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The present invention relates to a copier, facsimile apparatus, printer or similar image forming apparatus and more particularly to a digital image forming apparatus.
A copier, printer, facsimile apparatus or similar image forming apparatus capable of forming images in accordance with digital image data is conventional. A current trend in the imaging art is toward a digital image forming apparatus including a memory, hard disk or similar storage for dealing with a great amount of data or for implementing versatile functions. The storage allows, e.g., a facsimile apparatus to receive data even when the apparatus runs out of paper or allows a copier to rotate, when a document and a paper to be deal are different in orientation, its image forming device on the basis of the orientation of the paper.
However, the conventional digital image forming apparatus with the above storage processes each data stored in the storage as independent data and does not link or otherwise associate them together. Although a combination copy mode is available with a modern digital copier for associating a plurality of different data, it simply writes data representative of two documents in the storage and then prints them out while superposing images. This brings about a problem that when images are present at the same positions on two documents, they are superposed on each other and render the resulting copy unusable.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a digital image forming apparatus capable of linking a plurality of different data by making the most of the merit of a storage, and thereby implementing more convenient and more versatile functions.
In accordance with the present invention, in a digital image forming apparatus including a storage for storing data, a plurality of data stored in the storage are capable of being processed by being linked to each other in a desired order.
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This invention relates generally to a sliding bolt locking device and, more particularly, to such a device specifically suited for use with enclosures having hinged doors.
Various kinds of locks have been devised for use with enclosures having sliding doors. Generally the lock is mounted on the hinged door and has a locking member that engages the enclosure in a locked position to prevent relative movement between the enclosure and the door. Although functionally effective, prior locks of this type have been either costly per se or costly to assemble.
The object of this invention, therefore, is to provide an improved, less expensive bolt lock for use with enclosures having hinged access doors.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical elements and light source devices and, more particularly, to a light guide plate and a backlight module using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
At present, colorful display devices are popular with cell phones and personal digital products. Various colorful display devices have been developed. Passive display devices, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) devices adopting thin film transistors (known as “TFT-LCD”), become a main aspect of the display market. However, with development of technology, active display devices, such as organic light emitting diode (OLED) display devices have started to reach the display market. Performance of LCD devices, such as color saturation and brightness, etc. therefore needs to be enhanced.
As a passive device, a typical LCD device generally includes a backlight module to illuminate the LCD device. The backlight module is used to convert linear light sources such as cold cathode ray tubes, or point light sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), into area light sources having high uniformity and brightness.
If LEDs are introduced as point light sources to the backlight module, the LED is generally only a white LED or a single-color LED. However, this does not meet the requirement for colorful light sources for improving the LCD device.
What is needed, therefore, is a light guide plate and a backlight module for providing better color saturation and brightness.
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Generally described, most corporate and governmental entities utilize computer systems, computer networks, and integrated devices that generate vast amounts of electronic data. In some cases, data is generated, processed, and discarded after serving an intended purpose. In other cases, corporate, governmental, or other entities require that data be stored and maintained for future use. Such storage methods and systems may be generically referred to as “archival.” Accordingly, many data generating users look for storage solutions that correspond to the type and amount of data to be archived.
A growing category of archival is known as data warehousing. Data warehousing refers to the various activities involved in the acquisition, management, and aggregation of data from various sources into a centralized repository, such as a database. The database may be hosted by one or more servers, at least some of which may be physically proximate. Additionally, the central data warehouse may be a virtualized central repository in which a number of distributed servers pool and share data. In a typical application, a data warehouse stores time-oriented data that may be gathered from disparate sources. Data warehousing may be distinguished from the broader category of data archival in that the data warehouse maintains the stored data in a static manner. Because warehoused data cannot be modified (only added to or deleted) it may be used for analysis over time or by type. The data warehouse may also include metadata used to organize and characterize the data. In addition to the ability to store and retrieve data, many database storage solutions also include some type of data restoration process or system that enable data recovery in the event of a hardware and/or software failure. This is generally referred to as storage recovery. One embodiment for storage recovery relates to “mirrored” storage solutions in which one or more identical, redundant data repositories are maintained to replicate, or mirror, the archived data contained in a primary repository. In the event some or all of the data is lost from the primary repository, one or more complete copies of the data exists in the mirrored storage repositories. Accordingly, mirrored storage solutions provide for data recovery in the event that the primary storage repository fails to replicate previously stored data. However, once the primary storage repository fails, the data warehouse cannot continue to collect new data. Accordingly, any new data transmitted to the data warehouse would be lost, or the data processing system may have to shut down.
One attempt to provide additional data warehouse fault tolerance, referred to generally as failover support, relates to the use of a clustered database to transfer data to an alternate collection point in the event of a primary repository failure. In accordance with this embodiment, a database is installed across two or more servers that are linked together, such that each server in the clustered database is logically viewed as a node on the network. To provide for true failover support, the server nodes do not share processing resources. Environments in which storage and processing resources are not shared between nodes are generally referred to as “shared nothing” architectures. Shared-nothing environments are better suited to large, complex databases supporting unpredictable queries, as in data warehousing. Although a shared-nothing environment potentially allows for continued data collection in the event of a failure, the costs involved in providing and maintaining multiple servers for storage redundancy are prohibitive for many potential users. Accordingly, a clustered database approach may not present an affordable solution for many data warehouse applications.
Therefore, there is a need for a resource-efficient, fault-tolerant solution for data warehousing that will provide continuity of the data warehouse function in the event of a network, hardware, or software failure.
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In tractors and other equipment with hydraulic power systems for operating auxiliary units, it is frequently desirable to provide more outlets for the hydraulic system than those with which the original equipment was supplied. Conventionally, this involves plumbing in one or more additional hydraulic circuits, including extra hydraulic lines and control valves at the operator's station, e.g. in the cab of a tractor. The conversion is time consuming and costly and the potential leak points are multiplied.
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Technical Field
This disclosure relates to a sheet discriminator to discriminate sheet types, an image forming apparatus including the sheet discriminator, and an image forming system incorporating the sheet discriminator included in the image forming apparatus.
Related Art
In known image forming processes, to achieve higher printing quality, an image forming apparatus automatically discriminates sheet types and sets image forming conditions according to the detected sheet type.
An example of an image forming apparatus shows a configuration in which a sheet discriminator is disposed inside the image forming apparatus to discriminate information of a sheet being conveyed in a sheet conveying path.
This sheet discriminator includes an optical sensor that functions as an information detector to detect information of the sheet and that has a light emitting element and a light receiving element therein. The sheet discriminator causes the light emitting element of the optical sensor to emit light and the light receiving element of the optical sensor to receive the light reflected on a surface of the sheet traveling in the sheet conveying path, and detects sheet information based on optical information including a light amount of the received light.
Accordingly, based on the sheet information thus detected by the optical sensor, a controller that functions as a sheet distinguisher to distinguish the sheet types, the image forming apparatus sets the image forming conditions according to the sheet type.
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1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to the manufacture of integrated circuit (IC) chips and, more specifically, to a method for forming images having sharp corners during lithographic processing by exposing the feature in two angularly intersecting directions and a photomask formed thereby.
2. Background Art
Corner rounding and image foreshortening are problems for both photomask fabrication (especially for laser writers) and also for wafer fabrication. This problem, as depicted schematically in FIG. 1, is usually observed for small image shapes which are near the resolution limit of the lithographic exposure tool. In mask fabrication, for example, large features print with a shape that closely approximates the designed image. The length and width of the large shapes matches the designed values, with a slight rounding of the corners of the pattern. This corner rounding can be caused by the reticle etch process, which for chrome films has historically been an isotropic, wet process. It can also be caused by the limitations in the resolution of the writing beam of the reticle expose tool, whether e-beam or optical laser. For the printing of small images, which are at or near the resolution limit of the expose tool, the corner rounding becomes more pronounced, and the length of the image can be severely shortened relative to its designed length. This can be caused by several factors, including the loss of edge acuity of the aerial image at the resolution limit of the expose tool, the variation in effective exposure dose for small images relative to larger images, and the degradation of the aerial image by chemical diffusion processes in the photoresist after expose. These problems can be compounded for lithography on the wafer because the reticle rounding and shortening effects are combined with the tool and process components from the wafer processing.
Image shortening and rounding can significantly affect the ability to scale devices to smaller groundrules. For example, the capacitance of a DRAM device is directly related to the area of the storage node. As DRAM devices are scaled to smaller dimensions, the corner rounding and shortening effects reduce the capacitance values which can be attained, and constrain the ability to scale the density of the DRAM array. In another example from DRAM, the overlap of a strap connection between storage node and diffusion areas can be limited by the rounding of strap and storage node during the lithographic process. The rounding of the strap and storage node pull the features away from each other so that they fail to intersect and make an electrical connection. In order to print the features large enough that the rounded corners intersect, an electrical short defect is created at other sections of the images where rounding and shortening effects are not observed, and the over-sized patterns fuse together.
Modeling has shown that a large percentage of the image shortening is due to mask corner rounding in the 64 Mb dynamic random access memory (DRAM) design, and becomes more pronounced for the 256 Mb DRAM design.
In the present era of very large scale integration and ultra large scale integration, new techniques are continuously being developed to more efficiently utilize the space within semiconductor devices while maintaining or improving present production efficiency.
As IC dimensions continue to shrink, printed lithographic features with minimal curvature are critical to achieve the packing density required to obtain the desired cell size.
The larger the curvatures on the images, the larger an area has to be allotted for two intersecting images. Therefore, printing of small rectangles with minimal foreshortening is becoming a difficult problem for the process fabricators as the dimensions of the structures become smaller.
Traditionally, masks have been fabricated with a single layer process in which a beam spot is rastered across an image to form a pattern. This technique inherently leads to corner rounding problems depending on the beam spot size. Smaller spots minimize the corner rounding problems, but these problems are solved at the cost of writing time and edge smoothness. Fore-shortening is also becoming an increasingly large problem at the mask level, as can be seen in FIG. 2.
What is known as the "k" factor is defined in the Rayleigh model for lithographic resolution, in the equation: EQU R=k.lambda./NA
where R is the resolution, k is an empirically derived parameter that is dependent on photoresist performance, .lambda. is the exposure wavelength, and NA is the numerical aperture of the expose tool. Presently, improving the "k" factor and reducing the wavelengths of the exposure have been the subject of much research, in order to improve resolution as feature size continues to decrease.
Issues relating to corner rounding and image foreshortening are becoming more acute as one uses lower "k" factor, i.e., lower fidelity lithography processes, in both the mask process and the wafer process in order to make increasingly smaller features. As is shown FIG. 2 in the new foreshortening data, as the design width decreases below 0.35 microns (.mu.m) the foreshortening becomes more pronounced.
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Mobile broadband services over cellular systems are gaining momentum with the introduction of HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) radio bearers in networks. There is also an increased interest in IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) based services, such as VoIP (Voice over IP), PoC (Push-to-talk over Cellular) and presence. HSPA introduces the possibility of downloading and uploading data with speeds of several Mbits/s.
As traffic demands increase, the networks are planned denser. A general trend is to move antennas down from radio towers to building rooftops, and even down to the street level, to support higher end-user bit rate and system capacity demands. For street-level users, the propagation environment has changed to often comprise LOS (line of sight) situations. Moving antennas downs can result in less coverage per cell, but a significant increase in cell capacity can also occur due to lower interference. In general, the orthogonality is better when the channel consists of fewer taps.
In a scenario where the interference from other cells is minor, given a fixed SIR (Signal to Interference Ratio) target, changed channel orthogonality forces the DPCH (Dedicated Physical Channel) power to change accordingly. When a UE increases its power, the overall interference is increased, thus the cell can serve fewer UEs. In another scenario, if the interference from other cells is significant, a change in orthogonality will not be as significant for the cell capacity.
In any wireless network including an HSPA network, the following goals are desired among others—high throughput, high quality (less errors) and large number of users. In many ways, these are competing goals necessitating tradeoffs. For example, to achieve high throughput, the speed of data transmission can be increased. But this generally corresponds to higher rate of errors. To reduce errors (i.e., achieve high quality), a robust modulation scheme can be utilized, but this generally reduces throughput. One can increase transmission power of a UE to increase throughput and/or reduce errors, but this increases interferences for other UEs which reduces throughput and/or quality of their transmissions.
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The Applicant has developed a wide range of printers that employ pagewidth printheads instead of traditional reciprocating printhead designs. Pagewidth designs increase print speeds as the printhead does not traverse back and forth across the page to deposit a line of an image. The pagewidth printhead simply deposits the ink on the media as it moves past at high speeds. Such printheads have made it possible to perform full colour 1600 dpi printing at speeds in the vicinity of 60 pages per minute, speeds previously unattainable with conventional inkjet printers.
Printing at these speeds consumes ink quickly and this gives rise to problems with supplying the printhead with enough ink. Not only are the flow rates higher but distributing the ink along the entire length of a pagewidth printhead is more complex than feeding ink to a relatively small reciprocating printhead.
The high print speeds require a relatively large ink supply flow rate. This mass of ink is moving relatively quickly through the supply line. Abruptly ending a print job, or simply at the end of a printed page, means that this relatively high volume of ink that is flowing relatively quickly must also come to an immediate stop. However, suddenly arresting the ink momentum gives rise to a shock wave in the ink line. The components making up the printhead are typically stiff and provide almost no flex as the column of ink in the line is brought to rest. Without any compliance in the ink line, the shock wave can exceed the Laplace pressure (the pressure provided by the surface tension of the ink at the nozzles openings to retain ink in the nozzle chambers) and flood the front surface of the printhead nozzles. If the nozzles flood, ink may not eject and artifacts appear in the printing.
Resonant pulses in the ink occur when the nozzle firing rate matches a resonant frequency of the ink line. Again, because of the stiff structure that define the ink line, a large proportion of nozzles for one color, firing simultaneously, can create a standing wave or resonant pulse in the ink line. This can result in nozzle flooding, or conversely nozzle deprime because of the sudden pressure drop after the spike, if the Laplace pressure is exceeded.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fire sprinkling system for the exterior, although adaptable to the interior, of mobile trailers, such as campers, mobile homes, cargo trailers, and the like, wherein a fire extinguishing solution, such as water, carbon dioxide, a mixture of both, or the like, is sprayed under pressure over the roof top and along the sides of the mobile trailer in case of fire or of danger of fire thereto.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A great number of deaths or injuries are caused regularly by fires in mobile trailers, fires often being caused by collisions on the highways or by other careless acts or accidents. Conventional techniques for extinguishing fires would, of course, include calling a fire department, spraying water on a trailer from a garden type hose, pouring buckets of water on the fire, the use of a portable fire extinguishing unit, or the like. Fire extinguishing systems have been described for use on vehicular trailers, but they are generally restricted to a specific applications or are complex and costly to manufacture. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,428 issued to Ingro June 12, 1973 describes a safety fuel tank to prevent fire or explosion in fuel transporting tank trucks consisting of a pressurized jacket completely encompassing the fuel carrying tank. U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,308 issued to Green May 20, 1975 describes a fire extinguisher mechanism for a trailer consisting of a series of flat enclosed tanks mounted above the ceiling of a trailer with a plurality of sprinkler heads extending downwardly from the tanks through the ceiling having a low melting point solder which is melted by heat to cause the sprinkler heads to operate. Pat. 3,762,479 issued to Fike, Sr. et al. Oct. 2, 1973 describes a remotely actuatable portable fire supression apparatus for use in relatively confined areas such as engine compartments and restaurant ventilation hoods and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 3,788,666 issued to Kramer et al. Jan. 29, 1974 covers a protection system for protecting people and property carried by a vehicle, such as an automobile or air craft, including a tank filled with a fire extinguishing agent and an inflatable bag which becomes inflated immediately upon impact with another vehicle. There is, then, an obvious need for a fire sprinkling system permanently mounted to the roof of the mobile trailer and which can be easily operated by an individual when the need arises.
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The present invention relates to a circuit optimization system for synthesizing a circuit like CMOS or LSI on the level of individual transistors in designing the circuit.
Thanks to recent marvelous development in semiconductor device manufacturing technologies, a so-called "system-on-chip" is now prevailing in the art. That is to say, various functions of an overall system, like computer or telecommunication unit, can be incorporated into a single-chip semiconductor integrated circuit. Also, semiconductor device manufacturing technologies have lately been alternating their generations one after another at even shorter intervals than what they used to be. As a result, it has become a lot easier and much preferred to implement a system-on-chip using such downsized components. Moreover, a semiconductor chip now has to meet a multiplicity of requirements, like low power dissipation, high performance and cost reduction, either selectively or simultaneously, depending on the applications and the operating conditions of specific systems. Accordingly, in order to cope with such a wide variety of demands, multiple sets of techniques should be prepared beforehand in manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit.
If the number of variant semiconductor device manufacturing processes or the size of an overall system is increased, then the number of processing steps should also be increased in designing a semiconductor system. Thus, designing techniques should be innovated to reduce such an increased number of designing process steps. According to a most promising measure to reduce the number of designing process steps, circuits having an equivalent function are utilized as recyclable components irrespective of a specific semiconductor device manufacturing process.
Such recyclable functional circuits or layout components are called "hard IP's". In order to recycle these hard IP's, a variety of techniques, including layout compaction and layout synthesis, may be employed. In accordance with a layout compaction technique, the layout can be automatically modified if the design rule employed in a semiconductor device manufacturing process is changed, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 10-3491, for example. On the other hand, in accordance with a layout synthesis technique, various types of layouts are represented by respective parameters associated with individual design rules. Furthermore, if a semiconductor device manufacturing process is modified, then an optimum size of a transistor changes correspondingly. Thus, a method of combining a transistor sizing technique (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 11-3973) with a layout compaction technique has also been proposed.
However, in accordance with conventional techniques for recycling hard IP's, the structure of a circuit cannot be changed. Accordingly, if a circuit structure to be recycled does not fit in with new conditions imposed by updated process technologies, then the circuit is no longer optimal.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for thrust control of a gas turbine engine and, more particularly, to a system which provides a speed signal to the pilot that compensates for thrust performance variations in accordance with measured thrust performance characteristics of a particular gas turbine engine from the standard thrust performance characteristics of that engine model to enable the pilot to more accurately match engine thrust output to thrust requirements.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Design, manufacture and control variations and accumulated tolerances of gas turbine engines cause variation in the operating characteristics from engine to engine within an engine model. One of these operating characteristics is thrust output. In order to provide safe operation of the aircraft, gas turbine engines are commonly designed to generate a predetermined minimum guaranteed or rated thrust level on any given engine regardless of variations in components and subsystems. In addition, pilots operate the aircraft according to predetermined engine model performance curves. These curves allow the pilot to set speed controls to provide the needed thrust for any engine of a model designation even if all accumulated variations in a particular engine are biased toward an engine configuration which produces minimum thrust output. Any engine having tolerances and variations, which are not limited to the least output configuration, will produce more thrust than can be effectively used by the aircraft under particular operating conditions. Excess thrust levels with accompanying higher operating temperatures result from higher than required engine rotational speed. The higher engine operating temperatures contribute to increased engine wear and deterioration which decrease the operating life of the engine.
In the Prior Art for gas turbine engines with hydromechanical fuel systems, the control architecture was designed such that the xe2x80x9cminimumxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cworst casexe2x80x9d engine performance produces the required thrust with margin at the target thrust setting parameter (fan speed). The target fan speed schedules are determined based on environmental conditions, engine performance characteristics and desired thrust rating. Due to the limitations in hydromechanical fuel systems, individual tailoring of the target fan speed schedules on an engine by engine basis has not been accomplished. Therefore, the thrust setting parameter schedule selected for the xe2x80x9cminimumxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cworst casexe2x80x9d engine performance produces a large population of engines with excess thrust.
The present invention is a rotational speed indication system for gas turbine engines with hydromechanical fuel controls that compensates for variations in thrust actually produced as compared to the nominal thrust. The invention uses predetermined engine model performance curves and actual engine performance data to calculate a modified thrust setting parameter (fan speed). Curves representing fan speed modification for a particular engine model are programmed into a memory device. Selection of a specific fan speed modification curve produces a speed indication that allows the pilot to more closely match engine thrust to a desired level of thrust. The generated output signal is then sent to the engine operator""s fan speed signal display unit where the modified signal is used by the pilot to set the engine fan speed which corresponds to the desired thrust level. More particularly, the engine operator sets the engine throttle so that the modified fan speed signal matches the target fan speed corresponding to the desired thrust rating for the given ambient conditions. Since the target fan speed is set using the modified fan speed signal, the engine will run at a lower speed as compared to a target set using the unmodified fan speed signal. This in turn results in the gas turbine engine producing the needed thrust while eliminating excess thrust margin caused by the engine-to-engine variation, thus reducing engine temperatures and improving engine operating life.
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Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to illumination and is more specifically related to systems for illuminating surgical sites during medical examinations and surgical procedures.
Description of the Related Art
Ambient illumination is often inadequate for conducting safe and efficacious medical examinations and surgical procedures. Regardless of the intensity of the ambient lighting, shadows cast by medical personnel and/or other objects in a room (e.g., draperies) may prevent proper illumination of an examination site or surgical site. Moreover, when a surgical procedure is conducted inside a body cavity, providing sufficient lighting is even more difficult to achieve.
Illumination devices inserted into body cavities must be safe, reliable, capable of being sterilized, capable of operating with other surgical instruments, and be easy for a physician to manipulate. Critical specification features for such illumination devices typically include the brightness of the light, the amount of heat generated by the light, battery life, the shelf life of the device, ease of use with and without other devices, and affordability. For example, a light source may generate excessive heat that causes tissue damage a patient or injures a member of a medical team. Thus, it is desirable to have an illumination device that efficiently removes heat from the light source to avoid excessive temperatures that may damage tissue or injure medical personnel.
It is also desirable to have an illumination device that is user friendly, and that is capable of being quickly moved, mounted, dismounted, and remounted as needed for safely and efficiently completing medical procedures.
There have been a number of advances in illumination devices used for medical examinations and surgical procedures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,180 to Karram et al. discloses a compact, self-powered, selectively-mountable lighting unit that provides light directable by a user to an operation site in a confined space to enable the user to operate a tool therein. The lighting unit is detachably mountable in a variety of ways either to a user-selected location on any suitable surgical instrument, or at the user's option to an adjacent location within the confined space, to facilitate well-lit and accurate viewing thereat. The lighting unit may be adapted to provide lighting of selected frequency, in an adjustable focus ranging from substantially diffuse light to a tightly focused beam. The lighting unit is designed to be mounted to surgical tools that are not specifically designed to be attached to lighting units.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,270,439 to Horrell et al. discloses a compact, self-contained lighting system that is attachable to a surgical tool to enable a user to selectively direct light at a site where the tool is to be applied. The system has a power unit that contains a power cell, a malleable electrical connection element, and a light-emitting element powered thereby to emit high intensity white light. The system ensures against tissue damage due to inadvertent overheating by continuously removing byproduct heat from the light-emitting element, via the connection element, to the power unit with portions of each of these components serving as respective heat sinks and/or as thermal conduits to facilitate this process. The removed heat is transferred in a proximal direction to a heat sink located in the handle part of the device.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0266840 discloses an illumination device having an electrically powered LED light source, a flexible boom having a first end on which the LED is mounted, a housing attached to a second end of the flexible boom opposite to the first end, an electric battery located within the housing, the battery being operatively associated with the LED for providing power thereto, a controller electrically connected to the battery and the LED for controlling the electrical power provided to the LED, and a switch mounted on the device and in communication with the controller so as to provide a signal to the controller when the switch is actuated. The controller is actuated by the switch to control the electrical power to the LED light source for turning the LED on and off.
In spite of the above advances, there remains a need for improved surgical illumination devices that have small cross-sectional footprints at the distal ends of the devices for being minimally invasive during medical examinations and surgical procedures. There also remains a need for surgical illumination devices that efficiently remove heat from the light sources at the distal ends of the devices so as to avoid tissue damage and/or problems associated with excessive heat. In addition, there remains a need for surgical illumination devices that may be coupled to a broad array of surgical tools to provide reliable illumination at examination sites and surgical sites. Moreover, there remains a need for surgical illumination devices that are versatile and that may be used in a broad range of surgical environments.
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As technique of transmitting an electric signal between two circuits to which electric signals having different electric potentials are inputted, respectively, technique using a photocoupler has been known. The photocoupler is provided with a light-emitting element, such as a light emitting diode, and a light-receiving element, such as a phototransistor, and by converting an inputted electric signal into light by the light-emitting element, as well as by returning the light into an electric signal by the light-receiving element, the electric signal is transmitted.
Moreover, a technique in which electric signals are transmitted by inductively coupling two coils with each other has been developed. For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-302418) discloses a circuit device provided with a first coil, a first insulating layer and a second coil.
Furthermore, Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-309184) discloses a composite module in which a coil and a capacitor are formed on the same substrate so that a plurality of stacked coil patterns are provided.
In addition, Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-141011), Patent Document 4 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-311655) and Patent Document 5 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-281838) respectively disclose a seal ring, a metal fence and a guard ring.
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This invention relates to a guide assembly which can be used for supporting and guiding a cutting tool, such as a blowtorch used for cutting metal plate and the like. The invention provides an assembly which may include the facility for preventing molten metal, slag, and the like produced by a blowtorch during cutting from splattering against moving parts of the guide and interfering with smooth operation thereof. The guide may also include a cutting tool support that can be readily adjusted to enable metal plate and the like to be cut at an angle.
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An earth working machine typically utilizes a digging or cutting member which employs a plurality of shanks to which teeth are attached by a variety of means including welding, bolting, and wedge-fitting. It has been recognized that fastening provided by the combination of a holding clamp and tooth provides certain advantages over a sole boltless tooth fastened directly to a shank. These advantages stem from conflicting physical requirements of the cutting teeth and the holding mechanism. The cutting point of the tooth must be formed of a hard wear-resistant material while the holding mechanism usually requires a material of at least some elasticity and/or ductility. A sole boltless tooth cannot adequately fulfill both requirements.
As widely practiced in the art, a current boltless digging tooth connects to the snout of a shank by a wedging force between shank grooves and a receiving channel formed at one end of the tooth. Such an arrangement permits quick hammer-driven changing of worn teeth, as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,222,071 issued to Gustafson. The availability of rapid changing reduces costly down time, thereby permitting more economical operation of the equipment. A wedge coupling mechanism, however, requires a material having defined stress-strain characteristics, e.g., a certain amount of ductility or elasticity in the snout receiving channel of the tooth in order to permit adequate wedging engagement and resilient clamping force between the tooth and the shank to absorb impact forces under working load conditions, or to provide adequate clamping under conditions where centrifugal forces act to loosen the tooth. On the other hand, the cutting point of the tooth mandates use of an extremely hard wear-resistant material having de minimis flexural properties. Consequently, conventional boltless teeth must either be manufactured in two stages to achieve the opposing requirements of the cutting point and snout receiving channel of the tooth, which renders them expensive. Alternatively, if the tooth is made in one operational stage, the hardness-ductility parameters of the snout receiving channel and cutting point must be compromised, in which case the tooth quickly wears out, thus leading to more costly down time and tooth replacement cycles.
As also known, the cutting or digging member of an earth working machine is subjected to severe impact and abrasive forces. It very often happens that the tooth attachment system is also subjected to those same forces which impose mechanical deformations upon the attachment system. Such deformations, in turn, interpose difficulties in changing or adjusting worn cutting teeth thereby causing more costly down time. Moreover, impact forces induce vibrations which tend to loosen threaded fasteners.
It is also highly desireable to provide a holding clamp adapted for use with an "adjustable" cutting tooth so that a tooth having a worn tip might be quickly extended and refastened to the shank of the digging member. By adjustable, it is meant that the tooth may be loosened in the holding assembly, axially extended forward of the digging member of the earth working machine, and then refastened to the shank by the holding clamp. Provision of rapid adjustment provides substantial economic benefits in reduced machine down time and reduced teeth replacement costs since a substantial portion of the expensive tooth material may be consumed, rather than discarded. A tooth holding clamp utilizing fasteners such as bolts, dowel pins, screws or the like, such as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,761 to Smith et al., although adaptable for use with adjustable cutting teeth, suffers not only from the laborious slow-pace tooth changing or adjustment process, but also from mechanical deformation and loosening of the fastener heads occurring during digging or cutting operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,192 to Lattner and U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,239 to Launder show non-adjustable teeth-holding clamps which suffer, inter alia, from the lack of adjustability of the clamped position the cutting tooth relative to the shank, and thus will impose significant operating costs on the end user. Not only are their cutting teeth non-adjustable, which requires the discarding of a substantial amount of specially treated and formed hard wear-resistant material of the teeth, but their teeth have relatively complex physical dimensions which add to their cost of manufacture since they cannot be conveniently fabricated from readily available bar stock material. In addition, the holding force provided by Lattner's clamp may be inadequate under certain extreme load conditions since the wedging force is partly divided between the lateral and vertical directions viewing a cross-section of the tooth and clamp from an axial direction. Lateral clamping forces do little to aid frictional holding between the tooth and the shank under impact loads. Further, the respective surface areas of shank-tooth and tooth-clamp frictional contact in an x-z plane may be inadequate to offset certain levels of impact forces encountered in the z-direction in relation to the width of Lattner's tooth. In addition, Lattner's tooth may not adequately drive the clamp into greater clamping engagement during installation of the tooth.
Launder, on the other hand, may also suffer the same drawbacks, particularly since the surface area of frictional contact is limited to mated clamp-to-tooth curvilinear contact (which diminishes tooth-to-shank frictional holding for a given clamp-to-shank wedging force), and a relatively wide gap exists between the tooth and clamp side walls which seemingly permits lateral instability of the tooth in the x-direction during impact loads. Launder, in fact, teaches away from tooth-to-clamp side wall contact in order to attain ease in alignment, and apparently, is intended to permit separation of the clamp-tooth assembly. Above all, Launder's tooth does not self-tighten in response to axial loads applied to the tooth and cannot be positionally adjusted since there is no clearance in the z-direction between the length of the clamp receiving channel, on one hand, and the distance between the lateral ear projections and the stopwall of the tooth, on the other hand. In addition, Launder has little or no means for providing resiliency in the clamping force.
Furthermore, it is likewise desireable to provide an abrasive-resistant reversible cutting tooth of bar stock material having no perforations (bolt holes) in the body thereof, as well as, a holding clamp adapted to reversibly receive the cutting tooth in order to extend the useful life of the tooth. Such an arrangement reduces tooth breakage and machine down time. Reversible cutting teeth per se are known, such as those disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 457,047 to Green; U.S. Pat. No. 1,058,841 to Boyd; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,576,082 and 3,755,933 to Lowrey, and Des. Pat. No. 275,757 to Nja. However, none of these prior reversible cutting teeth are designed for use with a boltless, wedge-tightened holding clamp of the present invention which self-tightens upon the application of axial loading forces to the teeth. In addition, prior reversible teeth are prone to fatigue failure due to perforations or bolt holes generally located at their midsection. Such holes are necessary for prior reversible teeth since they are not designed for boltless connection. Unfortunately, these bolt holes yield undesirable weak points and localized stresses thereby tending to engender and propagate fatigue cracks in and about any inclusions in the body of the tooth which result in its ultimate failure during impact loads. Moreover, hardened cutting teeth having a desireable Brinell Hardness exceeding 400 are virtually impossible to machine to make perforations thus making a boltless clamping system for reversible teeth a practical necessity. These requirements suggest that hardened teeth are virtually unadaptable to prior reversible teeth systems.
In view of the foregoing, the present invention has as its objective a primary purpose to overcome the foregoing drawbacks of prior holding clamps and reversible teeth. In brief summary, the objectives of the present invention include providing a holding clamp which permits the use of bar stock material of constant cross section to form a reversible cutting tooth of a hard wear-resistant material, providing means for positionally adjusting the clamped position of the cutting tooth on a shank of an earth working digging or cutting member, providing a holding clamp of a material having a given stress-strain characteristic which provides a modulus of elasticity necessary to maintain clamp-to-shank wedging forces and for absorbing forces impacted upon the tooth during digging or cutting operations, providing a holding clamp which enables quick connecting and disconnecting of a tooth in order to reduce equipment down time, providing a holding clamp which acts to self-tighten the wedging force upon impact loads applied to the tooth during digging and/or cutting operations, providing a holding clamp and reversible tooth which requires no bolts or threaded fasteners, thereby obviating fatigue failure and adjusting difficulties due to deformations of the tooth fastening system, providing a holding clamp which is readily adapted to couple shanks and locking grooves used in the construction, agricultural and mining equipment, providing a holding clamp which provides maximum restraint against tooth movement in the x-, y- and z- directions during cutting and digging operations when engaged in clamping relation, providing a holding clamp to provide maximum force translation between clamp-to-shank wedging action and tooth-to-shank frictional holding force, providing a holding clamp having sufficient clamp-to-tooth contact force to offset extreme loading along the z-axis for holding the constant cross section portion of the tooth in the receiving channel of the clamp, and providing a boltless and reversible cutting tooth comprising a solid wear-resistant material and a corresponding holding clamp adapted to receive the reversible cutting tooth.
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A network entity such as a transmitting station in a traditional wireless network such as a wireless local area wireless (WLAN) that conforms to the IEEE 802.11 standard, or a personal area network (PAN) such as one that conforms to the Bluetooth standard is typically identified by a network identifier included in data sent by the entity. For example, a network conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard uses the media access control (MAC) address of the transmitting station (the sender) to serve as the unique identifier of the sender. Software may readily be written and available that can alter the source MAC address of a transmitting station, called spoofing. Such spoofing can cause many problems in the network. For example, location tracking within a wireless network such as a WLAN is becoming commonplace. Furthermore, radio location tags are now available that use WLAN technology to transmit information about assets to which they are attached. Spoofing can present a problem for wireless-network-based location tracking system since the location of a critical and/or valuable resource can thus be intentionally misrepresented. For example, a laptop or personal digital assistant (PDA) could be configured to transmit wireless packets using a duplicated source MAC address of a location tag connected to an asset of high value. The location tag on that asset could then be disabled, enabling theft or tampering of the high value asset.
Research has shown that the characteristics of a transmitting wireless station vary across equipment. Research has shown, for example, that the waveform from a transmitting station, in particular, the turn-on transient information in such a waveform is usable to characterize a transmitting station, and a “RF fingerprint” determined from such information may be used to characterize, even uniquely characterize a transmitting station. RF fingerprinting to determine such an RF fingerprint has been applied to both military and cellular telephone applications.
There is still room in the art for techniques applicable to detecting spoofing in a wireless network.
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Spinal implants configured to hold a filler such as a bone graft material are generally known; however, these implants require filling prior to positioning between the vertebral bodies. The filler material, such as a bone graft, is positioned on and around an implant and thereafter positioned between two vertebral bodies. This method and system frequently results in the filler material not having sufficient contact with the adjacent vertebral bodies. Some implants overcome this problem by providing a two-piece construct. A first portion may be inserted into the disc space and packed with filler. Subsequently, a second portion may then be inserted and coupled with the first portion to enclose the filler. Such a two-piece construct however may encounter difficulties of aligning the first and second portions and securing them together permanently. Accordingly, there exists a need for an alternative two-piece spinal implant allowing for the filler material to be inserted after positioning of the spinal implant and to provide consistent alignment and securement of the first and second portions. It is further desired to have a two piece spinal implant wherein the first piece is locked into place with the second piece by simply securing the first piece to the second piece by a guide wire.
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The present variety of nectarine tree was produced by us at Bradford Farms in Merced County (San Joaquin Valley), Calif., as the result of a seedling of Red Diamond (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 3,165) as the seed parent and Aurora Grand (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,792) as the selected pollen parent. Subsequent to origination of the present variety of nectarine tree, we asexually reproduced it by budding and grafting, and such reproduction of plant and fruit characteristics were true to the original plant in all respects.
The present variety most nearly resembles the May Diamond (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,454) in appearance by being a full red colored freestone with excellent firmness, but is distinguished therefrom and an improvement thereon by harvesting seven days earlier. This earlier ripening time fills a very important harvesting time gap between Early Diamod (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,438) and May Diamond for commercial nectarines in central California.
The present variety is similar to its seed parent, Red Diamond, by being a full colored firm freestone but is distinguished therefrom by ripening 29 days earlier. The present variety is similar to its pollen parent, Aurora Grand, by being a full colored early ripening freestone but is distinguished therefrom by ripening 3 days earlier, by being more uniform in both size and ripening, and by having a recessed apex.
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This invention relates to encryption, and more particularly, to identity-based-encryption schemes for sending secure messages.
Cryptographic systems are used to provide secure communications services such as secure email services and secure web browsing.
With symmetric key cryptographic systems, the sender of a message uses the same key to encrypt the message that the receiver of the message uses to decrypt the message. Symmetric-key systems require that each sender and receiver exchange a shared key in a secure manner.
With public-key cryptographic systems, two types of keys are used—public keys and private keys. Senders may encrypt messages using the public keys of the receivers. Each receiver has a private key that is used to decrypt the messages for that receiver.
One public-key cryptographic system that is in use is the RSA cryptographic system. Each user in this system has a unique public key and a unique private key. A sender using the system may obtain the public key of a given receiver from a key server connected to the Internet. To ensure the authenticity of the public key and thereby defeat possible man-in-the-middle attacks, the public key may be provided to the sender with a certificate signed by a trusted certificate authority. The certificate may be used to verify that the public key belongs to the intended recipient of the sender's message.
To allow an organization to revoke the secure email privileges of an employee when the employee no longer works for the organization, some organizations may arrange to have the public keys of all of their employees automatically expire at the end of each day. New public keys for the current employees may be generated each day. The new public keys may be made publicly available by placing them on a public key server.
Because encryption using public-key encryption algorithms is computationally intensive, some systems allow users to use public-key encryption to securely exchange a shared symmetric key. The symmetric key may then be used to support a secure communication session.
With public-key encryption systems, a sender must obtain the public key of a message recipient before the sender can encrypt a message. A sender may be traveling with a portable computer and may desire to respond to an email message that has been temporarily stored on the computer. If the sender does not already have a copy of the public key of the person who sent the message, the sender must obtain that public key from a public key server. However, the sender's portable computer may not be on-line when the sender desires to compose the response to the email. The sender will therefore not be able to access an on-line public key server and may be unable to encrypt the message as soon as it is composed. Because the sender's computer may be at risk of being stolen, the unencrypted message on the computer may be susceptible to interception.
Identity-based encryption schemes work differently than public-key systems. With an identity-based encryption system, senders and receivers communicate securely using public parameter information and private keys. Each user has a unique private key based on the user's identity for decrypting messages, but the public parameter information that is used during the encryption and decryption processes may be shared by many users. These schemes are said to be “identity based,” because user-specific identity information such as a particular user's email address is used as one of the inputs to the identity-based encryption algorithm.
With one suitable arrangement, a user's email address or a user's email address concatenated with a date stamp may be used to identify each user. With this approach, senders who are currently off-line and who would therefore be unable to access a public key server in a conventional public-key system, may still immediately encrypt sensitive messages if they have access to the public parameter information of the user. Because all of the users in an organization may share the same public parameter information, senders may often have access to the correct public parameter information to use for a given recipient, even if the sender has never communicated with that receiver before. When network access is available, the encrypted message may be transmitted to the receiver. Receivers can decrypt messages using their private keys.
In an identity-based cryptographic system, private keys may be generated by a private key generator. The private key generator uses secret information (i.e., a so-called “master secret”) as an input when generating the private keys. The security of the system rests on the ability of the organization holding the master secret to maintain its secrecy.
Because of the importance of maintaining the secrecy of the master secret in identity-based cryptographic systems, certain organizations may be unwilling to entrust custodial responsibility for the master secret to third parties. As a result, there may be multiple private key generators in a system, each with its own master secret.
In an identity-based encryption environment in which there are multiple private key generators or other opportunities for a user to have multiple private keys, users may have difficulties in locating the correct private key to use to decrypt a given message.
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In recent years, large deposits of hydrocarbons have been discovered at offshore locations in arctic areas of the world. In such locations, it is impractical to lay a pipeline to the production site to transport the produced hydrocarbons. Accordingly, the hydrocarbons normally have to be stored at the production site and then offloaded onto tanker ships for transport.
The tankers are normally loaded while they are moored to a terminal facility (e.g., a single leg moor) which is positioned in open water so that the tanker is free to "weathervane" about the terminal with the change in current. As known, most waters in these arctic areas either freeze or have pack ice and/or ice floes therein during the extreme cold period of the year. This makes the offloading onto tankers during this period extremely hazardous if possible at all. That is, a tanker may be frozen into the ice mass while it is moored to the terminal or it may be crushed or otherwise damaged by moving ice in the area.
Since the storage capacity at an offshore production facility is limited, the inability to offload produced hydrocarbons during the extended period of ice formation will usually require that the production be shut in for a like period. As can be imagined, this interruption of production is extremely costly and, in some instances, may adversely affect the overall performance of the field. Accordingly, a need exists for a production and offloading facility for arctic locations which can operate year around in all ambient conditions, including freezing conditions where ice is present at said facility.
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The skin is considered the largest organ of the human body and has numerous different functions, including, for example, thermoregulation, protection, metabolic functions and sensation. As the outermost barrier of an organism, however, it is continually subjected to damages from causes such as ultraviolet light, contaminants, stress, and so forth. Over time, both environmental and genetic factors can contribute to visible skin damage.
As is well known, a large number of products have been introduced to the market to reduce such skin damage and/or its appearance, and even to reverse it to the extent possible. It is a important objective in the art to develop and introduce new and improved compositions for application to the skin to better achieve those objectives.
Throughout this application, trademarks and trade names are identified using a “™” notation.
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The present invention relates generally to optical scanner assemblies and laser imaging systems incorporating such scanners. In particular, the present invention relates to an optical configuration for an internal drum type optical scanner assembly, which does not require the use of lens anti-reflective coatings and which is suitable for use in a medical imaging system.
Laser imaging systems are commonly used to produce photographic images from digital image data generated by magnetic resonance (MR), computed tomography (CT) or other types of scanners. Systems of this type typically include a continuous tone laser imager for exposing the image on photosensitive film, a film processor for developing the film, and an image management subsystem for coordinating the operation of the laser imager and the film processor.
The digital image data is a sequence of digital image values representative of the scanned image. Image processing electronics within the image management subsystem processes the image data values to generate a sequence of digital laser drive values (i.e., exposure values), which are input to a laser scanner. The laser scanner is responsive to the digital laser drive values for scanning across the photosensitive film in a raster pattern for exposing the image on the film.
The continuous-tone images used in the medical imaging field have very stringent image-quality requirements. A laser imager printing onto transparency film exposes an image in a raster format, the line spacing of which must be controlled to better than one micrometer. In addition, the image must be uniformly exposed such that the observer cannot notice any artifacts. In the case of medical imaging, the observers are professional image analysts (e.g., radiologists).
Optical scanning assemblies are used to provide uniform exposure of the image on photosensitive film. The optical scanning assemblies combine a laser system with unique optical configurations (i.e., lenses and mirrors), for uniform exposure of the image onto the film. Past optical scanning assemblies used for achieving the level of performance required by the medical imaging industry utilize costly components incorporated into complex optical scanning systems. Such systems often combine complex, multi-sided mirrors and lens configurations for directing the laser beam onto a moving or stationary photosensitive film.
Known laser imagers used for medical imaging include a polygonal scanner or a galvanometer scanner. For example, a commonly used polygonal scanner configuration has a polygonal mirror repetitively exposing successive raster lines onto a sheet of moving photosensitive film. The optics must focus the laser beam over a flat image line and compensate for facet-to-facet angular errors in the polygon. These functions have usually been accomplished with combinations of costly precision ground anti-reflection coated glass lenses. The film is moved at a constant speed on rollers where the film is placed at the focus of the scanning laser beam. The film must be moved with a surface velocity constant to better than about 0.5%. Momentary disturbances or perturbations in the motion of the film, such as those caused by striking a film guide, position sensor or nip roller, can cause serious "glitches" in the exposed image, resulting in poor image quality. Avoidance of such perturbations requires that the film path during imaging be free of such obstructions. Such a film path often occupies a considerable amount of space in the laser imaging device.
Another known example of an optical scanner used for laser imaging includes a galvanometer optical scanner assembly having a dual-galvanometer configuration. The dual-galvanometer configuration includes one galvanometer mirror which repetitively sweeps the laser beam to form the raster lines, while a second, slower-moving galvanometer mirror deflects the raster lines down the page of the photographic film. The film, held motionless during exposure, is usually held in a curved platen to avoid the necessity of flattening the image field in both directions. While problems due to film motion are eliminated, since the film can be curved in only one direction at once, such a configuration requires the use of field-flattening optics for its operation. The use of galvanometers, on the other hand, offers relief from the problem of facet-to-facet errors found in polygon-based scanner systems. Galvanometers, like accurate polygon spinners, are precision instruments, and therefore, are very expensive to manufacture.
In light of the known drawbacks of present laser imaging devices, it is desirable to have an optical scanner which does not rely on expensive mirror and optical configurations to compensate for errors inherent in the scanner design. It is desirable to have an optical scanner for use in a laser imager which does not require an extraordinary amount of space nor which requires space considerations due to the introduction of glitches from the film path. Further, it is desirable to have an optical scanner for use with a laser imager which meets the image-quality requirements of the medical imaging industry.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a jet vane thrust vector control (JV-TVC) system, and more particularly to, a JV-TVC system which can obtain high angle of attack maneuvers and perform stabilized attitude control in rapid pitchover toward a target direction after launching a missile.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, aerodynamic wings are installed on a missile to control the direction of the missile. Since a speed is low in launching the missile, it is not easy to control the direction of the missile by the aerodynamic wings.
There are thus demands for different means for controlling the direction of the missile in launching the missile. For this, a thrust vector control (TVC) system has been developed.
The missile using the JV-TVC system can not only control the direction but also be vertically launched in respect of operation. Accordingly, it is possible to omnidirectionally monitor the missile, provide a rapid pitch-over the missile after launching, and enter the missile into an optimum orbit within a short time according to the purpose of the missile.
The application methods of the TVC system can be achieved, in general, with liquid injection, a movable nozzle and a mechanical deflector method.
Among the methods, a mechanical TVC method achieving miniaturization such as jet vane, jetavator and jet tab has been widely used for the TVC system of the tactical missile.
A JV-TVC method that can provide 3-axis control of pitch, yaw and roll in one nozzle in missile flight has been widely used for the general TVC system.
Exemplary missiles using the JV-TVC system include VLASROC (USA), SEA SPARROW (USA), BARAK (Israel), MICA (France) and S-300 (Russia) et al.
The JV-TVC system controls a thrust vector by adjusting flame gas flow, by installing generally four jet vanes on an inside surface or at an end of a nozzle exit unit of a propulsion system and changing the angles of the jet vanes in combustion of the propulsion system.
In the conventional art, three jet vanes are individually installed on a nozzle, and the inner wall of the nozzle is formed in a conical shape. It is thus difficult to precisely assemble the system and control the thrust vector.
In addition to that the inner wall of the nozzle is formed in a conical shape, the root periphery of the jet vane adjacent to the inner wall of the nozzle does not make a right angle with a jet vane shaft. Therefore, the rotational angle of the jet vane inside the nozzle is restricted. A relatively large gap must be formed between the root periphery of the jet vane adjacent to the inner wall of the nozzle and the inner wall of the nozzle. Moreover, the gap must be precisely designed and formed according to the inside diameter of the inner wall of the nozzle and the size of the jet vane. It makes it more difficult to manufacture and assemble the system.
The JV-TVC system must satisfy performance requirements of a rocket or a missile. In the patent of Faupell et al., since the relatively large gap is formed between the root periphery of the jet vane and the inner wall of the nozzle and the jet vane shaft is simply supported through an axial hole formed in a straight line on an exit cone liner and an exit cone body composing the nozzle, heat of flames ejected from the nozzle is easily transmitted to a bearing for supporting the jet vane shaft to the exit cone body and an O-ring for maintaining airtightness through the clearance and a clearance between the jet vane shaft and the axial hole. Therefore, the bearing and the O-ring are damaged for a designated flight time, so that the thrust vector of the rocket or the missile cannot be precisely controlled.
As a result, the JV-TVC system is disadvantageous in the thermal respect because the jet vanes are directly exposed to the high temperature combustion gas. Ablation and thrust loss (3˜5%) are caused for a combustion time. Especially, design techniques such as mutual assembly between the jet vanes and the peripheral devices and hermetical sealing are required for precise and reliable control.
The most important factors of the JV-TVC system researches include development of anti-erosion materials, design of jet vanes having thermal and fluid dynamics properties to flame gas, and design of related component mechanism. A method for preventing thermal locking or sticking between a jet vane shaft and a housing by heat transfer in combustion and a method for hermetically sealing a fastening assembly part by flame gas are also essential.
The existing design mechanism of the JV-TVC system has many problems in design techniques considering actual operation environments. Especially, the existing design mechanism does not have reliability in component assembly design.
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Spine Surgeries
Background
Spine surgeries often use fixations and implants attached to vertebrae using screws. It is important to place the screws properly so they do not touch or violate neither spinal cord nor arteries. It can be a difficult task due to the needed precision, high density and constrained access to the vertebrae. For these reasons surgeons use support systems that can enhance the accuracy of the screw placement.
In spine surgeries there are the following methods used for placing the screws:
1. Purely manual
2. Manual using navigation systems
3. Using robotic systems
4.
Manual Methods
In the traditional manual technique, a surgeon on the basis of the pre-operative CT scans visually judges the screw trajectory. During drilling, the fluoroscopic images are taken to verify if the trajectory is correct. An advantage of this technique is that except standard reconstruction systems no additional tools are needed and it can be always used in case of an emergency. On the other hand it strongly relies on the surgeon's experience and can be subject to his changing predisposition. Security is also doubtful as the fluoroscopic images are taken only after the drilling is done. The accuracy and information shown on those images can also vary. Drilling is technically difficult because the tools are held in hand. Surgeon needs to have a very good coordination and be able to simultaneously do many tasks. Due to those disadvantages a screw misplacement rate on the level of 30-50% in the cervical spine was reported.
Manual Methods Using Navigation Systems
Navigation systems can measure the position of surgical tools and a patient in the operating room. Currently most often the optical tracking is used for measurements but other methods such as electro-magnetic tracking can be used. Procedures involving those systems will be referred as the image-guided surgeries. Because of the improved accuracy image-guided procedures made the screw placement in the cervical spine possible for certain patients. The image-guided surgeries in the spinal domain are still done manually. For this reason the surgical tools though tracked can be wrongly positioned because of the human constraints. Precision can be a subject of a variable human factor. These techniques demand increased attention from the surgeon as he needs to coordinate operations with virtual indications on the screen. In case of a procedural error big inaccuracies can appear and for this reason a staff training is important. Problems with the verification of the registration accuracy are common.
Methods Using Robotic Systems
Few attempts have been done to introduce robotic systems for spinal surgeries. One of them is developed at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Miro/KineMedic robotic system. It is designed for a surgical telemanipulation. The robotic part of the system consists of three lightweight robotic arms. Each joint is equipped with a force sensor and uses a sophisticated control system with the force feedback and the gravity compensation. The robot's redundancy is used for the workspace optimization and allows to fulfill additional criterias in the operating room. Proposition of the possible setup for a pedicle screw placement with the Miro/KineMedic system would consist of the DLR lightweight robotic arm, an optical tracking system and the software. The surgeon plans the surgery in advance. In the operating room several robot control modes are available. Initially the robotic arm is moved to the planned position by the surgeon using a hands-on impedance control. When it is in place, the surgeon can start drilling using a driller held by a passive tool holder attached to the robot's end effector. The robot compensates for the position errors while surgeon does axial movement. Authors do not specify in which parts of a spine the robot could work. The proposed registration method using a surface matching only could be insufficient in a general situation as those algorithms need a good starting point and converge to the closest local minimum. It is not specified if in this system standard surgical reconstruction tools could be used which can be crucial for the acceptance in the medical domain. A relatively big robotic arm can have disadvantages in a dense environment of an operating room. It is not said how it would be interfaced with the equipment of an operating room. Sophisticated impedance-control algorithms can be difficult to certify in the medical domain and till now no such arm was certified. Expected accuracy of the system is not mentioned. Accordingly to the author's knowledge no further publications concerning this proposition are available.
Other robotic system for the spinal surgery is the Mazor's SmartAssist. It consists of a miniature robot attached to the spine with a base platform and a workstation for planning and navigation. Registration is based on the matching between pre-operative CT scans and intra-operative fluoroscopic images acquired with a calibrated device. In the next step the robot moves to planned spacial position and the surgeon performs a surgery via the tool guide. The robot does not move during the intervention acting as a tool holder (passive guidance). The system was tested with good results. The SpineAssist can be used only in the thoracic and lumbar parts and can not be used in the cervical spine where high accuracy is most important. Fluoroscopic registration has certain disadvantages and needs a calibrated C-Arm. Possible hard to detect errors were reported. The robotic arm does not compensate for random vertebral movements while drilling. Drill slippage on the surface of the vertebrae causing big inaccuracies was reported.
Another robotic system for spinal surgery is the Cooperative Robotic Assistant. It consists of a 6 degree of freedom robot with a kinematically closed structure. It uses a new drill-by-wire mechanism for placing the screws and uses a 1 degree of freedom haptic device to provide the force feedback for the surgeon. Achieved accuracy below 1 [μm] of the robotic part was reported. Authors claim that closed construction was chosen for rigidity reasons. The robot is taking a lot of space in the operating room. Equipment of the operating room should be strongly adapted to be used with this system. The drill-by-wire mechanism needs its own tools which can be a limit for acceptance in the medical field. The system does not perform any external measurements so nothing about registration methods is known. The precision of the registration will strongly influence the accuracy of the robotic arm measured separately. Other robotic system is the Spinebot system for the lumbar spine surgery. It consists of a 3 degree of freedom positioner, gimbals and drilling tool having 2 degree of freedom each. It uses an optical tracking system for registration and measurements. Big advantage of the system is that during the surgery holes in spine can be drilled percutaneusly (through the skin). The system can work only in lumbar part of the spine. In this area needed accuracy is much lower than in cervical part and access is easier.
In an embodiment the invention concerns a method for assisting a user for placing screws in the spine of a patient using a robot attached to a passive structure and holding a tool, wherein said method comprises the following steps:
after an marker of an tracking system is attached to a vertebrae the patient's position is registered in that the transformation between the position of the vertebrae and of the attached marker and/or planning is found
the robot is positioned such that the planned screw trajectory is inside the robot's workspace by moving the passive structure;
a navigation software assists the user in doing this task, whereby the user unblocks structure of the robot and manually moves the robot to a position indicated by the navigation software;
a target robot position, or at least a suitable robot position is determined;
in this case the user may block the passive structure such that it will be rigidly held in place;
when the screw trajectory is inside the robot's workspace the robot starts to automatically follow it in real-time i.e. the vertebrae and the robot positions are measured and if one of them moves the robot will change the position of the tool to compensate;
the user can proceed with the desired surgical procedure.
In an embodiment, the invention concerns a method for assisting a user for removing volumes in the body of a patient using a robot attached to a passive structure and holding a tool, wherein said method comprises the following steps:
after a marker of the tracking system is attached to the patient the patient'position is registered in that the transformation between the position of the volumes and of the attached marker is found;
the robot is positioned such that the planned volume(s) to be removed is (are) inside the robot's workspace by moving the passive structure;
a navigation software assists the user in doing this task, whereby the user unblocks the passive structure and manually moves the robot to the position indicated by the navigation software;
a target robot position, or at least suitable, robot position is determined;
in this case the user may block the passive structure such that the robot will be rigidly held in place;
when the volume(s) to be removed is (are) are in the robot's workspace the robot starts to automatically compensate for the patient movements in real-time i.e. marker and the robot positions are measured and if one of them moves the robot will change the position of the tool to compensate;
the user can proceed with the standard surgical procedure whereby the navigation software controls the robot's position so that the tool held by the robot (driller or shaver) does not violate the “no-go” zones defined during planning.
In an embodiment, the methods comprise a haptic interaction of the surgeon with the device.
In an embodiment the user feels repulsive/wall-like forces on the haptic device when the tool approaches the “no-go” zone.
In an embodiment the volumes to be removed (stay-in zones) and volumes that must be protected (no-go zones) are defined preoperatively or intra-operatively.
In an embodiment if the user wants to remove certain volumes he enters it with the tool and inside said volume the tool remains blocked inside until he explicitly wants to leave it (“stay-in” volume).
In an embodiment when the tool stays inside the stay-in volume the user feels repulsive/wall-like forces that prevent him from leaving the volume.
In an embodiment margins of interaction around the “no-go” and “stay-in” zones can be defined.
In an embodiment the coupling between the haptic device movements and the robot movements is definable to allow the user to have small movements/high precision or big movements/high speed.
In an embodiment automatic compensation of the patient's movement is switched off and is done manually by the user.
In an embodiment the target position of the robot or at least a suitable robot position is determined as a semi-transparent phantom image (indicator) on a screen, and the phantom is in a first color at the beginning and changes to another color when the robot's workspace contains the screw trajectory or when the robot's workspace contains the volume to be removed. Other indicators may be used.
In an embodiment the invention concerns a device comprising at least
a surgery planning software,
a robotic system, comprising an active robot and a passive structure for positioning the active robot and a controller,
a measurement system for real-time patient and robot position measurements and position tracking, and
a workstation with a navigation software controlling the device and for providing feedback to the user.
In an embodiment the workstation is a computer, such as a personal computer.
In an embodiment a computer contains the surgery planning software and monitors the measurement system.
In an embodiment the active robot covers a small volume and the passive structure covers a large volume.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an application executing method, and a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with an application executing program. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus into which an application program can be installed, an application executing method executed by the image forming apparatus, and a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with an application executing program for causing a computer to execute the application executing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some recent image forming apparatuses, typified by multi-function peripherals (MFPs), allow application programs to be installed therein. A user can customize an MFP by installing therein an application program according to the type of usage.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-084383 describes an image forming apparatus which brackets portions common to applications as a common system service, forms a platform using the common system service and a versatile OS, and installs a printer application, a copy application, and other various applications on the platform.
According to this conventional image forming apparatus, the portions common to applications were formed as a common system service on the platform. Thus, for developing a new application, a developer had to understand the common system service and the versatile OS. With such a conventional apparatus, an application developer would have to have a high level of skill to control the hardware resources of the image forming apparatus.
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A multilayered printed circuit board so-called a multilayered built-up circuit substrate is manufactured by a semi-additive method and the like and produced by reciprocally layering conductor circuits of copper and the like and interlaminar resin insulating layers on a resin substrate reinforced with a 0.5 to 1.5 mm-thick glass cloth so-called a core. The interlaminar connection of the conductor circuits through the interlaminar resin insulating layers of the multilayered printed circuit board is performed by a via-hole.
Conventionally, the built-up multilayered printed circuit board has been manufactured by a method, for example, disclosed in JP H09-130050 A.
That is, at first, a through hole is formed in a copper-clad laminate board bearing a copper foil and successively, the substrate is plated by electroless copper plating treatment to form a plated-through hole. Next, a conductor circuit is formed by etching the surface of the substrate in a conductor pattern by employing a photolithographic technique. Next, the surface of the conductor circuit is roughened by electroless plating or etching and the like. Continuously, a resin insulating layer is formed on the conductor circuit having a roughened surface and then subjected to exposure and development treatment to form an opening part for a via-hole and after that, the interlaminar resin insulating layer is formed by UV curing and main curing.
Further, after the interlaminar resin insulating layer is roughened by roughening treatment by an acid or an oxidizing agent,
a thin electroless plating film is formed and, then after a plating resist is formed on the electroless plating film, the electroless plating film is thickened by electroplating and after the plating resist is parted, etching is carried out to form a conductor circuit connected with an under-level conductor circuit through the via-hole.
After repeating these steps, finally a solder resist layer for protecting the conductor circuit is formed and the parts exposing openings for connection with electronic parts, such as an IC chip, or a mother board and the like are plated to form a pad for solder bump formation and then a solder bump is formed by printing a solder paste to the side of an electronic part such as an IC chip to manufacture a build-up multilayered printed circuit board. Further, if it is necessary, a solder bump is also formed in the mother board side.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a slider for a concealed type slide fastener for use in a separable bottom end stop constituted of a box, a box pin and an insert pin, which is attached to an end of a fastener chain in the concealed type slide fastener, the separable bottom end stop separating the fastener chain in a closed state to right and left fastener stringers when the slider is operated in the back and forth direction and closing the fastener chain in an open state, and more particularly to a slider for a concealed type slide fastener with a separable bottom end stop intended to improve the insertability of an insert pin to a slider.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a slider for a concealed type slide fastener with a separable bottom end stop conventionally known, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a diamond 106 is erected in the longitudinal direction in the center of a lower blade 105 of a slider body and a tab attaching portion 107 having a locking mechanism is provided on the top of the diamond 106 although not shown in the drawings. This tab attaching portion 107 is stretched sideways of the diamond 106 and flanges 108 capable of pressing an inverted portion of fastener elements 123 are provided on both sides of the lower blade 105, to thereby form a Y-shaped guide portion through which the fastener elements 123 pass. An upper blade 109 is provided curvedly above the flanges 108 so as to oppose the bottom edge of the tab attaching portion 107 and a tape passage 119 through which the fastener tape can pass is provided between the tab attaching portion 107 and the upper blade 109, thereby completing the concealed type slider 101.
In a fastener chain for the concealed type slide fastener for use in this slider 101, the side edge of the fastener tape in the fastener chain is bent into a U shape in its cross section, and coupling heads of the fastener elements 123 are attached to the outside face of the bent tape such that the coupling heads are projected outward while a reinforcement tape is attached to a space portion in which no fastener elements 123 exist. The box 126 and box pin 127 of the separable bottom end stop which can separably close the fastener stringer 125 are attached on the reinforcement tape on one side so that the box 126 and box pin 127 are continuous to the fastener elements 123 while the insert pin which can be inserted into an insert pin insertion hole in the box 126 is attached on the fastener stringer 125 on the other side so that the insert pin 128 is continuous to the fastener elements 123. After this insert pin 128 is inserted into the insert pin insertion groove in the guide groove 111 of the slider 101 and the insert pin insertion hole in the box 126, the slider 101 is pulled upward and slid so as to close right and left fastener stringers 125, thereby completing the concealed type fastener chain.
Further, a slider with a separable bottom end stop shown in FIG. 13 has been known. In this concealed type slider, parallel portions are provided at a rear mouth of an upper blade 209 provided curvedly on the top of flanges 208 on both sides on a lower blade 209 of the body and then, a recess portion 220 is provided in the upper blade 209 from the vicinity of a shoulder mouth of the upper blade 209 to the parallel portion so as to reduce a contact face with a fastener tape. A tab attaching portion 207 having a locking mechanism is provided on the top of a diamond, and a guide flange is provided on the bottom edge thereof while blade pieces for assisting fastener elements to be arranged neatly are formed above the guide flanges. More specifically, the blade pieces make contact with the top face of the coupling heads of the fastener elements projecting from the fastener tape so as to prevent the fastener elements from moving upward. Further, a concealed type slider provided with an arrangement body for neatly arranging and guiding the coupling heads of the fastener elements at a front end on the rear mouth side of the diamond has been described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-25855. In the meantime, as a fastener chain for use, the same one as the above-described fastener chain can be used.
In the concealed type sliders 101 shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 and 13, the inner faces of the lower blades 105, 205 on both sides of the diamond 106 on the lower blade 105, 205 of the body have not been improved in any way. When the insert pin 128 attached to the fastener stringer 125 is inserted from the shoulder mouth of the slider 101, the insert pin 128 tends to rotate around a folded point so that the insert pin 128 droops with respect to the fastener tape surface, that is, tilts substantially at right angle, because the side edge of the fastener tape is folded into the U shape and the insert pin 128 is attached to a side end with respect to the folded portion. Further, the surface on the fastener element coupling head side of the insert pin 128 itself is folded and curved slightly around the center in the longitudinal direction and a side thereof connected to the fastener element 125 is formed thickly. Thus, if the insert pin 128 is inserted from the shoulder mouth of the slider 101 in a drooping state, the front end facing downward of the insert pin 128 comes into contact with the lower blade 105, 205 of the slider 101 while a curved portion on the top of the insert pin 128 comes into contact with a guide flange formed on the top of the diamond 106 or the upper blade 109, 209, so that the coupling head of the fastener element 123 adjoining the insert pin 128 is caught by that portion and consequently, the bottom end stop cannot be attached smoothly.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to alternating pressure pads, and in particular alternating pressure pads of the kind used in prevention and management of decubitus ulcers in bedridden patients.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The formation of decubitus ulcers, commonly known as bedsores, results from, amongst other things, the pressure applied to certain portions of the skin of a bedridden patient. In addition, it is well known that should the lower reflex arc be broken by, for instance, lesion of the spinal cord or of nerve roots, decubitus ulcers of unusual severity and rapidity of onset are likely to develop. It is known to meet the requirement for the prevention and management of decubitus ulcers with an alternating pressure pad comprising two sets of alternately inflatable cells. The alternately inflatable sets of cells are interleaved so that the patient is supported on one inflated set of cells whilst the other set is deflated. In this way, substantially all parts of the patient body resting on the pad or mattress experience pressure relief at regular intervals. The duration of the inflation and deflation cycles may last from under two minutes for a gentle massaging effect to over twenty minutes.
The comparative advantages of different sizes and shapes of inflatable cells in such an alternating pressure pad are well known. Ideally, support provided by a given region of a pad should not be effected by the pressure applied by a patient to adjacent regions. This therefore suggests that each cell should have a relatively small width. On the other hand, each inflatable cell should have a substantial height (in the support direction of the patient), to allow a substantial amount of depression of each cell, for example for supporting heavy patients or the larger bony protuberances of even relatively light patients.
GB-B-2233552 describes an alternating pressure pad with a relatively tall cell structure which meets these conflicting requirements.
In order to maximize the pressure relieving effect on a bedridden patient, the pressure within the inflated cells supporting the patient should be as low as possible. However, it is important that no part of the body of the patient being supported depresses individual cells of the pad or mattress so much as to make contact with any underlying support surface. Sensors have been proposed which will detect when a patient's body rests against an underlying surface, and will automatically in response increase the pressure in the supporting mattress. GB-B-2233551 describes such a sensor arrangement.
One problem which is occasionally experienced with high profile alternating pressure mattresses of the kind described in GB-B-2233552 is when a portion of a patient's body slips between two adjacent inflated cells of the pad (in the position of an uninflated cell) and then rests against the underlying supporting surface. This problem arises especially when a patient is in the sitting position on the bed and can be in particular a problem for orthopedic patients under traction.
The present invention is designed to alleviate problems which can arise in this way.
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This invention relates to combustion units and, in particular, to pulsating combustion units.
Pulsating combustion units are well known. One variety of pulse combustion units includes three geometrically-configured adjoining channels. There is an intake section, a combustion chamber and an exhaust channel or tail pipe. Fuel and air are injected through the intake channel into the combustion chamber where the mixture is ignited. The heat created by the combustion process generates a pressure wave which travels from the combustion chamber through the tail pipe, carrying with it various gases or effluents resulting from the combustion process.
As the effluent gases exit the tail pipe, and the exterior of the combustion chamber cools, a partial vacuum is created within the combustion chamber which, in turn, draws a new supply of air and fuel into the combustion chamber from the intake channel. This new fuel-air mixture is then compressed by the effluent returning or "pulsing back" from the tail pipe. The new mixture is ignited as a result of the pressure increase and the remaining heat within the combustion chamber, causing the entire process to repeat in a pulsing action.
Such units are described, for example, in my earlier U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,846,149 and 5,403,180.
One type of prior art unit includes space-apart plates. Typically the unit includes a restriction downstream of the intake end. In other words, the plates are spaced-apart closer together from the restriction to the exhaust end of the unit. A high heat transfer coefficient is realized from the pressure gain environment as the gases move through the narrowed channel and are compressed. However there is a limitation as to how much mass flow can be realized through the narrowed channel because of its decreased cross-section. This accordingly restricts the output of the unit. The unit could be upscale do a larger output by extending the length or by placing multiple units side by side. However, this may not be feasible due to space limitations.
Another problem with some prior art units has been a relatively high NO.sub.x in the exhaust. This has limited acceptance of such units due to environmental considerations.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved pulsating combustion unit which overcomes disadvantages associated with the prior art.
More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved pulsating combustion unit which has a higher heat output compared to prior art units of equivalent size.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved pulsating combustion unit which is simpler and less expensive to fabricate compared to prior art units.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide an improved pulsating combustion unit which has lower NO.sub.x emissions compared to prior art units.
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A polyimide film has been extensively used in the fields of electric/electronic devices, semiconductors and so on, because of its excellent heat resistance, chemical resistance, mechanical strength, electric properties, dimensional stability and so on. For example, for a flexible printed circuit board (FPC), there has been used a copper-clad laminated substrate where a copper foil is laminated on one or both sides of a polyimide film.
In general, a polyimide film may not, however, provide a laminate having adequately high peeling strength when a metal layer is formed on a polyimide film by dry plating such as metal deposition and sputtering, or when a metal layer is formed on a polyimide film by wet plating such as electroless plating.
In recent years, there has been investigated plastic substrates that are light and flexible as a replacement of a glass substrate in a field of optical materials, for example, a display field, and therefore optical materials having higher performance have been demanded. For example, methods of expressing transparency by using semi-alicyclic or wholly alicyclic polyimide resins are proposed (Patent Documents 1 to 3). For example, semi-alicyclic polyimides prepared using trans-1,4-diaminocyclohexanes as a diamine component and 3,3′,4,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydrides as a tetracarboxylic acid component are known (Patent Document 3).
Patent Document 4 has described a polyimide from a triazine-based diamine, showing an example in which a polyimide solution is applied on a metal foil. In addition, as examples of the use of a triazine-based diamine, Patent Document 5 has disclosed an end-modified imide oligomer using a triazine-based diamine and Patent Document 6 has disclosed a polymer electrolyte using a triazine-based diamine. Patent Document 7 discloses a polyimide which uses a triazine-based diamine having two amino groups (—NH2) in para-positions in benzene rings relative to two NH groups bonded to the triazine rings (hereinafter, it may be referred as “p-ATDA”).
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One conventional power converting apparatus is a below-described power converting apparatus for solar power generation which converts DC power fed from a solar battery into AC power with three-phase outputs and delivers this AC power to a three-phase power system of which one phase is grounded, the power converting apparatus being connected to the power system. This power converting apparatus includes an inverter circuit having two sets of series circuits, each including two switching devices, wherein a plurality of capacitors for dividing a DC voltage are connected in series between DC input portions of the inverter circuit, one output line is taken out from a connecting point of the capacitors as one of the three-phase outputs, and two output lines are taken out from intermediate points of the individual sets of switching devices as the other two of the three-phase outputs to configure a half-bridge inverter circuit, and wherein the output line taken out from the connecting point of the capacitors is connected to the aforementioned grounded phase. Further, a DC/DC converter is provided in a stage preceding the half-bridge inverter circuit, and an output of the solar battery is connected to an input of the DC/DC converter. The half-bridge inverter circuit convert the DC voltage into an AC voltage by switching operation (refer to Patent Document 1, for example).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2001-103768
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1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to features of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) programmed to form a system including a First In First Out (FIFO) communication buffer. More particularly, the present invention relates to efficient implementation of FIFO communication buffers to distribute data from a single source to multiple data sink devices.
2. Related Art
Conventional processor based systems use some form of memory controller in order to access memory devices and provide arbitration for devices connected to the memory controller ports, such as processors or other peripherals. To address the need to configure a memory controller to provide maximum bandwidth when used with various processor systems, a programmable logic device such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) has been used to create the memory controller. FPGAs can be used to provide a wide variety of these memory controllers, including single port and multiport memory controllers.
Traditional PLDs such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Complex PLDs (CPLDs) are programmable to form modules that are networked together to communicate. The modules may be complex core devices such as soft processors constructed using FPGA logic, or other less complex components. With the modules potentially operating at different speeds, operating within different clock domains, or otherwise requiring data to be buffered between the modules for communication, a First in First out (FIFO) communication buffer is typically used to interconnect the cores. The FIFOs are often implemented with internal memory, or a combination of registers or other components of the FPGA.
FIG. 1 illustrates the interconnection of modules 2 and 4 using a FIFO 6. The FIFO 6 shown is unidirectional, with a data input (DATAIN) connected to a source module 2 and a data output (DATAOUT) connected to a sink module 4. The signal VALIDIN is asserted when input data from the source 2 is ready for transmission. Similarly, VALIDOUT is asserted from the FIFO 6 when data is stored in the FIFO for transmission. The signal STALLIN is asserted from the FIFO 6 when the FIFO becomes full and cannot accept additional data. Similarly, STALLOUT is asserted from the sink 4 when it is unable to accept data from the FIFO.
FIG. 2 illustrates more details of the FIFO 6 comprising FIFO memory 8 and its FIFO control logic 10. The FIFO memory 8 includes a data input (DA) for receiving the data input signal (DATAIN) and a data output (DB) for receiving the data output signal (DATAOUT). The input data is stored in the FIFO memory 8 at an address (ADDRA) provided from the FIFO control logic 10. Similarly, data read from the FIFO memory 8 is provided using an address (ADDRB) provided from the FIFO control logic 10. The FIFO memory 8 is clocked by a common clock signal CLK received at clock inputs (CLKA & CLKB). The B side output is enabled by a high applied to the enable input (ENB). With the FIFO memory 8 being unidirectional, writing at the output port is disabled by a low applied to the A side write enable input (WEB), while writing at the input port is enabled by a high applied to the B side write enable input (WEA).
The FIFO control logic 10 operates to address data for pushing and popping, and to send valid and stall signals. The FIFO control logic 10 generates the address signals (ADDRA) and (ADDRB) to control pushing or writing of data into memory locations of the FIFO memory 8, as well as to control popping or reading of data. The FIFO control logic 10 ensures that the output valid signal (VALIDOUT) is asserted if there is data in the FIFO memory 8. It further asserts a stall signal (STALLIN) if the FIFO memory 8 becomes full. If a stall signal is received from a sink module, the FIFO control logic 10 does not address a signal for reading at the output address (ADDRB). Similarly, if a valid signal (VALIDIN) is received from a source indicating data is being transmitted, a proper input address (ADDRA) is asserted.
For reference, a block diagram of components of a conventional FPGA that may be used to form source and sink modules and FIFOs that interconnect these modules is provided in FIG. 3. The FPGA includes input/output (IOBs) blocks 32 (each labeled 10) located around the perimeter of the FPGA, multi-gigabit transceivers (MGT) 34 interspersed with the I/O blocks 32, configurable logic blocks 36 (each labeled CLB) arranged in an array, block random access memory 38 (each labeled BRAM) interspersed with the CLBs, configuration logic 33, a configuration interface 31, an on-chip processor 16, and an internal configuration access port (ICAP) 35. The FPGA also includes a programmable interconnect structure (not shown) made up of traces that are programmably connectable between the CLBs 36 and IOBs 32 and BRAMs 38.
The configuration memory array 37 typically includes millions of the SRAM memory cells lying beneath the structure shown in FIG. 3. The configuration memory cells are programmed to configure the CLBs 36, IOBs 32, BRAMs 38 and appropriately connect the interconnect lines. Source and sink modules can be formed from these elements, as well as FIFOs. The BRAM memory 38, in particular, can be used to form a FIFO memory such as device 8 in FIG. 2, while simpler FIFO memories can be formed from registers or logic in the CLBs. The configuration memory array 37 programmed for the configuration can be visualized as a rectangular array of bits. The bits are grouped into frames that are one-bit wide words that extend in columns from the top of the array to the bottom. The configuration data values are typically loaded into the configuration memory array one frame at a time from the external store via the configuration interface 31.
In general, the FPGA of FIG. 3 is configured in response to a set of configuration data values that are loaded into a configuration memory array of the FPGA from an external store via configuration interface 31. The configuration logic 33 provides circuitry for programming of the configuration memory array cells 31 typically at startup. The FPGA can be reconfigured by rewriting data in the configuration memory array 31. In one reconfiguration method, the ICAP 35 is used to rewrite data in the configuration memory array in order to generate or instantiate the FPGAs internal logic (e.g., CLBs 36 and BRAMs 38). Without using the ICAP 35, reconfiguration can also be performed by loading reconfiguration frames through the configuration interface 31 using external customized logic components to over-write frame data in the configuration memory array.
It would be desirable to use the structure of an FPGA to provide an improved FIFO communication buffer for interconnecting modules. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a FIFO communication buffer and operation method that provides low-latency high-throughput data transfer to multiple sink modules while minimizing the amount of memory required for the FIFO memory.
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Computer data is vital to today's organizations, and a significant part of protection against disasters is focused on data protection. As solid-state memory has advanced to the point where cost of memory has become a relatively insignificant factor, organizations can afford to operate with systems that store and process terabytes of data.
Conventional data protection systems include backup drives for storing organizational production site data on a periodic basis. Such systems suffer from several drawbacks. First, they may require a system shutdown during backup since the data being backed up cannot be used during the backup operation. Second, they limit the points in time to which the production site can recover. For example, if data is backed up on a daily basis, there may be several hours of lost data in the event of a disaster. Third, the data recovery process itself may take a long time.
Another conventional data protection system uses data replication, by creating a copy of the organization's production site data on a secondary backup storage system, and updating the backup with changes. The backup storage system may be situated in the same physical location as the production storage system, or in a physically remote location.
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Prediction and control of residence time of an object or particle in a reactor, heat exchanger or holding tube is important for many continuous flow processing operations. One example of a continuous flow processing operation is aseptic processing of liquid based foods, such as potato soup. Usually, liquid based foods include liquid particles, large solid particles and smaller solid particles. The prediction and control a particle""s residence time assures the correct processing time for the particle. The residence time of large solid particles is especially important during the aseptic processing of foods with large solid particles. Continuous flow operations usually involve a flow confined by at least one wall. Hence, the flow of particles may be slower near the wall than away from the wall. In fact in a tube with laminar flow, the outside portion of the flow is usually much slower than the center portion of the flow. This creates a situation where individual particles of the flow can be under-processed or over-processed, due to the different residence times.
Conventional continuous flow reactors, heat exchangers, and holding tubes have relatively wide distributions of residence times for individual particles of the flow. The individual particles can have much longer or shorter processing time than the average processing time of all the particles. A wide distribution of residence times means some particles are processed for much shorter times, while other particles are processed for much longer times. To compensate, often the processing time is increased to insure that the fastest moving particles receive the minimum allowable processing. Whereby, the tradeoff is that the slowest moving particles are over-processed. Depending on the application, this can translate to inferior quality product, increased energy usage and reduced throughput.
Several approaches have been used to resolve the problems associated with the wide distribution of residence times in continuous processing. A first approach is the use of empirical data or mathematical models to determine the distribution of residence times for a particular set of flow conditions of individual particles. Once the distribution is determined, the processing time can be adjusted appropriately. The problem is that accurately modeling the residence time is a complex process because of the interaction of numerous factors. Likewise, the collection of empirical data is difficult because seemingly insignificant, uncontrolled differences in flow conditions can result in important changes of residence time distribution. A second approach is to control flow parameters such as laminar or turbulent flow, tube diameter, tube length, or flow path to create the desired distribution of residence times. The control of flow parameters to achieve the desired distribution of residence times is problematic for the same reasons as the first approach. Furthermore, even if residence time can be accurately predicted or measured, the fact remains that the distribution is often wider than desired and flow parameter control is often inadequate to achieve a narrow distribution of residence times. A third approach is to use batch processing rather than continuous processing. Batch processing can easily provide a narrow distribution of residence times and is often the best solution. The problems with batch processing is that it creates materials handling problems, scheduling problems and is more expensive. A final approach is the development of mechanisms that physically control residence time. Current applications of this approach are not without disadvantages. Some are difficult to implement, some damage particles of the flow, while others do not always provide a uniform control of residence time. Furthermore, they do not specifically control residence time of liquid particles apart from solid particles in the flow. This leads to the over-processing of some of the particles in the flow, thereby resulting in a reduction in product quality.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system for the uniform processing of a flow of particles.
It is an object of the present invention to provide the control of residence time of individual particles in a continuous flow processing operation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide system to prevent the necessity of over-processing foods to meet safety requirements in a continuous flow processing operation.
The present invention provides a segmented flow device for controlling the residence time of particles in a flow. The device includes a processing conduit having an inlet end and an outlet end. A feed port is at the inlet end for inserting the flow to be processed. A release port is at the outlet end for removing the flow after processing. The device includes a series of barriers moving through the processing conduit to segment the flow during processing to allow control of residence time of the particles of the flow. A continuation section provides a path between the inlet and outlet ends of the processing conduit for receiving the barriers from the outlet end and returning the barriers to the inlet end. A first input in the device is for providing an inlet pressure to the inlet end and a second input for providing an outlet pressure to the outlet end, such that the inlet and outlet pressures are also used for controlling the flow.
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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. There are several different types of memory used in modern electronics, one common type is RAM (random-access memory). RAM is characteristically found in use as main memory in a computer environment. RAM refers to read and write memory; that is, you can both write data into RAM and read data from RAM. This is in contrast to ROM, which permits you only to read data. Most RAM is volatile, which means that it requires a steady flow of electricity to maintain its contents. As soon as the power is turned off, whatever data was in RAM is lost.
Computers almost always contain a small amount of read-only memory (ROM) that holds instructions for starting up the computer. Unlike RAM, ROM cannot be written to. An EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) is a special type non-volatile ROM that can be erased by exposing it to an electrical charge. EEPROM comprise a large number of memory cells having electrically isolated gates (floating gates). Data is stored in the memory cells in the form of charge on the floating gates. Charge is transported to or removed from the floating gates by specialized programming and erase operations, respectively.
Yet another type of non-volatile memory is a 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. A typical Flash memory comprises a memory array, which includes a large number of memory cells. Each of the memory cells includes a floating gate field-effect transistor capable of holding a charge. The data in a cell is determined by the presence or absence of the charge in the floating gate. The cells are usually grouped into sections called “erase blocks.” Each of the cells within an erase block can be electrically programmed in a random basis by charging the floating gate. The charge can be removed from the floating gate by a block erase operation, wherein all floating gate memory cells in the erase block are erased in a single operation.
Both RAM and ROM random access memory devices have memory cells that are typically arranged in an array of rows and columns. During operation, a row (page) is accessed and then memory cells can be randomly accessed on the page by providing column addresses. This access mode is referred to as page mode access. To read or write to multiple column locations on a page requires the external application of multiple column addresses. To increase access time, a burst mode access has been implemented. The burst mode uses an internal column address counter circuit to generate additional column addresses. The address counter begins at an externally provided address and advances in response to an external clock signal or a column address strobe signal.
Two common types of Flash memory array architectures are the “NAND” and “NOR” architectures, so called for the logical form in which the basic memory cell configuration arranged in each. In the NOR array architecture, the floating gate memory cells of the memory array are arranged in a matrix. The gates of each floating gate memory cell of the array matrix are coupled by rows to word select lines (word lines) and their drains are coupled to column bit lines. The source of each floating gate memory cell is typically coupled to a common source line. The NOR architecture floating gate memory array is accessed by a row decoder activating a row of floating gate memory cells by selecting the word line coupled to their gates. The row of selected memory cells then place their stored data values on the column bit lines by flowing a differing current if in a programmed state or not programmed state from the coupled source line to the coupled column bit lines.
A NAND array architecture also arranges its array of floating gate memory cells in a matrix such that the gates of each floating gate memory cell of the array are coupled by rows to word lines. However each memory cell is not directly coupled to a source line and a column bit line. Instead, the memory cells of the array are arranged together in strings, typically of 8 to 16 each, where the memory cells in the string are coupled together in series, source to drain, between a common source line and a column bit line. The NAND architecture floating gate memory array is then accessed by a row decoder activating a row of floating gate memory cells by selecting the word select line coupled to their gates. In addition, the word lines coupled to the gates of the unselected memory cells of each string are also driven. However, the unselected memory cells of each string are typically driven by a higher gate voltage so as to operate them as pass transistors and allowing them to pass current in a manner that is unrestricted by their stored data values. Current then flows from the source line to the column bit line through each floating gate memory cell of the series coupled string, restricted only by the memory cells of each string that are selected to be read. Thereby placing the current encoded stored data values of the row of selected memory cells on the column bit lines.
A synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) is a type of DRAM that can run at much higher clock speeds than conventional DRAM memory. SDRAM synchronizes itself with a CPU's bus and is capable of running at 100 MHZ or 133 MHZ, about three times faster than conventional FPM (Fast Page Mode) RAM, and about twice as fast EDO (Extended Data Output) DRAM and BEDO (Burst Extended Data Output) DRAM. An extended form of SDRAM that can transfer a data value on the rising and falling edge of the clock signal is called double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM, or simply, DDR). SDRAM's can be accessed quickly, but are volatile. Many computer systems are designed to operate using SDRAM, but would benefit from non-volatile memory. A synchronous Flash memory has been designed that allows for a non-volatile memory device with an SDRAM interface. Although knowledge of the function and internal structure of a synchronous Flash memory is not essential to understanding the present invention, a detailed discussion is included in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/627,682 filed Jul. 28, 2000 and titled, “Synchronous Flash Memory.”
Memory devices generally have a minimum read latency time that a requesting device must wait after sending the memory device the row and column address before the data is available to be read. This minimum latency is typically due to the time required by the sense amplifiers to read the data values from the memory array that has been selected by the row and column address decoders. Additionally, other delay components are also incorporated in the minimum read latency. These are typically due to such items as the delay of the column address decoding and coupling the sensed data to the external data lines through the data buffer. As these other delay components are typically small, it is common practice to equate the minimum read latency to the minimum sensing time of the sense amplifiers of the memory device.
To minimize read latency for burst accesses and/or subsequent read requests, which will often occur within the same selected row or column “page”, memory devices will typically sense all the data bits of a selected column page at once. This is generally accomplished by incorporating a large number of sense amplifiers into the memory device, allowing all the data bits of the selected column page to be read in parallel. Because of the large number of sense amplifiers, a large data bus is usually also incorporated to couple the sense amplifiers to the memory array and to the internal data buffer of the memory device. The large number of sense amplifiers and large internal data bus to pre-read the other data words of the column page are particularly important for the operation of memory devices capable of burst mode access, where sequentially addressed data words are read from the memory device on each following clock cycle after the initial request and the read latency delay.
The large number of sense amplifiers and their coupled internal memory bus can significantly increase the circuit space requirements of the memory device on the integrated circuit substrate that it is manufactured on. Generally, the larger the space required for an integrated circuit design the fewer the number of copies of the design can be placed on a substrate wafer as it is processed and later “diced” into individual “dies,” each die having a single circuit copy on it. This lowers the typical device yield of a substrate wafer, defined as the number of unflawed devices produced from a substrate wafer, by increasing the probability of a given device containing a flaw due to the larger die size. The reduced number of dies that are yielded from a substrate wafer and the increased odds of any single die containing a flaw have the effect of increasing the production cost of the resulting memory device.
Additionally, the increased number of simultaneously active sense amplifiers in an individual memory device also increases the amount of power consumption of the device by increasing the amount of current required while it is engaged in a read operation. The increased current consumption of the memory device increases the inherent level of electronic noise that is seen internal to the memory device and externally in the circuitry that surround it, increasing the probability of a noise induced read or logic error. The noise levels of a memory device often require the designer to utilize higher voltages to operate the circuit and mitigate the possibility of such an error, further increasing device power consumption and possible device feature sizes.
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 alternative circuits and methods of reading memory arrays that minimize the number of sense amplifiers and the size of the internal data bus.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system and method for removing asbestos-containing materials from buildings and, more particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for removing asbestos-containing materials such as fireproofing and sprayed-on acoustical insulation.
2. State of the Art
Asbestos is a natural mineral whose extraordinary physical resistance to heat and chemicals has been recognized for centuries. In fact, the name asbestos comes from a Greek derivative which signifies that the mineral is durable and will not burn. Because of its fireproofing and thermal insulating properties, as well as its natural abundance in underground deposits, asbestos was a major component of building materials for a number of years, particularly between 1950 and 1974. During that period, thousands of tons of asbestos were sprayed into buildings to provide fireproofing and acoustical insulation. Also, asbestos was widely applied as thermal insulation for water pipes as well as heating and ventilating ducts. Typically in such instances, the asbestos-containing material is a composite dry mixture including asbestos fibers and particles. The mixture is held together by a glue-like binder which also bonds the material to a substrate such as metal and wooden decking, metal beams, plaster surfaces, and concrete pillars and beams.
By the early 1970's, accumulated medical information indicated that exposure to airborne asbestos could pose serious hazards to health. In particular, links were found between exposure to friable asbestos and diseases such as asbestosis, mesothelioma, and cancer of the lung. (Friable asbestos is material that is easily crumbled by hand pressure; it should be noted that asbestos-containing materials that are non-friable while in situ can become friable upon removal.) Because of the medical concerns, spraying of asbestos was banned in 1973 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Subsequently, most applications of asbestos in construction materials have been eliminated or are being phased out.
Due to the medical hazards of asbestos in existing structures, a range of corrective and mitigating measures have come into practice. The purpose of such measures is to protect the public, building occupants, maintenance persons, and personnel who could disturb asbestos materials during construction work. To alleviate risks of human exposure to airborne asbestos particles, current practice is to remove most forms of asbestos-containing materials whenever buildings are remodeled or renovated.
Procedures to remove asbestos from buildings usually encompass several key steps. Those steps include: (1) protecting workers in asbestos-containing areas by means of respirators, protective clothing and decontamination systems; (2) fully isolating asbestos-containing areas by means of sheet plastic that is sealed in place; (3) controlling ingress and egress to asbestos-containing work area by means of decontamination system; (4) minimizing airborne asbestos fiber concentrations in asbestos removal work areas by fully wetting asbestos-containing materials with water and penetration-aiding surfactants; (5) controlling and collecting wetted asbestos-containing materials while they are still wet, and depositing the collected materials in sealable bags; and (6) disposing of collected asbestos-containing waste materials at approved sites in a manner which avoids public exposure when the waste is transported and buried. Many of these procedures are set forth in EPA regulations (40 CFR, Part 61, Subparts A & B, 1973).
Normally, the initial step in removing asbestos-containing materials such as fireproofing and sprayed-on acoustical insulation is to repeatedly wet the materials to obtain maximum saturation. Two advantages of the use of water during asbestos removal include a reduction in airborne asbestos fiber concentrations and a reduction in the effort required to remove the asbestos-containing materials. That is, wet removal techniques are based on the tendency of water to reduce the release of the airborne asbestos fibers from asbestos-containing material and to increase the settling rate of fibers that are released. The positive effects of wet removal are sometimes further enhanced by adding a wetting agent to the water. Conventional wetting agents are combinations of chemicals that aid in the penetration of the asbestos-containing materials and increase the probability of individual fiber wetting. Various wetting agents are well known, and the EPA recommends a wetting agent consisting of 50% polyoxyethylene ester and 50% polyoxyethylene ether in a ratio of 1 ounce to 5 gallons of water.
After wetting, the typical next step in removing asbestos-containing materials from a substrate is to manually scrape the substrate by means of metal scrapers such as paint scrapers and tile removal scrapers. After gross removal of asbestos by scraping, residual asbestos-containing material is further cleaned or "detailed" from the substrate by scrubbing with brushes, scrub pads, sponges and rags. After cleaning of the substrate, the removed asbestos-containing materials are manually collected by means of shovels, squeegees, mops, or the like. Also, vacuums have been used to collect waste asbestos-containing materials from work sites.
At this juncture, it can be appreciated that asbestos removal from buildings is of substantial concern and is expensive, time consuming and potentially hazardous. The extent of the removal task may be appreciated from the fact that carcinogenic asbestos fibers have been used in the construction of more than 700,000 buildings throughout the U.S. Such asbestos was most often sprayed between floors, on steel girders, in wall panels and in other locations in which removal work is difficult or inconvenient.
Although asbestos removal is commonly performed by a manual scraping of a substrate as described above, it is known that faster removal can be achieved by forcefully directing high pressure water against an asbestos-containing material. Such procedures are sometimes referred to as hydroblasting and involve emitting water at high velocities and in relatively large quantities, e.g., 4-6 gal/min., to mechanically dislodge the asbestos from the substrate. One drawback of hydroblasting is that, in multi-floor work environments, considerable effort is required to collect and contain the water before it leaks to lower floors or causes water damage and electrical short-outs. Also, water leakage during hydroblasting operations can disperse contaminating particles. Further, after hydroblasting water is collected and contained, it must either be filtered or disposed of as hazardous waste. Therefore, hydroblasting is generally ill-suited to gross removal of asbestos but often is better limited to detailing work requiring usage of relatively limited quantities of water.
In view of the preceding discussion, it can be appreciated that there is a need to provide improved methods and systems for removing asbestos-containing materials from substrates.
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The memory requirement for today's applications and appliances is increasing continuously. At the same time, it is important for the memory chips used to be able to operated at a high data rate. This concerns the internal architecture and external signals, for example.
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Current methods of teaching mathematics using manipulatives may not be effective in providing a concrete, simple, and in-depth learning experience that promotes a successful rate of learning among school children. Using the typical manipulative techniques, students may have problems recognizing numbers, constructing numbers, adding, subtracting, etc. The explaining process frequently is so complicated that children get lost and may not remember the process the next time they are asked to recall the information. Because children have to rely heavily on memorized mathematical facts and road map memorization, their performance on annual academic tests have been relatively low. Currently, the United States is ranked 42nd amongst the world in mathematics.
Generally, traditional teaching methods do not provide stimulating and engaging experiences in learning mathematical concepts.
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This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of EP Application 04015573.1, filed Jul. 2, 2004, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
Subject of the present invention is a diagnostic device for determining analytes, a method for determining analytes using said device, a method for the assembling said device and an instrument for determining the presence of analytes using said devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
The invention is useful in the field of analytics, wherever a device containing immobilized reagents bound to an inner surface of said device are to be contacted with a sample to bind a component of said sample to said device. Particularly, the invention is useful in the field of diagnostics, particularly molecular diagnostics, e.g. the analysis of nucleic acid or protein components in samples such as human body fluids or in environmental samples.
Due to the progress achieved in increasing the sensitivity of assays by amplifying nucleic acid sequences, for instance by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), as disclosed in EP 0 201 184 and subsequent detection as disclosed in EP 0 200 362 molecular diagnostics has been established as a tool to determine nucleic acid containing parameters, like viruses and bacteria, for instance Hepatitis B virus and HIV. PCR based assays were developed using the so called heterogeneous format as disclosed in EP 0 420 260. In those assays, exemplified in Roche's AMPLICOR assays, nucleic acid sequences of a nucleic acid of a defined analyte, like Hepatitis B virus, are amplified and immobilized on so called capture probes contained in a tube. Due to the slow diffusion of nucleic acids to the capture probes, the immobilization required some time to come to completion. This disadvantage was avoided by the so called homogenous assays that did not need immobilized probes for the detection. An exemplary method is disclosed in EP 0 543 942.
Instruments for performing PCR were developed to conveniently perform the required thermal cycles needed to anneal the primers to the target nucleic acid, extend the primers using the target nucleic acid as a template, and separate the nucleic acid strands to provide single strands that can again bind the primers. A thermocycler useful to conduct thermocycles is disclosed in EP 0 236 069.
Due to the capacity of PCR to amplify nucleic acid sequences which are present in samples in only minute amounts and to amplify different sequences in one sample, assays were developed to amplify and detect several analytes or parameters independently in parallel. Particularly, if more then ten analytes are suspected to be contained and detected in one sample, those assays require the use of a corresponding number of probes, preferably immobilized to separate sites of a solid surface. The manufacture of chips containing a large number of different binding agents is disclosed in EP 0 476 014.
A device for holding chips and conducting analytical reactions in said device were proposed in EP 1 161 989. A first method for processing liquids in said device is disclosed in EP 1 226 863. In this method, a cartridge containing a chip is moved back and forth to mix the liquid contained in said cartridge. In EP 1 224 976 there is described a method for mixing a cartridge wherein the cartridge is swung back and forth to force the liquid to pass the surface of the chip. Those devices have very thin cavities in order to avoid transport of liquid from large distances to the surface of the chip. Thin cavities have the disadvantage that filling with liquid requires relatively complicated inlet and outlet channels and adapters to connect the inlet and outlet channel to a fluid system.
In EP 0 695 941 there is disclosed a flat device containing a chip having a flat cavity, inlet and outlet channels being arranged on the flat surface of the device. Again, the device is difficult to fill because the inlet and outlet channels need to be connected tightly to the instrument. EP 695941 describes a device in which a flat carrier is fixed to a body of a device using an adhesive which is applied to a gap around the flat carrier and the body of the device. This requires aligning the carrier and the device prior to applying the adhesive. Adhesives generally release organic solvents that may harm the reagents on the carrier. U.S. Pat. No. 6,043,080 describes a flat device containing a chip. This device again suffers from the same disadvantages.
Another device for holding chips is disclosed in EP 1 419 821. Because this device has a thicker cavity, diffusion of components of the liquid sample contained therein to the active surface takes too long for routine diagnostics. The reference describes the use of vortexing the liquid sample for mixing.
The devices presently known have the disadvantage that they are either relatively difficult to manufacture, do not provide reliable retaining of the sample and reagents or use adjuvants that may harm the reagents contained on the carrier.
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Over the past several years the use of polymeric films to produce high-quality optical films has been explored. The investigated polymeric optical films typically exploit differing indices of refraction between layers of a multilayer film. For example, a multilayer optical film (MOF) may be constructed by alternating polymer layers having high indices of refraction with polymer layers having low indices of refraction. Where two adjacent layers are formed with a relatively large mismatch between the respective indices of refraction, light of a particular wavelength is reflected at the interface of the two layers. The wavelength of light reflected at the interface is dependent on the optical thickness of the adjacent layers. Optical films may also be made of polymeric blends exploiting relative refractive indices relationships of different phases of the blend.
One type of multilayer optical film uses birefringent polymers to produce the mismatch between adjacent indices of refraction. In such films, the multilayer film is drawn either uniaxially in a direction along only one in-plane axis of the film or biaxially in a direction along two in-plane orthogonal axes of the film. As a result of drawing, molecules within one of the two adjacent layers become oriented in the direction of the draw. The molecular orientation alters the index of refraction of the affected layer in the draw direction.
Drawing a multilayer film, where one of the layers of the film is birefringent, can be used to obtain a mismatch of refractive indices of two adjacent layers in the draw direction. If the refractive indices of the two layers in the non-drawn in-plane direction match, the multilayer film may be used to reflect light of one polarization and transmit light of another. Such a film may be employed, for example, as a reflective polarizer. If a multilayer film is drawn such that the affected layer is oriented in the direction of two orthogonal in-plane axes, a mismatch in both directions may be obtained. Such a film may be used to reflect light of both polarizations (for example, a mirror for the respective wavelength of light).
Multilayer films are typically used in conjunction with additional optical films to effect desired management of light within, for example, a display. The multilayer films can be coated with additional layers after processing, or laminated to other films, such as, for example, diffusers, to accomplish a desired control of light passing through or incident on the multilayer film.
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Generally, an air conditioner serves to maintain an indoor room as a comfortable state by maintaining an indoor temperature as a set temperature. The air conditioner comprises a refrigeration system. The refrigeration system comprises a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, a condenser for condensing a refrigerant compressed by the compressor and emitting heat outwardly, an expansion valve for lowering a pressure of a refrigerant condensed by the condenser, and an evaporator for evaporating a refrigerant that has passed through the expansion valve and absorbing external heat.
In the refrigeration system, when a compressor is operated as power is supplied thereto, a refrigerant of a high temperature and a high pressure discharged from the compressor sequentially passes through the condenser, the expansion valve, and the evaporator, and then is sucked into the compressor. The above process is repeated. In the above process, the condenser generates heat and the evaporator generates cool air by absorbing external heat. The heat generated from the condenser and the cool air generated from the evaporator are selectively circulated into an indoor room, thereby maintaining the indoor room as a comfortable state.
A compressor constituting the refrigeration system is various. Especially, a compressor applied to an air conditioner includes a rotary compressor, a scroll compressor, etc.
The most important factor in fabricating the air conditioner is to minimize a fabrication cost for a product competitiveness and to minimize a power consumption.
In order to minimize a power consumption of the air conditioner, the air conditioner is driven according to a load of an indoor room where the air conditioner is installed, that is, a temperature condition. That is, when the indoor temperature is drastically increased, the air conditioner is in a power mode so as to generate much cool air according to the drastic temperature variance (an excessive load). On the contrary, when the indoor temperature is varied with a small width, the air conditioner is in a saving mode so as to generate less cool air to maintain a preset indoor temperature.
In order to implement the modes, an amount of a refrigerant compressed by the compressor and discharged is controlled thereby to vary a refrigerating capacity of the refrigeration system.
As a method for controlling the amount of a refrigerant discharged from the compressor, an inverter motor is applied to the compressor thereby to vary an rpm of a driving motor of the compressor. An rpm of the driving motor of the compressor is controlled according to a load of an indoor room where the air conditioner is installed, and thus an amount of a refrigerant discharged from the compressor is controlled. An amount of heat generated from the condenser and cool air generated from the evaporator is controlled by varying the amount of a refrigerant discharged from the compressor.
However, in case of applying the inverter motor to the compressor, a fabrication cost is increased due to high price of the inverter motor thereby to degrade a price competitiveness.
Accordingly, a technique for varying a capacity of a compression chamber by partially bypassing a refrigerant compressed in a cylinder of the compressor to outside of the cylinder is being widely researched. However, according to the technique, a pipe system for bypassing a refrigerant to outside of the cylinder is complicated thereby to increase a refrigerant resistance and thus to degrade an efficiency.
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The present invention is related to a structure for collectively and firmly resting tools thereon.
A conventional tool kit is a substantially rectangular cabinet body with six faces. Several layers of drawers are horizontally disposed in the cabinet. Each drawer simply has a room partitioned by slats into several compartments for placing various tools therein.
After the tools are placed into the drawers, the various tools are often interlaced with each other after many times of drawing/pushing of the drawers or moving of the entire tool cabinet. Therefore, a user needs to seek and find out the necessary tool from the randomly placed tools. Moreover, after found, the user must laboriously pull the tool apart from the other tools. Also, the randomly interlaced tools lead to a poor appearance.
There is another type of measure for collectively placing various tools thereon. Such measure is a hanging board which can be mounted on a wall. The hanging board is formed with multiple perforations arranged at intervals. A hanging hook having hook sections at two ends is disposed in each perforation. One end of the hanging hook is inserted in the perforation, while a tool can be hung on the other end of the hanging hook. However, the tools are suspended from the hanging hooks. In case of unexpected shock or earthquake, the tools may drop down.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a structure for conveniently and firmly collectively resting various tools or parts thereon.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above structure on which the spaces for resting various tools can be elastically varied in accordance with the configurations of the tools.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above structure on which various tools can be rested in order and conveniently managed.
According to the above objects, the structure for firmly resting tools thereon of the present invention includes a base board formed with multiple insertion holes, a magnetic section laid on the base board and at least one insertion key which can be inserted into the insertion hole.
The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:
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The present invention relates to a collapsible lens barrel and an image pickup apparatus.
Some lens barrels incorporated in image pickup apparatuses such as digital still cameras, digital video cameras, etc. have a cam ring with a cam groove defined in an inner circumferential surface thereof and a lens holder frame which is nonrotatably, but axially movably held radially in the cam ring and which holds a lens assembly. The lens holder frame has a cam pin engaging in the cam groove such that the lens holder frame moves axially when the cam ring rotates about its own axis. For details, see Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-267917, for example.
One such lens barrel is illustrated in FIG. 30 of the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIG. 30, the lens barrel has a linear guide ring 3 interposed between the outer circumferential surface of a lens holder frame 1 and the inner circumferential surface of a cam ring 2.
The linear guide ring 3 is nonrotatably mounted on the lens barrel 1 and has axially linear guide grooves 3A defined therein. Cam pins 1A of the lens holder frame 1 extend through the guide grooves 3A and engage in cam grooves 2A defined in the cam ring 2. The lens holder frame 1 is nonrotatably, but axially movably held radially in the cam ring 2.
With the lens barrel in related art, however, since the linear guide ring 3 is interposed between the outer circumferential surface of the lens holder frame 1 and the inner circumferential surface of the cam ring 2, it poses limitations on efforts to reduce the diameter of the lens barrel and hence size of the lens barrel.
If the lens barrel has two lens holder frames 1 (only one lens holder frame 1 is shown in FIG. 30), then the cam grooves 2A in the cam ring 2 which are engaged by the cam pins 1A, 1B of the lens holder frames 1 extend continuously circumferentially at least fully around the cam ring 2, and the cam pins 1A, 1B are guided at different positions in the guide grooves 3A in the linear guide ring 3.
The lens holder frames 1 are assembled into the cam ring 2 with the linear guide ring 3 interposed therebetween, as follows.
First, the linear guide ring 3 is inserted into the cam ring 2, and then turned to align the guide grooves 3A with open ends 2B of the cam grooves 2A in the cam ring 2. Then, the cam pins 1A of one of the lens holder frames 1 are inserted into the open ends 2B and caused to engage in the cam grooves 2A.
Then, the cam ring 2 is rotated by one revolution to move the one of the lens holder frames 1 axially.
Thereafter, the linear guide ring 3 is turned to align the guide grooves 3A with the open ends 2B of the cam ring 2. Then, the cam pins 1B of the other lens holder frame 1 are inserted into the open ends 2B and caused to engage in the cam grooves 2A.
Then, the cam ring 2 is rotated to move the other lens holder frame 1 axially.
The assembling process is complex because the guide grooves 3A of the linear guide ring 3 need to be aligned with the open ends 2B of the cam grooves 2A twice and the linear guide ring 3 needs to be rotated by one revolution.
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Continuing improvements in the performance of modern aircraft engines have resulted in pressure increases therein, for example, in the high-pressure compressor, of 2 MPa at temperatures up to 650.degree. C. At these extreme conditions, abradable nickel and carbon-base linings of stators, which blade tips of rotors abrade, are only of limited value as the surfaces of such conventional abradable linings are substantially entirely eroded by erosive attack. If the abradable linings are made of materials of greater hardness and erosion resistance, however, the rotor blades are subjected to possible damage and fracture. If the blade tips are hardened by means of complex bonded coatings, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,020, wherein abrasive particles are embedded in a metal matrix, this problem can be solved. The abrasive particles are made of metal compounds and are referred to hereafter as hard-metal particles.
In the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,020, hard-metal particles suspended in an elecrodeposition bath are entrapped during electrodeposition of the matrix metal and fixed on the surface of the part by the electrolytically deposited matrix. This method has a disadvantage that the disposition of the particles in the matrix is uncontrolled, and particles can be introduced into the matrix metal only if they are relatively small and suspendable therein. Ultimately, the composition of the matrix with regard to the base metal cannot be optimized, for the reason that there are limits on the complex matrix compositions that can undergo electrodeposition.
Disclosed in German application Ser. No. P 42 41 420.2 is a method for first fixing the hard-metal particles on the part or substrate using a fused salt bath and then electrodepositing the metal matrix.
This method has the disadvantage that extremely critical process parameters must be maintained during electrodeposition to minimize the loss of hard-metal particles fixed by the salt, considering that the salt dissolves in the electrodeposition bath and the hard-metal particles must simultaneously be secured in position by the metal being deposited. Also, the matrix alloy composition usable in this method is extremely limited and not freely selectable.
Standard brazing or soldering methods cannot be utilized due to the unwettability of the hard-metal particles or by the relatively small contact surfaces between the hard-metal particles and the part or substrate surface, so that only a thin-film bond is achieved, while build-up of a metal matrix largely enveloping the hard-metal particles is not achieved. To fill the interstices with matrix metal, therefore, an additional process operation is needed that often is limited by the unwettability of the hard-metal particles or requires elevated fusion temperatures high enough to dissolve the solder layer.
With state-of-the-art compressors, difficulties are encountered especially when an attempt is made to hardface rotor blades of the last stages of the compressors, considering that the coating area available on the blade tips is relatively small compared to the turbine blades or blade tip surfaces at the earlier stages. Cap-shaped hardfacing on blade tips are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,020 and German application Ser. No. P 41 42 420.2, but these cannot be used on rotor blades in the last compressor stages. Another problem encountered is that the base material increasingly favored for the last compressor stages is titanium. Compared with Fe, Ni or Co-base alloys, titanium-base alloys have a greater tendency to crack. Accordingly, hard-metal particles introduced in layers on the tips of titanium-base alloy rotor blades often act as crack nuclei, or due to the necessary high-temperature heat treatment for the hardfacing operation, the metal structure of the rotor blades is unfavorably affected. Both effects appreciably impair the fatigue strength of the titanium-base alloy rotor blades with conventionally deposited hardfacing. This leads to premature airfoil failures in the last compressor stages and may ultimately render the engine inoperable.
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The dangers of standing on an airplane while the airplane is in flight are well known. However, because of the shortage of restrooms on board, it is often necessary for passengers to stand for quite sometime in the aisles while queuing to use the restroom. Standing in the aisle of a moving aircraft creates safety hazard and inconveniences for both the passenger and other people on board. For example, a standing passenger may fall and injure himself or other passengers when the airplane encounters turbulence in the air. Likewise, a passenger may lose a great deal of his valuable time or miss a significant portion of an entertainment program because of waiting to use a restroom.
Similar safety concerns also exist with restroom uses on a passenger train or boat.
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The world wide web (WWW) presents many commercial opportunities by presenting information to users to purchase goods and/or services. Tracking user behaviors or trends allows for such opportunities, and predicting a user's future actions can provide greater opportunities to relevant information.
Behavioral targeting uses information collected based on an individual user's online behavior. Such information can include web pages/websites the user has visited, or search queries the user has performed. In particular, such web pages/websites are selected to provide services and content to the individual user. It is desirable to build user behavior models that understand and differentiate between users.
There can be many benefits and uses of data gathered from a user behavior model. For example, if an advertiser understands which user will likely purchase its product, the advertiser can design a more focused advertisement campaign to target relevant users. As another example, if a content publisher knows what a user is going to be interested in the near future, the content publisher can recommend the appropriate web pages to satisfy the user's information need. As yet another example, if a search engine captures the user's online intent in advance, the search engine can not only address the user's search need, but can also facilitate and simplify the user's activities related to their current needs.
Traditional approaches may investigate on short-term, immediate or aggregated user behaviors, where user behaviors occurring at different times are aggregated together. Therefore, temporal information is lacking as to user behavior. If a user's future action can be predicted and identified in time or in advance, not only can the user's current need be satisfied, but the user's future online activities can be facilitated and simplified.
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1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to semiconductor devices, and more specifically, to static random access memory (SRAM) having an improved write operation.
2. Related Art
Static random access memories (SRAMs) are generally used in applications requiring high speed, such as memory in a data processing system. Each SRAM cell stores one bit of data and is implemented as a pair of cross-coupled inverters. The SRAM cell is only stable in one of two possible voltage levels. The logic state of the cell is determined by whichever of the two inverter outputs is a logic high, and can be made to change states by applying a voltage of sufficient magnitude and duration to the appropriate cell input. The stability of a SRAM cell is an important issue. The SRAM cell must be stable against transients, process variations, soft errors, and power supply fluctuations which may cause the cell to inadvertently change logic states. Also, the SRAM cell should ideally provide good stability during read operations without harming speed and write operations without harming the ability to write to the cell.
A two-port SRAM cell has write and read word lines. A read port of the SRAM cell may include a pair of series-connected MOS (metal-oxide semiconductor) transistors coupled between a power supply terminal and a read bit line. A gate of one transistor is coupled to a storage node of the cell and the gate of the other transistor is connected to the read word line. Using a separate read port in this manner provides the advantage of having little or no adverse effect on cell read stability or the read margin.
Low voltage operation is becoming more common for SRAM in portable applications. Today, power supply voltages for an active memory cycle may be in the range of one volt or less. Providing a low voltage SRAM with adequate write margins and with good read stability may be difficult and usually comes at the expense of lower read and write performance.
Therefore, there is a need for a SRAM having improved write margins at low power supply voltages without decreasing cell stability.
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Conventional disk array data storage systems have multiple storage disk drive devices that are arranged and coordinated to form a single mass storage system. The common design goals for mass storage systems include low cost per megabyte, high input/output performance, and high data availability. Data availability involves the ability to access data stored in the storage system while ensuring continued operation in the event of a disk or component failure. Data availability is often provided through the use of redundancy where data, or relationships among data, are stored in multiple locations in the storage system. In the event of disk failure, redundant data is retrieved from the operable portion of the system and used to regenerate the original data that is lost due to the component failure.
There are two common methods for storing redundant data on disk drives: mirrored and parity. In mirrored redundancy, the data being stored is duplicated and stored in two separate areas of the storage system that are the same size (an original data storage area and a redundant storage area). In parity redundancy, the original data is stored in an original data storage area and the redundant data is stored in a redundant storage area, but because the redundant data is only parity data the size of the redundant storage area is less than the size of the original data storage area.
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) storage systems are disk array systems in which part of the physical storage capacity is used to store redundant data. RAID systems are typically characterized as one of seven architectures or levels, enumerated under the acronym RAID. A RAID 0 architecture is a disk array system that is configured without any redundancy. Since this architecture is really not a redundant architecture, RAID 0 is often omitted from a discussion of RAID systems.
A RAID 1 architecture involves storage disks configured according to mirrored redundancy. Original data is stored on one set of disks and a duplicate copy of the data is kept on separate disks. The RAID 2 through RAID 6 architectures all involve parity-type redundant storage. Of particular interest, a RAID 5 architecture distributes data and parity information across all of the disks. Typically, the disks are divided into equally sized address areas referred to as “blocks”. A set of blocks from each disk that has the same unit address ranges are referred to as “stripes”. In RAID 5, each stripe has N blocks of data and one parity block which contains redundant information for the data in the N blocks.
In RAID 5, the parity block is cycled across different disks from stripe-to-stripe. For example, in a RAID 5 architecture having five disks, the parity block for the first stripe might be on the fifth disk; the parity block for the second stripe might be on the fourth disk; the parity block for the third stripe might be on the third disk; and so on. The parity block for succeeding stripes typically “precesses” around the disk drives in a helical pattern (although other patterns are possible). RAID 2 through RAID 4 architectures differ from RAID 5 in how they place the parity block on the disks.
A RAID 6 architecture is similar to RAID 4 and 5 in that data is striped, but is dissimilar in that it utilizes two independent and distinct parity values for the original data, referred to herein as P and Q. The P parity is commonly calculated using a bit by bit Exclusive OR function of corresponding data chunks in a stripe from all of the original data disks. This corresponds to a one equation, one unknown, sum of products calculation. On the other hand, the Q parity is calculated linearly independent of P and using a different algorithm for sum of products calculation. As a result, each parity value is calculated using an independent algorithm and each is stored on a separate disk. Consequently, a RAID 6 system can rebuild data (assuming rebuild space is available) even in the event of a failure of two separate disks in the stripe, whereas a RAID 5 system can rebuild data only in the event of no more than a single disk failure in the stripe.
Similar to RAID 5, a RAID 6 architecture distributes the two parity blocks across all of the data storage devices in the stripe. Thus, in a stripe of N+2 data storage devices, each stripe has N blocks of original data and two blocks of independent parity data. One of the blocks of parity data is stored in one of the N+2 data storage devices, and the other of the blocks of parity data is stored in another of the N+2 data storage devices. Similar to RAID 5, the parity blocks in RAID 6 are cycled across different disks from stripe-to-stripe. For example, in a RAID 6 system using five data storage devices in a given stripe, the parity blocks for the first stripe of blocks may be written to the fourth and fifth devices; the parity blocks for the second stripe of blocks may be written to the third and fourth devices; the parity blocks for the third stripe of blocks may be written to the second and third devices; etc. Typically, again, the location of the parity blocks for succeeding blocks shifts to the succeeding logical device in the stripe, although other patterns may be used.
A hierarchical data storage system permits data to be stored according to different techniques. In a hierarchical RAID system, data can be stored according to multiple RAID architectures, such as RAID 1 and RAID 5, to afford tradeoffs between the advantages and disadvantages of the redundancy techniques.
Additionally, a data storage system may permit data to be stored in multiple redundancy groups co-existing within the system. In a RAID system, each redundancy group is a set of disks in the RAID system that use the same RAID architecture (or RAID architectures for a hierarchical RAID system) to provide redundancy. By way of example, in a RAID system having a total of thirty disks, ten disks may be in a first redundancy group using one RAID architecture(s) (e.g., using RAID 1), another twelve disks may be in a second redundancy group using a second RAID architecture(s) (e.g., using RAID 1 and RAID 5), and the remaining eight disks may be in a third redundancy group using a third RAID architecture(s) (e.g., using RAID 1 and RAID 6).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,244 to Jacobson et al., entitled “Memory Systems with Data Storage Redundancy Management”, describes a hierarchical RAID system that enables data to be migrated from one RAID type to another RAID type as data storage conditions and space demands change. This patent, which is assigned to Hewlett-Packard Company, describes a multi-level RAID architecture in which physical storage space is mapped into a RAID-level virtual storage space having mirrored and parity RAID areas (e.g., RAID 1 and RAID 5). The RAID-level virtual storage space is then mapped into an application-level virtual storage space, which presents the storage space to the user as one large contiguously addressable space. During operation, as user storage demands change at the application-level virtual space, data can be migrated between the mirrored and parity RAID areas at the RAID-level virtual space to accommodate the changes. For instance, data once stored according to mirrored redundancy may be shifted and stored using parity redundancy, or vice versa. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,244 patent is hereby incorporated by reference to provide additional background information.
In the event that a disk in a RAID system fails the data in the array is “rebuilt”, a process which typically involves issuing multiple read and/or write requests to the disk array. Typically, the RAID system is also available for read and write requests from a host computer during this rebuilding process. Unfortunately, these host requests often require access to the same resources as are used by the rebuild requests, and therefore compete with the rebuild requests.
In some systems, such competition between host requests and rebuild requests are resolved by either always delaying the host requests in favor of the rebuild requests (which can result in situations where the data in the storage array is rebuilt more quickly and the performance of the system in responding to host requests is diminished even though the storage array is not close to permanently losing data) or always delaying the rebuild requests in favor of the host requests (which can result in situations where the performance of the system in responding to host requests is not diminished, but rebuilding data in the storage array can take a very long time even though the storage array is close to permanently losing data). A storage array is close to permanently losing data when, for example, failure of one more particular disk in the storage array would result in data loss.
The improvement of host I/O performance and availability of a storage array during rebuild by prioritizing I/O requests described below addresses these and other disadvantages.
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Recently, in a thin film transistor used in a liquid crystal display (LCD) and the like, a polysilicone film having a high carrier mobility is used as a channel layer. The polysilicone film in the thin film transistor is produced by forming an amorphous silicone over a glass substrate and annealing the amorphous silicone by irradiating a laser beam to the latter. An apparatus to anneal a substance by irradiating a laser beam to the latter is called “laser annealing apparatus”.
Conventionally, the laser annealing apparatus used in production of the thin film transistor employs, as the light source, the excimer laser which can emit a high power, ultraviolet-region laser beam. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the construction of a conventional laser annealing apparatus using the excimer laser as the light source.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional laser annealing apparatus generally indicated with a reference 200 includes a stage 202 on which a substrate 201 to be annealed is mounted, a laser source 203 which emits a laser beam, a telescope 204 which shapes the laser beam emitted from the laser source 203 into a parallel beam having a predetermined diameter, first and second fly-eye lenses 205 and 206 which split the laser beam coming from the telescope 204 into a plurality of beams and then condense them together into a group of point light sources, and a condenser lens 207 which multiplex the plurality of laser beams having coming from the second fly-eye lens 206 and irradiate them onto a predetermined area on the substrate 201.
In the above conventional laser annealing apparatus 200, a single laser beam is split by the first and second fly-eye lenses 205 and 206 into a plurality of secondary light sources, and a plurality of laser beams from the secondary light sources are irradiated to the predetermined area on the substrate 201. Generally, in case a single laser beam is irradiated as it is to the substrate 201, the intensity distribution will be a Gaussian distribution so that the substrate 201 cannot homogeneously be given the light energy. In the conventional laser annealing apparatus 200, however, the laser beam can be irradiated to the substrate 201 with the intensity thereof being homogeneously distributed by splitting the laser beam by the first and second fly-eye lenses 205 and 206 and then multiplexing the split beams together.
By making the laser annealing of the substrate 201 with the laser beam having the intensity thereof thus homogeneously distributed, the laser energy can be given homogeneously to the surface of the substrate 201 and a polysilicone film having a uniform particle size can be produced.
Note however that the excimer laser used as the light source in the conventional laser annealing apparatus is not easy to handle because the output is not stable. On this account, the light or laser source for use in the laser annealing apparatus should preferably be an ultraviolet-region solid-state or semiconductor laser or the like which can provide a stable laser beam energy and has a long life.
However, the laser beam emitted from such a solid-state or semiconductor laser is highly coherent as compared with a laser beam emitted from the excimer laser. Therefore, in case a solid-state or semiconductor laser is adopted as the laser source 203, the laser beams provided as the plurality of secondary light sources by splitting the single laser beam by the first and second fly-eye lenses 205 and 206 will interfere with each other when they are multiplexed and irradiated to the substrate 201. They will be coherent with each other to result in an interference fringe as shown in FIG. 2. Therefore, even in case the light source in the conventional laser annealing apparatus 200 is replaced with a highly coherent semiconductor or solid-state laser, the laser beam cannot be irradiated to the substrate 201 with the intensity thereof being homogeneously distributed and thus there cannot be produced any polysilicone film in which the particle size is uniform.
Also, in case the solid-state or semiconductor laser or the like is used as the light source in the laser annealing apparatus, only a single light source can hardly provide a sufficient power. On this account, for application of the solid-state or semiconductor laser as the laser source in the laser annealing apparatus, laser beams emitted from a plurality of sources may be multiplexed to produce a laser beam which has a high power and can be irradiated to a wide area. To form a polysilicone film, however, a substrate has to be annealed with a laser beam with a homogeneous intensity distribution in the beam diameter. If not, the crystal particle size will not be uniform and thus a thin film transistor thus produced from the polysilicone film will have no satisfactory characteristic.
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Many gas turbine fuel controls have heretofore been proposed. Among these and to some extent resembling the novel controllers disclosed herein in one or more respects are the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,697,909, issued Dec. 28, 1954, to Chandler; 2,796,733 issued June 25, 1957, to Pearl et al; 2,822,666 issued Feb. 11, 1958, to Best; 2,917,061 issued Dec. 15, 1959, to Longfellow; 2,941,601 issued June 21, 1960, to Best; 2,957,488 issued Oct. 25, 1960, to Farkas; 3,052,095 issued Sept. 4, 1962, to Prachar; 3,139,727 issued July 7, 1964, to Torell; 3,156,291 issued Nov. 10, 1964, to Cornell; 3,164,161 issued Jan. 5, 1965, to Tyler; 3,427,804 issued Feb. 18, 1969, to Lawrence; 3,469,397 issued Sept. 30, 1969, to Parker; 3,492,814 issued Feb. 3, 1970, to Urban; 3,606,754 issued Sept. 21, 1971, to White; 3,712,055 issued Jan. 23, 1973, to McCabe; 3,878,676 issued Apr. 22, 1975, to Hitzelberger; 3,879,936 issued Apr. 29, 1975, to Stoltman; and 3,939,649 issued Feb. 24, 1976, to McCabe.
The novel liquid fuel controllers disclosed herein are nonetheless unique and possess a combination of advantages not available in any heretofore proposed liquid fuel controller of which we are aware.
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The present invention relates, in general, to printed circuit board manufacturing. In particular, the present invention relates to methods and systems for manufacturing high-density printed circuit boards with increased numbers of test points.
Current electronic product manufacturing technology includes the fabrication of a printed circuit board (xe2x80x9cPCBxe2x80x9d), the soldering of electronic components to the PCB, and the electrical testing of the completed PCB. One technique used in the above-summarized process involves the use of xe2x80x9ctest pointsxe2x80x9d. At various locations on the PCB, conductive pads (i.e., test points) are disposed, and connected to predetermined circuitry. After the PCB has been populated with components, electrical contact is made to the test points and appropriate testing is performed. As the number of test points is increased, more precise diagnostics can be performed, such that more efficient diagnostics and repair are facilitated.
The advent of higher density electronic packaging techniques, taken in connection with the decrease in size of PCBs, have made the above-described testing difficult. For example, Personal Computer Memory Common Interface Architecture (xe2x80x9cPCMCIAxe2x80x9d) circuit cards use small, densely populated PCBs. Due to the complexity of these cards, many test points are required to fully facilitate testing. However, due to the small size and high parts density of these cards, locating free space to accommodate sufficient numbers of test points is difficult.
In particular, a PCMCIA PCB may be densely populated on one or both sides thereof. Little space is left on the board for test points. Furthermore, even if some test points could be allocated, they may be positioned such that automated test equipment can not reliably contact them. Even further, PCMCIA PCBs are thin (18-21 mils), and require mechanical support under any test points. Without mechanical support, electrical test probes might flex or penetrate the PCBs, ruining them. Unfortunately, the high densities of PCMCIA PCBs complicate mechanically supporting them during testing.
In view of the above, the testing and repair of PCMCIA PCBs are impaired. For example, testing using reduced numbers of test points does not produce very precise localization of malfunctioning aspects of the populated PCB. Further diagnostics, usually performed manually, are therefore necessary. Substantial expense is thus incurred in diagnosing and repairing these PCBs. Often, malfunctioning boards are simply discarded due to the high repair cost. Therefore, the lack of adequate numbers of test points on PCMCIA PCBs directly increases product costs.
The present invention is directed toward a solution to the above-noted problem.
In a first aspect, the present invention includes a method for manufacturing a printed circuit board (xe2x80x9cPCBxe2x80x9d). The method includes providing the PCB having a main area and an auxiliary area. The main area has at least one electronic component disposed thereon and the auxiliary area has at least one test point disposed thereon. The PCB is tested by electrically contacting the at least one test point. Thereafter, the auxiliary area is removed from the PCB.
As an enhancement, after the testing, the PCB may be repaired as a function of the testing. Further, testing and repair may be repeated until a desired level of functionality is achieved. During the testing, the PCB may be mechanically supported on a side opposite the at least one test point.
As a further enhancement, the auxiliary area may be removed by a cutting process using, e.g., a router, a laser or a water knife. Thereafter, at least one edge of the PCB created by said removing may be sealed using, e.g., a conformal insulative coating.
In another embodiment, the main area of the PCB corresponds to a PCMCIA PCB.
In yet another embodiment, the present invention includes a PCB having a main area and an auxiliary area. The main area is adapted to received at least one electronic component and the auxiliary area has at least one test point disposed thereon. The auxiliary area is contiguous with the main area and is removable therefrom by cutting. Further, the PCB includes at least one metallic trace disposed between and electrically contacting the at least one electronic component and the at least one test point for facilitating testing of the at least one electronic component by contacting the at least one test point.
As an enhancement, the PCB may include an internal wiring layer containing the at least one metallic trace. Further the PCB may have a thickness of less than 25 mils and the main area may be a PCMCIA PCB.
The present invention has many advantages and features associated with it. High testing visibility is provided to the circuitry of the populated PCB thereby enabling thorough testing. More efficient diagnosis and repair is facilitated thereby, and yields are therefore increased. Also, the use of test points in the auxiliary area allows for denser PCBs since no space is required in the main area for test points or mechanical stabilizers. Further, mechanical stress related PCB damage due to xe2x80x9cmain areaxe2x80x9d testing is reduced (e.g., solder joint cracking). Moreover, revisions to the PCB can be made without having to redesign a test fixture, thereby expediting time-to-market for new designs and lowering overall costs. Also, similar PCBs can be testing using a same test fixture; therefore, less test fixtures are needed, again lowering costs. In short, the techniques of the present invention advance the art of printed circuit board based product manufacturing.
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Software containers have emerged as an efficient and scalable way to deliver packaged software application code for execution in an isolated environment—also known as operating system virtualization. Typically, a software container is deployed for execution as an independent process running on a server infrastructure (e.g., cloud environment). Each software container includes software elements such as code, runtime, system tools, settings, libraries and the like that enable execution of the underlying application. Examples of currently-available software container projects include Docker™, Open Container Initiative (OCI), and Amazon™ EC2 Containers. These types of cloud-based systems provide fast, horizontal scaling of multiple instances of an application—including the on-the-fly creation of new instances or containers—that can work as a logical unit to ensure availability of the application to end users, especially during periods of increased demand.
In some cases, these cloud-based software applications utilize more traditional backend resources, such as mainframe databases and other services—often in a shared approach, in that multiple instances of a cloud-based software application, or multiple different cloud-based software applications, may rely on the same backend resource. Generally, these types of backend resources—particularly mainframes—operate using a vertical scaling approach, in that additional resources such as CPU, memory and/or disk space are added in order to satisfy expected or sudden increases in demand for resources. However, backend environments are typically static—there are a fixed number of computing devices available to service the application environment, and once the resources of these computing devices have been maximized, additional load from the application environment results in decreased performance and even interruptions in availability of the applications.
Computing environments that comprise a mix of horizontal scaling in the front end and vertical scaling in the back end present some significant technical challenges. As noted above, cloud-based application environments can create a variable number of instances to service end-user demand, and each instance can have its own connection to backend services and data sources as well as each instance managing its own connection management system. Conversely, backend environments generally have a fixed number of computing devices, each of which also has its own connection management. Also, cloud-based application environments generally scale without knowledge of resource availability or resource impact on a shared backend environment—this can be problematic because, while the backend can scale, the computing devices and their hardware resources are eventually finite. In addition, many or all applications and services in the cloud-based application environment can use the same backend resources, while the backend environment is typically not configured to react quickly or adeptly in response to competing demands for scaling from the front end. Finally, scaling decisions on each side—both front-end and back-end—are made locally, which can result in conflicts and unsynchronized scaling.
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Systems that provide chat within a virtual space are known. Typically, in those systems, chat may be provided to facilitate textual communications between users in the virtual space. Systems that enable users to provide assistance to other users through game interfaces are also know. In those systems, controls may be provided in game interfaces for a user to provide assistance to another user in the game. Typically, through such controls, the user is required to take multiple steps to provide assistance. For example, a user may transport troops to another user by selecting a location controlled by another player (e.g., a city) in a game interface, specifying types and/or amount of troops to be transported to that location in a settings interface, and initiating execution of the specified troop transportation in the game. However, in those systems, a user may not proactively provide executable assistance request to other users.
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Some conventional drink bottles or containers that house water or other potable beverages may include a lid. Lids may include various spouts, nozzles, or openings to fit, for example, a tube or straw that allows users to consume or drink liquids contained within the bottle without removing the lid.
Generally, containers (e.g., sports containers) include a cap that has a mechanism for opening and closing the cap to selectively control when fluid can enter and/or exit the container (e.g., a screw on cap, a flip cap, etc.). Generally, to access the fluid within the container, a spout must be moved relative to or removed from a lid of the container so that a fluid path into the container can be accessed. However, such access, at times, can prove difficult if the spout is fixed too tightly to the lid. Additionally, constantly touching the spout can be unsanitary, since after touching the spout, the spout often comes into contact with a person's mouth. Accordingly, solutions for providing improved lids are needed.
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Fluorescence microscopy is often used in the fields of molecular biology, biochemistry and other life sciences for analyzing biological molecules, including nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) and proteins (enzymes, antigens, etc.) that have been tagged or labeled with fluorescent probes. One such use is DNA diagnostics, such as for gene detection, in which a DNA sample is deposited on and bound to a glass substrate by means of a chemical binding agent, such as an aminosilane, present on the substrate surface, and a reagent, such as a carbodiimide vapor. The bound DNA on the substrate can then be imaged by fluorescence. The fluorescence of a sample was originally assessed by visual inspection through a conventional microscope, but this manual method has proved time-consuming and costly. Many different high-speed automated fluorescence imaging systems are now available.
An important figure of merit for fluorescence detection and measurement instruments is sensitivity, which is primarily determined by the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the optical imaging system of the instrument. A well-designed imaging system has a signal-to-noise ratio that is limited by its light collection ability and not by internal noise sources. The theoretical SNR of such a system is expressed in terms of the number of photoelectrons at the cathode when using a photomultiplier tube (PMT), which in turn essentially depends upon the number of photons that reach the detector from the area of interest on the sample substrate, the quantum efficiency of the detector, and the number of dark electrons generated by the detector. EQU SNR=S/[S+2B].sup.1/2,
where B is the total background noise and S is the measured signal less B. One obvious approach to increasing SNR, and thereby improving sensitivity, is to reduce background noise. Sources of background noise include specular or diffuse reflection of the fluorescence-stimulating laser light from the sample, autofluorescence of the substrate holding the sample, autofluorescence from the optics in the light path of the optical imaging system, stray light, and dark current of the detector. Stray light reaching the detector can be significantly reduced by proper size and placement of apertures in the imaging system. Both stray light and much of the reflected laser light can be rejected, while passing the fluorescent light, by using dichroic and other spectral filters and beamsplitters in the system. Autofluorescence of the optical elements can be reduced by avoiding use of lens cements in the light path, using glass instead of polymeric lenses, or using curved mirrors instead of lenses wherever possible. Autofluorescence of the substrate can be reduced by using low fluorescence materials, such as an ultrathin or opaque glass substrate. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,213 Strongin discloses a plastic slide that is rendered opaque and substantially nonfluorescent with a quantity of black carbon powder in the plastic. Another way of handling autofluorescence is to use a pulsed or modulated excitation and to take advantage of the differences in emission decay rates between background fluorescence and specimen fluorescence, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,877,965 to Dandiker et al. and 5,091,653 to Creager et al.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,272, Bogart discloses an assay system and method for detecting the presence or amount of an analyte of interest. It includes a test substrate with an optically active surface that enhances the color contrast, i.e. differences in the observed wavelength (or combination of wavelengths) of light from the surface, between the presence and absence of the analyte in a sample applied onto the test substrate. In particular, the substrate may comprise a reflective solid optical support, such as a silicon wafer or metallic (e.g., aluminum) base, with an optical thin film coating thereon. The coating may comprise several layers, including for example an attachment layer on the upper surface of the support, and a receptive layer on the upper surface of the attachment layer containing a specific binding partner for the analyte of interest. The total coating thickness is selected to cause incident light to undergo thin film interference upon reflection, such that a specific color is produced. Specifically, the coating material(s) should have an overall thickness of a quarterwave of the unwanted color to be attenuated so that destructive interference of that color will occur. The substrate therefore has a particular background color, which can then be used as a comparative reference against a different observed color when an analyte of interest is present. Both qualitative visual inspection and quantitative instrumented measurement are suggested. Polarization contrast by means of an ellipsometer is also suggested.
One example of the use to which the Bogart invention has been put by Biostar, Inc. of Boulder, Colo., the assignee of the aforementioned patent, is an optical immunoassay (OIA) diagnostic screening test for the rapid detection (in under 30 minutes) of the presence of specific antigens of infectious pathogens n a sample taken from a patient. Commercial products include test kits for group A and group B streptococci and for chlamydia trachomatis. These particular assays are given as examples in the Bogart patent, are described in package inserts for the corresponding Biostar products and are also described in a number of published articles in medical journals. Briefly, they all rely on direct visual detection of a change in the color of light reflection off of the test substrate due to a physical change in the optical thickness of a molecular thin film coating on the substrate surface which results from binding reactions between an immobilized antibody on the test surface and a specific antigen that may be present in a drop of sample liquid applied to the test surface. The original bare test surface has a thin film thickness that results in a predominant visual background gold color when white light is reflected off of the surface. The antigen-antibody binding reaction that occurs when the specific antigen of interest is present in the applied sample results in an increase in the thin film thickness that causes a corresponding change in the color of the test surface from gold to purple. If on the other hand, the antigen is not present in the sample, no binding takes place, the original thin film thickness remains unchanged and the test surface retains its original gold color, indicating a negative result. This diagnostic assay tool is very sensitive and easily interpreted.
Bogart further discloses, in another embodiment of his invention (FIG. 17 of the aforementioned patent), the use of these substrates for enhanced fluorescence detection. After the analyte of interest has been bound to the surface by reaction with the specific binding partner in the receptive layer of the substrate coating, fluorescent label molecules may be attached to the analyte. In particular, the fluorescent molecules may be attached to any suitably selective and specific receptive material or reagent, such as a secondary antibody, and applied to the surface. The fluorescent labels are thus bound to the analyte of interest on the surface, if present, and immobilized to the surface through the analyte bridge. Directing light of an excitation wavelength onto the surface stimulates fluorescence of any of the label bound to the surface, thereby revealing the presence of the analyte of interest. Because the maximum fluorescence wavelength may not be shifted far enough from the excitation wavelength to be distinguished, the reflective substrate may have an antireflection layer whose thickness is selected to suppress reflection of the excitation wavelength, thereby reducing the background noise reaching the detector. Bogart states that the fluorescent signal generation is not dependent on the film thickness.
Even if the background noise is minimized (and even if the substrate is constructed so that the reflected or fluorescent sample signal stands out more clearly against the substrate's background by way of contrast), the maximum possible signal-to-noise ratio (SNR.sub.max) is still limited to: SNR.sub.max =S.sup.1/2. Though the fluorescence signal S might be increased by increasing the output power of the laser, reflected laser noise will also increase, with possibly little improvement in the resulting SNR.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved sample substrate which provides increased sample excitation and fluorescence emission.
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1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an optical part mounting structure for mounting an optical part that includes a light-modulating device that modulates a colored light beam in accordance with image information, and a prism that synthesizes the colored light beam modulated by the light-modulating device, integrally formed, to a mounting portion of a housing through a mounting member. The invention also relates to a projector using this mounting structure.
2. Description of Related Art
A related art three-plate-type projector projects a color image in enlarged form through a projection lens by separating light beams emitted from a light source into light beams of three different colors, RGB, using a dichroic mirror, by modulating each colored light beam using three liquid crystal panels in accordance with image information, and by synthesizing the modulated light beams using a cross dichroic prism.
In order for such a projector to provide a clearer projected image, it is necessary to prevent pixel shifts between each liquid crystal panel and deviation in distance from the projection lens. Therefore, in producing such a projector, the three-dimensional position of each of the liquid crystal panels with respect to the cross dichroic prism must be adjusted with high precision.
For this reason, in the related art, the three liquid crystal panels with the positions thereof adjusted with high precision and the cross dichroic prism have been handled as an integrally formed optical part, and this integrally formed optical part has been mounted to a light guide serving as a housing.
As the mounting structure for this case, a structure has been used in which a mounting member that is cross-shaped in plan view is previously mounted to the lower surface of the cross dichroic prism by, for example, bonding, and the mounting member is mounted to the bottom surface of the light guide by, for example, screwing; that is, a structure in which the entire optical part is mounted to the bottom surface inside the housing through this mounting member.
However, when some defects occur in the liquid crystal panels of the projector which has been shipped/sold as a product, for some reason, such as excessively harsh use thereof, the liquid crystal panels need to be replaced. Accordingly, the projector that is adjusted as described above is brought to, for example, a plant, and the entire optical part is pulled out from the light guide in order to replace it with a new optical part that has the positions of its liquid crystal panels and the cross dichroic prism adjusted with respect to each other.
However, in order to pull out the optical part from the light guide, it is necessary to loosen and remove the screw that is screwed to the bottom surface of the light guide, for example, with a driver. Therefore, the driver inserted to the bottom side may contact other optical parts, such as a lens that is inside of the light guide, so that the replacement operation must be performed with sufficient care, thereby making the operation troublesome.
The cross-shaped mounting member mounted to the lower surface of the cross dichroic prism is such that its screwed portion in plan view extends outwardly from the optical part. Therefore, when pulling out the optical part, the extending portion of the mounting member may also contact other optical parts, so that operation efficiency is further reduced during the replacement.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical part mounting structure which makes it possible to easily replace an optical part including a light-modulating device and a prism. It is also an object of the invention to provide a projector utilizing such a mounting structure.
The present invention provides an optical part mounting structure to mount an optical part that includes a light-modulating device that modulates a colored light beam in accordance with image information, and a prism that synthesizes the colored light beam modulated by the light-modulating device, integrally provided, to mounting portions of a housing through a mounting member. The mounting member is removable along with the optical part from the housing and mounted to the mounting portions of the housing at a location situated forwardly of the optical part in a mounting and removing direction.
In such an invention, the mounting member that mounts the optical part including a light-modulating device and a prism is mounted at mounting portions situated forwardly of the optical part in the mounting and removing direction (the side closer to a person replacing the optical part), that is, at a location close to a surface of the housing. Therefore, for example, when the mounting member is screwed, in order to loosen and/or remove the screw, it is not necessary to insert a tool, such as a driver, to the inside of the housing, so that the problem does not arise in that the tool may come into contact with other optical parts inside the housing.
In addition, since the mounting member is provided forwardly of the optical part, when pulling out the optical part from the housing, the mounting member will not contact other optical parts inside the housing.
Therefore, during the operation, the tool and mounting member do not interfere with other optical parts, so that the replacement operation becomes easy to perform, thereby addressing or achieving the object of the present invention.
In the optical part mounting structure of the present invention, it is preferred that the light-modulating device be secured to a side surface of the prism through a fixing plate with a gap to circulate cooling air formed between the light-modulating device and the fixing plate, the mounting member be secured to an end surface of the prism that is perpendicular to the side surface, and a side edge of the fixing plate situated at a side opposite to the side where the mounting member is provided extend so as to be close to an inside surface of the housing and be disposed along a peripheral edge of a cooling air circulation opening provided in the housing.
In this structure, since a side edge of the fixing plate is disposed close-by and extends along the cooling air circulation opening, the cooling air that passes through the opening is guided to the extending portion of the fixing plate and passes through the gap between the light-modulating device and the fixing plate, so that cooling efficiency, in particular, at a light-exiting surface side of the light-modulating device is increased.
In the optical part mounting structure of the present invention, it is preferred that the mounting portions of the housing be provided at a plurality of corresponding bosses formed at the housing, and that, among these bosses, a boss disposed at a side of the projection lens that projects an image have a head to secure a projection lens integrally formed therewith, and another boss have a holding portion to hold a different optical part integrally formed therewith.
Since the projection lens is heavier than other optical parts, the head that secures the projection lens is thick in order to provide strength. When such a head is formed at the housing, the housing is prevented from being reduced in size because it has a thick portion. In addition, the holding portion that holds a different optical part inside the housing is required to have a predetermined strength in order not to get easily deformed or damaged when the (different) optical part is mounted, so that the holding portion may become thick, thereby preventing size reduction of the housing.
In contrast to this, in the present invention, such a head and a holding portion are integrally formed with a boss, and are reinforced, so that the housing has sufficient strength without forming them extremely thick, thereby promoting the size reduction of the housing.
In the optical part mounting structure of the present invention, it is preferred that a light-incident-side end portion of the projection lens pass through the head and project towards the optical part, and that a mounting portion at the boss formed integrally with the head be positioned on both sides of the projection lens in a radial direction thereof, and be provided forwardly of a center axis of the projection lens in the mounting and removing direction.
In such a structure, the mounting member mounted to the mounting portion and an end portion of the projection lens projecting from the head do not interfere with each other, so that the strength of the mounting member can be enhanced by increasing its size, thereby making it possible to increase the supporting strength of the optical part.
In addition, by causing an end portion of the projection lens to project from the head, the projection lens and the prism are disposed closer to each other. Therefore, when the resolution is the same, the projected image becomes brighter. On the contrary, when the brightness is the same, the resolution is increased. Further, it is possible to decrease the projection distance.
The present invention provides a projector including a plurality of light-modulating devices, each of which modulates corresponding one of a plurality of colored light beams in accordance with image information; a prism which synthesizes the colored light beams each modulated by corresponding one of the light-modulating devices; a projection optical system which forms a projected image by enlarging and projecting the colored light beams synthesized by the prism; and a housing that mounts an optical part including the light-modulating devices and the prism. The projector further includes any one of the above-described optical part mounting structures.
According to this present invention, by providing any one of the optical part mounting structures in the projector, as described above, the object of the present invention is addressed or achieved, and the other operational advantages described above are similarly obtained.
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It is known that organic and polymeric materials wit large delocalized .pi.-electron systems can exhibit nonlinear optical response, which in many cases is a much larger response than by inorganic substrates.
In addition, the properties of organic and polymeric materials can be varied to optimize other desirable properties, such as mechanical and thermoxidative stability and high laser damage threshold, with preservation of the electronic interactions responsible for nonlinear optical effects.
Thin films of organic or polymeric materials with large second-order nonlinearities in combination with silicon-based electronic circuitry have potential as systems for laser modulation and deflection, information control in optical circuitry, and the like.
Other novel processes occurring through third-order nonlinearity such as degenerate four-wave mixing, whereby real-time processing of optical fields occurs, have potential utility in such diverse fields as optical communications and integrated circuit fabrication.
Nonlinear optical properties of organic and polymeric materials was the subject of a symposium sponsored by the ACS division of Polymer Chemistry at the 18th meeting of the American Chemical Society, Sept. 1982. Papers presented at the meeting are published in ACS Symposium Series 233, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C. 1983; incorporated herein by reference.
Of related interest with respect to the present invention is the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,508, which describes optically transparent organic solid solutions which exhibit nonlinear optical response; incorporated herein by reference.
There is continuing research effort to develop new nonlinear optical systems for prospective novel phenomena and devices adapted for laser frequency conversion, information control in optical circuitry, light valves and optical switches. The potential utility of organic materials with large second-order and third-order nonlinearities for very high frequency application contrasts with the bandwidth limitations of conventional inorganic electrooptic materials.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide novel nonlinear optical media.
It is another object of this invention to provide process embodiments for producing novel nonlinear optical media.
It is another object of this invention to provide a transparent optical medium which is a composite of a microporous inorganic oxide glass and an incorporated organic solid solution containing an organic compound which exhibits nonlinear optical response.
It is a further object of this invention to provide optical devices which contain a novel nonlinear optical element.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention shall become apparent from the accompanying description and examples
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to forming a FET (Field Effect Transistor), and more particularly to a method of protecting the gate electrode of the FET from implants of unwanted impurities during implantation of regions of the FET. The FET is a Metal Insulator Semiconductor FET (MISFET) such as a Metal Oxide Semiconductor FET (MOSFET) where the insulator is an oxide and the xe2x80x9cMetalxe2x80x9d is a conductor such as doped polysilicon or a metal conductor.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,784 of Cheung et al. for xe2x80x9cTransistor Fabrication Methodxe2x80x9d describes forming an anti-channeling hard mask in the form of an anti-channeling monolayer or a bilayer of doped silicon dioxide (BPSG or PSG), silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride between 100 xc3x85 and 4000 xc3x85 above a gate electrode stack, with no sidewall spacers having been formed when shallow junctions are being formed in the substrate. The anti-channeling hard mask can comprise a bilayer of undoped silicon oxide covered with doped silicon oxide or covered with silicon nitride. Alternatively an anti-channeling hard mask layer of doped silicon oxide may be progressively doped more heavily from bottom to top. The purpose is to prevent penetration of dopants through the gate electrode into the channel without protecting the gate electrode from the implanted dopant.
European patent application No. EP 0 771 021 of Chittipeddi et al. for xe2x80x9cTransistor Fabrication Methodxe2x80x9d describes covering the gate electrode with a protective layer before ion implantation to prevent channeling. A protective oxide layer is formed on both the gate electrode stack and the substrate, but it is thicker on the gate electrode stack than on the substrate. The process uses differential oxidation to create a thicker silicon oxide layer on top of the polysilicon than on the underlying silicon to block implants from reaching the gate electrode, but will block them from reaching the extension also.
JP8097421A of Hiroshi et al for xe2x80x9cManufacture of Semiconductor Devicexe2x80x9d is directed to preventing the substrate of a device from being damaged during RIE, by performing a partial RIE after deposition of a silicon oxide spacer, implanting S/D and etching the rest of the silicon oxide. That process will not block the S/D implants from reaching the gate electrode.
U.S. patent application publication No. 2001/0011756 A1 of Yu for xe2x80x9cMethod for Forming Shallow Source/Drain Extension for MOS Transistorxe2x80x9d performs implantation of an amorphization substance such as silicon or germanium into the substrate to form source and drain extensions under the gate in a process using a silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) hard mask to prevent implantation of the gate. Then after the amorphization step, sidewall spacers are formed alongside the gate electrode. Next, dopant is implanted into the substrate to form S/D with the hard mask protecting the gate electrode using the silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) hard mask again, to prevent implantation of the gate.
JP10-189959A of Horiuchi Katsutada for xe2x80x9cSemiconductor Devicexe2x80x9d describes use of a hard mask and the gate electrode itself to block Arsenic (As) from reaching the substrate to prevent the substrate floating effect. Subsequently, there is a step of vertical ion implantation of Argon (Ar) followed by heat treatment to create a crystal defect region of polycrystals at the interface with an insulating film. The substrate floating effect can exist in an SOI-MOS structure in which a MOS transistor is formed on an insulating substrate or film in which the substrate region of the MOS transistor is floated. As the drain voltage rises, holes among pairs of electrons and holes generated by the impact ionization of channel carriers stay in the substrate region and bias the substrate region positive which causes the threshold voltage to drop, so the drain currents increase suddenly, rendering the potential of the substrate region of the SOI-MOS transistor unstable. This instability is referred to as the xe2x80x9csubstrate floating effectxe2x80x9d. In addition, ionization is generated near the end portion of the drain region due to a small amount of the leakage current between the and drain.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,188 of Murtaza et al for xe2x80x9cCMP-Free Disposable Gate Processxe2x80x9d describes a disposable gate process which avoid use of Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP). A High Density Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (HDP-CVD) field dielectric composed of silicon oxide blocks implants from reaching S/D while leaving portions of the disposable gate exposed. The disposable gate is removed and then the gate electrode is deposited subsequently.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,118,161 of Chapman et al. for xe2x80x9cSelf-Aligned Trenched-Channel Lateral-Current-Flow Transistorxe2x80x9d describes a disposable gate process in which source/drain (S/D) regions xe2x80x9cmay be implanted using the disposable gate as an implant block . . . xe2x80x9d Later the disposable gate is completely removed.
R. B. Fair, xe2x80x9cModeling Boron Diffusion in Ultrathin Nitrided Oxide p+Si Gate Technologyxe2x80x9d, IEEE Electron Device Lett., 18, 244 (1997) discusses thin gate dielectric materials, i.e. nitrided oxide films and the effects of fluorine and boron thereon.
M. Navi, and S. T. Dunham, Investigation of Boron Penetration Through Thin Gate Dielectrics Including Role of Nitrogen and Fluorinexe2x80x9d J. Electrochem. Soc., 145, 2545 (1998).
The extension and source drain implants which also get implanted into the gate can cause problems for MIS/MOS devices. Thus, it is desirable to completely uncouple the gate implants from the extension and source drain implants of an FET device. For example, for a PFET, the extension implant regions and the source/drain implant regions can contain boron difluoride (BF2.) Boron difluoride (BF2) is amorphizing at the doses used in extension or S/D formation. Therefore the channeling of boron is reduced during a BF2 implant. Boron diffusion is also suppressed during subsequent anneals because of the presence of fluorine in the extension implant regions and the source/drain implant regions. Therefore, it is easier to get ultra-shallow junctions with BF2 than with boron alone. However, as the unwanted presence of fluorine in the gate electrode increases, there is an increasing problem of diffusion of extra fluorine from the BF2 implant passing from the gate electrode through the gate dielectric into the underlying channel region. The extra fluorine from the BF2 implant in the channel region is detrimental to MIS/MOS devices. It is well known that incorporation of fluorine into gate dielectric layers enhances boron diffusion in a process referred to as xe2x80x9cboron penetrationxe2x80x9d. Boron penetration compromises the characteristics of gate dielectric layers and adversely affects the characteristics of the devices in which the condition of boron penetration exists. This is especially a big problem with ultra-thin silicon oxides (15 xc3x85) and high-k_dielectrics that are currently being developed in the semiconductor industry. Accordingly, there is a need to protect the gate electrode from fluorine containing implants to prevent penetration thereof through the gate dielectric reaching the channel region (therebelow) in the substrate of the FET device.
Sometimes it is desirable to implant the S/D and/or extension region with a diffusion retarding species/element such as carbon in order to obtain ultra-shallow junctions. However, if carbon is introduced into a polysilicon gate electrode, dopant diffusion in the gate electrode can be suppressed. If the dopant does not diffuse to the bottom of the gate electrode, the resulting polysilicon depletion will be detrimental to the performance of the MOS device. For optimal device design, a polysilicon gate electrode must be protected from diffusion retarding species.
A polysilicon gate electrode is usually doped heavily to increase the polysilicon activation and minimize polysilicon depletion effects. If the S/D implant is also implanted into a polysilicon gate electrode, the dopant concentration reach a high enough concentration to affect silicidation on the gate electrode adversely. Proper silicide formation is extremely important in obtaining low resistance polycide gate electrodes and reducing the problem of propagation delay. Thus, it is desirable to protect a polysilicon gate electrode from the S/D implant to get good silicide formation.
Integrating metal gates into a CMOS process has gained much interest lately because of the complete elimination of the polysilicon depletion effects and therefore decreasing the electrical thickness of the gate dielectric inversion layer thickness (tinv) Wolf xe2x80x9cSilicon Processing for the VLSI Era, Vol. 3, pp. 150-151 Lattice Press (1995). If a metal gate is formed before S/D or extension implants, it will be necessary to protect the metal from implants so that the structural integrity and the electrical properties of the metal will not be affected adversely.
The present invention solves the problem of protecting the gate from harmful extension and S/D implants. This is extremely important for advanced logic technologies. In order to obtain ultra-shallow junctions and ultra-sharp halos, these technologies require implants that contain carbon and fluorine. To solve the problem of preventing species such as carbon and fluorine (which comprise unwanted impurities in the gate electrode) from being introduced into the gate electrode, the present invention provides a way to block implants of carbon and fluorine into the gate electrode, whether it is formed of either doped polysilicon or metal.
In the prior art, as can be seen from the above description of the art, use of a hard mask to create a implant block layer is a very well known technique. The process of the present invention is different from the hard mask process.
The process of the present invention has four major advantages:
1) The process of the present invention can be performed at any point during the CMOS process flow. The hard mask process can be performed only during gate electrode patterning. Therefore the hard mask film is subject to other processes that can harm the hard mask before it can be employed as an implant block layer.
2) The process of the present invention can be repeated many times during the CMOS process flow whereas the hard mask process can be performed only once.
3) The process of the present invention is performed after the gate electrode patterning. The hard mask process is performed during gate electrode patterning. The hard mask film is usually chosen to minimize the Critical Dimension (CD) of lithography and to minimize the CD variation across the wafer. That restricts the type of film that can be used as a hard mask or as a implant block layer (usually just oxide). In the process of the present invention, any planar film can be used, e.g. ARC, a spin-on dielectric polymer (e.g SiLK semiconductor dielectric, the Dow Chemical Co. which is an aromatic hydrocarbon thermosetting polymer), silicon oxide, etc.
4) The process of the present invention can use organic films as an implant block layer, which can be very selectively removed with respect to silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and silicon. On the other hand, a hard mask process cannot use organic films as an implant block layer since these films are thermally unstable.
In accordance with this invention, a method is provided for the manufacture of a Metal Insulator Field Effect Transistor (MISFET) or a Metal Oxide Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) by blocking implants from the gate electrode stack of a gate dielectric and a gate electrode of an FET device by the following steps. Form a first planarizing film covers the substrate and the gate electrode stack. Planarize the first planarizing layer by polishing until the upper surface of the gate electrode is exposed. Etch back the gate electrode below the level of the upper surface of the first planarizing film. Deposit a second planarizing film on top of the gate electrode and the first planarizing film. Polish the second planarizing film down to a level which exposes the first planarizing film while leaving a substantial thickness of the second planarizing film to form a cap comprising an implantation block covering the top surface of the gate electrode. Selectively remove the first planarizing film to open access for implantation into lateral regions in the surface of the substrate aside from the gate electrode stack whereby the counterdoped regions can be formed. Form the counterdoped regions by implanting dopant into the substrate using the implantation block to block implantation of the dopant into the gate electrode. The implantation block formed from the second planarizing film protects the gate electrode of the FET device from unwanted implanted impurities during implanting of the counterdoped regions. The first planarizing film is composed of a material selected from the group consisting of HDP (high density plasma) silicon oxide and HDP silicon nitride, an interlevel-dielectric layer material including ONO (silicon Oxide/silicon Nitride/silicon Oxide), and photoresist. The gate electrode is composed of a material selected from the group consisting of polysilicon and metal. The second planarizing film is composed of a material selected from the group consisting of HDP silicon oxide, HDP silicon nitride, and an organic layer including ARCs (Anti-Reflective Coatings). The second planarizing film is composed of a material different from the first planarizing film.
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One method of transmitting data and other signals is by using twisted pairs. A twisted pair includes at least one pair of insulated conductors twisted about one another to form a two conductor pair. A number of methods known in the art may be employed to arrange and configure the twisted pairs into various high-performance transmission cable arrangements. Once the twisted pairs are configured into the desired “core,” a plastic jacket is typically extruded over them to maintain their configuration and to function as a protective layer. When more than one twisted pair group is bundled together, the combination is referred to as a multi-pair cable.
In cabling arrangements where the conductors within the wires of the twisted pairs are stranded, two different, but interactive sets of twists can be present in the cable configuration. First, there is the twist of the wires that make up the twisted pair. Second, within each individual wire of the twisted pair, there is the twist of the wire strands that form the conductor. Taken in combination, both sets of twists have an interrelated effect on the data signal being transmitted through the twisted pairs.
With multi-pair cables, the signals generated at one end of the cable should ideally arrive at the same time at the opposite end even if they travel along different twisted pair wires. Measured in nanoseconds, the timing difference in signal transmissions between the twisted wire pairs within a cable in response to a generated signal is commonly referred to as “delay skew.” Problems arise when the delay skew of the signal transmitted by one twisted pair and another is too large and the device receiving the signal is not able to properly reassemble the signal. Such a delay skew results in transmission errors or lost data.
Moreover, as the throughput of data is increased in high-speed data communication applications, delay skew problems can become increasingly magnified. Even the delay in properly reassembling a transmitted signal because of signal skew will significantly and adversely affect signal throughput. Thus, as more complex systems with needs for increased data transmission rates are deployed in networks, a need for improved data transmission has developed. Such complex, higher-speed systems require multi-pair cables with stronger signals, and minimized delay skew.
The dielectric constant (DK) of the insulation affects signal throughput and attenuation values of the wire. That is, the signal throughput increases as the DK decreases and attenuation decreases as DK decreases. Together, a lower DK means a stronger signal arrives more quickly and with less distortion. Thus, a wire with a DK that is lower (approaching 1) is always favored over an insulated conductor with a higher DK, e.g. greater than 2.
In twisted pair applications, the DK of the insulation affects the delay skew of the twisted pair. Generally accepted delay skew, according to EIA/TIA 568-A-1, is that both signals should arrive within 45 nanoseconds (ns) of each other, based on 100 meters of cable. A delay skew of this magnitude is problematic when high frequency signals (greater than 100 MHz) are being transmitted. At these frequencies, a delay skew of less than 20 ns is considered superior and has yet to be achieved in practice.
In addition, previously, the only way to affect the delay skew in a particular twisted pair or multi-pair cable was to adjust the lay length or degree of twist of the insulated conductors. This in turn required a redesign of the insulated conductor, including changing the diameter of the conductor and the thickness of the insulation to maintain suitable electrical properties, e.g. impedance and attenuation.
One attempt at an improved insulated conductor included the use of ribs on the exterior surface of the insulation or channels within the insulation but close to the exterior surface of the insulation. The ribbed insulation, however, was unsatisfactory because it was difficult, if not impossible, to make the insulation with exterior surface features. Because of the nature of the insulation material used and the nature of process used, exterior surface features would be indistinct and poorly formed. Instead of ribs with sharp edges, the ribs would end as rounded mounds. The rounded result is an effect of using materials that do not hold their shape well and of using an extrusion die to form the surface features. Immediately after leaving the extrusion die, the insulation material tends to surge and expand. This surging rounds edges and fills in spaces between features.
Insulated conductors with ribbed insulation also produced cabling with poor electrical properties. The spaces between ribs may be contaminated with dirt and water. These contaminants negatively affect the DK of the insulated conductor because the contaminants have DKs that are widely varying and typically much higher then the insulation material. The varying DKs of the contaminants will give the overall insulated conductor a DK that varies along its length, which will in turn negatively affect signal speed. Likewise, contaminants with higher DK will raise the overall DK of the insulation, which also negatively affects signal speed.
Insulated conductors with ribbed and channeled insulation also produced cabling with poor physical properties, which in turn degraded the electrical properties. Because of the limited amount of material near the exterior surface of ribbed and known channeled insulation, such insulated conductors have unsatisfactorily low crush strengths; so low that the insulated conductors may not even be able to be spooled without deforming the ribs and channels of the insulation. From a practical standpoint, this is unacceptable because it makes manufacture, storage and installation of this insulated conductor nearly impossible.
The crushing of the ribs and channels or otherwise physically stressing the insulation, will change the shape of these features. This will negatively influence the DK of insulation. One type of physical stressing that is a necessary part of cabling is twisting a pair of insulated conductors together. This type of torsional stress cannot be avoided. Thus, the very act of making a twisted pair may severely compromise the electrical properly of these insulated conductors.
Another area of concern in the wire and cable field is how the wire performs in a fire. The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) set standards for how materials used in residential and commercial building burn. These tests generally measure the amount of smoke given off, the smoke density, rate of flame spread and/or the amount of heat generated by burning the insulated conductor. Successfully completing these tests is an aspect of creating wiring that is considered safe under modern fire codes. As consumers become more aware, successful completion of these tests will also be a selling point.
Known materials for use in the insulation of wires, such as fluoropolymers, have desirable electrical properties such as low DK. But fluoropolymers are comparatively expensive. Other compounds are less expensive but do not minimize DK, and thus delay skew, to same extent as fluoropolymers. Furthermore, non-fluorinated polymers propagate flame and generate smoke to a greater extent than fluoropolymers and thus are less desirable material to use in constructing wires.
Thus, there is a need for a wire that addresses the limitations of the prior art to effectively minimize delay skew and provide high rates of transmission while also being cost effective and clean burning.
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1. Field of the Disclosure
The technology of the disclosure relates to optical fiber-based distributed antenna systems for distributing radio frequency (RF) signals over optical fiber to remote antenna units and related control systems and methods.
2. Technical Background
Wireless communication is rapidly growing, with ever-increasing demands for high-speed mobile data communication. As an example, so-called “wireless fidelity” or “WiFi” systems and wireless local area networks (WLANs) are being deployed in many different types of areas (e.g., coffee shops, airports, libraries, etc.). Wireless communication systems communicate with wireless devices called “clients,” which must reside within the wireless range or “cell coverage area” in order to communicate with an access point device.
One approach to deploying a wireless communication system involves the use of “picocells.” Picocells are radio frequency (RF) coverage areas. Picocells can have a radius in the range from a few meters up to twenty meters as an example. Combining a number of access point devices creates an array of picocells that cover an area called a “picocellular coverage area.” Because the picocell covers a small area, there are typically only a few users (clients) per picocell. This allows for minimizing the amount of RF bandwidth shared among the wireless system users. It may be desirable to provide picocells in a building or other facility to provide wireless communication system access to clients within the building or facility. However, it may be desirable to employ optical fiber to distribute communications signals. Benefits of optical fiber include higher signal-to-noise ratios and increased bandwidth.
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Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat dissipation fan, especially to an integrated fan blade and a fan having the same.
Description of Related Art
The computer-related industries have been well developed, and a fan becomes a must have component in a computer for the purpose of heat dissipation. The fan is served to provide a heat dissipation function; however, with the trend of the computer or other electronic device being smaller and thinner, the space and volume for installing the fan is limited and the fan may also be required to be lighter in weight.
A conventional heat dissipation fan mainly includes a stator and a rotor; wherein the rotor is a fan blade of the fan, and the fan blade is formed with at least a blade wheel and a plurality of blade pieces formed at the outer periphery of the blade wheel, and a magnetic member is disposed in the blade wheel for generating electromagnetic induction with the stator. Meanwhile, the center of the blade wheel is installed with an axis or a sleeve for the purpose of pivotal connection. As such, the structure of conventional fan is not simplified and connection structures for connecting each component are required; moreover, each component is made of material having heavier weight, so an objective of being lighter cannot be achieved; furthermore, the assembly procedure is relatively complicated thereby causing the production cost unable to be lowered.
Accordingly, the applicant of the present invention has devoted himself for improving the mentioned disadvantage.
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The present invention is directed to a method of operating a discharge lamp system and a discharge lamp system in which vertical segregation is reduced.
Vertical operation of a discharge lamp system can lead to vertical segregation of vapor phase species, which in turn leads to color separation over the length of the lamp, reduced light output, local overheating of the lamp wall, and other problems that may cause premature lamp failure or unsatisfactory lamp performance. This is particularly true for high aspect ratio lamps (lamps whose length to width ratio is high).
A solution to this problem is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,683 in which an arc in a discharge lamp is straightened by acoustic modulation of lamp power. Such power modulation can also provide some control over vertical segregation during vertical operation of the lamp.
As is now known, modulation of lamp power causes modulation of the arc temperature distribution and, as a result, modulation of the gas pressure distribution throughout the lamp. Certain frequencies of modulation cause standing wave oscillation of the gas pressure in the discharge tube of the lamp system. Acoustic modes in discharge lamp systems are generally determined based on a cylinder of a size comparable to the discharge tube of the lamp. If the pressure has a spatial dependence along the axis of the tube, then the acoustic mode is longitudinal. The number of half wavelengths determines the particular mode number. If there are two half wavelengths, the lamp is operating at the second longitudinal mode. If the pressure has a spatial dependence along the radius of the tube, then the acoustic mode is radial, and if the pressure has a spatial dependence around the circumference of the tube, then the acoustic mode is azimuthal. Combination acoustic modes are also possible, such as the radial-longitudinal mode and the azimuthal-longitudinal mode, in which the pressure distribution depends on more than one coordinate. These combination modes can be further defined, depending on the number of half wavelengths, such as a combination acoustic mode of the third azimuthal and second longitudinal modes.
The frequencies for each of these acoustic modes (the resonance frequencies) are determinable from the dimensions of the discharge tube and the speed of sound in the gas phase of the lamp. The speed of sound has a temperature dependence and the arc temperature profile can depend on position. Nevertheless, the resonance frequencies can be reasonably estimated using an isothermal cylindrical model.
The longitudinal mode frequencies are roughlyfnL=(nC)/(2Length),where fnL is the nth longitudinal mode, C is the average speed of sound, and Length is the cavity length.
The radial mode frequencies are roughlyfnR=(knRC)/(πD)where fnR is the nth radial mode, knR is a constant that is known for each radial mode (it is 3.83 for the first radial mode and higher for subsequent modes), C is the average speed of sound, and D is the diameter of the cavity.
The azimuthal mode frequencies are roughlyfnA=(knAC)/(πD)where fnA is the nth azimuthal mode, knA is a constant that is known for each azimuthal mode (it is 1.84 for the first azimuthal mode, 3.05 for the second, 4.20 for the third and higher for subsequent modes), C is the average speed of sound, and D is the diameter of the cavity.
Better estimates of the resonance frequencies can be obtained from finite element calculations of the eigenmodes of vessels approximating the shape of the cavity in which the arc is formed using well estimated temperature and composition distributions.
Still other methods of estimation are possible. For example, for a radial acoustic mode, the continuous radial sound speed profile can be discretized into iso-speed concentric cylinders. A characteristic time can be calculated for each cylinder by inverting the first radial resonant frequency for that cylinder. The composite characteristic time can be calculated from the sum of the individual cylinder's characteristic times. The refined estimate of the frequency of the first radial acoustic mode can be calculated from the inverted composite characteristic time.
Further, the resonance frequencies can be tuned based on visual clues such as accumulation of salt fill in patterns on the walls of the arc tube, and the disappearance of color separation. For example, salt rings may appear around the tube when the frequencies are properly tuned to longitudinal resonances.
Combination modes can be determined by combining the frequencies of the individual modes in quadrature so long as one of the modes is longitudinal. For example, the resonance frequency of the first radial and fourth longitudinal combination mode is
f1R4L2=f1R2+f4L2.
The frequencies discussed herein are the power modulation frequencies (denoted herein “power frequencies”). For a sine waveform, the corresponding current (or voltage) frequencies are one-half the power frequencies.
With reference again to the prior art, a further solution to the problem of vertical segregation is offered in U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,633. As shown in FIG. 1, the lamp power is modulated in a repeating pattern of a sine wave sweeping over a frequency range 10 that is appropriate for arc-straightening and a lower frequency 12 corresponding to a longitudinal mode. The swept power frequency range is 90-110 kHz and the power frequency of the longitudinal mode is 24.5 kHz (the current frequencies being one-half these power frequencies). This improved control over the arc, but the lower frequency is difficult to generate efficiently and is too close to audio frequencies.
A further improvement is offered in U.S. Pat. No. 6,437,517 in which the repeating pattern of FIG. 1 is the same, except the lower frequency is replaced with a frequency higher than the arc-straightening frequency sweep. The higher frequency can be a single frequency or may sweep over a frequency range. The higher frequency excites a combination acoustic mode that combines the azimuthal mode (specifically, the third azimuthal mode or higher) and the longitudinal mode (specifically, the nth longitudinal mode). For a lamp 19 mm long and with an inner diameter of 4 mm, the arc-straightening frequency range is 90-110 kHz, the combination mode is centered on 150 kHz (±10 kHz) and the pattern is repeated at about 100 Hz. Due to its symmetry, this combination acoustic mode of the azimuthal and longitudinal modes is still difficult to excite and the present inventors have sought a suitable substitute combination acoustic mode that is easier to excite.
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This application pertains to the art of dispensing frozen dessert products and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for vending frozen dessert products in consumer selectable quantities.
The invention is particularly applicable to vending apparatus for unmanned sale of refreshments to consumers in malls, places of business, public places or the like and will be described with particular reference thereto although it will be appreciated that the invention has broader applications such as chemical mixing operations such as blending predetermined portions of different paint colors or any other procedures which require automatic fluid dispensing in user-settable quantities.
Frozen dessert dispensing apparatus have heretofore required a full time on-site operator or sales person to manipulate the apparatus in order to dispense various quantities of the dessert into a separate carton or edible cone. This human resource burden is largely due to the primitive valving mechanisms typically employed in soft ice cream and yogurt dispensers. Those valves are in reality a simple gate mechanism operable in a first position to block the flow of the frozen dessert product from a bulk supply and in a second position to permit said flow through a conduit and toward a dispensing head. As illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,711,376 and 3,698,206, handles are typically connected directly to the gating mechanisms to provide a rather uncomplicated primitive dessert dispensing apparatus.
Devices of the type described above have become popular over the years but present two (2) major problems from a business perspective. First, an amount of human error is involved in determining the actual serving size. Although the various plastic and waxed containers used in connection with frozen dessert products of this type generally define a serving size, the actual precise amount of product served may vary. Oftentimes, product waste is involved or customers are over-served in the aggregate resulting in a business loss. Further, the costs associated with an on-site employee may be prohibitive. In certain settings, it is conceivable that insufficient demand exists for the soft frozen dessert products to warrant the expenditure of an operator's salary. In areas where sufficient demand exists, such as where a wide variety of products are sold at a common vending area such as a food court for example, the operator's time may be better served tending to the consumer's other needs rather than portioning frozen dessert products manually.
One solution is an automatic vending apparatus. These have been used in the past wherein a plurality of pre-packaged frozen dessert products such as ice cream bars or ice cream sandwiches are sold directly to consumers. One downside of this approach is that the consumers are presented only with predetermined quantity choices.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,559,840 describes an ice cream dispensing device which is capable of issuing various selectable quantities of the frozen dessert product from a bulk storage container. However, the apparatus described in that patent is somewhat limited in that only multiples of a predetermined minimum quantity may be served. This is due to the fact that a fixed measuring chamber is repeatedly completely filled then completely emptied into a cup or the like to portion out ice cream from the bulk supply. Desired portions which are not multiples of the complete chamber volume are not serviceable.
Another apparatus for dispensing measured quantities of a frozen dessert product is described in U.K. Pat. Appln. 2,230,057. There, a complicated mechanism including a ram, valve and cylinder cooperate with a duct to divide a bulk supply of frozen dessert product into predetermined portions. One drawback with this system is its complicated nature and resultant disassembly and cleaning difficulties. In addition, spoilage may result because a considerable amount of product residue remains in the ram, cylinder and duct mechanism between uses.
Accordingly, it is clear that a need exists for a frozen dessert dispensing apparatus which is easy to use, simple to clean and maintain and which is capable of dispensing selectable quantities of the dessert product from a bulk source. The present invention contemplates new and improved methods and apparatus for frozen dessert dispensing which overcomes all of the above-referred problems and others and provides an apparatus and control method for use therewith which is simple, economical and profitable.
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Referring to FIG. 1, an example of previous over-running clutches of this type is shown generally at 100. The clutch 100 includes an inner race 120, and outer race 112, a plurality of rolling elements 126 positioned therebetween, and an electromagnetic coil 144 adapted to generate a flux that causes the rolling elements 126 to lock the inner race 120 and outer race 112 to one another, thereby locking the clutch 100. A portion 102 of the outer race 112 extends axially to provide support for a rotor 136 that envelopes and the electromagnetic coil 144 that is mounted on a housing.
Due to the large forces that the inner and outer races 120, 112 experience, the outer race 112 is typically made from steel. The portion 102 of the outer race 112 that extends axially to provide support for the rotor 136 adds more steel to the clutch 100, thereby making the clutch 100 heavier. Further, steel is generally magnetically conductive. Using the portion 102 of the steel outer race 112 to support the rotor 136 creates the possibility that the flux generated by the electromagnetic coil 144 will leak or short-circuit through the outer race 112, thereby degrading or impeding the performance of the clutch 100.
Therefore, there is a need for an electromagnetic clutch assembly that supports the rotor and electromagnetic coil while allowing the clutch assembly to be lighter and reducing the chance that the electromagnetic flux will leak or short-circuit through the outer race.
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The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same, and can be used appropriately for a semiconductor device having, e.g., an IGBT and a method of manufacturing the same.
Examples of a power semiconductor device include a semiconductor device including an IGBT.
Each of International Publication No. WO 2011/104850 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-251467 (Patent Document 2) describes a technique concerning a semiconductor device including an IGBT.
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Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technology for imaging a plurality of subjects which are cyclically disposed around a rotary shaft and rotate around the rotary shaft.
Description of the Related Art
In the related art, blades within a jet engine, etc. are observed using an observation scope of an endoscope, etc. Using an image of a subject (an object to be tested) acquired using the observation scope, for example, it is possible to determine the presence/absence of a defect on the subject or measure a size of the defect.
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It is known to hand scrape a top surface of a floor structure, such as a solid hardwood or engineered hardwood floor structure, to create a distressed visible pattern on the top surface thereof. This process is both time consuming and costly, because each of the floor structures must be hand-sculpted one at a time. It is therefore desirable to develop an abrading device that can quickly and cost effectively abrade the top surface of the floor structure while still providing an authentic distressed appearance on the top surface thereof.
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Referring to FIG. 1, the nasal airway 1 comprises the two nasal cavities separated by the nasal septum, which airway 1 includes numerous ostia, such as the paranasal sinus ostia 3 and the tubal ostia 5, and olfactory cells, and is lined by the nasal mucosa. The nasal airway 1 can communicate with the nasopharynx 7, the oral cavity 9 and the lower airway 11, with the nasal airway 1 being in selective communication with the anterior region of the nasopharynx 7 and the oral cavity 9 by opening and closing of the oropharyngeal velum 13. The velum 13, which is often referred to as the soft palate, is illustrated in solid line in the closed position, as achieved by providing a certain positive pressure in the oral cavity 9, such as achieved on exhalation through the oral cavity 9, and in dashed line in the open position.
There are many nasal conditions which require treatment. One such condition is nasal inflammation, specifically rhinitis, which can be allergic or non-allergic and is often associated with infection and prevents normal nasal function. By way of example, allergic and non-allergic inflammation of the nasal airway can typically effect between 10 and 20% of the population, with nasal congestion of the erectile tissues of the nasal concha, lacrimation, secretion of watery mucus, sneezing and itching being the most common symptoms. As will be understood, nasal congestion impedes nasal breathing and promotes oral breathing, leading to snoring and sleep disturbance. Other nasal conditions include nasal polyps which arise from the paranasal sinuses, hypertrophic adenoids, secretory otitis media, sinus disease and reduced olfaction.
In the treatment of certain nasal conditions, the topical administration of medicaments is preferable, particularly where the nasal mucosa is the prime pathological pathway, such as in treating or relieving nasal congestion. Medicaments that are commonly topically delivered include decongestants, anti-histamines, cromoglycates, steroids and antibiotics. At present, among the known anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals, topical steroids have been shown to have an effect on nasal congestion. Topical decongestants have also been suggested for use in relieving nasal congestion. The treatment of hypertrophic adenoids and chronic secretory otitis media using topical decongestants, steroids and anti-microbial agents, although somewhat controversial, has also been proposed. Further, the topical administration of pharmaceuticals has been used to treat or at least relieve symptoms of inflammation in the anterior region of the nasopharynx, the paranasal sinuses and the auditory tubes.
Medicaments can also be systemically delivered through the nasal pathway, the nasal pathway offering a good administration route for the systemic delivery of pharmaceuticals, such as hormones, for example, oxytocin and calcitionin, and analgetics, such as anti-migraine compositions, as the high blood flow and large surface area of the nasal mucosa advantageously provides for rapid systemic uptake.
Nasal delivery is also expected to be advantageous for the administration of medicaments requiring a rapid onset of action, for example, analgetics, anti-emetics, insulin, anti-epileptics, sedatives and hypnotica, and other pharmaceuticals, for example, cardio-vascular drugs. It is envisaged that nasal administration will provide for a fast onset of action, at a rate similar to that of injection and at a rate much faster than that of oral administration. Indeed, for the treatment of many acute conditions, nasal administration is advantageous over oral administration, since gastric stasis can further slow the onset of action following oral administration.
It is also expected that nasal delivery could provide an effective delivery route for the administration of proteins and peptides as produced by modern biotechnological techniques. For such substances, the metabolism in the intestines and the first-pass-effect in the liver represent significant obstacles for reliable and cost-efficiency delivery. Furthermore, it is expected that nasal delivery using the nasal delivery technique of the present invention will prove effective in the treatment of many common neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, psychiatric diseases and intracerebral infections, where not possible using existing techniques. The nasal delivery technique of the present invention allows for delivery to the olfactory region, which region is located in the superior region of the nasal cavities and represents the only region where it is possible to circumvent the blood-to-brain barrier (BBB) and enable communication with the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the brain.
Also, it is expected that the nasal delivery technique of the present invention will allow for the effective delivery of vaccines.
Aside from the delivery of medicaments, the irrigation of the nasal mucosa with liquids, in particular saline solutions, is commonly practised to remove particles and secretions, as well as to improve the mucociliary activity of the nasal mucosa. These solutions can be used in combination with active pharmaceuticals.
For any kind of drug delivery, accurate and reliable dosing is essential, but it is of particular importance in relation to the administration of potent drugs which have a narrow therapeutic window, drugs with potentially serious adverse affects and drugs for the treatment of serious and life-threatening conditions. For some conditions, it is essential to individualize the dosage to the particular situation, for example, in the case of diabetes mellitus. For diabetes, and, indeed, for many other conditions, the dosage of the pharmaceutical is preferably based on actual real-time measurements. Currently, blood samples are most frequently used, but the analysis of molecules in the exhalation breath of subjects has been proposed as an alternative to blood analysis for several conditions. Breath analysis is currently used for the diagnosis of conditions such as helicobacter pylon infections which cause gastric ulcers.
To date, nasal medicaments have been primarily delivered as drops or by mechanical nasal spray pumps. With mechanical spray pumps, the mean particle size is typically between 40 μm and 80 μm in order to prevent the inhalation of delivered particles. In general, particles smaller than 10 μm will bypass the nose and can be inhaled. Indeed, the new FDA guidelines require that the fraction of particles less than 10 μm be at most 5%.
Whilst the provision of a spray having a larger mean particle size prevents the inhalation of the particles, these larger particles are not optimal for achieving a good distribution to the nasal mucosa.
The applicant has now recognized that the closure of the oropharyngeal velum during the delivery of a substance to the nasal airway prevents the possible inhalation of the substance, thereby enabling the delivery of an aerosol having a much smaller mean particle size than achieved by traditional nasal spray pumps. In this way, an aerosol can be generated which has an optimal particle size distribution.
A further advantage is that the nosepiece acts to expand the narrowest, anterior part of the nasal cavity and thereby reduces the unwanted high deposition in the anterior region of the nasal cavity which is lined by squamous epithelium.
In addition, the applicant has recognized that, by establishing a bidirectional flow through the nasal cavities as described in WO-A-00/51672, that is, an air flow which passes into one nostril, around the posterior margin of the nasal septum and in the opposite direction out of the other nostril, an aerosol having an optimal flow rate and timing can be generated. Furthermore, the bidirectional air flow advantageously acts to stimulate the sensory nerves in the nasal mucosa, thereby conditioning the subject for the delivery and providing a more comfortable delivery situation.
A yet further advantage is that the air flow acts to create a positive pressure inside the nasal passages connected in series, which tends to expand and widen narrow and congested regions.
A still yet further advantage is that the two-point fixation of the device in the nose with a well-fitting nozzle and in the mouth provides a much more stable and reproducible positioning of the device as compared to traditional spray pumps. Thus, in addition to improved deposition and reproducibility, the new concept provides a more user-friendly and intuitive nasal delivery method.
Furthermore, the delivery device, in being pre-primed and actuatable by the oral exhalation breath of a subject, does not require the application of an actuation force by the subject at the time of actuation. Traditionally, mechanical liquid delivery pumps are operated by the manual compression of a chamber containing a volume of liquid to expel a flow of a metered volume of liquid, and mechanical powder delivery pumps are operated by the manual compression of a chamber containing a volume of air to drive and expel a flow of a metered amount of a dry powder. Such operation requires a relatively high actuation force, typically of the order of 50 N, which high force often leads to significant movement of the delivery device, it being very difficult to maintain a delivery device stationary when attempting to apply a high actuation force. Movement of the delivery device, both in the positioning and orientation of the nozzle, will lead to poor reproducibility, dose accuracy and patient compliance. In being pre-primed and actuatable by the oral exhalation breath of a subject, the delivery device of the present invention overcomes this problem.
In addition, by not requiring a subject to apply an actuation force at the instance of delivery, the delivery device provides for the same actuation force in each delivery, and also provides for delivery at an optimal pressure and/or flow rate, and the delivery of substance having an optimized particle size distribution.
Yet furthermore, in providing for the closure of the oropharyngeal velum of a subject, substance is prevented from entering the lower airway, and also, in a preferred embodiment, bi-directional delivery can be achieved through the nasal cavities.
It will be appreciated that the nasal delivery devices of the present invention are quite different to inhalation devices which provide for inhalation into the lower airway.
Inhalation devices have been used for a long time for the inhalation of medicaments in the treatment of lower airway pathologies.
One such inhalation device is the pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI). In such inhalers, a metered dose of medicament is released as an aerosol by actuating an aerosol canister, with the particle sizes of the aerosol being required to be small, typically less than 5 μm, in order to reach the distal parts of the lower airway. One drawback with traditional pMDIs is that the subject must co-ordinate inhalation with the aerosol release in order to deliver the aerosolized medicament effectively to the lower airway. Inadequate co-ordination represents a considerable problem, significantly reducing both lung deposition and reproducibility. Another drawback with traditional pMDIs is the use of chlorine-containing compounds as the propellant gas, as such gases are not environmentally friendly and have been demonstrated to destroy the ozone layer. Recently, in order to alleviate these drawbacks, pMDIs have been developed which use an alternative propellant gas, this being a hydrofluoroalkane (HFA), and incorporate a breath-actuation mechanism which provides for actuation of the aerosol canister on inhalation by the subject.
Another such inhalation device is the dry powder inhaler, such as the Turbohaler® inhaler as supplied by AstraZeneca and the Discus® inhaler as supplied by GSK. These dry powder inhalers do not require co-ordination of delivery and inhalation and can improve deposition to the lower airways.
Bi-directional nasal drug delivery is achieved by directing an exhaled air flow through the nasal passages in series, or by triggering another flow source to create such an air flow, whereas breath actuation of pulmonary drug delivery is by inhalation into a closed expanding volume, that is, the lungs. For bi-directional nasal delivery, it is desirable to establish the air flow before the drug is released, whereas for inhalation, the release is best achieved at the very beginning of inspiration to reach the most distal parts of the lungs.
Increased airway resistance in pathological conditions, both in the pulmonary and nasal airways, is a challenge. In inhalation devices, an air flow is created by the inspiratory muscles creating a negative pressure inside the chest. In this way, air is sucked through the device and into the airways. For pulmonary drug delivery, it is essential that the triggering occurs, not only early, but also at a relatively low flow to ensure release in subjects with a very low lung capacity. Furthermore, the releasing action should require as little energy as possible, as any resistance in the device will impede free inhalation. Still most subjects, even patients with lung diseases, will be able to achieve a flow rate of 25 L/min which is typically required to trigger the release from a pMDI device.
For the nose, the situation is more complex and in many ways different. The expiratory muscles in the thorax produce the exhaled air flow used to trigger release, and this air flow is then directed through the device and into the nasal passages in series, or used to trigger another flow source. Thus, the triggering air flow is completely reversed as compared to pulmonary breath actuation, and the air flow is directed into another airway/compartment separated from the lower airways.
Furthermore, the nose geometry is designed to humidify, warm and filter the inspired air to protect the lower airways. The resistance in the nose alone equals 50% of the total airway resistance, and the resistance may increase immensely when congested. Owing to the high anterior resistance, turbulence occurs just posterior to the constriction, increasing deposition in this region. To achieve a better distribution to larger and more posterior parts of the nasal mucosa, it is envisaged to be advantageous to have the drug released at a lower flow in a congested nose and at a higher flow in an open nose. This requires a system which can be released not only by flow, but also by pressure. Such release is essential for efficient and reliable exhalation-triggered nasal drug delivery. The two main triggering modes, flow and pressure, are to certain extent overlapping. They can be incorporated in one single mechanism or provided as separate mechanisms. However, the nose may become completely blocked, in particular during colds and allergic attacks. In this situation, it becomes impossible to establish a bi-directional air flow, but still it is desirable and necessary to deliver drugs to the nose.
In one aspect the present invention provides a nasal delivery device for delivering a substance to a nasal cavity of a subject, comprising: a nosepiece for fitting to a nostril of a subject; a mouthpiece through which the subject in use exhales; a nozzle for directing a substance through the nosepiece; a mechanical delivery pump fluidly connected to the nozzle for delivering a substance to the nozzle; and an actuation mechanism for actuating the mechanical delivery pump in response to oral exhalation through the mouthpiece.
In one embodiment the actuation mechanism includes a trigger mechanism for actuating the delivery pump at a predeterminable pressure.
In another embodiment the actuation mechanism includes a trigger mechanism for actuating the delivery pump at a predeterminable flow rate.
In a further embodiment the actuation mechanism includes a trigger mechanism for actuating the delivery pump at one or both of a predeterminable pressure and a predeterminable flow rate.
In one embodiment the delivery device further comprises: a flow channel fluidly connecting the nosepiece and the mouthpiece, whereby exhaled air from an exhalation breath is in use delivered through the nosepiece.
In another embodiment the delivery device further comprises: a flow channel fluidly connected to the nosepiece through which a gas flow, separate to an exhaled air flow from an exhalation breath of the subject, is in use delivered; and a gas supply unit for supplying a gas flow to the flow channel.
Preferably, the gas supply unit is configured to be actuated by exhalation through the mouthpiece.
In one embodiment the delivery pump comprises a liquid delivery pump for delivering a metered volume of a liquid.
In another embodiment the delivery pump comprises a powder delivery pump for delivering a metered amount of a powder.
In one embodiment the nozzle is configured to deliver an aerosol.
In another embodiment the nozzle is configured to deliver a jet.
In another aspect the present invention provides an oral exhalation breath-actuated mechanical nasal delivery pump unit for delivering a substance to a nasal cavity of a subject, the pump unit including an outlet nozzle and a mechanical delivery pump.
In one embodiment the delivery pump comprises a liquid delivery pump for delivering a metered volume of a liquid.
In another embodiment the delivery pump comprises a powder delivery pump for delivering a metered amount of a powder.
In one embodiment the nozzle is configured to deliver an aerosol.
In another embodiment the nozzle is configured to deliver a jet.
In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of delivering a substance to a nasal cavity of a subject, comprising the steps of: providing a nasal delivery device to the nasal cavity of a subject, the delivery device including a nosepiece for fitting to a nostril of the subject, a mouthpiece through which the subject exhales, a nozzle for directing a substance through the nosepiece, and a mechanical delivery pump fluidly connected to the nozzle for delivering a substance to the nozzle; and actuating the delivery pump in response to oral exhalation through the mouthpiece to deliver a substance through the nosepiece.
In one embodiment the step of actuating the delivery pump comprises the step of: actuating the delivery pump in response to oral exhalation through the mouthpiece on generation of a predeterminable pressure at the nosepiece.
In another embodiment the step of actuating the delivery pump comprises the step of: actuating the delivery pump in response to oral exhalation through the mouthpiece on generation of a predeterminable flow rate through the nosepiece.
In a further embodiment the step of actuating the delivery pump comprises the step of: actuating the delivery pump in response to oral exhalation through the mouthpiece on generation of one or both of a predeterminable pressure at or a predeterminable flow rate through the nosepiece.
In one embodiment the delivery device further comprises a flow channel fluidly connecting the nosepiece and the mouthpiece, whereby exhaled air from an exhalation breath is delivered through the nosepiece.
In another embodiment the method further comprises the step of: delivering a gas flow, separate to an exhaled air flow from an exhalation breath of the subject, through the nosepiece.
In one embodiment the delivery pump comprises a liquid delivery pump for delivering a metered volume of a liquid.
In another embodiment the delivery pump comprises a powder delivery pump for delivering a metered amount of a powder.
In one embodiment the substance is delivered as an aerosol.
In another embodiment the substance is delivered as a jet.
In a yet further aspect the present invention provides a method of delivering a substance to a nasal cavity of a subject, comprising the step of actuating a mechanical nasal delivery pump unit, the pump unit including an outlet nozzle and a mechanical delivery pump fluidly connected thereto, on oral exhalation by the subject to deliver a substance to a nasal cavity of the subject.
In one embodiment the delivery pump comprises a liquid delivery pump for delivering a metered volume of a liquid.
In another embodiment the delivery pump comprises a powder delivery pump for delivering a metered amount of a powder.
In one embodiment the substance is delivered as an aerosol.
In another embodiment the substance is delivered as a jet.
In a still further aspect the present invention provides an exhalation breath-actuated nasal delivery device for delivering a substance to a nasal cavity of a subject, comprising: a nosepiece for fitting to a nostril of a subject; a mouthpiece through which the subject in use exhales; a nebulizer for delivering an aerosol including a substance to the nosepiece; and an actuation unit for actuating the nebulizer when at least one or both of the pressure at or the flow rate through the nosepiece exceeds a predetermined threshold in response to oral exhalation through the mouthpiece.
In one embodiment the delivery device further comprises: a flow channel fluidly connecting the nosepiece and the mouthpiece, whereby exhaled air from an exhalation breath is in use delivered through the nosepiece.
Preferably, the actuation unit includes a flow regulator for regulating a flow of exhaled air from an exhalation breath.
In another embodiment the delivery device further comprises: a flow channel fluidly connected to the nosepiece through which a gas flow, separate to an exhaled air flow from an exhalation breath of the subject, is in use delivered; and a gas supply unit for supplying a gas flow to the flow channel.
Preferably, the gas supply unit is configured to be actuated by exhalation through the mouthpiece.
In one embodiment the nebulizer comprises an ultrasonic nebulizer.
In another embodiment the nebulizer comprises a flow-generated nebulizer.
In a further embodiment the nebulizer comprises an electrohydrodynamic nebulizer.
In yet another aspect the present invention provides a breath-actuated nasal delivery device, comprising: a flow channel including a mouthpiece through which a subject in use exhales and a nosepiece for fitting to one nostril of the subject and through which an exhaled air flow is in use delivered to the nostril of the subject; a nebulizer for delivering an aerosol including a substance to the flow channel; and a trigger mechanism for actuating the nebulizer when the pressure and/or flow of the air exhaled through the mouthpiece exceeds a predeterminable threshold.
In a still yet further aspect the present invention provides a method of delivering a substance to a nasal cavity of a subject, comprising the steps of: providing a nasal delivery device comprising a nosepiece for fitting to a nostril of a subject, a mouthpiece through which the subject exhales, and a nebulizer for delivering an aerosol including a substance to the nosepiece; and actuating the nebulizer when at least one or both of the pressure at or the flow rate through the nosepiece exceeds a predetermined threshold in response to oral exhalation through the mouthpiece.
In one embodiment the delivery device further comprises a flow channel fluidly connecting the nosepiece and the mouthpiece, whereby exhaled air from an exhalation breath is delivered through the nosepiece.
Preferably, the delivery device further comprises a flow regulator for regulating a flow of exhaled air from an exhalation breath.
In another embodiment the method further comprises the step of: delivering a gas flow, separate to an exhaled air flow from an exhalation breath of the subject, through the nosepiece.
In one embodiment the nebulizer comprises an ultrasonic nebulizer.
In another embodiment the nebulizer comprises a flow-generated nebulizer.
In a further embodiment the nebulizer comprises an electrohydrodynamic nebulizer.
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Transition Metal Phosphate-Based Electrode Materials for Lithium Batteries and their Synthesis
Since Goodenough pointed out the value of lithium ion reversible iron phosphate-based electrodes for use in lithium and lithium-ion batteries (J. Electrochemical Society, vol. 144, No. 4, pp. 1188-1194 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,810,382; 6,391,493 B1 and 6,514,640 B1) several groups have developed synthesis processes for making lithiated iron phosphates of the ordered-olivine, modified olivine or rhombohedral nasicon structures and other chemical analogs containing transition metals other that iron.
Until now most processes and materials described in the art to manufacture electrochemically active phosphate-based electrodes for use in battery applications are based on solid state reactions obtained with iron+2 precursors intimately mixed with lithium and phosphate containing chemicals that are used individually or as a combination thereof. Iron+2 oxalate and acetate are the more frequently used starting materials for syntheses carried out under an inert or partially reducing atmosphere to avoid transition metal oxidation to a higher level, e.g. Fe+3 for example (see Sony PCT WO 00/60680A1 and Sony PCT WO 00/60679 A1). LiFePO4 active cathode materials with improved electrochemical performance were also obtained using C introduced as an organic precursor during material synthesis (Canadian Application No. 2,307,119, laid-open date Oct. 30, 2000). Addition of carbon powder or C-coating to LiFePO4 increases powder electronic conductivity, normally in the range of 10-9-10-10 Scm−1 for pure LiFePO4 at ambient temperature. More recently, solid-state syntheses of LiFePO4 obtained from Fe+3 precursors such as Fe2O3 or FePO4 have been described. These syntheses use reducing gases or precursors (PTC/CA2001/001350 published as WO 02/27824 and PTC/CA2001/001349 published as WO 02/27823) or are carried out by direct reduction (so-called carbothermic reduction) of mixed raw chemicals with dispersed C powder (Valence, PCT WO 01/54212 A1).
All of these solid-state synthesis reaction ways require relatively long reaction time (several hours) and intimate mechanical dispersion of reactants since the synthesis and/or particle growth in the solid state are characterized by relatively slow diffusion coefficients. Furthermore, particle size, growth, and particle size distribution of the final electrode material are somewhat difficult to control from chemical precursors particle dimensions or in view of the reactive-sintering process, partially suppressed by the presence of dispersed or coated carbon on reacting materials.
Recent attempts to grow pure or doped LiFePO4 in solid state and at high temperature, for example 850° C., have led to iron phosphate with 20 micron single grain sized, intimately mixed with iron phosphide impurities and with elemental C thus making intrinsic conductivity evaluation difficult (Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters, 6, (12), A278-A282, 2003).
None of the previously demonstrated synthesis procedures to make LiFePO4, doped or partially substituted LiFePO4 and transition metal phosphate-based analogs as electrode materials, contemplate a direct molten state phase process in which a liquid, phosphate-containing phase is used to achieve synthesis, doping or simply to melt and prepare electrochemically active lithiated or partially lithiated transition metal phosphate-based electrode materials, especially phosphate-based materials made of iron, manganese or their mixtures obtained in a dense form as a result of a melting/cooling process, optionally comprising one or more synthesis, doping or partial substitution steps.
In fact most known synthesis work on phosphates for use as electrode material suggest working at low temperature to avoid rapid particle growth in the solid state and partial decomposition of the iron phosphate under reducing conditions as such or irreversible decomposition of the precursor chemical at too high a temperature.
Metal Phosphates Preparation by Melting Process
Although inorganic phosphates, pyrophosphates or phosphorous pentoxide have been used with iron oxide and other oxides, to melt and stabilize by vitrification, hazardous metal wastes such as alkali and alkaline earth radioactive elements (U.S. Pat. No. 5,750,824) the chemical formulation of the melt obtained at a temperature in the range of 1100-1200° C., is variable with both Fe+2 and Fe+3 being present. The purpose was indeed to obtain a stable vitreous composition and not a specific formulation and structure that are appropriate for electrochemical activity, i.e. capable of high reversible lithium-ion insertion-desinsertion.
Additional literature on ferric-ferrous or Mn+2—Mn+3 ratios observed in sodium oxide-phosphorus pentoxide melts at lower temperature, for example 800° C., is also found in Physics and Chemistry of Glasses (1974), 15(5), 113-5. (Ferric-ferrous ratio in sodium oxide-phosphorus pentoxide melts. Yokokawa, Toshio; Tamura, Seiichi; Sato, Seichi; Niwa, Kichizo. Dep. Chem., Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo, Japan. Physics and Chemistry of Glasses (1974), 15(5), 113-15.)
A Russian publication describes the growth of LiCoPO4 crystals in air from LiCl—KCl-based melts containing lithium pyrophosphate in order to make X-ray diffraction studies, but no mention or suggestion is made as to the use of melts in a process to prepare electrochemically active lithium-ion inserting phosphate cathodes containing air sensitive iron for use in lithium-ion batteries. Synthesis and x-ray diffraction study of the lithium cobalt double orthophosphate LiCoPO4. Apinitis, S.; Sedmalis, U. Rizh. Tekhnol. Univ., Riga, USSR. Latvijas PSR Zinatnu Akademijas Vestis, Kimijas Serija (1990), (3), 283-4. Another work by Russian authors describes crystal growth from melt of M+3 (including isovalent and heterovalent cations) phosphates for use as superionic conductors including ferric phosphate of the formula Li3Fe2(PO4)3. Nowhere it is shown or even suggested that such material can be electrochemically active as an electrode material, furthermore, their formulations including isovalent metals are not adapted for such use. Furthermore, these phosphate containing materials are fully oxidized and of no use in a lithium-ion battery normally assembled in discharged state (with the transition metal in its lower oxidation state and the reversible lithium-ions present in the electrode after material synthesis). Synthesis and growth of superionic conductor crystals Li3M2(PO4)3 (M=Fe3+, Cr3+, Sc3+). Bykov, A. B.; Demyanets, L. N.; Doronin, S, N.; Ivanov-Shits, A. K.; MeI'nikov, O. K.; Timofeeva, V. A.; Sevast'yanov, B. K.; Chirkin, A. P. Inst. Kristallogr., USSR. Kristallografiya (1987), 32(6), 1515-19.
None of the previous art teaches how to make a lithiated phosphate electrode using a simple and rapid process in which phosphate cathode formulations are prepared in the molten state and cooled in order to obtain a solid cathode material having electrochemical properties that are optimized for use in lithium batteries, especially lithium-ion batteries (synthesis in the discharged or partially discharged state). In fact, previous art on phosphate-based cathode materials suggests that as low a temperature as possible (450-750° C.) is better to achieve good electrochemically active formulation and stoichiometry, for example: LiFePO4 formulation with adequate particle size and optimal electrochemical activity, while avoiding total iron reduction to Fe° or simple thermal decomposition of the iron or other metal phosphate to oxide and P2O5 or to iron phosphides at temperature higher than 850-950° C. In fact, the melting of pure lithiated phosphates, not to say electrochemically active ones, without partial or total decomposition was not expected or described; neither, a fortiori, a process combining chemical synthesis and phosphate cathode formulation melt.
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Demand for secondary batteries as an energy source has been significantly increased as technology development and demand with respect to mobile devices have increased. Among these secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries having high energy density, high voltage, long cycle life, and low self-discharging rate have been commercialized and widely used.
A lithium secondary battery denotes a battery in which a non-aqueous electrolyte containing lithium ions is included in an electrode assembly which has a microporous separator disposed between a cathode including a cathode active material capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium ions and an anode including an anode active material capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium ions.
For example, as a cathode active material of a lithium secondary battery, transition metal oxides, such as lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2), lithium manganese oxide (LiMn2O4), or lithium nickel oxide (LiNiO2), or composite oxides having a portion of the above transition metals substituted with other transition metals have been used.
Among the above cathode active materials, since LiCoO2 has excellent various properties such as cycle characteristics, LiCoO2 has currently been widely used. However, LiCoO2 has low stability, is expensive as a raw material due to the resource limit of cobalt, and has limitations in being mass used as a power source of applications such as electric vehicles.
Since lithium manganese oxides, such as LiMnO2 or LiMn2O4, have advantages in that resources thereof are abundant as a raw material and environmentally-friendly manganese is used therein, lithium manganese oxides have receive great attention as a cathode active material that may replace LiCoO2. However, these lithium manganese oxides have disadvantages in that their capacity is small and cycle characteristics are poor.
Lithium has been initially used as an anode active material constituting an anode of a lithium secondary battery. However, since lithium may have low reversibility and safety, a carbon-based active material has currently been mainly used as the anode active material of the lithium secondary battery. Although the carbon material may have a lower capacity than lithium, the carbon material may have smaller volume changes as well as excellent reversibility and may also be advantageous in terms of cost.
The carbon-based active material may be categorized into an amorphous carbon-based active material and a crystalline carbon-based active material such as graphite. The amorphous carbon-based active material may have high discharge capacity and excellent rate characteristics, but may have disadvantages in that irreversible capacity is high, charge and discharge efficiency is poor, and energy density is poor due to low volume density and electrical conductivity. In contrast, the crystalline carbon-based active material has low discharge capacity, but the crystalline carbon-based active material has very good energy density, has good potential flatness, and has relatively better reversibility between charge and discharge processes than the amorphous carbon-based compound.
Thus, it is important to select an active material layer that may improve the performance of the battery in consideration of the above characteristics. In general, with respect to electrodes, charge balance between the cathode and the anode must be well maintained, and various problems may occur when the charge balance is not maintained because output characteristics of any one of the cathode and the anode become much better. That is, in the case that the output characteristics of the cathode are better than those of the anode, since the insertion and release of lithium are maximized, limitations due to the insertion and release of a large amount of lithium may occur. Thus, life characteristics of the lithium secondary battery may be reduced. In contrast, in the case in which the output characteristics of the anode are better than those of the cathode, lithium is not intercalated into the cathode and a side reaction may occur.
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1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to a touch panel and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Background Art
Recently, touch panels, which perform input functions through the touch of an image displayed on a display device by an input device such as a stylus pen or a hand, have been applied to various electronic appliances.
Touch panels can be mainly classified as resistive touch panels or capacitive touch panels. In a resistive touch panel, glass is shorted with an electrode due to the pressure of the input device so that a touch point is detected. In a capacitive touch panel, the variation in capacitance between electrodes is detected when a finger of the user touches the capacitive touch panel, so that the touch point is detected.
Multi-touch is available in a capacitive touch panel. Multi-touch is a technology in which several touch points can be simultaneously recognized, and allows a user to carry out more various manipulations when compared to a typical technology of recognizing only one touch point. Different from a conventional touch scheme requiring additional manipulations through auxiliary buttons to perform various functions (e.g., because only the position variation can be input through a touch), the reaction of a device to the touch can be specified according to the number of detected touch points, and predetermined manipulations through the detection of the intervals between the touch points can be performed. Accordingly, a user can more intuitively and conveniently manipulate the touch panel.
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The present invention relates to a retroreflective sheet for use on traffic signs, which enables safe utilization of roads at night, or labels, stickers, emblems or the like for vehicles or decorative purposes. More particularly, the present invention relates to a sealed lens type retroreflective sheet which is suitable for co-molding by injection molding, blow molding or the like wherein a retroreflective sheet can be placed within a mold for a curved substrate and molded with a resin to form a molded product having a curved surface, and, after molding, the sheet retains a significant portion of its reflection luminance as compared with the reflection luminance value before molding. That is, the present invention relates to a sealed lens type retroreflective sheet which, at the time of molding, enables a resin with the retroreflective sheet mounted thereon to be stretched to a desired form without undesirable deterioration in its optical properties.
In conventional sealed lens type retroreflective sheet, a transparent microspherical lens is independently embedded in a transparent anchoring layer, and a metallic reflective layer is provided on the back side of the microspherical lens through a focal resin layer. In these sealed lens type retroreflective sheet, since a microspherical lens is embedded in a thin sheet material, problems occur such as embrittlement and blister. Further, such a retroreflective sheet is unsuitable for co-molding wherein the retroreflective sheet is molded together with a substrate on which the retroreflective sheet is to be laminated. For this reason, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,436 (Bailey et al.) disclose that a single backing film layer is provided to reinforce the sheet, thereby solving the embrittlement problem. On the other hand, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 59-5051, stretching is carried out so as to cause cracking in a metallic reflective layer to prepare an intermediate product having discontinuous portions, and, thereafter, the other layers are formed. That is, the blister problem is solved by improving the air permeability.
Mounting of a sealed lens type retroreflective sheet on a flat substrate has hitherto been performed by contact-bonding the sheet to the substrate by taking advantage of a pressure-sensitive adhesive provided on the surface of the sheet remote from the reflecting surface. Further, in the case of mounting of a retroreflective sheet on an uneven surface like a gentle quadratic surface, contact bonding has been used as with the case of the flat substrate. In these cases, the retroreflectivity of the retroreflective sheet can be maintained after mounting because the retroreflective sheet per se is not substantially stretched by the mounting operation. This method, however, is unsuitable for mounting on a quadratic surface having sharp irregularities because the sheet cannot be exactly fitted to such a surface without leaving any space. For this reason, a co-molding method is used wherein the retroreflective sheet is mounted when the resin is molded by injection molding or blow molding. In this case, the retroreflective sheet is stretched. The stretching of the sheet results in stretching of the focal resin layer. This means that the resin constituting the focal resin layer, for example, polyvinyl butyral, is also stretched. The stretching of the focal resin layer causes the thickness of the resin layer to gradually decrease with an increase in percentage stretching, making the luminance of the sheet decrease. Further stretching thereof causes large cracks in the focal resin layer, making it impossible to maintain the appearance as before the molding.
The present invention provides, in one aspect, a sealed lens type retroreflective sheet having good appearance, which is suitable for co-molding by injection molding, blow molding or the like wherein the retroreflective sheet can be laid within a mold for a substrate, the sheet and a molding resin can be combined to form a molded product, and, after molding, the sheet retains a significant portion of its reflection luminance as compared with the reflection luminance value before molding.
A preferred sealed lens retroreflective sheet of the invention can be used for co-molding, and comprises a metallic reflective layer, a microspherical lens layer disposed as a single layer, and a transparent focal resin layer disposed between the reflective layer and the microspherical lens layer, characterized in that the focal resin layer comprises a mixture of cellulose ester and polyvinyl butyral resin. Preferably, the focal resin layer consists essentially of a cellulose ester and a polyvinyl butyral resin.
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X-ray tubes are used in a variety of industrial and medical applications. For example, X-ray tubes are employed in medical diagnostic examination, therapeutic radiology, semiconductor fabrication, and material analysis. Regardless of the application, most X-ray tubes operate in a similar fashion. X-rays, which are high frequency electromagnetic radiation, are produced in X-ray tubes by applying an electrical current to a cathode to cause electrons to be emitted from the cathode by thermionic emission. The electrons accelerate towards and then impinge upon an anode. The distance between the cathode and the anode is generally known as A-C spacing or throw distance. When the electrons impinge upon the anode, the electrons can collide with the anode to produce X-rays. The area on the anode in which the electrons collide is generally known as a focal spot.
X-rays can be produced through at least two mechanisms that can occur during the collision of the electrons with the anode. A first X-ray producing mechanism is referred to as X-ray fluorescence or characteristic X-ray generation. X-ray fluorescence occurs when an electron colliding with material of the anode has sufficient energy to knock an orbital electron of the anode out of an inner electron shell. Other electrons of the anode in outer electron shells fill the vacancy left in the inner electron shell. As a result of the electron of the anode moving from the outer electron shell to the inner electron shell, X-rays of a particular frequency are produced. A second X-ray producing mechanism is referred to as Bremsstrahlung. In Bremsstrahlung, electrons emitted from the cathode decelerate when deflected by nuclei of the anode. The decelerating electrons lose kinetic energy and thereby produce X-rays. The X-rays produced in Bremsstrahlung have a spectrum of frequencies. The X-rays produced through either Bremsstrahlung or X-ray fluorescence may then exit the X-ray tube to be utilized in one or more of the above-mentioned applications.
In certain applications, it may be beneficial to lengthen the throw length of an X-ray tube. The throw length is the distance from cathode electron emitter to the anode surface. For example, a long throw length may result in decreased back ion bombardment and evaporation of anode materials back onto the cathode. While X-ray tubes with long throw lengths may be beneficial in certain applications, a long throw length can also present difficulties. For example, as a throw length is lengthened, the electrons that accelerate towards an anode through the throw length tend to become less laminar resulting in an unacceptable focal spot on the anode. Also affected is the ability to properly focus and/or position the electron beam towards the anode target, again resulting in a less than desirable focal spot—either in terms of size, shape and/or position. When a focal spot is unacceptable, it may be difficult to produce useful X-ray images.
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 Invention
The invention relates to running boards for motor vehicles. More particularly, the invention relates to a running board assembly including a step movable between a stowed position and a deployed position.
2. Description of Related Art
Retractable running boards or steps are well-known in the art for allowing users to enter and exit a motor vehicle having a high ground clearance. These so-called retractable running boards or steps are generally movable between a retracted position, in which a step is tucked underneath an underbody of the motor vehicle, and an extended position, in which the step is spaced apart from the underbody of the motor vehicle for supporting the user.
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Semiconductor computer memories have traditionally been designed and structured to use one memory device for each bit, or small group of bits, of any individual computer word, where the word size is governed by the choice of computer. Typical word sizes range from 4 to 64 bits. Each memory device typically is connected in parallel to a series of address lines and connected to one of a series of data lines. When the computer seeks to read from or write to a specific memory location, an address is put on the address lines and some or all of the memory devices are activated using a separate device select line for each needed device. One or more devices may be connected to each data line but typically only a small number of data lines are connected to a single memory device. Thus data line 0 is connected to device(s) 0, data line 1 is connected to-device(s) 1, and so on. Data is thus accessed or provided in parallel for each memory read or write operation. For the system to operate properly, every single memory bit in every memory device must operate dependably and correctly.
To understand the concept of the present invention, it is helpful to review the architecture of conventional memory devices. Internal to nearly all types of memory devices (including the most widely used Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Static RAM (SRAM) and Read Only Memory (ROM) devices), a large number of bits are accessed in parallel each time the system carries out a memory access cycle. However, only a small percentage of accessed bits which are available internally each time the memory device is cycled ever make it across the device boundary to the external world.
Referring to FIG. 1, all modern DRAM, SRAM and ROM designs have internal architectures with row (word) lines 5 and column (bit) lines 6 to allow the memory cells to tile a two dimensional area 1. One bit of data is stored at the intersection of each word and bit line. When a particular word line is enabled, all of the corresponding data bits are transferred onto the bit lines. Some prior art DRAMs take advantage of this organization to reduce the number of pins needed to transmit the address. The address of a given memory cell is split into two addresses, row and column, each of which can be multiplexed over a bus only half as wide as the memory cell address of the prior art would have required.
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The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of a plant botanically of hybrid origin and known as Coreopsis. The new cultivar will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name ‘Red Chiffon’. ‘Red Chiffon’ is an herbaceous perennial grown for landscape and container use.
The new invention arose from an ongoing controlled breeding program in Hubbardston, Mass. The objective of the breeding program is to develop hybrid cultivars of Coreopsis with unique and superior garden attributes. In particular, to develop cultivars that are long-lived, sturdy, exhibit a true perennial habit and are cold hardy at least to U.S.D.A. Zone 5 in a wide range of flower colors and plant forms.
The Inventor made a controlled cross in August of 2011 in his test garden in Hubbardston, Mass. between an unnamed proprietary plant from the Inventor's breeding program, reference no. J 06-1, as the female parent and an unnamed proprietary plant of Coreopsis as the male parent. ‘Red Chiffon’ was selected in September 2012 as a single unique plant amongst the resulting seedlings.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by stem cuttings in Kensington, Conn. in September 2012 under the direction of the Inventor. Asexual propagation by stem cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.
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High-efficiency diffraction gratings are often useful in laser systems that employ very-high-power laser beams. In particular, systems that use spectral-beam combining to increase the total power of a single collimated laser beam to power levels of one megawatt or more have a need for high-efficiency (low-loss) diffraction gratings.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,199,924 to Brown et al. issued Apr. 3, 2007, titled “APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SPECTRAL-BEAM COMBINING OF HIGH-POWER FIBER LASERS,” is assigned to the owner of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,199,924 Brown et al. describe an apparatus and method for spectral-beam combining light from a plurality of high-power fiber lasers that, in some embodiments, use two substantially identical diffraction gratings in a parallel, mutually compensating configuration to combine a plurality of separate parallel input beams each having a slightly different successively higher wavelength into a single output beam of high quality. In other embodiments, a single diffraction grating is used to combine a plurality of different wavelengths, wherein the input laser beams are obtained from very narrow linewidth sources to reduce chromatic dispersion. In some embodiments, diagnostics and adjustments of wavelengths and/or positions and angles are made dynamically in real time to maintain the combination of the plurality input beams into a single high-quality output beam.
United States Patent Publication 2011/0091155 by Yilmaz et al., titled “IN-LINE FORWARD/BACKWARD FIBER-OPTIC SIGNAL ANALYZER,” is assigned to the owner of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. In Publication 2011/0091155 (which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,755,649 on Jun. 17, 2014), Yilmaz et al. describe an optical connector having a plurality of directional taps and connecting between a plurality of optical waveguides (such as a connector between a waveguide that is part of, or leads from, a seed laser and/or an initial optical-gain-fiber power amplifier, and a waveguide that is part of, or leads to, an output optical-gain-fiber power amplifier and/or a delivery fiber), wherein one of the directional taps extracts a small amount of the forward-traveling optical output signal from the seed laser or initial power amplifier (wherein this forward-tapped signal is optionally monitored using a sensor for the forward-tapped signal), and wherein another of the directional taps extracts at least some of any backward-traveling optical signal that may have been reflected (wherein this backward-tapped signal is optionally monitored using a sensor for the backward-tapped signal).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,872,794 issued to Minelly et al. on Jan. 18, 2011 with the title “HIGH-ENERGY EYE-SAFE PULSED FIBER AMPLIFIERS AND SOURCES OPERATING IN ERBIUM'S L-BAND,” is assigned to the owner of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,872,794, Minelly et al. describe an apparatus and method that provide an optical-fiber amplifier having at least one erbium-doped fiber section and an optical pump coupled to the erbium-doped fiber section, wherein the apparatus is operable to amplify signal pulses to high energy in the erbium-doped fiber section, the pulses having a wavelength in the range of about 1565 nm to about 1630 nm. In some embodiments, the amplifying fiber is ytterbium-free.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,876,803 issued to Di Teodoro et al. on Jan. 25, 2011 with the title “High-power, pulsed ring fiber oscillator and method,” is assigned to the owner of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,876,803, Di Teodoro et al. describe a ring laser includes a large-core rare-earth-doped fiber ring-connected with a free-space path having an electro-optic switch, output coupler, and intracavity band-pass filter to enforce lasing operation in narrow wavelength range. In some cavity-dumped modes, the laser is configured in a similar manner, except that an output coupler is omitted since the optical power is extracted from the laser cavity by the electro-optic switch itself. The same laser can be configured to operate in Q-switched and/or cavity-dumping modes as well as in hybrid modes (e.g., partial Q-switch, followed by cavity dumping, or even CW (continuous wave)). In some embodiments, the laser can be used as, or inject laser light into, a regenerative solid-state amplifier, or a Raman laser, or can be also used to generate visible, ultra-violet, mid-infrared, and far-infrared (THz) radiation via nonlinear wavelength conversion processes. The various embodiments can use a power oscillator or seed-plus-amplifier MOPA configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,526,110 to Honea et al. issued Sep. 3, 2013, titled “SPECTRAL-BEAM COMBINING FOR HIGH-POWER FIBER-RING-LASER SYSTEMS,” is assigned to the owner of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,526,110 Honea et al. describe a ring-laser system that includes a plurality of ring-laser gain elements and a spectral-beam-combining output stage configured to combine a plurality of beams coming from the gain elements into an output beam and that includes chromatic-dispersion compensation. In some embodiments, the output stage includes a plurality of highly reflective dielectric-coated focussing elements. In some embodiments, the output stage includes a plurality of high-efficiency dielectric-coated grating elements. In some embodiments, the output stage includes a mostly reflective but partially transmissive output mirror and a highly reflective beam-reversing mirror configured to reflect a majority of a backward-traveling signal beam such that it becomes forward traveling. In some embodiments, each gain element further includes a photonic-crystal-rod power amplifier. Some embodiments have an amplitude modulator configured to pulse the plurality of beams, and a timing controller configured to synchronize the pulses of the plurality of beams. Some embodiments further include a non-linear wavelength-conversion device.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,503,840 to Hu et al. issued Aug. 6, 2013 titled “OPTICAL-FIBER ARRAY METHOD AND APPARATUS,” is assigned to the owner of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,503,840, Hu et al. describe a method and apparatus for forming an optical-fiber-array assembly, which includes providing a plurality of optical fibers including a first optical fiber and a second optical fiber, providing a fiber-array plate that includes a first surface and a second surface, connecting the plurality of optical fibers to the first surface of the fiber-array plate, transmitting a plurality of optical signals through the optical fibers into the fiber-array plate at the first surface of the fiber-array plate, and emitting from the second surface of the fiber-array plate a composite output beam having light from the plurality of optical signals. Optionally, the first surface of the fiber-array plate includes indicia configured to assist in the alignment of the plurality of optical fibers on the first surface of the fiber-array plate. In some embodiments, the second surface of the fiber-array plate includes a plurality of beam-shaping optics configured to shape the composite output beam.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,493,651 to Hu et al. issued Jul. 23, 2013 titled “Apparatus for optical fiber management and cooling,” is assigned to the owner of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,493,651 an apparatus and method that provides management and cooling of an optical fiber by looping the optical fiber around the inner surface of a heat-conductive cylinder and around the outer surface of the heat-conductive cylinder, such that the optical fiber enters and exits the heat-conductive cylinder on substantially the same plane. Some embodiments use a continuous groove on the inside and outside of the cylinder for guiding and managing the optical fiber. Some embodiments use a plurality of protruding fiber guides for guiding and managing the optical fiber. Some embodiments use an integrated tube for guiding and managing the optical fiber. In some embodiments, the optical fiber looped on the inner surface and outer surface are spaced apart substantially equally. In some other embodiments, the optical fiber loops are spaced further apart for portions of the fiber carrying higher power.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,441,718 to Mead issued May 14, 2013 titled “Spectrally beam combined laser system and method at eye-safer wavelengths,” is assigned to the owner of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,441,718, Mead describes a method and system in which fiber-laser light is Raman shifted to eye-safer wavelengths prior to spectral beam combination, enabling a high-power, eye-safer wavelength directed-energy (DE) system. The output of Ytterbium fiber lasers is not used directly for spectral beam combining. Rather, the power from the Yb fiber lasers is Raman-shifted to longer wavelengths, and these wavelengths are then spectrally beam combined. Raman shifting is most readily accomplished with a “cascaded Raman converter,” in which a series of nested fiber cavities is formed using fiber Bragg gratings.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,411,712 to Honea, et al. issued Apr. 2, 2013 titled “Beam diagnostics and feedback system and method for spectrally beam-combined lasers,” is assigned to the owner of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,411,712, Honea, et al. describe an apparatus and method for control of lasers (which use an array of optical gain fibers) in order to improve spectrally beam-combined (SBC) laser beam quality along the plane of the SBC fiber array via spectral-to-spatial mapping of a portion of the spectrally beam-combined laser beams, detection of optical power in each of the spatially dispersed beams and feedback control of the lasers for wavelength-drift correction. The apparatus includes a diffractive element; a source of a plurality of substantially monochromatic light beams directed from different angles to a single location on the diffractive element, wherein the diffractive element spectrally combines the plurality of light beams into a single beam. A controller adjusts characteristics of the light beams if one of the light beams has become misadjusted. In some embodiments, the controller adjusts the wavelength tuning of the respective fiber laser.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,199,399 to Savage-Leuchs issued Jun. 12, 2012, titled “Optical gain fiber having segments of differing core sizes and associated method,” is assigned to the owner of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,199,399, Savage-Leuchs describes an apparatus and method for amplifying laser signals using segments of fibers of differing core diameters and/or differing cladding diameters to suppress amplified spontaneous emission and non-linear effects such as four-wave mixing (FWM), self-phase modulation, and stimulated Brillouin and/or Raman scattering (SBS/SRS). In some embodiments, different core sizes have different sideband spacings (spacing between the desired signal and wavelength-shifted lobes). Changing core sizes and providing phase mismatches prevent buildup of non-linear effects. Some embodiments further include a bandpass filter to remove signal other than the desired signal wavelength and/or a time gate to remove signal at times other than during the desired signal pulse. Some embodiments include photonic-crystal structures to define the core for the signal and/or the inner cladding for the pump. Some embodiments include an inner glass cladding to confine the signal in the core and an outer glass cladding to confine pump light in the inner cladding.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,179,594 to Tidwell, et al. issued May 15, 2012 titled “Method and apparatus for spectral-beam combining of fanned-in laser beams with chromatic-dispersion compensation using a plurality of diffractive gratings,” is assigned to the owner of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,179,594, Tidwell, et al. describe an apparatus and method for spectral-beam combining of light from a plurality of high-power lasers (e.g., fiber MOPA lasers) that, in some embodiments, use substantially identical diffraction gratings in a 1-D non-parallel, mutually compensating configuration to combine non-parallel intersecting input beams in one plane each having a slightly different successively higher wavelength into a single output beam of high quality. In other embodiments, an output grating and one or more input gratings in a 1-D parallel, mutually compensating configuration combine non-parallel input beams in one plane into a single output beam of high quality. In other embodiments, a 2-D plurality of input gratings in a non-parallel configuration combine a plurality of non-parallel input beams not in one plane each having a slightly different successively higher wavelength into a set of intersecting beams in one plane directed towards an output grating that compensates for chromatic dispersions introduced by the input gratings.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,065,107 to Hamilton, et al. issued Jun. 20, 2006 titled “Spectral beam combination of broad-stripe laser diodes,” is assigned to the owner of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,065,107, Hamilton, et al. describe a method and apparatus for improving the beam quality of the emissions from a multimode gain medium such as a broad-stripe laser through the use of SBC techniques is provided. In order to achieve the desired beam quality without a significant reduction in output power, discrete lasing regions are formed across the gain medium using an etalon or similar device located within the SBC cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,094,689 to Koplow issued Jan. 10, 2012, titled “Laser systems configured to output a spectrally-consolidated laser beam and related methods,” and is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,094,689, Koplow describes a laser apparatus that includes a plurality of pumps each of which is configured to emit a corresponding pump laser beam having a unique peak wavelength. The laser apparatus includes a spectral beam combiner configured to combine the corresponding pump laser beams into a substantially spatially-coherent pump laser beam having a pump spectrum that includes the unique peak wavelengths, and first and second selectively reflective elements spaced from each other to define a lasing cavity including a lasing medium therein. The lasing medium generates a plurality of gain spectra responsive to absorbing the pump laser beam. Each gain spectrum corresponds to a respective one of the unique peak wavelengths of the substantially spatially-coherent pump laser beam and partially overlaps with all other ones of the gain spectra. The reflective elements are configured to promote emission of a laser beam from the lasing medium with a peak wavelength common to each gain spectrum.
EXEMPLARY DIFFRACTIVE ELEMENTS that can be used in some embodiments of the present invention include:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,754,006 titled “Hybrid metallic-dielectric grating” issued Jun. 22, 2004 to Barton et al. and is incorporated herein by reference. This patent describes a diffraction grating having a metallic base layer and layers of dielectric materials of varying refractive index, where a bottom interface of the layers is adherent to the metallic base layer. The dielectric layers are periodically spaced on top of the metallic base layer, leaving the metallic base layer exposed in regions. This grating allows for the polarization-insensitive reflective properties of the base metallic layer to operate in conjunction with the polarization sensitive diffraction properties of the multilayer grating structure to provide near 100% diffraction efficiency over a reasonable wavelength bandwidth, independent of the polarization of the incident beam.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,822,796 to Takada et al. titled “Diffractive optical element” (incorporated herein by reference) describes a method for making blazed gratings having asymmetric grooves with dielectric coatings. U.S. Pat. No. 6,958,859 to Hoose et al. titled “Grating device with high diffraction efficiency” (incorporated herein by reference) describes a method for making blazed gratings having dielectric coatings.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,436 titled “Multilayer dielectric diffraction gratings” issued May 25, 1999 to Perry et al., and is incorporated herein by reference. This patent describes the design and fabrication of dielectric grating structures with high diffraction efficiency. The gratings have a multilayer structure of alternating index dielectric materials, with a grating structure on top of the multilayer, and obtain a diffraction grating of adjustable efficiency, and variable optical bandwidth.
Even with high-efficiency multi-layered dielectric diffraction gratings such as those described above, a non-negligible amount of energy is absorbed in the grating, which heats and distorts the grating. A diamond layer in thermal contact with the grating can improve heat transfer. EXEMPLARY DIAMOND-LAYER COOLING SUBSTRATES that can be used in some embodiments include:
PCT Publication No. WO 2013/062584, which published May 2, 2013, of PCT Patent Application PCT/US11/58352 titled “Devices including a diamond layer” filed Oct. 28, 2011 by Liang et al., is incorporated herein by reference. Liang et al. describe a device that includes a substrate layer, a diamond layer, and a device layer. The device layer is patterned. The diamond layer is to conform to a pattern associated with the device layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,830,813 to Ravi, which issued Dec. 14, 2004 and is titled “Stress-reducing structure for electronic devices,” is incorporated herein by reference. Ravi describes an electronic apparatus having a heat transfer/stress-reducing layer combined with a device layer and methods of fabricating such electronic apparatus provide a means for incorporating a heat transfer layer in an integrated circuit. A structure with a diamond layer incorporated beneath a device layer provides a heat transfer layer for the structure. In an embodiment, a compliant layer is formed between a diamond layer and a substrate to provide stress reduction. In another embodiment, a diamond layer is formed as a layer of islands of diamond from nucleation centers to provide stress reduction.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,501,330 to Ravi, et al., which issued Mar. 10, 2009 and is titled “Methods of forming a high conductivity diamond film and structures formed thereby,” is incorporated herein by reference. Ravi, et al. describe a method of forming a high thermal conductivity diamond film and its associated structures comprising selectively nucleating a region of a substrate, and forming a diamond film on the substrate such that the diamond film has large grains, which are at least about 20 microns in size. The larger grained diamond film has greatly improved thermal management capabilities and improves the efficiency and speed of a microelectronic device.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,846,767 to Sung issued Dec. 7, 2010 titled “Semiconductor-on-diamond devices and associated methods,” and is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 7,846,767 describes semiconductor-on-diamond (SOD) substrates and methods for making such substrates. In one aspect, a method of making an SOD device is provided that includes etching depressions into an etch surface of a semiconductor substrate to a uniform depth, depositing a diamond layer onto the etch surface to form diamond-filled depressions, and thinning the semiconductor substrate at a thinning surface opposite the etch surface until the diamond filled depressions are exposed, thus forming a semiconductor device having a thickness substantially equal to the uniform depth.
CONVENTIONAL DIFFRACTIVE BEAM SHAPERS include the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,762 issued to Leger et al. on Mar. 21, 1989 titled “Coherent beam combining of lasers using microlenses and diffractive coupling,” and is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,762 describes a diffractive lenslet array receives light from multiple lasers. The lenslet array is spaced apart from a partially reflecting mirror by a distance Z=n×d2/λ, where n is an integer or half integer, λ is the laser wavelength and d is the spacing of the lenslets in the array. In a preferred embodiment the apparatus is a unitary design in which the lenslets are etched into one surface of a substrate and a parallel surface is coated to form the partially reflecting mirror. The lenslets abut one another to produce a fill factor (percentage of array containing light) close to one and each of the lenslets is a multistep diffractive lens. Diffractive spreading over a round trip distance from lasers to mirror and back again causes feedback light from a single lenslet to couple into adjacent lenslets. The light from all the lenslets is coupled back into the laser waveguides efficiently only when the wavefront at each of the lenslets is flat, that is, when the phase of the feedback is uniform across a lenslet. Uniformity is achieved when the separation between lenslet array and mirror is the Talbot self-imaging condition set forth above.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,004 to Leger issued Sep. 26, 1995 titled “Phase grating and mode-selecting mirror for a laser,” and is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,004 describes a method for making a custom phase-conjugating diffractive mirror for a laser resonator comprising the steps of: (a) choosing a specified beam mode profile ai (x,y) that will suit need of a designer, (b) calculating the mode profile b(x′,y′) which is a value of the specified ai (x,y) that is propagated to the reflection surface of the diffractive mirror and (c) calculating mirror reflectance t(x′,y′) which reflects phase conjugate of b(x′,y′). A method for fabricating such a mirror is shown. Another aspect of the invention is the addition of a phase-adjusting element into a laser resonator, and compensating for the addition of a phase-adjusting element in the design of other phase-adjusting elements such as the mirrors.
Other Beam Shapers
United States Patent Application Publication 2011/0249320 by Savage-Leuchs et al. titled “High beam quality and high average power from large-core-size optical-fiber amplifiers” (which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,830,568 on Sep. 9, 2014), and United States Patent Application Publication 2011/0249321 by Savage-Leuchs et al. titled “Signal and pump mode-field adaptor for double-clad fibers and associated method” (which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,767,286 on Jul. 1, 2014), are assigned to the owner of the present application, and are incorporated herein by reference. In these publications, Savage-Leuchs et al. describe an apparatus, method and use for improving and merging core pumping and cladding pumping to enable high-power fiber-laser systems having excellent beam quality while using large-core (LMA) step-index gain fibers at very high optical power, wherein the core pumping includes mixing a laser seed optical signal (having a signal wavelength) with optical core-pump light (having a core-pump wavelength that is near the signal wavelength) in a manner that matches the modes of the seed optical signal and the pump light. Savage-Leuchs et al. also describe mode-matching double-clad fibers. In some embodiments, a first fiber section that has a first core, wherein the first core has a first core diameter connects to a mode-field adaptor, wherein the mode-field adaptor includes a first portion having a central volume that has a substantially constant index-of-refraction radial profile and a diameter larger than the first core diameter, and a second portion that has a graded-index (GRIN) central volume, wherein the GRIN central volume has a central axis and a graded index-of-refraction radial profile having an index that gradually decreases at larger distances from its central axis and a length selected to focus light into the core of a second fiber wherein the second core has a diameter that is larger than the first core diameter, and wherein the second fiber section is double clad. Some embodiments are polarized.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,128,943 (hereinafter, “Djeu”), titled “Methods for fabricating lenses at the end of optical fibers in the far field of the fiber aperture,” issued Oct. 31, 2006, and incorporated herein by reference. Djeu describe a microlens affixed in the far field of an optical fiber to spatially transform a beam either entering or exiting the fiber. In a first embodiment, a droplet of photo polymer is placed on the end of an optical fiber and the fiber is spun to create an artificial gravity. The droplet is cured by UV radiation during the spinning. In some embodiments, the method described by Djeu is modified such that lenslets are suitably formed on surface 512 of base plate 510, wherein the lenslets provide the annularizing and the focussing of the beams 560.
There remains a need in the art for improved systems and methods for beam shaping in spectral-beam-combination systems, methods and devices.
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Residential and/or commercial building structures may include drywall panels for interior walls and/or ceilings. When installing the drywall, pieces of drywall may be cut to fit a particular layout of a room in the building. Cutting and finishing drywall for various room layouts may be labor intensive, which can add significant costs to building construction.
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The present invention relates to baseball bats and more particularly to a baseball training bat.
In baseball, one of the major problems in becoming a superior hitter is for the hitter to keep one eye on the ball as the ball hits the bat. Upon swinging, most hitters do not really see the ball hit the bat. The hitter needs to be trained to focus his eyes on the ball when it is released from the pitcher and follow it as it crosses home plate. Once the hitter determines the ball is near or in the hitting region, the hitter needs to swing and make contact. During the swing, the hitter needs to watch the ball hit the bat. In the major leagues, a hitter has typically 1/2 a second to determine to swing and hit the ball. In little league, the hitting time is on the order of 1 to 2 second range. The hitter needs to learn how to adjust the timing of the swing. More importantly, he needs to be trained and learn to see the bat move in front of the plate to meet the ball. The batter needs to keep his eyes focused down upon hitting the ball. It is common that the hitter does not look at the ball as it passes near home plate.
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It has previously been proposed to provide resilient soles for footwear, and H. J. Bronson U.S. Pat. No. 2,598,217 shows one example of such footwear. It has also been proposed to have inflatable bladders in footwear and to have manual or foot actuated pumps for circulating air in footwear or for inflating the bladders mentioned above.
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This invention relates to a configuration of an airbag module behind the instrument panel of a motor vehicle.
One configuration of this type is known from German publication DE 199 13 041 A1. The airbag module is mounted on a transversely running tube in front of the car body structure. The folded airbag lies within a hollow component behind the instrument panel. The hollow component passes into an adapter tube that serves as a charge channel and is mounted on the back side of the instrument panel. A configuration of this type has the disadvantage that the tolerances between the tube in front of the car body structure and the instrument panel must be adjusted relative to the mounting components of the airbag module. Furthermore, suitable measures must be taken to keep the relative motion between the instrument panel and the airbag unit as small as possible when the airbag is deployed. Otherwise there is a danger of the airbag becoming entangled and possibly deploying partially behind the instrument panel.
One object of this invention is to design an airbag module configuration which can be easily mounted without special consideration for component tolerances and, when the airbag is deployed, which has relative motion between the instrument panel and the airbag unit that remains within bounds.
According to the invention, the charge channel and the airbag module are separated from one another. The charge channel is mounted on the rear side of the instrument panel, while the airbag module is fastened to the body, preferably to a support tube of the body structure. In this manner, the airbag module can be mounted first, after which the instrument panel can be installed. In this way, the charge channel that is mounted on the rear side of the instrument panel is placed over the airbag exit area for the airbag module. The two components are not fastened to one another and can shift relative to one another, which could lead to the above-mentioned undesirable relative motion when the airbag is deployed. This is prevented, however, by a catch on the charge channel and by a hook component fixed to the body. Both components are arranged such that when the airbag is deployed, the hook component holds the charge channel by way of the catch.
Advantageous designs of the invention are provided in the following description, with reference to pertinent drawings.
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Wet capacitors are increasingly being used in the design of circuits due to their volumetric efficiency, reliability, and process compatibility. Wet capacitors typically have a larger capacitance per unit volume than certain other types of capacitors, making them valuable in high-current, high power and low-frequency electrical circuits. One type of wet capacitor that has been developed is a wet electrolytic capacitor that includes a valve metal anode, a cathode, and a liquid electrolyte. The unit cell voltage in this type of capacitor is generally higher due to the formation of a dielectric metal oxide film over the anode surface. Wet electrolytic capacitors tend to offer a good combination of high capacitance with low leakage current. Another type of wet capacitor is a wet symmetric capacitor in which the anode and cathode are similar in terms of structure and composition. The unit cell voltage in this type of capacitor is generally low due to the inevitable decomposition of the electrolyte at high voltage. Whether electrolytic or symmetric, however, the cathodes of wet capacitors typically include a substrate and a coating that provides high capacitance through a faradic or non-faradic mechanism. Conventional coatings include activated carbon, metal oxides (e.g., ruthenium oxide), and the like. Unfortunately, however, the coatings can become easily detached under certain conditions, such as in the presence of aqueous electrolytes.
As such, a need remains for a high voltage wet electrolytic capacitor that possesses good mechanical robustness and electrical performance.
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In the field of superconducting transmission lines, the transmission line cable and cable containment envelope or enclosure terminate at each end of the line so that the cryogenic cooling fluid for maintaining the line below its superconducting critical temperature can enter at one end of the cable enclosure and exit from the other end thereof. Referring to FIG. 1a of the above cited Forsyth et al. U.S. Pat. 3,902,000, which is incorporated by reference herein, 7.degree.K cooling fluid enters at one end, exits at the other end and returns to the refrigerator in a separate enclosure.
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The field of communications has become increasingly important in today's society. In particular, the ability to quickly and effectively interact with an individual (through any suitable communications media) presents a significant obstacle for component manufacturers, system designers, and network operators. This obstacle is made even more difficult due to the plethora of diverse communication technologies (e.g. Instant Messaging, cellular communications, simple voice sessions, etc.) that exist in the current marketplace.
As new communication platforms (such as session initiation protocol (SIP), for example) become available to the consumer, new protocols need to be developed in order to optimize this emerging technology. For example, one problem often encountered by a caller in any communications environment is being unable to identify characteristics about a calling party associated with the incoming call. This inability prohibits a receiving party from adequately preparing for the call, rejecting the call in cases where receiving the call from a specific individual is not preferred, or properly anticipating the needs of the calling party. Accordingly, this deficiency in information for the receiving party presents a burden for any employee, employer, individual, or endpoint that seeks to execute a successful and productive communication session.
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(1) Field of the Invention
The invention is related in general to wellsite surface equipment such as fracturing pumps and the like.
(2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Multiplex reciprocating pumps are generally used to pump high pressure fracturing fluids downhole. Typically, the pumps that are used for this purpose have plunger sizes varying from about 9.5 cm (3.75 in.) to about 16.5 cm (6.5 in.) in diameter. These pumps typically have two sections: (a) a power end, the motor assembly that drives the pump plungers (the driveline and transmission are parts of the power end); and (b) a fluid end, the pump container that holds and discharges pressurized fluid.
In triplex pumps, the fluid end has three fluid cylinders. For the purpose of this document, the middle of these three cylinders is referred to as the central cylinder, and the remaining two cylinders are referred to as side cylinders. Similarly, a quintuplex pump has five fluid cylinders, including a middle cylinder and four side cylinders. A fluid end may comprise a single block having cylinders bored therein, known in the art as a monoblock fluid end.
The pumping cycle of the fluid end is composed of two stages: (a) a suction cycle: During this part of the cycle a piston moves outward in a packing bore, thereby lowering the fluid pressure in the fluid end. As the fluid pressure becomes lower than the pressure of the fluid in a suction pipe (typically 2-3 times the atmospheric pressure, approximately 0.28 MPa (40 psi)), the suction valve opens and the fluid end is filled with pumping fluid; and (b) a discharge cycle: During this cycle, the plunger moves forward in the packing bore, thereby progressively increasing the fluid pressure in the pump and closing the suction valve. At a fluid pressure slightly higher than the line pressure (which can range from as low as 13.8 MPa (2 Ksi) to as high as 145 MPa (21 Ksi)) the discharge valve opens, and the high pressure fluid flows through the discharge pipe.
Given a pumping frequency of 2 Hz, i.e., 2 pressure cycles per second, the fluid end body can experience a very large number of stress cycles within a relatively short operational lifespan. These stress cycles may induce fatigue failure of the fluid end. Fatigue involves a failure process where small cracks initiate at the free surface of a component under cyclic stress. The cracks may grow at a rate defined by the cyclic stress and the material properties until they are large enough to warrant failure of the component. Since fatigue cracks generally initiate at the surface, a strategy to counter such failure mechanism is to pre-load the surface.
Typically, this is done through an autofrettage process, which involves a mechanical pre-treatment of the fluid end in order to induce residual stresses at the internal free surfaces, i.e., the surfaces that are exposed to the fracturing fluid, also known as the fluid end cylinders. US 2008/000065 is an example of an autofrettage process for pretreating the fluid end cylinders of a multiplex pump. During autofrettage, the fluid end cylinders are exposed to high hydrostatic pressures. The pressure during autofrettage causes plastic yielding of the inner surfaces of the cylinder walls. Since the stress level decays across the wall thickness, the deformation of the outer surfaces of the walls is still elastic. When the hydrostatic pressure is removed, the outer surfaces of the walls tend to revert to their original configuration. However, the plastically deformed inner surfaces of the same walls constrain this deformation. As a result, the inner surfaces of the walls of the cylinders inherit a residual compressive stress. The effectiveness of the autofrettage process depends on the extent of the residual stress on the inner walls and their magnitude.
It remains desirable to provide improvements in wellsite surface equipment in efficiency, flexibility, reliability, and maintainability.
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The present invention relates to a set of refractory assemblies and a method for transferring liquid metal from a first container to a second container or mold, wherein the refractories have a channel for injection of inert gas.
The present invention relates to a refractory assembly or a set of refractory assemblies for a plant for transferring liquid metal from an upstream container to a downstream container, comprising: an upstream container; a downstream container; a taphole in the upstream container; a flow regulator for regulating the flow of liquid metal through the taphole; a set of refractory assemblies which are placed between the upstream container and the downstream container in the extension of the taphole and delimit a tapping spout via which the metal flows from the upstream container into the downstream container, each refractory assembly of the tapping spout having at least one mating surface forming a joint with a corresponding surface of an adjacent refractory assembly; a shroud channel placed around the tapping spout near at least one mating surface between refractory assemblies.
Refractory assembly is understood to mean a monolithic component consisting of one or more amounts of refractory, possibly comprising other constituents, for example a metal shell. Flow regulator is understood to mean any type of device used in this technical field, such as a stopper rod, a slide gate valve, and also a simple restriction.
In a plant of this type, the presence of a regulator in the tapping spout means that, when the liquid metal is flowing, there is a pressure drop. If the tapping spout is not perfectly sealed, air can be drawn into it because of this reduced pressure. This is generally the case, in particular at the mating surfaces between the various refractory assemblies, which form the tapping spout, the sealing of which is difficult to achieve and to maintain. Air is therefore drawn in, which results in a degradation in the quality of the metal.
In order to solve this problem, it is known to create, by means of a shroud channel, an overpressure of an inert gas around the tapping spout, near each critical mating surface. Inert gas is understood to mean here a gas, which does not impair the quality of the tapped metal. Among the gases normally used may be found nobel gases, such as argon, but also gases such as nitrogen or carbon dioxide.
According to a known embodiment, a groove is formed in at least one of the mating surfaces between two adjacent refractory assemblies. This groove is fed with pressurized inert gas and thus forms an annular shroud channel placed around the tapping spout. Such an embodiment is known, for example, from U.S. 4,555,050 or EP 0, 048, 641.
In the particular case in which successive refractory assemblies are able to move with respect to each other, the use of a shroud channel is also known. French Patent Application FR 74/14636 describes a slide gate valve having two plates, each plate having a hole through which the liquid metal passes, the sliding of one plate with respect to the other enabling the flow of liquid metal to be regulated. These two plates each have, along their common mating plane, a U-shaped groove placed head to tail with respect to each other so that the arms of one of the U""s overlap the arms of the other U, and thus produce a closed shroud channel whatever the relative position of the two plates.
All these known arrangements are used to replace the induction of air by the induction of an inert gas, thereby eliminating the chemical problem associated with the liquid metal coming into contact with air.
However, these known solutions have several disadvantages.
The introduction of gas into the tapping spout is not eliminated. It is even increased because the shroud channel is at an overpressure. This is a drawback particularly in the case of transfer of metal between a tundish and a continuous-casting mold. The gas introduced into the tapping spout ends up in the mold and causes perturbations therein, such as turbulence, movement of the coverage powder and the trapping of this powder in the liquid metal. The gas entrained into the mold may furthermore become dissolved in the liquid metal and subsequently create defects in the solidified metal. These perturbations therefore degrade the quality of the metal produced.
In addition, in order to reduce the speed of the metal as it enters the mold, and thus to reduce the turbulence in this mold, many types of jet shroud tubes have an outlet cross-section greater than their inlet cross-section. The speed of flow of the liquid metal then decreases gradually. The presence of a significant quantity of gas in the tube may prevent correct operation of this type of tube: the flow may separate from the walls of the tube and the liquid metal then drops as a jet into the mold.
The quality of a mating surface between two refractory assemblies may vary while the tapping spout is being used. Defects may appear and, in particular in the case of refractory assemblies which can move with respect to each other, wear of the mating surface may lead to significant leakage.
It is therefore necessary to make the regulation of the supply of inert gas into the shroud channel more sophisticated.
One possibility is to regulate the flow of inert gas introduced into the shroud channel. In this case, if the sealing defect becomes significant, it may happen that the flow rate of inert gas is no longer high enough f or only the inert gas to enter the tapping spout. In this case, the pressure in the shroud channel becomes negative and ambient air can be drawn into the tapping spout. On the other hand, if the sealing is good, a fixed flow of inert gas is nevertheless introduced into the shroud channel, the pressure therein increases and the inert gas enters the tapping spout without this really being necessary.
Another possibility is to regulate the pressure of the inert gas as it is being introduced into the shroud channel. In this case, if the sealing defect becomes significant, the flow rate of inert gas entering the tapping spout is high, which leads to the defects mentioned above.
In practice, when the leakage rate is high it is necessary to use these two modes of regulation in alter nation, even if this means accepting a certain amount of air being drawn in rather than too great an excess of inert gas. Consequently, management of the regulation is complex and necessarily includes compromises between two types of disadvantages.
The subject of the present invention is specifically a plant for transferring liquid metal, which solves the problems explained above, and sets of refractory assemblies enabling it to be operated.
The subject of the invention is also a method of regulating the supply of inert gas into a shroud channel.
The subject of the invention is furthermore a method making it possible to improve the sealing of the mating surfaces between refractory assemblies during use of the tapping spout.
The invention relates to a set of refractory assemblies, comprising at least two refractory assemblies, which is capable of being used between an upstream container and a downstream container of a plant for transferring liquid metal, in particular steel. Such a plant generally comprises a tapping spout via which the metal flows from the upstream container into the downstream container, each refractory assembly of the tapping spout having at least one surface forming a mating surface with a corresponding surface of an adjacent refractory assembly; a flow regulator for regulating the flow of liquid metal through the tapping spout; a shroud channel placed around the tapping spout near at least one mating surface between refractory assemblies and having an inlet capable of allowing the intake of a fluid.
The said at least two refractory assemblies comprise means capable of forming the said shroud channel.
The invention is characterized in that the said shroud channel has an outlet capable of allowing a fluid to escape to the outside of the plant. In a preferred variant of the invention, the shroud channel has an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other end. Preferably, it is linear and continuous. The inlet of the shroud channel and its outlet may be provided on a single refractory assembly. The entirety of the shroud channel is then made in this refractory assembly. The shroud channel may also run through several mating surfaces of the tapping spout in succession, the continuity of the shroud channel being provided by corresponding communications of the said channel at the mating surfaces. In particular, the set of refractory assemblies may comprise two refractory assemblies, the inlet of the shroud channel being located on one of these assemblies and the outlet of the shroud channel being located on the other.
In a preferred variant of the invention, a calibrated head loss, terminated by a venting outlet, is connected to the outlet of the shroud channel. This calibrated head loss may be connected to the outlet of the shroud channel outside the set of refractory assemblies, but may also consist of a duct of small cross-section and of suitable length made within the actual refractory assembly.
The sets of refractory assemblies according to the invention may comprise plates constituting a movable slide gate valve. In this case, at least one of the plates has a first U-shaped part of the shroud channel, the arms of which U are aligned with the movement of the slide gate valve. A second plate, adjacent to the previous one, has a second U-shaped part of the shroud channel, opposite the previous one. One arm of the U of one of the plates is partially superposed an one arm of the U of the other plate for at least certain positions of the slide gate valve so as to ensure continuity of the shroud channel. The arms of the shroud channel, which are opposite the superposed arms, are offset so that there is no superposition between them, whatever the position of the slide gate valve. The parts of the shroud channel are capable of being connected together and to the adjacent refractory assemblies so as to form a continuous linear shroud channel. In the case of the plates of such a slide gate valve, the U-shaped part of the shroud channel may be placed non-symmetrically with respect to the tapping spout.
The invention also relates to a refractory assembly which can be used in a set of refractory assemblies, as described previously.
The invention furthermore relates to a plant for transferring liquid metal, in particular steel, between an upstream container and a downstream container, characterized in that it comprises a set of refractory assemblies, as described previously.
In a preferred variant, this plant comprises means capable of introducing a sealing agent into the shroud channel. The sealing agent may be a powder, and in particular a powder having particles of varying size. Included among powders which are useful as the sealing agent are graphite or other refractories, and enamels which are fusible at the temperature of the shroud channel and the viscosity of which, in the liquid state, is sufficient to close off, at least partially, the leaks in the shroud channel. The sealing agent may also be chosen from paints and resins. It may also be chosen from salts or metals.
Finally, the invention relates to a method of regulating the supply of inert gas in a plant for transferring liquid metal according to the invention. Within the scope of this method, a flow of inert gas is introduced into the shroud channel, the flow being set at a high enough value for an excess of inert gas to escape via the outlet whatever the flow rate of inert gas drawn into the tapping spout. In a preferred variant of this method, the following steps are carried out:
a flow of inert gas is injected into the shroud channel;
the pressure of the inert gas at its inlet into the shroud channel is measured;
the flow rate of inert gas injected into the shroud channel is regulated to a set value;
the flow rate of inert gas at the venting outlet is calculated;
the set value of the flow rate of inert gas injected into the shroud channel is adjusted in such a way that the flowrate of inert gas at the venting outlet is always positive.
In an improvement of this method, the flow rate of inert gas drawn into the tapping spout is determined by the difference between the flow rate of inert gas injected into the shroud channel and the flow rate of inert gas at the venting outlet, and a sealing agent is then injected into the shroud channel when the said flow rate of inert gas drawn into the tapping spout exceeds a permitted limit.
Because of the linear and continuous arrangement of the shroud channel, the circulation of the inert gas ensures that the sealing agent is transported over the entire length of this channel, thereby avoiding dead zones. The presence of the opening of the shroud channel enables any excess sealing agent to be removed to the outside of the plant.
Other features of the invention will appear on reading the description which follows, reference being made to the appended figures. In these figures:
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A variable valve timing control system in an engine is configured to change a rotational movement of a drive cam which is rotatable in association with a rotation of a crankshaft to a reciprocating movement of a valve by a pivot cam device. The variable valve timing control system is configured to change a pivot angle range of the pivot cam device to enable valve timing control according to an engine speed (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2005-180232).
However, in such a variable valve timing control system, since a valve must be applied with a force from a spring to perform the reciprocating movement, a pressing force applied by a drive cam to another component positioned between the drive cam and the valve is large, and a sliding friction force generated on slide surfaces of the drive cam and another component, which are slidable relative to each other, is large. For this reason, the sliding surfaces tend to wear out and are low in durability.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image recording apparatus, and more particularly to an image recording apparatus for recording a two-dimensional image on a two-dimensional recording medium by imaging thereon light emitted from a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in one direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been known a line recording type image recording apparatus which comprises a line recording source comprising a number of light emitting elements linearly arranged in a main scanning direction and an erecting unit optical system comprising a refractive index distribution type lens array which images light emitted from the line recording source as an erected image in an unit magnification on a two-dimensional recording medium and in which a two-dimensional image is recorded on the two-dimensional recording medium by imaging light emitted from the respective light emitting elements of the line recording source, the intensity of light emitted from the respective light emitting elements being modulated according to the image to be recorded, through the refractive index distribution type lens array while moving the two-dimensional recording medium in a sub-scanning direction intersecting the aforesaid main scanning direction. See, for instance, U.S. patent application No. 882763(1997).
The degree of freedom of the refractive index profile of the refractive index distribution type lens array is limited for reasons of production and it is difficult to obtain a refractive index distribution type lens array having a desired resolution and a large numerical aperture. Accordingly, the part of the light emitted from the light emitting elements which does not impinge upon the refractive index distribution type lens array within the range of a predetermined numerical aperture is absorbed or reflected at the side face of the lens array and cannot be imaged on the two-dimensional recording medium. That is, a part of the light emitted from the light emitting elements cannot be used for forming an image on the two-dimensional recording medium and is emitted in vain. Especially, in a dry printer where a heat-developing film is used and a large amount of heat energy is used to heat-develop the film, there has been a demand that the light emitted from the light emitting elements is better used to reduce the power consumption and the light emitting element cost.
In view of the foregoing observations and description, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus which can better use the light emitted from the light emitting elements to record the image.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an image recording apparatus which comprises a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in a main scanning direction and an imaging optical system which images light emitted from the light emitting elements on a two-dimensional recording medium in a linearly arranged fashion and in which a two-dimensional image is recorded on the two-dimensional recording medium by imaging light emitted from the respective light emitting elements, the intensity of light emitted from the respective light emitting elements being modulated according to the image to be recorded, through the imaging optical system while moving the two-dimensional recording medium in a sub-scanning direction relatively to the imaging optical system, wherein the improvement comprises that the imaging optical system comprises a first optical system comprising a plurality of biaxial optical elements, each having a refractive index profile in the main scanning direction and a refractive index in a direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction, arranged in the main scanning direction, and a second optical system comprising an optical element disposed on the light incident side of the first optical system or on each of the light incident side and the imaging side of the first optical system and having a refractive power to light components propagated in a direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction but no refractive power to light components propagated in the main scanning direction.
The imaging optical system may be, for instance, an optical system which images light emitted from the light emitting elements as an erected image in an unit magnification on the two-dimensional recording medium.
It is preferred that the first and second optical systems be formed integrally with each other.
The two-dimensional recording medium may be, for instance, a heat-developing film.
The light emitting element may be selected from the group consisting of an LED element, an LD element and an organic EL element.
The sub-scanning direction need not be perpendicular to the main scanning direction so long as it intersects the main scanning direction.
The two-dimensional recording medium need not be in the form of a flat sheet but may be a recording medium having a curved recording surface such as a cylindrical surface. That is, the two-dimensional image may be recorded on a curved surface as well as a flat surface.
In the image recording apparatus of the present invention, the collecting efficiency of the light components propagated in a direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction can be increased without deteriorating the resolution since the numerical aperture (NA) in the direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction can be increased by virtue of the second optical system having a refractive power to light components propagated in a direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction but no refractive power to light components propagated in the main scanning direction irrespective of limitation in the degree of freedom of the refractive index profile of the first optical system, whereby the light emitted from the light emitting elements can be better used to record the image.
When the imaging optical system is an optical system which images light emitted from the light emitting elements as an erected image in an unit magnification on the two-dimensional recording medium, the image represented by the intensities of the light emitted from the respective light emitting elements can be more precisely formed on the two-dimensional medium.
When the first and second optical systems are formed integrally with each other, the optical system holding mechanism can be simplified and the imaging optical system can be small in size. At the same time, shift of each optical system relatively to the other optical system due to vibration or the like can be suppressed, whereby the optical performance of the imaging optical system can be held constant for a long time. Further, when the light emitting element is an LED element, an LD element or an organic EL element, the image recording apparatus can be smaller in size.
The present invention is especially useful when it is applied to an image recording apparatus, where the two-dimensional recording medium is a heat-developing film requiring a large amount of optical energy.
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A. Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Inflammatory Bowel Disease ("IBD") is the collective term used to describe two chronic, idiopathic inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract: ulcerative colitis ("UC") and Crohn's disease ("CD"). UC and CD are considered together because of their overlapping clinical, etiologic, and pathogenetic features. From a therapeutic and prognostic standpoint, however, it is important to distinguish them from one another as well as from non-chronic inflammatory diseases of the bowel.
IBD occurs world-wide and is reported to afflict as many as two million people. Onset has been documented at all ages; however, IBD predominately begins in young adulthood. The three most common presenting symptoms of IBD are diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever. The diarrhea may range from mild to severe and is often accompanied by urgency and frequency. In UC, the diarrhea is usually bloody and may contain mucus and purulent matter as well. Anemia and weight loss are additional common signs of IBD. Reports of an increasing occurrence of psychological problems, including anxiety and depression, are perhaps not surprising secondary effects of what is often a debilitating disease that occurs in people in the prime of life.
B. The Cause(s) of IBD are Unknown
Although the cause(s) of UC and CD is not known, there is general agreement that genetics is important in a person's susceptibility to IBD and that the immune system is responsible for mediating the tissue damage in these diseases. Generally speaking, a failure to down regulate the normal self-limited inflammatory response of the bowel is characteristic of IBD. While a wide range of immunologic abnormalities have been reported in these disorders, none has yet been sufficiently reliable to be of diagnostic value. For example, the production of TNF-.alpha. by macrophages and T cells of IBD patients is a point of controversy. Although it has been suggested that patients with IBD, particularly CD, exhibit elevated TNF-.alpha. protein production and gene expression in the cells of the mucosa, others have not been able to document such a phenomena. Therefore, the diagnostic value of assaying for TNF-.alpha. protein production or gene expression is uncertain. Moreover, a suggestion that this immunologic abnormality has a genetic determinant which would be of value in the diagnosis of CD is necessarily speculative in nature.
C. Methods of Diagnosing IBD
A battery of laboratory, radiological, and endoscopic evaluations are combined to derive a diagnosis of IBD and to assess the extent and severity of the disease. Nevertheless, differentiating UC from CD, as well as other types of inflammatory conditions of the bowel, such as irritable bowel syndrome, infectious diarrhea, rectal bleeding, radiation colitis, and the like, is difficult, because the mucosa of the small and large intestines reacts in a similar way to a large number of different insults. Once infectious-types of bowel disorders have been ruled out, the final diagnosis of IBD is often made on the basis of the progression of the disease. In many patients, though, the diagnosis of IBD must still be regarded as indeterminate because of the overlapping features of UC and CD, particularly with CD of the colon.
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Capsule technology continues to be subject to development and improvements. In particular, over the last decades, a need for providing better tamperproofness to dosage forms has resulted in technological developments that provide some tamper resistance to such dosage forms.
For example, EP0797424B1, discloses manners by which hard capsule shells can be shrink-wrapped onto tablets to provide tightly fitted shells over the tablet. Although providing some resistance to removal of the shells, a need still exists to further improve such dosage forms to provide a truly tamper resistant product.
Other examples, like U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,767, describe manners by which shrink-wrapping of shells over tablets is combined with banding via a gelatin band or application of a gelatin dot at the apexes of the tablet over the land thereof. However, such methods result in dosage forms that have limited applications, not enabling their use in different target/controlled-release applications (whereby, for example, the use of polymeric shells are rather desirable such as pullulan, celluloses like HPMC, enteric polymers like HPMCAS, HPMCP, CAP and the like), as well as particularly suffering from tampering upon twisting of the shells (i.e. under torsion).
Other examples, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,099, describe coating of tablets by dipping into a gelatinous composition to provide tamperproofness. Such methods however prove costly and may bring along with it inherent contamination issues. Moreover, such process provides some limitation as to the compositional characteristics of the gelatinous coatings that can be successfully used.
A need therefore exists for truly tamperproof dosage forms that overcome the problems of the prior art and particularly allows to simplify the process of making tamperproof dosage forms.
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Several lines of pharmacological and genetic evidence support the role of melanin concentrating hormone receptor-1 (hereafter “MCHR1”) as a modulator of food intake and body weight. Central administration of melanin concentrating hormone (MCH) increases food intake and body weight in both rats and mice. Chronic ICV infusion of MCH causes increased food intake and ultimately obesity in mice, while infusion of an MCH peptide antagonist blocks MCH-induced food intake and results in weight loss and decreased feeding in diet-induced obese mice.
The expression of both the MCH peptide and receptor are modulated by nutritional status. MCH mRNA is upregulated both in hyperphagic obese mice (ob/ob), and fasted animals. Targeted disruption of the gene for MCH peptide results in hypophagia and leanness. Disruption of the MCHR1 gene causes leanness, altered metabolism, and hyperlocomotion accompanied by mild hyperphagia. Conversely, over-expression of MCH peptide results in hyperphagia, obesity and diabetes. Small molecule MCHR1 antagonists have been shown to cause weight loss in rodent weight and feeding models after both oral and intraperitoneal administration; Eur. J; Pharmacol, 438:129-135 (2002); Nat. Med., 8:825-830 (2002); Eur. J. Pharmacol, 497; 41-47 (2004).
MCHR1 has also been reported to play a key role in the pathogenesis of acute experimental colitis and possibly human IBD (inflammatory bowel disease). It has been shown that immunoneutralization is an effective treatment for TNBS-induced colitis. Kokkotou, E. et al., “Melanin-concentrating hormone as a mediator of intestinal inflammation”, PNAS, 105(30):10613-10618 (Jul. 29, 2008).
In addition, MCH and MCHR1 has also been reported to play a role in the endocrine and behavioral responses to stress. Treatment of rats and mice with MCHR antagonists produce a robust anti-depressant and anti-anxiolytic effect. (JPET DOI:10.1124/jpet.108.143362)
Numerous non-peptide MCHR1 antagonists have been disclosed. The scope of the genus for each reflects a common perception regarding the criteria required for ligand recognition as MCHR1 agonists. A recent review of MCHR1 patent disclosures emphasized the commonality of these structures by the following description; “Ubiquitous throughout the MCH patent literature are molecules consisting of a central scaffold to which linkers to an aryl or heteroaryl group and a basic amino functionality are attached” (T. J. Kowalski, T. J. et al., Exp. Opin. Invest. Drugs, 13:1113-1122 (2004)). Pharmacophore models of these geni consistently envision a presumed prerequisite electrostatic interaction between a basic amine center of the antagonist ligand and aspartic acid 123 of the receptor which presumably is envisaged to emulate the mandatory interaction between arginine 14 of MCH peptide agonists with aspartic acid 123 of the MCHR1 receptor. (Ulven, T. et al., J. Med. Chem., 48:5684-5697 (2005)). However, incorporation of this basic amine in a MCHR1 antagonist increases substantially the probability of binding to off-target ion-channels and biogenic amine receptors.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0093509 A1 published Apr. 26, 2007 discloses a series of novel high affinity selective MCHR1 antagonists of formula A:
wherein,
A is phenyl or a monocyclic heteroaryl;
D is CH2 or a direct bond;
R1 is independently selected from hydrogen, halogen, lower alkyl, lower cycloalkyl, CF3, OR6 or SR6;
R2 is hydrogen or lower alkyl;
R4 is hydroxyl or G-D2-Zn;
n is an integer from 1 to 3;
R5 is hydrogen, halogen, lower alkyl, lower cycloalkyl, CF3, SR6, lower alkoxy, lower cycloalkoxy, CN, CONR7R7, SOR6, SO2R6, NR7COR7, NR7CO2R7, CO2R6, heteroaryl, NR7SO2R6 or COR6;
G is O, S or CR7R7;
D2 is a direct bond, lower alkyl, lower cycloalkyl or a 4 to 6-membered non-basic heterocycle;
Z is hydrogen, hydroxyl, lower alkoxy, lower cycloalkoxy, OCONR7R7, CN, CONR7R7, SOR6, SO2R6, NR7COR7, NR7CO2R7, CO2R6, heteroaryl, NR6SO2R6 or COR6;
R6 is independently selected from lower alkyl or lower cycloalkyl; and
R7 is independently selected from hydrogen, lower alkyl or lower cycloalkyl, wherein two R7 and the atom to which they are attached may optionally form a ring of 4 to 7 atoms.
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Thermal processing torches, such as plasma arc torches, are widely used in the heating, cutting, gouging and marking of materials. A plasma arc torch generally includes an electrode, a nozzle having a central exit orifice mounted within a torch body, electrical connections, passages for cooling, and passages for arc control fluids (e.g., plasma gas). Optionally, a swirl ring is employed to control fluid flow patterns in the plasma chamber formed between the electrode and the nozzle. In some torches, a retaining cap can be used to maintain the nozzle and/or swirl ring in the plasma arc torch. In operation, the torch produces a plasma arc, which is a constricted jet of an ionized gas with high temperature and sufficient momentum to assist with removal of molten metal.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art swirl ring 100 for a plasma arc torch. The swirl ring 100 includes two grooves 102, 104 configured to retain an O-ring (not shown) therebetween. The O-ring is used by the swirl ring 100 to prevent unmetered air from entering its swirl chamber and disrupting the plasma gas swirl pattern in the swirl chamber. As shown, each of the grooves 102, 104 is circumferentially disposed on an interior surface 108 of the hollow body of the swirl ring 100. Each of the grooves 102, 104 comprises a consistent wall projecting inward from the interior surface 108 of the swirl ring 100, where the consistent wall supports and locates the O-ring within the swirl ring. To manufacture the grooves 102, 104, a groove tool is typically used to machine an undercut 106 in the body of the swirl ring 100 from the interior surface 108, which increases the time and cost of manufacturing the swirl ring 100.
In addition, prior art swirl rings (e.g., the swirl ring 100 of FIG. 1) are typically made from ceramic-based materials, such as hydrous aluminum silicate (i.e., lava). A ceramic-based material is capable of being machined in its green state, but requires firing to bake the material into a stable ceramic material. This type of ceramic-based material also has unstable composition (e.g., mined organic material) that can result in high defect rates during swirl ring production. Thus suitability testing is needed to determine how each batch of new material behaves during firing operations. Even though other machine-able ceramic materials that do not require firing are available, they are cost prohibitive and are not commonly used to produce swirl rings. Further, because prior art swirl rings can be used in a pure oxygen (O2) environment within plasma arc torches where electric arc ignition occasionally passes across a swirl ring, this causes swirl rings having polymeric materials that contain a carbon chain to readily burn when ignited, which usually results in the destruction of the torch body and possibly the torch receptacle.
Thus, there is a need for swirl rings that can be manufactured with reduced costs and time and have improved properties that allow them to withstand conditions having a combustible operating atmosphere.
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A key objective of information systems designers is the presentation of information representing data stored in the memory device of a processor-controlled system to the human user of the system in an effective image format that conveys and enhances the understanding of the information in a spacially efficient and effective manner, and permits the system user to quickly and efficiently specify and locate information of particular interest.
A familiar and effective information presentation form for certain types of structured information is that of an image of a table, also referred to herein as a "table image". As used herein, a "table" is an orderly, rectilinear arrangement of information, typically but not necessarily, ordered in a rectangular form of rows and columns and having identifiers, such as labels, arranged at the periphery of the table. The intersection of a row and column in a table defines a data location, typically called a "cell", and may include alphabetic and numeric character data or arithmetic operators or formulas. A table is distinguishable from various types of graphs which do not have all of the characteristics of the orderly, rectilinear arrangement of information found in a table. A popular application of a table image is the "spreadsheet", the information presentation format used by a computer-implemented spreadsheet application program that presents a tabular image of underlying data stored in the memory of a system, and that provides a system user with access to the stored data via the manipulation of the character display features that visually represent the underlying data presented in the cells of the spreadsheet. Table images also may be used in a wide variety of application program contexts where the information structure includes linear elements and is organized in, or is capable of being organized in, an n-dimensional "array data structure".
A common problem that exists with the presentation of data in a table image format of any size involves the display of character, or non-graphical, display features such as text and numbers, in the table cells representing the data in the information structure. Rows and columns of text and numbers, even when sorted or ordered to reflect a particular information interest of the system user, do not necessarily present the information in the data structure in a form meaningful for detecting patterns in the information, or for seeing overall trends in the data. The ability to detect patterns and trends often facilitates for the system user both navigation through the data and rapid understanding of the key principles that the data conveys.
Another problem specifically involves the presentation of large table images representing a large information structure when there is too much data for all of the data to be clearly presented in a table image that fits in the display area of the system display device. This phenomenon is referred to as the table's wide or extreme aspect ratio. The application program typically only presents a portion of the table image in the display area, and provides a function for the system user to scroll through the table image to reach portions not currently visible in the display area in order to access the data represented by the character images in the table cells. As scrolling brings new cells of the table image into view in the display area, the previously displayed cells, including row and column identifiers such as labels, typically disappear from the display area, and global context information, important for navigating around the table image and for understanding the data that is currently displayed, is lost from the systems user's view. This presentation technique of scrolling through a large table image makes use of what is known as a time strategy for presenting information: the user controls the display of sequential multiple views of the data over a period of time in order to view all of the data.
Two information presentation design strategies are particularly useful for improving the presentation of information and make advantageous use of certain human perceptual abilities in order to maximize rapid and efficient understanding of information presented as an image in the workspace or display area of a display device.
One of these design strategies, which may be called a "space strategy", uses layout and graphic design techniques to present substantially all information in a data structure in one view in the workspace. This strategy typically involves the presentation of information in primarily graphical or pictorial form rather than in non-graphical or character (textual) form because of the size limitations of the workspace of a display device, and because of limitations on the amount of detail that a human user is actually able to perceive.
The other design strategy of interest herein involves the presentation of specific information of particular interest to a system user while concurrently maintaining and displaying the global context and structure of the body of information from which the specific information was selected. The fundamental motivation of this strategy is to provide a balance of local detail and global context. Local detail is needed for the local interactions with the data. The global context is needed to tell the system user what other parts of the data exist and where they are, and may also be important in more effective interpretation of the local detail. One common implementation of this strategy presents the global information in less detail than the local information. This strategy may be considered as a combination of the time and space strategies discussed earlier.
Both of these design strategies are especially important when the data to be presented is part of a large information structure, such as a computer program, a database, a large document structure or collection of documents, or the like. But these design strategies are useful for the presentation of information structures of virtually any size, and subsequent discussions of the application of these strategies in the invention described herein to large information structures is not intended to necessarily limit the invention's application to large data structures.
An example of an application of the information presentation design strategies discussed above may be found in George W. Furnas, "Generalized Fisheye Views", Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, April 1986, ACM, pp. 16-23. Furnas discloses the application of "fisheye views" of information to the design of a computer interface for the display of large information structures, presenting a simple formalism for defining a fisheye view based on a "Degree of Interest" (hereafter also referred to as "DOI") function that allows fisheye views to be defined in any sort of information structure where the necessary components of the formalism can be defined. Furnas further discloses that the basic strategy for the display of a large structure uses the degree of Interest function to assign to each point in the information structure a number telling how interested the user is in seeing that point, given the current task. A display of any size, n, can then be made by simply showing the n "most interesting" points as described by the DOI function. Furnas also discloses the definition of fisheye DOI functions for tree structures, and illustrates the fisheye strategy as applied to a calendar showing the current day in "day-at-a-time" detail, the current week in "week-at-a-time" detail, and the rest of the month in "month-at-a-time" detail.
An extension of the fisheye view information presentation strategy to the domain of graphs is disclosed in Manojit Sarkar and Marc H. Brown, "Graphical Fisheye Views of Graphs", Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, April 1992, ACM, pp. 83-91. Sarkar and Brown introduce layout considerations into the fisheye formalism, so that the position, size, and level of detail of objects displayed are computed based on client-specified functions of an object's distance from the user's current point of interest, called the "focus", and the object's preassigned importance in the global structure. Sarkar and Brown disclose that the size and detail of a vertex in the fisheye view depends on the distance of the vertex from the focus, a preassigned importance associated with the vertex, and the value of some user-controlled parameters.
Another application of these strategies for presenting information that combines the time and space strategies may be found in J. D. Mackinlay, G. G. Robertson, and S. K. Card, "The perspective wall: Detail and context smoothly integrated", Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM, April 1991, pp. 173-179. Mackinlay et al. disclose a technique called the "Perspective Wall" for efficiently visualizing linearly and temporally structured information with wide aspect ratios by smoothly integrating detailed and contextual views. Specialized hardware support for three dimensional (3D) interactive animation is used to fold wide two dimensional (2D) layouts into 3D visualizations that have a center panel for detail and two perspective panels for context, thereby integrating detailed and contextual views into a single workspace display, and allowing the ratio of detail and context to be smoothly adjusted.
Still another application of these strategies may be found in Robert Spence and Mark Apperley, "Database Navigation: An Office Environment for the Professional", Behavior and Information Technology, 1982, pp. 43-54, in particular at pp. 48-52, wherein there is disclosed a 2D display, called the Bifocal Display. The Bifocal Display contains a detailed view of information positioned in a horizontal strip combined with two distorted views, where items on either side of the detailed view are distorted horizontally into narrow vertical strips. The combined views make the entire data structure visible to the system user. The Bifocal Display technique makes use of the visual display of graphical representations of data items to facilitate the identification and location of information of interest and permits that information to be pulled into a central "close-up" region for more detailed examination. Spence and Apperley disclose that, by this action, the whole strip of data representing the information structure is moved across the display area, preserving the spatial relationships between individual items while retaining the overall view of the entire information structure. The display permits a zoom action to be carried out within the central region in order to increase the level of detail about a data item provided there. Spence and Apperley further disclose that attributes suitable for encoding the data items in the information structure in the outer regions of the Bifocal Display include color, shape, size, tags, pulsed illumination, and position, and they suggest that the use of alphanumerics be restricted to possibly only a single character per item. Spence and Apperley also discuss the application of the Bifocal Display presentation technique to a personal diary, or calendar, information structure, where a 2D arrangement of diary pages allows for the horizontal scrolling of weeks and the vertical scrolling of days into and out of the central region from the outer regions. In the central region the diary is considered to be a 2D arrangement of "pages", each representing one week, which can be scrolled through the central viewport both vertically (by days) and horizontally (by weeks) such that at a given time any seven contiguous days can be seen in detail.
Baker et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,118 discloses a data analysis computer system capable of storing measurement data from plural measured processes and definitions for many data analysis charts. There is further disclosed a data display gallery feature which divides the computer system's display into a two dimensional array of cells, called a graphical spreadsheet or gallery, having cell definitions assigned to at least a subset of the cells. Each cell definition consists of either a set of measurement data which can be displayed as a unit, or a mathematical combination of a plurality of specified sets of measurement data. Typically each displayed cell contains a data map depicting a set of data in accordance with a corresponding cell definition. Each cell in the gallery is a graphic image representing an independent data analysis unit, and data points for each cell are selected by the user from a currently displayed control or trend chart, allowing visual comparison of plural data maps. Since each cell is independent from other displayed cells, the user of the system may assign each cell a different type of display or data analysis function using data mapping and data analysis menus. If the number of cells in the gallery exceeds the number that can be viewed at any one time, the vertical and horizontal scroll bars on the edges of the gallery display can be used to scroll the display so as to bring any particular cell into view. Thus, the graphical spreadsheet disclosed by Baker may not display all of the available data in one display area or workspace, and is not a spreadsheet, or table of data showing interrelated information by rows and columns in the more commonly understood sense.
Researchers concerned with the optimal construction and presentation of graphs, charts, maps and the like provide another source of related work for the study of effective information presentation. For example, Jacques Bertin, in a comprehensive book about the study of graphics as a sign system entitled Semiology of Graphics (1983 English translation from the French 1973 second edition), discusses, in Part II of the book, theories for constructing a class of graphs called diagrams, which include "image" and table, or "matrix", files, using graphic information processing techniques so as to effectively display large amounts of related data in a single graphic. The image and matrix files, for example, represent quantities by variation in an amount of black ink.
These examples of information presentation techniques do not address, either individually or in combination, the particular problems associated with processor-controlled systems designed for effectively presenting information suited for display in a two-dimensional (2D) table or spreadsheet image structure where the positional relationship of data arranged by rows and columns conveys information about the data, and where the presentation of all of the detail contained in the sets of related information arranged in a row or column is necessary for a system user to accurately access the data in the underlying data structure via interaction with the image. The "fisheye" techniques as applied to a rectangular image such as a calendar do not adequately address the general problem of the presentation of the data in the non-focus areas. The 3D Perspective Wall requires specialized processing hardware, and may be unsuited for the display of interrelated table data, where 3D distortion of cell region sizes may detract from information understanding. The graphical spreadsheet disclosed in Baker et al. is not actually suited for the type of interrelated data organization typically intended for display in table form, since each cell is independent from the others. The graphical mapping techniques disclosed in Bertin do not address the issues of simultaneously presenting both the global and local context of the interrelated information presented in a table image. Many of these information presentation examples do not provide mechanisms for shifting between the global and focus modes, and for efficiently navigating through, a table image to rapidly locate data of interest. Moreover, none of these examples of information presentation techniques address the problem of effectively displaying table images that are too large to fit in the display area while simultaneously providing a system user with efficient access to data in individual cells.
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1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to photovoltaic (PV) devices, such as solar cells, with increased efficiency and greater flexibility and methods for fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As fossil fuels are being depleted at ever-increasing rates, the need for alternative energy sources is becoming more and more apparent. Energy derived from wind, from the sun, and from flowing water offer renewable, environment-friendly alternatives to fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Being readily available almost anywhere on Earth, solar energy may someday be a viable alternative.
To harness energy from the sun, the junction of a solar cell absorbs photons to produce electron-hole pairs, which are separated by the internal electric field of the junction to generate a voltage, thereby converting light energy to electric energy. The generated voltage can be increased by connecting solar cells in series, and the current may be increased by connecting solar cells in parallel. Solar cells may be grouped together on solar panels. An inverter may be coupled to several solar panels to convert DC power to AC power.
Nevertheless, the currently high cost of producing solar cells relative to the low efficiency levels of contemporary devices is preventing solar cells from becoming a mainstream energy source and limiting the applications to which solar cells may be suited. Accordingly, there is a need for more efficient photovoltaic devices suitable for a myriad of applications.
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The present invention relates to a portable data storage device and, more particularly, to a computer readable portable data storage device, which is comprised of a main circuit board, a memory circuit board coupled to the main circuit board, and a USB (universal serial bus) port pivoted to the main circuit board and adapted to electrically connected the main circuit board to the USB port of a personal computer.
A regular portable data storage device is readable to a computer, and can be connected to the USB port of a personal computer for enabling the user to transmit data between the personal computer and the portable data storage device. When connecting a portable data storage device to the USB port of a personal computer, the major part of the portable data storage device perpendicularly protrudes over the outside wall of the housing of the personal computer at a distance, and the protruded part of the portable data storage device tends to be impacted accidentally, causing a short circuit or a damage to the circuit.
The present invention has been accomplished to provide a computer readable portable data storage device, which eliminates the aforesaid problem. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a computer readable portable data storage device, which can be turned to an angular position close to the outside wall of the housing of the computer after its installation in the USB port of the computer, preventing an impact accident. According to the present invention, the computer readable portable data storage device comprises a main circuit board, a memory circuit board coupled to the main circuit board, and a USB (universal serial bus) port pivoted to the main circuit board and adapted to electrically connected the main circuit board to the USB port of a personal computer. The USB port of the computer readable portable data storage device can be turned relative to the main circuit board within a limited angle so that the main circuit board can be set in position close to the housing of the computer after connection of the USB port of the computer readable portable data storage device to the USB port of the computer.
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Exercise is a task that people should endure on a regular basis. With people's busy schedules, any simplification to the exercise routines aids helps entice people to exercise.
Resistance exercise bands provide a user the ability to exercise using a resistive load (force) without the requirement of heavy weights. Resistance exercise bands are typically stretched between two points to simulate dead weights' resistance. They are used across the complete spectrum of exercises to provide resistance while doing curls, bench pressing, butterfly's, leg presses and many other exercises. One such advantage of resistance bands would be for a person who travels. Another such advantage of resistance bands would be the cost and weight of an exercise machine when compared to those utilizing lead (or other) weights. Another such advantage is the cost effectiveness compared to a gym membership. Yet, another advantage is the convenience of resistance bands, wherein the user can exercise quickly, easily and wherever desired.
Currently available elastic resistance bands are tubular with a cylindrical cross section having a hollow center section. To provide a variety of resistive ranges, current elastic resistance bands have various cross sections with varying outer diameters, wall thickness, and inner diameters coupled with different rubber durameters.
Typical elastic resistance bands generate a non-linear resistive force whose unit force/distance changes dramatically as the band is elongated. The resulting force distance curve provides regions where the net work and feel of the resistance differs dramatically from exercising with free weights.
What is desired is a means for providing a user the ability to replicate the feel and net workout from exercising with free weights, while using resistance exercise bands.
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Known centrifugal separation devices commonly use a drive motor for the scraper blade and a drive motor for the bowl, with both motors being indirectly coupled to the scraper blade and the bowl through belts and pulleys. Strobe devices are used to synchronize the drive motors and the rotational speed of the scraper and bowl. Other prior art centrifugal separators also commonly use a friction clutch to synchronize the rotational speeds of the blades and the bowl. Friction clutches, however, have a tendency to wear and slip and, therefore, do not provide consistent synchronous blade and bowl rotation, especially during drag-inducing conditions such as start up and the injection of the particle contaminated fluid into the bowl during operations.
The centrifuge separator of U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,573 provides a solution to the slippage issues surrounding synchronization of the speeds of the bowl and blade. A centrifugal clutch is engaged to link the blade with the bowl during centrifuge operations. The clutch is disengaged when blade operation is necessary to scrape the inside of the bowl. Separate drive motors are engaged with the blade and bowl respectively. The use of separate drive motors remains an undesirable, complicated and costly feature of the '573 patent.
The complications of the '573 are resolved, in part, by the structure shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,724. In one embodiment of the '724 patent (FIGS. 3–6), a spindle is attached to the centrifuge bowl and a shaft, centered within the spindle for independent rotation, is engaged with the scraper mechanism. A shiftable clutch assembly operable to engage with two sets of interlocking teeth shifts the motive force between the spindle, shaft and a combination of both. In a first position, the clutch engages the spindle and shaft together so the bowl and scraper are driven to rotate synchronously. In a second position, the first and second sets of teeth are disengaged and the scraper is free to rotate on its own. Both spindle and shaft are engaged with a single driver motor in a belt and pulley combination. We believe the mechanical structure needed for the centrifuge of the '724 patent to still be unnecessarily complicated and costly. Further, undesirable slippage of the belt/pulley drive mechanism will occur under loaded operations.
A recent invention provides an apparatus for enhancing the operation of a centrifugal separator and automatically adjusting for varying amounts of solids in the contaminated fluid being passed through the separator. That invention includes a load sensing circuit which monitors the load on the drive motor of the separator centrifuge bowl and signals for a cleaning cycle based upon the load information. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,777, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The separator of the '777 patent requires a first drive motor for rotating the centrifuge bowl and a second drive motor for rotating the scraper blades. A load sensing device in combination with a programmable logic controller (PLC) co-operate to coordinate the operation of the separate motors.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a centrifugal separate having a single drive motor, yet being less complicated mechanically and less costly than those shown in the prior art.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a direct drive to the bowl and scraper mechanism to eliminate the potential for slippage such as that created by loading of the prior art gear/chain, belt pulley engagements from the drive motor to the spindle and shaft.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a direct drive incorporating a servo motor capable of performing the load sensing methodology described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,777, eliminating the need for a load sensing circuit and a PLC.
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Conventional microelectronics fabrication techniques often involve the fabrication of devices, for example microprocessors, on a semiconductor substrate by the selective doping of regions of the substrate and deposition and patterning of various layers of dielectric, metals, and semiconductor materials. These layers of materials are often very thin, on the order of microns. The resulting devices are effectively two dimensional. Providing additional functionality, for example, by the addition of additional transistors or other features to a device, conventionally requires the surface area of the device to be increased, subsequently reducing the number of devices that can be formed on a single wafer or included within a package of a given size.
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The screen of a LCD device generally comprises many liquid crystal cells arranged in columns and rows, forming a pixel array to display images. In each pixel, the orientation of liquid crystal molecules can be controlled by the applied voltage. Since the intensity of light passing through a liquid crystal cell depends sensitively on the orientation of the liquid crystal molecule, the pixel array can therefore display images by applying voltage signals in accordance with input video signals. However, due to its inherent limitations, it requires a relatively long response time for a liquid crystal molecule in a certain orientation to be changed into another orientation as the applied electric field is changed accordingly. This response time is determined by the inherent property of the liquid crystal molecule, such as viscosity, dielectric and elastic constants. On the other hand, the response time also depends on the design of LCD panel, such as the thickness of the gap between two electrodes. For a twisted-nematic mode liquid crystal, the typical rise time is about 20–80 ms, and the fall time is about 20-30 ms. However, this time scale is still longer than a typical frame interval (typically 16.67 ms). This means that the liquid crystal molecules in each pixel cannot reach the desired orientation during one frame interval, so that desired brightness of each pixel cannot be reached, thus resulting in afterimage and blurred image when displaying a high-speed moving object.
Except looking for faster liquid crystal materials, the problem of afterimage caused by slow response time can also be overcome by suitable driving method for the LCD device. In general, the problem of afterimage can be effectively reduced by a gray signal modulator, which modulates the input gray signal and applies the modulated gray signal to the liquid crystal cell, thereby obtaining the desired color and brightness in each pixel during one frame interval.
FIG. 1 shows schematically a block diagram for a typical LCD device, which comprises a gray signal modulator 10 for receiving and modulating the input gray signals, a timing controller 11 for controlling the signal sequence and synchronization, a data driver 12 for converting the modulated gray signal to the corresponding voltage data sequence, a gate driver 13 for continuously supplying scanning signals, and a LCD panel 14, comprising a plurality of gate lines 15 for transmitting scanning signals, a plurality of data lines 16 being insulated from and crossing the gate lines 15 for transmitting image signals, and an array of pixels forming by the areas surrounded by said gate lines 15 and said data lines 16.
As can be inferred from FIG. 1, the gray signal modulator 10 plays an important role in the LCD device and the driving circuit thereof. To reduce the problem of afterimage, the original gray signal was first processed by the gray signal modulator 10. The modulated gray signal was then sent into the driving circuit to provide suitable data voltage to each pixel of the LCD device in order to display the desired color and brightness accurately.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram for a conventional gray signal modulator and the operation principle thereof. It comprises an input terminal 20 for receiving gray signals of input images, a frame memory 21 for storing preceding field image data, a frame memory controller 22 for controlling the frame memory 21 and the reading/writing processes therein, a signal converter 23 for modifying the input gray signals, a signal output terminal 24 for sending the modified gray signals to the data driver 12. The main function of the signal converter 23 is to compare the current field image data with the preceding field image data in the frame memory 21 and send out after modifying the output data to a suitable voltage level by compensation voltages. FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate how the signal modulator modifies the input gray signals. In FIG. 3A, due to the slow response time of the liquid crystal molecules, the output brightness cannot reach the desired brightness during one frame interval. However, as shown in FIG. 3B, after modifying the input gray signals by compensation voltages, the output brightness become able to reach the desired brightness of the source image during one frame interval, thereby the problem of afterimage and blurred image caused by the slow response time can be effectively eliminated. In general, to efficiently process the compensation voltages in the signal converter, a presetting look-up table is commonly used for quick response.
While the technique described above can effectively eliminate the problem of afterimage caused by the slow response time of liquid crystal molecular, however, the noise induced by the gray signal modulator is not taken into account. As can be inferred from FIG. 3, the main function of compensation voltage is to amplify the input gray signal. However, such amplification will also enhance noise, leading to lower signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio) and hence lower image quality. On the other hand, the different frame-rate systems are not taken into account in the design of conventional LCD driving method. In fact, when the LCD device is designed for a certain frame-rate system, the response of the liquid crystal molecule during one frame interval will also be different, thereby leading to over (or under) compensation if the frame rate is slower (or faster) than the design. Therefore, to obtain the optimized image quality, the abovementioned problems should be overcome by improving the design of driving method of a LCD device, specifically its design for the preprocessor in the gray signal modulator.
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