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A knowledge of the thermal properties of biomaterials has long been considered important to researchers and others interested in increasing man's understanding of the nature of materials and their thermal interactions, as well as to designers of equipment and systems in which the thermal characteristics of the materials used therein or operated thereon are of significance. For example, important information concerning biological materials, such as human and animal tissues, can be obtained from knowledge of the thermal properties thereof and of the perfusion characteristics of blood flowing therethrough.
Thus, it is known that biomaterials are capable of heat transfers by virtue of a temperature gradient, such heat transfer capability being especially important in living biomaterials because the state of life thereof, for example, may depend on the maintenance of a specific temperature level. Heat transfer by conduction is usually most important in determining the heat transfer within the biological medium and such heat transfer is best characterized in the steady-state by the thermal conductivity, k, of the medium and in the non-steady state by its thermal diffusivity, .alpha.. Since there is no presently known method of determining k and .alpha. of a biomaterial from a knowledge of some other fundamental property or properties thereof, it is necessary to devise appropriate processes and apparatus to measure k and .alpha. in some appropriate manner.
Furthermore, there has been an increasing utilization, particularly in medical research and clinical laboratories, of processes which require heat transfer through biological materials, such as in cryobiology (e.g., cryosurgery), in tissue and organ preservation, in laser-tissue thermal interactions and in the use of thermal therapy for cancer treatment, for example, all of which require a knowledge of such thermal properties for the intelligent use of these processes. Other procedure which are heat transfer dependent and, thus, require a knowledge of thermal properties include clinical applications of ultrasonic wave energy, microwave energy and laser beam energy in both diagnostic and therapeutic operating modes.
Such processes require more extensive and more reliable information concerning the thermophysical properties of such materials and, in particular, information concerning the thermal conductivities, thermal diffusivities and the flow rates of fluids (perfusion) through the biological medium, which information permits the determination of temperature distributions and heat transfer rates. It is particularly important, for example, to monitor the flow rate of blood through tissue so that flow disturbances can be monitored and corrective action taken in cases where maldistribution of blood flow in a patient would have unfavorable and possibly fatal consequences.
Techniques which have been applied to the measurement to properties of biological materials have included both invasive and non-invasive techniques. General summaries of such techniques and the limitations thereof are presented in the text, Annual Review of Biophysics and Bioengineering, "Theory, Measurement and Application of Thermal Properties of Biomaterials," H. Frederick Bowman et al., pp. 43-80, Vol. 4, 1975 and in the text, Heat Transfer in Medicine and Biology, Vol. 1, Edited by A. Shitzer and R. C. Eberhart, "Estimation of Tissue Blood Flow" H. Frederick Bowman, Chapter 9, pp. 193-229, Plenum Publishing Corp. 1984. Still further background information is contained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,982 issued to H. F. Bowman on Nov. 29, 1977 as well as in the description of the invention contained therein.
In accordance with the invention described in the aforesaid Bowman patent, a particular thermal model is developed and a particular implementation of the solution of the heat conduction equations utilizing a thermistor probe is described for providing a realistic representation of the thermal properties of the thermistor bead and the surrounding medium so as to produce an accurate measurement of such properties as thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity from which other thermal properties and states of flow can be derived. In accordance therewith the thermistor bead of the probe is treated as a distributed thermal mass and the heat conduction equation is solved for both the interior of the bead as well as the region of the medium surrounding it.
The thermistor bead is placed in a medium and the bead and the region of the medium surrounding it assume an initial equilibrium, or reference, temperature. The temperature of the bead is raised to a predetermined level above the equilibrium temperature by applying electrical energy to the bead which thereupon thermally dissipates in the bead and its surrounding medium, thereby raising the temperature of the surrounding medium. If the temperature rise in the bead is to be maintained at the desired level, the electrical energy must be dissipated at a rate which is sufficient to maintain the temperature at the desired level and the electrical power required for such purpose depends on the heat transfer characteristics of the surrounding medium. Thus, if the characteristics of the medium are such as to enhance the heat transfer, a greater number of electrical power will be needed to maintain the desired temperature increment between the reference temperature and the temperature at the desired predetermined level, while, if the characteristics thereof are such as to impede heat transfer, less electrical power will be needed to maintain the temperature increment.
In a biological medium such as human or animal tissue, for example, the heat transfer capability of the medium depends upon the intrinsic thermal conductivity of the medium, the local blood flow rate in the medium and the specific heat of the blood therein, such characteristics contributing to a property which, for convenience, can be referred to as the "effective thermal conductivity" of the medium. Such term can be defined as a measure of the rate at which heat is being removed from the bead by (or transported through) a medium in the presence of fluid flow in the medium. Such property can be contrasted with the "intrinsic thermal conductivity" thereof which can be defined as a measure of the rate at which heat can be removed from the bead for a given temperature gradient by (or transported through) a medium in the absence of any fluid flow therein (e.g., a biologic medium in which no blood flow is present).
The initial reference temperature of the bead and medium is determined and power is applied thereto to raise the mean temperature of the bead to a fixed predetermined level and is maintained at a desired, constant level above the reference temperature.
A data processor is used to calculate both the thermal conductivity and the thermal diffusivity of the medium in accordance with expressions derived from solutions to the transient heat diffusion equations both for the interior of the bead and for the surrounding region of the medium, arrived at by using a thermal model which takes into account the distributed thermal mass of the thermistor bead and the thermal characteristics of the surrounding medium.
The flow rate of a fluid which moves through the medium (e.g., the flow rate of blood through a biologic medium) can be calculated in accordance with an expression also derived from solutions to the heat conduction equations which specifically include blood flow (perfusion) as a variable in such a thermal model representation. In order to utilize the heat conduction equations in such a system, the intrinsic thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity must be determined under no flow conditions (i.e., in the absence of fluid flow). It is in some cases extremely difficult or substantially impossible to make such measurements in living organisms and it has been found necessary to resort to techniques which provide only approximations to such no flow conditions, so that the values used for the intrinsic conductivity and diffusivity involved produce inaccuracies in the calculations of the effective values thereof and of the perfusion values under flow conditions.
Moreover, it is helpful to provide a system in which the temperature and power characteristics are permitted to be controlled in a more flexible manner than in the invention described in the above Bowman patent which normally requires that the power characteristics be such that the bead volume mean temperature be maintained at a specified value, i.e., the value of V.sub.b be kept substantially constant. Further, while the aforesaid Bowman system permits reasonably accurate measurements of perfusion above certain relatively high perfusion levels, it becomes less accurate at relatively lower perfusion levels. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention generally relates to a mat that is used as a cushion, a bed, a mattress or the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a vibratile mat having a vibrating member disposed therein, in which by vibrations produced by this vibrating member, the stiffness in the muscle can be relieved and circulation of the blood in a user can be improved.
It has been considered that local pressing of points of the human body is effective for restoring or maintaining normal functions of respective portion of the human body, dissipating the fatigue and curing certain kinds of diseases, and it is the finger-pressure therapy of the Oriental medicine that embodies this idea.
According to this finger-pressure therapy, points of the human body are locally pressed intentionally by the finger bulbs. If an effect resembling the pressing effect according to the finger-pressure therapy is automatically obtained without this intentional pressing, for example, while a patient is lying, this will confer great healthful benefits upon the patient and be helpful for maintenance and promotion of health while dissipating the fatigue.
As means for producing this effect resembling the finger-pressing effect, there have heretofore been provided mattresses and cushions having a great number of projections on the surfaces thereof. In these conventional products, however, no intended finger-pressing effect can be obtained unless the projections are considerably hard and the projecting length is sufficiently large. More specifically, these projections butt against points of the body continuously with a constant pressing force under the load of the body weight and therefore, a discontinuous pressing with a varying pressing force, such as attained by the finger-pressure therapy, cannot be generated. For this reason, in order to intensify local pressing, the projections should be hard and the projection length should be increased. However, if the hardness of the projections is increased and the projection length is made larger, since pressing is continued on specific points on the human body selectively, the user soon feels pains on these points. Accordingly, these conventional products cannot be used as mats or cushions for inducing peaceful sleep. From the practical viewpoints, therefore, the projections should be formed of a soft and elastic material or the projection length should be considerably decreased. In this case, no satisfactory pressing effect can be expected. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field
The following description relates to instruction processing, and more particularly, to processing of instructions to be executed by a very long instruction word (VLIW) processor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A very long instruction word (VLIW) processor includes a plurality of functional units which execute a plurality of instructions in parallel. A VLIW processor may be employed in a computer to reduce the time required to execute input instructions by distributing the input instructions among the plurality of functional units. For a software program to be executed by a VLIW processor, a plurality of instructions of the software program must be converted into one long instruction.
A compiler, which compiles an instruction word to be executed by a VLIW processor, tries to minimize the time required to execute a program by achieving optimum parallelism in the processor. However, instruction parallelism is limited by data dependency, control dependency due to branch instructions, resource conflicts, and the like. In particular, a branch instruction is a major limiting factor. In the case of a conditional branch instruction, the processing of the instruction is delayed while a condition is evaluated, thereby making continuous pipeline processing difficult because the next stage of the pipeline must wait until the delay is over.
Researches have been conducted to determine methods that overcome the performance limitations caused by branch instructions. One method suggested is predicated execution. In predicated execution, a compiler compiles an instruction word such that a conditionally executed instruction may be executed without using a branch instruction. For example, a determination may be made as to whether to execute an instruction based on a condition, and the branch instruction may be removed. For example, in predicated execution, if a condition is true, an instruction may be executed. If the condition is false, the instruction may not be executed. However, to support predicated execution, all instruction codes including non-predicated instructions must be generated as predicated instructions. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Genetic sequencing finds many important applications in biotechnology, genetics, and pharmacology, as well as medical diagnoses and therapeutic treatments. For example, sequencing individual genomes and individual cells can be used to determine genetic variability, disease susceptibility and pharmaceutical efficacy. While earlier methods have proved useful in these applications, there remains a need in the art for even better methods of analyzing genetic information. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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As Internet usage becomes more popular, increasing numbers of users desire to conduct secure transactions, access sensitive information, and the like, using the Internet. At the same time, however, identity theft and fraudulent online transactions are increasing at alarming rates. Many solutions have been implemented to counter the growing incidence of online fraud, including the use of tokens in combination with passwords to provide two-factor authentication. One such solution, known as SecureID, is provided by RSA Security. To defeat such a solution, an attacker must obtain both the password and the token in order to masquerade as the owner. Such solutions, however, are cumbersome and expensive since tamper-resistant hardware tokens have to be built, personalized, distributed, and protected.
Other solutions employ “lockstep” mechanisms in which both tokens and an authentication server increment a lockstep code, which the token must provide for successful identity verification. Such solutions are less than ideal since the lockstep code is known to fall within a fairly narrow range, making guessing it rather easy for an intruder. More importantly, however, once an intruder knows the correct lockstep code, generating subsequent lockstep codes is trivial.
For at least the foregoing reasons, improved solutions are needed. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing paste, a method for printing designs on textile product surfaces and products obtained thereby. More particularly, it relates to a technique for printing designs using a paste added with egg yolk as an adhesive paste for improved color fastness to washing.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Washable products, such as, bed linens used in hotels and hospitals, are printed with designs, such as, a name, logo, or mark. To print such designs, a printing paste containing a dye, additive(s) and an adhesive paste is directly applied on the textile, which, in turn, is subsequently subjected to steaming or dry heating for coloring and fixing. Most of the adhesive pastes contained in the printing paste act as a medium for promoting transfer of the dye and the additive(s) to the textile and are removed by washing with water after the printed design is fixed on the textile.
According to the conventional printing of textiles, the dye is chemically adhered on the textile so that after repeated washing for more than ten times, the printed design would disadvantageously fade or disappear. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to management of free addresses, and particularly to free address management employing a hierarchical tree for reduced latency with minimal increased external memory.
In the synthesis of VLSI designs for storage systems and for communication devices, it is often necessary to make use of a manager of free addresses in an external memory storage. Memory access, such as for read and write memory operations, can usually be accomplished with arbitrarily chosen memory addresses in one time unit (e.g., one clock cycle). It is also desired that other operations, such as initialization and reset operations be accomplished in small time periods, most preferably in one time unit (one clock cycle). Such a situation arises when managing free indices in fast flexible search engines, such as described in application Ser. Nos. 09/679,209 and 09/679,313 both filed Oct. 4, 2000 by Andreev et al. for xe2x80x9cFast Flexible Search Engine for Longest Prefix Matchxe2x80x9d and for xe2x80x9cFlexible Search Engine Having Sorted Binary Tree for Perfect Matchxe2x80x9d and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.
Previously, free address management techniques required unsatisfactory timing requirements for allocation and freeing operations, excessive time for initialization and reset operations, and/or excessive external memory consumption.
A memory manager manages read and write operations of an external memory. A set of memory addresses, herein called xe2x80x9cindicesxe2x80x9d, I={0,1, . . . n} contains subsets of Free indices and Taken (also called xe2x80x9callocatedxe2x80x9d) indices. An ALLOC command will output a Free index (if any) from set I thereby allocating the index, and a FREE command will change a Taken index to a Free index. RESET and INIT commands will reset and initialize the memory.
Prior memory managers managed indices either as a characteristic array of all (Free and Taken) indices of the set I, or by managing the stack or list of only the Free indices.
A memory manager managing indices as a characteristic array of Free and Taken indices requires an external memory having a capacity of n bits, where n is the total number of indices to be distributed. Hence, external memory consumption is only 1 bit per index. The worst-case latency, in clock cycles, of the manager (when looking for a Free index) is approximately n/2k, where 2k is the word length in bits used in the external memory (typically, k=16, 32 or 64). A reset operation also requires approximately n/2k clock cycles. This management technique offers the advantage of minimal memory requirements of only n bits. However, where the number n of indices is large, for example where n is greater than 1024, the latency and reset requirements are unacceptable.
A memory manager managing a stack or list of only Free indices requires an external memory having a capacity of nxc2x7log2n bits, with each index requiring log2n bits. The worst-case latency of the manager (when looking for a Free index) is only one clock cycle (since every index in the stack or list is, by definition, a Free index). However, a worst-case reset operation requires approximately n clock cycles. While the latency is quite satisfactory at one time unit (one clock cycle), memory consumption (nxc2x7log2n bits) and reset time (n cycles) are unsatisfactory.
Thus, in one way or in another, these prior techniques for managing free addresses (or indices) are ineffective for practical implementation where a fast running module interacts with an external memory. The present invention provides a solution to these and other problems, and offers advantages over the prior art.
In one embodiment, a storage memory contains a memory manager for managing allocation of addresses in the memory. The memory manager is structured, as a hierarchical tree having a top vertex, a bottom level and at least one intermediate level between the top vertex and bottom level. The bottom level contains a plurality of bottom vertices each containing a plurality of representations of a Free or Taken status of respective addresses in the memory. Each intermediate level contains at least one hierarchy vertex containing a plurality of labels. Each label is associated with a child vertex and defines whether or not a path that includes the respective child vertex ends in a respective bottom level vertex containing at least one Free representation.
Another embodiment of the invention is a process of managing free addresses in a memory. A hierarchical tree contains a plurality of vertices arranged in a plurality of levels such that a bottom level contains a plurality of bottom vertices each containing a plurality of representations of a Free or Taken status of respective addresses in the memory and at least one intermediate level contains at least one hierarchy vertex containing a plurality of labels defining whether or not a path that includes the respective child vertex ends in a respective bottom level vertex containing at least one Free representation. A memory command is input to the tree, and the representation of the status of an address in a bottom level vertex is changed based on the command.
In some embodiments, if the command is an allocate command, a search is performed through the tree, starting at the top vertex, to locate a Fee address in a vertex in the bottom level. The status of that address is changed to Taken and labels are changed in vertices in the intermediate level(s) as appropriate, depending on the status of other representations in that bottom level vertex.
In other embodiments, if the command is a Free command to set free a designated address, the representation in the bottom level vertex associated with that address is changed to Free and labels are changed in vertices in intermediate level(s) as appropriate, depending on the status of other representations in that bottom level vertex.
In other embodiments, the invention is manifest in computer readable code that is stored on a computer readable medium to cause the computer to perform the processes of the invention. The medium may be a transportable medium, such as a floppy disc medium, and includes code causing the computer to structure the tree in the memory containing the addresses. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cat playhouse and a method of making same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a multiple level cat playhouse that is easily collapsible and foldable for easy shipment and storage. When assembled, the cat playhouse has sufficient structural strength to withstand the weight of a cat. More particularly, the cat playhouse has several levels of play and permits interior movement of the cat from one level to another level. Further, the cat playhouse is relatively inexpensive to manufacture since it may use one type of structural material for the walls and floors and the walls and floors themselves provide the means for fastening themselves together. Still further, the material, such as, cardboard, is relatively inexpensive.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Animals, such as cats, enjoy exploring, hiding and resting in cozy places, such as, for example, boxes, shopping bags and the like. In a home, it is desired to have an item, such as a playhouse, to provide the cat with the opportunity to explore, hide and rest in a desired location in the home. When entertaining guests, it is desirable to fold and store the playhouse and thereby provide additional room to entertain guests.
The use of playhouses to entertain cats is known. Some earlier playhouses, such as, for example, the playhouse shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,807 entitled Cat Condominium and Method of Making Same, which issued on Sept. 7, 1982 to Marvin Reich, is directed to a cat condominium that is foldable for shipment and, when assembled, has a plurality of compartments each with an exterior opening that relies on the natural curiosity of the cat to explore the various compartments. There is no provision from moving internally from one compartment to another.
Later cat playhouses, such as, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,536 entitled Playhouse For Cats, which issued on Sept. 24, 1991 to Reginald D. Baker, is directed to a multiple level, foldable cat playhouse that provides a plurality of beam members that extend through slots formed in the vertical panels or side walls of the playhouse and locking flap assemblies joined to the uppermost end of each vertical panel or side wall. The plurality of beam members protrude through the side walls and are exposed externally. To assembly this playhouse, each of the plurality of beam members needs to be positioned in opposed, slotted side walls. This playhouse has many more components than the present playhouse thereby increasing the assembly time, cost and complex of manufacturing the playhouse.
Thus, the prior art fails to provide a cat playhouse that permits internal movement, is easily foldable, inexpensive to manufacture and assembly, and provides a minimum number of components. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tilting device for cropping a sheet of laminated glass.
2. Description of Related Art
Nowadays, in order to carry out the truncation, known in the jargon as “cropping”, of a flat sheet of laminated or stratified glass being worked on a worktable of a cutting machine, two operating principles are generally applied in order to mechanically (i.e. not via heat or chemical means) break the intermediate layer of plastic material: bending of the sheet in the cutting region, or traction of the sheet in the direction of movement of the two parts of the sheet defined by the cut.
Bending of the sheet is generally done by means of two series of suckers, which are designed to adhere to the inner face of the sheet in proximity to the cutting line, with a first series of suckers on one side of the cutting line, and the second series on the other side.
The suckers are then lowered a few millimeters in order to produce a bending, or a cycle of bendings, downwards, in order to achieve the complete breakage of the intermediate layer of plastic material.
This downward bending, or these downward bending cycles, are often insufficient to achieve the immediate separation of the two parts of the sheet being worked, thus requiring to resort to ancillary activities which lengthen the working times.
Traction of the two parts of the cut sheet is achieved with means for gripping each of the two parts, comprising various actuator means, and means for moving at least one of the two parts of the sheet on the plane of arrangement of the same worktable, such movement means being complex in terms of devising and operation.
The traction solution is therefore effective, but it requires machines that are relatively complex and expensive.
The aim of the present invention is to devise a tilting device for cropping a sheet of laminated glass, which is capable of overcoming the drawbacks of the above mentioned known cropping techniques.
Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a tilting device which is capable of bending a sheet around the cut region, in a more effective manner than in known tilting devices.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tilting device that is cheaper to make than traction cropping devices yet no less effective.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tilting device for cropping a sheet of laminated glass that is structurally simple and easy to use, and which can be made using known systems and technologies and at low cost. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to rotational coupling devices such as brakes and clutches and, in particular, to a rotational coupling device having improved magnetic efficiency and performance and improved structural characteristics.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Rotational coupling devices such as clutches and brakes are used to control transfer of torque between rotational bodies. One type of conventional device is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,119,918, 5,285,882 and 5,971,121, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. This device includes a rotor that is coupled to an input shaft for rotation with the input shaft about a rotational axis. A field shell is also disposed about the input shaft on one side of the rotor and is fixed against rotation. The field shell defines radially spaced, axially extending inner and outer poles between which an electrical conductor is disposed, facing the rotor. A brake plate is coupled to the field shell and axially spaced from the field shell. The brake plate is disposed on a side of the rotor opposite the conductor. An armature coupled to an output member is disposed on the same side of the rotor as the brake plate and is disposed axially between the rotor and the brake plate. The armature is coupled to an output member by a plurality of leaf springs. Energizing the conductor produces a magnetic circuit in the field shell, rotor and armature that draws the armature into engagement with the rotor and couples the input shaft and output member together for rotation. Upon deenergization of the conductor, the leaf springs draw the armature out of engagement with the rotor and into engagement with the brake plate to brake the armature and output member. Permanent magnets coupled to the brake plate are also used to create another magnetic circuit between the brake plate, the field shell and the armature to assist the leaf springs in braking the armature and output member.
The above described devices generally perform well. The magnetic circuits within the device, however, are not optimally efficient or isolated from each other. Further, the armature is difficult to disengage from the brake plate and the engagement surfaces of the device still suffer from an undesirable amount of wear. The mounting of the conductor within the field shell of the device is also not optimal and there is a desire to improve the strength of the mounting arrangement.
The inventors herein have recognized a need for a rotational coupling device that will minimize and/or eliminate one or more of the above-identified deficiencies. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to apparatus for a wheel suspension for a vehicle.
In connection with vehicles such as passenger cars, different types of suspension systems are now utilized for these vehicles. In a known manner, such wheel suspensions are arranged to provide for the attachment and spring support for the vehicle wheel, which in turn provides good comfort for the passengers and enhances the road handling and service life of the vehicle.
Several different types of wheel suspensions are known and constitute parts of systems having, for example, straight or live wheel axles, which may be supplemented by springs, shock absorbers and other component as may be required. Force-absorbing link arms are also frequently utilized to connect the wheels of the vehicle with its body, and stabilizers are utilized to dampen excessive swaying movements of the vehicle. In order to optimize the road-handling of a vehicle, the character of the vehicle shock absorber or the distribution of stiffness of the stabilizer may be adjusted. In this respect, there is a need to be able to easily alter the stiffness of the stabilizer.
A previously known wheel suspension for vehicles is shown in published International Patent Application No. WO 96/12897. This wheel suspension comprises a substantially U-shaped spring means which is constructed from a tube of composite material. The respective ends of the spring element are attached to a link arm, which in turn is attached between a spindle attached to the vehicle and a body part in the form of a load-bearing frame element. The wheel suspension is further arranged so that the frame element carries the spring means.
An object of the present invention is to provide improved apparatus in connection with a wheel suspension for a vehicle, in which the wheel suspension more particularly comprises a stabilizer which can be mounted in an easy and space-saving manner in the go vehicle.
In accordance with the present invention, this and other objects have now been realized by the discovery of suspension apparatus for a vehicle wheel including a wheel spindle carrying the wheel and a wheel frame for mounting the wheel to a vehicle body, the suspension apparatus comprising substantially tubular spring means having a first end and a second end, a link arm for connecting the wheel frame to the wheel spindle, the link arm disposed at the first end of the substantially tubular spring means and a stabilizer disposed inside the substantially tubular spring means and adapted to protrude from the first end of the substantially tubular spring means. Preferably, the stabilizer comprises a flexible and torsionally rigid substantially tubular element.
In accordance with one embodiment of the suspension apparatus of the present invention, the stabilizer includes a first end and a second end, the first end of the stabilizer corresponding to the first end of the substantially tubular spring means, and the first end of the stabilizer is mounted on the link arm in a manner whereby the stabilizer is rotatably rigid. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus includes a locking member including first splines, the locking member connected to the link arm, and the first end of the stabilizer includes second splines for cooperatively engaging the first splines of the locking member.
In accordance with one embodiment of the suspension apparatus of the present invention, the stabilizer comprises fiber material such as woven glass, carbon and steel.
In accordance with another embodiment of the suspension apparatus of the present invention, the apparatus includes a noise dampening member disposed between the stabilizer and the substantially tubular spring means.
In accordance with the present invention, a vehicle has also been invented including a suspension apparatus as set forth above.
The present invention is intended to be utilized for a wheel suspension for a vehicle which comprises a substantially tubular spring means, a link arm arranged at the respective ends of the spring means and which are attached between a frame element and a spindle which carries a wheel, and a stabilizer for dampening of swaying movements of the vehicle. The present invention is characterized in that the stabilizer is arranged to protrude inside the spring means.
By shaping the stabilizer as a component extending inside the spring means, several advantages are attained. On the one hand, a very straightforward installation of the stabilizer is accomplished, which is simply inserted through the spring means during installation. Furthermore, no special links, fastening components or attachment components are required for such an installation. Moreover, this apparatus is packaging friendly, and in principle does not consume any extra space, since the stabilizer runs inside the spring means. A further advantage is that the present invention allows for protected installation of the stabilizer in the vehicle. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In computer graphics, a quad may be used to render a two dimensional sprite onto a background. The quad is typically defined such that it includes all of the pixels of the sprite. Such quads, however, can include a large number of pixels that do not add anything to the sprite—e.g., that are rendered transparently onto the background. Even though rendering these pixels does not change the background displayed on the screen because they are transparent, the rendering hardware still processes them, and consumes resources that could otherwise be available for rendering other pixels. For example, unnecessarily rendering pixels may waste a portion of the finite fill rate typically available in rendering hardware. This waste of resources is even greater when the image has an alpha channel, because read-modify-write logic may be required for every pixel within the quad.
In order to reduce the number of pixels that are unnecessarily rendered, and to thereby free up a portion of the finite fill rate, a convex hull may be created that convexly encapsulates the pixels of the sprite. The contours of the convex hull define the boundaries of pixels that will be rendered, which may encompass fewer transparent pixels than a simple quad. Even a convex hull, however, may include many transparent pixels. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for driving display devices having discrete fixed pixel arrays such as liquid crystal units, plasma units and electroluminescent (EL) units, and a display device itself.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic display devices can be regarded as electronic devices for visually communicating a variety of information from various kinds of electronics to humans, or as electronic tools for electronic and visual exchange of information between humans. Electronic display devices in information-intensive society are widely used in various application areas, whether industrial or for consumer use, and are playing very important roles.
Recently, liquid crystal displays, plasma displays and electroluminescent displays have become objects of active research and development initiatives as electronic display devices to replace CRTs. Further, for example, attempts are being made to realize flat-type large display units with a 40 to 60 inch screen, such as liquid crystal projectors and plasma display units, using a high definition (HD) system.
However, display devices having discrete fixed pixel arrays and driven by a line sequential system, such as liquid crystal displays, plasma displays and electroluminescent displays, have a problem of being unable to simply comply with interlaced scanning when an NTSC color television system or a HD (particularly the so-called xe2x80x9cHigh Visionxe2x80x9d) system is to accomplish displaying by interlaced scanning. This problem is addressed by equipping the display device itself with a progressive circuit compatible with interlacing or by converting video signals into a non-interlace format by using memories and displaying the converted signals, but these solutions involve an expensive and complex system.
Further, in this case, the display device requires as many pixels, particularly as many vertical pixel lines, as the effective scanning lines of video signals, but, if the display device has only a smaller number of pixe lines than the effective scanning lines, such expediencies are resorted to as writing the odd field (a first field) and the even field (a second field) into the same pixel, or skipping some video signals when writing in. These expediencies result in a poorer vertical resolution of the display screen and inferior picture quality than the original video signals could otherwise provide.
As a possible solution to this problem, a display pixel shifting technique (the wobbling technique) is known as a way to enhance vertical resolution using the same pixels in a display unit having display elements consisting of discrete fixed pixels (see the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publications Nos. 7-64046 and 7-104278).
This wobbling technique is a method whereby one field picture is displayed in a position different from another field picture by switching the optical axis of the first field scanning and that of the second field scanning with the phase modulation optical elements and a birefringent medium.
However, in the methods described in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publications Nos. 7-64046 and 7-104278, the vertical optical axis shift, in other words the enhancement of vertical resolution, is made possible by using signals synchronized with interlacing in the first and second fields, but the horizontal resolution of display cannot be enhanced more than the number of pixels allows, even if the video signals have a broad band, because the resolution of fixed pixels is restrained by their number.
Thus, enhancement of the horizontal resolution of a display device having discrete fixed pixel arrays such as a liquid crystal display unit has its inevitable limit because the horizontal resolution is restricted by sampling and, therefore, displaying of interlace signals as they are would only result in displaying of the same picture shifted in the horizontal direction.
The present invention has been attempted in view of the above-described circumstances, and its object is to provide a method for driving a display device and a display device itself having display elements with fixed pixel arrays, permitting interlace display and enhancement of the horizontal resolution in particular.
The inventors of the present invention, in their dedicated pursuit of a solution to the above-mentioned problem, have found that when high resolution is to be realized in interlace display or the like with display elements having discrete fixed pixels and wobbling elements, interlace display is made possible and high resolution realized by shifting the timing of sampling while scanning a first field (the odd field, for example) and that of sampling while scanning a second field (the even field, for example) by a period of time corresponding to the amount of pixel shift resulting from wobbling and the sampled signal to the above-described display elements with the shifted timings.
Thus, the present invention pertains to a method for driving a display device (hereinafter called the invented driving method), said display device comprising:
display elements having discrete fixed pixels; and
wobbling elements for wobbling a light beam emitted from said display elements; wherein:
when the display device is to be driven, the timing of sampling while scanning a first field and that of sampling while scanning a second field are shifted by a period of time corresponding to the amount of pixel shift resulting from wobbling and the sampled signal to said display elements with the shifted timings.
According to the invented driving method, when a display device comprising said display elements and said wobbling elements is to be driven, interlace display or the like compatible with the NTSC system or the HD system can be realized with high resolution, because the timing of sampling while scanning the first field and that of sampling while scanning the second field are shifted by a period of time corresponding to the amount of pixel shift resulting from wobbling (i.e. the period of time required for wobbling) and applying the sampled signal to said display elements with the shifted timings.
In particular, since the invented driving method makes possible realization of interlace display or the like with high resolution, especially in the horizontal direction, by merely shifting the timing of sampling while scanning the first field and that of sampling while scanning the second field by a prescribed period of time (phase), compatibility with the NTSC system or the HD system can be achieved without having to modify hardware configuration, such as providing progressive circuits compatible with interlacing. Furthermore, since pixel shifting in an oblique direction (hereinafter, it may be called oblique wobbling) is made possible, even higher resolution can be realized.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a display device capable of realizing the inventive driving method (hereinafter called the invented display device) comprising:
display elements having discrete fixed pixels;
wobbling elements for wobbling a light beam emitted from said display elements;
a timing generating circuit for shifting the timing of sampling while scanning a first field and the timing of sampling while scanning a second field by a period of time corresponding to the amount of pixel shift resulting from the wobbling; and
driver circuits for driving said display elements and said wobbling elements in each of said fields with timing signals generated by the timing generating circuit.
The invented display device, since it comprises:
display elements having discrete fixed pixels, such as liquid crystal, plasma or electroluminescent elements:
wobbling elements for wobbling a light beam emitted from these display elements;
a timing generating circuit for shifting the timing of sampling while scanning a first field and the timing of sampling while scanning a second field by a period of time corresponding to the amount of pixel shift resulting from the wobbling; and
driver circuits for driving said display elements and said wobbling elements in each of said fields with timing signals generated by the timing generating circuit, makes possible interlace display or the like compatible with the NTSC system or the HD system, particularly with high resolution, by merely shifting the timings of sampling in the timing generating circuit by a prescribed period of time without having to modify the hardware configuration of the display device. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Virtually any non-trivial computer system includes a data backup and data recovery sub-system. A backup saves files as they exist at the time the backup is made. Backups serve many purposes, including file restoration in the event of accidental deletion or corruption, or for disaster recovery or compliance purposes.
One typical use of backups is to save operating system and application executable files and data. It is common for operating system and application files to be updated after their initial release by a vendor. These updates are referred to as patches. A patch is an update to one or more files of an operating system or application. The patch may serve various purposes, including providing fixes to errors in the software, or providing fixes to potential security vulnerabilities that leave a system open to attack. Such security vulnerabilities are sometimes referred to as security holes, in that they provide an opening for an attacker to attempt to exploit the vulnerability to gain control of the system or to take potentially sensitive information from the system. Because a backup saves files as they exist at the time the backup is made, patches that are released for application after the backup is made are not included in the backup. A subsequent restore of a file that has had a patch released after the backup was made will not include the patch, and will thus be vulnerable to any attacks that may have been cured by the patch. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Even as wired and wireless access technologies continue to increase their bandwidth, and correspondingly increase their capacity to carry traffic, the access technologies nonetheless represent a limited resource. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to surgical instruments for applying energy to tissue, and more particularly relates to a system for volumetric removal of tissue by means of high velocity ejection of a vapor media from a first vapor port proximate to soft tissue wherein the vapor-to-liquid phase change of the media applies energy to the tissue. Contemporaneously, the system provides a second port coupled to a suction source that cooperates with the first vapor port to suction tissue debris from the targeted site.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of radiofrequency (Rf) and laser surgical instruments have been developed for delivering thermal energy to tissue, for example to ablate tissue, to cause hemostasis, to weld tissue or to cause a thermoplastic remodeling of tissue. While such prior art forms of energy delivery are suitable for some applications, Rf and laser energy typically cannot cause highly “controlled” and “localized” thermal effects that are desirable in microsurgeries or other precision surgeries. In general, the non-linear or non-uniform characteristics of tissue affect both laser and Rf energy distributions in tissue.
What is needed for many surgical procedures is an instrument and technique that can controllably deliver energy to tissue for volumetric tissue removal or tissue cutting without the possibility of desiccation or charring of adjacent tissues, and without collateral thermal damage. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a method, an apparatus and a system to manufacture an actuation sled and, more particularly, to a mold for injection molding of an actuation sled.
2. Background of Related Art
Injection molding is manufacturing process for producing parts and components. This process typically consists of inserting a molding material into an open rigid mold. The mold may be formed by halves. Typically, injection molding incorporates stationary and ejector mold halves, which open and close, to define a cavity where the molding or casting material is injected. Stationary mold halves are generally mounted to stationary platens. Ejector mold halves, in contrast, are capable of moving relative to stationary holder blocks for opening and closing the cavity. Ejector mold halves are mounted to ejector platens, which are generally connected to hydraulic actuators for providing movement. The stationary mold and the ejector mold are generally clamped together after the molding material has been inserted in the cavity. After a suitable curing cycle, the mold is separated from the formed product. A successful injection molding process produces a part or a product substantially shaped as the mold.
The injection molding process, however, does not necessarily produce flawless products. The quality of the manufactured product is occasionally compromised by shortcomings during the injection molding process. For instance, gas within the molding cavity can substantially diminish the quality of the final product. Vacuum assistance has been used to address this issue and improve product quality. The general purpose of the vacuum assistance is to improve the production of injection molding by removing gases from within the molding cavities. Ideally, vacuum assisted injection molding produces parts with a reduced level of porosity and greater physical characteristics.
The physical characteristics of a molded article can also be improved by positioning vents on the molds. These vents release gasses that otherwise would be trapped within the mold cavity. Consequently, vents reduce the occurrence of defective articles by minimizing incomplete mold cavity fillings.
Gases within the molding cavity are not the only cause of low quality products during the injection molding process. Occasionally, molding material is not uniformly distributed within the mold cavity. Therefore, there is a need for a method, system, and apparatus to evenly distribute molding material throughout the mold cavity during an injection molding process.
Medical devices manufacturers often employ injection molding to produce certain components of surgical instruments. For example, some parts of surgical staplers are manufactured using injection molding. In particular, actuation sleds can be made by injecting molding material into a mold cavity.
Actuation sleds serve to drive staple pushers vertically and, thus, eject staples. Actuation sleds typically include spaced apart ramps or cam wedges. These cam wedges are designed to cooperate with angular surfaces of the staple pushers to eject the staples. The angular surface of the staple pushers and the cam wedges complement each other.
The cooperation between the angular surfaces of staple pushers and the actuation sled is an important step of the surgical stapling process. Hence, actuation sleds should have cam wedges with the least amount of imperfections. It is thus desirable to develop an apparatus, system and method to manufacture a high quality actuation sleds. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A connector used to electrically connect a circuit board and an electrical wire on an automobile is required to have as small dimensions as possible in both the vertical and horizontal directions, such that it has as small of height and width (pitch) as possible. The applicant has proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-324049 a connector that provides a sufficient contact holding force while meeting the requirement.
The connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-324049 includes a housing having a front, a rear, an upper, a lower, a right and a left surface and a recess formed in the lower surface; a contact accommodated in the recess of the housing so as to extend from the rear surface side toward the front surface side; a lance block that is accommodated in the recess of the housing from the lower surface side to primarily lock the contact; and a side retainer that is accommodated in the recess of the housing from the lower surface side to secondarily lock the contact.
Due to the configuration described above, the connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-324049 can provide a sufficient contact holding force even though the wall thickness of the housing is reduced to reduce the vertical and horizontal dimensions. In this specification, as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-324049, a body that primarily locks a contact is referred to as a lance, and a body that secondarily locks the contact is referred to as a retainer.
However, the lance block and the side retainer of the connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-324049 are positioned side by side in the recess in the lower surface of the housing with the lower surfaces thereof exposed at the bottom of the housing. The lance block and the side retainer are satisfactorily locked even with such a configuration. However, the connector should be further improved in security if it is used in an automobile or the like.
A reason why the security should be further improved is because there is still an undeniable possibility that a relatively high impact exerted on the connector during use might force the lance block or the side retainer out of their respective normal positions in the housing. Besides, there are gaps between the lance block and the side retainer positioned side by side in the recess of the housing, between the housing and the lance block and between the housing and the side retainer, and foreign matters can enter the connector through the gaps. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle covers. More specifically, the present invention relates to those vehicle covers which can automatically be extended from a storage position to provide protection for the passenger compartment of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
From the earliest days of vehicles with covered passenger compartments to the present, vehicle operators have contended with the elements. In summer, the sun beating down on a vehicle not only degrades the exterior finish of the vehicle, but also turns the passenger compartment into an oven. Rain, particularly mud rains, not only dirty the vehicle surface, but also permanently fade the finish. During the winter, snow and ice cake on the passenger compartment, particularly the windows, requiring the operator to brave the elements to scrape the windows so as to enhance driving safety. Hail may actually dent the vehicle surface or damage the finish.
To overcome these problems, car covers have long been known consisting of fabric or plastic shaped to the form of the particular vehicle. This cover may be stored in the trunk of the vehicle in a folded state, and then taken out and spread over the vehicle to provide protection. Although such a cover does protect the vehicle from the elements, a number of drawbacks exist. First, the cover must be manually placed on the vehicle, manually removed and manually folded. Not only is this procedure time consuming, but also difficult for one person to manage, particularly with larger vehicles. Furthermore, in winter, after a snowfall, it is necessary to clear the cover of ice and snow before it can be properly folded and stored.
To overcome these problems, automatically extending and retracting vehicle covers have been developed. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,134 to Mathis teaches a cover which is stored on a roller. The leading edge of the cover is attached to conveyor lines. When a motor is operated, the roller turns and the lines move so as to draw the cover over the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
Several problems exist with the cover assembly disclosed in Mathis. First, the conveyor lines are directed simply by rollers. Thus, a tendency may exist for the conveyor lines to jump off of the rollers, particularly in winter when ice and snow may interfere with smooth operation. Also, although the Mathis cover might protect the upper surfaces of the vehicle, rarely does the sun shine from directly overhead and rarely does snow fall absolutely vertically, unaffected by wind. The Mathis cover provides no protection for the sides of the vehicle. Finally, if snow should fall while the cover is extended, it would be necessary to scrape the cover so that the ice and snow is not rolled in with the cover.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,688,513 to Poirier teaches a power operated vehicle cover that solves some of the problems of the Mathis cover, yet creates additional problems. Thus, Poirier teaches the use of flaps to protect the sides of a vehicle. However, the flaps must be positioned manually, thus introducing some of the inconvenience inherent with fully manual covers. Also, although the cover extends automatically from a roll in the rear of the vehicle, it appears that no guides are employed to insure that the cover proceeds properly from the roller. Finally, as with Mathis, if snow should fall while the cover is extended, it would be necessary to scrape the cover prior to retraction to ensure that snow is not rolled with the cover upon retraction.
A number of other U.S. Patents, in addition to the two discussed above also describe vehicle covers. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,992,053, 3,222,102, 3,021,894, 1,999,171, 1,918,423, 1,912,231, 1,719,055. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of etching of film layers on substrates, including the etching of film layers formed on semiconductor substrates and on insulative substrates, such as glass substrates, to selectively remove portions of the film layer. More particularly, the present invention has application to the etching of film layers on large planar surfaces such as those encountered in the fabrication of large flat panel displays.
2. Background of the Art
Selective etching of film layers on semiconductor substrates is well known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,672, Wang, et al., fully incorporated herein by reference, discloses methods of using a plasma to selectively etch holes or trenches in a film layer on a semiconductor substrate. Currently used semiconductor substrates are typically circular, having a diameter of no more than 200 mm, a thickness of less than 0.5 mm, and a mass of no more than approximately 60 g. Because of the relatively small size and weight of the semiconductor substrate, relatively straightforward etch chamber configurations may be used to provide the etch process environment to selectively etch a film layer on the substrate, and relatively straightforward wafer handling equipment may be used to load the substrates into processing chambers.
The process for manufacturing flat panel displays uses many of the same processes used to fabricate semiconductor devices. The manufacture of the flat panel display begins with a clean glass substrate. Transistors are formed on the flat panel using film deposition and selective etching techniques similar to those described in the aforementioned Wang, et al. patent. Sequential deposition, photolithography and selective etching of film layers on the substrate creates individual transistors on the substrate. These devices, as well as metallic interconnects, liquid crystal cells and other devices formed on the substrate are then used to create active matrix display screens on the substrate to create a flat panel display in which display states are electrically created in the individual pixels.
Although the flat panel display is typically manufactured using the same processes as those used in semiconductor device fabrication, the glass used as the flat panel display substrate is different than a semiconductor substrate in several important respects that affect its processing. In semiconductor fabrication, individual devices are formed on the wafer, and the wafer is diced to form multiple individual integrated circuits. Thus, the creation of some defective devices on the semiconductor wafer is tolerated, because the die bearing these defective devices are simply discarded once the substrate is sawn into individual integrated circuits. On the flat panel display, individual defective devices must not be removed. Therefore, the number of defective devices created on the flat panel substrate must approach zero. If a substrate is sufficiently large to process multiple displays on a single substrate, a defect in any one of the flat panel displays being formed on the flat panel substrate renders that display defective. Additionally, the glass substrates are typically substantially larger than the largest semiconductor wafers, and the coefficient of heat transfer of the glass substrate is approximately 100 times less than the coefficient of heat transfer of the semiconductor substrate.
In semiconductor processing, in particular etch processing, the process environment transfers substantial energy into the substrate, and this raises the temperature of the substrate if the energy is not distributed away from the surface of the substrate and/or removed from the substrate at the same rate as it enters the substrate. In semiconductor substrate processing, the substrate temperature is maintained at a desired level by balancing the energy transferred into the substrate by the process environment with the combination of the capacity of the substrate to distribute the heat away from the surface and the rate at which heat is transferred from the substrate into the substrate support member. As the substrate is heated by the process environment, the temperature of the substrate outer surface is raised by the energy transferred into the substrate. As the etch process continues, the heat conducts into the substrate to raise the temperature in the remainder of the substrate. A portion of this heat is eventually conducted into the support member. By balancing the total energy transferred into the substrate during the etch process, and the rate of energy transfer into the substrate, the temperature of the substrate surface may be maintained below the resist breakdown temperature of 120 degrees Celsius.
Where a substrate is received on a support member but not firmly chucked thereto, the rate of heat transfer from the substrate into the support member is relatively small because the vacuum process environment substantially prevents conductive heat transfer between the substrate and the support member in areas where the support member and the substrate are not in intimate contact. Therefore, where the substrate is simply mechanically coupled to the support member, the power must be maintained at relatively low levels so that the energy input into the substrate does not exceed the combination of the rate of heat transfer from the substrate into the support member and the diffusion of the heat energy within the substrate. However, because etch rate and power density are approximately directly proportional, these low energy levels limit throughput of substrates through the chamber because longer process times are required to effect a desired etch. To increase heat transfer, and thus throughput, the substrate may be clamped to the support member. This method of controlling the temperature of semiconductor substrates may also be adapted to the processing of flat panel display substrates.
In flat panel display substrate processing, the large, rectangular, glass sheet used as the substrate is heavy and bulky but nonetheless fragile, and cannot be easily manipulated between the horizontal and vertical planes. Therefore, the plasma etch processes used to selectively etch the film layer on a flat panel substrate are typically performed with the substrate located in a horizontal position, because it is easier to handle the substrate in process if it is loaded into a process chamber in the horizontal plane.
A flat panel display substrate etched in a horizontal position, however, is prone to the formation of defects. In the typical etch process for a horizontal flat panel substrate, the etch plasma is maintained within the chamber enclosure above the substrate. Therefore, as the film layer is etched, contaminants in the enclosure fall by the force of gravity onto the substrate, and contaminants may also be electrostatically attracted to the substrate. Each of these contaminants above a threshold size will produce a defect in a flat panel formed on the substrate.
The process chemistries used to create flat panel displays using amorphous silicon layers also contribute to the creation of defective displays. In flat panel display substrates, the holes or trenches etched in the film layers must typically have tapered walls. Typically, where the layer being etched is amorphous silicon, fluorine based chemistries are used for etching. To provide the tapered side walls using a fluorine based chemistry, oxygen is introduced into the etch chemistry. As the fluorine based chemistry etches the film layer, the oxygen continuously etches the edge of the resist to continuously reduce the width of the resist and thus increase the width of the area of the film being etched to create the desired tapered walls. However, the oxygen used to etch the edge of the resist also forms particle contaminants in the chamber, which, if received on the substrate, will cause a particle defect.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for substrate processing equipment that will allow etching of large substrates, such as for flat panel displays, with maximum throughput and minimal process variation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a forming fabric for use in a papermaking machine having two warp layers and three weft layers, and more particularly to a forming fabric in which a warp layer and a weft layer defining together a paper-web supporting surface of the fabric are constructed separately from or independently of a warp layer and a weft layer defining together a wear-side (i.e. under-side) surface of the fabric.
Conventional well-known double-layer fabrics now in use in paper-making machines have two layers of synthetic weft threads disposed one above the other and a layer of synthetic warp threads interconnecting said weft threads. One of such prior art fabrics is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,050. In such construction of the fabrics, the warp threads are interwoven with the weft threads of an upper weft layer to form a paperweb supporting surface of the fabric, and the same warp threads are also interwoven with the weft threads of a lower weft layer to form a wear-side (i.e. underside) of the fabric. Accordingly, in order to improve the quality of paper sheets formed on the fabric, particularly to improve the "wire-mark characteristics" of the fabric, it is necessary to make the warp thread diameter smaller or finer, and on the other hand, in order to improve the wear-resistance or abrasion-resistance of the fabric, it is necessary to make the diameter larger or thicker.
This is also true even when the under-side knuckles of the weft threads of the lower weft layer are positioned outside the under-side knuckles of the warp threads so that the weft threads knuckles are subject to wear prior to the warp threads knuckles, as is the case in what are generally referred as "weft runner type" fabrics. In other words, in "weft runner type" fabrics, the lower weft threads begin to wear prior to warp threads. However, after the weft threads have been worn to a certain degree, the warp threads will also begin to wear and eventually will be worn through and then broken by the tension exerted on the fabric by the driving rolls of the paper-making machine. This leads to an extremely dangerous operation of the fabric during use, causing the fabric to be suddenly broken throughout the entire width thereof. Thus, conventional double-layer fabrics for use in paper-making machines have two incompatible requirements. Namely, when smaller diameter warp threads are employed to improve the paper-quality or particularly the "wire-mark characteristics" of the fabric, the wear resistance of the fabric is reduced and, inversely when larger diameter warp threads are employed to increase the wear resistance of the fabric, the "wire-mark characteristics" of the fabric will be deteriorated, leading to an unacceptable paper quality.
Heretofore, there have been various proposals in order to remove the above-described problem. For example, there are prior-art publications such as Japanese Public Disclosure No. 55-12892, Japanese Public Disclosure No. 50-88307, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 40-15842. Such prior techniques, however, do not sufficiently overcome the above-described problem, and most importantly, they have serious disadvantages as will be explained below in detail.
First, Japanese Public Disclosure No. 55-12892 discloses a forming fabric for use in papermaking machines which comprises a first set of warp threads and a first set of weft threads which are interwoven to form a first complete weave to define a paper-web supporting surface, and a second set of warp threads and a second set of weft threads which are interwoven to form a second complete weave to define the wear-side of the fabric, characterized in that separate binder weft threads are used to interconnect the first weave and the second weave, which binder weft threads are positioned between the two weaves and interwoven with threads from the first and the second sets of warp threads. In such construction of the fabric, since warp threads are interconnected with associated binder weft threads at a predetermined interval or pitch, the paper web supporting surface of the first complete weave tends to have an uneven pattern above or over interconnection points of threads from the first sets of warp threads with associated binder wefts. In other words, since the binder weft threads extend substantially straight between the two weaves, at interconnection points of warp threads from the first complete weave with the binder weft threads, the amount of crimp (formed during weaving) of the warp threads and that of remainder warp threads not interconnected with the binder weft threads are different, resulting in irregular patterns at the points (i.e. unevenness) different from the normal weave patterns of the first complete weave, causing "wire-mark" on the paper sheets formed on the fabric. Further, as stated above, in this fabric, the first complete weave and the second complete weave are interconnected by means of the binder weft threads and particular warp threads selected from the first and the second sets of warp threads of the two complete weaves, the selected warp threads being interconnected with the binder weft threads. Therefore, as the fabric travels around a plurality of rolls of a papermaking machine, the first complete weave is gradually displaced forwardly relative to the second complete weave, as a result of which the selected warp threads and/or the binder weft threads will be broken or cut at their interconnecting points.
Second, Japanese Public Disclosure No. 50-88307 discloses a forming fabric for use in a papermaking machine which comprises a first set of warp threads and a first set of weft threads which are interwoven to form a first complete weave, and a second set of warp threads and a second set of weft threads which are interwoven to form a second complete weave, threads from the first set of weft threads and threads from the second set of weft threads being interconnected by means of binder warp threads. For the same reason described above in connection with Japanese Public Disclosure No. 55-12892, the binder warp threads will be eventually broken, resulting in a shorter effective life of the fabric.
Third, Japanese Patent Publication No. 40-15842 discloses a fabric for use in a papermaking machine which comprises a first set of warp threads and a first set of weft threads which are interwoven to form a first complete weave, and a second set of warp threads and a second set of weft threads which are interwoven to form a second complete weave, a part of the first set of warp threads (i.e. binder warp threads) being interconnected with selected threads from the second set of weft threads. In this fabric, since the binder warp threads are interconnected with selected threads from the second set of weft threads at a predetermined interval or pitch, at these interconnection points the paper-web supporting surface of the first complete weave becomes uneven, causing "wire-mark" on paper sheets conveyed by the fabric. Furthermore, for the reason described above, the first complete weave is gradually displaced forwardly relative to the second complete weave, as a result of which, the binder warp threads will eventually be broken or cut at their interconnection points.
The present inventor has found that the above described disadvantages result from the fact that two or three complete weaves are interconnected by means of binder threads. The inventor has also found that the disadvantages described above cannot be removed through such prior art fabrics, and has invented novel forming fabrics consisting of only a single complete weave having two warp layers and three weft layers, which fabrics are capable of removing such disadvantages. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Telephone circuits operate on relatively low voltages. Such circuits are sometimes exposed to transient voltages of considerably higher levels than the normal operating voltages. This may be effected by a lightning strike, by momentary contact with a high voltage line, or by other causes. Therefore, it is desirable to provide means for protecting low voltage telephone circuits against such high transient voltages.
It is known to provide plug-in structures for use with telephone terminal blocks to provide connection thereto, including electrical components for protecting against high transient voltages, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,113,340, 4,116,524 and 4,126,369. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates in general to a casting apparatus for electrophoretic gel trays, and more particularly, to such an apparatus adapted for casting a separation medium such as agarose and polyacrylamide gel solution in an open-ended gel tray for horizontal gel electrophoresis. Application of such electrophoretic gels includes the separation and analysis of DNA, RNA, and other molecules of interest.
Electrophoresis is an analytical method widely used in research and clinical analytical processes. A variety of electrophoretic techniques are employed, including thin-layer, column, and upright slab gel electrophoresis, however, the present invention is a method for producing a gel for horizontal electrophoresis. While other substances and molecules may be subjected to horizontal electrophoresis, this technique is most widely used to separate and analyze nucleic acids such as DNA or RNA molecules. The source of these molecules may be tissue or cells from living or dead organisms, or from cultured cells. Molecules of interest also may be synthetically generated by PCR, RT-PCR, oligonucleotide synthesis, or other laboratory methods.
The general principle of electrophoresis is the movement of molecules in a mixture through a medium capable of retarding the movement of the molecules as a function of molecular weight, charge, size or conformation. The driving force is most frequently an applied electrical field through the medium. The typical embodiment of this medium is an agarose gel of a predetermined thickness submerged in a buffer capable of transferring an electrical charge. The ends of the gel are generally open to the buffer to allow the electrical current to enter one end of the gel, pass through the gel, and exit the other end through the buffer. In this manner, molecules are compelled to move through the gel and may be separated from each other.
In order to cast a gel, the ends of a gel tray that are open during the electrophoresis process must be temporarily blocked during the casting process so as to form a mold. A second toothed-mold called a comb is placed within the gel tray mold so that tooth-shaped wells will be formed in the gel. A solution of agarose, acrylamide, or other suitable media is poured into the gel tray mold and allowed to cool and polymerize. When the gel has polymerized, the temporary blocks are removed from the ends of the tray, and the comb is lifted from the gel. The gel and its supporting gel tray are transferred to an electrophoresis box and submerged in electrophoretic buffer. Samples of mixtures to be analyzed are placed in the wells and subjected to electrophoresis.
Despite the variety of commercially available gel casting apparatuses, the most widely used method for blocking the open ends of the tray is still the manual application of tape. Persistence of the use of tape is due to lack of a versatile apparatus that can accommodate a wide variety of gel tray and/or comb sizes and shapes, as well as failure of currently available products to hold a reliably liquid-tight seal. While taping the ends of the trays is generally satisfactory and will usually work with most gel trays, there are some gel tray designs with base pieces extending beyond the side walls, thus making it difficult to reliably seal the ends. However, this is not a problem limited to those certain gel tray designs. Tape adhesion can fail with a gel tray of any design, since the heat of liquid agarose can cause loss of adhesion and leakage when the liquid agarose is poured into the taped tray. Heat-resistant tape of a suitable adhesive quality is fairly costly, and over time, can amount to a considerable expense. While some commercially available casting systems seal adequately, they require the use of a specific gel electrophoresis box and gel tray system and cannot accommodate trays and/or combs from other manufacturers. Furthermore, high temperatures of liquid agarose can cause temporary or permanent warping of the gel tray and/or gasket pieces in some systems and compromise the integrity of the seal. Some systems also require the use of locking bolts or other loose parts that may break or be lost easily, further decreasing the utility of such systems. Currently, there is no quick and easy way to reliably block the ends of a wide variety of gel tray styles and sizes using a single apparatus.
It is broadly an object of the present invention to provide a casting apparatus for electrophoretic gel trays specifically adapted for nucleic acid electrophoresis systems which provides a liquid-tight seal for the purpose of casting an electrophoretic gel of a predetermined thickness. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a rapid means of preparing an open-ended gel tray for the purpose of casting an electrophoretic gel, the function of which is unaffected by the heat of a typical gel solution.
The casting apparatus described in this application rapidly and reliably creates a liquid-tight seal at each end of a gel tray. The casting apparatus can accommodate gel trays of varying sizes, including those originally designed to work only as components within specially designed systems. The design of the casting apparatus does not interfere with placement of combs within gel trays. Unlike tape, the structure of the present invention is durable and reusable. The high heat of a typical gel solution does not affect the performance of the present invention. The versatility and reusability make the present invention more useful and economical than any other system in the prior art, including the use of tape. In addition, it is compact enough to be placed in a refrigerator to enhance the formation of a gel. Furthermore, the present invention provides an easy means of rapidly removing the gel tray and gel from the casting apparatus while minimizing the risk of damaging the gel.
The invention is an apparatus for casting an electrophoretic separation medium within a received gel tray having open ends. The apparatus is constructed from a U-shaped housing, made from a base-plate with upright proximal and distal walls. Shaft supports are permanently attached to the outer edge of the upper surface of the base-plate, between the proximal and distal walls. Shafts are mounted in holes drilled approximately halfway into the interior face of the proximal wall and the opposing faces of the shaft supports. The shafts pass through compression springs and holes in an upright partitioning sliding wall. The sliding wall is held parallel with the proximal and distal walls. The shafts provide a linear means of movement for the sliding wall and guidance for the compression springs. The compression springs apply constant pressure against the sliding wall such that the pressure is directed toward the distal wall. The region between the sliding and distal walls forms a casting chamber able to receive single or multiple gel trays. Gaskets lining the opposing or interior faces of the sliding and distal walls produce a liquid-tight seal at each end of a gel tray placed within the casting chamber. A groove cut into the upper surface of the sliding wall permits the user to retract the sliding wall toward the proximal wall with one hand. When the sliding wall is retracted, a gel tray may be rapidly and easily placed into or removed from the casting chamber. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The invention relates to this inventor's image projection control system in an application Ser. No. 359,135 filed Mar. 17, 1982, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,875--which is a continuation-in-part of an application Ser. No. 201,179 filed Oct. 27, 1980, now abandoned. In the aforesaid applications a system of first and second acousto-optic optical control means are utilized as the principal means for establishing light reflecting conditions and corresponding optical path relationships between an illuminated message character and a common optical axis of the system, and thereby providing for a viewing of an image of the character along said common optical axis. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Integrated circuit (IC) chips may be housed in a variety of electronic package styles. One style of electronic package is a tape carrier package (TCP) wherein an IC chip is mounted directly on a dielectric tape such as polyimide. A conductive foil such as copper is overlaid on the tape and is etched to produce discrete electrical leads extending from the chip. A sealing resin is applied over the chip for protection and to seal out contaminants. The TCP can be attached directly to a circuit board by a known solder process, but it is often desirable to mount the TCP in a socket which provides an electrical interconnection to the circuit board but allows the TCP to be readily removed for replacement or upgrade.
The leads from the chip on the TCP are extremely fine, i.e., on the order of 0.004 inch wide, and are spaced apart on 0.010 inch centerlines, thus making it difficult to accurately align the leads with respective contacts in a socket. There is a need for a socket which ensures accurate engagement of the leads with their respective contacts.
Further, the TCP is somewhat fragile and difficult to handle in a high volume manufacturing environment. There is a need for a TCP holder which simplifies handling of the TCP. In particular, it would be desirable for the holder to act as a subassembly of the socket, whereby the holder having the TCP therein could be secured to a socket body to form a complete socket assembly. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A slide fastener typically includes a slider that cooperates with fastener elements located on opposite sides of a fastener tape to open and close the slide fastener. When the slider is moved in one direction (such as along the x-axis as shown in FIG. 7), a channel located between a top wing and a bottom wing of the slider meshes together rows of opposing elements of the fastener tape. When the slider is moved in the opposite direction, the channel separates the rows of opposing elements.
When the slide fastener is concealed and/or not easily accessible (as may be the case with slide fasteners used with vehicle seats, clothing, shoes, luggage and other applications), a tool may be used to assist with opening and closing the slide fastener. One non-limiting example of a concealed slide fastener is described in U.S. Publication No. 2012/0167355 filed Sep. 11, 2009 and titled “Fastener Stringer for Concealed Slide Fastener,” the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. In some cases, a concealed slide fastener includes a fastener tape connected to an interior surface of an article and a slider positioned within the interior of the article.
With most slide fasteners, it is important that the slider be properly aligned with the fastener elements during opening and closing of the slide fastener. If the slider laterally moves out of alignment with the slide fastener channel (i.e., if the slider moves along the y-axis of FIG. 7) and/or if the slider moves out of the plane of the slide fastener channel (i.e., if the slider moves along the z-axis of FIG. 7), it is possible that the elements of the tape will be damaged, potentially damaging the slide fastener. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The inventor teaches in USSN 169,648 and in USSN 112,842 methods for forming a coherent beam and a coherent cluster beam of bosons having mass. In these applications which are incorporated herein by reference, it is disclosed that these beams may be charged by exposing them to charged particles and, as such, accelerated by an applied voltage. Cluster formation from gas, superstaturated gas and superfluid helium, coherency of helium (helium being comprised of bosons having mass), and accelerating particles is well known in the art. The reader is referred to: U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,344, Friedman, Jul. 5, 1988; "Cluster-Impact Fusion" by P. M. Echenique, J. R. Mousin, R. H. Ritchie Physical Review Letters, Vol. 64, No. 12, 19 March 1990 pp. 1413-1416; "Clouds of trapped Cooled Ions Condense Into Crystals", Physics Today, Sept. 1988, pp. 17-20; "Cluster-Impact Fusion", R. J. Beuhler, J. Friedlander, and L. Friedman, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 63, No. 12, 18 September 1989 pp. 1292-1295; "Phase-Diagram Considerations of Cluster Formation When Using Nozzle-Beam Sources", E. L. Knuth, W. Li, J.P. Toennies, copyright 1989, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronauts, Inc., International Symposium on Rarefied Gas Dynamics, p. 329, edited by M. Summerfield; "Cluster Ion Formation in Free Jet Expansion Processes at Low Temperatures", R. J. Beuhler and L. Friedman, copyright Verlog Chemie (mbH, D-6940 Weinheim, 1984) International Symposium on Rarefied Gas Dynamics; "Influence of Surface Roughness on the Momentum Transfer by 350-KeV Hydrogen-Cluster Ions"; W. Keller, R. Klingelhofer, B. Krevet, H. O. Moser, and R. Ries, Rev. Sci. Instrum 55(4), April 1984 pp. 468-471; "New Type of Collective Acceleration," Charles W. Hartman, James H. Hammer, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 48, No. 14, 5 April 1982 pp. 929-932; "Experimental Demonstration of Acceleration and Focusing of Magnetically Confined Plasma Rings", J. H. Haniver, Charles W. Hartman, Jr., L. Eddleman, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 61, No. 25, 19 December 1988, pp. 2843-2846, Japanese Patent 60-200448, Hitachi Seisakusho, K. K. Sep. 10, 1985; Conference Paper on "Rarefied Gas Dynamics", H. Buchenau, R. Gotting, A. Scheidemann, J. P. Toennies (1986) 15th International Symposium on Rarefied Gas Dynamics, Vol. II, p 197 (1986), edited by V. Boffi and L. Ceragnami; and "Dynamics of Atomic Collisions on Helium Clusters", Jurgen Gspann, R. Ries (Oct. 28, 1986) Physics and Chemistry of Small Clusters edited by P. Jenna, B. K. Rao and S. N. Khanna, Nato ASI Series 158, 1986, p. 199.
When considering the application of charged particles to clusters, the principal of field emission is now considered.
The principle of field emission is that for a curved surface with radius a of curvature r at a potential V, the electric field E may be defined as V/r so that for a small enough radius, say r =1.mu.m, and a potential of 1 kV, the electric field is 10.sup.7 V/cm, which is an enormous field. With this enormous field outside an atom, the electron can easily tunnel through the attractive potential and become free. This technique has been used in transmission electron microscopes to generate an electron source of very high brightness. In these devices, the cathode is made of a tungsten wire with a 1.mu.m radius and then an extra fine tip with a radius of 100 nm or less is electrolytically etched on the fine wire. For a brief description of this technology, see e.g. L. Reiner: Transmission Electron Microscope, 2nd Edition, Springer Valley (1989); paper on "Rarefied Gas Dynamics", H. Buchenau, R. Gotting, A. Scheidemann, J. P. Toennies (1986), 15th International Symposium on Rarefied Gas Dynamics, Vol. II, P. 197 (1986) edited by V. Boffi and L. Ceragnami; "Dynamics of Atomic Collisions on Helium Clusters", Jurgen Gspann, R. Ries (Oct. 28, 1986), Physics and Chemistry of Small Clusters, edited by P. Jenna, B. K. Rao and S. N. Khanna, Nato ASI Series 158, 1986, page 199. The characteristics of the electron source are
______________________________________ field strength 10.sup.7 V/cm area 10.sup.-12 m.sup.2 current density 100 A/cm.sup.2 current 1.about.10 .mu.A solid angle 0.1 radian ______________________________________
Until now, field emission technique has been used to generate electrons. Now disclosed is the use of the field emission technique to generate electrons in liquids as well as gases, that is in fluids, to charge strongly coupled or coherent clusters. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Persistent memory may be characterized as a way to store data structures such that the data structures may continue to be accessible using memory instructions or memory application programming interfaces (APIs) even after the process that created or last modified the data structures ends. Persistent memory may be accessed in a similar manner to types of volatile memory used for system memory of a computing system (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM)), but it retains stored data structures across power loss in a similar manner to computer storage (e.g., hard disk drives or solid state drives). Persistent memory capabilities extend beyond an ability to retain stored data structures associated with program/system states across system power transitions (e.g., power loss to power restore). Key metadata may also need to be retained across system power transitions. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Electronic equipment involving semiconductive devices is essential for many modern applications. Technological advances in materials and design have produced generations of semiconductive devices where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In the course of advancement and innovation, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometric size (i.e., the smallest component that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. Such advances have increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing semiconductive devices. In addition, the fabrication of semiconductor devices through packaging of semiconductor dies or chips continues to become increasingly complex. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Fullerenes are closed-cage molecules composed entirely of sp2-hybridized carbons, arranged in hexagons and pentagons. Fullerenes (e.g., C60) were first identified as closed spheroidal cages produced by condensation from vaporized carbon.
Fullerene tubes are produced in carbon deposits on the cathode in carbon arc methods of producing spheroidal fullerenes from vaporized carbon. Ebbesen et al. (Ebbesen I), “Large-Scale Synthesis Of Carbon Nanotubes,” Nature, Vol. 358, p. 220 (Jul. 16, 1992) and Ebbesen et al., (Ebbesen II), “Carbon Nanotubes,” Annual Review of Material Science, Vol. 24, p. 235 (1994). Such tubes are referred to herein as carbon nanotubes. Many of the carbon nanotubes made by these processes were multi-wall nanotubes, i.e., the carbon nanotubes resembled concentric cylinders. Carbon nanotubes having up to seven walls have been described in the prior art. Ebbesen II; Iijima et al., “Helical Microtubules Of Graphitic Carbon,” Nature, Vol. 354, p. 56 (Nov. 7, 1991).
Single-wall carbon nanotubes have been made in a DC arc discharge apparatus of the type used in fullerene production by simultaneously evaporating carbon and a small percentage of Group VIII transition metal from the anode of the arc discharge apparatus. See Iijima et al., “Single-Shell Carbon Nanotubes of 1 nm Diameter,” Nature, Vol. 363, p. 603 (1993); Bethune et al., “Cobalt Catalyzed (Growth of Carbon Nanotubes with Single Atomic Layer Walls,” Nature, Vol. 63, p. 605 (1993); Ajayan et al., “Growth Morphologies During Cobalt Catalyzed Single-Shell Carbon Nanotube Synthesis,” Chem. Phys. Lett., Vol. 215, p. 509 (1993); Zhou et al., “Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Growing Radially From YC2 Particles,” Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 65, p. 1593 (1994); Seraphin et al., “Single-Walled Tubes and Encapsulation of Nanocrystals Into Carbon Clusters,” Electrochem. Soc., Vol. 142, p. 290 (1995); Saito et al., “Carbon Nanocapsules Encaging Metals and Carbides,” J. Phys. Chem. Solids, Vol. 54, p. 1849 (1993); Saito et al., “Extrusion of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes Via Formation of Small Particles Condensed Near an Evaporation Source,” Chem. Phys. Lett., Vol. 236, p. 419 (1995). It is also known that the use of mixtures of such transition metals can significantly enhance the yield of single-wall carbon nanotubes in the arc discharge apparatus. See Lambert et al., “Improving Conditions Toward Isolating Single-Shell Carbon Nanotubes,” Chem. Phys. Lett., Vol. 226, p. 364 (1994).
While this arc discharge process can produce single-wall nanotubes, the yield of nanotubes is low and the tubes exhibit significant variations in structure and size between individual tubes in the mixture. Individual carbon nanotubes are difficult to separate from the other reaction products and purify.
An improved method of producing single-wall nanotubes is described in U.S. Ser. No. 08/687,665, entitled “Ropes of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This method uses, inter alia, laser vaporization of a graphite substrate doped with transition metal atoms, preferably nickel, cobalt, or a mixture thereof, to produce single-wall carbon nanotubes in yields of at least 50% of the condensed carbon. The single-wall nanotubes produced by this method tend to be formed in clusters, termed “ropes,” of 10 to 1000 single-wall carbon nanotubes in parallel alignment, held together by van der Waals forces in a closely packed triangular lattice. Nanotubes produced by this method vary in structure, although one structure tends to predominate.
Although the laser vaporization process produces improved single-wall nanotube preparations, the product is still heterogeneous, and the nanotubes are too tangled for many potential uses of these materials. In addition, the vaporization of carbon is a high energy process and is inherently costly. Therefore, there remains a need for improved methods of producing single-wall nanotubes of greater purity and homogeneity. Furthermore, many practical materials could make use of the properties of single-wall carbon nanotubes if only they were available as macroscopic components. However, such components have not been produced up to now. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The invention relates to a device for generating multi-directional commands, comprising at least one elongate member having a first and a second extremity, the member being provided with strain gauges which detect the multi-directional deformations incurred by the member under the influence of a force exerted near the second extremity, the first extremity cooperating with a support.
A device of this kind is known, for example from the document GB-A-2 211 280 which describes a device in the form of a joystick which consists of a rod whose cross-section has been locally reduced so as to make the rod deformable in several directions. These narrowed portions are provided so as to receive the strain gauges which detect the deformations. The rod constitutes the centre of a stick which can be manipulated by hand. The rod can move within a conical volume around one of its extremities, the mobile extremity being displaced in all directions perpendicular to the rod. This command device is rather voluminous and its manufacture is expensive.
On the other hand, when the joystick has performed the displacement desired by the user, it is necessary to validate the electric signals from the strain gauges. The execution of this function is not dealt with by the cited document. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for embedding a plurality of different two-dimensional codes in an image, and in particular to a method for embedding a new two-dimensional code in an image so as not to corrupt a two-dimensional code which has already been embedded in the image.
2. Description of the Related Art
A two-dimensional code technology exists for embedding electronic data in a paper by printing an image pattern generated by encoding the electronic data, optically reading the image, and extracting the electronic data. It has become possible to embed more electronic information in a paper by embedding information using a two-dimensional code.
Since a two-dimensional code can be embedded and read with one machine when a copy machine having both a printing function and a scanning function is used, systems peculiar to a copy machine using a two-dimensional code have been developed. For example, a system exists for embedding information indicative of a confidential document in a printout as a two-dimensional code, determining whether or not the printout is a confidential document prohibited from being copied when copying the printout in an image forming device, and stopping the copy operation if the printout is a confidential document (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-305646). In addition, a system exists for embedding a usage log of an image forming device in a paper document and using the usage log to track the document. Furthermore, a system exists for embedding a two-dimensional code as image information itself and printing an original image on the basis of the image information acquired by scanning the two-dimensional code (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-153568). Furthermore, a system exists for previously storing a document in an image forming device, synthesizing the previously stored document and another document, and printing a synthesized image (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-122837).
Optimal embedding methods are selected and used in accordance with the intended use. Two-dimensional code embedding methods can be classified into two types as follows.
TypeDescriptionFeatures(A)AResilience of aIterativetwo-dimensionaltwo-dimensional code isembeddingcode is embeddedhigh because themethoditeratively intwo-dimensional code isa whole surfaceiteratively embedded in aof a document.document. Information canbe restored even if part ofthe two-dimensional codesis lost.(B)AA lot of information can beSimpletwo-dimensionalembedded becauseembeddingcode is embeddedinformation is embedded inmethodin part of ahigh density.surface ofInformation can not bedocument.restored if part of thetwo-dimensional code islost.
FIG. 1 shows a document in which a two-dimensional code is embedded using the iterative embedding method and a document in which a two-dimensional code is embedded using the simple embedding method.
Reference numeral 10 denotes a document in which two-dimensional codes are embedded by the iterative embedding method. Each of rectangles enclosed with dotted lines in the figure is an information embedded tile. The dotted lines are not actually printed, but are shown in the figure to plainly show the presence of the information embedded tiles. The same information is embedded in all of the information embedded tiles printed in the whole surface of the document 10, so that the information can be extracted even from a part of the surface of the document. Thus, a document in which two-dimensional codes are embedded by the iterative embedding method is resilient to stains, wrinkles, etc. Furthermore, the iterative embedding method prints two-dimensional codes in a whole surface of a document and therefore often generates a pattern using dots, lines, etc. for information embedding in order to reduce the visibility of the two-dimensional codes.
On the other hand, reference numeral 20 denotes a document in which a two-dimensional code is embedded by the simple embedding method. The two-dimensional code is printed on the lower right of the document in the figure. In the case of the simple embedding method, if part of a two-dimensional code is chipped or the two-dimensional code gets dirty, information can not be extracted from the two-dimensional code. However, the simple embedding method has the advantage of embedding a large amount of information in a document because it generates a high density two-dimensional code.
A system for determining whether or not a document is confidential often uses the iterative embedding method. On the other hand, a system for embedding image information for use handles a lot of information and therefore often uses the simple embedding method.
Next, the outline of a system which is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-122837 will be discussed. The system performs overlay (synthesizing) a previously stored document onto another document, and printing the thus acquired synthesized image. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a data flow of the system proposed in Japanese Paten Laid-Open No. 2000-122837. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 1003 denotes a ROM (program ROM). The ROM 1003 stores a control program including the following modules.
Reference numeral 201 denotes a form generating module for generating a form file 207. Reference numeral 202 denotes an embedded data generating module for generating an embedded data file 208. Reference numeral 203 denotes a composite file generating module for generating a composite form file 209 from the multiple form files 207 and embedded data files 208. Reference numeral 204 denotes a memory expansion module for expanding the composite form file. Reference numeral 205 denotes a sequential analysis processing module for sequentially analyzing the expanded composite form file. Reference numeral 206 denotes an overlay module for allowing a printer to perform overlay printing according to the settings acquired by analyzing the composite form file. The memory expansion module 204, the sequential analysis module 205, and the overlay module 206 are collectively referred to as a run time library module or an overlay specifying module.
Reference numeral 1002 denotes a RAM functioning as a memory into which the above modules are loaded, and a form object is stored therein. The form object is form data and embedded data (field data). Furthermore, the RAM 1002 is also a work area.
Reference numeral 1009 denotes a hard disk in which a database, an embedded data file, a form file, and a composite form file are stored. Reference numeral 207 denotes a file consisting of form data generated by the form generating module 201. Reference numeral 208 denotes an embedded data file consisting of embedded data (referred to as field data or appended data) generated by the embedded data generating module 203. Reference numeral 209 denotes a composite form file defined from multiple form files generated by the composite file generating module 203. The composite form file 209 is defined as an information file which has both of form information managing multiple types of forms as one relating continuous form, and output information of paper cassettes for output for each of the forms, and the like. Reference numeral 210 denotes a database to which the embedded data generating module 202 makes an access to generate the embedded data file 208 as discussed later.
Overlay data (including form data and embedded data) generated by respective program modules stored in the ROM 1003 is passed to an OS. The OS associates a data function (GDI function) output from an application with a common data function (DDI function) which can be recognized by an output device and outputs the data function to a printer driver 211 designated by the application. A function association component for processing this is part of the function of the OS and corresponds to a GDI of Windows. This function is publicly known and therefore the detail description regarding the function is omitted.
The printer driver 211 analyzes a data function (DDI function) input from the function association component of the OS and generates print data using a page description language (PDL) capable of print processing. The generated print data is output and sent to the printer as a printing device. The printer generates bitmap data as specified by the print data and prints out it. The printer is capable of performing overlay. The printer receives print data for a form and print data for embedding, performs overlay processing, and then prints thus acquired print data. If the printer has no overlay function, the printer driver 211 may generate print data of all pages by performing overlay processing and send the print data to the printer.
In this way, systems using two-dimensional codes use various two-dimensional codes according to their objects and therefore may use multiple different two-dimensional codes at the same time. In other words, it is possible to print multiple different two-dimensional codes on the same paper. When multiple different two-dimensional codes are used at the same time, the two-dimensional codes thereof interfere with each other and thereby information may not be able to be read from each of the two-dimensional codes. In other words, if a system using multiple different two-dimensional codes at the same time, when copying a document in which a two-dimensional code has already been embedded, performs printing while adding a new two-dimensional code thereon, the two-dimensional code already embedded may be corrupted.
Furthermore, systems using two-dimensional codes use various two-dimensional codes according to their objects and therefore may use multiple different two-dimensional codes at the same time. For example, a system exists for overlaying a document in which a two-dimensional code has already been embedded onto form data in which a two-dimensional code has already been embedded, and then prints thus acquired image. This printing system may not be able to read information from each of the two-dimensional codes because the two-dimensional codes thereof interfere with each other. In other words, after a document in which a two-dimensional code has already been embedded is overlaid onto form data in which a two-dimensional code has already been embedded, if a new two-dimensional code is added thereon for printing, the two-dimensional codes already embedded may be corrupted.
Systems making a form overlaying function unusable when making a function using a two-dimensional code effective in order to prevent the two-dimensional codes already embedded from being corrupted can be easily considered, but may impair user's convenience. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Gas turbine engines are typically employed to power aircraft. Typically a gas turbine engine will comprise an axial fan driven by an engine core. The engine core is generally made up of one or more turbines which drive respective compressors via coaxial shafts. The fan is usually driven directly off an additional lower pressure turbine in the engine core.
A fan of the gas turbine engine generally includes a plurality of blades mounted to a hub. A fan casing and liner circumscribe the fan blades. Fan blades may be metallic or have a composite construction. Generally a composite fan blade will have a composite non-metallic core, e.g. a core having fibres within a resin matrix. Typically a composite blade will have a metallic leading edge to prevent erosion and to protect the blade against impact damage from foreign objects. The metallic leading edge generally wraps around the leading edge of the composite core and covers a portion of the suction surface of the blade and a portion of the pressure surface of the blade.
In the event of the leading edge becoming detached from the remainder of the fan blade (e.g. if a fan blade is released from the hub), the construction of the leading edge means that it can apply high impact forces to the fan casing. The fan casing and liner can be designed to absorb the impact energy imparted by a released blade and leading edge. However, this generally leads to a heavy system that has associated efficiency penalties. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a method of calculating the coordinates of a target image where it is displayed on a video monitor, from a composite signal consisting of video signals and synchronizing signals for displaying a target, such as a light-emitter, photographed by a vide camera or a target stored in a video recorder, on the video monitor, and an apparatus for carrying out this method.
For the coordinates of a particular location, a mark, or a target, such as a light-emitter, photographed by a video camera or a target stored in a video recorder where it is displayed on a video monitor, count values of the number of pixel dots are converted into digital values. The coordinates are calculated by the digital values so that these digital coordinates are returned to analog values, which are output to an external device, for example, an image editor.
As mentioned above, when data are processed through means for an analog-to-digital conversion, a digital calculation, and a digital-to-analog conversion, much time is spent until the coordinate values are output. In particular, a video image that has a large number of dots requires an extremely long processing time. In a common video image, images for 60 fields per second are scanned and switched. Unless an arithmetical element has a very high arithmetical processing speed, cases frequently occur in which a timely output of each of the coordinate values is not obtained until one field is completed and the next field appears. Where the coordinate values are calculated and output in succession, output delays may be accumulated to give rise to problems.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method of calculating the coordinates of a target image in which the coordinates of the target image where it is displayed on a monitor can be calculated very rapidly and an apparatus for carrying out this method.
In order to achieve this object, the method of calculating the coordinates of the target image according to the present invention involves measuring time between the generation of a vertical synchronizing signal fetched from a composite signal for displaying the target image on a video monitor and a singular change of a video signal therefrom and calculating the coordinates of the target image displayed on the video monitor from this measured time.
According to this method of calculating the coordinates of a target image, the coordinates of the target image are calculated in accordance with the time between the output of the vertical synchronizing signal and the singular change of the video signal, without requiring the analog-to-digital conversion or digital-to-analog conversion of data. Thus, the data of the coordinates can be obtained in a short processing time.
The method of calculating the coordinates of a target image according to the present invention may be carried out in such a way that Y coordinate is calculated from the time measured and X coordinate is calculated from measuring time between generation of a horizontal synchronizing signal produced immediately before the video signal and the singular change.
Specifically, the video signal bringing about the singular change is a maximum or minimum voltage signal selected from video signals near here.
Such video signal bringing about the singular change may be given from a voltage of a video signal compared with a threshold.
The target image refers to an image of a light-emitter photographed by a video camera.
According to the present invention, an apparatus for calculating the coordinates of a target image to carry out the method of calculating the coordinates of a target image includes a means for generating a composite signal to display a target image on a video monitor, a means for measuring time between the generation of a vertical synchronizing signal fetched from the composite signal and a singular change of a video signal therefrom, and a means for calculating the coordinates of the target image displayed on the video monitor from this measured time.
This apparatus may include a means for calculating Y coordinate of the target image from the time measured above, means for calculating X coordinate from measuring time between the generation of a horizontal synchronizing signal produced immediately before the video signal and the singular change, and means for measuring the time.
This apparatus may have a comparator for selecting a maximum or minimum voltage from video signals near here to extract the video signal bringing about the singular change.
The comparator may be for comparing a voltage of each video signal compared with a threshold.
Also, the means for generating the composite signal is a video camera.
This and other objects as well as the features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to an antenna module, and more particularly to an antenna module with several antennas symmetrically disposed around a center base.
2. Related Art
In recent years, with the popularization of consumer electronic products such as notebook computers and Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) and the rapid development of the Internet, information from different regions in the world is communicated and linked. Today, the interconnection architecture of the Internet is changed from a wired connection type such as using optical fibers, wires or cables, to a wireless connection type, so as to solve the problem that circuit layout of the network architecture of the wireless type is too complicated, and provide a humanized and convenient communication environment.
Due to the application of the wireless network, a computer device must be electrically connected to a wireless transceiver, so that the computer device can smoothly receive and transmit wireless network signals. The wireless transceiver must include at least one antenna for receiving and transmitting the wireless network signals, so that the wireless transceiver is capable of operating broadband signals and multiple bandwidths. Hence, in a current manufacturing method, several antennas are installed inside a casing of a wireless transceiver, and an antenna module is electrically coupled to a circuit board of the wireless transceiver, so that the wireless transceiver is capable of transferring the received wireless network signals to a micro-processing chip on the circuit board, or radiating the wireless signals generated by the micro-processing chip by the antennas. In another manufacturing method, the antenna is laid out on the circuit board of the wireless transceiver.
However, in actual application, the conventional external antenna module is so large in size that the overall volume of the wireless transceiver is too large. This is to say, the wireless transceiver is so large that the wireless transceivers cannot meet the current demands of being light in weight and small in size.
Otherwise, if the antenna module is laid out on the circuit board of the wireless transceiver, the antenna performance cannot be optimized, and if there are several antenna modules, the problem that the volume occupied by the wireless transceiver is too large to meet the current demands that the electronic products must be light in weight and small in size.
On the contrary, in order to keep the wireless transceiver to be light in weight and small in size, the volume of the antenna module needs to be limited below a certain scale, so that the operation band of the antenna module is limited, and even a problem of poor stability of a radiation pattern is generated.
Therefore, one of the most important research directions in the development of the antenna module is that how to design an antenna module having broadband and multi-band capabilities and meeting the demands of being light in weight, being small in size and having an omnidirectional radiation pattern. | {
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Since the advent of recombinant technology, many mammalian proteins are produced in host cells by e.g. transfecting cells with DNA encoding said proteins and growing the recombinant cells under conditions favorable for the expression of said proteins. The proteins secreted by the cells into the cell culture medium, or residing inside the cells, can be separated from the culture medium and other components using chromatographic techniques, e.g. ion exchange chromatography, affinity chromatography, and the like. For further pharmaceutical applications, purity is of particular importance. However, at the same time the biological activity of the protein must be preserved after thorough purification of the proteins of interest.
The concept of eluting calcium binding proteins from anion exchange resins by divalent cations was firstly reported almost thirty years ago. Although bovine Factor VII was successfully isolated from bovine plasma, the purification of human Factor VII was still problematic, i.e. the material produced was only partially pure or was obtained in such small quantities that it was characterized as activity without detectable protein. Workers in the field succeeded in the isolation of human Factor VII from human plasma in sufficient quantities (with a yield of approx. 30%) by means of adsorbing proteins to a divalent cation, i.e. barium citrate, and then separating the protein by anion exchange chromatography. Further, methods were available for recovering and purifying vitamin K-dependent proteins from the medium of a cell culture producing vitamin K-dependent proteins with different specific activities by means of conventional ion-exchange resins, e.g. anion exchange resins, and using an eluant containing divalent cations, e.g. calcium ion (Ca2+), magnesium ion (Mg2+), barium ion (Ba2+), and strontium ion (Sr2+).
Furthermore, methods were available for the purification of Factor IX (FIX) in solution, comprising the steps of applying the solution containing FIX to an anion exchange resin, washing the anion exchange resin with a solution having a conductivity that is less than required to elute FIX from the resin, and eluting FIX from the anion exchange resin with a first eluant including divalent cations to form a first eluate. The first eluate is then applied to a heparin or heparin-like resin to form a second eluate, and the second eluate is applied to hydroxyapatite to form a third eluate, utilizing a high conductivity washing agent in the washing step.
Factor IX (FIX) is a vitamin K-dependent serine protease of the coagulation system, belonging to the peptidase family S1. FIX is inactive unless activated by Factor XIa or Factor Vila. For its activation, calcium, and membrane phospholipids, are required. Deficiency of FIX causes the hereditary recessive bleeding disorder hemophilia B, which can be successfully treated by administration of posttranslational modified, i.e. phosphorylated and sulfated FIX. FIX can be further converted into activated FIX, i.e. FIXa. As FIXa can negatively affect a given composition of FIX (e.g. by increasing its thrombogenicity as described in the literature), FIX products should preferentially contain a low FIXa content.
Further, Factor VII (FVII) is a vitamin K-dependent serine protease which plays a significant role in the coagulation cascade, where it initiates the process of coagulation with tissue factor (TF). Upon vessel injury, TF is exposed to the blood and circulating FVII. Once bound to TF, FVII is activated to FVIIa by thrombin, Factor Xa, IXa, XIIa, and the FVIIa-TF complex whose substrates are FX and FIX. Furthermore, Annexin V is a cellular protein in the annexin group, having the ability to bind in a calcium-dependent manner to phosphatidylserine and to form a membrane-bound two dimensional crystal lattice. It may play a role in blood coagulation, apoptosis, phagocytosis and formation of plasma membrane-derived microparticles.
Thus, the problem underlying the present invention is to provide an improved method for the purification of divalent cation binding proteins with high yield and high purity. The solution to the above technical problem is achieved by the embodiments characterized in the claims. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an area of intersection between a high-pressure chamber and a high-pressure duct.
2. Object and Summary of the Invention
To increase the strength in the area of intersection, it is possible to round the area of intersection.
It is the object of the invention to increase the high-pressure strength in the area of intersection between a high-pressure chamber and a high-pressure duct.
The object is attained, in an area of intersection between a high-pressure chamber and a high-pressure duct, in that the area of intersection includes at least one planar area or an area that is curved markedly less than the remaining area of intersection. The planar area may also be embodied as only nearly planar. The high-pressure chamber and the high-pressure duct are also called functional chambers. By means of the planar or nearly planar area, an intersection geometry is created, in which tensile stresses of the functional chambers that occur upon subjection to pressure are not superimposed directly and add up as they do in conventional intersection geometries. By means of the planar area in the area of intersection, it is attained that in the intersection geometry of the invention, under pressure, local pressure stresses or markedly reduced tensile stresses occur in an inner wall of the high-pressure chamber and are then superimposed with the tensile stresses in an inner wall of the high-pressure duct. Since with the intersection geometry of the invention, a tensile stress has only a reduced tensile stress or in the best case a pressure stress superimposed on it, the total is less and hence the maximum stress that occurs is reduced markedly.
A preferred exemplary embodiment of the area of intersection is characterized in that the high-pressure duct has a smaller diameter than the high-pressure chamber. The high-pressure chamber is preferably a chamber in an injector housing of a fuel injector that is filled with fuel at high pressure via a high-pressure inlet.
A further preferred exemplary embodiment of the area of intersection is characterized in that a cylindrical jacket face of the high-pressure chamber in the area of intersection has either the planar area or the area that is curved markedly less than the remaining area of intersection. In an essential aspect of the invention, the cross section of the high-pressure chamber is advantageously varied by removal of material, in such a way that a planar or nearly planar area is created.
A further preferred exemplary embodiment of the area of intersection is characterized in that the high-pressure duct in the planar area discharges into the high-pressure chamber. The exit from the high-pressure duct is shifted, in an essential aspect of the invention, into or to the planar or nearly planar area.
Further preferred exemplary embodiments of the area of intersection are characterized in that the area of transition between the planar area and the high-pressure chamber or the high-pressure duct is rounded. As a result, unwanted stresses can be reduced still further.
A further preferred exemplary embodiment of the area of intersection is characterized in that the planar area extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of the high-pressure chamber. Preferably, the planar area extends over a portion of the length of the high-pressure duct and then changes over into a cylindrical jacket face. The planar area may, however, also extend over the entire length of the high-pressure duct.
A further preferred exemplary embodiment of the area of intersection is characterized in that the high-pressure chamber, viewed in cross section, has two circular arcs, which on one end change over into the planar area. The circular arcs are preferably semicircles, which on their ends opposite the planar area are joined by means of a further planar or nearly planar area.
A further preferred exemplary embodiment of the area of intersection is characterized in that the high-pressure chamber, viewed in cross section, has two elliptical arcs, which on one end change over into the planar area. Preferably, the planar area is disposed parallel to the main axis of the ellipses to which the two elliptical arcs belong.
A further preferred exemplary embodiment of the area of intersection is characterized in that the high-pressure chamber, viewed in cross section, has two further planar areas, which are disposed perpendicular to the planar area from which they originate and change over into the cylindrical jacket face. The three planar areas form a U-shaped cross section with a base and two legs. The high-pressure duct discharges into the base. The two legs change over into the cylindrical jacket face, which in the area of intersection is reduced to a semicircular cross section.
Further advantages, characteristics and details of the invention will become apparent from the ensuing description, in which various exemplary embodiments are described in detail in conjunction with the drawings. | {
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Stacked die for 3-dimensional integration (3-DI) are rapidly becoming a reality for commercial applications, including field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and memory devices. Generally, 3-DI employs through silicon vias (TSVs) filled with a conductive material (e.g., Cu or W) to provide vertical electrical connections to a die. Further electrical pathways can be facilitated by using conductive solder bumps between a die and another component (e.g., another die, a circuit board, an interposer, etc.), in which such bumps are generally surrounded by a polymer underfill.
From a failure analysis perspective, 3-DI presents many challenges in order to access such electrical components, such as TSVs and solder bumps. For instance, the die of interest can be obstructed by other stacked die. Alternatively, the die of interest can be extremely thin and fragile, which can be difficult to handle. Many techniques involved with the preparation of 3-DI for failure analysis are destructive, in which a die has to be separated to access internal components, thereby resulting in loss of device functionality. Accordingly, there is an emerging need for semi-destructive processes to access and to connect targeted TSVs and/or solder bumps on 3-DI components, such as those that are sandwiched between the stacked die and/or are not accessible from the large faces of the die stack. | {
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Recently, as an example of a device for reproducing data recorded on an optical disk, there are a compact disk player (hereinafter, referred to as CD player), a CD-ROM drive device in which a compact disk (hereinafter, referred to as CD) is used a read-only memory, etc. As a CD-ROM drive device becomes popular, the request for providing a CD-ROM drive device with a reproducing function which enables fast access while attaining low-power consumption is growing.
Recording systems for a disk include the constant linear velocity system (hereinafter, referred to as CLV system) which is characterized in high-density recording, and the constant angular velocity system (hereinafter, referred to as CAV system) which is characterized in high-speed search. For example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Tokkai) No. Hei6-36289 discloses a method in which a disk wherein recording was performed by the CLV system is reproduced under CAV-rotation. Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Tokkai) No. Sho62-88170 discloses a method in which a disk wherein recording was performed by the CLV system is reproduced at a linear velocity higher than a specified linear velocity. In the former method, influences of the rotation settlement of a spindle servo can be eliminated, and the pickup-moving time is substantially equal to the access time. The latter is a system in which reproduction can be started even in a period when the CLV rotation settlement has not yet reached the final linear velocity. As the rotation number of a spindle motor is increased to a double speed or a quadruple speed, the effects of these systems are further recognized. For example, results of a technical study on the variable linear velocity reproduction system are reported in NIKKEI ELECTRONICS No. 628 (Feb. 13, 1995), pp. 111 to 119. In the report of NIKKEI ELECTRONICS, the term of variable velocity reproduction is used. In the following description, however, reproduction under the state where the linear velocity has not yet reached the final target is called the variable linear velocity reproduction system.
In a usual CD player or a CD-ROM device, the read clock signal is fixed, and the rotation of a disk is synchronized in phase with the read clock signal. Such a player or device is configured so that data which were once stored in a memory or the like by using the write clock signal synchronized with the regenerative clock signal are read out in synchronization with the read clock signal, thereby absorbing the time fluctuation.
By contrast, in a CD-ROM drive device, it is not particularly necessary to read out data by using a fixed clock signal. Therefore, such a device may be configured so as to read out data in accordance with rotation of a disk. The above-mentioned variable linear velocity reproduction system is a reproduction system which was developed in view of the above. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a high performance microprocessor architecture and, more particularly to a high performance microprocessor address bus architecture.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a typical prior art address bus architecture 100 which includes a mux 102 to select between an address ADDR.sub.-- CPU, indicated at 104, generated by a CPU (central processing unit-not shown) and an address ADDR.sub.-- DMA, indicated at 106, generated by a DMA (direct memory access device-not shown). A select input 108 from a bus master selects which address is output onto the address bus (ADDR) 110. Also shown are peripherals that are connected to address bus 110. The peripherals include an SCU (a serial communications unit) 112, a DMA (a direct memory access unit) 114, a WDT (watchdog timer) 116, a TMR (a timer unit) 118, and a PMU (power management unit) 120. As is known in the computer art an address contains specific information that "notifies" a targeted peripheral that the peripheral has information that needs to be placed on a data path (not shown) for use by other components in the computer.
The prior art devices, as represented by the device shown in FIG. 1, are adequate for those instances when the memory unit has a given memory architecture, that is, a given number of bits to address a location in the memory. However, when it is desired to address other memory architectures, the prior art devices were unable to address them. As is known in the computer art, memory devices which can be made up of DRAM (dynamic random access memory) in which the address input is made up of a row address and a column address, are manufactured with different architectures. For example, some have a nine bit row address and a nine bit column address, others have a ten bit row address and a ten bit column address, and others could have a ten bit row address and an eleven bit column address. As can be appreciated, the prior art device shown in FIG. 1 could not address any DRAM architecture.
In addition, the prior art devices, represented by the device shown in FIG. 1, are incapable of addressing a different size memory, that is, information or data stored in an eight bit data size memory if the CPU or DMA only generates memory addresses based upon the presumption that the information or data is stored in 16 bit data size memory.
Furthermore, the prior art devices, represented by the device shown in FIG. 1, are incapable of adapting if the CPU is in a next address pipeline addressing mode. The prior art device, for example, would latch the next address to the bus before the memory was ready for it.
What is needed, therefore, is an address bus architecture that is (1) capable of addressing different size DRAM architectures, that is (2) capable of addressing different size memory, for example, eight bit memory locations as well as sixteen bit memory locations, that is (3) capable of handling memory addresses when the CPU is in a next address pipelining mode, and that is (4) capable of testing the core memory independently.
The inventors designed a computer architecture that involved the integration of a 386 core processor with many on-chip peripherals. One of the design goals was for the 386 microprocessor to be able to perform memory cycles at 33 MHz and V.sub.cc =5 volts made in CS22 technology (a technology utilized at the assignee of this application). A second design goal was that the architecture must work with both 8 bit data size and 16 bit data size memories as well as with DRAM memory. The address output from the 386 microprocessor is pipelined in some read/write cycles but in not all cycles. The microprocessor has an input pin called "NA" which acts as a request signal to the microprocessor to pipeline the address outputs for the next read/write cycle.
However, the integrated design did not have an extra pin to make NA available outside the chip. This means that the address outputs of the integrated design could not be pipelined outside the chip even if the microprocessor pipelines the addresses inside the chip. This required logic to be designed in the address output path to accommodate pipelining inside the integrated chip.
In addition, it was required that the integrated chip be able to provide row and column addresses directly to DRAM memory. This required logic needs to be designed in the address output path.
In order to test the core processor memory independently, it is required that the core address outputs be made directly available at pads in testmode (TSTMOD).
To accommodate all of these requirements a special address path design was necessary.
In addition, to achieve the fastest timing, a special scheme was developed to connect the onchip peripherals to different segments of the address path. Decoding addresses to determine if an eight bit or a sixteen bit memory was being addressed needed to be done as early as possible. Therefore, address decode logic was placed closest to the core address outputs. Since the core always executes as if 16 bit data size memory was being addressed, and since it was required for the integrated design to be able to work with 8 bit data size memories, it was necessary for a state machine to be added to create 2 cycles for each core read/write cycle when necessary to address an 8 bit data size memory.
It was also necessary to place the address decode logic for on-chip control registers closest to the core address outputs. This helped to make the control register read/write cycles in the least number of cpu clocks. | {
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This invention relates in general to hypodermic syringes for manual injection and which have needles which auto-retract into a tubular component of the syringe known as an outer barrel after injecting a liquid dosage from an inner barrel and relates in particular to a hypodermic syringe with latch components for limiting or overriding latching movements of components prior to injection, during injection and needle retraction strokes corresponding to inward and outward movements of the syringe plunger. | {
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Rail transport is commonly used to convey passengers, goods, other materials, etc., from one location to another. To do so, two or more locomotives form a consist to push or pull freight and/or passenger cars along the rails. Locomotives also generally include network components that communicate with each other and facilitate user interaction via one or more wired and/or wireless networks to monitor and/or control the locomotive.
When a plurality of locomotives are connected to each other to form a consist, it may be desirable for the network components within one locomotive to communicate with network components in one or more other locomotives. In certain circumstances, however, environmental factors and/or characteristics of the communication lines connecting the network components may alter the channel quality of the communication lines, interfering with the proper transmission of these communications. Thus, a system is needed to compensate for the changing channel qualities when transmitting the data.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0093144 (the '144 patent application) to Goodermuth et al. is directed to a system for communicating data in a locomotive consist. In particular, the '144 patent application discloses transmitting data within a locomotive consist between two or more locomotives. The system described by the '144 patent application, however, does not account for environmental factors that may alter the channel quality.
The disclosed methods and systems are directed to solving one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art. | {
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(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multiple-purpose foldable frame, and more particularly, to one that the posts of the frame when stretching out are further supported by reinforcement tubes and support tubes so to bear heavier load.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
As illustrated in FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings, a conventional support structure essentially comprises four posts (7) each being retractable for a certain range, and a pair of connection rods (8), crossing over each other at their center points, is connected to two abutted posts (7). Each connection rod (8) is pivoted to the upper end of a respective post (7) and to the lower end of another post (7) to constitute a rectangular frame. Each post (7) is composed of an inner tube (71) inserted into an outer tube (72) for the post (7) to become retractable. An L-shaped pivot holder (9) is each provided to the upper end and the lower end of each post (7). A hole is provided at the center of each pivot holder (9) to receive insertion of the post (7), and two recesses are respectively provided on both side ends on the pivot holder (9) to pivot respectively the upper end and the lower end from the cross connection rods (8) so to allow them to stretch out. The length of each post (7) is vertically reduced as the cross connection rods (8) stretch out to immediately form a rectangular frame ready for covering up with canvas or bag to become a foldable desk or bed, and garbage bag whichever requires a foldable frame to stretch out.
However, the frame of the prior art could barely hold heavier load from the canvas or bag fixed on the top of the frame. The post (7) is vulnerable to be curved and deformed, and in gravid circumstances, the entire frame may accidentally collapse to threaten safe use of the frame. | {
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The present invention relates to a process for the production of selectively hydrogenated polymers of conjugated dienes and more particularly to such a process utilizing a titanium hydrogenation catalyst.
The hydrogenation or selective hydrogenation of conjugated diene polymers has been accomplished using any of the several hydrogenation processes known in the prior art. For example the hydrogenation has been accomplished using methods such as those taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,494,942; 3,634,594; 3,670,054; 3,700,633 and Re. 27,145, the disclosure of which patents are incorporated herein by reference. These methods known in the prior art for hydrogenating polymers containing ethylenic unsaturation and for hydrogenating or selectively hydrogenating polymers containing aromatic and ethylenic unsaturation, involve the use of a suitable catalyst, particularly a catalyst or catalyst precursor comprising a Group VIII metal.
In the methods described in the foregoing patents, a catalyst is prepared by combining a Group VIII metal, particularly nickel or cobalt, compound with a suitable reducing agent such as an aluminum alkyl. Also, while aluminum alkyls are the preferred reducing agents, it is known in the prior art that alkyls and hydrides of metals of Groups I-A, II-A and III-B of the Periodic Table of the Elements are effective reducing agents, particularly lithium, magnesium and aluminum. In general, the Group VIII metal compound is combined with Group I-A, II-A or III-B metal alkyl or hydride at a concentration sufficient to provide Group I-A, II-A and/or III-B metal to Group VIII metal ratios within the range from about 0.1:1 to about 20:1, preferably from about 1:1 to about 10:1. As indicated in the foregoing patents, the hydrogenation catalyst is generally prepared by combining the Group VIII metal compound and the reducing agent in a suitable solvent or diluent at a temperature within the range from about 20.degree. C. to about 60.degree. C. before the catalyst is fed to the hydrogenation reactor.
In 1985, Kishimoto et al. disclosed (in U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,857) that selective hydrogenation of the unsaturated double bonds in conjugated diolefin polymers could be achieved by hydrogenating such polymers in the presence of at least one bis(cyclopentadienyl)titanium compound and at least one hydrocarbon lithium compound wherein the hydrocarbon lithium compound can be an added compound or a living polymer having a lithium atom in the polymer chain. European patent application 0,339,986 discloses that similar hydrogenation activity can be accomplished with the same titanium compounds in combination with an alkoxy lithium compound which can either be added directly or as a reaction mixture of an organo lithium compound with an alcoholic or phenolic compound. The use of these catalyst systems was said to be advantageous because the catalysts were said to be highly active so that they were effective even in such a small amount as not to affect adversely the stability of a hydrogenated polymer and require no deashing step. Further, the hydrogenation was said to be able to be carried out under mild conditions.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,714, bis(cyclopentadienyl) titanium compounds were disclosed which preferentially hydrogenate the unsaturated double bonds of conjugated diolefins but do not require the use of an alkyl lithium compound. These titanium compounds were bis(cyclopentadienyl )titanium diaryl compounds. The elimination of the need for the hydrocarbon lithium compound was said to be a significant advantage of the invention disclosed in the '714 patent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,755 disclosed another way to use such catalysts without the need for a hydrocarbon lithium compound termination of the polymerization with hydrogen. | {
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Millions of people are taking aspirin as therapy to reduce the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events. These include persons with elevated cholesterol, a family history of heart disease, or other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Among those with risk factors, nearly all persons with implanted cardiovascular devices are at elevated risk of clot formation and embolization and are prescribed some anti-platelet agent, usually aspirin. In addition, many healthy people without a recognized elevated risk of cardiovascular disease also take aspirin as a precaution.
Platelets function to stop bleeding by forming clots, and initiate the process of wound healing. This occurs when platelets are activated, causing them to change shape, adhere, spread, release chemical messengers and activators, aggregate, and assemble with fibrin.
But platelet activation and clot formation can also place a person at risk of pathological cardiovascular events. For example, venous blood clot formation in the legs, a condition known as deep vein thrombosis, creates the risk that the blood clots could embolize (break apart) and result in clot entrapment in the lungs or the brain, causing pulmonary embolisms and stroke-related conditions. Platelet activation and fibrin formation in other locations in some persons create aggregates and small clots in the arterial circulation that can also lead to embolization and strokes.
Each year, approximately 500,000 heart valves are implanted in the United States. Although biomaterial advancement has somewhat reduced the risk of thrombosis (clot formation), all patients with mechanical heart valves are at increased risk of clot formation, embolization, and stroke, and are usually placed on aspirin therapy.
Arterial stents are another type of device placed in the circulatory system that place patients at risk from platelet activation. Arterial stents are placed in clogged coronary and carotid arteries to provide oxygen to cardiac tissue. They are typically around 5 mm in diameter and are made from stainless steel or other materials. Due to the introduction of a foreign material in the blood stream, platelets can become activated and attach to the wall of the stented vessel. This leads to reocclusion (restenosis) of the stented vessel, which is a very significant risk in patients with arterial stents. Restenosis in the first 28 days is reported in 0.5 to 8% of persons receiving stents.
To reduce these and other risks of cardiovascular pathology, millions of patients are placed on anti-platelet drugs, most commonly aspirin.
It is useful here to briefly summarize the biochemical events of hemostasis (the cessation of bleeding) and aspirin's role in inhibiting the process. Normal intact vascular endothelium does not initiate or support platelet adhesion (although in certain vascular diseases platelets may adhere to intact endothelium). Vascular injury, however, exposes the endothelial surface and underlying collagen. Following vascular injury, platelets attach to adhesive proteins such as collagen via specific glycoproteins on the platelet surface. This adhesion is followed or accompanied by platelet activation, where platelets undergo a shape change from a disc shape to a spherical shape with extended pseudopodia. At this time, the platelet release reaction also occurs. The platelets release biologically active compounds stored in the cytoplasmic bodies that stimulate platelet activation or are otherwise involved in clotting reactions. These include ADP, serotonin, thromboxane A2, and von Willebrand factor.
Following activation, glycoprotein receptors on the surface of the platelets undergo a conformational change from a relatively inactive conformation to an activated form. The activated receptors mediate the adhesion of more platelets by adhering to the circulating plasma protein fibrinogen, which serves as a bridging ligand between platelets. The adhesion and aggregation of platelets constitutes primary hemostasis.
Secondary hemostasis stabilizes the platelet mass by forming a fibrin clot. The fibrin clot is the end product of a series of reactions involving plasma proteins. The process is known as blood coagulation. In coagulation, fibrin is formed from fibrinogen, a large circulating plasma protein, by specific proteolysis. In the process, the protein thrombin is consumed. Fibrin monomers next spontaneously associate to form polymers and form a loose reinforcement of the platelet plug. Fibrin polymers are then cross-linked by certain enzymes. The fibrin polymer also traps red cells and white cells to form a finished clot.
Platelets are activated by a variety of stimuli. Collagen, ADP, thrombin, and physical shear stress all activate platelets. One of the first steps in activation is that a platelet membrane phospholipase, phospholipase A2, cleaves membrane lipids to release the fatty acid arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid is oxidized in the platelet by the enzyme cyclooxygenase to the prostaglandin PGG2. PGG2 can be enzymatically converted to PGH2, and PGH2 is converted by thromboxane synthetase to thromboxane A2 (TxA2).
TxA2 is a very potent activator of platelets and greatly amplifies the platelet release reaction, where the platelets secrete the contents of certain cytoplasmic bodies, including alpha granules and dense bodies. Among the components secreted from dense bodies are ADP, Ca++, Mg++, and serotonin.
Aspirin acts by acetylating and inactivating cyclooxygenase-1 in platelets, preventing the synthesis of TxA2. By preventing the synthesis of TxA2, aspirin significantly reduces platelet activation and thus reduces clotting. Aspirin inactivates cyclooxygenase-1 (COX1) at a lower dose and more completely than it inactivates or inhibits another isoform of cyclooxygenase, cyclooxygenase-2. COX1 is the predominant cyclooxygenase in platelets. COX2 is involved in inflammation. (Vane, J. R., et al., 2003, The mechanism of action of aspirin, Thrombosis Research 110: 255.)
Thus, by inhibiting platelet activation, aspirin for most patients is an effective agent to prevent clots and pathological cardiovascular events. But many people are resistant to aspirin. In one study, 5.5% or 9.5% of patients were resistant to aspirin, as assayed by two different techniques, and 23.8% of patients were semi-resistant (Gum, P. A., et al., 2001, Am. J. Cardiology 88: 230). Other studies estimate 5-40% of patients are aspirin resistant, depending on the assay and the population studied (Bhatt, D. L., 2004, J. Am. College of Cardiology Vol. 43, No. 6, 2004). This is very important, because aspirin resistance is significantly associated with an increased risk of death, myocardial infarction, or cerebrovascular accident (Altman, R., et al., 2004, Thrombosis J. 2: 1).
It is important to identify patients resistant to aspirin or other COX1 inhibitors, because if they are identified they can be placed on other platelet inhibitors that act by a different mechanism. This is important not only for proper treatment of the patients, but also for cost savings. The other platelet inhibitors are much more expensive than aspirin, so it would be extremely expensive to indiscriminately prescribe them. (Other platelet inhibitors include ADP inhibitors such as ticlopidine, and monoclonal antibodies that block the GPIIbIIIa receptor such as RHEOPRO.) Physicians are only likely to prescribe them when it can be shown that aspirin is not working.
Various techniques have been used to measure platelet function and aspirin resistance. Among these are platelet aggregation. In this technique, platelet-rich plasma was prepared from whole blood. ADP and arachidonic acid were added to activate the platelets. And aggregation of the platelets was measured by optical density changes. (Gum, P. A., et al., 2001, Am. J. Cardiology 88: 230.) Another technique uses a device named the platelet function analyzer-100 (PFA-100). The PFA-100 uses a disposable cartridge with an aperture cut into a collagen-coated membrane infused with either ADP or epinephrine. Whole blood (approximately 1 ml) is pumped through the aperture at high shear rate. The blood comes into contact with the membrane where platelets adhere and aggregate. A platelet plug forms, occluding the aperture and stopping blood flow. The closure time is a measure of platelet function. (Gum, P. A., et al., 2001, Am. J. Cardiology 88: 230.) Another device used to measure aspirin response is the Accumetrix VERIFYNOW Aspirin Assay (www.accumetrics.com/products/ultegra_asa.html). This product uses a turbidity-based optical detection system. The device contains fibrinogen-coated beads, and a platelet agonist. Blood is withdrawn, citrated, and then mixed with the coated beads and the agonist. Aggregation of the platelets to the beads is measured optically.
Prior tests for aspirin response have various drawbacks. Many use significant volumes of blood. Some require time-consuming and labor-consuming processing of the blood. And some measure adhesion and aggregation of the platelets, which are complex phenomena that are the end result of several interacting steps, rather than more directly measuring steps more directly related to aspirin's inhibition of cyclooxygenase.
A new method of monitoring aspirin response or response to other COX1 inhibitors is needed. Preferably, the method would use a small volume of blood (e.g., less than a drop), use unprocessed whole blood, be fast, and be relatively specific for the pathway inhibited by aspirin, the COX1 pathway. | {
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Memory devices are typically provided as internal storage areas in the computer. The term memory identifies data storage that comes in the form of integrated circuit chips. In general, memory devices contain an array of memory cells for storing data, and row and column decoder circuits coupled to the array of memory cells for accessing the array of memory cells in response to an external address.
There are several different types of memory such as random access memory (RAM) and read only memory (ROM). RAM is typically used as main memory in a computer environment. One can repeatedly read data from and write data into RAM. Most RAM is volatile, which means that it requires a steady flow of electricity to maintain its contents. When the power is turned off, the data in RAM is lost.
This is in contrast to ROM that generally only permits the user to read data already stored in the ROM but the ROM retains data after power is removed (i.e., non-volatile). Computers almost always contain a small amount of ROM that holds instructions for starting up the computer. Unlike RAM, ROM generally cannot be written to in routine operation.
Yet another type of non-volatile memory is flash memory. A flash memory is a type of EEPROM that can be erased and reprogrammed in blocks instead of one byte at a time. Many modern PCs have their BIOS stored on a flash memory chip so that it can easily be updated if necessary. Flash memory is also popular in modems because it enables the modem manufacturer to support new protocols as they become standardized.
Another type of non-volatile memory is a nitride read only memory (NROM). NROM has some of the characteristics of flash memory but does not require the special fabrication processes of flash memory. NROM can be implemented using a standard CMOS process.
Because of NROM's CMOS process, the NROM can be embedded into other architectures, such as microcontrollers, that also use the CMOS process. However, one problem with embedding the NROM is that an NROM memory array, susceptible for embedding, requires high current consumption for program and erase.
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 need in the art for a way to erase NROM arrays without being over-erased. | {
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Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) circuits communicate data over point-to-point connections. This is in contrast to bus connections in which multiple points are attached to a bus and the multiple points share time communicating over the bus. SerDes circuits transmit parallel data over a serial link between two points by converting parallel data into serial data for transmission and converting the received serial data to parallel data. This allows fewer physical interconnections to be necessary between the two points.
However, in large electronic systems, such as a large computer system for example, the number of point-to-point connections may become large and complicate an interconnection scheme. Additionally, a large number of point-to-point connections may negatively impact system reliability. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to the design of RISC type microprocessor architectures and, in particular, to RISC microprocessor architectures that are capable of executing multiple instructions concurrently.
2. Background
Recently, the design of microprocessor architectures have matured from the use of Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) to simpler Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) Architectures. The CISC architectures are notable for the provision of substantial hardware to implement and support an instruction execution pipeline. The typical conventional pipeline structure includes, in fixed order, instruction fetch, instruction decode, data load, instruction execute and data store stages. A performance advantage is obtained by the concurrent execution of different portions of a set of instructions through the respective stages of the pipeline. The longer the pipeline, the greater the number of execution stages available and the greater number of instructions that can be concurrently executed.
Two general problems limit the effectiveness of CISC pipeline architectures. The first problem is that conditional branch instructions may not be adequately evaluated until a prior condition code setting instruction has substantially completed execution through the pipeline.
Thus, the subsequent execution of the conditional branch instruction is delayed, or stalled, resulting in several pipeline stages remaining inactive for multiple processor cycles. Typically, the condition codes are written to a condition code register, also referred to as a processor status register (PSR), only at completion of processing an instruction through the execution stage. Thus, the pipeline must be stalled with the conditional branch instruction in the decode stage for multiple processor cycles pending determination of the branch condition code. The stalling of the pipeline results in a substantial loss of through-put. Further, the average through-put of the computer will be substantially dependent on the mere frequency of conditional branch instructions occurring closely after the condition code setting instructions in the program instruction stream.
A second problem arises from the fact that instructions closely occurring in the program instruction stream will tend to reference the same registers of the processor register file. Data registers are often used as the destination or source of data in the store and load stages of successive instructions. In general, an instruction that stores data to the register file must complete processing through at least the execution stage before the load stage processing of a subsequent instruction can be allowed to access the register file. Since the execution of many instructions require multiple processor cycles in the single execution stage to produce store data, the entire pipeline is typically stalled for the duration of an execution stage operation. Consequently, the execution through-put of the computer is substantially dependent on the internal order of the instruction stream being executed.
A third problem arises not so much from the execution of the instructions themselves, but the maintenance of the hardware supported instruction execution environment, or state-of-the-machine, of the microprocessor itself. Contemporary CISC microprocessor hardware sub-systems can detect the occurrence of trap conditions during the execution of instructions. Traps include hardware interrupts, software traps and exceptions. Each trap requires execution of a corresponding trap handling routines by the processor. On detection of the trap, the execution pipeline must be cleared to allow the immediate execution of the trap handling routine. Simultaneously, the state-of-the-machine must be established as of the precise point of occurrence of the trap; the precise point occurring at the conclusion of the first currently executing instruction for interrupts and traps and immediately prior to an instruction that fails due to a exception. Subsequently, the state-of-the-machine and, again depending on the nature of the trap the executing instruction itself must be restored at the completion of the handling routine. Consequently, with each trap or related event, a latency is introduced by the clearing of the pipeline at both the inception and conclusion of the handling routine and storage and return of the precise state-of-the-machine with corresponding reduction in the through-put of the processor.
These problems have been variously addressed in an effort to improve the potential through-put of CISC architectures. Assumptions can be made about the proper execution of conditional branch instructions, thereby allowing pipeline execution to tentatively proceed in advance of the final determination of the branch condition code. Assumptions can also be made as to whether a register will be modified, thereby allowing subsequent instructions to also be tentatively executed. Finally, substantial additional hardware can be provided to minimize the occurrence of exceptions that require execution of handling routines and thereby reduce the frequency of exceptions that interrupt the processing of the program instruction stream.
These solutions, while obviously introducing substantial additional hardware complexities, also introduce distinctive problems of their own. The continued execution of instructions in advance of a final resolution of either a branch condition or register file store access require that the state-of-the-machine be restorable to any of multiple points in the program instruction stream including the location of the conditional branch, each modification of a register file, and for any occurrence of an exception; potentially to a point prior to the fully completed execution of the last several instructions. Consequently, even more supporting hardware is required and, further, must be particularly designed not to significantly increase the cycle time of any pipeline stage.
RISC architectures have sought to avoid many of the foregoing problems by drastically simplifying the hardware implementation of the microprocessor architecture. In the extreme, each RISC instruction executes in only three pipelined program cycles including a load cycle, an execution cycle, and a store cycle. Through the use of load and store data bypassing, conventional RISC architectures can essentially execute a single instruction per cycle in the three stage pipeline.
Whenever possible, hardware support in RISC architectures is minimized in favor of software routines for performing the required functions. Consequently, the RISC architecture holds out the hope of substantial flexibility and high speed through the use of a simple load/store instruction set executed by an optimally matched pipeline. And in practice, RISC architectures have been found to benefit from the balance between a short, high-performance pipeline and the need to execute substantially greater numbers of instructions to implement all required functions.
The design of the RISC architecture generally avoids or minimizes the problems encountered by CISC architectures with regard to branches, register references and exceptions. The pipeline involved in a RISC architecture is short and optimized for speed. The shortness of the pipeline minimizes the consequences of a pipeline stall or clear as well as minimizing the problems in restoring the state-of-the-machine to an earlier execution point.
However, significant through-put performance gains over the generally realized present levels cannot be readily achieved by the conventional RISC architecture. Consequently, alternate, so-called superscalar architectures, have been variously proposed. These architectures generally attempt to execute multiple instructions concurrently and thereby proportionately increase the through-put of the processor. Unfortunately, such architectures are, again, subject to similar, if not the same conditional branch, register referencing, and exception handling problems as encountered by CISC architectures. | {
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This disclosure relates generally to tracking devices, and more specifically, to preserve power in a GPS-equipped tracking device.
Electronic tracking devices have created numerous ways for people to track the locations of people and/or objects. For example, a user can use GPS technology to track a device remotely or determine a location of the user. In another example, a user can attach a tracking device to an important object, such as keys or a wallet, and use the features of the tracking device to more quickly locate the object, (e.g., if it becomes lost).
However, traditional tracking devices and corresponding systems suffer from one or more disadvantages. For instance, a battery of the tracking device may be difficult to recharge or replace, thus limiting the lifespan of the tracking device to the length of time the battery can power the tracking device. Accordingly, there is a need to improve performance in order to reduce the power requirements of the tracking device, thereby extending the amount of time the battery can power the tracking device, and thus extending the lifespan of the tracking device itself. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a three (or more) component additive combination for distillate fuel oils, comprising (A) an ethylene backbone distillate fuel oil pour depressant polymer, (B) a second polymer having alkyl side chains of 6 to 30 carbon atoms defined by carboxylic acid ester or olefin moieties, and (C) a nitrogen compound e.g. amides and salts of a carboxylic acid or anhydride. This combination is particularly useful in distillate fuel oils for controlling the size of wax crystals that form at low temperatures, and for inhibiting agglomeration of the crystals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Two component additive systems for treating distillate fuel oil to limit the size of wax crystals that form in the fuel oil in cold weather are known, as shown by the following patents.
United Kingdom Pat. No. 1,469,016 teaches ethylene polymer or copolymer, which is a pour depressant for middle distillate fuel, in combination with a second polymer having alkyl groups of 6 to 18 carbon atoms, which is a polymer of an olefin or unsaturated dicarboxylic acid ester, is useful in improving the cold flow properties of middle distillate fuel oils.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,909 teaches nitrogen compounds such as amides, diamides, and ammonium salts of: monoamides or monoesters of dicarboxylic acids, alone or in combination with a hydrocarbon microcrystalline wax and/or a pour point depressant, particularly an ethylene backbone polymeric pour point depressant, are wax crystal modifiers and cold flow improvers for middle distillate fuel oils, particularly diesel fuel.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,444,082 and 3,846,093 teach various amides and salts of alkenyl succinic anhydride reacted with amines, in combination with ethylene copolymer pour point depressants, for distillate fuels. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas turbine apparatus having a heat exchanger for exchanging heat between compressed air ejected from a compressor and exhaust gas ejected from a turbine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In some gas turbine, a heat exchanger is installed in order to increase the thermal efficiency and heat is exchanged between exhaust gas ejected from the turbine and compressed air before introduced into a combustor after ejected from a compressor. In this case, in order to introduce and eject compressed air from the compressor of the gas turbine into and from the heat exchanger, pipes are generally used. Accordingly, the energy loss of compressed air due to heat dissipation and frictional resistance in the pipes is increased and the whole size of the gas turbine apparatus is made larger.
On the other hand, a gas turbine apparatus with the heat exchanger that is directly connected to the back of the gas turbine so as to omit the pipes and to realize compactness is known. However, in this gas turbine apparatus, the combustor of the gas turbine is installed on the heat exchanger side. Therefore, when the type of combustor is changed, another heat exchanger corresponding to the combustor of new type must be prepared and the design of the heat exchanger must be changed in accordance with the type of combustor, resulting in increasing in cost.
The present invention was made with the foregoing in view and is intended to provide a gas turbine apparatus having a heat exchanger that no pipe is required, and efficiency improvement and structural compactness are realized, and the common heat exchanger can be used even if the type of combustor is changed, and the cost can be reduced.
To accomplish the above-mentioned object, the gas turbine apparatus of the present invention has: a gas turbine having a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine rotor; and a heat exchanger attached to said gas turbine for exchanging heat between a compressed air ejected from said compressor and an exhaust gas ejected from said turbine rotor, said heat exchanger being connected to an exhaust gas outlet side of a back portion of said gas turbine, said heat exchanger having a core including a front, a back and a side, and a casing enclosing said core, said core including a plurality of heat transfer plates that partition an internal space of said core into a first path for flowing said compressed air and a second path for flowing said exhaust gas. An inlet for flowing said compressed air into said first path is formed on said side of a back portion of said core. An outlet of said compressed air passing through said first path is formed on said side of a front portion of said core. An introduction path is formed between said core and said casing so that said compressed air is introduced through said introduction path from a position in front of said core via an outside of said side of said core into said inlet. Said exhaust gas is introduced from said front of said core into said second path and ejected from said back of said core.
According to the gas turbine apparatus aforementioned, the heat exchanger is connected to the exhaust gas outlet side of the back portion of the gas turbine including the combustor, and between the core of the heat exchanger and the casing, the introduction path for introducing compressed air into the inlet of the core from a position in front of the core via the outside of the side of the core is formed, and on the side of the front portion of the core, the outlet of compressed air passing through the first path is formed, so that a pipe for introducing compressed air into or ejecting the same from the heat exchanger is not necessary. As a result, the energy loss of compressed air by such pipe is eliminated and the whole gas turbine apparatus can be made compact. Moreover, the inner peripheral surface of the casing faces on the introduction path for flowing low-temperature compressed air, so that it can be expected that the casing is suppressed from high temperature and also heat of the heat dissipation from the core is recovered by compressed air in the introduction path. Further, on the back portion of the gas turbine including the combustor, the heat exchanger that is separately structured from the gas turbine is attached. Accordingly, regardless of the type of combustor, by use of the common heat exchanger, feed of exhaust gas to the heat exchanger, feed of compressed air ejected from the compressor to the heat exchanger, ejection of compressed air from the heat exchanger to the combustor, and ejection of exhaust gas from the heat exchanger can be carried out, thus designing is made easy and the cost can be reduced.
Preferably, an ejection path for ejecting said compressed air from said outlet into said combustor of said gas turbine in front of said core is formed on a radially inner position with respect to said introduction path. An inlet path for flowing said exhaust gas into said second path of said core is formed on a radially inner position with respect to said ejection path. An exhaust port for ejecting outside said exhaust gas passing through said second path is formed on a back of said heat exchanger.
According to this constitution, in front of the heat exchanger, the introduction path toward the heat exchanger for flowing low-temperature compressed air, the ejection path toward the combustor for flowing slightly high-temperature compressed air, and the exhaust gas inlet path for flowing very-high temperature exhaust gas to the heat exchanger are arranged in a triple structure from the radially outer position to the radially inner position, and exhaust gas passing through the heat exchanger is ejected outside from the back of the heat exchanger, so that the triple structure symmetrical with respect to the rotational axis of the gas turbine can be easily formed, for example, by a sheet metal. Namely, introduction of compressed air from the compressor to the heat exchanger, flowing of exhaust gas from the turbine to the heat exchanger, ejection of compressed air from the heat exchanger to the combustion chamber, and ejection of exhaust gas from the heat exchanger can be realized by a simple and compact structure. Moreover, since the exhaust gas inlet path, ejection path, and introduction path are arranged so that low-temperature gas sequentially flows from the radially inner position to the radially outer position, temperature rising of the outer periphery of the triple structure can be suppressed effectively and it can be expected that by heat exchange through the path wall such as the sheet metal aforementioned, compressed air ejected from the heat exchanger is heated by exhaust gas.
Preferably, said casing has a circular cross section. Said combustor is annular. Said casing and said combustor are arranged concentrically with respect to a rotational axis of said gas turbine.
In such a constitution, the location relationship of the gas turbine including the combustor and the heat exchanger behind the gas turbine can be set easily and precisely. | {
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The performance of aircraft mobile surfaces such as vertical tails, horizontal tail planes, elevators or rudders placed in the rear part of the aircraft is one of the more important issues in global aircraft design. Said surfaces are used as control surfaces, for example a horizontal tail plane is used to control pitch and a rudder is used to control yaw. Therefore its behavior defines aircraft control laws and design constrains.
When designing the elements composing an aircraft, such as the fuselage, wings, stabilizers, etc. it is necessary to know the aerodynamic properties of such components. In view of the large size of aircrafts, aerodynamic tests are made with scaled models that reproduce the whole or at least a part of the aircraft, the scaled models being subjected to tests in a wind tunnel.
Those tests are particularly important for the rear part of the aircraft because it is difficult to obtain comprehensive analytical models of its aerodynamic behaviour since the rear part of the aircraft is affected by other parts of an aircraft and particularly by the aircraft wing. For example they can suffer a loss of upstream dynamic pressure due to effects caused by the wing which is difficult to take into account using classical analytical schemes.
Even though the results currently obtained in wind tunnel tests allow a good understanding of the aerodynamical behaviour of tails and other components of the rear part of the aircraft, they are usually produced at a Reynolds number very much lower than the real aircraft flight Reynolds number and therefore the scaling of the results is sometimes difficult.
The present invention is intended to improve this drawback. | {
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The past several decades has seen a phenomenal growth in capabilities of computers. A typical computer of today often has many times the processing capabilities and storage capabilities as a typical computer of a decade ago. Even with the phenomenal increase in processing and storage capabilities, an inefficient algorithm compounded by many parallel requests may cause performance issues. While obtaining a faster computer or more computers may address the performance issues, such solutions may be expensive to purchase, power, and maintain.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a temperature compensation circuits, and more particularly to circuits that compensate the temperature versus frequency characteristic of variable frequency oscillators, such as Surface Acoustic Wave resonators.
2. Description of the Related Art
An oscillator's output frequency will drift from a target, or center, frequency with variations in temperature. In precision frequency devices, frequency drift due to temperature variation is of primary concern since an oscillator's ambient temperature will fluctuate under normal use. Therefore, it is customary to provide an oscillator circuit with temperature compensation circuitry to attempt to stabilize the oscillator's output frequency over a predetermined operating temperature range.
Voltage (VCO) or current (CCO) controlled variable frequency oscillators are frequently used in precision clock generators for digital systems. These oscillators typically have a function control mechanism to adjust their frequency in accordance with system frequency variations. In such systems, it is important that the functional control signal additionally include sufficient signal control range to compensate for the frequency variations of oscillation due to circuit temperature variations. Thus, the temperature control range is in addition to the required range of the functional control mechanism used to compensate for normal system frequency variations. This temperature compensation requirement reduces the functional control pull range of the oscillator which imposes more stringent requirements on its functional behavior.
The basic ideal of temperature compensation for oscillators is relatively straight forward. With reference to FIG. 1, a typical temperature compensated oscillator consists of temperature compensation signal generator 1001 coupled to a control input of a variable oscillator 1002. Ideally, temperature compensation signal generator 1001 includes a temperature sensor for monitoring temperature changes, and generates a signal selected to increase or decrease the frequency of variable oscillator 1002 in such a way so as to counteract the natural frequency drift of variable oscillator, 1002 due to temperature variation. That is, if a temperature change would naturally cause the operating frequency of uncompensated variable oscillator 1002 to drift upward, i.e. increase, temperature compensation signal 1001 would preferably produce a signal instructing variable oscillator 1002 to lower its operating frequency by an amount sufficient to counteract the oscillator's temperature induced, natural upward drift. Similarly, if the frequency of variable oscillator 1002 were to naturally decrease due to a change in temperature, temperature compensation signal 1002 should instruct variable oscillator 1002 to increase its operating frequency to counteract this downward drift.
In practice, however, it is difficult to construct a temperature compensation signal generator that produces an output compensation signal that varies with temperature in manner sufficiently inverse to that of variable oscillator 1002 over a wide temperature range. This is especially true of high precision oscillators. Prior art temperature, compensation signal generators typically use a diode as a temperature sensor since a diode's characteristics are uniformly dependent on temperature, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,228. However, an oscillator's natural frequency drift due to temperature might not be uniform with temperature. That it, within a first temperature range, the oscillator's frequency may naturally increase with increasing temperature, but within a different temperature range, the same oscillator's frequency may naturally decrease with increasing temperature. Thus direct use of a temperature sensor uniformly dependent on temperature to compensate an oscillator's temperature drift may not be suitable for all oscillators over extended temperature ranges.
To address this non-uniformity in the frequency drift of some oscillators, another approach attempts to compensate for temperature variations by first observing an oscillator's natural (i.e. uncompensated) temperature drift over a specified temperature range of interest. The observed frequency variations are digitally recorded in a memory and compensation signal values corresponding to each observed frequency variation are likewise recorded in the memory. In operation, a temperature sensor diode is used to monitor temperature variations, and the output from the sensor diode is applied to an analog-to-digital converter to obtain a digital representation of the temperature variation. The digital representation of the temperature variation is used to lookup its corresponding compensation signal value in the memory. The thus acquired compensation signal value is applied to a digital-to-analog converter to create an equivalent analog compensation signal that is applied to the oscillator. A similar type of temperature compensation control is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,468. However, this approach to temperature compensation requires much additional circuitry, much initial testing to setup a look-up table in the memory, and added complexity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,933 to Grieco shows a temperature compensation circuit that avoids the use of A/D and D/A converters and does not require digital memory for compensating an oscillator having a frequency response that is parabolic (i.e. non-uniform) with respect to temperature. However, Grieco's approach still requires discrete jumps in the compensation signal, as well as complicated circuitry, such as differential amplifiers, integrators, one-shot circuits, and sample-and-hold circuitry, all of which place operating frequency limitations on the compensation circuitry as well as complicating its construction.
With reference with FIG. 2, Grieco explains that the frequency-to-temperature characteristic curve of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device is a concave down parabolic curve 1011, and that a temperature compensation curve 1013 should therefore ideally be a concave up parabolic curve 1013 since its shape ought to be the inverse of the temperature characteristic curve 1001. To generate a concave up curve, Grieco divides the temperature range of FIG. 2 into a “cold end” (the rising part of curve 1001 up to its apex) and a “hot end” (the falling part of curve 1001 down from its apex).
Grieco first explains how to create a half-parabolic curve having a generally concave up shape to compensate the “cold end” of curve 1011. To achieve this, as shown in FIG. 3, Grieco provides a temperature sensor circuit 1014 whose output voltage 1016, as it would be understood in the art, drops as temperature increase, as indicate in FIG. 4.
With reference with FIG. 5, Grieco also provides a series of linear timing ramps 1015 to define sampling periods SP1 to SPn. Linear timing ramps 1015 are integrated to generate a series of half parabolic curves 1017 whose periods are defined by the sampling periods SP1 to SPn. Within each sampling period, the voltage of a half parabolic curve 1017 is sampled when the magnitude of the linearly increasing ramp 1015 rises above output signal 1016, which is a measure of temperature as determined by temperature sensor circuit 1014. These sampling points are indicates by one-shot pulses 1019. The sampled voltage values of half parabolic curve 1017 become a sampled compensation signal that can be applied to the SAW device to compensation for temperature variation.
Thus when the temperature is low and output voltage 1016 is high, voltage ramp 1015 will not rise above output voltage 1016 until sometime close to the end of the sampling period. By that time, half parabolic curve 1017 will be high and thus provide a high sampled compensation signal value to compensate for low temperature. Conversely when the temperature is high and output voltage 1016 is therefore low, voltage ramp 1015 will rise above output voltage 1016 sometime closer to the beginning of the sampling period when half parabolic curve 1017 is lower. This provides a lower sampled compensation signal value to compensate for higher temperature.
An illustration of this process is shown in FIG. 6, where the shape of parabolic curve 1017 is effectively mirrored by the negative slope of output voltage 1016 of temperature sensor 1014 to produce a sampled compensation signal curve 1021 consisting of discrete steps that together form a shape that is some-what parabolic, negatively sloped, and concave up.
Grieco provides the circuit shown in FIG. 7 for accomplishing this task. As explained above, a series of linear timing ramps 1015 is applied to an integrator 1017′ to produce half-parabolic curves 1017. The output from temperature sensor 1014 is compared with linear voltage ramps 1015 at comparator 1023, whose output is applied to a one-shot circuit 1019′ to produce one-shot pulses 1019. A sample-and-hold circuit 1025 samples the value of half-parabolic curves 1017 at points in time indicated by one-shot pulses 1019, and the sampled outputs 1021 are applied to a varactor 1029. As it would be understood, varactor 1029 is part of the SAW resonator based oscillator, and modulates the frequency of the oscillator in accordance with the sampled compensation signal 1021.
As explained above, however, this circuit compensates only the “cold end” of curve 1011. To compensate both the “cold end” and “hot end” of curve 1011, Grieco provides the circuit of FIG. 8, where first temperature sensor 1014 is used to compensate the “cold old” of curve 1011, and a second temperature sensor 1014′ is used to compensate the “hold end” of curve 1011.
To compensate the “hot end”, Grieco applies the output of second temperature sensor 1014′ to an inverting amplifier 1031 to produce an output voltage 1016′ whose general shape is the inverse of output voltage 1016, i.e. a positively sloped voltage as shown in FIG. 9.
With reference to FIG. 9, projecting the same stream of half-parabolic curves 1017 onto positively-sloped, output voltage 1016′ results in a second discrete sampled compensation signal 1021′ whose shape is some-what parabolic, positively sloped, and concave up curve.
Returning to FIG. 8, the output from inverting amplifier 1031 is compared with linear timing ramps 1015 by a second comparator 1037, whose output is applied to a second one-shot circuit 1039. The output of second one-shot circuit 1039 is applied to a second sampling trigger input of sample-and-hold circuit 1025.
However, since sample-and-hold circuit 1025 is now responsive to a first trigger input from first one-shot circuit 1019′ and response to a second trigger input from second one-shot circuit 1039, and since each of first one-shot circuit 1019 and second one-shot circuit 1039 individually output a separate pulse signal within each sampling period defined by linear timing ramps 1015, it follows that sample-and-hold circuit 1025 must sample half-parabolic curve 1017 twice during each sampling period. As a result, the compensation signal applied to varactor 1029 is changed twice during each sampling period irrespective of whether the temperature remained unchanged.
With reference to FIG. 10, eight exemplary sampling periods SP1–SP8 are shown. Because of the positive slop of linear timing ramps 1015, the second sample during each sampling period is always from the higher voltage of the two parabolic curves 1021 and 1021′ (shown in FIGS. 8 and 9). Nonetheless, it is clear that a first lower sample is momentarily taken prior to the second higher voltage sample. Thus, sample-and-hold circuit 1017 must be fast enough to make two separate sampling operations per sampling period. Since a sample-and-hold's response time is limited by the discharge rate of its charging capacitor, the operating frequency of this circuit is limited by the sample-and-hold's response time.
Additionally, the linear timing ramps 1015 cannot be made to have a saw-tooth waveform shape, but rather must have an initial zero-value, flat section at the beginning of each sampling cycle, as shown in FIGS. 5, 7 and 8 in order for the one-shot circuits 1019 and 1019′ to recharge. This further decreases the sampling rate.
What is needed is a simplified circuit that does not require additional A/D and D/A conversion, or additional decoding circuitry and memory. The simplified circuit should preferably also provide continuous temperature compensation (i.e. not discrete), and be flexible enough to support oddly shaped frequency-to-temperature characteristic curves of some oscillators without introducing instabilities, or placing harsh limits on its operating frequency. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the production of alkali metal silicates and more particularly to a unique process for producing alkali metal polysilicates that may be used as builders in detergents.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
As known in the art, alkali silicates can be manufactured by the so-called "fusion" process wherein a mixture of sand and an alkali metal salt are fused at temperatures sufficiently high to voltalize the acid radical of the salt used. The "glass" thus produced is then cooled and dissolved in water, usually at elevated temperatures and pressures, to yield a product suitable for commercial use. For use in detergents, such silicates are conventionally converted into the hydrated solid form by concentrating the solution, removing the silicates by crystallization and thereafter drying the crystals.
A further known method for producing silicates is the "wet digestion" method wherein a solution of finely divided silica, rendered soluble by digestion with a concentrated solution of caustic alkali, is evaporated and cooled to a suitable crystallization temperature.
Examples of the above and further techniques for producing alkali metal silicates are disclosed in U.S. Pats. Nos. 2,161,515; 2,282,018; 2,357,723 and 3,271,317.
In this regard, and again as is well known in the art, detergent compositions conventionally contain a detergent compound i.e., a surfactant and a "builder", the latter serving in part, to increase the effectiveness of the detergent compound. While phosphate compounds such as sodium tripolyphosphate, have been used somewhat extensively as builders in detergents for many years, the use of other inorganic salts including alkali metal silicates, carbonates, borates and the like is known. An example of built detergents compositions disclosing the use of the above noted inorganic materials is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,121 which issued July 9, 1968 to Gedge. | {
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Human observer functions x(λ) y(λ) z(λ) are response functions used to characterize colors perceived by the human eye. The existing Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) definitions of the human observer functions are the basis for color management systems and for standard profile formats such as those defined by the International Color Consortium (ICC). The fact that the ICC has been embraced and incorporated into operating systems such as Apple™ OS X and applications such as Adobe™ PhotoShop™ is evidence that the standard is reasonably useful and effective for ensuring or at least improving the quality of color appearance of images. The paradigm of conversions from “source” to “destination” implies preserving quality and/or appearance of digital color images.
Standards committees such as IDEAlliance have defined very clear measured color target values and tolerances using (CIEXYZ) and (CIELAB) in order to ensure that the visual appearance of hard copy proofing systems from multiple venders are consistent for a given digital input image file. Assessments of prints generated by multiple venders using these standards have been performed on numerous occasions with great success both within committee meetings and at public events to showcase the efficacy of these standards. In most cases, venders make use of the ICC standard or similar colorimetrically-based formats in order to ensure correct output of printed images.
Although existing CIE and ISO standards appear to work well for multiple prints viewed under the same illumination, achieving the same level of standardization for soft proofing has proven to be more challenging. An example of this reality is the fact that the calculations for CIELAB in the IDEAlliance certification of soft proofing systems are normalized to the white point of the display rather than to D50. The reason for this non-standard calculation of CIELAB is the widespread practice of adjusting the white point of a display in order to match visually the white balance of the D50 illumination used to view the corresponding print. In theory, it should be adequate to measure the white balance of the illumination and merely ensure that white point of the display is adjusted to match the illumination according to measured values.
In reality, an offset to the measured white is often applied in order to ensure a good visual match between display and print. However, it has been observed that it is difficult to ensure both accurate appearance of white/gray balance and accurate appearance of other critical regions of color such as skin tones. If there exists an error in the standard, one would expect a simple correction would be sufficient.
The need for a slight modification or offset to the white point appears to have some validity as indicated by scientific studies that have been performed in the area of color matching functions determined via the “Maxwell method,” i.e. the matching of whites, vs. the more common “saturation method,” which determines color matching functions based on matching saturated colors. For example, in section 5.6.6 of Color Science: Concepts and Methods, Wyscecki summarizes the work done in the area of comparing the saturation and Maxwell methods. At the end of the section, Wyscecki states, “The deviations are appropriately termed failure of the additivity law of color matching in a bipartite field. Suggestions have been made with regard to possible causes of these failures. They include chromatic adaptation (Crawford, 1965), Maxwell spot (Palmer, 1980), and interactions or linkages between different cone mechanisms (Ingling and Drum, 1973), but further work is obviously needed to resolve the conundrum.”
Likewise, in a series of papers I-VI entitled “Toward a more accurate and extensible colorimetry,” Thornton describes various experiments involving the matching of whites. Converting his data to units of CIELAB indicate a disagreement between observed matches of different white spectra and predicted matches of up to 25 ΔE as calculated using the standard human observer. In a similar study published in 1993 by North and Fairchild, “Measuring Color-Matching Functions. Part II” (1993, North and Fairchild) Thornton's observations appeared to be confirmed, although the analysis of the results was performed based on the model of the deviate human observer, i.e. was explained by the differences between individual observers rather than interpreted to imply a correction to existing standard human observers functions.
Most recently at the Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T) Color Imaging Conference 16 in Portland, Oreg., a presentation, “Color Vision and More Comprehensive Color Appearance Models” was given by Hirohisa Yaguchi, Chiba University (Japan). In this presentation, Yaguchi-san showed plots of color matching functions obtained using his own eyes on his color matching apparatus using first the saturation and then the Maxwell method. He pointed out that the plots contained differences that were not insignificant, although no further explanation was given.
Virtual proofing systems are required to display an accurate match between display and hard copy with little effort from the user. If one accounts for metamerism and for errors in conventional XYZ calculations, one finds that the overall hues and white balance are reasonable. For critical color requirements, however, there can exist unacceptable visual differences between display and hard copy in skin tones (for example) that equate to several percentage points of change in magenta dot gain. Although this error is small, it is enough to be problematic for critical work.
Therefore there remains a need for an improvement to conventional XYZ calculations. It is noted that the “deviant observer” described by Fairchild does vary or modify the x(λ) y(λ) z(λ) functions with size of the color observed (characterized as an angle indicating the size of the cone of viewing from the eye to a circle indicating the region of the color being observed), yellowing of the lens of the eye due to age, effect of the macula of the eye, etc. These adjustments endeavor to account for differences due to size of color and to account for observer to observer differences. However, the particular observer functions for a given size of color and particular individual is the same regardless of the spectral power distribution (SPD) S(λ) of the color stimulus being observed. Reference is made to such observer functions as “static” meaning they do not change with SPD S(λ). By contrast, reference is made to human observer functions that change or adapt depending on the SPD S(λ) of the particular color being viewed as “non-static” meaning that they do vary with S(λ).
If the human observer functions were static with S(λ), pairs of colors would always match as long as the calculated values of XYZ were nearly the same, regardless of whether the colors were very saturated or very neutral. However, if the human observer functions are not static with S(λ), it is quite possible for saturated color pairs to match but for neutral pairs of colors to appear different even though their XYZ's were the same. By allowing the observer functions to be non-static with S(λ), discrepancies between saturated and neutral regions of color can be resolved, thereby ensuring that pairs of color will always match when their XYZ's are similar regardless of their S(λ) characteristics.
The observer functions are the basis for color management systems. A review how color management systems work in relation to the XYZ values calculated using the observer functions, and L*a*b* values derived in turn from XYZ is necessary, with the understanding that any improvements or changes to the observer functions will correspondingly affect XYZ, L*a*b*, and the functionality and efficacy of color management systems that rely on these color values.
Current color management systems such as Apple ColorSync™ convert color pixel data from source device dependent coordinates to destination device dependent coordinates via a device independent color space referred to as the Profile Connecting Space or PCS. The PCS is generally based upon tristimulus values CIEXYZ or perceptually more uniform color spaces such as CIELAB which are calculated from CIEXYZ.
The general procedure is to define source colors either as a list of PCS values (such as the Pantone™ library) or as a set of device pixel values such as CMYK with an associated profile or characterization. The most common format for such profiles is that of the International Color Consortium (ICC). In the latter case, the processing engine of the system known as the color matching module or method (CMM) converts the device dependent values (e.g. CMYK) to an appropriate PCS (e.g. CIELAB or CIEXYZ) via interpolation of tables within the ICC profile for the device.
In order for these PCS values to demonstrate usefulness, the color management system is usually invoked for the purpose of converting these PCS values (once they are fetched or calculated) to a device dependent destination such as an RGB monitor or digital projector. This is performed via the color matching method (CMM) in conjunction with the ICC profile of the destination device. Implicit in the above system is the assumption that at some point prior to the above conversion, color measurements have been performed in order to calculate the PCS values. For individual colors in a library such as Pantone™, this is the only effort that is required. In the case of a complex device requiring an ICC profile, multiple color measurements are performed and high resolution look up tables are calculated from that data in order to construct a reasonable approximation to the color characteristics of the device, for example, to estimate reasonable expected measured values of L*a*b* or XYZ for any combination of CMYK pixel values. Likewise, for complex devices, an inverse table is constructed and stored in the ICC profile to convert PCS values to the devices codes of the device, e.g. RGB or CMYK.
All the above requires a means for measuring and quantifying color. The two most common methods are spectral measurement and calorimetric measurement. Spectral measurement results in spectral data, either in the form of a reflectance spectrum R(λ) or the spectral power distribution (SPD) S(λ). The former is used for reflective materials while the latter is used for an emissive device such as a monitor. Since the SPD is required to calculate XYZ using the observer functions, the SPD for reflective materials is usually calculated by multiplying R(λ) by the SPD of the illuminant I(λ).
The present invention modifies the behavior of the human observer functions as they vary with λ based on changes of location in color space of the color being measured. In particular, colors in the region of white and gray will require somewhat different observer functions from colors that are saturated. These modifications to the calculation of XYZ from S(λ) will affect the characterizations and the conversions of colors processed by a color management system. In particular, the physical outcome of this invention will be that images reproduced on a display or digital projector using a color management system will measure differently from the current systems particularly in regions of neutral and white.
Furthermore, for systems comprising extremely narrow band primaries, such as a projector using RGB lasers, there will be a significant improvement in the color reproduction of original color images. For example if the original image is displayed on a monitor, converted with the color management system, and displayed using a projector with RGB lasers, the visual match between the two images will be significantly improved particularly in regions of white and gray if the color management system is modified to use the improved human observer functions. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains generally to accessory sub-assemblies for electrical switching apparatus and, more particularly, to shunt trip or under voltage release accessory sub-assemblies for circuit breakers. The invention also pertains to electrical switching apparatus accessories. The invention further pertains to electrical switching apparatus, such as, for example, circuit breakers including an accessory.
2. Background Information
Electrical switching apparatus, such as circuit breakers, as well as transfer switches, network protectors and the like, are often equipped with accessories such as, for example and without limitation, shunt trip devices and under voltage release (UVR) devices. Such devices can be employed in a variety of ways to initiate a change in status of the apparatus such as, for example, to trip open the separable contacts of the apparatus in response to an electrical fault condition (e.g., without limitation, current overload; short circuit; abnormal voltage) or other external condition.
In view of the increasing market trend to reduce the overall size of the circuit breaker, the space which is available within the circuit breaker housing is limited.
Referring to FIG. 1, typically, a shunt trip device 2 (or UVR device (not shown)) includes a number of coils 4, a frame 6, a plunger 8 and a heel 10, which cooperate to form a substantially closed magnetic circuit. A plunger stem 9 is further extended (not shown) in response to movement of the plunger 8 to, for example, engage and pivot a trip bar (not shown) to cause a circuit breaker (not shown) to trip open separable contacts (not shown). When one of the two example coils 4 is energized with a sufficient voltage, magnetic flux 12 is transferred through the ferrous parts of the magnetic circuit. As shown in FIG. 1, a south (S) magnetic pole is generated at the heel 10 and a north (N) magnetic pole is generated at the plunger 8. This attracts the plunger 8 to the heel 10 and causes the plunger to move.
Typically, a shunt trip device contains an instantaneous coil, which can only be energized during a relatively short period of time. A typical UVR device contains a relatively larger coil, and can be energized for continuous duty. The shunt trip plunger is actuated when sufficient voltage is applied, and the UVR plunger is released when voltage is removed. Because of this opposite functionality and strategy, known shunt trip and UVR devices do not use the same coil frame and the same molded housing.
Accordingly, there is room for improvement in electrical switching apparatus accessories.
There is also room for improvement in electrical switching apparatus that employ one or more accessories. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communications, and in'particular, to communication network architectures and services.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A telephone company provides its customers with support to set up call centers. Call centers are typically a location that has a number of people supplying support or services over the phone. People at the call center typically have a phone associated with them that can be reached by dialing a phone number directly, or by dialing a toll-free number. The Direct dial phone number is typically a 10-digit number that can be accessed through a local service area using 7 of the 10 digits or through a long distance carrier using all 10 digits. The toll free number is one that is translated at a service control point into a 10-digit telephone number. Once the toll free number has been converted into the 10-digit number, the 10-digit number is routed normally. The communications for each phone number are typically routed through a nearby local switch to the call center. If a disaster strikes, for example a flood, and the local switch is disabled, the call center may be put out of action. The company that operates the call center may have another facility at a different location. The company may wish to redirect the calls to the other facility that were originally directed to the call center that was disabled. Currently, access through the toll free number can be redirected by changing the numbers that are translated from the toll free number. Redirecting the direct dialed numbers is currently a time consuming task. The company that operates the call center can not fully service its customers until both the direct dialed numbers and the toll free access numbers have been redirected.
Therefore there is a need for a system and method for redirecting access for a telephone number. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Bonding wires and bonded connections of this type are often used for semiconductor components to electrically contact-connect a semiconductor body. In the region which is to be contact-connected, for example a load or control terminal of a power semiconductor component, the semiconductor body typically has a metallization, generally formed from aluminum or an aluminum alloy. The contact-connection of the semiconductor body is in this case realized by means of a bonded connection formed between the metallization and the bonding wire.
When the connection location is heated, as typically occurs when a semiconductor component of this type is operating, the bonded connection is exposed to high thermomechanical stresses on account of the very different longitudinal expansion coefficients of the semiconductor body and the bonding wire. Since these thermomechanical stresses cannot be sufficiently reduced within the metallization, on account of the usually very low thickness of the metallization, in particular after prolonged operating times with frequent temperature changes or high temperature differences, delamination can occur in the region of the bonded connection, causing the semiconductor component to fail. | {
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The present invention relates to the field of problem solving. Specifically, the present invention relates to computational systems and methods that actively seek multiple, distinct solutions to a given objective function.
A standard approach to problems in science and engineering is to pose the problem as a mathematical optimization problem, and to use an optimization method for finding the nest solution. A usual method is to formulate an objective function that measures the quality of possible solutions. In some cases, the objective function may be solved analytically; in many other cases, a computational algorithm is required to find the best solution. Many practical problems are intractable in the sense that there is no feasible way to find the optimal solution. In these cases, one must settle for sub-optimal solutions. Many important problems share the additional characteristic that finding a single solution may not be sufficient.
An example of such a problem relates to protein folding. Recent developments have suggested that multiple alternative solutions to the protein folding problem may be of interest for some proteins. The proteins involved in protein conformational disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, Huntington disease, cystic fibrosis, amyotropic lateral sclerosis, share the ability to adopt multiple different stable conformations. What is needed is an algorithm that reports all likely protein conformations. Many other problems in computational biology have multiple solutions of interest. For example in molecular docking problems, there may be several suitable docking sites for a given pair of molecules. Identifying a set of distinct binding sites would permit a more thorough analysis of possible in vivo effects of a given drug candidate, as well as the selection of candidates based on the total number of possible binding modalities. In phylogenetic analysis, it has been shown that many sequences have multiple optimal maximum-likelihood trees. Such data sets support two or more significantly different phylogenies. Finding a set of distinct near-optimal trees would enable the biologist to integrate the analysis based on molecular data with other forms of information (e.g., morphology, habitat, etc.), providing a more comprehensive analysis of all the available data.
The need to identify multiple solutions obviously extends beyond problems in computational biology. Examples could be drawn from nearly any area of science or engineering. For examples, in design optimization, an engineer may be interested in finding all equally good designs. A knowledge analyst may be interested in finding all sufficiently “interesting” patterns in a large data set. If “solutions” to the objective function correspond to failure modes, then finding all solutions is often a critical requirement, as the next two examples illustrate.
A test engineer may need to identify all failure modes for a complex device such as an airplane or submarine. Given a suitably realistic simulation of the device and its environment, it is possible to design intelligent test systems that systematically explore the effects of environmental conditions and potential combinations of system faults. Casting this as an optimization problem requires an objective function that measures both the probability of the environmental conditions and the severity of the resulting system failure. In a previous study, an intelligent test method based on a genetic algorithm (GA) was developed to find potential failure modes for autonomous vehicles. (See A. C. Schultz, J. J. Grefenstette, and K. A. De Jong., Test and evaluation by genetic algorithms, IEEE Expert, 8(5):9-14, 1993). A standard GA was able to identify unforeseen failure modes, but was not designed to completely explore the space of system failures. An approach that could identify all distinct failure modes would significantly improve the process of ensuring the reliability of the complex systems being tested.
A similar approach may be applied to problems in homeland defense. For example, suppose one is trying to find the best way to protect a given resource, say, a city's transportation infrastructure, from terrorist attack. One approach is to play “devil's advocate” and find the most effective way that a potential terrorist might disrupt the transportation network, and then to design appropriate protective measures. However, this approach might leave the “second-best” terrorist attack plan undefended. Of course, one could just repeat the devil's advocate analysis again, but a more systematic approach would try to identify all possible attack routes before starting to plan the best defense.
As these examples suggest, what is needed is a broad application for computational systems and methods designed to actively seek multiple, distinct solutions to a given objective function. | {
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The present invention relates to life preserving flotation devices and, specifically, to a foldable life preserving jacket and a pressure responsive switch for use with the jacket.
Many types of life jackets, such as those used on large vessels, are filled with cork, kapok, or other buoyant materials to provide a floating jacket which is ready for immediate use. Because such buoyant materials sometimes make the jacket bulky, there is a tendency not to wear the jacket until an actual need arises. When an emergency occurs, there are oftentimes some survivors in the water without life preserving devices. As a result, it is advantageous for a survivor wearing a life jacket to be able to share the jacket without unduly endangering the wearers own life.
Another problem is locating survivors in the sea. Some life preserving devices are equipped with radio transmitters which transmit a distress signal upon actuation by the wearer in an emergency. Because such devices are used in times of great stress, there can be no time wasted fumbling with latches, pins or cords in order to make the survival device operative. In the case of an airplane crash, the survivor might be unconscious in the water and be unable to actuate the radio transmitter or other survival device associated with the jacket.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,041,021 to Jaffe, issued June 26, 1962, shows a life jacket with a radio receiver affixed to the jacket. The radio receives continuously transmitted signals from a transmitter on the vessel. Should the wearer fall off the vessel into the water and be separated by more than a fixed distance from the vessel transmitter, a solenoid in the radio receiver is actuated and inflates the life jacket. The system is not intended to work in the situation where the vessel is itself in danger.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,798,692 to Madeley, issued Mar. 26, 1974, shows a life jacket with a pressure responsive switch which actuates light on the life jacket when the wearer falls into the water. The pressure switch is actuated in response to contact with the water pressure of the surrounding water. The actuation device does not actuate a radio transmitter.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,095,568 to Aine, issued June 25, 1963, shows a life preserver with a pneumatic antenna erecting apparatus. Gas pressure is used to erect a mast or antenna for transmitting radio signals by a radio carried on the life preserver. The radio transmitter is not automatically actuated in response to inflation pressure.
There exists a need, therefore, for a life preserver which can be used by more than one person without endangering the life of the primary wearer.
There exists a need for a life preserving device of the type having a radio transmitter affixed thereto which incorporates a pressure responsive switch for automatically actuating the radio transmitter in response to inflation pressure.
Additional objects, features and advantages will be apparent in the written description which follows. | {
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The present disclosure is generally related to methods of forming metal oxide nanostructures and nanostructures thereof, in particular, titania nanostructures.
Titania is a well-know material with a broad range of applications including photonic crystals, photocatalysts, and photovoltaic cells. While several methods are known for nanostructuring titania, including thermal imprinting, many challenges remain mainly due to the properties of commonly-used sol-gel type titania precursors. The sol-gel type titania precursors are formed at low pH (approximately 1), are generally highly reactive and moisture sensitive, and form gels. They are often diluted in organic solvents during the sol-gel reaction to mitigate gelation, which causes large volume shrinkages during the nanostructuring process. Further, they are usually highly viscous and require high pressure for the nanostructuring process. Prior work directed toward thermal imprinting titania nanostructures used sol-gel type precursors [C. Goh, K. M. Coakley, M. D. McGehee, Nano Lett. 5, 1545 (2005), P. Yang, T. Deng, D. Zhao, P. Feng, D. Pine, B. F. Chmelka, G. M. Whitesides, G. D. Stucky, Science, 282, 2244, (1998)] or a mixture of titania colloidal particles and polymers [M. Wang, H.-G. Braun, and E. Meyer, Chem. Mater. 14, 4812 (2002)]. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photomagnetic disc record/reproduction apparatus using a recording medium housed within a cartridge, and more particularly to a cartridge loading mechanism and a magnetic head lifting mechanism used by such a photomagnetic disc record/reproduction apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
A mini-disc (MD) known as a rewritable photomagnetic disc includes a pre-mastered mini-disc and a recordable mini-disc. A pre-mastered mini-disc is a reproduction-only disc in which information is recorded in the form of pits and is reproduced from a reflected laser spot supplied by an optical pickup.
A recordable mini-disc is formed with a pit information record area at the central area of the disc and a recordable area at the outer area. The recordable area includes a user's TOC (Table of Contents) area (UTOC) and a program area. The recordable area has no pit, but a groove is engraved for the guidance to tracks. Information is recorded in the recordable area along the groove.
The groove sways like wobble. The rotation of the disc is controlled by a signal having an average frequency of 22.05 kHz and generated based on the wobble. Absolute addresses relative to the record start position are FM-modulated and recorded in the wobble.
Data record is achieved by magnetizing a magnetic film. Namely, the magnetic film is heated to a Curie point or higher by a laser spot while applying a magnetic field which reverses its polarity depending upon an input signal, and thereafter cooled. The signal is therefore recorded in the magnetic film as a change in the magnetization direction. The rotation direction of a polarization plane of a reflected laser spot changes with the magnetization direction of the magnetic film. Information is therefore reproduced by detecting a change in the polarization plane of a reflected laser spot.
A hole is formed in a cartridge accommodating a pre-mastered optical disc at a predetermined area for the inhibition of data record. A similar hole is also formed in a cartridge accommodating a recordable photomagnetic disc, and a shutter is provided to cover the hole. If the data record of a recordable photomagnetic disc is to be inhibited, the shutter is opened, whereas if the data record is permitted, the shutter is closed.
With a conventional photomagnetic disc record/reproduction apparatus, a hole indicating an inhibition of data record is detected to judge whether the data record is inhibited or not. When a photomagnetic disc allowed to record data is loaded, the magnetic head is always made to contact the disc.
With such a conventional photomagnetic disc record/reproduction apparatus, since the magnetic head is maintained always in contact with the disc permitted the data record even during the reproduction of data, the abrasion amount of the disc and magnetic head becomes great, shortening the life time of these components.
Furthermore, since there is a contact resistance between the disc and magnetic head, the load on the spindle motor increases resulting in a large power consumption of a battery if the apparatus is powered from the battery.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances. It is an object of the present invention to provide a photomagnetic disc record/reproduction apparatus capable of elongating the life time of a magnetic head and disc, and the life time a battery when the apparatus is powered from the battery.
A mini-disc is accommodated within a cartridge. For the data record/reproduction, the cartridge is loaded to a record/reproduction unit. The record/reproduction unit is constructed of a turntable for rotating a disc, an optical pickup, a magnetic head, and the like. These components are mounted on a floating chassis in order to absorb external vibrations.
A recess is formed in a cartridge accommodating a pre-mastered mini-disc at a predetermined area. A pre-mastered mini-disc can be discriminated from a recordable mini-disc by detecting this recess. When a recordable mini-disc is loaded, the magnetic head is made to contact the disc, whereas when a pre-mastered mini-disc is loaded, the magnetic head is made not to contact the disc.
Of conventional mini-disc record/reproduction apparatuses for the record/reproduction of data of such a mini-disc, there is an apparatus of the type that a member for clamping a cartridge to a positioning member is mounted on a chassis supported by a main frame chassis of a loading mechanism. With such an apparatus, the record/reproduction unit cannot be physically separated completely from the main frame chassis during the data record/reproduction so that resistance against vibrations is adversely affected.
With an apparatus having a clamp member mounted on a holder for holding a cartridge, the friction when a cartridge is pushed into the holder becomes large, posing the problems of a large loading force and abrasion or damages of a cartridge.
Of conventional apparatuses having a lifting mechanism for lifting or lowering a magnetic head which follows the motion of an optical head, there are an apparatus of the type that the magnetic head lifting mechanism is not mounted on an optical pickup transport, and an apparatus of the type that the mechanism is mounted on the transport. In the former case, there occurs a contact or slide of a component during the motion of the optical pickup, generating vibrations, In the latter case, a drive source different from that of the loading mechanism is required for the optical pickup transport, increasing the necessary mount space and manufacturing cost.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances. It is an object of the present invention to provide a photomagnetic disc record/reproduction apparatus capable of providing a good vibration-proof by physically separating a record/reproduction unit completely from a main frame chassis, eliminating a contact or slide of a component mounted on a magnetic head lifting mechanism during the motion of an optical pickup, driving the magnetic head lifting mechanism by a drive source of a loading mechanism, and realizing a reduced mount space and manufacturing cost. | {
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The present invention relates to an optical amplifier system for amplifying a light wherein a plurality of lights having different wavelengths are wavelength-multiplexed, and more particularly to an optical amplifier system for wavelength-multiplexed lights requiring a high output per wavelength. | {
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Imaging of human organs plays a critical role in diagnosis of multiple diseases. This is especially true for the human retina, where the presence of a large network of blood vessels and nerves make it a near-ideal window for exploring the effects of diseases that harm vision (such as diabetic retinopathy seen in diabetic patients, cytomegalovirus retinitis seen in HIV/AIDS patients, glaucoma, and so forth) or other systemic diseases (such as hypertension, stroke, and so forth). Advances in computer-aided image processing and analysis technologies are essential to make imaging-based disease diagnosis scalable, cost-effective, and reproducible. Such advances would directly result in effective triage of patients, leading to timely treatment and better quality of life. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A computer system is a layered device that includes a hardware layer, a firmware and operating system layer, and an applications program layer. The hardware layer of the computer system is often referred to as a physical (hardware) platform. The platform may include processors, chipsets, communications, memory, boards and systems. Typically, a single operating system controls all hardware layer resources in the computer system.
The computer system's physical resources may be virtualized to allow multiple operating systems to run on a single physical platform. A virtualized system may include a virtual machine monitor that arbitrates access to the physical platform's resources so that multiple operating systems can share them. The virtual machine monitor presents to each operating system, a set of platform interfaces that constitute a virtual machine. Thus, one computer system (hardware platform) can function as multiple “virtual” machines (platforms).
The physical platform may include a network processor, that is, a programmable device that is optimized for processing packets at high speed. Typically, the network processor classifies a received packet using a tuple of a set of fields from headers included in the packet. For example, the tuple of a set of fields may include a Transport Control Protocol (TCP) source port field, TCP destination port field, Internet Protocol (IP) source address field and IP destination address field. Using this tuple of a set of fields as a key, a database storing policy entries (policy table or policy database) may be queried to identify a configured policy that dictates how to handle the packet.
The policy entries in the policy database are typically stored as linked lists or as linear arrays. In order to improve searching performance, a lookup mechanism is typically implemented. One implementation of a lookup mechanism is a Recursive Flow Classification (RFC) algorithm which is discussed at http://klamath.stanford.edu/˜pankaj/thesis/chapter4.pdf.
One limitation of the RFC algorithm is that lookup efficiency decreases exponentially as the number of policy entries in the database increases. Another limitation is that each time the database is updated an RFC table associated with the database needs to be re-generated. The regeneration process can be quite slow, with the time taken to generate an RFC table from a database being directly proportional to the number of policy entries in the database.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments of the claimed subject matter, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter be viewed broadly, and be defined only as set forth in the accompanying claims. | {
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Virtual desktops are becoming more and more commonplace in today's work environments. The security of having a remotely stored desktop, ability to access the desktop from any location and on various devices, centralized management, the efficient use of hardware resources, among other benefits made possible by virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is a large benefit for many organizations. Hence, the concept of using VDI to provide users with virtual desktops in the cloud is appealing to a growing number of enterprises.
In a conventional VDI environment, each user in an enterprise is provisioned a virtual desktop and is allowed to access their virtual desktop over a remote network connection, such as a WAN connection. The virtual desktops are typically hosted on servers that reside in a data center of the enterprise (or a third party service provider), and each host server may execute multiple virtual desktops. Users can utilize a client device to remotely log into their individual virtual desktop and all of the application execution takes place on the remote host server which is linked to the local client device over a network using a remote display protocol, such as remote desktop protocol (RDP), PC-over-IP protocol (PCoIP), virtual network computing (VNC) protocol, or the like. Using the remote desktop protocol, the user can interact with applications of the virtual desktop, which are running on the remote host server, with only the display, keyboard, and mouse information communicated with the local client device. A common implementation of this approach is to host multiple desktop operating system instances on separate virtual machines deployed on a server hardware platform running a hypervisor.
However, successful deployment of VDI in an enterprise poses several challenges. For example, VDI must provide cost-effective dedicated desktops, in which users still have the diversity and personalization they are used to (e.g. installing custom applications and storing a large number of documents), while reducing the cost of storage and computing resources required for handling the user workloads. One challenge in today's systems is that the underlying storage in VDI must be of large capacity and high performance, as it contains all operating system (OS) files, applications, and user data, and must respond quickly to a massive amount of input and output (JO) requests from various virtual desktops running from the storage.
Also, IT needs to be able to continue supporting users with physical devices, co-existing with the virtual desktops. Furthermore, the system should enable fast transition from the physical desktop to the virtual desktop (e.g. for business continuity in case of disaster). Today, migrating existing full physical desktops into the cloud to enable a virtual desktop is a long and complicated process that requires copying the entire contents of each physical desktop into the corresponding virtual disks, which also consumes a lot of storage space. In addition, maintaining synchronization between the virtual desktop and the physical desktop for when the user returns to using the physical desktop is a significant problem. Further, IT needs to be able to provision and update operating systems, applications, and perform other IT tasks in the same way both for physical and for virtual desktops, ideally without having to duplicate the effort.
Meeting these challenges traditionally required expensive high-end storage devices storing full block-level desktop images and extensive IT involvement. The common approach for meeting these requirements is to dedicate a virtual machine per user, with varying solutions for storing the various desktop image components (the operating system, IT-provisioned applications, user-installed applications, user data, and settings). For example, a simple storage solution that is widely used is to have a “full clone” of a virtual machine disk for every virtual desktop. Each full clone contains an entire block-level desktop image. However, this solution wastes a lot of storage, as the entire operating system and all IT- and user-installed applications are duplicated across many virtual machine disks. Some solutions, such as “linked clones,” reduce storage needs to some extent by allowing multiple VMs to share a base or “parent” virtual disk that contains the core operating system (OS), while changes of each VM are written to a separate delta disk for each VM. This enables de-duplicating the core OS files, however, user data, installed applications and customized settings are not de-duplicated. Furthermore, with linked clone technology, each virtual delta disk consumes increasingly more storage over time as blocks are being written to the delta disk, which in turn requires either a periodic “refresh” operation that discards all user-installed apps or a resource-intensive garbage collection operation for reclaiming unused blocks.
A more efficient approach is desirable for managing virtual desktop infrastructure in enterprise network environments. | {
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In the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel and an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display panel, protection films are often used to protect film layers which are required to be protected.
For example, in a package process of an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display panel with a large size, adhesive material of thermosetting type which is employed in surface packaging process has three layers. A first layer is a protection film of adhesive material, a second layer is a package adhesive film and a third layer is a protection film of adhesive material. Accordingly, a device for tearing film is used to tear off and remove the package protection films, when film layers required to be protected are used.
A technique of tearing film of prior art is to capture adhesive tape, move it to a setting position and press it on thin film to be torn to make it adhere to the thin film to be torn, by a mechanical arm. The thin film to be torn is pulled up and torn off by moving the mechanical arm by means of adhesive force between the adhesive tape and the thin film to be torn. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid developer, and more specifically to a positively-charged liquid developer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As a developer used for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on a latent image carrier, there are known a liquid developer which is obtained by dispersing toner particles composed of a toner material containing a binder resin and a coloring agent such as pigments into a carrier liquid having electric insulation properties, that is, an insulation liquid. Generally, a polyester resin is used for such a binder resin for toner particles contained in a liquid developer. Polyester resins have high transparency, and thus when such resins are used as a binder resin, there are advantages in that obtained images can provide excellent color development and excellent fixing characteristics.
In the meantime, such liquid developers include two types, one of which is a negatively-charged liquid developer and the other of which is a positively-charged liquid developer. However, when such a negatively-charged is used, there is a problem in that ozone is generated in an image forming apparatus, and generation of such ozone not only causes an environmental problem but also gives any adverse effects to peripheral components provided in the image forming apparatus.
On the other hand, in the case of a positively-charged liquid developer, images can be formed with less generation of corona products such as ozone and the like. Therefore, in recent years, researches and developments are conducted for methods for forming images using positively-charged liquid developers (one example of such a liquid developer is disclosed in JP-A No. 2002-214849).
However, generally, polyester resins are negatively-charged type resins. Therefore, it is difficult to use a polyester resin to positively-charged toner particles (liquid developer). Further, there may be an approach that toner particles formed using a binder resin made of a polyester resin are allowed to be positively-charged by adding a charge control agent to the binder resin. However, according to this approach, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient amount of positive toner charging. | {
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Publications and other reference materials referred to herein, including reference cited therein, are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and are numerically referenced in the following text and respectively grouped in the appended Bibliography which immediately precedes the claims.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a 3D imaging method mainly associated with the production of high resolution cross sectional images of semi-transparent samples. The development of OCT and its applications to the biomedical optical imaging field are increasing every day. The main principles of OCT rely on light temporal coherence and interference, matter reflectivity and high sensitivity which are used to measure micro morphology of objects inside a turbid environment. Since its first appearance two decades ago [1], many technological schemes have been suggested to fulfill its goal [2]. However, despite their great diversity most OCT systems can be categorized into two main groups, time domain (TD) and frequency domain (FD) OCT. In principle, FD-OCT systems are faster, have higher signal to noise ratio (SNR) and better sensitivity [3], but hold lower resolution capabilities.
The key parameters of all OCT systems are resolvability (axial and lateral/transverse resolution), penetration capability, sensitivity and speed. Among all of the OCT techniques, the femto second pulse laser (fs-OCT) [4, 5] and time domain full field OCT systems (TD-FF-OCT) [6, 7] have been found to demonstrate the highest, sub-cellular, resolution capabilities.
Although state of the art fs-OCT systems demonstrate a higher sensitivity they are much more expensive and lack the extremely high lateral resolution and speed obtainable by TD-FF-OCT systems.
In most of the OCT modalities the axial resolution of the system is controlled by the source coherence length and, in some cases can be made as short as 1 μm [5, 7]. The lateral resolution of the system is controlled by the point spread function (PSF) of the focusing lens and theoretically can be made as high as ˜0.5 μm. The penetration capability is controlled mostly by the medium scattering and absorbing characteristics, but can be partially controlled by the central wavelength of the source; in some OCT systems it may be as great as ˜12 mm [9]. Due to the heterodyne natural amplification of the interferometer, the sensitivity can be extremely high, in some reported works as high as −110 dB [4], allowing detection of 10−11 of the incident optical power. The imaging speed in OCT is primarily controlled by the hardware and the imaging method used. In some recently reported works, 2.6×2.6×1.2 mm3 volumes were captured at 4 volumes per second, corresponding to ˜393 M pixels/s [10]. The above mentioned characteristics are what make this young imaging technique so appealing to so many different fields of research.
The main advantages of TD-FF-OCT are its extremely high 3D resolution, speed, simplicity and cost. In TD-FF-OCT the light source is comparatively cheap (halogen or xenon lamp) with very low coherence length. The method can use a high NA objective lens and therefore achieves very high resolution also in the transverse direction. The optical detection is made by a parallel detector CCD/CMOS (CCD—Charge Coupled Device; CMOS—Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) camera so that enface images are obtained without parallel scanning the sample. The parallel detection simplifies the entire microscopy system and reduces production costs. TD-FF-OCT systems do not use any dynamic depth of focusing compensation techniques, as opposed to all other OCT methods. The TD-FF-OCT configuration allows real time en-face images, both interference and bright field; therefore, TD-FF-OCT systems may be used also as conventional optical microcopy system without additional optics.
However, in TD-FF-OCT the investigated sample is scanned by using a motorized linear stage, which is limited by speed and, like all mechanical systems, produces vibration noise. As in all OCT systems, the fact that wideband illumination is used to obtain high axial resolution forces the application of dispersion compensation techniques which in turn complicates the entire system architecture. In addition, when using a dry objective lens with high numerical aperture (NA), the interference signal contrast is severely eroded [11] and as a result the SNR and the sensitivity are reduced. Furthermore, the fact that the OCT signal extraction is done by mechanically actuating the reference mirror/objective limits both the accuracy and the lifetime of the microscope. Since traditional TD-FF-OCT systems use wideband illumination to achieve high axial resolution, true spectroscopic OCT imaging is not possible.
The time domain full field optical coherence tomography method, occasionally referred to as time domain full field optical coherence microscopy (TD-FF-OCM), is a rather new modality of OCT technology. Indeed, the first work on TD-FF-OCT was published only in 1998 [12], seven years after the concept of OCT was successfully demonstrated [1]. TD-FF-OCT is a more sophisticated version of the full field low coherence interference microscopy (FFLCIM), a method which is known for much longer time [13-16].
The first published work on FF-OCT [12] used the Taylor (sometime referred to as “Michelson”) interference microscopy configuration which in today's jargon is sometimes termed ‘wide field’ OCT (WF-OCT), for it holds a wider imaging field but a lower resolution capabilities. The axial resolution in [12] is governed by the source coherence length, which is 16 μm. The lateral resolution is determined by the objective lens NA and the CCD pixel size. The light emanating from the source (LED) is polarized, collimated and split at a polarized beam splitter. Two orthogonal field components are thus focused (by a 0.25 NA objective lens), one to the reference mirror and the other to the sample. By using a photo elastic modulator, a time dependent phase delay up is introduced between the two orthogonal signals. By successively grabbing four images with suitable phase difference the signal interference envelope is obtained. Due to the polarizer and the analyzer configuration, half of the reflected power is lost.
In 2002 the above method was employed with the Linnik interference microscope configuration, demonstrating much higher resolution capabilities [17-18]. In this work the optical light source was a halogen lamp with 260 nm Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) spectra centered at 840 nm wavelength. The wideband source allowed a 1.2 μm FWHM for the longitudinal resolution. The microscope objective lens NA was 0.3, providing a 1.3 μm lateral resolution at the center wavelength. The CCD camera operated in 200 fps and a piezoelectric ceramic material PZT (lead zirconate titanate (Pb[Zr(x)Ti(1−x)]O3)) was used for position modulating the reference arm at a rate of 50 Hz. Here, instead of using a photo elastic modulator, a PZT was used in order to demodulate the interference signal. It was reported, however, that the signal extraction was not ideal (fringes were still apparent). Also, due to the wideband spectra, the lateral resolution was somewhat limited as defocusing effects were stronger. As in all OCT systems with mechanically oscillating mirrors and continuous phase modulation, inertia problems and integration time drifts are also inherent here.
Wide field OCT (WF-OCT) was also demonstrated in high speed using a heterodyne detection scheme [19] by employing two CCD cameras (100 fps), however due to the long coherence length of the source SLD (Super Luminescent Diode) with 18 nm FWHM spectra centered at 826 nm wavelength) and the comparatively low NA objective lens (NA=0.14), both the lateral and the axial resolution were not very high (4 μm×17 μm, transverse×axial). In this technique the in phase (φ=0) and quadrature (φ=π/2) components of the interference signal are grabbed simultaneously at two different cameras (the phase delay is introduced via two liquid crystal (LC) shutters operating in π/2 delay). The DC level is known prior to image acquisition. Therefore real time enface imaging is obtained and the OCT cross section image is produced in 0.6 mm/s with measured 85 dB sensitivity. The concept of two cameras was also employed in ultrahigh resolution [20]; however, here as well, the demodulating means were mechanical. In general, using two cameras for high speed OCT is problematic as it means that a considerable effort must be put in order to align the two CCDs; a pixel to pixel alignment is required for accurate demodulation.
WF-OCT was also performed with real color by using three different color LEDs having their wavelength centered in the blue, green and red regions, 457.4 nm (FWHM=28.6 nm), 528.5 nm (FWHM=33.2 nm) and 638.4 nm (22.9 nm), respectively [21]. The envelope of the interference signal is extracted by position-modulating the reference mirror, thereby inducing four quadruplet signals (simple combination of the four signals results in the envelope signal). However, due to the large temporal coherence length of the source and the low objective lens NA, both the lateral and the axial resolution were not very high (15 μm×5 μm, transverse×axial). TD-FF-OCT was also applied with a rotatable polarizer phase shifter [22]. The phase shifter used to produce three images with three different phases by which the amplitude of the signal is extracted in similar fashion to the four quadruplet technique. Polarization sensitive OCT (PS-OCT) was also illustrated recently in the full field form [23]. In PS-FF-OCT, in addition to the traditional intensity en-face image representation a phase-retardation image is produced, which provides another level of information that may be useful to biological applications and clinician's observations.
The Fourier domain full field optical coherence tomography technique (FD-FF-OCT) is another interesting form of OCT technology which holds several advantages over the TD-FF-OCT. The FD-FF-OCT is a more sophisticated version of its predecessor the Fourier domain wide field optical coherence reflectometry, a method usually applied to surface profilometry [24]. Two major advantages are attributed to the FD form of FF-OCT: (i) it possesses very high SNR and (ii) it does not require any moving mechanical elements, neither for transverse nor for axial scanning.
However, its main disadvantages are (i) the requirements for frequency profile reshaping prior to Fourier transform (FT) operation, which slightly reduces the speed; (ii) twin image removal, which either limits the speed by elaborate computation or requires more sophisticated hardware; (iii) high extended depth of focus is required, which limits the lateral resolution; (iv) its comparatively narrowband tuning range, which limits the axial resolution; (v) its limited frequency spacing, which limits the optical imaging depth; and (vi) the requirement for having the entire wavelength image collection prior to OCT cross sectional image representation. Yet, the fact that in principle no moving parts are needed to perform 3D OCT imaging attracts a few groups of scientists to try and circumvent the above mentioned limitations.
Not many studies have been published on the FD-FF-OCT mode. As opposed to the conventional FD-OCT the FF form has only one applicable form. There are two fundamental techniques to perform FD-OCT, the spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) and the swept source OCT (SS-OCT). In the case of FF-OCT, only the swept source configuration has been demonstrated (SS-FF-OCT).
The first, and one of the only high resolution, sub cellular, SS-FF-OCT works was published only in 2006 [25]. In this work a wide spectral source is obtained by pumping a Ti-Sapphire gain medium with a Nd:YAG laser. The wide gain bandwidth of the Ti-Sapphire laser produces a FWHM spectrum of 110 nm centered at 790 nm wavelength. The output spectrum is then tuned over almost the entire bandwidth with spectral spacing (line width) of 0.4 nm by a following acoustic optic modulator (AOM). The light is then coupled into multimode optical fiber (MMF) equipped with a suitable mode mixer which eliminates spackles. By controlling the wavelength transmitted by the AOM a plurality of ‘time encoded’ spectral images are obtained, then the inverse Fourier transform (IFT) operation is applied to the data stock and the OCT image is constructed. Due to the comparatively low NA of the objective lens and the moderate bandwidth of the spectrum used, OCT images of fruit fly eye were demonstrated with 1.3×1×0.2 mm3 volumes grabbed in 50 seconds and with axial by lateral resolution of 3 μm×4 μm. The fact that a femto second laser was used complicates the entire system and raises the costs. Also, this method does not overcome the problems of the twin image, the DC and coherent noises. As a result, only half of the potentially available imaging depth was employed.
SS-WF-OCT was also demonstrated for finger print detection, using Super-Luminescent Diode (SLD) in conjunction with AOM as the wavelength tuning device [26]. The SLD spectrum was only 48 nm FWHM and low NA projecting lens was used, therefore the lateral and axial resolution were not very high. A very similar work was also presented in [27]. SS-WF-OCT was very recently demonstrated in-vivo on a human retina [28] using a tunable light source with 850 nm center wavelength and effective FWHM of 25 nm with 0.05 nm line width. Both the lateral and the axial resolution were not very high (13 μm×13 μm) due to the low NA objectives and the comparatively narrow bandwidth of the source. Also in this work the problem of the twin image, the DC and the coherent noises were not overcome.
The subject of FD-FF-OCT is still a hot zone of research driven by the magical power of the Fourier transform analysis which permits 3D imaging without mechanically moving elements. However, for the time being, due to the requirement of large depth of field and the additional cost associated with the swept source this imaging modality is still, for high resolution applications, less favored than the TD-FF-OCT method.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,940,602 (Dubois et al), a method and a system for obtaining interference images of an object are described. In this patent the interference signal is demodulated by mechanically oscillating one of the mirrors/objectives of the interference microscope. In this system the phase difference between the interference arms is changed sinusoidally and the interference signal is integrated along four time periods. By linear combination of these four phase images the phase and amplitude of the interference signal is obtained.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,095,503 (Kim et al) a method and a system for obtaining true color OCT images using a wide field OCT (WF-OCT) configuration is depicted. The invention uses a color CCD parallel detector and a white light source. The true color OCT images are obtained by demodulating the reference arm and grabbing four phase shifted interference images of the object. The fact that the system uses the Taylor like interferometer configuration does not allow high lateral resolution images (˜15 μm). Also, since the CCD color bands are limited to a relatively narrow bandwidth, the axial resolution is limited to about 5 μm. This invention also describes an alternative light source; using three different color LEDs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,088,454 (Chang et al) a method and a system for extracting the OCT signal from 3 different images is described. The method is exemplified using a Taylor like interferometer with a super-luminescence diode. In this method, a first non interfering image is taken and then two interference images with π/2 phase difference are grabbed. A simple mathematical combination of these images produces the OCT images. The method uses mechanical modulation of the reference arm and is not capable of operating at high resolution due to the Taylor like configuration and the comparatively moderate bandwidth of the source.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,950,801(Lacombe et al) a method and a system for demodulating the OCT signal of a FF-OCT system in real time are presented. The invention uses a Wollaston prism to project simultaneously four spatially resolved different interference images on the same parallel detector. Although the method is very fast it uses linearly polarized light to illuminate the sample, and therefore cannot be implemented on strongly birefringent samples. In addition, the fact that each interference image requires ¼th of the CCD sensor area limits the available field for imaging and reduces the effectiveness of the parallel detector. Furthermore, in this method the Wollaston prism is positioned just about the objective lens and therefore produces some aberration. Additionally, the four different images on the parallel detector must be matched with great precision.
In patent application number US 2009/0153876 (Chan et al) a system and a method for obtaining FF-OCT images in high speed are disclosed. The system comprises two separated cameras by means of which it extracts the OCT signal with only two measurements. The phase shift between these measurements is imposed by mechanically oscillating the reference mirror in similar fashion to the method described above in U.S. Pat. No. 6,940,602.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,110 (Davidson et al.), a method and a system for obtaining high resolution images of microelectronic objects, established on the Linnik interference microscope configuration, is disclosed. In this invention the images are obtained based on the degree of coherence of the reference and sample images. To obtain the degree of coherence, two interference images are obtained with phase difference of π. Based on the fringe intensity (in the axial direction) the image is reconstructed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,918 (Kino et al), a method for extracting the envelope of an interference image is disclosed using a Mirau correlation microscope. The method uses the Fourier/Hilbert transform operation to separate the DC level from the carrier of the interference signal. After filtering the zero order, the inverse transform operation is applied which in turn yields the envelope of the carrier, i.e. the desired envelope. In this technique the entire space must be scanned before obtaining the full-field en-face images. The method requires a large number of sampling points for high accuracy. Also, when large fields are analyzed, the computation process is long. Therefore, this method is rather slow.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,468,799 (de Groot et al), a method of obtaining the interference image pattern of a thin film and of microelectronic samples is disclosed. The method is demonstrated using the Mirau and the Linnik scanning interferometers and is established on the fringe pattern obtained by axially scanning the sample, no demodulating means are described.
In patent application number US 2011/0181888A1 from Jul. 28, 2011, a Fourier domain wide field optical coherence tomography system with an extended depth of field is disclosed. The invention uses phase masks such as an annular phase mask which produces a π/2 phase shift on light passing the annular region. The mask is positioned in at least one of the microscope interference arms. Optionally the phase mask is positioned on one of the surfaces of the objective lens. Although the invention is applicable to OCT in general it mainly describes a wide field OCT (WF-OCT) system. This configuration allows only comparatively low resolution. | {
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Correcting typewriters utilizing adhesive correction media have been available in significant numbers since 1973 in the commercial marketplace. The previous correction tape constituted a reel to reel arrangement where each reel, takeup and supply were separate and independent and not commonly supported.
With the increased usage of ribbons in cartridges, it has become desirable to include the correction tape in a cartridge for ease in handling and ease in installation. By including the correction tape in the cartridge, it is also considerably easier to design a ribbon and correction tape feed mechanism to accommodate the cartridge than to have to accommodate a ribbon cartridge and separate and loose correction tape spools. With the inclusion of the correction tape within a correction tape cartridge, the physical volume occupied by the completely filled takeup spool becomes a consideration and, in many cases, a limiting consideration as to the quantity of tape that may be originally placed in the cartridge and the ability to consume all of the correction tape supplied.
One complicating factor when dealing with correction tapes generally not found when dealing with such things as film ribbons and fabric ribbons is that film and fabric ribbons will slip with respect to each other in a particular convolution while the tacky surface of the correction tape does not readily slip in the same manner. This non-slip nature of the correction tape resists normal smoothing of the takeup convolutions as may be accomplished with ribbons by tension. Therefore, once the material has become adhered to the adjacent backing, it is virtually impossible to cause a slipping by means of tension only.
As a result, any wrinkle inadvertently formed will propogate throughout the remainder of the radius of the takeup spool with additional convolutions.
Tensioning devices have been disclosed in the past which engage the periphery of ribbon spools. The most pertinent example of a tensioning device engaging the periphery of a takeup spool is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,160. A second version of that device is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,439. In both cases, the ends of the spring member which constitutes a drag force on the supply spool has a second end engaged with the periphery of the takeup spool for purposes of forming a bias force between the two spools. The patents indicate that the function and purpose is that of providing a tension to the web and that a relatively high friction surface material is attached to the arm engaged with the supply spool to that end. Also, the braking surface is formed such that if a bulge is present, the action of the bulge against the brake will cause the brake to cam out and allow passage of the bulge.
This device, although providing the desired tension, does not appear to have any beneficial effect as far as maintaining a well ordered takeup spool inasmuch as the ribbon being transmitted will slip with respect to the next convolution and, therefore, does not present the problem encountered in the takeup spool portion of the correction tape cartridge disclosed in this application. | {
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In marine seismic exploration a seismic source emits sound waves which are reflected/refracted by interfaces between layers of the subsurface with different elastic properties. The amplitudes and arrival times of the returned sound waves are recorded by seismic sensors. Two main techniques are used to record the returned sound wave signals, one is by using hydrophone cables that are towed behind a vessel near the sea level, the other is to deploy seismic nodes at the ocean bottom. This invention relates to the latter technique.
After the seismic data has been recorded by the seismic nodes at the sea bottom, the seismic nodes are retrieved for transferring the seismic data to a data storage unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,050,140 discloses a system for collecting seismic data in marine environments by deploying multiple, continuous operating, wireless, self-contained ocean bottom sensor units or pods. The pods are attached to one another utilizing a flexible, non-rigid, non-conducting cable that is used to control deployment of the pods through the water. The pods are deployed and retrieved from the uniquely configured deck of a marine vessel, wherein the deck is provided with a conveyor system and a handling system to attach and detach individual pods from the non-rigid cable. In one embodiment, as part of the deck configuration, the individual pods are randomly stored in juke box fashion in slotted racks. When seated within the slot of a rack, the seismic data previously recorded by the pod can be retrieved and the pod can be charged, tested, re-synchronized, and operation can be re-initiated without the need to open the pod.
In the system of U.S. Pat. No. 8,050,140 and similar systems the seismic nodes or pods are stored in racks at the deck of the deploying/retrieving vessel. This takes up a lot of space and limits the number of seismic nodes that can be deployed at the sea bottom by the vessel.
To enable a vessel for deploying/retrieving seismic nodes to cover a larger area, and thereby reduce the cost for seismic exploration, there is a need for a technical solution that enables storing of a large number of seismic nodes at the deck of the deploying/retrieving vessel. The purpose of the invention is to provide this technical solution. | {
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In the prior art, in order to improve power efficiency by reducing power consumption, switching power supplies including semiconductor devices for switching power supply control have been widely used as the power supplies of home appliances such as household electrical appliances. The semiconductor devices control output voltages by the switching operations of semiconductors (switching elements such as transistors).
However, switching power supplies generate high switching noise in response to switching operations for turning on/off switching elements, so that the switching power supplies acting as noise sources may cause problems such as a malfunction and a failure in other electronic equipment. Thus switching power supplies with reduced switching noise have been demanded.
Further, in order to increase power supply efficiency, switching power supplies with reduced switching loss have been also demanded.
In response to these demands, for example, a switching power supply is available which reduces switching noise and switching loss by using a ringing choke converter (RCC) pseudo-resonance control system for soft switching.
The switching power supply detects proper timing from a ringing voltage which is generated after a switching element is turned off and the passage of secondary current through the secondary winding of a transformer is stopped, and then the switching power supply turns on the switching element, so that soft switching is achieved.
A device for detecting turn-on timing is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-287260. In a switching power supply disclosed in this document, as shown in FIG. 9, a turn-on detection circuit 7 detects a time when a voltage induced to an auxiliary winding 110c of a transformer 110 is switched from a positive voltage to a negative voltage by the switching operation of a switching element 1, through resistors 143 and 144 connected to the auxiliary winding 110c. Thus the switching element 1 is controlled to be turned on when a voltage applied to the switching element 1 decreases.
Further, a device for detecting turn-on timing is disclosed in, for example, National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2003-524359. In a switching power supply disclosed in this document, as shown in FIG. 10, a switching element 1 is controlled to be turned on when the time derivative of a voltage applied to the switching element 1 is equal to a certain reference value not larger than 0 and the voltage applied to the switching element 1 is smaller than an input voltage, that is, the voltage applied to the switching element 1 reaches the minimum value as a result of a comparison made by a comparator circuit 9.
However, in the switching power supply of the prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-287260, the turn-on timing of the switching element is detected in a pseudo manner from the voltage induced to the auxiliary winding, so that the accuracy of detection is lower than the case where the voltage applied to the switching element is directly monitored. Since the switching element is turned on when the voltage reaches the minimum value, an adjustment has to be made by an external component such as a capacitor. Moreover, an external terminal to be connected to the auxiliary winding is necessary, thereby increasing the number of external components and the cost.
In the switching power supply of the prior art disclosed in National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2003-524359, the voltage applied to the switching element is directly monitored and thus the switching element can be more easily turned on at the minimum value as compared with the switching power supply disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-287260. However, the circuit for detecting the turn-on timing of the switching element has to be resistant to a high voltage applied to the switching element.
Generally, a voltage applied to a switching element immediately after the turn-off of the switching element fluctuates due to the leakage inductance of a transformer, the parasitic capacitance of the switching element, and so on. Thus in the switching power supply disclosed in National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2003-524359, the switching element is controlled to be turned on only when the voltage applied to the switching element is lower than the input voltage, so that the turn-on timing of the switching element is not erroneously detected.
Thus in a semiconductor device for switching power supply control disclosed in National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2003-524359, a comparator connected to the switching element and an input line is provided, so that an external terminal to be connected to the input line is necessary. The comparator also has to be resistant to a high voltage. The comparator made up of a high-withstand voltage element increases a chip area and the number of manufacturing steps, resulting in higher cost. | {
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This invention relates to gas turbine engines and, more specifically to stator vane clusters formed of two or more individual vanes.
The concepts have direct applicability in the remanufacture of stator vane clusters from salvageable vane components. One such technique for remanufacturing vane clusters is taught in U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 920,582, filed June 29, 1978. | {
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This invention relates to electronic computer systems and techniques, and more particularly relates to improved methods and apparatus for clearing the memory section of a video-type computer and the like.
It is well known that a computer system conventionally employs a CRT section and the like to exhibit output data, and that such a system conventionally includes a storage circuit of suitable design for receiving and holding data signals prior to transfer to the video section. It is further conventional to employ a bit-mapped memory unit or chip for this purpose, in order that the memory cells in the chip will each correspond to one of the pixels on the CRT screen.
It will readily be apparent that, in such a system, the memory section must first be cleared of all residual or "old" data, i.e. initialized, before "new" data may be fed into the system. Since each cell in the memory is a separate storage unit, this means that all 65,536 cells in a so-called "64K memory" chip must be cleared by the insertion of a preselected data signal (usually a zero).
Clearing such a memory section is a time-consuming task, at least by computer standards, since each cell must be separately and sequentially addressed, and new "clearing data" written in, on a cell-by-cell basis until the entire operation has been completed. Unless this is done, the image which is projected onto the CRT screen will not only be composed of valid data signals but will also include other spurious unwanted data signals.
As explained in a co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 427,236 filed Sept. 29, 1982 by McDonough, Laffite and Hughes, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,435, there has been an on-going market demand for video-type computers which present images of greater resolution. This can only be achieved, of course, by employing CRT screens having an increased number of pixels, and this, in turn, has required the use of storage sections having a correspondingly increased number of separate memory cells. As a consequence, it has increased the length of time required to clear the memory in the computer.
These disadvantages of the prior art are now minimized or overcome by the present invention, and novel methods and apparatus are provided for effectively clearing the memory of a computer system in a fraction of the time previously required. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Fuel injection has long been used in engine applications. Port injection systems inject the fuel directly into the intake port of the engine (e.g., as the intake valve opens). Direct injection systems, on the other hand, inject the fuel directly into the cylinder. Issues which are often confronted in fuel injector design are the amount of force required to open the fuel injector for the discharging of fuel and the time required to completely open/close the fuel injector.
Port injection systems allow for the use of reduced forces for opening the fuel injector. Specifically, since the injection from the fuel injector is into a relatively low pressure environment (e.g., since the engine piston is on its intake stroke), a return spring of reduced capacity may be used to close the fuel injector (e.g., less spring force is required to close the fuel injector). Direct injection systems which allow for the use of reduced forces for opening the fuel injector do so by opening the fuel injector when the piston is at or near its bottom-dead-center position when the pressure in the cylinder is also relatively low.
The above-described port and direct fuel injection systems which allow for reduced actuation forces for the fuel injector suffer from reduced volumetric efficiencies. One way to enhance the volumetric efficiency is to inject the fuel as the piston approaches its top-dead-center position. However, since the cylinder pressure in this case exceeds both the pressure in a port injection system as well as the pressure in a direct injection system which injects fuel with the piston at the bottom-dead-center position, more force is required to close the fuel injector. In the case where the "closing force" is provided by a return spring, this means that the spring must have an increased capacity (e.g., increased force-generating capabilities). This in turn requires the use of larger actuation forces to open the fuel injector for injection. Consequently, direct injection systems which inject with the piston at or near its top-dead-center piston typically require larger actuation forces (e.g., at least about 50 pounds-force) to open the injector in comparison to direct injection systems which inject with the position at or near its bottom-dead center position. | {
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Sepsis is a severe disease for example in the form of a malady of the immune system caused by an infection or other traumas.
If the patient suffering from sepsis is not treated or if the therapy is not optimal the patient may die.
Sepsis is a complicated disease involving the reactions of several components of the immune system to an infection. These reactions are difficult to monitor because they involve many cell types all communicating with each other via chemical messengers that are not routinely measured in the clinic and even if they were, these measurements would be difficult to interpret because the dynamics of these responses are so complex and vary widely among patients. The complexity of sepsis may be seen by the facts that sepsis is the tenth leading cause of death in the USA and the leading cause of death in non-cardiac intensive care units in spite of several decades of research.
Today therapies of sepsis are based on the clinicians experience and skills, however, due to the complexity of sepsis even experienced clinicians may not be able to execute the optimal therapy, or the clinician may even execute a therapy leading to a deteriorated situation for the patient.
Some of the challenges faced by the clinicians when a sepsis patient needs treatment are caused by the large number of unknown biological and physiological factors affecting the development of the disease as well as the dynamic and often rapid changing behaviour of the disease.
Accordingly, it may be seen as a problem to create a system capable of assisting the clinician in executing a suitable therapy for patients suffering from diseases such as sepsis.
US 2003/0097220 discloses a decision support system for recommending an optimal treatment protocol for a specific individual. The system comprises generally a system model, a plurality of treatment protocols, a system model modifier, wherein said system model is modified by the system model modifier based on parameters specific to the individual; and a selector to select an optimal treatment protocol from said plurality of treatment protocols based on the modified system model.
The method disclosed in US 2003/0097220 is related to treating cancer and, therefore, is not capable of dealing with diseases having a highly dynamic nature of development that change rapidly in short time scales (e.g. hours) and, consequently, is not suitable for assisting a clinician in treating sepsis. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related in general to the field of products used by an end user to create their own cigars or cigarettes. More particularly, the invention is related to a reclosable package with magnetic clasp for rolling papers used in roll your own smoking articles.
2. Discussion of the Background
Materials or papers used for rolling smoking articles, such as cigars or cigarettes, may be made from a variety of materials such as reconstituted tobacco and paper. Typically such papers or “leaves” absorb saliva or have an edge coated with adhesive for sealing the rolled smoking article. Another product utilizes highly transparent cellulose paper, which can be made from cellulose of wood, cotton, or hemp that is blended with glycerin or a glycerin alternative, and water. Such cellulose paper, hereinafter interchangeably used with term cellophane, is appealing because it has no taste or odor, is highly transparent, and it allows a slower combustion without changing the characteristics of the smoking materials. However, the transparent cellulose wrapping papers that are currently available do not adequately adhere to themselves when rolled for smoking purposes.
A further limitation is that cellophane is water-resistant and is not capable of absorbing liquids. Hence, it docs not absorb saliva and will not stick even when moistened in such a manner. Furthermore, upon application the standard acacia gum commonly used with rolling materials simply runs off of the cellophane sheets, thus impairing the ability to impart a workable adhesive area to the rolling paper. The characteristic of being non-absorbent further limits the type of packaging that can be utilized for a plurality of interleaved sheets. Not only must the adhesive adhere to each sheet upon application, but the adhesive must also be retained on each sheet upon removal from the pack for use.
In addition, another deficiency of the prior art is the inadequate closure of the package or box of papers. The prior art packages fail to remain closed, and with routine use, they become worn, remaining open even more easily. When carrying the pack of papers in a pocket or purse, the package tends to open, allowing the papers to fall out and become damaged. Furthermore, an open package exposes the other leaves to the elements, or it causes the pack to become crushed or deformed if it is quickly inserted into one's pocket. In other words, the cover can become deformed if the smoker does not purposefully hold the pack closed during its insertion into a pocket or case.
These limitations tend to frustrate the purpose of wrapping materials, that is, to permit the smoker to individually roll cigarettes and other smoking articles with a sheet that firmly adheres when rolled, and to provide the consumer with a convenient pack that allows each transparent sheet to be easily dispensed in a rollable condition. Hence, it would be desirable to provide a suitable package for rolling papers that provides a reliable and secure closure so that the leaves do not slip out, as well as including a tamper-resistant seal for ensuring a factory-fresh product. It would also be desirable to provide a means for assembling cellulose rolling paper into a convenient interleaved stack that permits retention of the adhesive on each sheet as it is removed the package.
The use of adhesive on reconstituted tobacco sheets for rolling tobacco products is well-known in the art. Tobacco sheets for rolling tobacco products are disclosed in Garner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,074, which provides a reconstituted tobacco sheet with an adhesive applied along the edge to provide a firm adhesion between the inner and outer surfaces of the sheet. U.S. Pat. No. 6,571,803 issued to Bregeard discloses a method for gumming a reconstituted tobacco leaf. Also, a machine for making paper booklets of interleaved cigarette paper is disclosed by Jones, U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,358. However, none of these references disclose a method for gumming a transparent cellophane wrapping paper or an adhesive suitable therefore.
Because the cellulose paper is nonabsorbent and the adhesive or standard acacia gum typically used with rolling papers has high water content, the standard adhesives run off of cellulose paper as soon as they are applied. Furthermore, applying such adhesive or gum causes the cellulose sheet to warp and the ends of the cellulose sheet to curl. A further problem posed by adhesives and acacia gums is that they are also transparent in appearance. As a result, the high transparency of the adhesive makes it difficult for the consumer to determine which edge of the transparent paper has adhesive applied and thus, which edge should be moistened to seal the roll of smoking materials.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a secure closure for the package which contains the interleaved papers, as well as a tamper-resistant seal for keeping the papers secure until the package is opened by the smoker. Another feature of the present invention is that the cellulose papers are interleaved for convenient removal from the package. The adhesive utilized not only successfully adheres to the sheets but also allows each sheet to be removed from the booklet without damaging the adhesive, which can be effectively retained on the sheet. As will be described in further detail below, such adhesive is preferably cellulose-based, but may comprise other suitable adhesives which embody the aforementioned desirable qualities. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system comprising an apparatus and at least one remote control, said remote control comprising a transmitter for transmitting control data to the apparatus and collision preventing means for preventing collision between said control data and further control data transmitted by a further remote control.
The invention also relates to a remote control for use in the above system.
The invention also relates to a method of transmitting control data from a remote control to an apparatus, comprising a step of preventing collision between said control data and further control data transmitted by a further remote control.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently there has been an increasing demand for simultaneous use of two or more remote controls to control a single apparatus. For example, multiple remote controls may be used for controlling a multi-player game, or for allowing multiple viewers of an interactive TV show to key in answers to questions and compare the results and reaction times. In such situations, it will often occur that two users operate their remote control at the same time, causing collision between signals transmitted from the respective remote controls.
An example of a system of the type defined in the opening paragraph is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,716. The known system comprises an apparatus and a plurality of remote controls for controlling said apparatus. Collision between signals of the remote controls is avoided by transmitting each message multiple times, separated by pauses which are longer than the message time itself. Using this scheme, it can be guaranteed that at least one copy of the data will be received by the apparatus without having any interference with messages originating from other remote controls.
A disadvantage of the known system is that the repeated transmission of each message is inefficient in terms of time and power consumption. Each transmission consumes battery power, which is an important drawback, particularly for (wireless) remote controls. Furthermore, each transmission takes a certain time, which could have been used for transmitting another message from the same or another remote control. Especially in highly interactive applications, such as action games, this is a severe drawback. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This present invention generally relates to the field of inductors, and more particularly, to an inductor with variable inductance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Some cost-effective power converters with power factor correction (PFC) for universal-line-voltage (90-270 Vrms) applications require a variable PFC inductance to meet the requirements for line-current harmonics and power factor set by different standards and programs. For example, Light-Emitting Diode (LED) drivers with an input power over 25 W in general lighting applications are required to meet the line-current-harmonic limits set by the IEC 61000-3-2 Class C and JIS C 61000-3-2 Class C standards.
A good candidate for the universal-line LED driver applications is the single-stage PFC flyback topology shown in FIG. 1, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,950,319 to L. Huber, M. M. Jovanović, and C. C. Chang, entitled “AC/DC flyback converter,” due to its low component count and low cost. In this converter, the PFC part operates in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM), while the dc/dc part operates at the DCM/CCM (continuous conduction mode) boundary. A low line-current harmonic distortion can be achieved due to the inherent property of the DCM boost converter to draw a near sinusoidal current if its duty cycle is held relatively constant during a half line cycle. However, voltage VB across bulk capacitor CB is not regulated and at high line it can increase to impractical levels. To reduce the bulk-capacitor voltage, one terminal of the boost inductor winding is connected to a tapping point of the primary winding of the flyback transformer, which provides a negative magnetic feedback. However, the tapping of the flyback primary winding also results in a zero-crossing distortion of the line current. In fact, as long as the instantaneous line voltage is lower than the voltage at the tapping point, no current is drawn from the input, which deteriorates the power factor and the line-current harmonics.
The single-stage PFC flyback topology with a constant inductance LB in FIG. 1 has been successfully applied in adapter/charger applications for the universal line voltage, where the line-current harmonics have to meet the IEC 61000-3-2 Class D and JIS C 61000-3-2 Class D limits. However, applying the single-stage PFC flyback topology with a constant inductance LB in FIG. 1 for lighting applications, where the line-current harmonics have to meet the more stringent limits set by the IEC 61000-3-2 Class C and JIS C 61000-3-2 Class C standards, presents a challenging task.
As voltage VB across bulk-capacitor CB in FIG. 1 is not regulated and varies with both the input voltage and output power, the design of the magnetic components significantly affects the bulk-capacitor voltage level. Generally, a higher boost inductance LB leads to a lower voltage VB. In fact, if the boost inductance increases during steady-state operation, the input power initially decreases because of a lower input current. The difference between the output power and input power has to be supplied from the bulk capacitor, causing a drop of the bulk-capacitor voltage. Meanwhile, as the bulk-capacitor voltage decreases, the duty cycle of main switch Q1 increases to keep the output voltage regulated, resulting in an increase of the input power until a new balance between the input and output power is reached. A higher boost inductance can limit voltage VB to an acceptable level (i.e., less than 450 V) and ensure DCM operation at high line (180-270 Vrms). However, at low line (90-135 Vrms), if the boost inductance is larger than the maximum value for DCM operation, the boost inductor will enter CCM operation around the peak of the rectified line voltage, and the line current waveform will have a bulge around its peak value, resulting in an increased total harmonic distortion (THD). Furthermore, if the bulk-capacitor voltage is slightly lower than the peak of the rectified line voltage, peak charging of the bulk capacitor through the bridge rectifier will also result in a bulge in the line current waveform with an increased THD.
It was shown in “Single-stage flyback power-factor-correction front-end for high-brightness (HB) LED application,” by Y. Hu, L. Huber, and M. M. Jovanović, Proc. IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) 2009, that the single-stage PFC flyback in FIG. 1 with a constant boost inductance cannot be designed to achieve a practical bulk-capacitor voltage level at high line while meeting the JIS C 61000-3-2 Class C line-current harmonic limits at low line. To overcome these limitations, a variable boost inductance is required, i.e., a high boost inductance at high line to limit the bulk-capacitor voltage and a lower boost inductance at low line to ensure DCM operation and a low THD.
Inductors with variable inductance are known in prior art and they can be classified in three groups.
The first group includes methods where the inductance is varied by changing the path of the magnetic flux by using a short-circuited control winding. For example, see 1) U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,910 to C. A. Willis, entitled “Ballast control device,” and 2) U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,428 to Robert T. Elms, entitled “Variable inductance ballast apparatus for HID lamp.”
FIG. 2 shows a prior art variable inductor for use in lamp ballasts, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,910. As shown in FIG. 2, the variable inductor comprises a main winding and a control winding positioned on the opposite sides of an added, gapped shunt. When the control winding is shorted by closing the triac switch, a current flows through the control winding generating a magnetic flux opposing the main flux induced by the main winding. As a result, the main flux path is forced to pass through the shunt. Since the gapped magnetic shunt has a higher reluctance than the flux path around the closed core, the inductance of the device is decreased. Therefore, the lamp current and the lamp power are increased.
FIG. 3 shows a prior art variable inductor for use in ballasts for HID lamps, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,428. The control winding is wound around one outer leg of the EI magnetic core. Similarly as in the previous case, when the control switch is closed, a current flows through the control winding generating a magnetic flux opposing the main flux induced by the main winding, and the main flux path is forced to pass through the other outer leg of the core which has a gap, causing a decrease of the inductance and increase of the lamp current and power.
A major drawback of the methods disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,910 and No. 4,162,428 is that a short circuit is created when the control switch is closed, resulting in a significant power loss in the control winding and switch.
In the second group, the inductance is varied by changing the size of the non-magnetic gap along the magnetic flux path either mechanically by using, for example, an actuator made of piezoceramic material that changes its length in response to an applied voltage, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,077 to R. E. Hammond, E. F. Rynne, and L. J. Johnson, entitled “Voltage controlled variable inductor,” or by a non-uniform gap construction such as a stepped gap or a sloped gap as described in “Quasi-active power factor correction with a variable inductive filter: theory, design and practice” by W. H. Wölfle and W. G. Hurley, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 248-255, January 2003.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,077, a voltage-controlled variable inductance is disclosed, where an actuator, made of piezoceramic material that changes its length in response to an applied voltage, is fastened in the window area of the core in order to change the length of the air gap between the two parts of the magnetic core, resulting in a variation of the inductance. However, the inclusion of the actuator requires a complex implementation.
In the paper by Wölfle, variation of the inductance is achieved by varying the length of the air gap either in a discrete step (stepped air gap) or with a graded slope (sloped air gap). The value of the inductance varies with the inductor current. In fact, the core of the inductor with the stepped air gap (also called swinging inductor) can be considered to have two parallel reluctance paths, each path having two reluctances in series, the core and the gap. As the current increases, the path containing the smaller gap reaches saturation first and the increased reluctance reduces the overall inductance. The sloped air-gap inductor operates on the same principle; however, the variation of the inductance with the current is more gradual. Generally, manufacturing inductors with a stepped or sloped air gap is more complex than manufacturing inductors with a constant-length air gap, resulting in an increased cost.
The variable inductors built by using powdered metal cores with distributed air gap (see, for example, www.mag-inc.com/products/powder_cores) also belong to the second group. The powdered metal cores exhibit a soft saturation property, i.e., their permeability gradually decreases as the magnetizing force increases. However, the powdered metal cores have significantly higher loss than the corresponding ferrite cores.
The third group includes methods where the inductance is varied by adding a dc bias flux to the main magnetic flux. For example, see 1) U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,919 to C. Q. Lee, K. Siri, and A. K. Upadhyay, entitled “Parallel resonant converter with zero voltage switching;” 2) “Quasi-linear controllable inductor” by A. S. Kislovski, Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 75, no. 2, pp. 267-269, February 1987, (Kislovski, 1987); 3) U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,611 to A. Kislovski, entitled “Inductive, electrically-controllable component;” 4) “Relative incremental permeability of soft ferrites as a function of the magnetic field H: an analytic approximation,” by A. S. Kislovski, Rec. IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conf. (PESC), pp. 1469-1475, 1996, (Kislovski, 1996); 5) “A current-controlled variable-inductor for high frequency resonant power circuits” by D. Medini and S. B. Yaakov, Proc. IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conf. (APEC), pp. 219-225, 1994; and 6) U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,157 to G. Roberge and A. Doyon, entitled “Variable inductor.”
FIG. 4 shows a prior art variable inductor where an inductor winding and a control winding are wound on the same magnetic core, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,919. A dc bias current IBIAS flowing through the control winding produces a bias magnetic flux ΦC. The main magnetic flux ΦLO produced by the inductor current is superimposed on the bias magnetic flux ΦC.
FIG. 5 shows a graph of the relationship between the magnetizing field (H) and magnetic field (B) for the prior art variable inductor of FIG. 4. As the dc bias magnetizing force increases, the permeability of the core material, i.e., the slope of the B-H curve
( = lim Δ H -> 0 Δ B / Δ H )decreases, leading to a decreased inductance. A drawback of this method is that the control winding is strongly coupled with the inductor winding, resulting in undesired induced ac current and, consequently, power loss in the control winding.
FIG. 6 shows a prior art variable inductor where the inductor winding is divided into two identical portions, which are wound on two identical toroidal cores and connected in series so as to produce opposing fluxes through the control winding, which is wound over both cores, as proposed in the paper by Kislovski, 1987, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,611. Ideally, due to the opposing fluxes, there is no coupling between the inductor and control windings.
FIG. 7 shows graphs of the relationship between the magnetizing field (H) and magnetic field (B) for the two individual cores of the variable inductor in FIG. 6: (a) without and (b) with a control current in the control winding. As shown in FIG. 7(a), without a bias current in the control winding, both cores exhibit the same flux density variation, i.e., ΔB1=ΔB2, Therefore, the total inductance is twice the inductance of the individual inductor windings. Additionally, the induced voltage in the control winding is zero due to the equal but opposing fluxes through the control winding. However, with a bias current in the control winding, a biasing field H0 is produced which displaces the operating point of the cores along their B-H curves, as shown in FIG. 7(b). One core (core 1) operates in the non-linear to saturation region, whereas the other core (core 2) operates in the non-linear to linear region along their respective B-H curves. As a result, the flux density variation and, consequently, the permeability in both cores are reduced compared to the case without a DC bias. Therefore, the total inductance is reduced. In addition, the flux density variation in core 1 is smaller than that in core 2, i.e., ΔB1<ΔB2. Consequently, the total flux density variation through the control winding is not zero, resulting in undesired induced ac voltage and power loss in the control winding.
FIG. 8 shows another prior art implementation of the variable inductor in FIG. 6 as described in the paper by Kislovski, 1996, where instead of two toroidal cores a pair of E cores is used.
FIG. 9 shows a prior art modification of the variable inductor in FIG. 6 as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,611, where both the inductor winding and control winding are each divided into two identical portions, wound on two toroidal cores, and connected in series. Under this arrangement, the principle of operation and, consequently, the drawbacks of the variable inductor in FIG. 9 are the same as those of the variable inductor in FIG. 6.
FIG. 10 shows a prior art variable inductor, as proposed in the paper by Medini, which is similar to the variable inductor in FIG. 8, with the difference that the positions of the inductor winding and control winding are flipped. Specifically, the control winding is divided into two identical portions wound around the outer legs of the EE core and connected in series, while the inductor winding is wound around the center leg of the EE core. Also, the air gaps from the outer legs of the EE core are moved to the central leg. Under this arrangement, the basic operation and, consequently, the drawbacks of the variable inductor in FIG. 10 are the same as those of the variable inductor in FIG. 6.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,157, a dc bias flux is added orthogonally to the main magnetic flux, which requires a complex magnetic core structure. In addition, orthogonal-flux inductors exhibit a smaller inductance variation than the parallel-flux inductors at the same control-current variation, as explained in “Comparison of orthogonal- and parallel-flux variable inductors,” by Z. H. Meiksin, IEEE Trans. Industry Applications, vol. IA-10, no. 3, pp. 417-423, May/June 1974.
The drawback of all current-controlled variable inductors in FIGS. 4, 6, and 8-10 is that the control winding is always coupled to the inductor winding. Even with two opposing fluxes through the control winding produced by the inductor winding, there is always an asymmetry in the operation, such as shown in FIG. 7(b). Therefore the opposing fluxes do not completely cancel each other, resulting in undesired induced ac voltage and, consequently, increased power loss in the control winding. In addition, any asymmetry in the structure of the magnetic core and any mismatch in the two portions of the inductor winding or control winding further increase the unbalance between the opposing fluxes through the control winding and increase the undesired induced ac voltage and power loss in the control winding. In ripple-sensitive applications such as LED drivers, any additional ripple in the LED current would adversely affect the longevity of the LEDs.
Therefore, there exists a need for an inductor that provides a variable inductance with a simple control technique without significantly affecting efficiency and without significantly affecting load current. | {
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The 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) which is a mobile communication system standardization project is planning to promote the standardization of CoMP (Coordinated Multi-Point) in the release 11 or later (see, non-patent document 1).
In the CoMP, a group of antennas installed in the same place is regarded as a “point,” and multiple points cooperatively perform communication with a user terminal. The group of points performing cooperative communication with the user terminal using one time-frequency resource is referred to as a CoMP cooperating set.
As one kind of CoMP, there is a JP (Joint Processing) that is a scheme in which multiple points in the CoMP cooperating set can use data to be communicated to the user terminal.
Also, as one kind of JPs in the downlink, there is a JT (Joint Transmission) in which multiple points in the CoMP cooperating set transmit data to the user terminal at the same time.
Furthermore, as one kind of JPs in the uplink, there is a JR (Joint Reception) in which multiple points in the CoMP cooperating set jointly receive data to from the user terminal. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for searching for music, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for generating a database that may be searched for music when humming or singing is input as a user's request, and a method and apparatus for searching for music upon the user's request.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a user has heard or listened to certain music somewhere and does not know the title or lyrics of the music, the user may search for the music by using only humming or singing. For example, if the user inputs humming or singing as a request through an input device such as a microphone, the request is input to a mobile phone or a personal computer (PC). Here, input sound is transmitted to a server through Internet or wireless communication. A database stored in the server is searched for music similar to the transmitted sound and information on the music is provided to the user as a search result. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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There are many applications involving the emission or reception of optical radiation where being able to limit the solid angle of the path over which an optical beam travels can have significant benefits.
From another aspect, reducing multipath reflections from optical beams significantly increases the usable bandwidth of optical communication links.
One example, which is not meant to be limiting, is directed to a system for a room or other enclosure containing, at arbitrary locations, a large number of devices and one central diffuse infrared (IR) radiation source, the object of which is to locate one or more particular devices and lock onto them with stationary directed beams.
In a large room, radiation from a diffuse IR source travels in all directions. Light beams scattered from various surfaces in the room arrive with varying time delays at a given receiver, causing significant limitations on the bandwidth of transmitted data. This multipath problem limits the communication bandwidth to on the order of (3.0.times.10.sup.8 m/sec)/d, where d is a characteristic length for the room. In practice, this can limit the usable bandwidth to under 10 Mbit/sec. | {
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This invention concerns improvements made to thermal treatment units used during the manufacture of containers, such as bottles made of polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) , and capable of withstanding, during use and without appreciable deformation, relatively severe thermal conditions encountered during procedures such as filling the containers with a hot liquid or the pasteurization of their contents.
According to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,042 a process suitable for the manufacture of containers of this kind consists of the following steps:
a) heating to a temperature at least equal to the PET-softening temperature the body only (excluding the neck) of a container preform made of noncrystalline PET; during this step, the neck of the container is already shaped and sized to its final dimensions;
b) molding the body of the heated preform so as to produce an intermediate container in which the dimensions of the body are approximately 20% in height and from 0 to 30%, measured transversely, greater than the dimensions of the final container to be produced, while the mold-shaped walls of the container are cooled to a temperature of approximately 5.degree. to 400.degree. C.;
c) next, heating the body of the intermediate container to a temperature of from 160.degree. to 240.degree. C. for about 1 to 5 minutes; and, during all or part of this body-heating procedure, also heating the neck under the temperature and time conditions required for the crystallization of the PET in the neck only, before undertaking relatively slow cooling of the neck; and
d) finally, molding once again the heated contracted intermediate body produced at the end of the preceding step to its final shape and size, for a period of approximately 2 to 6 seconds.
To implement this process, the aforementioned patent also proposes container-manufacturing equipment incorporating, in particular, a thermal treatment unit capable of performing step c) of the process. In one special form corresponding to an implementation of the process that is preferred because of the simplicity of design underlying it, the thermal treatment unit comprises:
1) a heating device used to heat the entire intermediate container, both body and neck, the body being heated to a temperature of approximately 160.degree. to 240.degree. C. to provide for the "recovery" and increased crystallinity of the PET in the body, and the neck being heated under time and temperature conditions suitable for crystallizing the PET of the neck alone;
2) cooling means configured so as to lower the temperature of the entirety of the container, both neck and body, the neck being cooled relatively slowly so as to crystallize the PET in the neck; and
3) potentially, but preferably incorporated into the thermal treatment unit, another heating device configured to heat the body of the container before the final molding step specified under stage d) of the process.
The main advantage obtained using the thermal treatment unit in the manufacturing equipment proposed in the U.S. '042 patent consisted in combining two steps, i.e., spherulitic crystallization of the PET in the neck alone and thermal treatment of the body of the container, which had heretofore been carried out separately in a crystallization oven and in an oven termed a "recovery" oven, respectively. By the word "recovery" is meant the relaxation of the internal stresses induced in the PET during the two-way stretching operation (step b) of the process which produces the intermediate container, the material being allowed to freely undergo deformation, this recovery step producing a container having a contracted, irregular body.
However, the practical utilization of a thermal treatment unit of this type meets with various difficulties which call into question the simple end-to-end juxtaposition of the conventional crystallization and "recovery" ovens.
The main difficulty lies in the search for optimization of the energy consumption of the unit, while also allowing for adherence to the accurate performance of the steps of the process being implemented. In fact, in order to be optimally used and to avoid energy wastage, the thermal energy generated in the ovens by electric heating requires that the containers travel through the oven, while being arranged as closely as possible to each other, so that all of the radiation is intercepted by the material to be treated. During treatment, the material becomes significantly deformed, as indicated above. The intermediate container placed in the "recovery" oven is oversized as compared to the final container (e.g., an intermediate container having a diameter of approximately 110 mm as compared with a final 1.5 liter container having a diameter of 90 mm), while the container emerging from the recovery oven is appreciably contracted and undersized (diameter of about 80 mm in the example under consideration). Accordingly, the choice of a spacing distance between successive containers which is compatible with the large diameter of the intermediate containers leads to considerable loss of thermal energy, and thus to excessive electrical consumption, when weighed against the result obtained during the succeeding steps involving the contracted containers, which are thus spaced unnecessarily far apart.
Another problem concerns the conditions under which the crystallization of the necks of the containers takes place. When crystallization is carried out on the necks of the preforms during an initial step, the preforms can be juxtaposed in succession in such a way that the thermal output of crystallization heating proves satisfactory. On the other hand, in the aforementioned process the crystallization of the material in the neck is carried out on a container whose body diameter, which is greater than that of the neck, leads to a significant spacing separation of the necks of successive containers, which impairs good thermal output. As an example, the center-to-center distance between the necks, which is 65 mm for the preforms, increases to 140 mm for the containers. The result is a significant decrease of thermal output and an increased length of the crystallization oven.
Still in the area of energy yield, it must be noted that the ovens used heretofore were equipped with heating tubes arranged in rows extending over the height of the bodies of the containers to be heated and which emitted short-wavelength infrared radiation, and with heating resistors, so that the bodies of the containers which passed through the oven were heated mainly, not directly by the infrared radiation, but indirectly by the heated atmosphere of the oven (convection heating). As a result, the energy yield of this type of oven was mediocre and electrical consumption high.
Furthermore, the correct implementation of the various steps of the container-heating process required observance, in particular, of the material-treatment times, as regards both heating and cooling. While proper mastery of the heating conditions, in particular by reducing losses to the fullest extent possible so that the highest possible fraction of the thermal energy generated actually reaches the material to be treated, makes it possible to minimize the heating time, cooling, or temperature reduction, must, on the other hand, occur under completely controlled time conditions (e.g., approximately 20 to 25 seconds) , so as to preserve actual uniform crystallization in the material. Now, the search for ever-increasing manufacturing outputs (e.g., 6000 containers/hour) calls for high travel speeds for the containers in the equipment, and thus a lengthening of the distances traveled in the cooling stations, so as to conform to the required cooling times. The result is a concomitant lengthening of the equipment, thereby raising installation costs.
Another problem lies in the need for the effective thermal protection of the moving mechanism, which must be able to function without problems in atmospheres of varying temperatures (between 100.degree. and 200.degree. C.) and under very high temperatures (approximately 200.degree. C.) in the areas of intense heating. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a noise cancellation mechanism in an image sensing field, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for reducing fixed pattern noise of an image sensor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally speaking, non-ideal effects of analog circuits exist in a traditional image sensor to make noise commonly appear on an image sensing frame. For example, the noise caused by non-ideal effects of analog circuits may include fixed pattern noise appearing on a frame, that is, vertical stripe phenomenon appearing on a sensing frame. Because a traditional sensor array may have different extents of leakage currents in different column-line circuits, inconsistent signal characteristics appear on different column-line circuits, and consequently, vertical stripe phenomenon appears on a final sensing frame. In addition, the stray capacitance in a traditional image sensor may easily make each column-line circuit suffer from interference when analog signals are switching, and thus may create inconsistent signal characteristics for different column-line circuit, which is one of the contributors to the fixed pattern noise. Moreover, there is other noise (e.g. random noise) existing in the analog circuits of a traditional image sensor that affects image sensing frames. In order to reduce the noise caused by non-ideal effects of analog circuits, the existing techniques usually implement a noise cancellation circuit in an analog domain to reduce noise. However, these kinds of circuit designs are over-complicated, and the costs of these kinds of circuits are also higher. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of Invention
The present invention generally relates to audiovisual data representation. More particularly, this invention relates to integrating the descriptions of multiple categories of audiovisual content to allow such content to be searched or browsed with ease in digital libraries, Internet web sites and broadcast media, for example.
2. Description of Related Art
More and more audiovisual information is becoming available from many sources around the world. Such information may be represented by various forms of media, such as still pictures, video, graphics, 3D models, audio and speech. In general, audiovisual information plays an important role in our society, be it recorded in such media as film or magnetic tape or originating, in real time, from some audio or visual sensors, be it analogue or, increasingly, digital.
While audio and visual information used to be consumed directly by the human being, computational systems are increasingly creating, exchanging, retrieving and re-processing this audiovisual information. Such is the case for image understanding, e.g., surveillance, intelligent vision, smart cameras, etc., media conversion, e.g., speech to text, picture to speech, speech to picture, etc., information retrieval, e.g., quickly and efficiently searching for various types of multimedia documents of interest to the user, and filtering to receive only those multimedia data items which satisfy the user's preferences in a stream of audiovisual content.
For example, a code in a television program triggers a suitably programmed VCR to record that program, or an image sensor triggers an alarm when a certain visual event happens. Automatic transcoding may be performed based on a string of characters or audible information or a search may be performed in a stream of audio or video data. In all these examples, the audiovisual information has been suitably “encoded” to enable a device or a computer code to take some action.
In the infancy of web-based information communication and access systems, information is routinely transferred, searched, retrieved and processed. Presently, much of the information is predominantly represented in text form. This text-based information is accessed using text-based search algorithms.
However, as web-based systems and multimedia technology continue to improve, more and more information is becoming available in a form other than text, for instance as images, graphics, speech, animation, video, audio and movies. As the volume of such information is increasing at a rapid rate it is becoming important to be easily to be able to search and retrieve a specific piece of information of interest. It is often difficult to search for such information by text-only search. Thus the increased presence of multimedia information and the need to be able to find the required portions of it in an easy and reliable manner, irrespective of the search engines employed, has spurred on the drive for a standard for accessing such information.
The Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) is a working group under the International Standards Organization/International Electrotechnical Commission in charge of the development of international standards for compression, decompression, processing and coded representation of video data, audio data and their combination. MPEG previously developed the MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 standards, and is presently developing the MPEG-7 standard, formally called “Multimedia Content Description Interface”, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
MPEG-7 will be a content representation standard for multimedia information search and will include techniques for describing individual media content and their combination. Thus, MPEG-7 standard is aiming to providing a set of standardized tools to describe multimedia content. Therefore, the MPEG-7 standard, unlike the MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 standards, is not a media content coding or compression standard but rather a standard for representation of descriptions of media content. The data representing descriptions is called “meta data”. Thus, irrespective of how the media content is represented, i.e., analogue, PCM, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Quicktime, Windows Media etc, the meta data associated with this content, may in future, be MPEG-7.
Often, the value of multimedia information depends on how easily it can be found, retrieved, accessed, filtered and managed. In spite of the fact that users have increasing access to this audiovisual information, searching, identifying and managing it efficiently is becoming more difficult because of the sheer volume of the information. Moreover, the question of identifying and managing multimedia content is not just restricted to database retrieval applications such as digital libraries, but extends to areas such as broadcast channel selection, multimedia editing and multimedia directory services.
Although techniques for tagging audiovisual information allow some limited access and processing based on text-based search engines, the amount of information that may be included in such tags is somewhat limited. For example, for movie videos, the tag may reflect name of the movie or list of actors etc., but this information may apply to the entire movie and may not be sub-divided to indicate the content of individual shots and objects in such shots. Moreover, the amount of information that may be included in such tags and architecture for searching and processing that information is severely limited. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
With the growing complexity of information handling systems has come corresponding increase in component density on the system boards of such devices. However, along with the calls for increased functionality, capability, performance, etc., have come calls for reducing the footprint of such enhanced information handling systems. As a result, the problem of placing more functionality into a smaller footprint has made information handling system design as much of a puzzle solution routine as it is an engineering effort. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Modern long-haul (“backbone”) and/or metropolitan (“metro”) communications networks often include one or more reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs) at geographically separated locations such as cities or distribution points within a city. By definition, a ROADM is an optical network element that routes (that is, adds or passes) optical signals directly and avoids Optical-Electrical-Optical (OEO) conversion. Integration of ROADMs into the present WDM networks provides a pay-as-you-grow capability and flexibility to provision wavelengths dynamically. This allows the ROADM to both pass through any separate wavelength between WDM node line interfaces and to add/drop any separate wavelength from WDM line interfaces to add/drop ports.
Pairs of such ROADMs are coupled by a section, which may comprise one or more optical fibers. In some examples, where the physical distance between ROADMs is long, the section may consist of a plurality of optical fiber spans, coupled in series by optical amplifiers, such as erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA) and/or Raman amplifiers.
Each ROADM may be coupled to a plurality of optical and/or electro-optical communication links by which data can be added to or offloaded from the backbone network. Such links may in turn be coupled to local network nodes such as transponders, routers and/or communications devices such as computers.
The network may support thereon a plurality of wavelength channels or optical signals. Such wavelength channels may be routed through the network along a path comprising a sequence of sections coupled by ROADMs between a source and a destination node. The sequence of sections and ROADMs is known as a path. In this context, a connection for a wavelength channel refers to the path established for the wavelength channel from source to destination, together with the spectrum or wavelength assigned or allocated to the wavelength channel for each section.
It will be appreciated that “connection” is used in this fashion in the telecommunications industry and the use of such term in this description should not be taken to imply the existence of any direct physical connectivity between the source and the destination. Indeed, a “connection” will typically involve a sequence of coupled nodes and sections as discussed above.
In some examples, a section may comprise a plurality of spans of fiber coupled by amplifiers.
In some examples, adjacent fiber spans or sections in a connection for wavelength channel may have the same or different spectrum allocation. Where a connection has a common spectrum allocation throughout, the connection is said to be transparent. Where, however, the spectrum allocation is not the same throughout the connection, the connection is said to be translucent.
In some examples, a section may employ wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) to support a plurality of wavelength channels. A WDM system may differ on channel spacing and different wavelength patterns. A coarse WDM (CWDM) channel has wide spacing and fewer channels on silica fiber while a dense WDM (DWDM), following ITU recommendations, has 100 GHz or 50 GHz spacing with 40 and 80 channels across the C-band, respectively. Under ultra dense WDM, channel spacing of 12.5 GHz is possible. Furthermore, under WDM architecture there is no substantive difference between fixed-grid networks with regular wavelength spacing, such as, without limitation, 50 GHz and/or 100 GHz, and flex-grid networks with wavelength spacing that may be larger or smaller, and in some examples may be in multiples of 6.25 GHz and/or 12.5 GHz. Accordingly, in this context a wavelength channel may comprise a WDM channel, a CWDM channel, a DWDM channel, a fixed-grid channel and/or a flex-grid channel.
Typically, establishing a connection for a wavelength channel involves two substantially independent actions by different hierarchical network planes or layers.
The first action is typically performed by a path computation element (PCE) server in the control plane and involves selecting a connection for a wavelength channel from among a plurality of connection candidates. In some examples, a service layer in an application plane provides a request to the PCE server for a connection to be computed between a source node and a destination node.
Routing refers to the identification, by the PCE server using a routing algorithm, of a connection between the source and destination node for a wavelength channel.
In some examples, the PCE server is implemented as a dedicated server, and/or a PCE function as part of a server, such as a central provisioning Network Management System (NMS) server and/or distributed across a plurality of routers. In software-defined networking (SDN) systems and/or Transport SDN (T-SDN) systems, the PCE function can form part of a T-SDN controller and/or network orchestration layer and works with a PCE request and response Protocol (PCEP). The PCE server is typically presented with a request to select a connection by the service layer.
In some examples, the PCE is constrained, in terms of selecting a connection, by business considerations, including constraints imposed by any applicable service level agreements (SLA) as well as factors such as network utilization, resource efficiency, quality of service (QoS) and latency considerations.
The selection of a connection subject to such constraints typically involves routing and spectrum assignment (RSA), or, in case of fixed-spaced wavelength channels, routing and wavelength assignment (RWA). RSA is conventionally used in the context of flex-grid WDM while RWA is conventionally used in the context of fixed-grid WDM. In this disclosure, the terms RWA and RSA are used interchangeably. RSA is a subset of the PCE server and/or function that deals specifically with the photonic and/or optical layer.
In some examples, RSA may be implemented within the PCE server. RSA techniques have tended to focus on either or both of maximizing service quality (in terms of signal to noise ratio (SNR), optical SNR (OSNR) and/or Q-factor) and increasing resource utilization and/or efficiency. Examples of approaches to improve service quality include using different cost functions and/or optimization criteria, such as considering latency, number of hops and/or load balancing.
Examples of techniques to improve resource efficiency include RSA scheme such as, without limitation, fixed routing, alternative routing, shortest-path (SP), k shortest-path (k-SP) and/or A-star routing techniques.
In some examples, the selection of a connection may incur a delay on the order of several milliseconds to hundreds of milliseconds, depending upon the complexity and/or sophistication of the RSA technique employed and the available computational and storage capacity to implement the technique. Other factors also affect the overall timing for the PCE server to compute the desired connection such as, without limitation, the network size, complexity of the physical layer models and/or required accuracy.
More recently, the selection of a connection has taken into account physical layer impairment (PLI) effects on performance metrics. In this context, PLI refers to the static impairments experienced by a wavelength channel for a corresponding selection candidate. PLI can take into account post-transient effects when a traffic channel is established and the network has converged and optimized. Such PLI effects can include both linear effects and non-linear effects (e.g. optical Kerr effects) and the complex interaction between linear and non-linear effects. Linear PLI effects can include, for example, amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) of an amplifier, loss and dispersion. Non-linear PLI effects include without limitation, cross-phase modulation, self-phase modulation and four-wave mixing.
Proposals to address PLI effects have, in some examples, involved using physical layer modeling to provide estimates of PLI effects into the PCE server. Such estimates provide the RSA engine with improved information about the offered signal quality for each wavelength channel associated with a connection candidate. The estimation of PLI effects permits customized figures of merit (FOMs) such as SNR, OSNR and/or Q-factor to be defined and evaluated by the RSA engine.
In some examples, the generation of PLI effect estimates may also take on the order of several milliseconds, depending upon the accuracy and sophistication of the PLI effect estimate employed and the available computational and storage capacity to implement the estimate as well as the network size.
The second action is typically performed by a lower photonics management layer and involves the set-up of a path for a wavelength channel associated with the selected connection. In such action, provisioning information is sent to all corresponding elements involved in the establishment of the traffic, including without limitation, ROADMs and amplifiers if appropriate, to build the optical topology for the selected connection. In some examples, network provisioning can take on the order of several milliseconds, considering issues of delay latency and available computational and storage capacity at the various network elements.
Once the connection has been selected by the control plane and provisioned, the corresponding elements are subjected to physical adjustments. By way of non-limiting examples, transponders are tuned to recommended wavelengths, add/drop banks at the source and destination nodes are adjusted to pave the path for the wavelength channel set-up along the selected course, ROADMs are adjusted to open pipes, power levels are adjusted using variable optical attenuators (VOA) and the amplifiers between the ROADMs are commanded to handle a power variation. Once the physical adjustments have been made, the photonic layer effects the turn-up of the wavelength channel associated with the selected connection.
Unlike RSA, PLI and network provisioning, each of which can involve timing on the order of milliseconds, the actions to make the physical adjustments and then turn up the wavelength channel associated with the selected connection, may in some examples, take on the order of several seconds, that is, about 3 orders of magnitude longer.
In conventional backbone networks, the disparity in timing between the action of selecting a connection and the action of setting up the connection is largely irrelevant because the connection tends to be set up a priori and have very long durations. Accordingly, the actions have remained separate and effectively sequential.
In next-generation networks, it is increasingly likely that a connection will be selected and set-up on an as-needed ad hoc basis, being characterized by rapid turn-up and tear-down and short duration of the connection and its associated wavelength channel.
Methods and systems that reduce the overall set-up time of a connection through a network would be desirable. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the invention
The present invention concerns a method of quantizing a multidimensional sampled signal comprising at least one multidimensional signal of given dimension N, the or each sample including N components, the method including the steps of:
a) for each sample, converting each component into a set of transformed coefficients in N known numbering bases; PA1 b) combining the sets of transformed coefficients; and PA1 c) progressively quantizing the combination of the sets of transformed coefficients. PA1 a) for each sample, transforming each component into a set of transformed coefficients in N known numbering bases; PA1 b) combining the sets of transformed coefficients; and PA1 c) progressively quantizing the combination of the sets of transformed coefficients; wherein PA1 for combining the sets of transformed coefficients it includes the following two successive steps: PA1 A) creating, for the multidimensional sample or for each multidimensional sample, a vector the coefficients of which are N-tuplets formed by the transformed coefficients of the same rank i in the N bases of transformation of the characteristic variables; and PA1 B) combining the vectors of N-tuplets; PA1 the transformation of each component of each sample into a set of transformed coefficients in N known numbering bases is effected by direct transformation of each sample in a numbering base the base vectors of which are N-tuplets; PA1 the vectors of N-tuplets are combined in the order of the multidimensional samples in the signal; PA1 the progressive quantization step includes a step of conditional coding of certain elements of the same N-tuplet in accordance with the other elements of the N-tuplet concerned; PA1 the multidimensional samples are obtained by preliminary transformation of a set of multidimensional information items each including N characteristic variables, the preliminary transformation effected on the multidirectional information items consisting of a set of independent transforms each operated on one of N planes consisting of characteristic variables of the same rank of the multidimensional information; and PA1 the signal is a signal representative of a digital color image.
The method is intended in particular for compressing signals representing color pictures, in particular TV pictures, stereophonic sound or data resulting from transforms such as Fourier transforms, discrete cosine transforms and wavelet transforms.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the present context, each signal is formed of a set of transformed or not-transformed multidimensionsal samples of given dimension N. Thus each sample includes N components.
In the case of compressing a set of multidimensional sampled signals, existing compression schemes treat each component of the signal as an independent sub-signal. Each sub-signal is first transformed and then quantized independently of the other transformed sub-signals of the same multidimensional sampled signal.
For example, the three color planes (red, green, blue) of a color television picture are usually quantized independently of each other.
A quantizing method is described in "Embedded Image Coding Using Zerotrees of Wavelet Coefficients" by J. Shapiro (IEEE Trans. on Signal Processing, vol. 41, No 12, December 1993).
The work of J. Shapiro concerns a method of integrated progressive quantization of images with a plurality of levels of gray that have been subjected to wavelet transformation.
The proposed quantization process allows progressive transmission of the compressed data. Progressive quantization means that degraded information can be partially re-established from the compressed bit frame of which only a part has been received.
Accordingly, with a progressive quantizing process, the frame of bits obtained at a high compression level is the start of the frame of bits obtained at a lower compression level. In other words, increasing the compression level amounts to truncating the bit frame so as to retain only its beginning.
The algorithm of J. Shapiro transposed for processing color images, consisting in processing each color successively, does not allow for the correlations between the colors and this degrades compression performance.
A solution to these problems proposed by A. Said and W. A. Pearlman in "A New Fast and Efficient Image Codec Based on Set Partitioning In Hierachical Trees" (IEEE Trans. on Circuits & Systems for Video Technology, vol. 6, No 3, June 1996) aims among other things to transform characteristic variables corresponding to each of the colors beforehand by decorrelating them, in particular using a main component analysis method. Using this method, the three colors are transformed beforehand into a luminance component and two chrominance components. A. Said and W. A. Pearlman propose to apply a Karuhnen-Lowe transform to the various bands to decorrelate them.
However, using decorrelation necessitates an additional transformation, which is relatively time-consuming. Moreover, the operation is not reversible because of rounding off problems, and this degrades the quality of the reconstituted image, preventing its use in some fields, such as the medical field, for statutory reasons.
Using the above methods, the data frames include information relating to each of the colors in succession or, if the signal has been transformed beforehand, to luminance and then chrominance. Accordingly, the frame must be transmitted completely to enable satisfactory reconstitution of the image.
Any partial transmission of only a truncated frame yields only first information which on its own is insufficient to reconstitute a correct image. There is then the risk of losing all the information for one color plane or, if the signal has been transformed beforehand, some chrominance information.
To solve this problem A. Said and W. A. Pearlman propose mixing the components formed from the transformed characteristic variables by interleaving them following a particular form of sorting before quantizing the components combined in this way.
However, this method is relatively time-consuming because it necessitates the use of a particular sorting process.
Further, despite the interleaving of the components, quantizing being effected on each scalar coefficient transformed independently of the component to which it corresponds, a truncated data frame does not always convey the same number of information items for all the components representative of the image.
Accordingly, the above methods are not completely satisfactory.
An aim of the invention is to propose a method of quantizing a multidimensional sampled signal allowing for the high level of interdependence of the components of the multidimensional samples combined with effective exploitation of a truncated frame of the quantized signal. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Carbon black and other metals, powders, fibers, ionic polymers, and other additives have been incorporated in a wide variety of manufacturing formulations for antistatic protection. Carbon black which is readily available in many grades either as a powder or aqueous dispersion can be conveniently employed whenever black coloration is not objectionable as in tires, mats, video disks, etc.
Dispersions of powders in liquids can be obtained commercially. The dispersions of powders such as carbon black in plasticizer are custom made commercially.
Pony et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,656, discloses polymerizable plastics which can be blended with conductive carbon black specially prepared by treatment with hydrocarbons under pressure and then heated.
Martin et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,050, discloses molding video disks containing about 15% carbon black having a high surface area and a high proportion of voids in which electrical current flows in a highly efficient manner in an otherwise nonconductive polymer matrix.
Charles, U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,760, discloses improving conductivity of a resin with carbon black by adding an organic titanate coupling agent to the composition.
McCraken et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,585, discloses a foamable antistatic polymer composition containing 5% conductive carbon black having a BET surface area of at least 500m.sup.2 /g.
A recent article by Arie Calahorra--Investigation of Electrical Resistivity--Pigment Volume Concentration Relationship in Carbon Black-Filled Conductive Paint, Journal of Coatings Technology, Volume 60, No. 757, February 1988, discusses conductivity changes in a carbon black/PVC polymer matrix with carbon black loadings of 15 to 37%. A high grade conductive carbon black (Ketjenblack EL-DJ600 from AKZ0 Chemie, the Netherlands) was reported to be the best conductive filler employed in these tests.
White and transparent conductive powders for use as antistatic additions in PVC and polypropylene are described in an article by Yoshizume and Wakabayashi of Mitsubishi Metal Corporation, Conductive Powders Adapt to Today's Product Decors, Plastics Engineering, March 1987, pp. 61-64. Based on data provided in this article, about 57% by weight titanium dioxide coated with antimoney doped tin oxide will provide 10.sup.9 ohm/sq. surface resistivity for a plastic film.
Thus, while a large number of publications existed prior to the present invention on various ways to employ conductive particles such as carbon black in vinyl plastics such as PVC, the prior publications failed to describe means or measures to easily utilize carbon black without rendering the composition black or how to employ low amounts of carbon black, e.g., using less than 4 to 5% by weight of carbon black in a vinyl plastic matrix.
In contrast to the practice and experience heretofore, the present invention utilizes considerably lower amounts of carbon black and enables dilution of the carbon black pigment with nonconductive white pigment while providing fully adequate static dissipative vinyl sheets and films. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
As an example of such a working vehicle, there has been known a skid steering loader in which running devices configured by tires or crawlers are provided on both left and right sides of the vehicle main body such that the traveling direction of the working vehicle is changed by making working speeds of the left and right running devices different. An arm supporting mechanism that is provided in the skid steering loader and vertically oscillates the arm is broadly classified into: a radial type supporting mechanism in which the arm is supported by pivotally connecting the base end part of the arm to the vehicle main body; and a vertical type supporting mechanism in which the arm is supported by pivotally connecting the base end part of the arm to the vehicle main body by using two links, the vertical type supporting mechanism being configured such that the vehicle main body, the arm and two links constitute a planar closed four-link mechanism in a side view. Generally, the vertical type supporting mechanism is configured by using the two links as described above. This supporting mechanism is referred to as the “vertical type” because many supporting mechanisms of this type have an arm front-end orbit which is substantially perpendicular to the ground as compared with the radial type.
Both U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,933 and U.S. Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007/0104566(A) disclose working vehicles, each equipped with a vertical type arm. Each working vehicle is configured to have the arm supported to the vehicle main body by two front and rear link members, and have the arm vertically oscillated according to expansion and contraction of a hydraulic cylinder arranged to stride over the arm and the vehicle body. In the case of the radial type supporting mechanism, the arm vertically oscillates around the pivotal connection point between the arm and the vehicle body. Therefore, the arm front end (and the attachment such as a bucket installed on the arm front end) vertically moves while drawing an arc centered on the pivotal connection point as viewed from the side of the vehicle. On the other hand, according to the vertical type, by changing the lengths of the two links and the pivotal connection positions to the arm and the vehicle body, a movement locus of the arm front end according to the vertical movement of the arm can be set relatively freely.
A loader of the skid steering type or the like (a loading working vehicle) has a bucket installed on the arm front end, for example, and is used for scooping out gravels and the like into the bucket and loading the gravels onto a carrying vehicle such as a dump truck. In the loading work, first, the arm is lowered and also the own vehicle is run and the bucket is oscillated, such that gravels are scooped into the bucket. Then, after the own vehicle is run to near the carrying vehicle such as the dump truck, the gravels are loaded onto the cargo stand on the carrying vehicle by running the own vehicle and oscillating the bucket while lifting the arm. When performing this loading work, in the case of the loader using the radial type supporting mechanism, the bucket installed on the arm front end is lifted while drawing an arc. Therefore, the bucket is lifted from the arm lowered position to a horizontal position while moving forward, and is lifted from the horizontal position to the arm-lifted position while moving back. In this case, the arm is located foremost at the horizontal position. Therefore, in order to avoid interference with the dump truck, the own vehicle needs to be located at a certain distance from the dump truck. However, in loading the gravels from the bucket onto the dump truck after the bucket is lifted, the bucket needs to be located on the cargo stand on the dump truck by moving the own vehicle forward. The bucket is retreated at the arm-lifted position as described above, the distance over which the own vehicle moves forward therefore becomes large. In the case of the loader using the radial type supporting mechanism, the bucket installed on the arm front end is lifted and lowered while drawing an arc forming a convex shape toward the front. Therefore, particularly when the arm is vertically oscillated in the state in which a heavy object is loaded in the bucket, there is a risk that the vehicle overturns forward.
On the other hand, when the vertical type supporting mechanism is used, the supporting mechanism can be configured to move the arm front end (and the bucket installed on the arm front end) so as to draw a substantially vertical locus when vertically oscillating the arm. By this arrangement, the arm can be vertically oscillated by bringing the own vehicle closer to the dump truck, and the forward movement distance of the own vehicle at the time of loading the gravels from the inside of the bucket onto the dump truck by lifting the bucket can be made small. Therefore, efficient loading work becomes possible. For the above reason, there have been used many working vehicles employing the vertical type supporting mechanism. Further, the vertical type supporting mechanism can be configured to move the arm front end (and the bucket) to draw a substantially vertical locus, as compared with the radial type supporting mechanism. This configuration capable of reducing the risk of the own vehicle overturning forward when the arm is vertically oscillated is one of the advantages of the vertical type over the radial type.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,933, for example, discloses a vertical type supporting mechanism in which, when the arm is lifted from the lowered position, the arm front end draws an S shaped locus such that, after being lifted while slightly moving forward, the arm front end is further lifted while slowly moving back, and again lifted while moving forward in the middle. In the working vehicle according to U.S. Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007/0104566(A), the arm is configured such that, when the arm is vertically oscillated, the arm front end moves reciprocally longitudinally in an M shape.
In the case of employing the vertical type supporting mechanism, because of high degrees of freedom of the lengths of the two links and the hydraulic cylinder (the arm cylinder) and the arrangement position (pivotal connection positions to the arm and the vehicle body), how to set these items is important. Based on the setting of these items, the appearance design and the structure of the vehicle as a whole change, and also the movement locus of the arm front end changes. The appearance design and the structure are required to be simple as far as possible and to have a good appearance. Regarding the movement locus of the arm front end, considering the loading work described above, vertical movement of the arm front end is required. However, as in the working vehicle in U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,933, if the arm front end is located at a front position when the arm is oscillated to a high moving position, although the distance over which the own vehicle moves for loading onto the carrying vehicle becomes short, the vehicle receives the influence of the weight of the bucket cargo and becomes unstable at the time of lifting the arm. Further, in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,933, the bucket movement locus forms the S shape, and in the case of U.S. Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007/0104566 (A), the bucket movement locus forms longitudinal movement in the M shape. This has a problem in that the weight center of the vehicle changes longitudinally following the oscillation of the arm, and the working vehicle cannot be easily operated (has poor operability).
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a working vehicle with excellent stability and operability of the vehicle at the time of vertically oscillating an arm, by allowing a movement locus of an arm front end following a vertical oscillation of the arm to be substantially vertical and by suppressing the movement amount in the longitudinal direction. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to downloading travel directions over the Internet. More specifically, the invention relates to capturing and updating travel directions in a user's address book application.
2. Background Art
Currently, the method of downloading directions from Internet service providers specializing in maps and directions is a manual process. These directions and maps can be placed into a PC or hand held based devices for immediate use, however, as target/arrival locations change, such directions and maps have to be manually “re-downloaded” to account for these travel adjustments. Additionally, it is a time consuming task, which is neglected often because a user was not able to anticipate the need for directions due to unexpected location changes. Moreover, storage of these directions and maps is cumbersome and lacks portability.
Known solutions to this problem are manual and involve a manual search for directions and maps using Internet service providers such as MapQuest, Mapblast, GIS, etc. These directions are downloaded and placed into a temporary location on a PC or handheld device. Also, directions and maps can be printed for future use, but are very static and cannot change as travel plans change. Map applications exist, such as MS Street and Trips 2004, etc., that can be used to determine directions, but the process of entering departure and arrival locations is manual. These directions and maps can be manually placed into address books in comment style fields, but are static until they are manually updated by invoking the manual process noted above.
Additionally, GPS mapping software common in some vehicles (Hertz Neverlost for example) allows for some dynamic updating of map and directions based upon the user's current location. In such device installations, if a user unexpectedly changes their location from the intended course, the GPS system will recalculate and redisplay a new map with directions based upon the new known location. These navigation systems have to be operating in a real-time mode and can only recalculate based on current location as opposed to calculating a future or anticipated location in an off-line mode.
The drawbacks to known solutions are clear since the various processes are manual. Also, the lack of intelligent address books adds to the problem and becomes a solution roadblock for implementing an automatic system and method. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to novel vaccines for protecting chickens against infection with Marek's disease virus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Marek's disease (MD), a highly prevalent and important lymphoproliferative disease of chickens, is controlled in commercial chickens by live virus vaccines consisting of attenuated or naturally avirulent MD-related herpesviruses. Although vaccination programs have been considered highly effective overall, the poultry industry continues to experience losses due to MD. Given the tendency of MD virus to become more virulent with time coupled with the economic pressures confronting the poultry industry, there is still a strong incentive to develop even more efficacious products that will protect better in the face of early challenge with very virulent field strains without causing adverse side effects. This invention relates to a novel vaccine against MD which does in fact provide superior protection and improved safety compared to certain existing commercial vaccines.
There are three distinct serotypes of MD virus found in chickens: (1) serotype 1, the oncogenic form responsible for the disease, including high- and low-virulence MD virus and their attenuated variants; (2) serotype 2, a nononcogenic MD virus; and (3) serotype 3, herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT).
The prototype MD vaccine consists of the serotype 3 virus originally isolated from turkeys as reported in Witter et al. [Am. J. Vet. Res. 31: 525-538 (1970)] and Okazaki et al. [U.S. Pat. No. 3,642,574]. Its lack of oncogenicity, self-limiting infection, good replication in vivo and in vitro, availability as cell-free and cell-associated preparations, and high protective efficacy have established HVT as a standard for MD vaccines throughout the world. A commonly used strain of HVT is FC126.
Vaccines produced from the naturally avirulent SB-1 strain [Schat et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 60: 1075-1082 (1978) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,024], an isolate of a serotype 2 MD virus, have been licensed in the United States since 1984. The SB-1 strain is poorly protective against the highly virulent MDV strains. It is usually used in combination with HVT as a bivalent vaccine since the two viruses together produce greater protection than does either one alone [Schat et al., Avian Pathol. 11: 593-606 (1982); Witter, Avian Pathol. 11: 49-62 (1982), herein incorporated by reference]. This phenomenon has been termed “protective synergism”. The SB-1+HVT bivalent vaccine represents about 18% of the United States market for MD vaccines at present and is considered to be among the most efficacious of the various MD products available. However, sporadic losses occur despite its use.
Another MD vaccine produced from strain CVI988 clone C (CVI988/C) has been licensed for commercial use in the United States. This vaccine was derived from a mildly virulent serotype 1 MD virus attenuated by serial passage in tissue culture and has been reported by deBoer et al. [Avian Dis. 30: 276-283 (1986)]. A further passaged derivative of CVI988/C, identified as CVI988/C/R6, has also been described by de Boer et al. [Advances in Marek's Disease Research, pp. 405-413 (1988)]. More recently, the original low-passage strain, designated CVI988/Rispens, which has been in commercial use in other countries for a number of years, was found to be highly effective against challenge with several very virulent MD virus strains by Witter et al. [4th Int'l Symp. Marek's Disease, pp. 315-319 (1992)].
An experimental vaccine derived from Md11, a very virulent serotype 1 MD field isolate, was reported by Witter, supra. Md11 was attenuated by 75 serial passages in cell culture, and the resultant vaccine designated Md11/75C. This vaccine has been shown to provide good protection against challenge with Md5 and most other highly virulent MD viruses tested; but it was less efficacious against challenge with the JM/102W strain, a prototype MD virus effectively protected against by HVT and SB-1 vaccines. Furthermore, its efficacy was consistently lower in chicks with HVT antibody.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,717, Witter disclosed a revertant derivative of Md11/75C which was referred to as Md11/75C/R2. Md11/75C/R2 was shown to be superior to several other monovalent vaccines and was the equal of a bivalent (HVT+SB-1) vaccine [Witter, Avian Dis. 31: 752-765 (1987)]. However, the inherent pathogenicity of serotype 1 viruses and the potential of attenuated strains to revert to greater pathogenicity (Witter et al., Avian Pathol. 13: 75-92 (1984)] are factors to be considered in the licensing of such products. A clone derived from further passages of the Md11/75C/R2 strain, designated Md11/75C/R2/23 (or R2/23), was found by Witter et al. [Avian Dis., 35:877-891 (1991)] to possess the highly protective nature of the parent strain without its residual pathogenicity.
Witter also described another MD vaccine derived from 301B/1, a nonpathogenic serotype 2 field isolate, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,718, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. Strain 301B/1 possessed superior replicative ability to SB-1, as well as greater protectivity against challenge to viruses.
Still other concerns have arisen over the use of some MD vaccines. As indicated, bivalent vaccines composed of MD virus serotypes 2 and 3 are currently widely used in the U.S. and have provided excellent protection against certain MD strains. However, use of such vaccines containing serotype 2 MD virus may lead to increased mortality from another disease, lymphoid leukosis. This enhancement of lymphoid leukosis in avian leukosis virus infected chickens resulting from vaccination with products containing serotype 2 MD virus has been an unfortunate deterrent to their expanded use.
Thus, although HVT, SB-1, CVI988, CVI988/C, Md11/75C, Md11/75C/R2 and 301B/1 are all effective against certain MD viruses, none of these vaccines protect optimally against all MD challenge viruses in all chickens. Moreover, these vaccines have exhibited reduced efficacy against some of the more recently isolated very virulent strains of MD virus. To avert any large-scale outbreaks of MD in the future, the need exists to develop improved vaccines effective against the very virulent strains of MD virus. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention is directed to a borehole drilling assembly and in particular to an assembly for drilling and completing deviated boreholes.
Deviated boreholes are drilled using whipstock assemblies. A whipstock is a device which can be secured in the casing of a well and which has a tapered, sloping upper surface that acts to guide well bore tools along the tapered surface and in a selected direction away from the straight course of the well bore.
To facilitate the use of a whipstock, a section of casing is used which has premilled window openings through which deviated well bores can be drilled. The whipstock can be positioned relative to the window using a landing system which comprises a plurality of stacked spacers mounted on a fixed mounting device at the bottom of the casing and defining at the top thereof a whipstock retaining receptacle, or by use of a latch between the whipstock and the casing. A stacked landing system can cause difficulty in aligning the whipstock with the window opening as the distance between the mounting device and the window increases. The whipstock may also turn during the drilling or setting processes resulting in the deviated well bore being directed incorrectly and/or the well bore tools being stuck in the wellbore. Sometimes a latch system is used to overcome some of these disadvantages. However, the latch can sometimes disengage between the whipstock and the casing, allowing the whipstock to turn or move down in the casing.
After the deviated wellbore is drilled, it can be left uncompleted or completed in any suitable way. To seal the deviated wellbore hydraulically from the main casing, a liner can be installed and cement can be pumped behind the liner. This is expensive and often creates obstructions in the main casing which complicates removal and run of the tools.
When the tools are used in horizontal primary bores, new problems arise. Running and retrieval tools which are useful for vertical tool manipulation are not always useful in horizontal applications.
An assembly for drilling and/or completing a deviated wellbore has been invented. In one aspect the assembly includes a toolguide which can be positioned relative to a window opening in a casing section and releasably locked in position. The toolguide or portions thereof can have applied thereto a coating which prevents damage to the metal components of the toolguide and facilitates removal of the toolguide from the wellbore after use.
A tool guide for creating deviated borehole branches from a wellbore includes a whipstock including a sloping face portion and a lower orienting section, including at least one latch biased radially outwardly from the orienting section and positioned in a known orientation relative to the sloping face portion and a latch locking means to releasably lock the latch in an extended position, the latch locking means being actuated to lock the latch by torsion of the mandrel within the lower orienting section.
Each latch of the orienting section is selected to fit within and lock into its own latch receiving slot formed in the casing. When the latch of the orienting section is locked into the latch receiving slot the toolguide will be maintained in position in the casing. Preferably, the casing includes at least one premilled window opening positioned in known relation relative to the latch receiving slot. Preferably, a removable liner can be positioned in the casing to close the window opening temporarily and to cover the latch receiving slot.
The orienting section can be releasably connected to the whipstock. Such connection is preferably by connectors such as, for example, shear pins to the whipstock so that these parts can be installed together into the casing. Preferably, the connectors are selected such that the sections can be separated by an application of force sufficient to overcome the strength of the connectors. This permits the whipstock and the lower section to be separated and removed separately should one part become stuck in the casing.
The sections are movable relative to one another and means are provided to translate such movement to actuate such means as a seal.
Preferably, the lower orienting section includes a mandrel engaged slidably and rotatably within an outer housing. The mandrel is releasably connected to the whipstock and moveable with the whipstock. Preferably, the latch locking means is an extension of the mandrel. The extension can be formed to fit behind the latch to lock it in the outwardly biased position.
Another toolguide for creating borehole branches from a wellbore, the toolguide having a longitudinal axis and comprising a whipstock including a sloping face portion, a lower orienting section, the whipstock and the lower orienting section being connected and moveable relative to each other along the longitudinal axis of the toolguide, and an annular sealing means mounted below the whipstock, the annular sealing means being actuatable to expand and retract upon movement of the whipstock and the lower orienting section relative to one another.
The whipstock is attached to a central mandrel of the lower orienting section. The central mandrel is engaged slidably and rotatably within an outer housing of the lower orienting section. The outer housing carries the annular sealing means which is actuatable to expand or retract by movement of the mandrel within the outer housing. Preferably, the outer housing includes a first section and a second section and disposed therebetween the annular sealing means. The first section is moveable toward the second section to compress the annular sealing means therebetween and cause it to expand outwardly. In this embodiment, preferably the mandrel has a shoulder positioned thereon to abut against the first section and limit the movement of the mandrel into the outer housing. Abutment of the shoulder against the first section causes the first section of the housing to be driven it towards the second section and the annular sealing means to be compressed and expanded outwardly.
Previous orienting tools were difficult to use because it was necessary to run the tool to a known depth and then search around for the position of the slot for accepting the latch on the tool. Because the latches of some orienting tools have to be biased outwardly on the trip down into the well, it has been difficult to use the orienting tools in wells, for example, having more than one lateral window and therefore more than one orienting slot for accepting the latch of the tool. To the problem of having the latch lock into the incorrect slot, where multiple slots are present, it has been necessary to shape the slots in the casing such that they will only accept one form of latch. This solution presents logistical problems, however, and limits the number of slots which can reasonably be positioned in the casing.
Thus, in accordance with one broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided an orienting tool for positioning in a well bore casing having a profile positioned therealong, the tool comprising: a body; at least one member mounted on the tool body and biased outwardly, at a selected pressure, therefrom, the selected pressure being great enough to permit determination of when the at least one member has moved past the profile but not being so great as to prevent the at least one member from moving past the profile using normal force.
The at least one member can be a spring loaded dog or an arm such as, for example, a part of a collet, a collar locator or any other means. In preferred embodiment, the at least one member is part of a ring of dogs mounted about a circumference of the tool body and biased outwardly therefrom. The at least one member preferably operates to position the tool at a selected pressure of 20,000 to 30,000 psi. At this pressure, when the member passes a profile, there will be a indicative overpull or decrease in drill string weight.
The at least one member can be biased outwardly by any desired means such as, for example, springs. In a preferred embodiment, the biasing means is selected to exert increased pressure as the depth of the tool is increased. This biasing means is preferred as it provides that less force is required to move the tool through the casing at shallower depths but requires greater force to be moved through the casing when it is at greater depths and, therefore, when there is greater available drill string weight to act on the tool. One such biasing means is sensitive to hydrostatic pressure and applies a pressure to the at least one member which increases with an increase in hydrostatic pressure of the fluids about the tool. It may be necessary to set an upper limit for the selected pressure applied to the at least one member.
The profile and the at least one member are preferably correspondingly positioned so that the at least one member will be affected by the profile regardless of the rotational orientation of the tool within the casing. To avoid forming a protrusion which extends inwardly from the casing inner surface and reduces the ID of the casing, preferably the profile is a groove sized to accept the at least one member therein. In a preferred embodiment, the groove is a radial groove extending about the ID of the casing.
There can be more than one profile along a length of casing. Where more than one profile is present along the casing, the at least one member will be affected by each profile in a similar manner. Preferably, the profiles are non-selective. The specific profile which is affecting the member can be determined using tool depth information, the measurement of which is well known in the art.
Where it is desired, in addition to positioning the tool at a selected orientation along the casing, to position the tool at a selected rotational orientation within the well, the tool can further comprise a latch for fitting into a slot positioned at a selected rotational position about the center axis of the casing. The tool is selected to provide for rotation of at least the portion of the tool carrying the latch to permit the latch to be located in its slot. In one embodiment, the tool body includes a first part carrying the at least one member, a second part carrying the latch and a joint positioned therebetween for permitting the second part to rotate relative to the first part and preferably also to move out of axial alignment with the first part.
The orienting sections according to the present invention can be used to orient whipstocks as well as other tools such as, for example, retrieval tools, sleeve shifting tools and lateral completion tools.
A whipstock for use in creating wellbore branches from a well bore can have a main body formed of a first material of reduced diameter to facilitate washover or engagement by die collars or overshots. The main body has extending out therefrom centralizers such as stand off rings or extensions the main body. Sometimes a coating material is disposed at least over a portion of the main body, the coating material being softer than the first material and being resistant to oil and gas.
In a whipstock having a main body of reduced diameter relative to centralizers formed thereon, it has been found that the width of the sloping face portion is greatly reduced. This reduces the surface area which is available to guide the drill bit or mill off the whipstock face and the mill or drill bit tends to roll off the sloping face portion in the direction of rotation of the drill.
To prevent roll off and to centralize and stabilize the upper tapered end of the whipstock, while continuing to facilitate washover procedures, a whipstock is provided including a main body having an outer surface, a sloping face portion formed on the main body and having a slope angle and an extension formed on the main body about the sloping face such that the diameter of the extension is greater than the diameter of the main body.
Preferably, the extension about the sloping face portion forms an effective diameter which is substantially equal to the drift diameter of the casing into which it is to be used. The extension preferably conforms to the slope angle of the sloping face portion and, where the sloping face portion has a curvature, follows and continues the curvature of the sloping face portion.
The whipstock can include centralizers extending out from the main body. Preferably, the effective diameter of the whipstock at the centralizers is substantially equal to the effective diameter of the whipstock at the extensions.
In one embodiment, the main body has applied thereto a coating, for example of polymeric material. The coating material can be applied against the extension and the centralizers, if any.
Running and retrieving tools are required for moving the tools through the well bore. Previous running tools for whipstocks used shear bolts for attachment between the running tool and the whipstock. These shear bolts are prone to shearing prematurely if the whipstock is bumped at surface while entering the will or sue to running the assembly through a tight area in the casing. The shear bolt may also shear prematurely if the assembly is rotated.
A new tool has been invented which is positively latchable to the whipstock in a manner that allows forces to be applied upwardly or downwardly as well as rotationally without risk of prematurely releasing the whipstock. At the desired time of release, hydraulic pressure is applied to the tool to unlatch it from the whipstock.
In accordance with a broad aspect of the invention, therefore, there is provided a running/retrieval tool for moving a well tool through a well bore casing, the running/retrieval tool comprising: a body; a latch for releasably engaging the well tool and being driven to move between a retracted position recessed in the body and an extended position in which a portion of the latch extends from the body; and a guide selected to act against the well tool to guide the latch into engagement with the well tool.
The latch can be driven between the retracted position and the extended position by any desired means. Preferably, the drive means for the latch can be controlled from surface and can be, for example, a hydraulic system.
The guide is formed on the tool and can be selected to engage with the well tool in such a way as to transmit rotational energy to the well tool. A key can be provided on the tool to assist in the location of the tool relative to a well tool to be retrieved. In a preferred embodiment, an outwardly biased key is provided which is engage able into an orienting slot formed on the casing section adjacent the mounting position of the well tool to be used with the running retrieval tool.
In another embodiment, the running/retrieval tool according to the present invention includes a outwardly extendable and retractable key useful for applying force against the casing in which the tool is positioned to urge it toward one side of the casing. The key can be extendable by a hydraulic system.
A casing section for a deviated wellbore junction comprises a cylindrical casing tube having a central axis and a window opening formed therein. A sleeve having an opening therein is mounted relative to the casing tube to move between a first position in which the opening of the sleeve is aligned with the window opening of the casing tube and a second position in which the opening of the sleeve is not aligned with the window opening of the casing tube.
Another casing section for a deviated wellbore junction includes a casing tube having a central axis and a window opening formed therein. A sleeve having a first opening and a second opening therein is mounted relative to the casing tube to move between a first position in which the first opening of the sleeve is aligned with the window opening of the casing tube and a second position in which the second opening of the sleeve is aligned with the window opening of the casing tube.
Preferably, sealing means are disposed between the casing tube and the sleeve. These sealing means are preferably selected to effect a hydraulic seal between the parts. In one embodiment, the sealing means are formed of deformable materials such as rubber or plastic and is disposed around the opening of the sleeve and along the top and bottom thereof.
In a preferred embodiment, the sleeve has formed therethrough two openings. The first opening is sized to allow access to the window opening of the casing section by deviated borehole tools and the second opening is smaller than the first opening.
In one embodiment, the sleeve is disposed within the casing tube in a counterbore formed therein such that the inner diameter of the sleeve is greater than or substantially equal to the inner diameter of the casing away from the position of the sleeve.
Preferably, the window of the casing is formed to accept a flange of a junction fitting such as, for example, a tieback hanger of a branched wellbore. In a preferred embodiment, the sleeve is selected to seal against the flange of the fitting. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a multilayer heat activated adhesive film with improved control of its peel properties. The invention also relates to cable jacketing or shielding structures that use such films.
It is well known to use adhesive films in cable shielding structures having internal metal layers requiring adhesion to outer coverings of a plastic protective layer; such as in coaxial, fiber optic, electrical power and other communications cables.
In general such films are intended to tightly adhere the outer plastic jacket or coating to the inner metallic surface or layer. In the general process for preparing a shielding laminate structure and use in a coated or jacketed cable, an adhesive film is first laminated on one side of thin gauge metal, e.g., steel, by: (a) preheating the metal, (b) contacting the film to the metal, (c) further heating to increase the bond strength, (d) cooling and (e) winding onto a roll. This film-coated metal sheet or strip is sometimes referred to as “shielding tape”. This laminate, in appropriate widths, is subsequently formed into tubes, often corrugated tubes, which have conductive member(s), e.g., wiring or fiber optic cables, in the center of the tubes with the laminated adhesive film on the outside of the tube. Then, a thermoplastic polymer jacketing or coating (often HDPE) is extruded over the tubing and the heat from the polymer creates a bond between the jacketing and the film. The adhesive film inter-layer bonds and bonds to the metal and outer jacketing are desired to withstand delamination under conditions of normal production, installation and use but also allow the outer plastic jacket material to be easily and consistently peeled back from the central metal encased conductive member(s), and removed to facilitate the grounding, splicing and other procedures that may need to access the metallic layer and/or the central conductive member(s). The peeling and removal is preferably performed or performable by hand or arm force, which corresponds to having a peel strength or bond strength on the order of less than about. When the outer plastic jacket material is peeled back away from the metal, the film needs to be sufficiently adhered to the metal and structured such that, interlayer delamination during outer jacket removal leaves a sufficiently thick, residual protective coating tightly adhered to the metal at all times for protection against corrosion following the removal of the jacket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,739 discloses a two layer film or a three layer film where an adhesive layer bonds strongly to the metal sheathing. In the two layer film, the other layer has a strippable bond to the cable jacketing. For the 3 layer film, the outside layer bonds strongly to the cable jacketing material, and the core layer is strippable from either adhesive layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,894 A discloses an annular cable coating having at least three extruded layers around a conductor. The intermediate layer between first and second layers is strippably bonded to the first layer and fully bonded to the second layer such that the second layer together with substantially all of the intermediate layer is readily strippable from the first layer. In particular, it relates to an insulated electrical cable in which such laminate construction coextruded substantially coaxially around a core conductor and not provided in the form a film. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, vacuum processing such as film formation, etching or the like is performed on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as “wafer”) as a target substrate under a vacuum atmosphere. Recently, in view of improvement of efficiency of the vacuum processing and suppression of oxidation or contamination, there is used a cluster tool type multi-chamber substrate processing system in which a plurality of vacuum processing units is connected to a transfer chamber in a vacuum state and a wafer is transferred to each of the vacuum processing units by a transfer unit provided in the transfer chamber (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-208589).
In the multi-chamber processing system, a load-lock mechanism, which can be switched between an atmospheric atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere, is provided between the transfer chamber in the vacuum state and a wafer cassette in an atmospheric atmosphere, and the wafer is transferred between the wafer cassette and the transfer chamber via the load-lock mechanism.
As for a film forming process, a process of heating a wafer to a high temperature of 200° C. or above, e.g., 500° C., may be performed as in the case of employing a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method. When the multi-chamber processing system is applied to the high temperature process, a high-temperature wafer is transferred from the vacuum processing unit into a chamber of the load-lock mechanism. When the high-temperature wafer is exposed to the atmosphere, the wafer is oxidized. Further, when the high-temperature wafer is accommodated in a container, the container that is generally made of a resin is melted.
Therefore, a cooling plate having a cooling unit for cooling a wafer is provided in the chamber of the load-lock mechanism, and the wafer is positioned near the cooling plate to be cooled by the latter while the inner state of the chamber of the load-lock mechanism is returned from the vacuum state to the atmospheric pressure (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-182235).
If the high-temperature wafer unloaded from the vacuum processing unit is cooled rapidly, the wafer may be warped due to a thermal expansion difference between a top surface and a backside of the wafer. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-182235 discloses a technique that stops a pressure increase and separate the wafer away from the cooling plate when warpage of the wafer occurs in the load-lock mechanism.
Recently, the wafer is easily warped due to complicated devices formed on the wafer. Further, the warpage of the wafer often occurs before the wafer is loaded into the load-lock mechanism. Accordingly, it is required to effectively cool the wafer while effectively straightening the warped wafer in the load-lock mechanism. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a glass ceramic material that has a deformation temperature at which reheat press-forming can be performed in a glass state and further has a thermal expansion coefficient of xe2x88x9210xc3x9710xe2x88x927 to 20xc3x9710xe2x88x927 (1/xc2x0 C.) on the basis of precipitation of a negative thermal expansion crystal by crystallization treatment after the forming; a glass ceramic product; and a process for producing the glass material.
2. Description of Related Art
In the optical communication technology field, at the present time, optical transmission members having a quartz fiber medium are mainly used. In various devices connected to the quartz fiber, such as a waveguide, a quartz substrate is also used. As requirements of a glass material used in optical members, such as various devices, it is important that a minute and highly precise pattern can be formed and that the glass material has a thermal expansion coefficient near the thermal expansion coefficient of the quartz material to which the glass material is to be connected, that is, 5xc3x9710xe2x88x927 (1/xc2x0 C.). Therefore, a quartz substrate obtained by grinding quartz glass and then forming a minute and a highly precise pattern therein is used.
However, in the grinding method, which gives a high precision, much time is required for grinding since the glass material of the substrate is brittle, and adjustment is necessary to avoid occurrences where a grinding edge is hit on the end of the substrate and damaged. Thus, the grinding method has problems, in that it takes much time to carry out this method and also in that the costs are high. A pattern-forming method based on reheat press-forming is effective, in which patterns having very high precision can be formed together at a low cost. However, conventional glass materials have a deformation temperature, Td, at which reheat press-forming can be performed in a glass state, but their thermal expansion coefficient xcex1 after the forming is greatly different from that of SiO2, that is, 5xc3x9710xe2x88x927 (1/xc2x0 C.). Conversely, even if materials have a thermal expansion coefficient a after the forming near to that of SiO2, that is, 5xc3x9710xe2x88x927 (1/xc2x0 C.), the materials do not have a deformation temperature, Td, at which reheat press-forming can be performed in a glass state. Specifically, BK-7, as a substrate material, has a thermal expansion coefficient xcex1 of 89xc3x9710xe2x88x927 (1/xc2x0 C.) and a deformation temperature Td of 630xc2x0 C.; thus, BK-7 is capable of being subjected to reheat press-forming. However, BK-7 has a thermal expansion coefficient that is largely different from that of quartz fibers. Substrates made of quartz (SiO2) and Miraclon PH-3, made by NGK Insulators, Ltd., have thermal expansion coefficients a of 5xc3x9710xe2x88x927 (1/xc2x0 C.) and xe2x88x924xc3x9710xe2x88x927 (1/xc2x0 C.) and deformation temperatures Td of 1700xc2x0 C. and 770xc2x0 C., respectively. These have a thermal expansion coefficient that is not very different from that of quartz fibers, but are not easily subjected to reheat press-forming.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a glass material having a low deformation temperature when it is press-formed, and having a thermal expansion coefficient equivalent to that of quartz materials when it is finished into a product. Such optical members include members assembled into a given shape, using an ultraviolet ray hardening type resin adhesive. It is also desired that the glass material itself of such optical members has such a nature that it can transmit ultraviolet rays.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a SiO2xe2x80x94Al2O3xe2x80x94Li2O component-based glass material is provided, and comprises, as its basic components, SiO2: 60-63 wt % (the symbol xe2x80x9cwt %xe2x80x9d means % by weight); Al2O3: 23-25 wt %; and Li2O: 4-5 wt %. Further, modifying components are also provided, including ZrO2: 1.5-2.5 wt %; TiO2: 0.5-2.5 wt %; MgO: 0.5-1.5 wt %; ZnO: 0.5-1.2 wt %; Na2O: 0.5-2.0 wt %; and K2O: 0.5-2.0 wt %. The glass material further comprises BaO: 0.5-1.0 wt %. Since this glass material can have a deformation temperature of 750xc2x0 C. or lower, it becomes easy to produce a glass product by reheat press-forming.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a SiO2xe2x80x94Al2O3xe2x80x94Li2O component-based glass material is provided, which comprises, as its basic components, SiO2: 60-63 wt %; Al2O3: 23-25 wt %; and Li2O: 4-5 wt %. Modifying components of the glass material include ZrO2: 1.5-2.5 wt %; TiO2: 0.5-2.5 wt %; MgO: 0.5-1.5 wt %; ZnO: 0.5-1.2 wt %; Na2O: 0.5-2.0 wt %; and K2O: 0.5-2.0 wt %. The glass material further comprises CaO: 1.0-2.0 wt %.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a SiO2xe2x80x94Al2O3xe2x80x94Li2O component-based glass material is provided, which comprises, as its basic components, SiO2: 60-63 wt %; Al2O3: 23-25 wt %; and Li2O: 4-5 wt % and, as its modifying components, ZrO2: 1.5-2.5 wt %; TiO2: 0.5-2.5 wt %; MgO: 0.5-1.5 wt %; ZnO: 0.5-1.2 wt %; Na2O: 0.5-2.0 wt %; and K2O: 0.5-2.0 wt %. The glass material further comprises B2O3: 0.01-1.0 wt %. These glass materials also make it easy to produce a glass product by reheat press-forming.
Preferably, the glass materials according to the first, second and third aspects of the present invention do not include P2O5.If the glass materials comprise P2O5, crystallization is excessively promoted, and controlling of the crystallization is difficult. For example, the thermal expansion coefficients may not be within the desired range.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a glass ceramic material is provided comprising the glass material according to any one of the above 1st-3rd aspects, and having a thermal expansion coefficient in a range of xe2x88x9210xc3x9710xe2x88x927 to 20xc3x9710xe2x88x927 (1/xc2x0 C.). Thus, this glass ceramic material has a thermal expansion coefficient that is substantially the same as that of a quartz fiber or the like that is connected as an optical member. Therefore, the state of the connection is stable. As a result, the glass ceramic material is not exfoliated, communication is not interrupted and signals are not deteriorated.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a glass ceramic material is provided, comprising the glass material according to any one of the 1st-3rd aspects, and having a crystallization ratio in a range of 30 to 50%. Since this glass ceramic material has a crystallization ratio within the range of 30 to 50%, this is a preferred material from the viewpoint of thermal expansion coefficient and shape precision. In other words, if the crystallization ratio is below 30%, the glass ceramic material having the desired thermal expansion coefficient cannot be obtained. If this ratio is over 50%, it is difficult to control the shape precision in the formed pattern, that is, the distribution of crystal phases, the size of the respective crystal phases, and so on. Thus, the shape precision is adversely affected.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a glass material is provided, comprising the glass material according to one of the 1st or 3rd aspects, having a thermal expansion coefficient in a range of xe2x88x9210xc3x9710xe2x88x927 to 20xc3x9710xe2x88x927 (1/xc2x0 C.), and having ultraviolet ray transmissivity. Since this low thermal-expansion glass ceramic material can transmit ultraviolet rays, this material can be fixed on an optical member using an ultraviolet ray hardening type adhesive, for example, between a supporting substrate and a lid substrate.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, a glass ceramic material is provided, comprising the glass material according to any one of the 1st-3rd aspects, having a crystallization ratio in a range of 30 to 50%, and having ultraviolet ray transmissivity. This is suitable for reheat press-forming from the viewpoints of thermal expansion coefficient and shape precision, and can be finished into a product that can be fixed on an optical member using an ultraviolet ray hardening type adhesive.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, a glass product made of the glass material according to any one of the 1st-6th aspects is provided. This can be suitably used in, for example, a fiber array, a waveguide substrate, an optical lens, a reflector for a lamp, a light source for a lamp, or the like. The method for forming the glass material to obtain a glass product having a desired shape is preferably a reheat press method, but may be a grinding method.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, a process for producing a SiO2xe2x80x94Al2O3xe2x80x94Li2O component-based glass material is provided, comprising the steps of providing a glass material obtained by blending SiO2: 60-63 wt %; CaO: 1.0-2.0 wt %; Al2O3: 23-25 wt %; and Li2O: 4-5 wt %, as basic components, and ZrO2: 1.5-2.5 wt %; TiO2: 0.5-2.5 wt %; MgO: 0.5-1.5 wt %; ZnO: 0.5-1.2 wt %; Na2O: 0.5-2.0 wt %; and K2O: 0.5-2.0 wt %, as modifying components, with any one of BaO: 0.5-1.0 wt %, CaO: 1.0-2.0 wt %, and B2O3: 0.01-1.0 wt %; melting the blend and quenching the melted blend; press-forming the blend into a desired shape; and subjecting the product obtained in the above-mentioned step to a crystallization treatment to precipitate a negative thermal expansion crystal having a thermal expansion coefficient in a range of xe2x88x9210xc3x9710xe2x88x927 to 20xc3x9710xe2x88x927 (1/xc2x0 C.) According to this process, it is possible to provide a glass material having a low deformation temperature when it is press-formed, and having a thermal expansion coefficient equivalent to that of quartz materials when it is finished into a product, as described above. It is allowable to perform reheat press-forming as a primary step, and then perform the crystallization treatment, as a secondary step, after the forming, or to perform the crystallization treatment step and subsequently perform the forming step based on reheat press-forming. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present disclosure generally relates to padding and, in particular, relates to an inexpensive, lightweight, compressible, resilient, shock absorbing fluid for use in padding applications. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods of financial management and, more specifically, to systems and methods for simple interactive financial categorization and budgeting.
Individuals often rely on computer-based systems to manage their personal finances. Conventional personal financial management systems include software and internet-based systems. Certain systems allow users to create budgets and to categorize transactions into various budget categories. However, many systems are cumbersome and difficult to use. For example, conventional systems often have ten or more categories to which users can assign budgets and categorize transactions. Users are often overwhelmed by the many categories that are available and cannot keep track of budgets associated with each of the many categories. In addition, identifying and categorizing each transaction may require a series of steps and menus, which may be difficult and/or intimidating to certain users. Thus, there is a need for a simplified personal financial management system to categorize transactions and manage budgets. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic circuits and, more particularly, to electronic circuits which generate a sequence of pulses with a desired period.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic circuits can generate a sequence of pulses which can be used in many applications, such as clocks and pulse generators. In various applications it may be desired to generate a sequence of pulses with a period which is either an integer multiple or a non-integer multiple of a reference clock period. A non-integer multiple can be represented as M/N=P.Q, where M and N are natural numbers and P and Q are integer and decimal numbers, respectively. Hence, M/N is a rational number expressed as a fraction and P.Q is its equivalent expressed as a decimal. In an example, if the reference clock period is 10 ns (i.e. 100 MHz), then to produce a signal with a period of 48.8 ns (i.e. 20.5 MHz), the reference clock period can be multiplied by 4.88 (i.e. M=488, N=100, P=4, and Q=0.88). This is equivalent to dividing the reference clock frequency by 4.88 (i.e. 100 MHz/4.88=20.5 MHz).
Several approaches have been proposed to generate output signals with a period which is a non-integer multiple of a reference period. However, these approaches have jitter which limits their usefulness. Jitter refers to variations in the pulse positions caused by switching between two signals with different phases and appears in the output signal as noise and/or an unintended frequency modulation. Noise typically decreases the signal-to-noise ratio of the system.
Jitter can cause errors in the phase determination of the output signal and, consequently, can reduce the phase margin. The phase of the output signal can be used in many applications, such as analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters to define time-points at which the data is sampled. If the phase of the output signal jitters, then there can be errors in the time-points which will affect the overall signal quality.
One way to generate signals with non-integer multiple periods is the rational-rate approach. This approach, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,057, divides the reference clock frequency by two different integer values to generate two sub-frequencies. The system then switches between the two sub-frequencies to produce an average clock frequency. However, one problem with the rational-rate approach is that the average clock frequency appears to jitter between the phases of the two sub-frequencies. Because the sub-frequencies are generated by dividing by integer numbers, the jitter is on the order of a clock cycle.
Another approach is referred as fractional-frequency divider. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,694, the system provides several phase-shifted reference signals which have pulse edges shifted over the reference signal period. One pulse edge is outputted at a particular time in response to a trigger signal to provide a high-to-low or a low-to-high pulse edge for the output signal. Hence, the timing of the triggering events determines the frequency of the output signal. However, the fractional-frequency approach also generates jitter in the output signal because the switching is between two phase-shifted signals whose pulse edges, in general, do not always occur at the correct time.
In the rational-rate and fractional frequency approaches, jitter can be reduced by increasing the frequency of the reference signal. Jitter can also be reduced in the fractional frequency approach by increasing the number of phase-shifted signals. However, increasing the reference frequency and the number of phase-shifted signals increases the complexity and cost of the circuitry. Consequently, there is a need for a frequency synthesizer which provides an output signal with an arbitrary period and less jitter, using a lower frequency reference signal and fewer phase shifted signals. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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