These devices are often ineffective and add considerable expense to the cost of the printer.
A second critical requirement for inks where the colorant is a pigment is for the pigment dispersion to remain stable throughout the life of the ink jet cartridge. Many cosolvents that impart long decap or rapid penetration are incompatible with the pigment dispersion and therefore cannot be used.
Therefore a need exists for aqueous ink jet inks with good dispersion stability and high resistance to plug formation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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