Datasets:

haritzpuerto

/

the_pile_00_USPTO_Backgrounds

like 0

In the past, various different anti-skid brake systems have been utilized on automotive vehicles and various different types of electric circuit controlling devices have been utilized in such systems to control or regulate the operation thereof. In at least some of the past anti-skid brake systems of the hydraulic type, a pump was energized to establish fluid pressure in such systems which was utilized to effect the actuation of the vehicle brakes when braking action was initiated by a vehicle operator, and electronic circuitry was utilized to effect the anti-skid features or operation of the vehicle brakes during such braking action. The electronic circuitry of the anti-skid brake system was enabled through an electric circuit controlled by an electric circuit controlling device in response to fluid pressure of a preselected value generated in such system by the pump thereof and subjected to the electric circuit controlling device. A relay for the pump was picked-up and dropped-out in another electric circuit controlled by the electric circuit controlling device thereby to control the energization and deenergization of the pump when the system fluid pressure obtained other values greater than that at which the electronic circuitry was enabled. To effect the aforementioned enablement of the electronic circuitry and the control of the pump relay, the past electric circuit controlling devices employed toggle switches for switching in the electric circuits associatd with the electronic circuitry and the pump relay. One of the disadvantages or undesirable features of the aforementioned past electric circuit controlling device is believed to be that the toggle switches utilized therein did not have a clean snap or snap-action. For instance, it is believed that the switch arm of these toggle switches tended to roll its contact into engagement with a stationary contact therefor thereby to lose contact continuity which resulted in switch chatter. Another of the disadvantageous or undesirable features of the aforementioned past electric circuit controlling devices is believed to be that contact bounce time of these toggle switches was too great. For instance, when the switch arm of the toggle switches engaged its contact with the stationary contact therefor, the switch arm contact tended to bounce into circuit making engagement with the stationary contact. In response to this bouncing action of the switch arm contact, it is believed that the pump relay may have been repeatedly and quickly energized and deenergized which may not only have adversely affected the operation of the pump but may have also resulted in the welding of the relay contacts.

For versatility of construction and layout, and ease of access to utilities and ducts, it has been proposed to run ducts, wiring and plumbing in plenum beneath a floor structure having removable floor panels resting on pedestals in a modular layout. However, to make such an arrangement practical there must be provision for easily leveling the floor and for sealing the floor panels from the subfloor plenum area.

This invention relates generally to the structure of shoes. More specifically, this invention relates to the structure of athletic shoes. Still more particularly, this invention relates to a shoe having an anthropomorphic sole that copies the underlying support, stability and cushioning structures of the human foot. Natural stability is provided by attaching a completely flexible but relatively inelastic shoe sole upper directly to the bottom sole, enveloping the sides of the midsole, instead of attaching it to the top surface of the shoe sole. Doing so puts the flexible side of the shoe upper under tension in reaction to destabilizing sideways forces on the shoe causing it to tilt. That tension force is balanced and in equilibrium because the bottom sole is firmly anchored by body weight, so the destabilizing sideways motion is neutralized by the tension in the flexible sides of the shoe upper. Still more particularly, this invention relates to support and cushioning which is provided by shoe sole compartments filled with a pressure-transmitting medium like liquid, gas, or gel. Unlike similar existing systems, direct physical contact occurs between the upper surface and the lower surface of the compartments, providing firm, stable support. Cushioning is provided by the transmitting medium progressively causing tension in the flexible and semi-elastic sides of the shoe sole. The compartments providing support and cushioning are similar in structure to the fat pads of the foot, which simultaneously provide both firm support and progressive cushioning. Existing cushioning systems cannot provide both firm support and progressive cushioning without also obstructing the natural pronation and supination motion of the foot, because the overall conception on which they are based is inherently flawed. The two most commercially successful proprietary systems are Nike Air, based on U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,945 issued Sep. 2, 1980, U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,156 issued Sep. 15, 1980, U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,606 issued Jun. 9, 1981, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,626 issued Jul. 20, 1982; and Asics Gel, based on U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,295 issued Sep. 6, 1988. Both of these cushioning systems and all of the other less popular ones have two essential flaws. First, all such systems suspend the upper surface of the shoe sole directly under the important structural elements of the foot, particularly the critical the heel bone, known as the calcaneus, in order to cushion it. That is, to provide good cushioning and energy return, all such systems support the foot""s bone structures in buoyant manner, as if floating on a water bed or bouncing on a trampoline. None provide firm, direct structural support to those foot support structures; the shoe sole surface above the cushioning system never comes in contact with the lower shoe sole surface under routine loads, like normal weight-bearing. In existing cushioning systems, firm structural support directly under the calcaneus and progressive cushioning are mutually incompatible. In marked contrast, it is obvious with the simplest tests that the barefoot is provided by very firm direct structural support by the fat pads underneath the bones contacting the sole, while at the same time it is effectively cushioned, though this property is underdeveloped in habitually shoe shod feet. Second, because such existing proprietary cushioning systems do not provide adequate control of foot motion or stability, they are generally augmented with rigid structures on the sides of the shoe uppers and the shoe soles, like heel counters and motion control devices, in order to provide control and stability. Unfortunately, these rigid structures seriously obstruct natural pronation and supination motion and actually increase lateral instability, as noted in the applicant""s pending U.S. application Ser. No. 07/219,387, filed on Jul. 15, 1988; Ser. No. 07/239,667, filed on Sep. 2, 1988; Ser. No. 07/400,714, filed on Aug. 30, 1989; Ser. No. 07/416,478, filed on Oct. 3, 1989; and Ser. No. 07/424,509, filed on Oct. 20, 1989, as well as in PCT Application No. PCT/US89/03076 filed on Jul. 14, 1989. The purpose of the inventions disclosed in these applications was primarily to provide a neutral design that allows for natural foot and ankle biomechanics as close as possible to that between the foot and the ground, and to avoid the serious interference with natural foot and ankle biomechanics inherent in existing shoes. In marked contrast to the rigid-sided proprietary designs discussed above, the barefoot provides stability at it sides by putting those sides, which are flexible and relatively inelastic, under extreme tension caused by the pressure of the compressed fat pads; they thereby become temporarily rigid when outside forces make that rigidity appropriate, producing none of the destabilizing lever arm torque problems of the permanently rigid sides of existing designs. The applicant""s new invention simply attempts, as closely as possible, to replicate the naturally effective structures of the foot that provide stability, support, and cushioning. Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to elaborate upon the application of the principle of the natural basis for the support, stability and cushioning of the barefoot to shoe structures. It is still another object of this invention to provide a shoe having a sole with natural stability provided by attaching a completely flexible but relatively inelastic shoe sole upper directly to the bottom sole, enveloping the sides of the insole, to put the side of the shoe upper under tension in reaction to destabilizing sideways forces on a tilting shoe. It is still another object of this invention to have that tension force is balanced and in equilibrium because the bottom sole is firmly anchored by body weight, so the destabilizing sideways motion is neutralized by the tension in the sides of the shoe upper. It is another object of this invention to create a shoe sole with support and cushioning which is provided by shoe sole compartments, filled with a pressure-transmitting medium like liquid, gas, or gel, that are similar in structure to the fat pads of the foot, which simultaneously provide both firm support and progressive cushioning. These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a detailed description of the invention which follows taken with the accompanying drawings.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging device capable of focus detection of a phase detection method and imaging a parallax image for stereoscopic viewing and a digital camera comprising the solid-state imaging device. 2. Description Related to the Prior Art Digital cameras comprising a taking lens and a CCD-type or CMOS-type solid-state imaging device are widely used. It is common that such digital cameras comprise an autofocus (hereinafter referred to as the AF) function to automatically adjust the focus of the taking lens. A so-called phase-detection AF function is known (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-105771, U.S. Pat. No. 6,829,008 (corresponding to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-156823), and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-093619). The phase-detection AF function automatically adjusts the focus of the taking lens based on the focus detection of a phase detection method. The phase-detection AF function is achieved by providing first phase difference pixels (hereinafter simply referred to as the first pixels) and second phase difference pixels (hereinafter simply referred to as the second pixels), in addition to normal pixels for imaging a normal image (two-dimensional still image). The normal pixel has a normal opening section that is coincident with the center position of the light-receiving surface of a photodiode. The normal pixel receives light incident on the photodiode through the normal opening section. The first pixel has a first off-center opening section that is shifted in a first direction relative to the center position of the light-receiving surface of the photodiode. The first pixel receives light incident on the photodiode through the first off-center opening section. The second pixel has a second off-center opening section that is shifted in a second direction relative to the center position of the light-receiving surface of the photodiode. The second direction is opposite to the first direction. The second pixel receives light incident on the photodiode through the second off-center opening section. The normal opening section, the first off-center opening section, and the second off-center opening section are formed through a light shield film. The light shield film covers over a semiconductor substrate in which the photodiodes are formed. The sizes of the first and the second off-center opening sections are smaller than that of the normal opening section. The first pixel is highly sensitive to light incident from a direction of the shift of the first off-center opening section from the center position of the light-receiving surface of the photodiode. The same holds true for the second pixel. For example, the first pixel is highly sensitive to the incident light from upper right. The second pixel is highly sensitive to the incident light from upper left. The image obtained from the first pixels and the image obtained from the second pixels shift from each other in a right-left direction in accordance with a focal state of the taking lens. An amount of shift between the two images corresponds to an amount of shift of the focus of the taking lens. The two images coincide and the amount of shift is zero when the taking lens is in focus. The amount of shift between the two images increases as the amount of shift in focus of the taking lens increases. Hence, a focus adjustment amount of the taking lens is determined by detecting the directions of the shifts of the respective images obtained from the first and second pixels and the amount of shift between the images. During framing of a subject, the digital camera comprising the phase-detection AF function performs the AF control based on pixel signals from the first and the second pixels. In capturing a normal image, the digital camera uses all of the normal pixels, the first pixels, and the second pixels to produce image data. In the solid-state imaging device disclosed in the above-described documents, a part of the photodiode of the first pixel is covered by the light shield film because the first off-center opening section of the first pixel is shifted from the center position of the light-receiving surface of the photodiode. Hence, the light traveling toward the area covered with the light shield film is blocked by the light shield film. The same holds true for the second pixel. For this reason, the amount of light incident on each of the photodiodes of the first and the second pixels is less than that incident on the photodiode of the normal pixel, and the sensitivity of each of the first and second pixels is lower than that of the normal pixel. In the solid-state imaging device disclosed in the above-described documents, the direction of the light incident on the first pixel is opposite to the direction of the light incident on the second pixel. Hence, in capturing a normal image, it is necessary to perform so-called pixel addition in which pixel signals of the adjacent first and second pixels are added. In this case, a pixel signal is composed of signals from a pair of first and second pixels, so that resolution of the normal image decreases.

1. Field of the Invention The invention involves a process for recording semihalftone images. In this process, an original is reproduced on a recording medium by individual recording elements with the tone value "print" or "no-print". The original is divided into multiple scan fields comprising individual scan elements and each scan field is subdivided successively into the smallest subfield of a predetermined size. 2. Description of the Related Art With this type of process, originals are reproduced on a recording medium, for example, a sheet of paper, a printing plate or a fluorescent screen, by means of individual equal size recording dots, which are either completely or not inked. In this process, the image information in the original is collected by a sensor or scanning device, for example, a scanner. For each image dot (scan dot), the scanner emits a signal, which corresponds to the tonal value (in color images, the color tone) of the scan dot. In a black and white original, the gray tones, which range from black to white, are realized on the recording medium by the frequency of the black recording dots being varied as a function of the desired gray tone. All recording dots in a black area of the original are black in the reproduction, while the proportion of white recording dots located among the black recording dots increases as the blackness decreases, that is, the frequency of the black recording dots is lower. In white areas of the original, all recording dots are white, that is not inked. In this way, the gray scale can be reproduced in multiple, discrete steps, that is, semicontinuously. This type of reproduced image is also referred to as a "semihalftone" image in which the tonal values of the tonal value scale are reproduced according to a predetermined subdivision into tonal value gradations. The processing of such semihalftone images with the assistance of digital technique is very simple, because the image processing can proceed by the binary method ("1" or "L" for a print dot and "0" for a no-print dot). Thus, the semihalftone image corresponds to a binary record of the image information in an original, which, therefore, can be easily recorded on a storage medium, such as magnetic tape, a magnetic disk or a diskette, but also can be recorded, for example, in a semiconductor storage device. Within the skill of the art, the word "recording" means any type of imaging of the original as a semihalftone image. This concept includes particularly the reproduction of the original on a sheet of paper or on a fluorescent screen, the preparation of a printing plate suitable for reproduction of the original and storing the image in a storage device. A process for the binary recording of images is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,713. In this process, an original is scanned linewise; the tonal value of each scan dot is determined and stored. The original is subdivided into multiple scan fields, each scan field comprises multiple scan dots, that is, the tonal value data for the scan dots of the original are subdivided into data blocks. The average tonal value of each data block is calculated from the appropriate tonal value data. From this is determined the number of recording dots required to reproduce the average tonal value. The distribution of the recording dots to be printed per scan field is determined by successive subdivision of the scan field into the smallest subblocks. For the smaller data blocks resulting from each subdividing step, the average tonal value and the number of related recording dots to be printed to yield this average tonal value is determined from the tonal values of the pertinent scan dots. The known process, in order to determine the number of recording dots to be printed within the subfields, begins with examining the scan field itself or the largest subfields respectively and continues by considering smaller and smaller subfields, until the scan field is finally subdivided into the individual scan dots. In addition to the determination of the number and the distribution of the recording dots to be printed, an error calculation must also be performed in each step. This becomes more and more costly with increasing subdivision, because the number of data subblocks increases from one subdivision step to another and quadratically at that. Because of these ever-increasing error calculations, the advantages of digital image processing are diminished.

The present invention relates to the measurement of electrical signals and, in particular, the measurement of characteristics of modulated orthogonal signals. A common method of transmitting digital information is to modulate two orthogonal signals with digital information. The transmitted signal may then be considered to be composed of a real component and an imaginary component. Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is an example of such a technique, where two sine waves, ninety degrees out of phase (e.g., sine and cosine) are modulated by the digital information. A useful tool for examining the performance characteristics of a digitally modulated signal formed of a first and a second orthogonal component is a constellation diagram. The signal of interest is plotted on two axes, one for the real (e.g., in-phase) component and one for the imaginary (quadrature-phase) component. For an error-free signal (e.g., no noise, no gain errors, no symbol clock error, no frequency offsets), the constellation diagram will simply be a pattern of points (e.g., 64-QAM—rectangular grid, 8-PSK—circle), each point representing a possible digital value. In practice, the points are typically blurred by errors into clusters. The first and second orthogonal components may be provided by demodulating the modulated signal with respect to a respective orthogonal signal. The constellation diagram can then be displayed on a suitable display device, such as an oscilloscope. A specialized instrument that demodulates the signal and displays the diagram may also be employed. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, examples of a constellation diagram for two 64-QAM signals are shown. The signal of FIG. 1 has very little error and thus the clusters appear nearly as points. The signal of FIG. 2 has a large error content resulting in large clusters. The usefulness of constellation diagrams often lies in the size and shape of the clusters. The size of the clusters around each constellation point gives a direct estimate of the Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) and the shape of the clusters can indicate problems such as gain errors between the in-phase and quadrature-phase processing, frequency offset and symbol clock error. The clusters thus provide an error measure for the modulated signal. However, the example clusters of FIG. 1 are so small that the shapes are difficult to assess. In contrast, the clusters of FIG. 2 are so large that overlap occurs. In both cases, it is difficult to assess the individual cluster shapes. It is known to provide a zoom function for a constellation diagram displayed on a specialized measurement instrument to allow portions of the diagram to be enlarged for better viewing. However, when zoomed in on a cluster, the ability to assess the overall diagram and most other clusters is lost.

This invention relates generally to charge-coupled devices (CCDs), and more particularly relates to the design and fabrication of CCD gate electrodes. Conventionally, overlapping gate electrode configurations are employed for CCD designs, with timing control for CCD charge collection and transfer imposed on a charge transfer channel by the gate electrodes. In an overlapping gate electrode configuration, two or more layers of electrically conducting gate electrode material are deposited and patterned to define adjacent gate electrodes, the edges of which overlap along the length of the charge transfer channel. The effective gap width between such overlapping gate electrodes is on the order of the thickness of the dielectric layer that isolates the electrode overlap, which is on the scale of angstroms. This narrow effective gap width enables a high charge transfer efficiency from one gate electrode to the next by substantially inhibiting formation of electrical potential barriers in the charge transfer channel between adjacent gate electrodes. Although this overlapping CCD gate electrode design does indeed enable a high charge transfer efficiency, it introduces significant complexity into a CCD microfabrication process. For example, the thermal processing required for each separate gate electrode layer subjects the various device regions to increased heat cycling, which the device design must take into account. Further, the lithographic and etching steps required for multiple gate electrode layers increases the probability of process errors and defects that reduce the overall yield of the device fabrication sequence. As imaging applications continue to demand larger arrays of CCD elements and smaller elements within an array, process errors, fabrication defects, and reduced fabrication yield become increasing limitations, and process cost and time become increasingly burdensome. A single-level-gate CCD design has been shown to reduce the microfabrication complexity associated with multi-layer, overlapping gate electrode designs. In addition, a single-level-gate CCD design is known to reduce the thermal budget of a CCD microfabrication sequence and can reduce the number of required processing steps. In terms of device operation, the elimination of overlapping gate electrodes can reduce CCD gate capacitance and therefore can reduce the power required to drive gate electrode control voltages. Successful implementation of a single-level-gate CCD design requires that the interelectrode gap, i.e., the gap between adjacent gate electrodes, be quite small, e.g., on the order of 0.3 μm or less. This small interelectrode gap is needed so that a high charge transfer efficiency can be maintained with only moderate gate electrode control voltages, and is a requirement for most current CCD imaging applications. But the implementation of a single-level gate design having a small interelectrode gap width can be extremely challenging; it is found that fabrication defects can be increased and process yield decreased by various process steps added in an effort to reduce gap width. This is particularly the case for CCD fabrication sequences directed to applications that additionally require a large-area CCD array and/or small CCD element dimensions.

The present disclosure relates generally to a compact mirror arrangement for, and a method of, capturing return light from a target, such as a bar code symbol, over multiple subfields of view through an upright window of a point-of-transaction workstation, especially a dual window, bioptical workstation. It is known to use solid-state imagers in single or dual window, point-of-transaction workstations to electro-optically read, by image capture, symbol targets, such as one- or two-dimensional bar code symbols, and/or to image document targets, such as receipts, prescriptions, driver's licenses, etc., the targets being associated with products to be identified and processed, e.g., purchased, at the workstation provided at a countertop of a checkout stand in supermarkets, warehouse clubs, department stores, and other kinds of retailers. The products are typically slid or moved by a user across, or presented to and momentarily held steady at a central region of, a generally horizontal window that is mounted in a horizontal platform and that faces upwardly above the countertop, and/or a generally vertical or upright window that is mounted in a raised vertical tower and that faces the user. The known workstations utilize multiple mirror arrangements to direct return light from the products to one or more imagers along multiple, intersecting fields of view, or subfields, that pass through the windows along different directions in order to provide a full coverage scan zone that extends above the horizontal window and in front of the upright window as close as possible to the countertop, and extends sufficiently high above the countertop, and extends as wide as possible across the width of the countertop, to enable reliable reading of a target that could be positioned anywhere on all six sides of a three-dimensional product. The scan zone projects into space away from the windows and grows in volume rapidly in order to cover targets on products that are positioned not only on the windows, but also at working distances therefrom. As advantageous as the known workstations have been, their mirror arrangements, especially those associated with their upright windows, are costly and occupy a relatively large volume of space and cause their vertical towers to be correspondingly large in depth, bulky, and unwieldy. In some cramped retail venues, a bulky tower will not readily fit on a narrow countertop. A bulky tower also forces the upright window to be positioned too close to the user, thereby limiting the volume through which the products can pass through the workstation. In some applications, the horizontal platform also serves as a weighing platter, and a bulky tower that occupies a substantial area on the countertop will constrain the size of the weighing platter. Accordingly, it would be desirable to configure the mirror arrangements associated with the upright windows to be more compact in volume and to be less expensive in cost, to configure the vertical towers to take up less space, to enable workstations with upright windows to be less unwieldy and to more readily fit into cramped venues, and to more fully optimize the space available in front of the upright windows in such workstations, all without sacrificing the size of the full coverage scan zones and the performance of the workstations. Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and locations of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. The arrangement and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

1. The Field of the Invention The present invention is generally related to binding messages to communication aspects in a distributed system. More specifically, the present invention provides a developer with an automated, user friendly way of constructing binding objects that can be used to create a runtime communication channel in order to apply communication aspects to messages when transferring them between endpoints. 2. Background and Related Art Computer systems and related technology affect many aspects of society. Indeed, the computer system's ability to process information has transformed the way we live and work. Computer systems now commonly perform a host of tasks (e.g., word processing, scheduling, database management, etc.) that prior to the advent of computer systems were performed manually. More recently, computer systems have been coupled to one another to form computer networks over which the computer systems can communicate electronically to share data. Service oriented systems (e.g., Web Services) have been a driving force in advancing such communications between computer systems and is turning the way we build and use software inside-out. Service oriented architectures let applications share data, and—more powerfully—invoke capabilities from other applications without regard to how those applications were built, what operating system or platform they run on, and what devices are used to access them. Typically, these systems are invoked over the Internet by means of industry-standard protocols including SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), XML (extensible Markup Language), UDDI (Universal Description Discovery Integration), WSDL (Web Service Description Language), etc. Although these services remain independent of each other, they can loosely link themselves into a collaborating group that performs a particular task. Often, electronic communication in a service oriented network includes a client computer system (hereafter referred to as a “client”) requesting access to a network service(s) (e.g., Web Services) at a server computer system (hereinafter referred to as a “service”). Accordingly, the client sends a request to the service for particular access to its system resources, wherein if the client is authorized and validated, the service responds, e.g., with a response message providing the desired information. Of course, other message exchange patterns between a client and a service are available and include simple singleton messages as well as more sophisticated multi-message exchanges like, e.g., notifications, solicit-response, pub-sub patterns, polling, kick-push, queuing and others. Service oriented concepts (e.g., addresses, bindings, and message interaction patterns) describing a service can be included in a programming model. The programming model can then be accessed by service consumers that desire to communicate with the described service. Generally, service oriented concepts (e.g., a programming model) are described in accordance with some service oriented standard, such as, for example, Distributed Component Object Model (“DCOM”), Common Object Request Broker Architecture (“CORBA”), or Web services. Web services can be further defined in accordance with various Web services specifications, such as, for example, Web Services Description Language (“WSDL”), Web Services Policy Framework (“WS-Policy”), etc. Service oriented standards like WSDL provide an overall wrapper or specification for describing contracts (e.g., WS contracts) in a common or standard language. Such specifications make it easy for developers and developer tools to create and interpret contracts. Although such Network Protocol Description Languages (hereinafter referred to as “NPDL”) have extensive tooling suites, which in large part accounts for their popularity, there are currently several shortcomings and downfalls to such standards. For example, distributed applications are typically rigid in their programming models allowing only one programming model that is tightly coupled to their service runtime. Accordingly, for compatibility, a client runtime (e.g., at a service consumer) is typically required to utilize a client program or module developed in accordance with the same programming model as the server runtime. For instance, if a service was developed using separate interfaces for request and reply messages or using particular security mechanisms, the service consumer must implement those as well. Failure to use a client program or module developed in accordance with the same programming model can prevent a client runtime from communicating with service runtime. Further, current NPDLs bind a contract to a limited set of communication aspects which include a message exchange pattern (e.g., one-way, request-reply, pub-sub, duplex, etc.), a message encoding or format (e.g., SOAP envelope) and a type of transport for exchanging the message with a service (e.g., HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), SMTP (Simple Message Transfer Protocol), TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), UDP (User Datagram Protocol), SMS (Short Message Service), SNA (Systems Network Architecture), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), etc.). Additional communication aspects (e.g., security, reliability, context flow, transaction flow, logging options, connection throttling options, etc.) must be specified in other documents (e.g., WS Policy) or configured out of band on both the client and service side. Due to the wide spread distribution of communication aspects sprinkled throughout the system, there is some chance that through human error a service description document or configuration is not a complete, accurate description of the corresponding service. Due, however, to the rigid coupling between programming model and service runtime, the lack of even one communication aspect or configuration option defined by a service can result in an incompatible client runtime. In addition, because not all communication aspects are provided for in NPDLs, both the client and the service must have a significant amount of code within each application in order to utilize and maintain communication aspects. For instance, in the case of a security context the client needs to have code that will: (1) recognize that communications with the service application must use a security context token; (2) request such token from a token issuer; (3) provide the appropriate information within the request; (4) save the security context token for future communications; and (5) reference the appropriate base token and shared secret when receiving communications from the service using the security context token. Likewise, the service application must be coded such that when receiving secured messages from the client based on the security context token, the service application must be able to: (1) identify the base token; (2) determine the appropriate session key associated with the base token to decrypt the message; (3) save the security context token; and (4) reuse the security context token to encrypt messages and sign them for securely delivering them to the client. Because such communication aspects for security and other semantics must be coded in both the client and service applications, there is little, if any flexibility, nor ease in extending the system. For example, if it may be desirable to extend the service oriented system to enable it to use different types of security context tokens or have different reliability options; however, doing so would require another large amount of code in the service application and as well as rewriting existing code. Of course, security context may also be established at the transport level using, e.g., HTTPS. This solution, however, also does not allow any flexibility or ease in extending the system since the semantics are predefined by the specification. Further, because application developers are typically not experts in specific communication aspects, there are security concerns, reliability concerns, as well as performance, stress, or other robustness factors. Moreover, the large number of permutations and combinations of all of these communication aspects becomes unwieldy and difficult to fully appreciate the benefits of the various combinations. Accordingly, there exists a need for a user interface that gives a developer an automated and user friendly way of binding messages to a wide array of communication aspects. This user interface should be capable of generating standardized tools that can be used by both client and service for consistency purposes. Moreover, a need exists for describing a list of commonly used and compatible communication aspects for limiting the number of possible permutations for binding protocols. In addition, the various communication aspects, as well as the commonly used combinations, should be fully flexible, extensible and pluggable.

The present invention generally relates to instrumentation of computer program code, and more particularly to profiling execution characteristics of a binary executable program having branches through stub code segments. Executable computer programs include branch instructions that when executed direct program control to target addresses in the program. In some cases, branch instructions are used to transfer control to a code segment that implements a source-code defined function. For example, if the source code sets forth a xe2x80x9cfunctionxe2x80x9d that averages an input list of values, the function may be invoked by name in the source code. The executable code includes a target code segment that implements the function and branch instructions having target addresses that reference the target code segment. It will be appreciated that different languages have different names for functions such as procedure, routine, or method. Binary executable programs are xe2x80x9cinstrumentedxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cprofiledxe2x80x9d to analyze program performance. The performance data that are gathered can be used to determine which source code might benefit most from improved coding. For example, if a particular function is called within a program loop and the loop is a hot spot during execution, it may be desirable to program the function in-line within the loop rather than as a function call. A function call may either reference a target function in the same load module, or in a different load module. From the developer""s perspective, the source code does not reference load modules. Where a function call references a function in another load module, the code generation and linking phase establishes a stub code segment that is targeted by a first branch instruction. The stub code segment obtains the address of the entry point of the target function in the other load module and then branches to the target. Since the stub code segments are typically not directly associated with any particular lines of the source code, the correlation of execution profile information with the source code can be difficult. A method and apparatus that address the aforementioned problems, as well as other related problems, are therefore desirable. The invention provides profiling of branches that pass through stub code segments in executable program code. The compilation and linking of a computer program sometimes generates stub code segments that implement the transfer of control to functions that are external to a local segment of code. Branches through the stub code segments hinder the analysis of the corresponding edges relative to the source code. In various embodiments of the invention, edges are created to represent respective branch instructions in the executable program code. Each edge has a source attribute, a target attribute, and an edge-taken count attribute. During execution, the numbers of times edges are taken are counted, and stub entry points and stub targets are identified. For each edge having a target that matches an entry point of a stub code segment, the edge target is changed to the stub target associated with the matching entry point. By identifying edges that target stub code segments, edges that target stub code segments can be combined with other edges for correlation with the source code. Various example embodiments are set forth in the Detailed Description and Claims which follow.

Subsea wells typically connect to a subsea manifold that delivers the well fluid to a production platform for processing, particularly for the removal of water and gas. The oil is then transmitted to a pipeline or other facility for export from the production platform. Production of fluids from a medium to deep subsea environment requires compensation for the effects of cold temperatures, high ambient pressures and fluid viscosity as a function of break out of gas in the fluid stream. In flowing wells, particularly those with light API fluid, these conditions may be mitigated by the nature of the producing reservoir. In wells with low API oil and insufficient pressure to drive the fluid to the surface, some form of artificial lift will be required. One type of artificial lift for wells employs an electrical submersible pump, which is a type that has been used for many years on land based wells. An electrical submersible pump typically has an electrical motor, a rotary pump and a seal section located between the pump and the motor for equalizing hydrostatic fluid pressure with the internal pressure of lubricant in the motor. These types of pumps must be retrieved periodically for repair or replacement due to normal wear, as often as every eighteen months. Pulling a pump to replace it normally requires a workover rig, because most pumps are suspended on strings of tubing. Pulling production tubing on an offshore well is much more expensive than a land-based or surface wellhead. An intervention to remove the pump of an offshore well must be scheduled months in advance, depending on the production method. The cost, coupled with lost production, will in some cases make large potential reservoirs non-economical. There have been proposals to utilize pumps at the seafloor to pump the well fluid flowing from the well to the sea floor level. A number of problems are associated with the task, including periodically replacing the pump from the seafloor without the need for an expensive workover or drilling rig. One factor to consider is that the sea cannot be polluted with well fluid, thus traditionally risers have been employed during drilling and intervention operations that shield sea water from well components as they are pulled to the surface. If a riser must be employed to remove and replace a seafloor or mudline pump, a workover rig must still be employed at a great expense.

The invention relates to combine harvesters and particularly to the return conveyance means that serves to catch falling grain from separating apparatus and convey the caught grain forwardly to a grain pan upstream of a cleaning unit. For many decades, self-propelled combine harvesters have been used by farmers to harvest a wide range of crops including cereals, maize and oil-seed rape. Typically, a combine harvester cuts the crop material, threshes the grain therefrom, separates the grain from the straw, and cleans the grain before storing in an on-board tank. Straw and crop residue is ejected from the rear of the machine. WO-2012/095239 discloses a combine harvester having a hybrid-type processor which includes a threshing cylinder that rotates on a transverse axis upstream of a pair of axial rotors. The crop stream is fed into the front side of the threshing cylinder and is conveyed tangentially around the underside thereof in a generally rearward direction. Grain and chaff separated at this stage falls onto an underlying grain pan which is driven in an oscillating manner to convey the grain and chaff rearwardly to a rear edge from where the grain and chaff falls under gravity into a cleaning unit. The remainder of the crop stream from the threshing process is conveyed rearwardly from the threshing cylinder into separating apparatus which comprises a pair of side-by-side rotors which operate in an axial manner wherein the crop stream is conveyed in a spiral path from front to rear. During the separating process further grain and chaff is removed from the straw and falls under gravity through a grate onto an underlying return pan which conveys the grain and chaff forwardly to a front edge from where it falls under gravity onto the grain pan. The straw by-product from the separating apparatus is ejected from the rear of the combine. In a pure ‘axial’ type combine, the conventional threshing cylinder is omitted and both threshing and separation is executed by one or more axial rotors. The cleaning unit of most combines operates according to a well-established process in which grain and chaff cascading down from the grain pan is subjected to an airstream created by a fan. The airstream blows the lighter chaff and dust rearwardly and out of the combine whilst the heavier grain falls onto and through a series of cleaning sieves before being conveyed to the grain tank. WO-20121095239 discloses the recognition that improved stratification of the layer of grain and material other than grain (MOG) on the grain pan upstream of the cleaning unit improves the cleaning process. Lighter material tends to the top of the layer whilst the grain settles on the bottom. When subjected to the cleaning airstream, the MOG is carried away from the grain layer more effectively. There is a desire to improve the stratification of the crop material on the grain pan immediately upstream of the cleaning unit.

This invention relates to touch sensitive devices. In particular, this invention relates to touch sensitive devices having a plurality of individual touch sensitive locations. Touch sensitive devices having a plurality of individual touch sensitive locations are well known in the art. Heretofore, most of these devices have included complicated mechanical and electromechanical touch sensitive locations. Such locations have often not allowed for a close spacing within a confined area.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for testing condoms. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for automatically electronically testing condoms. 2. Discussion of the Related Art Conventionally, condoms are electronically tested by manually placing a condom on one of a plurality of mandrels. Approximately 10-20 mandrels are disposed on the outer periphery of a rotating wheel. Each mandrel is rotatably mounted on the wheel so that the mandrel may rotate about its longitudinal axis. As the wheel rotates, the condom loaded mandrel passes by a contoured plate having conductive foam attached thereto that electronically determines whether there are any holes in the condom in a manner that is known in the art. This plate is known in the art as a test net. As the mandrel passes by the plate, the mandrel rotates about its longitudinal axis about 11/2 to 2 revolutions. Thereafter, the condom is rolled off the mandrel and placed in either a good product bin or a bad product bin depending upon the results of the electronic test. This conventional apparatus, which includes manually loading the condoms on the mandrels, can only test about 45 condoms per minute and typically operates at an efficiency of between 95 and 100%. Efficiency refers to the percentage of time that a condom has been properly loaded on the mandrel. The apparatus, in accordance with the present invention, tests about 330 condoms per minute at an efficiency of between 80 and 85%. Accordingly, the present invention tests about seven (7) times the number of condoms than the conventional apparatus during any given period of time. While the efficiency of the prior art manner of testing condoms is relatively high, the total number of condoms that can be tested is relatively low. Additionally, because the condoms are manually loaded on the mandrel, the prior art manner of testing condoms is quite labor intensive. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that automatically loads condoms on a mandrel so that they may be electronically tested. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that can automatically process a relatively large number of condoms.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device which is structured to connect pads with bumps for outside connection by wiring sections in a semiconductor element and more particularly to the semiconductor device which may reduce the operating noise even if its clock frequency is several hundred MHz or more. In recent days, semiconductor devices have been more and more requested to enhance its density, integration and speed and lower its cost. In order to meet with the request, for example, as disclosed in JP-A-8-250498, a semiconductor device has been designed so that wiring sections and bumps are formed on a pad forming surface of a semiconductor element and those wiring sections and bumps are conductive with the pads. As shown in FIG. 17, in such a technology, a pad forming surface of a semiconductor element is formed to have a plurality of pads, and a plurality of wiring sections are formed on the pad forming surface so that those wiring sections may make a continuity with one of those pads. The bumps are formed at predetermined positions in the wiring sections so that those bumps may be formed at any interval without being limited by the positions and the intervals of the pads merely by prescribing those predetermined positions. The outer dimension of the semiconductor device is, therefore, the substantially same as the dimension of the chip on which the semiconductor element is mounted, so that the semiconductor device may be manufactured in higher density and integration and lower cost. In order to reduce the power noise of an LSI chip and make the operation faster, for example, as disclosed in JP-A-6-163822, a planar power wiring pattern is formed on the substantially overall surface of the chip except signal electrode pads. This technology as shown in FIG. 18 provides a capability of directly supplying an electric power from the planar power surface to a circuit element located under the planar power surface, which leads to reducing the inductance and the power noise of the LSI chip, thereby making the operation of the semiconductor device faster. As described above, the conventional semiconductor devices may be composed in higher density and integration and lower cost by forming the pads, the bumps and the wiring sections on the pad forming surface of the semiconductor element. However, those semiconductor devices still have a problem in speed. For example, if a semiconductor device provided with a supply voltage of 3.3 V is operated at a clock frequency of 200 MHz, roughly speaking, it is necessary to switch a signal voltage from a high state (supply voltage) to a low state (ground voltage) merely for a time of 500 ps corresponding to 10% of a clock period 5 ns. Assuming that the load capacitance at this time is about 10 pF, the charges to be charged in this capacitance may be calculated as 10 pF.times.3.3 V=33 pC. The current flowing in the switching is represented by differentiating the charges in time, that is, 33 pC/500 ps=0.066 A. It is known that this kind of transient current flow in switching a signal may give rise to a noise voltage by the inductance of the wiring system and thereby serves to malfunction the semiconductor device, for example, as described in E. E. Davidson et al., IBM J. Res. Dev. May 1982, vol. 26. This noise voltage may be represented by a time-base change rate of the inductance and the transient current. For example, assuming that the inductance of one lead of the semiconductor device is 10 nH, a noise voltage of about 1.3 V per lead is generated. This noise voltage may be derived by 10 nH.times.0.066 A/500 ps. If this kind of noise appears in the power supply, the ground or the signal line, the actual high or low state is erroneously read. This may lead to malfunction. As mentioned above, this noise is roughly in proportion to the operating speed, that is, the operating frequency. Hence, in order to reduce the operating frequency, the operation speed cannot be made faster. Hence, for making the operation speed faster, it is necessary to reduce another parameter for determining the noise, that is, the inductance of the wiring system provided in the semiconductor device. The foregoing semiconductor device disclosed in JP-A-8-250498 may provide a smaller semiconductor device than the conventional surface mounting type semiconductor device by forming the pads, the bumps and the wiring sections on the pad forming surface. It means that the inductance of the wiring system is reduced as compared with the conventional surface mounting type semiconductor device. However, considering that a conductor having a length of several millimeters contains roughly several nH inductance, the foregoing semiconductor does not provide so low an inductance as meeting the request by the recent various systems that need to operate at a quite fast speed. Further, the semiconductor device disclosed in JP-A-6-163822 considers reduction of the inductance on the power wiring side. However, it does not consider reduction of the inductance on the ground wiring side. Hence, the semiconductor device has no means of reducing the noise caused on the ground wiring side. Further, the pads are scattered on the chip surface and when this chip is mounted on the mounting substrate by bumps or the like, those bumps are scattered as well. It means that the planar conductive layer cannot be easily formed.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to track assemblies used to position vehicle seating and, more specifically, to a track assembly featuring low noise and vibration transmission while providing rigid structural properties. 2. Description of Related Art Intersliding tracks require friction reducing bearings to facilitate ease of adjustment as well as minimize looseness in the structural relation between tracks. Conventional steel ball bearings brinell and/or create grooves in one or more of the track profiles. This leads to a rough sliding motion. In addition, the steel balls readily conduct noise and vibration therethrough. Finally, deformation of either of the intersliding tracks can cause structural failure thereof when loads cause deformations which exceed the range of elasticity of the components. Therefore, there is a need for an intersliding track assembly which resists transmission of noise and vibration while providing a rigid structure resistant to structural failures.

The present invention relates generally to assembly techniques. Alignment and probing techniques to improve the accuracy of component placement during assembly are described. More particularly, the invention includes methods and structures to detect and improve the component placement accuracy on a target platform by incorporating alignment marks on components and reference marks on target platforms. The proper alignment of the marks is assessed with various probing techniques. A set of sensors grouped in an array to form a multiple-sensor probe can detect the deviation of displaced components in assembly. Merely by way of example, the invention may be applied to place packaged devices onto electronic substrates for the manufacture of electronic systems. However, it should be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability. Electronic devices have proliferated over the years. As the complexity and the operation speed of integrated circuits (IC) increase, it is not unusual to see an increasing number of devices with pin-counts exceeding hundreds or even a thousand. For example, high-speed designs requires many power and ground pins. Differential pairs are replacing the single-end signals at the input and output pins (I/O) of a device to meet the signal integrity requirements. In addition, as system-on-a-chip becomes a reality, more and more pins are added to the device I/O to supports more functions. Many if not all of these tend to increase the number of pins in a packaged device or component. As the device pin-count increases, the pin pitch of the device tends to decrease to limit the package size. The reduced pin-pitch poses a challenge for the placement equipment to place components accurately on a target platform, such as a printed circuit board (PCB), especially if the pin pitch is smaller than 0.5 mm. Conventional surface-mount equipment use the Cartesian coordinates at the center of a target land pattern as a reference point to place a component on a PCB. There is no feedback to monitor the accuracy of the component placement. Without proper feedback, the accuracy of the component placement is uncertain. Actually, the accuracy of the component placement is influenced by the imperfectness in the package's outline, the deviation of the component's contact array from an ideal grid location, the imperfectness in PCB mounting references, the aging and the intrinsic tolerance of the placement equipment, and so on. As the accumulative error is getting closer to the pitch size of the contact array, placing a component accurately on a PCB is becoming a greater challenge. It is not uncommon to encounter component placement problems in a surface mount assembly line, especially for the placement of fine-pitch components. For example, if a BGA component is inaccurately placed on a PCB, it could cause the BGA's contact array to deviate from the ideal land pattern location, resulting in either inadequate soldering or solder bridging to adjacent pads on the PCB. A rework to fix these problems is tedious and expensive. It is even worse for the rework of a pricy, high pin-count component on a high density PCB. Furthermore, manufacturers frequently use sockets to house high-end, high pin-count chips on motherboards. This enables users to choose proper speed grade components or to perform speed upgrade at field. However, there is no handy method for users or manufacturers to monitor if a chip has been properly inserted in the socket or if the chip is in good contact with the receptacle inside the socket. Thus, it is seen that techniques for detecting and improving component placement accuracy and for detecting the contact status are desirable.

The semiconductor industry has experienced rapid growth due to improvements in the integration density of a variety of electronic components (e.g., transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc.). For the most part, this improvement in integration density has come from shrinking the semiconductor process node (e.g., shrinking the process node towards the sub-20 nm node). Shrinking the semiconductor process node entails reductions in operating voltage and current consumption of electronic circuits developed in the semiconductor process node. For example, operating voltages have dropped from 5V to 3.3V, 2.5V, 1.8V, and even 0.9V. A wave of mobile device popularity has increased pressure in the industry to develop low power circuits that only drain minimal operating current from batteries that power the mobile devices. Lower operating current extends battery life of battery-operated mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers, ultrabooks, and the like. Leakage current is an electrical phenomenon that has become increasingly present in designs in deep sub-micron semiconductor process nodes. Leakage current occurs when a transistor is turned on even while performing no function. For example, a transistor that remains on after powering down a circuit the transistor belongs to will induce leakage current. In a power-limited environment, such as a wearable device with a very small battery, lower leakage current translates to longer battery life before needing a recharge.

1. Technical Field The present invention relates to a steering apparatus which has increased rigidity in a fixed state of a steering column after positioning performed by tilt and telescopic adjustment and in which a play is inhibited and operation feeling of steering is improved. 2. Description of the Related Art There are various steering apparatuses equipped with a tilt and telescopic adjustment mechanism. One of the typical structures of such steering apparatus is constituted by a fixed bracket mounted on a vehicle side, an inner column that rotatably supports a steering shaft, a steering support body that axially slidably supports the inner column, and a tightening means for tightening the inner column via the steering support body by tightening the fixed bracket. It is especially important that the steering apparatus have good rigidity at the time of fixing in the correct position after the respective correct position has been determined in tilt and telescopic adjustment. For this purpose, efforts have been made to inhibit a play of a handle when a bending load acts upon the handle, that is, when a twisting force acts upon the handle in the up-down direction. The related art of this kind is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-347953 and Republication of International Patent Application WO2004-085225. The configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-347953 will be described below. For the sake of convenience, reference symbols will be assigned to the principal components. An upper-side inner column (a) is axially slidably enclosed in and held by a lower-side outer column (b), and the inner column (a) is tightened via the outer column (b) by tightening plate portions on the opposite sides. A steering shaft is constituted by an upper shaft and a lower shaft that are joined so that they can slide with respect to each other in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and the upper shaft and lower shaft are rotatably supported by the inner column (a) and outer column (b) respectively. A pair of clamp members are provided outside the lower-side outer column (b) so as to enclose and hold the upper-side inner column (a), and an axial slot (c) is provide in the location where the pair of clamp members have been provided. No slot (c) is provided and a tubular shape is formed in other zones. The pair of clamp members are brought close to each other by a tightening bolt and the width of the slot (c) is reduced, whereby the upper-side inner column (a) is enclosed, held, and tightened by the pair of clamp members. Therefore, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-347953, since the upper-side inner column (a) is directly tightened by the lower-side outer column (b), the rigidity of the two columns with respect to the vehicle body and the fixed bracket of the vehicle body can be increased. However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-347953 discloses a structure in which one side of the outer column (b), in which the slot (c) has been formed, along the axial direction of the column, that is, the axial end side of the outer column (b), is opened so as to be open axially to the outside, and an end portion of the slot (c) that is closed like a dead end is present at the central side in the axial direction of the outer column (b). As a result, the pushing pressures p, p, . . . by which the clamp members tighten the inner column (a) weaken gradually with the distance from the position of the tightening bolt in the axial direction of the inner column (a), and the pushing pressures p, p, . . . are practically not generated in the central zone in the axial direction that is the end portion of the slot (c) closed like a dead end. Therefore, the pushing force varies along the axial direction of the inner column (a) (see FIG. 11A). Further, in order to enable the telescopic sliding of the steering shaft, a certain gap has to be provided between the outer column (b) and inner column (a) to facilitate the mutual sliding thereof. As a result, even when the steering column is fixed in the tilt-telescopic position, a play occurs in the gap. The holding force of the outer column (b) that holds the inner column (a) and steering shaft can be decreased and the rigidity of the steering column with respect to the vehicle body can be reduced. The tilt-telescopic steering apparatus disclosed in Republication of International Patent Application WO2004-085225 will be described below. In this apparatus, an inner column is axially movably supported by an outer jacket (d) that is supported on an upper bracket disposed at the vehicle body, and the inner column is tightened by a tightening means via the outer jacket (d), whereby a steering shaft is fixed in an adjustment position. A slot is provided in the outer jacket (d) along the entire axial length thereof. The steering shaft is constituted by an upper steering shaft and a lower steering shaft joined by a universal joint in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. The upper steering shaft is rotatably supported by the inner column. The outer jacket (d) extends in the axial direction of steering, and a clamp portion that supports the inner column from the outer circumferential side is formed integrally with the rear end of the side portion at the rear side of the vehicle. Because the slit has a shape opened at both ends along the axial direction of the inner column, that is, a double-split shape, the variation of the force created by the clamp portions to tighten the inner column can be inhibited by comparison with a structure in which a portion of the slit is closed, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-347953. Further, the outer jacket (d) supports only the inner column, without supporting the steering shaft, and when the tilt-telescopic tightening is performed, surface contact is attained in a state in which no gap is present between the outer jacket (d) and inner column, and the inner column is pushed, supported and fixed. Therefore, the tightening force of the inner column with respect to the outer jacket (d) is further increased. However, in the configuration described in Republication of International Patent Application WO2004-085225, the slit of the outer jacket (d) is formed axially from one side to the other side and there are absolutely no zones that are continuous in the circumferential direction of the outer jacket (d). As a result, the rigidity of the outer jacket (d) itself in the configuration described in Republication of International Patent Application WO2004-085225 is reduced by comparison with that in the case of an outer column in which a cylindrical portion continuous in the circumferential direction is present because one end of the slit in the axial direction is closed, as in the aforementioned configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-347953. A structure in which a universal joint between an upper steering shaft and a lower steering shaft is moved in a substantially front-rear direction with respect to a vehicle body to move a steering column in the front-rear direction is called a telescopic structure of a universal joint movement type, and a structure in which a steering column is moved in the front-rear direction by extending and contracting a steering shaft, without changing the position of the universal joint with respect to the vehicle body, is called a telescopic structure of a steering column movement type. The structure described in Republication of International Patent Application WO2004-085225 is of the universal joint movement type and no bearing support portion is present on the outer jacket (d). Therefore, when the structure is changed to that of the steering column movement type in order to improve the operation feeling, separate parts have to be added. The resultant drawback is that the increase in the number of parts and assembling operations raises the cost.

A modern optical communication system utilizes optical amplifiers to amplify wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) signal channels as they are transmitted through the system. These amplifiers may be placed at the receiving and transmitting ends of the system, as well as between the various transmission fiber spans comprising the system. An optical amplifier is characterized, amongst others, by its gain and its noise figure (NF), the latter quantifying the noise introduced by the amplifier into the system. In the case of a WDM system, where the WDM signal channels occupy a signal wavelength band, the optical amplifier is also characterized by the spectral dependence of the gain and the NF within this band. Three main quantities are of interest: (1) the average gain, defined as the gain averaged over the wavelength band; (2) the gain tilt, defined by performing a linear fit to the spectral gain curve over the wavelength band, and calculating the gain difference between the linear fit at the long wavelength (so called “Red”) end of the band, and the linear fit at the short wavelength (so called “Blue”) end of the band; and (3) the maximum NF, defined as the maximum value of the NF over the wavelength band. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “NF” used herein will be taken to mean the maximum NF. Unless specifically stated otherwise, all values of gain, gain tilt, attenuation and NF are assumed to be in decibel (dB) units. In many cases it is beneficial for an optical amplifier to have variable gain functionality. This means that the average gain of the amplifier can be dynamically set to any value within a specified range of values, while at the same time maintaining the gain tilt within required specifications for any setting of the average gain. This variable gain functionality allows the same type of amplifier to be used for different systems and at different locations within a system which require different levels of average gain. In some cases it is also desirable to be able to dynamically set the gain tilt within a certain range of values independently of the average gain. One type of optical amplifier is a lumped amplifier, which is a completely self-contained unit with well-defined input and output ports, and in which the entire amplification process taking place within the unit. The most commonly deployed example of a lumped optical amplifier is an Erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), which contains at least one length of Erbium doped fiber (EDF) and at least one pump laser diode. The EDF serves as the gain medium which transfers energy from the pump laser diodes (or diodes) to the optical signal channels as they pass through the amplifier, thus providing signal amplification. A lumped amplifier may contain a variable optical attenuator (VOA), which provides variable gain functionality by allowing the average gain to be adjusted by controlling the VOA. In general, increased VOA attenuation results in decreased average gain. In most practical cases, in order to increase the efficiency of the amplifier, the VOA is placed between two gain stages within the amplifier, rather than at the amplifier output. One result is that an increase in the VOA attenuation also results in an increase in the amplifier NF, due to the extra loss imparted to the signal channels. Thus, the amplifier NF increases as the average gain decreases. In many cases it is also possible to independently adjust the gain tilt and the average gain by jointly controlling the VOA attenuation and the pump power used to pump the amplifier. For example, in a variable gain EDFA designed for the C-Band, increasing the VOA attenuation while adjusting the pump power to maintain a constant average gain will decrease the gain tilt (make it more negative). Conversely, decreasing the VOA attenuation while adjusting the pump power to maintain a constant average gain will increase the gain tilt (make it more positive). In recent years, a new type of amplifier, namely a distributed Raman amplifier (also referred to herein simply as “Raman amplifier” or in short “RA”), has been introduced into optical communication systems. A significant difference between a lumped amplifier and a Raman amplifier is that for the latter, the transmission fiber itself serves as the gain medium, meaning that the signal channels are amplified as they travel through the transmission fiber. Thus, the Raman amplifier itself just provides Raman pump power and control functionality, while the actual amplification process takes place in a distributed manner along the transmission fiber. The distributed nature of the amplification improves the optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) of the system compared to the case where an equivalent lumped amplifier (such as an EDFA) is used. This is reflected by the fact that a Raman amplifier typically has a lower NF than an equivalent lumped amplifier. As a general rule, the higher the average gain provided by a Raman amplifier, the lower its NF. The average gain of a Raman amplifier can be adjusted by controlling the amount of Raman pump power injected into the transmission fiber. Furthermore, if the Raman amplifier includes at least two pumps with different wavelengths and means to separately control the power emitted by each pump, then the spectral shape of the gain may also be controlled to a certain degree. Thus, variable gain functionality can be achieved and the gain tilt may also be adjusted independently of the average gain. Raman amplifiers including average gain control and gain tilt control are known. While Raman amplifiers typically have lower NF than equivalent lumped amplifiers, they are usually restricted in the amount of gain they provide, mainly due to the fact that higher gain requires higher levels of Raman pump power to be injected into the transmission fiber. This both increases the cost of the system and also increases the chance for potential safety hazards and damage related to the propagation of very high levels of pump power in the transmission fiber. Furthermore, very high values of Raman gain are also associated with high levels of double Rayleigh backscattering, which can detrimentally affect system performance. To overcome this problem, a Raman amplifier is often used in conjunction with a lumped amplifier such as an EDFA, thus forming a so called hybrid Raman-lumped amplifier (also referred to herein simply as “hybrid amplifier” and in short “HA”). In this configuration the Raman amplifier is used as a pre-amplifier while the lumped amplifier is used as a booster amplifier. Since the total NF of an amplifier is usually dominated by the NF of the pre-amplifier, the HA benefits from the low NF of the Raman amplifier. On the other hand, the lumped amplifier booster can provide the extra gain not provided by the Raman amplifier, thus allowing the total gain of the hybrid amplifier to be as high as required. Some degree of variable gain functionality for a HA can be achieved through control of the gain of the Raman amplifier, as described above. However, since the total gain imparted by the Raman amplifier part of the HA is usually limited, and since it is often difficult to control a Raman amplifier operating at very low gain, the total dynamic gain range achievable using this method is limited. Thus, it is often beneficial for the lumped amplifier part of the hybrid to provide variable gain functionality as well, thus improving the variable gain functionality of the HA as a whole. In such a case, a key question is how to divide the total gain of the HA between the Raman amplifier and the lumped amplifier, while at the same time minimizing the overall NF of the HA. A known method for achieving this is by storing a database of the HA NF as a function of the Raman amplifier gain for different values of total HA gain. Thus, for a given required total HA gain, the Raman amplifier gain that provides the minimum NF can be found and set accordingly. Then, the lumped amplifier average gain is set to provide the remaining gain needed to achieve the required total HA gain. However, this method does not account for the spectral dependence of the gain in WDM systems, and therefore does not take into account the added degree of freedom which is available through controlling the gain tilt (not just the average gain) of the Raman amplifier and lumped amplifier. Another known solution implements optimization of the spectral shape of the Raman amplifier gain in order to optimize the HA NF. This is achieved by providing a higher Raman gain in the spectral region where the lumped amplifier has the highest NF, thus reducing the total HA NF in that spectral region. However, the total gain of the HA NF is assumed to be fixed, so that the optimization of the NF in the case of a variable gain HA is not considered at all. There is therefore a need for, and it would be advantageous to have, a variable gain hybrid amplifier and methods for optimizing the NF in a variable gain hybrid amplifier, in which both the average gain and gain tilt of the Raman amplifier and the lumped amplifier can be controlled independently.

1. Field of the Invention: The present invention concerns the protection of health care workers. More particularly, the present invention concerns means for preventing the inadvertent injury or infection of a health care workers from infected needles, stylets or cannulas in a two-piece needle. 2. Prior Art: Health care workers today are at great risk of injury or infection with many serious diseases, including AIDS, by contamination from sample-taking instruments. A health care worker can inadvertently injure him/herself with an infected needle. Thus, protection from inadvertent contamination is needed. Known devices have centered around preventing inadvertent infection in the use of a hypodermic syringe, or a one-piece needle. One such device is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,237, issued May 29, 1990 to Medway. Medway teaches a spring-biased needle cover disposed at the front end of the syringe and encompassing the needle. The needle extends beyond the protection cover by a forward thrust. The needle is then withdrawn within the cover. During the injection process, the cover contacts the skin. This contact allows the extension of the needle over the biasing force of the spring. The biasing action of the spring disposed within the cover keeps the cover in place over the needle after the injection. Thus, by the action of the spring, the chance of an inadvertent injection is greatly lessened. U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,083 issued Jan. 30, 1990 to Martell teaches a telescoping cover disposed around the tubular body of a syringe. The telescoping cover of Martell allows for a shield to be extended around the needle after use. Other similar means are set forth with the following U.S. Patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,985,021; 5,011,479; 4,425,120; 5,024,616; 4,966,592. Despite these references, their teachings, Applicant knows of no means for protecting users of instruments containing two-piece needles. These are common medical instruments for procedures involving vascular access or fluid/tissue removal. These devices are a source of injury and infection to medical health care workers. The freedom of movement needed to perform biopsies and other procedures unique to two-piece needles necessitate different protective means than those known for single needle instruments. In addition, these prior devices are not applicable to two-piece needles. It is to this need that the present invention is directed.

A touch enabled display can allow a user to provide an input to a system connected to a touch enabled display by contacting the touch enabled display. The touch enabled display can use sensors to detect a touch on the display for example resistive, capacitive, or optical. A system can determine from location of a touch and generate an input based on the location of the input.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to soft-start circuits used in switching power regulators, and more particularly to soft-start circuits using combinations of reference voltages and programmable width burst pulses for controlling output voltages of switching power regulators during start-up. 2. Description of the Related Art One type of switching power regulator often used to perform DC-to-DC voltage conversion is a step-down regulator, which generally operates to convert a higher voltage (e.g. 12V) to a lower value as required by one or more load devices. Switching power regulators often use two or more power transistors to perform the input voltage to output voltage conversion. One common example of such a switching power regulator, commonly called a “Buck regulator”, implemented with MOS devices is shown in FIG. 1a. Regulator 100 may be configured to operate in either PWM (pulse width modulation) mode or PFM (pulse-frequency modulation) mode, switching a P-channel device 107 and an N-channel device 109 in order to produce a square-wave at their common node LX. The produced square-wave can be smoothed out using an LC circuit comprising inductor 111 and load capacitor 113 to produce a desired output voltage, Vout. A control loop, comprised of an error amplifier 115 and a control logic block 101 can be configured to control the output square-wave, thereby controlling switching P-channel device 107 and N-channel device 109, and hence the resulting value of Vout. In general, P-channel device 107 and N-channel device 109 are controlled such that they do not conduct current at the same time. Typically, when P-channel device 107 is turned on (Vg_P is logic 0), N-channel device 109 is turned off (Vg_N is logic 0), and when P-channel device 107 is turned off (Vg_P is logic 1), N-channel device 109 is turned on (Vg_N is logic 1). IL represents the load current flowing in inductor 111. When operating in PFM mode, P-channel device 107 is turned on at a frequency and duty cycle that is a function of an input voltage Vin, the output voltage Vout, and the value of inductor 111. While in PFM mode, N-channel device 109 is turned off to optimize efficiency by reducing gate charge dissipation. Vout is regulated by skipping switching cycles that turn on P-channel device 107. In order to maintain proper operation of a load device coupled to regulator 100, and often to limit an input current developed in regulator 100 while charging load capacitor 113, Vout is typically ramped from its initial value (called its pre-bias value) to a desired output voltage at a controlled rate. This rate may be chosen as required by the load device and the designed maximum input current allowed for charging load capacitor 113. Often, the pre-bias value is at or near 0 volts. If that is the case, regulator 100 generally attempts to ramp its output Vout from 0V to the desired voltage in a predetermined amount of time. Therefore, some switching power regulators also include soft-start circuits to limit input current during start-up. For example, Texas Instruments' TPS6205x synchronous step-down regulator features an internal soft-start circuit that limits the inrush current during start-up to prevent possible voltage drops of the input voltage if a battery or a high impedance power source is connected to the input. The soft-start circuit within the TPS6205x is implemented as a digital circuit increasing the switch current in steps of 200 mA, 400 mA, 800 mA, and then the typical switch current limit of 1.2 A. A typical start-up time with a 22 μF load capacitor and a 200-mA load current would be 1 ms. As a result, however, the start-up time mainly depends on the load capacitor and load current, with the regulator requiring an extra pin for the external components. Many other problems and disadvantages of the prior art will become apparent to one skilled in the art after comparing such prior art with the present invention as described herein.

Tiotropium is an anticholinergic agent and is indicated as a maintenance bronchodilator treatment to relieve symptoms of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Tiotropium is marketed as Spiriva® in the form of an inhalation powder or solution for inhalation. The present invention is directed to a formulation of tiotropium. Tiotropium contains a quaternary ammonium cation and is typically used as the bromide salt which has the following structure: The two most common approaches for formulating inhalable medicaments for use outside of the emergency room are the dry powder inhaler (DPI) and the pressurised metered dose inhaler (pMDI). An example of the DPI is the marketed inhalation powder. The inhalation powder contains tiotropium bromide monohydrate and lactose stored in a hard capsule and is administered using the HandiHaler® dry powder inhaler. However, the pMDI is an alternative approach to delivering tiotropium bromide to the lungs. Typically patient compliance is greater with a pMDI as they tend to be easier to use. Moreover, the DPI suffers from the drawback that only a small portion of the powdered active ingredient is actually inhaled into the lungs. pMDI formulations may be presented as suspensions or solutions. WO 03/082252 provides an example of tiotropium bromide monohydrate in HFA 134a or 227 formulated as a suspension. In a solution formulation, the active ingredient is dissolved in the propellant system and hence avoids problems such as potential blockage of the pMDI dispensing nozzle orifice, physical instability of the suspended particles and the requirement to use suspending agents such as surfactants. Solution formulations are also easier to manufacture. However, a significant problem associated with formulating tiotropium salts as a solution formulation is that the active ingredient is chemically unstable in the presence of the co-solvents, such as ethanol, required to solubilise the active ingredient in the HFA propellant. The marketed solution for inhalation circumvents this problem by avoiding the pMDI altogether. Instead, the product employs the Respimat® “soft-mist inhaler”. The formulation contains tiotropium bromide, benzalkonium chloride, disodium edentate, purified water and hydrochloric acid 3.6% (for pH adjustment). Instead of using a liquefied propellant, the Respimat® inhaler produces a mist by the action of a spring within the inhaler. However, the pMDI is a preferred approach and a number of attempts have been made to formulate tiotropium as a pMDI formulation. WO 94/13262 discloses the use of inorganic or organic acids to stabilise solution formulations. However, the disclosure therein is principally directed to ipratropium bromide and it is not apparent how the approach should be modified to apply to tiotropium. US 2005/0058606 addresses the problem of stabilising a tiotropium bromide solution formulation also using inorganic or organic acids. However, significant concerns have arisen over the use of acids to stabilise solution formulations as the acids themselves can react with the metallic surface of the canister leading to the leaching of metal salts into the formulation which can lead to further instability of the active ingredient and/or contamination of the formulation. For example, EP 1 666 029 discloses pMDI solution formulations in which the internal surfaces of the inhaler consist of stainless steel or anodised aluminium, or in which the internal surfaces are lined with an inert organic coating, in order to minimise the effects of the canister on the chemical instability of the active ingredient. In addition, EP 2 201 934 describes a pMDI formulation containing a tiotropium salt, an HFA propellant, one or more co-solvents and a mineral acid. This document teaches the importance of using an aerosol can fitted with sealing rings and gaskets which are in contact with the formulation, made of a butyl or halo-butyl rubber, in order to avoid adverse interactions of the acid-containing formulation with the materials of the rings and gaskets. There remains, therefore, a need in the art for pMDI solution formulations of tiotropium salts which are chemically stable and which do not adversely react with the internal surfaces of the inhaler.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to superhard material cutting elements for earth boring drill bits, and specifically to modifications to the geometry of the peripheral cutting edge of such cutting elements. 2. State of the Art Superhard cutting elements in the form of Polycrystalline Diamond Compact (PDC) structures have been commercially available for approximately two decades, and planar PDC cutting elements for a period in excess of 15 years. The latter type of PDC cutting elements commonly comprises a thin, substantially circular disc (although other configurations are available) including a layer of superhard material formed of diamond crystals mutually bonded under ultrahigh temperatures and pressures and defining a planar front cutting face, a planar rear face and a peripheral or circumferential edge, at least a portion of which is employed as a cutting edge to cut the subterranean formation being drilled by a drill bit on which the PDC cutting element is mounted. PDC cutting elements are generally bonded during formation to a backing layer or substrate formed of tungsten carbide, although self-supporting planar PDC cutting elements are also known, particularly those stable at higher temperatures, which are known as TSP' s, or Thermally Stable Products. Either type of PDC cutting element is generally fixedly mounted to a rotary drill bit, generally referred to as a drag bit, which cuts the formation substantially in a shearing action through rotation of the bit and application of drill string weight thereto. A plurality of either, or even both, types of PDC cutting elements is mounted on a given bit, and cutting elements of various sizes may be employed on the same bit. Drag bits may be cast and/or machined from metal, typically steel, or may be formed of a powder metal infiltrated with a liquid binder at high temperatures to form a matrix. PDC cutting elements may be brazed to a matrix-type bit after furnacing, or TSP's may even be bonded into the bit body during the furnacing process. Cutting elements are typically secured to cast or machined (steel body) bits by preliminary bonding to a carrier element, commonly referred to as a stud, which in turn is inserted into an aperture in the face of the bit and mechanically or metallurgically secured thereto. Studs are also employed with matrix-type bits, as are cutting elements secured via their substrates to cylindrical carrier elements affixed to the matrix. It has long been recognized that PDC cutting elements, regardless of their method of attachment to drag bits, experience relatively rapid degradation in use due to the extreme temperatures and high loads, particularly impact loading, as the bit drills ahead downhole. One of the major observable manifestations of such degradation is the fracture or spalling of the PDC cutting element cutting edge, wherein large portions of the superhard PDC layer separate from the cutting element. The spalling may spread down the cutting face of the PDC cutting element, and even result in delamination of the superhard layer from the backing layer of substrate or from the bit itself if no substrate is employed. At the least, cutting efficiency is reduced by cutting edge damage, which also reduces the rate of penetration of the drill bit into the formation. Even minimal fracture damage can have a negative effect on cutter life and performance. Once the sharp corner on the leading edge (taken in the direction of cutter movement) of the diamond table is chipped, the amount of damage to the table continually increases, as does the normal force required to achieve a given depth of cut. Therefore, as cutter damage occurs and the rate of penetration of the drill bit decreases, the standard rig-floor response of increasing weight on bit quickly leads to further degradation and ultimately catastrophic failure of the chipped cutting element. It has been recognized in the machine-tool art that chamfering of a diamond tool tip for ultrasonic drilling or milling reduces splitting and chipping of the tool tip. J. Grandia and J. C. Marinace, "DIAMOND TOOL-TIP FOR ULTRA-SONIC DRILLING"; IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 13, No. 11, April 1971, p. 3285. Use of bevelling or chamfering of diamond and cubic boron nitride compacts to alleviate the tendency toward cutter edge chipping in mining applications was also recognized in U.K. Patent Application GB 2193749 A. U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,737 to Bovenkerk discloses, in pertinent part, the use of pin- or stud-shaped cutting elements on drag bits, the pins including a layer of polycrystalline diamond on their free ends, the outer surface of the diamond being configured as cylinders, hemispheres or hemisphere approximations formed of frustoconical flats. U.S. Pat. No. Re. 32,036 to Dennis discloses the use of a bevelled cutting edge on a disc-shaped, stud-mounted PDC cutting element used on a rotary drag bit. U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,800 to Gasan, et al. references the aforementioned Dennis reissue patent, and offers several alternative edge treatments of PDC cutting elements, including grooves, slots and pluralities of adjacent apertures, all of which purportedly inhibit spalling of the superhard PDC layer beyond the boundary defined by the groove, slot or row of apertures adjacent the cutting edge. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,718 to Tandberg discloses the use of planar PDC cutting elements employing an axially and radially outer edge having a "visible" radius, such a feature purportedly improving the "mechanical strength" of the element. In summary, it appears that if the initial chipping of the diamond table cutting edge can be eliminated, the life of a cutter can be significantly increased. Modification of the cutting edge geometry was perceived to be a promising approach to reduce chipping, but has yet to realize its full potential in prior art configurations.

The present invention relates to data security, and more particularly, is directed to determining the actual source of an electronic mail message. The present invention also is directed to determining the actual source of an electronic message to a website. Unsolicited commercial email is popularly known as “spam”. It has been estimated that 90% of email messages are spam, corresponding to 100 billion daily spam emails. Email addresses are easy to forge. Spammers often employ forged email addresses when their spam is disguised as legitimate email, e.g., phishing, wherein a spammer sends an email purporting to be from a legitimate website, generally to induce an unsuspecting party to provide their log-in name and password for the website. However, it is not so easy to reliably determine that an email has a forged address. Existing email authentication schemes require that the email administrator for the domain actively participate, which has resulted in such schemes being not used for most domains. The ability to reliably authenticate the origin of an email would be of great utility to email processing systems, as that email could be readily identified as spam. Digital signatures are formed using a private cryptographic key to encrypt data associated with a message. The receiver uses a public cryptographic key to decrypt the data thereby recovering a plaintext version of the associated data. However, the difficulty of establishing an infrastructure to distribute public keys for email source authentication has hampered use of digital signatures for this purpose. Websites that provide services, such as free email accounts, are often the targets of improper users who register for many accounts and then abuse them. To prevent programs from registering, that is, to ensure people register, such websites often employ a CAPTCHA test that is difficult for a computer to solve but relatively easy for a human to solve. Popular types of CAPTCHAs include graphic images of characters or words that have been subject to various visual distortions. However, CAPTCHAs are generally annoying to humans, software programs can do a pretty good job of solving many CAPTCHAs, and spammers sometimes employ low-wage individuals to register for new accounts. Thus, there is room for an improved technique that protects websites from improper registrations.

1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to film cooling of hot surfaces such as those found in hot aircraft gas turbine engine components and, particularly, to film cooling holes such as those found in combustor liners and turbine nozzle airfoils in gas turbine engines. 2. Description of Related Art A typical gas turbine engine of the turbofan type generally includes a forward fan and a booster or low pressure compressor, a middle core engine, and a low pressure turbine which powers the fan and booster or low pressure compressor. The core engine includes a high pressure compressor, a combustor and a high pressure turbine in a serial flow relationship. The high pressure compressor and high pressure turbine of the core engine are connected by a high pressure shaft. High pressure air from the high pressure compressor is mixed with fuel in the combustor and ignited to form a very hot high energy gas stream. The gas stream flows through the high pressure turbine, rotatably driving it and the high pressure shaft which, in turn, rotatably drives the high pressure compressor. The gas stream leaving the high pressure turbine is expanded through a second or low pressure turbine. The low pressure turbine rotatably drives the fan and booster compressor via a low pressure shaft. The low pressure shaft extends through the high pressure rotor. Most of the thrust produced is generated by the fan. Marine or industrial gas turbine engines have low pressure turbines which power generators, ship propellers, pumps and other devices while turboprops engines use low pressure turbines to power propellers usually through a gearbox. The high pressure turbine has a turbine nozzle including at least one row of circumferentially spaced apart airfoils or vanes radially extending between radially inner and outer bands. The vanes are usually hollow having an outer wall that is cooled with cooling air from the compressor. Hot gases flowing over the cooled turbine vane outer wall produces flow and thermal boundary layers along hot outer surfaces of the vane outer wall and end wall hot surfaces of the inner and outer bands over which the hot gases pass. Film cooling is widely used in gas turbine hot components, such as combustor liners, turbine nozzle vanes and bands, turbine blades, turbine shrouds, and exhaust nozzles and exhaust nozzle liners such as those used for afterburning engines. Film cooling is used to inject cooler air through film cooling holes or slots to form an insulating layer or cooling film on the component hot surface and reduce the direct contact with the hot gases flowing over the component surface. The film cooling holes are typically angled in a downstream direction so that the cooling air is injected into the boundary layer along or as close as possible to the hot surface. The cooling film flow can mix with the hot gas and reduce its effectiveness as it flows in the downstream direction. The hot gas flowing over the component hot surface can lift the cooling film away from the hot surface and reduce the film cooling effectiveness. One method to improve the film attachment is to use a shaped film cooling hole having a downstream flare at an exit of the hole to reduce the angle between the film jet exiting the hole and the downstream hot surface. This method has been used in turbine airfoils where the gas velocity is relatively high. It is desirable to have another or additional apparatus and/or method that can enhance the cooling film attachment to the hot surface for good film cooling effectiveness.

Barcode printers are known to include interface circuitry between a microprocessor of the printer and the input and output devices of the printer that typically include a keyboard for data entry, a printhead for printing and a motor for advancing past the printhead a supply of the material to be printed on such as labels, tags, etc. This interface circuitry is typically designed for only one type of microprocessor, one type of printhead and other printer peripherals of a single type. Therefore, the interface circuitry for one barcode printer, generally, cannot be used in a barcode printer having one or more components of a different type. As a result, each time a new barcode printer is developed, new interface circuitry must also be developed increasing development time and costs.

A conventional known heating apparatus switches turning-on/off of the current feeding from an AC power source to a heater of a heating apparatus to heat the heater at a predetermined current-feed ratio. As a conventional technique of restraining occurrence of high-frequency wave, in other word, harmonic current in current-feed of the heating apparatus, for example, a technique is known which turns on the current-feed by 100% when the heater temperature is less than a lower limit value, turns off the current-feed when the heater temperature is higher than an upper limit value, and a sine-wave alternating current (AC) is periodically turned on/off in synchronization with zero cross of a sine-wave AC when the heater temperature falls between the upper limit value and the lower limit value. According to the conventional technique, high frequency wave occurring at turning-on/off of the sine-wave alternating current can be reduced. However, a standard value of a harmonic current in heaters has been recently become strict and therefore, in heating control of the heaters, a technique of further restraining the harmonic current has been demanded. For example, a method of further restraining the harmonic current by forcibly inserting a period of current-feed ratio of 100% or the current-feed ratio of 0%, during which the harmonic current hardly occurs, in current-feed control of the heaters can be considered. However, according to this method, a balance between restraint of the harmonic current and the control accuracy of the heating temperature of the heating apparatus is important. Thus, there has been a demand for keeping the control accuracy of the heating temperature while improving the effect of restraining the harmonic current. The present invention provides a technique of keeping the predetermined control accuracy of the heating temperature while improving the effect of restraining the harmonic current in heating control of the heater.

In a network analyzer, a transfer switch connects the test signal source to one port of the device under test and terminates the remaining ports in a low-reflection load. The ideal transfer switch has a low, repeatable loss in the test signal path. In some cases, it is also advantageous to have gain in the signal path, provided the gain is stable and repeatable. In addition, the transfer switch must provide a high degree of isolation in all of the terminated paths. Any signal leakage directly from the through path to the terminated paths bypasses the device under test and causes cross-talk. Further, for measurement accuracy, it is advantageous to have terminations that have identical impedance for each of the terminated paths. Finally, each port should have the same impedance whether that port is acting as a load or a source. Broadly, it is the object of the present invention to provide an improved transfer switch. These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a switched ring network system having a path protection, with a self-adjusting facility for recovering from failures in the network, and more specifically, to a path protection switched ring network system and a method of recovery from a failure in the network that provides effective recovery from a failure in a currently used path, i.e., a working path, even when a protection path is being used as an additional working path when the failure occurs. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, standardized multiplex transmission-based digital synchronous networks have been proposed such as SONET (Synchronous Optical Network), which is the standard system of North America, and SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy), which is the international standard system of ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union--Telecommunication Standardization Sector). One feature of such systems is that data is always arranged in a predetermined manner. For example, allocations are made for the transmission of "overhead" information used to operate the network. In forming a ring, a synchronous network can include a path protection switched ring (hereinafter referred to as a PPS ring). In the PPS ring, a primary working path, which is a path currently being used, and a protection path are used as counter-rotating transmission paths having identical assigned time slots. In the event of a failure in the primary working path, the PPS ring switches from the primary working path to the protection path to thereby ensure the protection of the signals on the line. If there is no failure in the working path, then both the working path and the protection path will transmit identical signals. Practically, this results in a waste of the protection path. In order to utilize the protection path effectively, therefore, a re-use system is often provided in which the protection path is used as an additional working path, to transmit a sub-signal different from the main signal being transmitted over the primary working path. During re-use, the signal on the protection path is not identical to that on the primary working path, which differs from the typical PPS ring arrangement. That is, there is no protection in the working path. This is a problem because the main signal on the primary working path needs to be saved in the event of a network failure. In the PPS ring, a plurality of network elements are interconnected in a ring configuration by a primary working path and a protection path which are set up to transmit signals, for example, in a clockwise direction and in a counterclockwise direction, respectively, to thereby form a dual-ring configuration. Identical time slots are assigned to both the primary working path and the protection path for signal transmission. Suppose that, in transmitting data from one network element to any other network element, for example, a clockwise working path and a counterclockwise protection path are formed between the transmitting network element and the receiving network element. In this case, the receiving network element normally receives data via the clockwise primary working path. When degradation due to a failure or the like occurs in the primary working path, on the other hand, switching from the primary working path to the protection path is made so that the receiving element can receive data being sent via the counterclockwise protection path. In this manner, signal transmission is always made via a path which is better in quality. In this case, however, the transmitting network element must transmit the same data on both the working path and the protection path. Thus, the number of actually available paths will be reduced to half of the number of actually existing paths on the ring. It is the re-use system for such a ring configuration that takes a protection path that is not in actual use and communicates some other signal (subsignal) between network elements over the protection path, using the protection path as a working path for the other signal. Under these conditions, self-adjusting of the main signal on the primary working path to the protection path is impossible because the protection path is unavailable. However, even when the protection path is used as a second working path, it is desirable to be able to protect the signal on the main line.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for separating entrained liquid particles from a stream of gas of the type having an enclosure in which are disposed a plurality of generally parallel partitions of zig zag horizontal cross-sectional shape distributed at even intervals and defining a plurality of inter-partitions channels constituting respective sinuous travelling paths for said stream of gas. It relates particularly to an apparatus or separator whose partitions carry fins covering each convex fold of said partitions, each fin forming with its supporting partition an open scoop facing the gas flow. The invention is particularly, also not exclusively, suitable for high efficiencies eliminators used for natural circulation steam generators of nuclear reactors. Gas-liquid separators of the above defined type are already known. The document FR-A-No. 1 541 045, relating to a device for separating liquid from a gaseous fluid, shows a separator construction in which partitions or "blade elements" present regular series of successive convex folds and concave folds. Fins are fixed on each convex fold and extend from said fold in the direction of the gas flow for collecting or trapping the liquid. This type of separator, although it presents a high efficiency for a drop size distribution with size larger than the limit drop size to consider, has the drawback of important pressure drops for a given flow rate. The limit drop size is the size of the smallest drop which, for given separator construction, gas velocity and characteristics of the liquid and gas involved, can just be completely eliminated.

Aluminum (Al) is ubiquitous in soils and at pH values below 5.0, is solubilized into the soil solution as the highly phytotoxic Al3 species, which inhibits root growth and damages root systems (Kochian, 1995, Annu. Rev. Plant Biol. 46: 237-260). As such, aluminum toxicity is aggravated by acid precipitation (e.g., acid rain). For example, contaminated soils in Brazil contain aluminum in amounts that range from 11 to 124 g/Kg of soil. Another constraint on acid soils is phosphorous (P) deficiency, which is caused by P fixation with Al and Fe oxides on the surface of clay minerals in acid soils. See Sanchez et al. 1997. In: Replenishing Soil Fertility in Africa, ed. R Buresh, P Sanchez, F Calhoun, pp. 1-46). Root damage reduces water and nutrient uptake and thus crop productivity. Low soil pH has been documented to reduce the yield on nearly 25% of the world's land presently under production. See, Wood, et al. (2000) in Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems: Agroecosystems (Int. Food Policy Res, Inst. And World Resources Inst., Washington, D.C.), pp 45-54). Thus, there is a need to provide methods and materials for increasing aluminum tolerance in plants.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to radiation detection techniques and systems and, more particularly, to the detection and correction of signals using such systems. In single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, a radiopharmaceutical is administered to a patient. The radiopharmaceutical is typically selected so as to be preferentially or differentially distributed in the body based on the physiological or biochemical processes in the body. For example, a radiopharmaceutical may be selected that is preferentially processed or taken up by tumor tissue. In such an example, the radiopharmaceutical will typically be disposed in greater concentrations around tumor tissue within the patient. In SPECT and PET imaging, gamma rays are generated when the radiopharmaceutical breaks down or decays within the patient. These gamma rays interact with detection mechanisms within the respective PET or SPECT scanner, which allow the decay events to be localized, thereby providing a view of where the radiopharmaceutical is distributed throughout the patient. In this manner, a caregiver can visualize where in the patient the radiopharmaceutical is disproportionately distributed and may thereby identify where physiological structures and/or biochemical processes of diagnostic significance are located within the patient. The mechanism used to detect the gamma rays may include a conversion material which, when impacted by the gamma rays, generates an electrical charge that may be detected by electrodes proximate to the conversion material. The detected charges, which provide information about the location, energy, and timing of the gamma ray impact events, may in turn be used to generate images of the patient or other object undergoing imaging. However, due to structural considerations related to the detector, in certain circumstances charge information may be lost. For example, due to the segregation of a detector into various unit areas of measurement or read-out, e.g., pixels, gamma ray impacts that occur generally between two or more pixels may go undetected or may otherwise undergo loss of some of the charge information that would otherwise contribute to the imaging process. Loss of this charge information may result in reduced or degraded performance of the imaging system.

This invention relates to pressure sensors in general and more particularly to a simplified mechanism for protecting pressure sensors from overload conditions. A pressure or pressure difference measuring apparatus having a central pickup body and a pressure sensor device protected against overload in a measuring chamber, the subchambers of which are connected by connecting canals to antechambers formed between separating diaphragms and the pickup body is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,577. The apparatus also has supplementary diaphragms, resting against the pickup body with pre-tension and each arranged adjacent to a separating diaphragm, communicating therewith in a pressure-transmitting sense, and supplementary canals, running from the connecting canals to the supplementary diaphragms, each supplementary diaphragms being housed in a supplementary chamber filled with a filling liquid, the supplementary chambers being subdivided by the supplementary diaphagms into two subchambers, each of which is connected to a supplementary canal. The supplementary canals are arranged so that the supplementary canal leading to the adjacent side of the supplementary diaphragm and the supplementary canal leading to the nonadjacent side of the other supplementary diaphragm are connected to a connecting canal. Correspondingly, the other connecting canal is connected by two further supplementary canals to the respective other sides of the two supplementary diaphragms. Another pressure or pressure-difference measuring apparatus, described in DE-A No. 26 57 933, contains an equalizing chamber, which is subdivided by an equalizing diaphragm, in the central pickup body. One subchamber of the equalizing chamber is connected to one antechamber of the apparatus and the other subchamber is connected to the other antechamber. The measuring chamber, housing the pressure sensor device of this apparatus, is connected by a connecting canal to the antechamber of a subchamber of the equalizing chamber and by a further connecting canal to the other antechamber or the other subchamber of the equalizing chamber. In this manner, a pressure or pressure-difference measuring apparatus is created which, due to the design of the equalizing diaphragm, forms a pressure equalizing path in the measuring chamber parallel to the pressure sensor device, whereby overloading of the pressure sensor device is prevented. The pressure sensor device in the known apparatus consists of a wall containing a semiconductor measuring diaphragm. Such pressure sensor devices are very sensitive to overload. In another embodiment of a differential pressure measuring transducer, as described in DE-A No. 30 47 276, two canals are brought from the central pickup body into a separate structural unit, containing a pressure sensor device, arranged alongside the pickup body. This apparatus also utilizes a pressure sensor device consisting of a semiconductor sensor and protects against overloading by use of an equalizing chamber arranged parallel to the measuring chamber. The known types of pressure or pressure-difference measuring apparatus have the disadvantage that their design is relatively complicated, since they require, in addition to a measuring chamber, a further equalizing chamber with a diaphragm, or supplementary chambers with supplementary diaphragms, which necessitates that either the pressure sensor unit is disposed in a supplemental structure provided next to the central pickup body, or that the connecting canal be brought out of the central pickup body and subsequently be brought back into the body. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved pressure or differential pressure measuring apparatus, having a central pickup body and a pressure sensor device protected against overload in a measuring chamber, which is distinguished by its relatively simple mechanical design. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved pressure or differential pressure measuring apparatus distinguished by its inexpensive production cost. A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved pressure or differential pressure measuring apparatus distinguished over the prior art by its improved measuring characteristics.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and to a method for determining the shape of an end of a welding bead (welding part) formed by irradiating a welding material with a welding laser. More specifically, the present invention relates to an algorithm to, in laser lap welding, capture an image of an end of a welding bead with a high-speed camera and to determine whether there is a hole defect at the end of the welding bead based on the captured image in a very short period of time immediately after the welding and before thermoluminescence from the metal ends disappears. 2. Description of Related Art There has heretofore been proposed a method for detecting a weld defect in welding such as laser welding by obtaining a signal from a bead region (welding region) by a camera, an optical sensor and the like and analyzing the detected signal (e.g., JP 2007-326134 A (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1) and JP 2005-230913 A (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2)). In Patent Document 1, a signal from a weld spot is taken by use of a thermal radiation sensor and a reflection sensor in a welding process, and then whether or not non-defective welding is possible is determined by comparing the change of the detected signal over time with a table of reference data associated with welding conditions. Thus, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 prevents weld cracks or weld defects after the welding. In addition, in Patent Document 2, a weld region is irradiated with a measuring beam, and a temperature signal obtained immediately after the welding is compared to experimentally obtained upper and lower temperature limits. Then, in Patent Document 2, a weld defect is determined by counting the number of times that the temperature signal exceeds the upper and lower temperature limits. FIG. 11 shows an example of a case in which a signal is continuously detected from the bead region using a camera, an optical sensor and the like in laser welding. The determination method using the detected signal as in Patent Document 1 is known to involve a phenomenon in which the detected signal at the end of the bead greatly varies when welding laser radiation and bead region monitoring are stopped at the end of the bead region, as shown in FIG. 11. For this reason, there is a problem that a weld defect at the end of the bead region cannot be determined with the same determination method as that used during the welding process. In addition, the method disclosed in Patent Document 2 determines the weld defect based on how many times the temperature signal obtained immediately after the welding exceeds the limit values. In this method, the shape itself of the end of the bead region is not observed at all. For this reason, a weld defect at the end of the bead region may not be accurately determined. Moreover, the method disclosed in Patent Document 2 also requires an apparatus for emitting a measuring laser in addition to the welding laser, leading to a problem of increasing the cost of the apparatus. FIGS. 12A and 12B show images of the end of the bead region captured with a camera. FIG. 12A shows the image with a hole defect at the end of the bead region, whereas FIG. 12B shows the image in a case in which the welding is normally completed. As shown in FIG. 12A, when a hole defect occurs at the end of the bead region, the end of the bead region is made concave in the extending direction of the bead. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12B, when the welding is normally completed, the end of the bead region is made convex in the extending direction of the bead. Meanwhile, there has heretofore been proposed a method for examining a hole defect at the end of the bead region after a welding process is fully completed. For example, in what is called a backlight type examination method, illumination light is emitted onto a weld face from the back in a separate step after the laser welding process is fully completed, and the presence of a hole defect is determined by detecting the light leaking to the front. However, this method has a problem of reduction in production efficiency since the examination process is added as an extra step after the welding is completed.

A high-voltage gate driver integrated circuit is a product of a combination of power electronic device technology and microelectronic technology, and is a key component of mechatronics. The high-voltage gate driver integrated circuit is widely used in many applications, e.g., an electronic ballast, a motor driver, dimmer, and various power components, etc. The high-voltage gate driver integrated circuit often includes a high-voltage-side driver control component, a low-voltage-side driver control component, and a level-shift component. The low-voltage-side driver control component operates under a normal voltage as a control signal part. The high-voltage-side driver control component mainly includes a high-voltage control signal part. The level-shift component is used to transmit a low-voltage-side control signal to the high-voltage-side driver control component. Therefore, to implement such functions, the gate driver integrated circuit usually desires high withstand voltage performance. In addition, an existing gate driver integrated circuit is usually provided with a plurality of signal ports for leading to components of the gate driver integrated circuit, e.g., a source region, a drain region, a gate structure, a first well region, and a field plate structure, etc. Accordingly, a large number of signal ports are required for these components of the gate driver integrated circuit and must be integrated into the gate driver integrated circuit. Consequently, the gate driver integrated circuit often has tedious designs. The disclosed gate driver integrated circuit is directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems in the art.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a barbecue grill and, particularly, to a mobile barbecue grill. 2. Description of the Prior Art Barbecue is a popular leisure activity. Hence, barbecue grills and accessories are well-accepted products on the market. There are many types of barbecue grills and accessories available on the market. However, most of the barbecue grills have a common drawback, namely, they are difficult to pack and store. Refer to FIG. 1 for a conventional barbecue grill 100. It mainly includes a bracing rack 110, a stove casing 120 and a cooking grid 130. The stove casing 120 is supported by the bracing rack 110. The cooking grid 130 is held on the stove casing 120. The meat 20 to be roasted is held on the cooking grid 130. After the roasting is finished and the barbecue grill 100 is no longer in use, the stove casing 120 has to be disassembled, and the bracing rack 110, stove casing 120 and cooking grid 130 are removed separately. Such a packing and storing arrangement is troublesome. How to make a barbecue grill easier to pack and store and more convenient to use is an issue that remains to be resolved.

Moisture control apparatuses for tobacco material are disclosed in for example Japanese Translation of PCT International Application No. 2001-514023 and International Publication No. WO 01/60186 A1. These well-known moisture control apparatuses are both provided with a rotating cylinder, and tobacco material fed into the rotating cylinder is transferred in the rotating cylinder while being stirred. In this transferring process, water is sprayed toward the tobacco material, thereby controlling the moisture content of the tobacco material. With such moisture control of tobacco material, however, water cannot be evenly sprinkled on the surface of the tobacco material. Thus, variation tends to generate in the percentage of water content of the tobacco material. The variation in the percentage of water content (uneven moisture control) causes the fracture of the tobacco material when the tobacco material is stirred in the transferring process. This produces fine fragments of the material, which are unsuitable as filling materials for cigarettes, and increases material loss. Furthermore, the uneven moisture control not only deteriorates the original aroma of tobacco material but also has a damaging effect on the subsequent flavoring process. Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-209751 discloses a moisture control method and an apparatus therefor in which tobacco material is brought into contact with moist air in the process of transferring the tobacco material on a mesh belt. According to such a moisture control method, the tobacco material is not stirred, preventing the fracture thereof. The moist air mentioned in the above publication, however, has the relative humidity close to equilibrium with respect to the moisture content of the tobacco material, so that it takes considerable time to carry out the even moisture control of the tobacco material. Consequently, the invention disclosed in the publication is not suitable for the moisture treatment of a large quantity of tobacco material.

1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a circuit device providing a first voltage to a node through a first route and a second voltage providing a second voltage to the node through a second route. 2. Description of the Related Art Recent technologies used in formation of thin film transistors (TFTs) on glass substrate have developed with utilization of low temperature polysilicon. Such technologies are also applied in manufacture of display panels, wherein TFT array is formed on a display region of a glass substrate while gate driver and source driver are formed on a non-display region around the display region. Generally, when a gate driver receives a signal, it shifts voltage level of the received signal. Accordingly, the gate driver comprises transistors of different withstanding voltages. To form transistors of different withstanding voltages, thicknesses, for example, of gate insulating films of transistors must be different. However, transistors of different gate insulating films cannot be formed by the same fabricating process, thus, required different processes for fabricating such transistors increase.

1. Field The disclosed embodiments relate to an assembly of at least two concentric axisymmetric parts capable of removing the dust that collects between said concentric parts. 2. Brief Description of Related Developments In numerous technical fields, such as the field of connections and attachments, it is necessary for two concentric parts, such as a spindle and a ring or a hollow cylinder, to be nested one inside the other for example in order to strengthen a connection. The two concentric parts are mounted in such a way as to ensure good transfer of load. However, in order to allow these two parts to be fitted one inside the other, it is necessary to provide a small amount of clearance between said parts, it being possible for this small clearance to cause an unwanted relative rotational or translational movement while said parts are in use. The unwanted friction may file away the contact surface of each of these two parts, creating dust which collects between the two parts. This dust may abrade the parts, making the effect of wear of said parts far worse. Likewise, depending on where the two concentric parts are fitted together, it is possible that dust may collect on the contact surfaces along which the two parts contact each other even while the said parts are being fitted together.

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a conveyor, more particularly to an apparatus for adjusting conveyor belt tracking and tension with the drive mechanism. Discussion of the Prior Art Conveyor belts have a tendency during operation to move sideways on the rollers which support them. This is especially pronounced in the case of short, wide belts but present in all belts, short or long, wide or narrow. This cross-tracking can cause uneven wear and excess tension on the belt. Additionally, the belt can rub against supporting structure and become damaged. Furthermore, items carried on the crosstracking conveyor belt may not follow a desired path. This, of course, is disruptive if the conveyor is feeding products into a wrapping machine or the like where the items must line up properly at the end of the conveyor belt path. There have been various methods related to sensing and adjusting the tracking of conveyor systems particularly in reprographic apparatus. These methods often have servo control arrangements such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,417 to Joseph et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,372 to Rajagopal. Adjusting of belt tracking is generally limited to adjusting the drive roller or a special tracking roller. The tracking roller is often located on the exterior of the belt path along with an additional drive or take-up roller. It is also common to reverse bend the belt around a second drive roller to increase belt tension. The additional roller reverse bending increases the tension and wear on the belt. This exterior position and reverse bending makes changing belts difficult and may require the use of tools to remove the belt. Therefore, what is needed is a conveyor belt tracking and drive mechanism for conveyor belt systems which has the drive and tracking mechanism all in one unit. It is the object of the present invention to provide a conveyor belt tracking and drive mechanism for belt conveyor systems which uses the main drive as the tracking element. It is another object of the invention to provide a self contained belt tension control on the interior of the belt path. Yet another object of the invention is to allow highly precise manual adjustment of the belt tracking Still another object of the invention is to provide a conveyor belt tracking and drive mechanism which allows easy removal and replacement of the conveyor belt. Another object is to increase belt life by having minimal necessary tension to drive the belt. Yet another object of the invention is to provide for self adjusting of the belt tension due to the load conveyed Still another object of the invention is to provide proper tension adjustment of a light duty belt so it can handle a heavy load without breaking.

The exemplary embodiments described herein relate to methods for analyzing sag in a section of a wellbore via computational methods and performing wellbore operations based on a sag profile produced from the computational methods. The wellbore fluids used in many wellbore operations include weighting agents (e.g., particles having a density greater than the base fluid including barite, ilmenite, calcium carbonate, marble, and the like) to increase the density of the wellbore fluid. The density of a wellbore fluid effects the hydrostatic pressure in the wellbore, which, when properly matched with the pore pressure of the formation, maintains the formation fluids. If the hydrostatic pressure in the wellbore is too low, the formation fluids may flow uncontrollably to the surface, possibly causing a blowout. If the hydrostatic pressure in the wellbore is too high, the subterranean formation may fracture, which can lead to fluid loss and possibly wellbore collapse. As used herein, the term “sag” refers to an inhomogeneity or gradation in density of a fluid resulting from particles in the fluid settling (e.g., under the influence of gravity or secondary flow). Sag can be exacerbated with elevated temperatures. Oftentimes in a wellbore operation, the circulation of the wellbore fluids through the drill string and wellbore is halted such that the wellbore fluid becomes substantially static in the wellbore (e.g., drill string tripping). In some instances, a low shear condition that allows for sag may be encountered when circulation is slowed, when the circulation may be halted and the drill string may be rotating, or a hybrid thereof. As used herein, the term “low shear” refers to a circulation rate of less than about 100 ft/min or a drill string rotation rate of less than 100 rpm. Static or low shear wellbore fluids may allow the weighting agents to settle (i.e., sag). Sag may not occur throughout an entire wellbore, but its occurrence in even a small section of the wellbore can cause well control issues like kicks, lost circulation, stuck pipes, wellbore collapse, and possibly a blowout. For example, if the density of the wellbore fluid, and consequently hydrostatic pressure, are higher than the fracture gradient of the formation, the formation may fracture and cause a lost circulation well control issue. In another example, sag may lead to a portion of the wellbore fluid having a sufficiently high density for a pipe to get stuck therein. Unsticking the pipe can, in some instances, cease the wellbore operation and require expensive and time consuming methods. In yet another example, large density variations in the wellbore fluid from sag can result in wellbore collapse. In another example, in some instances the lower density portion of the sagged fluid may readily flow when circulation is resumed or increased and leave the higher density portion of the fluid in place, which is time consuming and expensive to remove. Each of these well control issues and potential remediation are expensive and time consuming. Sag in wellbore fluids is exacerbated by higher temperatures and deviation in the wellbore. Therefore, the recent strides in extended reach drilling, which have resulted in highly deviated wellbores at greater depths where temperatures can be greater, increase the concern for and possible instances of sag related problems in the oil and gas industry.

Transducers convert signals from one domain to another and are often used as sensors. One common transducer used as a sensor and seen in everyday life is a microphone, which converts sound waves to electrical signals. Another example of a common sensor is a thermometer. Various transducers exist that serve as thermometers by transducing temperature signals into electrical signals. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based sensors include a family of transducers produced using micromachining techniques. MEMS, such as a MEMS microphone, gather information from the environment by measuring the change of physical state in the transducer and transferring a transduced signal to processing electronics that are connected to the MEMS sensor. MEMS devices may be manufactured using micromachining fabrication techniques similar to those used for integrated circuits. MEMS devices may be designed to function as, for example, oscillators, resonators, accelerometers, gyroscopes, thermometers, pressure sensors, microphones, microspeakers, and micro-mirrors. As an example, many MEMS devices use capacitive sensing techniques for transducing the physical phenomenon into electrical signals. In such applications, the capacitance change in the sensor is converted into a voltage signal using interface circuits. One such capacitive sensing device is a MEMS microphone. A MEMS microphone generally has a deflectable membrane separated by a small distance from a rigid backplate. In response to a sound pressure wave incident on the membrane, it deflects towards or away from the backplate, thereby changing the separation distance between the membrane and backplate. Generally, the membrane and backplate are made out of conductive materials and form “plates” of a capacitor. Thus, as the distance separating the membrane and backplate changes in response to the incident sound wave, the capacitance changes between the “plate” and an electrical signal is generated. MEMS, such as capacitive MEMS for example, are often used in mobile electronics, such as tablet computers or mobile phones. In some applications, it may be desirable to provide sensors with new or increased functionality in order to provide additional or improved functionality to the electronic system, such as a tablet computer or mobile phone, for example.

Woodworkers often wish to smooth a surface of a workpiece prior to the completion of a woodworking project. For example, many workpieces require at least a minimal amount of sanding in order to remove any excess glue or rough edges, prior to completion of the project. Different types of sanders may be used for such sanding, e.g., to improve a surface quality and appearance of the workpiece. For example, such sanders may include a piece of sandpaper held in the woodworker's hand, or may include automated sanders, such as orbital sanders or quarter pad finishing sanders. A belt sander is another example of a type of sander. Belt sanders generally include some mechanism for maintaining a sanding belt around two rollers. During operation, such belt sanders are designed to provide sufficient tension to the sanding belt to avoid skewing thereof, while avoiding excess tension that may lead to a breaking of the sanding belt.

Resilient structures for mattress cores are commonly constructed using various configurations of padded coil springs and/or synthetic foam materials, for example. Resilient structures such as batts made from synthetic fibers have been used as low cost alternatives to coil spring and foam structures in mattress cores and furniture upholstery. However synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyester have tendency to rebound to an original shape after compression due to inherent plastic memory in the fibers. Restraining the compressed fiber structure in a container such as mattress cover has resulted in unevenness and eventual deterioration of the resilient structure. Various techniques have been used to overcome the plastic memory of synthetic fibers to construct a batt having a desired density. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,673 entitled Method for Forming a Vacuum Bonded Non-Woven Batt describes forming a vacuum bonded non-woven batt by blending multiple polymer fibers in which on type of fiber has a relatively low melting temperature and another type of fiber has a relatively high melting temperature. The blended fibers are formed into a thick web or a multi-layered web which is then compressed by vacuum while applying heat to release the plastic memory of the lower melting temperature fiber. This fuses the two types of fibers to form a relatively high density resilient batt having interconnected fused fibers. However, the previously known resilient structures made from fiber batts have not provided a desired degree compression resistance, comfort, durability. Resilient structures made from blended fibers have been enhanced to increase resiliency in strategic locations by imbedding coil springs in the fiber matt. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,378 entitled Method of Forming Densified Fiber Batt with Coil Springs Interlocked Therein describes a densified fiber batt core including low melt fibers which when heated to the melting point and then cooled, intersect and interlock with coil springs. The coil springs function as an integral part of the fiber batt. However, portions of the fiber batt that lack imbedded coil springs may lack compression resistance or resiliency. Moreover, differences between the compressibility of fiber portions and spring portions of the structure may cause the springs to become unlinked from the fibers and cause premature deterioration of the structure.

1. Technical Field The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus. 2. Related Art An imaging apparatus which displays a live view image on a rear monitor, and for example, zooms in each face area of an object person has been known.

This section is intended to provide a background to the various embodiments of the technology described in this disclosure. The description in this section may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and/or claims of this disclosure and is not admitted to be prior art by the mere inclusion in this section. In a TDD system, downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmission take place in different, non-overlapping time slots. Typically, a transmitted signal in a radio communication system is organized in some form of frame structure, or frame configuration. For example, LTE generally uses ten equally sized subframes 0-9 of length 1 ms per radio frame. In case of TDD, there is usually a single carrier frequency, and UL and DL transmission are separated in time. Because the same carrier frequency is used for UL and DL transmission, both the BS and the UEs need to switch from transmission to reception and vice versa. An important aspect of a TDD system is to provide a sufficiently large guard time where neither DL nor UL transmission occur in order to avoid interference between UL and DL transmission. For LTE, special subframes (e.g., subframe #1 and, in some cases, subframe #6) provide this guard time. A TDD special subframe is generally split into three parts: a DL part (Downlink Pilot Time Slot, DwPTS), a guard period (GP), and a UL part (Downlink Pilot Time Slot, UpPTS). The remaining subframes are either allocated to UL or DL transmission. In the current networks, UL/DL configuration is semi-statically configured, thus it may not match the instantaneous traffic situation. This will result in inefficient resource utilization in both UL and DL transmission, especially in cells with a small number of users. In order to provide a more flexible TDD configuration, so-called Dynamic TDD (also sometimes referred to as Flexible TDD) has therefore been introduced. Dynamic TDD configures the TDD UL/DL asymmetry to current traffic situation in order to optimize user experience. For a better understanding of the dynamic TDD subframe configurations, FIG. 1 illustrates an example dynamic TDD subframe configuration. In the illustrated configuration, dynamic TDD provides an ability of configuring some subframes to be “flexible” subframes, for example, subframes 3, 4, 8, and 9. These flexible subframes can be configured dynamically and flexibly as either for UL transmission or for DL transmission. The subframes being configured as either for UL transmission or DL transmission rely on e.g. the radio traffic situation in a cell. Accordingly, it is expected that dynamic TDD can achieve promising performance improvements in TDD systems when there is a potential load imbalance between UL and DL. Besides, dynamic TDD approach can also be utilized to reduce network energy consumption. It is expected that dynamic UL/DL allocation (hence referred in this section to “dynamic TDD”) should provide a good match of allocated resources to instantaneous traffic. Further, in Layer one (L1) controlled dynamic TDD, whether the flexible subframe is a DL or a UL subframe is decided by the BS or eNB and the UE will follow the UL and DL grant or some indicators from the eNB to judge the subframe is a DL or a UL subframe. If the eNB schedules the UE in the flexible subframe as UL, then the UE will transmit on the subframe as UL. Similarly, if the eNB schedules the UE in the flexible subframe as DL, the UE will receive the DL signal in the flexible subframe. Because the flexible subframes can be configured to be in different transmission directions in different cells, they may not fit in the current interference mitigation mechanism. Interference mitigation (also sometimes referred to as interference cancelation (IC)) is one of the most promising techniques to enhance the performance of wireless access networks, especially for heterogeneous networks and small cells and has been widely discussed in 3GPP. In LTE Rel-11, cell-specific reference signal (CRS)-IC, primary synchronization signal (PSS)-IC, secondary synchronization signal (SSS)-IC, and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH)-IC have been standardized for heterogeneous and homogeneous networks. In LTE Rel-11, in order to enable CRS-IC, PSS/SSS-IC, and PBCH-IC, the eNB needs to provide some assistance information, such as number of CRS ports, cell ID, and Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) configuration, to the UE and the UE may utilize this information to cancel CRS, PSS/SSS and PBCH in a network-assisted manner. To enhance UE performance, Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)/enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (ePDCCH) cancelation are under discussion in LTE Rel-12. Within current scope of network-assisted ICs such as those discussed above, the same UL-DL configurations are assumed to be applied by both the serving cell and aggressor cells, which may be covered by neighboring eNBs that potentially interfere with the serving eNB. Accordingly, the UE can always assume that the DL interference originates from the DL transmissions of the neighboring eNBs. However, such assumption does not always hold true for the dynamic TDD system in which the flexible subframes can be changeably configured to transmit in a UL or DL direction, bringing about additional interference into the dynamic TDD system. For example, in the dynamic TDD system, the UE in the reception period and served by the serving eNB is likely to experience interference from DL transmission of the neighboring eNB and interference from UL transmission of the another UE served by the neighboring eNB on the flexible subframes. Similarly, in the dynamic TDD system, the serving eNB in the reception period is also possible to be subject to interference from the UL transmission of another UE served by the neighboring eNB and interference from the DL transmission of the neighboring eNB on the flexible subframes. These kinds of inter-UE and inter eNB-eNB interference occurring in the dynamic TDD system cannot be addressed under the current mechanisms for interference mitigation or IC.

1. Field of the Invention The instant invention relates generally to planting machines and more specifically it relates to an improved planting device and method of operating the same. 2. Description of the Prior Art Numerous planting machines have been provided in prior art that are adapted to insert plants into shallow frames or boxes. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.

The present invention relates to aromatic diamine compounds which can be used as raw materials for polyimide, polyamide, bismaleimide or epoxy resins. The compounds can also be employed as curing agents. The invention also relates to a method for preparing the compounds. Furthermore, the present invention relates to bismaleimide compounds which are useful as raw materials for heat-resistant resins, and which can be obtained from the aforementioned aromatic diamine compounds. The invention also relates to a method for preparing the compounds. In addition, the present invention relates to thermosetting resin forming compositions, and ultimately the resins, which are obtained from the aforementioned aromatic diamine compounds and bismaleimide compounds, as well as a method for preparing the composition. In recent years, raw materials for heat-resistant resins have been required to provide a combination of good thermal and mechanical properties, as well as certain other characteristics which composites should exhibit such as flexibility and moldability/workability. In this regard, polyimide resins have been used. While providing some excellent properties, they typically exhibit poor moldability/workability. An example of such a polyimide is an aromatic polyimide made by Du Pont and marketed under the tradename "Vespel". This polyimide can be prepared from 4,4'-diaminodiphenyl ether and pyromellitic anhydride. It is insoluble and unmeltable. Thus, when it is molded, a special procedure such as powder sinter molding must be used. Unfortunately, this molding technique cannot be easily used for the preparation of articles having complex shapes. During manufacturing of complex shaped articles, additional operations such as cutting are necessary. As a result the polyimide is difficult to mold and costs increase. To address those drawbacks associated with polyimide resins, a variety of strategies have been formulated, primarily focusing on improving the diamine component of the raw materials. For example, there have been attempts to introduce an ether linkage group or an isopropylidene group into the molecule and to increase the molecular chain. Unfortunately, these techniques have not effectively provided the flexibility and moldability/workability characteristics necessary for composite materials. A typical example of a bismaleimide is N,N'-(methylene-di-p-phenylene)bismaleimide disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Nos. 47-8644 and 47-11500. However, this bismaleimide compound is substantially insoluble in common organic solvents such as ketone and petroleum solvents. And, when a polyimide resin is prepared using this compound, the occupation ratio of the polyimido group in the polymer structure is high. Therefore, the polymer is hard, brittle and provides extremely poor flexibility and high hygroscopicity. The effective application of the bismaleimide compounds is accordingly limited considerably. Recently, in an effort to eliminate such disadvantages, much attention has been given to the development of long-chain bismaleimide compounds. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 63-500866 discloses a bismaleimide compound having three benzene rings and having the following structure represented by formula (X): ##STR3## In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 63-264566 discloses a bismaleimide compound having four benzene rings and having the following structure represented by the formula (XI): ##STR4## However, even with these bismaleimide compounds and polymers prepared from the compounds, an effective balanced combination of heat resistance, flexibility, adhesion to a metal and inorganic materials, and workability is not provided. Thermosetting resins having an imido structure have been effectively used to prepare molded articles having excellent electrical insulating properties, heat resistance and dimensional stability. Therefore, this type of resin has been utilized in many industrial fields. However, thermosetting resins obtained by subjecting aromatic bismaleimides alone to heat polymerization are very brittle and provide poor flexibility, although they do provide excellent heat resistance. To address this drawback, attempts have been made to develop thermosetting resin forming compositions comprising an aromatic bismaleimide and an aromatic diamine. For example, a polyaminobismaleimide resin made by Rhone Poulenc, and marketed under the tradename "Kelimide" comprising N,N'-4,4'-diphenylmethane-bismaleimide and 4,4'-diaminodiphenylmethane has been widely utilized for impregnating varnishes, laminates and molded articles (See Japanese Patent Publication No. 46-23250). However, this type of thermosetting resin is still unsatisfactory in terms of impact resistance and flexibility. Furthermore, when these thermosetting resins are used as base materials for electrical and electronic parts, they exhibit poor moldability/workability and high hygroscopicity, which adversely affect electrical properties.

Traditional bathroom and kitchen ventilation systems may be classified generally as spot ventilation systems or spot ventilators, which are localized ventilation systems that remove pollutants quickly from their source as they are generated. They can be used whether or not a whole house ventilation system or natural ventilation system is used to substantially improve air quality. These spot ventilators are typically either a ducted ventilator or a recirculating ventilator. In each type of ventilator, a fan is used to draw in air from an environment. A ducted ventilator exhausts the air from the point of installation, preferably to the outside. In a recirculating ventilator, the air is passed through a series of filters to remove odors and airborne particulates before the air is exhausted back into the environment from which the air was originally drawn. The exhaust method of removing the air from the point of the ventilation system to the outside in the ducted ventilator is the most effective method of removing contaminates from the building of the two installations. The filtration method of recirculating air typically uses a series of particulate trapping filters and often incorporates an active charcoal filter, odor-absorbing medium, or other air-borne contaminate removing filter. While both types of systems have been in use since the invention of the fan, neither system addresses the issues created by improvements in energy efficiency, airtight buildings, energy saving envelope shields and closed cell insulation building wraps. Today's new homes and buildings achieve energy efficiency through better insulation and maintaining an essentially airtight enclosure. While these energy efficiency features conserve our natural resources and eliminate waste, they create an environment where stale air, mold, odors and gasses can accumulate, creating an unhealthy environment. Furthermore, the use of fans generates noise, uses rotating parts, requires a larger housing, has a high operating cost, and cannot act to filter the air that is moved. There exists, therefore, a need in the art for a new and improved spot ventilator that may be used in bathrooms, kitchens, closets, etc. that takes these issues into account and that improves the efficiency and effectiveness of such systems.

This invention relates to a system and method for controlling the spindle of an electric motor, and more particularly to a system and method for controlling the spindle of a motor that rotates the platter of a disk drive. Controlling the speed at which the platter of a disk drive rotates is very important, particularly as storage densities increase and platter size decreases. Thus, in a microdrive—i.e., a drive having a platter diameter of about 1 inch or less—even a small error in angular position resulting from an error in speed control may result in an incorrect sector being read or written. It is therefore a nominal goal to determine disk speed to within 0.01%. Position, and therefore speed, of a disk drive platter is commonly determined by detecting the back electromagnetic field (back-EMF) generated when one of the rotor poles passes one of the stator poles. For example, it is typical for a disk drive motor to have six poles, so that each pole-pair interaction theoretically signifies 60° of motor rotation. However, in practice, it is difficult during manufacturing to accurately position the poles. Therefore, in practice, some sets of adjacent poles may be closer together than 60°, and other sets of adjacent poles may be further apart than 60°. These offsets may be slight, but may be enough to prevent achieving the desired 0.01% accuracy. Copending, commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/104,683, filed Apr. 12, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, describes a method and apparatus for deriving calibration data for a motor, and a method and apparatus for controlling a motor using that calibration data. In accordance with those methods and apparatus, one phase of the motor power supply is suppressed (i.e., tristated) during a time duration when back-EMF is expected to be detected, and at the same time one of the other phases is grounded and the third phase is pulled high. If the back-EMF is detected outside that duration, the duration is expanded. This is iterated until the back-EMF falls within the expanded duration. It has been found that when the one phase of the motor power supply is tristated during back-EMF detection, corresponding current spikes occur in the phases that have not been tristated. Thus, there may be a positive current spike in the phase that has been pulled high, and a negative current spike in the phase that has been grounded. These spikes cause spindle speed jitter and acoustic noise, and moreover increase the peak supply current. It therefore would be desirable to be able to minimize current variations in the phases of a motor power supply during back-EMF detection.

The present invention is directed to bicycles and, more particularly, to inventive features of an apparatus for assisting the operation of a bicycle transmission. Various devices have been developed to help reduce the effort needed to operate bicycle transmissions such as derailleurs and internal hub transmissions. Examples of such devices particularly suited to assist the operation of derailleur transmissions are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,451. The devices shown therein for assisting the operation of a rear derailleur employ multiple moving parts that are in constant motion, thus increasing the amount of moving mass as well as the possibility of premature wear on the components. Devices used to assist the operation of a front derailleur employ solenoids that engage cams that rotate with the front pedal assembly, thus requiring precision timing of the solenoid. The assignee's copending application Ser. No. 10/190,461 discloses an assist mechanism for a bicycle transmission that overcomes such problems. More specifically, that application discloses an assisting apparatus for using power from a moving member to assist the operation of a bicycle transmission, wherein the assisting apparatus comprises a mounting unit; an input transmission member coupled to the mounting unit, wherein the input transmission member moves between at least a first input position and a second input position; and an output transmission member coupled to the mounting unit, wherein the output transmission member moves between at least a first output position and a second output position. A moving member engaging member moves between a moving member engaging position and a moving member disengaging position, and a motion transmitting mechanism transmits motion from the moving member engaging member to the output transmission member. A switching mechanism moves the moving member engaging member between the moving member engaging position and the moving member disengaging position in response to movement of the input transmission member and the output transmission member.

Disposal of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) contaminated material is an on-going problem for many environmental agencies. Until recently, POP material was disposed of in landfill or destructed. Destruction POP materials such as PCBs is problematic in that toxic side products, namely furan and dioxin are produced, largely because of incomplete combustion of the PCBs. Both disposal processes, however, are unsatisfactory because they release harmful breakdown products into the atmosphere, the soil or into the water table. Clean up of PCB contaminated soil and water supplies is therefore of high importance. One particularly important disposal problem concerns oil that is contaminated with PCBs. PCB contaminated oil has historically been incinerated, but oftentimes the incineration process is incomplete and results in only partial thermal breakdown of the PCB into the aforesaid breakdown products, by destructing only 99.99% of the contaminants. To date no safe and effective disposal method for PCB-contaminated oil is available. U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,258, issued to Piette on Jul. 25, 1995 for “Method and Apparatus for Regenerating Desiccants” discloses a rotating perforated drum that contains an amount of a contaminated desiccant. The drum rotates with the contaminated desiccant tumbling therein and is subjected to combustion flames playing on its under side, thus burning the oil off the desiccant as the drum rotates. In this instance, the desiccant is the carrier for the contaminant and whilst this simple operation appears to work well for this specific application, it would be inappropriate for use with oil contaminated with PCBs, since the destruction process would be insufficient to destroy the toxic side product of PCB destruction and therefore would release toxic products into the atmosphere. Furthermore, neither the temperature nor the time of combustion would be adequate for the purpose of effecting complete thermal breakdown of the PCB. Thus there is an urgent need for a safe and efficient apparatus and process for destruction of POPs, including oils contaminated with PCB.

As a scanner, an erasing (a decoloring) apparatus that erases (decolors) an image formed on a sheet, or the like, there is an apparatus that reads both sides of a sheet using two reading sensors. The reading sensors respectively include shading mechanisms for optimizing reading sensitivity and perform shading correction for correcting a read image using correction data obtained by reading white shading plates of the shading mechanisms. Since the reading sensors respectively include the shading mechanisms, costs increase and a space for the shading mechanisms is necessary. Therefore, it is likely that a reduction in size or a reduction in costs of the scanner, the erasing apparatus, or the like is prevented.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electromagnetic clutch that cuts and supplies power and that is particularly suitable for driving a compressor in a refrigeration cycle for an automobile air conditioning apparatus. 2. Description of Related Art One type of known electromagnetic clutch has been generally utilized as a coil-fixed type clutch which has an electromagnetic coil on a fixed member for generating an electromagnetic attractive force. This coil-fixed type electromagnetic clutch forms a passage for supplying current to the electromagnetic coil without an additional current supply member, because the electromagnetic coil is installed in the fixed member. However, a magnetic circuit, through which flux passes, is formed through the fixed member, the rotational member and an armature magnetically attracted by a drive-side rotational member because the electromagnetic coil is installed in the fixed member. Thus, magnetic gaps are formed among these three circuit components. Therefore, the size of the electromagnetic coil may be increased, or it may consume more electricity, due to greater magnetic loss and lower magnetic efficiency. To solve this problem, a coil-rotation type which includes the electromagnetic coil on the rotational member is proposed in, for example, JP-U-1-131028. According to the coil-rotation type, the magnetic circuit comprises only the rotational member and the armature magnetically attracted by the rotational member. Therefore, such coil-rotation type has an advantage because the magnetic loss is much smaller and its magnetic efficiency is much higher than the coil-fixed type. However, according to the electromagnetic clutch disclosed in the above official gazette, a friction plate made out of magnetic substance is joined to the drive-side rotational member made out of magnetic substance, and an armature made out of magnetic substance is facing the friction plate keeping a small gap between the armature and the friction plate. Therefore, magnetic flux of the magnetic circuit, generated by supplying current to the electromagnetic coil, passes through a joint portion between the rotational member and the friction plate. The rotational member and the friction plate are usually joined by the spot welding or the like, and small gaps exist at the joint portion other than welded points in the circumferential direction. Such the small gaps may cause degradation of the magnetic efficiency. Furthermore, assembling productivity is low because a positioning of the friction plate against the rotational member in the radial direction can not be made.

The present invention relates to a hydraulic control system for a continuously variable belt-drive automatic transmission for a motor vehicle having a torque converter, and more particularly to an open-loop control system for controlling a lockup clutch of the torque converter. A continuously variable transmission having the torque converter with the lockup clutch is known. The torque converter operates to multiply torque of an engine, so that the vehicle can be smoothly started. After the start of the vehicle, the torque converter is preferably locked up by a lockup system, thereby preventing a loss of power and improving fuel consumption. Thus, various control systems for controlling the lockup clutch have been proposed in order to effectively use such characteristics. However, when the continuously variable transmission (CVT) is provided on the vehicle, the transmission ratio changes continuously and inertia mass of pulleys is large. Therefore, it is not always preferable to lockup the clutch after the start of the vehicle in consideration of operation torque of the lockup clutch. Namely, it is desirable to use torque multiplication effect of the torque converter under certain driving conditions, such as at acceleration of the vehicle, even after the start of the vehicle. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open 63-303259 discloses a control system of the lockup clutch where the clutch is locked as soon as a transmission ratio of a CVT starts to change. That is, in the system, the torque converter is operated only at the start of the vehicle before the transmission ratio changes.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to sense amplifiers for use in memory circuits and more specifically, in static random access memory (SRAM) circuits. 2. Brief Description of the Prior Art In memory circuits, especially those wherein the sense amplifier has a cross coupled circuit connection between the bit and bit lines, the sense amplifier is always connected to the bit lines. In SRAM primarily, it is necessary to disconnect the sense amplifier from the bit line during sensing the difference between a one and a zero on the bit line for performance reasons. This sensing generally takes place after the precharge portion of a clock cycle which has a precharge portion and a data sensing portion. In the prior art, this problem has been resolved by using a switching device, e.g. a transistor, in the cross coupling circuitry to isolate the sense amplifier from the bit line, the switching device receiving a signal after precharge and before sensing to turn off the switching device and provide the required isolation. This procedure requires the existence of a transistor and control circuitry therefor. In addition, a time interval is required from the end of precharge to the commencement of bit line sensing to insure that the switch has been opened or turned off prior to a high speed seitching action in the sense amplifier, this causing a slowdown in the operation of the memory circuit. Still further, timing becomes critical to insure that sensing does not take place too soon or too late in respect to the switch transistor turn off. It is apparent that circuitry which could eliminate the need for such a switch could diminish the amount of circuitry required as well as provide an increase in speed or circuit response. Also, circuitry which would minimize the criticality of precise timing would also result in a diminution of erroneous results.

Existing enterprise seamless mobility solutions rely on wireless local area network (WLAN) access points to provide service to mobile communication devices or mobiles. If a mobile is unable to access the WLAN network, the mobile will switch to the cellular network to provide service. In case a WLAN access point fails, the mobile will either attempt to locate another WLAN access point to associate with or connect to the cellular network. In the event a large block of contiguous WLAN access points fail, the mobile will be forced to connect to the cellular network, regardless of the signal quality. Even with a dedicated “mini cell site” provided by a mobile carrier, the mobile may have poor connectivity to the cellular network since the mini cell site provides blanket coverage to the enterprise. Currently, the only way the improve performance using the dedicated cell site would be to notify the cellular carrier or provider of the WLAN access point failures and enable the cellular carrier to manually adjust parameters of the cell site to improve coverage and performance.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical element and a method of manufacturing the optical element. In particular, the present invention relates to an optical element having a three-dimensional hollow structure such as a polarizing beam splitter, a phase plate, or a band-pass filter which has on a surface thereof a structure with an in-plane period shorter than a wavelength of visible light, and a method of manufacturing the same. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, optical components having a three-dimensional hollow structure are actively proposed. To obtain such a three-dimensional hollow structure will be essential for improving functions of the optical components in the future. However, a structure of the optical components is on the order of nanometers, a manufacturing method thereof has not been established, and there are many practical problems with regard to strength of the element and the like. In order to obtain such a three-dimensional hollow structure, there is a method using a sacrificial layer to manufacture a hollow structure on the order of micrometers, that is, so-called MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,746). Such a MEMS structure provides a digital mirror device. The digital mirror device has a hinge for receiving an operating mirror, a yoke for receiving external forces formed on the hinge, and a mirror for deflecting external light formed on the yoke. This structure is sized to be several microns to several hundred microns, the adhesion between an upper layer and a lower layer is adequate, and no practical problem is caused. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-074955 discloses a structure of a photonic crystal waveguide and a method of manufacturing the same. A photonic crystal waveguide is intended to obtain a three-dimensional waveguide by forming structural defects in layers having a line-and-space structure and stacking them in directions orthogonal to one another. According to the manufacturing method disclosed here, a semiconductor material is used to conduct mass transportation of a semiconductor element at a high temperature to form a junction. At such a material junction, metallic bond or covalent bond is possible, and the upper layer and the lower layer can be strongly adhered to each other. A semiconductor material is transparent in an infrared range but opaque in a visible range, and thus, such a semiconductor material cannot be used for an optical element which functions in the visible range. Therefore, it is necessary to use dielectric materials. However, when dielectric materials are heated to a high temperature, it is sometimes difficult to conduct mass transportation of an element between the dielectric materials to form a junction. In this way, depending on the material, it is sometimes difficult to form a junction by heat. Further, when it is attempted to obtain a stacked bottom-up structure using a sacrificial layer process, in the case of a nanometer structure of the wavelength equal to or less than that of visible light, the contact area between an upper layer and a lower layer becomes extremely small. Therefore, a problem is caused in that the adhesion at the interface between the layers is extremely small and the element is very vulnerable. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical element having a three-dimensional structure which can function in the visible range and can improve the adhesion at a structural interface of the element, and a method of manufacturing the optical element.

A variety of types of impellers have in the past been used for pumps for use in pumping liquids having a high entrained solids content, typical of these being twin vaned centrifugal pumps and vortex pumps. The former are somewhat prone to "ragging" i.e. to entrapment of the solid content on or within the impeller whereas the latter, while significantly less prone to ragging, operate inefficiently. Single vane impellers operating on a substantially axial feed are known as for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,156,190 which describes a spiral screw blade encircling a surface of a flared hub or core portion, but while such impellers can be constructed to function to good effect and efficiency in pumping liquids having a high solids content without significant ragging, the performance of such impellers can in general not be adjusted without considerable difficulty and expense and even then rarely without operation of the pump set at reduced efficiency. The technique of cutting a centrifugal impeller to modify its pumping performance, for example its pressure head generated at a given rotational velocity, is well known although for reasons largely concerned with impeller balance is primarily of interest in the modification of multivaned, inherently balanced impellers. The cutting of substantially axial impellers is rarely feasible or effective. The prior art discloses a number of impellers for a variety of different purposes having spiral or helical type vanes encircling a flared hub or core portion, the impellers being for a variety of different purposes. For example U.K. Patent Specification No. 174184 discloses a multivaned substantially centrifugal impeller of the closed or shrouded type for water, U.S. Pat. No. 3,035,781 discloses an impeller for a pulper for suspending dried pulp in water, U.S. Pat. No. 3,644,056 discloses a centrifugal pump having a vaned impeller for unspecified liquids and U.K. Patent Specification No. 1153993 discloses a rotary impeller pump having a high speed impeller intended as a super-cavitating pump for aircraft fuel systems. None of these specifications disclose, appreciate or suggest the problem facing the present applicants, namely to produce a single vane impeller for pumping liquids having a high entrained solids content, the impeller being adjustable by cutting to modify its pumping performance without detriment to its solids handling ability and without significant detriment to its pumping efficiency. The requirement for the impeller to be single vaned itself arises from the need for the impeller to be non-ragging, the use of a plurality of vanes of necessity introducing points of interception of surfaces or edges as locations where ragging can occur, and also restricts the size of solid that can effectively be pumped.

Typically, a suspension system of a vehicle is disposed between a vehicle body and a wheel connecting these two rigid bodies through at least one link. The suspension system is vertically supported by a shock absorbing member such as a spring or a hydraulic shock absorber. The system also typically includes several members to harmonize stiffness and flexibility such that relative motion between the vehicle body and the wheel are mechanically harmonized. A subframe is also typically included in the front-wheel suspension system. The subframe is generally positioned in a longitudinal direction at a front lower portion of a vehicle body connecting the suspension system to the vehicle body. The subframe has a great influence on integrity of the vehicle body. Therefore, the subframe is required to have an integrity greater than a specific level. The subframe must also rigidly support parts of the suspension system disposed on both sides. Because the front wheels are generally used for steering, a steering gear box assembly is also disposed on the subframe. The subframe and steering gear assembly are typically manufactured as separate units and then assembled together. Each of the subframe and steering gear assemblies are required to have relevant integrities in order for them to perform their own roles. Therefore, the size and load of the subframe and the steering gear box assembly increases. A projection member is also often provided on an upper side of the subframe. The projection member provides for coupling the steering gear box assembly to the subframe. As a result, the gross load becomes even greater. Furthermore, even more space is occupied under the engine compartment as a coefficient of utilization of space of the engine compartment deteriorates. Drawbacks of the conventional system include a consumption of excessive working time because the subframe and the steering gear box assemblies are assembled in separate processes. Also, an added number of parts are needed for the assemble, increasing manufacturing costs. Furthermore, the lower structure of the vehicle body becomes compacted. In order to solve the above problems, the applicant provided a steering gear frame assembly in Korea patent application no. 10-2001-0050609. In this steering gear frame assembly, the steering gear box assembly and the subframe are formed as one unit so the overall structure is simplified. However, the size and load of this steering gear frame assembly has remained high. Furthermore, when the type or size of the suspension system is changed, the subframe must also be changed, therefore, the cost for design and manufacture substantially increases. The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art.

A method of fabricating a solar cell for solar light power generation is as follows. First, after preparing a substrate, a back electrode layer is formed on the substrate, and patterned by a laser to form a plurality of back electrodes. Thereafter, a light absorbing layer, a buffer layer, and a high resistance buffer layer are sequentially formed on the back electrodes. A scheme of forming a Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) based-light absorbing layer by simultaneously or separately evaporating copper (Cu), indium (In), gallium (Ga), and selenium (Se) and a scheme of performing a selenization process after a metallic precursor film has been formed, have been extensively used in order to form the light absorbing layer. The energy bandgap of the light absorbing layer is in the range of about 1 eV to 1.8 eV. Then, the buffer layer including cadmium sulfide (CdS) is formed on the light absorbing layer through a sputtering process. The energy bandgap of the buffer layer may be in the range of about 2.2 eV to 2.4 eV. After that, the high resistance buffer layer including zinc oxide (ZnO) is formed on the buffer layer through the sputtering process. The energy bandgap of the high resistance buffer layer is in the range of about 3.1 eV to about 3.3 eV. Thereafter, holes patterns may be formed in the light absorbing layer, the buffer layer, and the high resistance buffer layer. Then, a transparent conductive material is laminated on the high resistance buffer layer, and the hole patterns are filled with the transparent conductive material. Accordingly, a transparent electrode layer is formed on the high resistance buffer layer, and connection wires are formed inside the holes patterns. A material constituting the transparent electrode layer and the connection wires may include aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO). The energy bandgap of the transparent electrode layer may be in the range of about 3.1 eV to 3.3 eV. Then, the hole pattern is formed in the transparent electrode layer, so that a plurality of solar cells may be formed. The transparent electrodes and the high resistance buffers correspond to the cells, respectively. The transparent electrodes and the high resistance buffers may be provided in the form of a stripe or a matrix. The transparent electrodes and the back electrodes are misaligned from each other and electrically connected with each other by the connection wires. Accordingly, the solar cells may be electrically connected to each other in series. As described above, in order to convert the solar light into electrical energy, various solar cell apparatuses have been fabricated and used. One of the solar cell apparatuses is disclosed in Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-2008-0088744. Meanwhile, according to the related art, when cadmium sulfide (CdS) is employed, the problem related to cadmium (Cd) occurs. Accordingly, in order to form a buffer layer without Cd, zinc sulfide (ZnS) may be used for the buffer layer. When ZnS is employed, a front electrode layer is directly deposited on the ZnS buffer layer without forming a high resistance buffer layer on the ZnS buffer layer. However, since the ZnS buffer layer has resistance higher than that of the CdS buffer layer, the thickness of the ZnS buffer layer is restricted. Accordingly, when the front electrode layer is deposited on the ZnS buffer layer, damage may be caused to the upper portion of the buffer layer and/or the light absorbing layer. Accordingly, the necessities for the fabrication of a buffer layer, which can solve the above problem when a ZnS buffer layer is used, and a solar cell including the buffer layer are raised.

This invention relates to a process for the removal of metal poisons from a hydrocarbon conversion catalyst which has been contaminated with one or more poisoning metals by use in a high temperature catalytic conversion of hydrocarbon feedstocks containing these metals to more valuable, lower boiling products. The invention may be used as part of an overall metals-removal process employing a plurality of processing steps to remove a significant amount of one or more of nickel, vanadium and iron contained in the poisoned catalyst. This invention also relates to the recovery of valuable metals, particularly vanadium, from hydrocarbon feedstocks such as crude or reduced crude in a form suitable for metallurgical refining. Catalytically promoted methods for the chemical conversion of hydrocarbons including cracking, hydrocracking, reforming, hydrodenitrogenation, hydrodesulfurization, etc. Such reactions generally are performed at elevated temperatures, for example, about 300.degree. to 1200.degree. F., more often 600.degree. to 1000.degree. F. Feedstocks to these processes comprise normally liquid and solid hydrocarbons which, at the temperature of the conversion reaction, are generally in the fluid, i.e., liquid or vapor state, and the products of the conversion usually are more valuable, lower boiling materials. In particular, cracking of hydrocarbon feedstocks to produce hydrocarbons of preferred octane rating boiling in the gasoline range is widely practiced and uses a variety of solid oxide catalysts to give end products of fairly uniform composition. Cracking is ordinarily effected to produce gasoline as the most valuable product and is generally conducted at temperatures of about 750.degree. to 1100.degree. F., preferably about 850.degree. to 950.degree. F., at pressures up to about 2000 psig., preferably about atmospheric to 100 psig. and without substantial addition of free hydrogen to the system. In cracking, the feedstock is usually a petroleum hydrocarbon fraction such as straight run or recycle gas oils or other normally liquid hydrocarbons boiling above the gasoline range. Recently, low severity cracking conditions have been employed for heavily contaminated feedstocks such as crude or reduced crude where the conversion is not made directly to the most valuable, lower boiling products, i.e. gasoline boiling range products, but to intermediate type hydrocarbon conversion products which may be later refined to the more desirable, lower boiling, gasoline or fuel oil fractions. High severity cracking has also been practiced for the conversion of such feedstocks to light, normally gaseous hydrocarbons, such as ethane, propane or butane. The present invention relates to the improvement of catalyst performance in hydrocarbon conversion where metal poisoning occurs. Although referred to as "metals", these catalyst contaminants may be present in the hydrocarbon feed in the form of free metals or relatively non-volatile metals compounds. It is, therefore, to be understood that the term "metal" as used herein refers to either form. Various petroleum stocks have been known to contain at least traces of many metals. For example, Middle Eastern crudes contain relatively high amounts of several metal components, while Venezuelan crudes are noteworthy for their vanadium content and are relatively low in other contaminating metals such as nickel. In addition to metals naturally present in petroleum stocks, including some iron, petroleum stocks also have a tendency to pick up tramp iron from transportation, storage and processing equipment. Most of these metals, when present in a stock, deposit in a relatively non-volatile form on the catalyst during the conversion processes so that regeneration of the catalyst to remove deposited coke does not also remove these contaminants. With the increased importance of gasoline in the world today and the shortages of crude oils and increased prices, it is becoming more and more important to process any type or portion of the crude, including the highly metal contaminated crudes to more valuable products. Typical crudes which are contaminated with metals and some average amounts of metals are: North Slope, 11 ppm nickel, 33 ppm vanadium; Lagomedio (Venezuelan), 12 ppm nickel, 116 ppm vanadium; light Iranian, 16 ppm nickel, 44 ppm vanadium; heavy Iranian, 30 ppm nickel, 22 ppm vanadium. In general, a crude oil can contain from about 5 to 500 ppm nickel and from about 5 to 1500 ppm vanadium. Moreover, since the metals tend to remain behind during processing, the bottoms of typical feeds will have an amount of metals two, three or four times or more than the original crude. For example, reduced crude or residual stocks can have vandium levels as high as 1000-2000 ppm. Typical residual stocks and their vanadium level include: Sag River atmospheric residuum, 48 ppm vanadium; heavy Iranian atmospheric residuum, 289 ppm vanadium; Canadian tar sand bitumen, 299 ppm vanadium; Tia Juana Vacuum residuum, 570 ppm vanadium; Bachaquero Vacuum residuum, 754 ppm vanadium; and Orinoco Heavy Crude, 1200 ppm vanadium. The higher the metal level in the feed, the more quickly a given catalyst will be poisoned and consequently the more often or more effective the demetallization of that catalyst must be. Of the various metals which are to be found in representative hydrocarbon feedstocks some, like the alkali metals, only deactivate the catalyst without changing the product distribution; therefore, they might be considered true poisons. Other such as iron, nickel, vanadium and copper markedly alter the selectivity and acitivity of cracking reactions if allowed to accumulate on the catalyst and, since they affect process performance, are also referred to as "poisons". A poisoned catalyst with these metals generally produces a higher yield of coke and hydrogen at the expense of desired products, such as gasoline and butanes. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,147,309 reports that it has been shown that the yield of butanes, butylenes and gasoline, based on converting 60 volume percent of cracking feed to lighter materials and coke dropped from 58.5 to 49.6 volume percent when the amount of nickel on the catalyst increased from 55 ppm to 645 ppm and the amount of vanadium increased from 145 ppm to 1480 ppm in a fluid catalytic cracking of a feedstock containing some metal contaminated stocks. Since many cracking units are limited by coke burning or gas handling facilities, increased coke or gas yields require a reduction in conversion or throughput to stay within the unit capacity. An alternative to letting catalyst metals level increase and activity and desired selectivity decrease is to diminish the overall metal content on the catalyst by raising catalyst replacement rates. Either approach, letting metals level increase, or increasing catalyst replacement rates, must be balanced against product value and operating costs to determine the most economic way of operating. The optimum metal level at which to operate any cracking unit will be a function of many factors including feedstock metal content, type and cost of catalyst, overall refinery balance, etc., and can be determined by a comprehensive study of the refinery's operations. With the high cost of both catalyst and the hydrocarbon feedstock today, it is increasingly disadvantageous to discard catalyst or convert hydrocarbon feedstocks to coke or gas. In contrast, to its undesirability as a catalytic poison, vanadium is a desirable metal used in the production of steel, target material for X-rays, catalysts for the polymer industry and catalysts for sulfuric acid production. The U.S. vanadium outlook indicates that by 1980 a production shortage of from a minumum of 7,000 to a maximum of 13,000 tons per year. On the other hand, 7,000 tons per year of vanadium could be produced if all of the vanadium could be recovered from the 100,000 barrels per day of Orinoco crude. Accordingly, crude oils represents a potentially valuable source of vanadium if the vanadium could be recovered. Some processes for metal removal from catalysts have been disclosed. Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,150,103 discloses a method of removing vanadium from catalyst by contacting a regenerated catalyst with a gas containing molecular oxygen at a temperature of at least about 1150.degree. F., with preferred temperature ranges of from 1350.degree. to 1600.degree. F. In Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 3,173,882, a regenerated catalyst was subjected to a gas-containing molecular oxygen at a temperature of at least 1000.degree. F., sulfided at from 750.degree. to 1600.degree. F., and then washed with an aqueous mineral acid solvent to remove contaminated metal sulfide. Erickson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,147,209, disclosed a method for removing nickel from contaminated catalyst by sulfiding at 500.degree. to 1600.degree. F. to provide a catalyst containing large amounts of sulfur, i.e. in excess of 100% of the total iron, nickel and vanadium content, contacting the sulfided catalyst with a specific mixture of steam and molecular oxygen-containing gas, and washing with an aqueous medium. In Disegna et al, U.S. Pat No. 3,252,918, a method for removing vanadium included regenerating the catalyst and then contacting with a gas consisting essentially of molecular oxygen in the presence of an oxide at a temperature of 600.degree. to 1300.degree. F. A commercial catalyst demetallization process is disclosed in an article entitled "DeMet Improves FCC Yields" appearing in The Oil and Gas Journal of Aug. 27, 1962, pp. 92-96 and in an article entitled "The Demetallization of Cracking Catalysts" appearing in I & E C Product Research and Development, Vol. 2, pp. 328-332, December, 1963. This process while successful in accomplishing its intended purpose with the catalyts described encountered metal corrosion problems in conjunction with the chlorination reactions involved. In addition, this process utilizes a sulfidation pretreatment step which places in excess of 2.0 wt % sulfur on the catalyst. In subsequent steps, this sulfur, as it is removed from the catalyst, can be converted to elemental sulfur which, in turn, can deposit in the reactor and transfer lines. These deposits can accumulate to excessive levels and lead to plugging of the reactor lines.

The transfer of fluids is required in many applications. For example, fluids may be sucked from or expelled into a region. One particular application for a fluid transfer system is in aquariums for which it may be desirable to transfer fluids, for example to clean the aquarium gravel. The use of gravel in an aquarium is not only for decoration but for collection of the debris and organic wastes which settle toward the bottom of the tank. However, it is necessary to periodically remove the particulate debris and organic wastes produced by the fish and aquatic plants in the gravel in order to maintain a healthy environment for the fish. In this respect, there are two main methods for removing the sediment accumulated in aquarium gravel. The first method comprises cleaning the gravel using a siphon tube or suction tube to remove the sediment in the gravel from above. There are several kinds of siphon tube used at present, for example, GB2110103 discloses a siphon device with a relatively wide inlet tube and a narrow siphon tube. In addition, U.S. 2009045143 discloses a gravel vacuum including a suction tube, a pre-filter tower connected to the suction tube, a filter tower, a pump and a return assembly to return the filtered water back to the tank. However, in each case, cleaning the gravel using a suction tube from above leads to problems such as interruption of the fish, the time required to clean the gravel thoroughly, excessive removal of the water and labour intensive. The second main method for removing the sediment from the gravel is to remove the sediment from beneath the gravel, for example, using an under-gravel filter system, which may be self-cleaning to avoid the problems mentioned above. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,713 discloses a system comprising: screen structures which cover the bottom of an aquarium; a cleaning element slidably mounted under the screen structures; and a suction tube extending upward from the screen structures. Each screen structure has a porous top adapted to support a layer of gravel thereon in spaced relation to the bottom of an aquarium and to allow water and debris to fall into a debris receiving space. The cleaning elements may be moved back and forth by an elongated handle to wipe off the debris in the receiving space between the top screen structure and the bottom of the aquarium and push it towards the suction tube which removes the debris from the aquarium. U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,614 also discloses an under-gravel filter system having a slidable cleaning element extending across the width of the tank between a screen structure and the bottom of the tank. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,614 the cleaning element pushes the debris collected between the screen and the bottom of the tank to a conduit which draws water and the debris out of the tank where it is disposed or otherwise filtered and returned to the tank. The cleaning element has a metallic bar therein which allows the bar to be moved across the bottom of the tank by a magnetic source such as a hand held magnet placed against the bottom of the tank. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,623 discloses a system comprising an aperture gravel-supporting floor plate mounted on the top of a frame and defines a space between the frame and the plate. A stationary guide tube extends upwardly from the floor plate. A movable suction head is located within the space and is connected to a movable siphon tube extending upwardly through the guide tube for movement back and forth to withdraw the contaminants. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,911 discloses an under-gravel cleaning apparatus that has a means for flushing the water and debris from the space between a screen structure and the bottom of the tank. This is accomplished by forcing water into one end of the space between the screen structure and the bottom of the tank through a feed tube and drawing the water out of the opposite end of the space through a tube system leading out of the bottom of the tank. JP2003236317 discloses an aquarium cleaning system, which has a gravel placing means located immediately above a bottom part, the system comprises (a) a water flushing tube located on one end part of the aquarium containing a first tubular member which has first and second end parts and is nearly vertical, (b) a water draining tube disposed on the opposing end part of the aquarium containing a second tubular member which has first and second end parts and is nearly vertical, and (c) a water circulation tube disposed on the opposing end part of the aquarium containing a third tubular member which has first and second end parts and is nearly vertical. In addition to the above-mentioned prior art documents, other gravel cleaning systems are disclosed in CA1231871, CA2094416 and JP2008284443. However, the previously-proposed cleaning gravel cleaning systems or methods have not been particularly effective. There are two main reasons for this lack of success. Firstly, all the under gravel cleaning devices mentioned need the screen to match the size of the bottom of tank. Practically, this strictly limits the popularity of such devices as tanks vary in size and shape. Secondly, all the prior art documents disclose the removal of debris from the space between the structure and the bottom of the tank. As such, these documents mainly rely on gravity causing the debris to drop down through the hole of the structure to the space between the structure and the bottom of the tank. As a result the previously-proposed cleaning gravel cleaning systems do not clean the gravel thoroughly or efficiently. The present disclosure therefore seeks to address these issues.

MR systems, and particularly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, frequently employ quadrature birdcage coils (QBCs), which have the advantage of a shorter field of view (FOV) in the z-direction (i.e. in the axial direction) while providing a higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and also having lower total RF power requirements compared to TEM coils. As birdcage coils float with respect to RF ground, the supply or feed of RF power in QBC-based MR systems is problematic, however, due to hot RF connections. Further, this problem does not provide reliable basis for EM simulation of such a device. Particularly with degenerate birdcage coils, the RF cable connections are difficult to define and specify for simulations regarding the management of the specific absorption rate (SAR) of RF energy by patients in a MR system.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for determining the contact angle of a liquid droplet on a substrate surface upon which it is deposited. 2. Description of the Prior Art Contact angle measurements of liquid droplets on substrate surfaces commonly are used to measure wettability of the substrate surface by a liquid and to evaluate adhesion. The contact angle is defined as the angle between the substrate support surface and the tangent to the profile of the droplet at the point of contact of the liquid droplet with the substrate. The value of the contact angle of the liquid droplet will depend upon substrate wettability. If perfect or complete wetting takes place between the liquid and the substrate surface by reason of high surface energy, the droplet will spread out over the substrate surface and the contact angle will approach 0 degrees, whereas if wetting is only partial, the resulting contact angle will lie in the range of 0 to 180 degrees. Devices are known for determining the contact angle of the droplet, both by direct measurement of the angle and by indirect calculation based upon measurements of the height, width, and/or radius of the droplet. Most common procedures involve projecting a silhouette image of the deposited droplet onto a projection screen and determining the contact angle by direct or indirect measurements taken from the silhouette. Direct measurement of the contact angle is achieved by first establishing a tangent to the profile of the silhouette at the contact point with the substrate and then measuring the angle between the tangent line and the surface of the substrate. This method is subject to significant error. Accurate positioning of a tangent line is difficult since establishing the tangency of a line to an arc is very subjective. As a result, errors as high as 6 degrees can occur. Indirect measurement of the contact angle can be made by calculation based upon measurements of the droplet silhouette. This method is applicable when the substrate surface is smooth and homogeneous and the droplet is very small, on the order of 10 microliters or smaller, so that the droplet takes the shape of a spherical segment and the distorting effect of gravity is negligible. In such case, the contact angle .THETA. can be calculate EQU tan .THETA./2=H/R (1), where H is the drop height and R is the radius of the drop base. EQU .THETA.=2.times.arctan H/R (2). After the ratio H/R is calculated, the contact angle value can be found in a specially prepared look-up table. This multi-step process is not only time consuming, but is also a subject to error, since the overall chance of error increases with each step of the process.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including random-access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and flash memory. Flash memory devices have developed into a popular source of non-volatile memory for a wide range of electronic applications. Flash memory devices typically use a one-transistor memory cell that allows for high memory densities, high reliability, and low power consumption. Common uses for flash memory include personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, and cellular telephones. Program code and system data such as a basic input/output system (BIOS) are typically stored in flash memory devices for use in personal computer systems. In order to maintain system performance, the performance of flash memory transistors needs to increase as the performance of computer systems increase. One critical circuit that determines flash memory performance is the sense amplifier and related circuitry. Memory access time depends on the speed of the sense amplifier and sensing scheme. For example, in a cellular telephone, a fast flash memory access time improves overall telephone operating speed, the capability to perform parallel operations, and the amount of data that can be handled. For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below that will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a higher performance flash memory device.

The present disclosure concerns an improved flying object such as a helicopter. The disclosure concerns a helicopter generally. In particular, but not exclusively, it is related to a toy helicopter and in particular to a remote-controlled model helicopter or a toy helicopter.

The present invention relates to polyisocyanates containing 4,4'-diisocyanato dicyclohexylmethane having a high content of the trans,trans isomer. More specifically, the present invention relates to a free flowing solid polyisocyanate based on 4,4'-diisocyanato dicyclohexylmethane. 4,4'-diisocyanato dicyclohexylmethane (alternately referred to as "PICM") is a cycloaliphatic diisocyanate of low volatility. PICM and other aliphatic isocyanates are useful in the preparation of non-discoloring polyurethanes. In general, such isocyanates are reacted with glycols and/or polyols and chain extenders and/or cross linkers. Such isocyanates are particularly useful in the preparation of polyurethane coatings and elastomers. PICM and the diamine precursor, 4,4'-diamino dicyclohexylmethane ("PACM"), exist, in three stereoisomeric forms (i.e., trans,trans; cis,trans; and cis,cis) as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,606,925, and 3,789,032, Canadian Patents 961,049 and 971,184, and British Patent 1,220,715. Commercial grades of PACM and PICM normally contain all three isomers. The most direct method of producing PICM is to first hydrogenate diamino diphenylmethane to form a mixture of the stereoisomers of PACM, and to then phosgenate the mixture. When the synthesis of PICM is conducted using readily available mixtures of stereoisomers of PACM (such as the equilibrium mixture described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,155,724), the PICM obtained is a slush or slurry at normal operating temperatures, having a melting point of about 58.degree. C., which corresponds to a trans,trans-isomer content of about 54%. Various art-known PICM mixtures have trans,trans-isomer contents of from about 17 to about 55% by weight. In addition, the art has recognized an advantage in utilizing high trans,trans-isomer PICM in producing elastomers (see, U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,032). In order to prepare PICM of relatively high trans, trans-isomer content, the art has generally used a PACM having a relatively high trans,trans-isomer content in the phosgenation reaction. Various methods are known for treating PACM to obtain the requisite high trans,trans-isomer content. Crystallization techniques have been described in the art. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,494,563, 3,153,088, 3,384,661 and 3,393,236. The crystallization of PACM suffers from various disadvantages. PACM readily forms a precipitant when exposed to carbon dioxide, causing problems in filtering and contamination of the crystals (see, U.S. Pat. No. 2,494,563, column 3, lines 26-29, and column 4, lines 72-75). In addition, PACM is generally difficult to crystallize since it will easily form a supercooled liquid. The prior art has overcome this problem by adding seed crystals (U.S. Pat. No. 2,494,563), by lowering the viscosity by using an inert solvent (U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,494,563, 3,153,088, 3,393,236 and 3,384,661), or by forming an adduct of PACM that crystallizes better, such as the hydrate (U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,088) or the alcoholate (U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,661 ). Such an adduct must be treated to remove water or alcohol before phosgenating to PICM. U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,763 describes a process for preparing PICM of relatively high trans,trans isomer content; said process comprises crystallization of PICM. However, it does not teach that PICM can be obtained in the form of a free-flowing solid. Generally put, it seems that although processes for preparing PICM of high trans,trans contents are known in the art, the nature of PICM as free-flowing solids, in commercially useful quantities, has not been realized. To date, the art known commercially available PICMs are obtained in the form of solutions and slurries. The present invention provides in commercial quantities a free-flowing solid based on 4,4'-diisocyanato dicyclohexylmethane.

The design and function of programmable units such as microprocessors, microcontrollers and signal processors, etc., are known and require no further explanation. One known problem with programmable units is that they can operate incorrectly for widely differing reasons. This is a major problem, particularly when using programmable units in safety-critical systems, for example when using programmable units for controlling an antilock braking system (ABS) or for controlling an airbag. Programmable units which are used in systems such as these have to operate correctly in all circumstances or, at least, it has to be possible to ensure that the system changes to a defined state when a fault occurs. By far the most widely used option for this purpose is to design such systems to be redundant, that is to say to contain two or more specific components such as programmable units or parts of them, memory devices, etc. If the redundantly provided components are operated in parallel, that is to say they carry out the same actions at the same time, then it is possible by comparison of specific results, states or events to determine whether and if appropriate which of the redundantly provided components is or are operating incorrectly and to automatically replace a component which is operating incorrectly by a correctly operating component, or to change the system to a defined state. However, only those faults which do not occur at the same time in the redundantly provided components can be identified in this way. For example, the same fault can occur at the same time in two or more components in the event of brief drops in the supply voltage. In order to make it possible to identify faults such as these, it is possible to provide for the redundantly provided components to operate with a certain time offset. Faults which occur at the same time in redundantly provided components then have different effects, and it is possible to compare the results, states or events in order to determine whether and, if appropriate, which of the redundantly provided components is or are operating incorrectly. However, this type of fault identification does not always work. In particular, faults which occur while the redundantly provided components are in the sleep mode cannot be identified. The fact that faults which occur in the sleep mode are not identified may at first glance appear to be insignificant. However, if these faults result in the same remaining change in the redundantly provided components, this is actually of major importance. This is because faults such as these cannot be identified after waking up the redundantly provided components. The system then appears to be operating correctly even though this is in reality not in fact the case.

Pneumatic excavation systems of the prior air have previously employed high speed pulsed air jets such as Nathenson et al (U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,152). Nathenson et al (hereinafter “Nathenson”) employs a hand held or a vehicle-attached device that employs a high-pressure pulsed air jet to uncover buried unexploded ordinance. One distinct disadvantage of the system of Nathenson is that personnel operating the device are in close proximity to the unexploded ordnance. Nathenson does not teach employing a second or an additional air source for use in conjunction with a pulsed air jet for pneumatic excavation. The need remains for improvements to pneumatic excavation systems in a safe and effective manner. The present invention addresses the deficiencies in the prior art.

Within the prior art a wide variety of radiation detectors and probes have been disclosed. However, within the context of many portable versions of these detectors/probes, the issue of the spatial context in which the radiation measurement takes place has always been a problem. For example, the following situations can have a detrimental impact on the accuracy and repeatability of radiation measurements in this context: Distance between the radiation detector and the monitored object/subject may adversely impact the radiation measurement; Movement of the radiation detector as it relates to the monitored object/subject may adversely impact the radiation measurement; Axial orientation of the radiation detector as it relates to the monitored object/subject may adversely impact the radiation measurement; Differences in how individual operators coordinate and process radiation measurements as they relate to the monitored object/subject may adversely impact the radiation measurement; and Combinations of these spatial context variables may combine to adversely impact the radiation measurement. Within this context, there is an unmet need in the prior art to provide a system and methodology to compensate for and manage these spatial context parameters within a radiation measurement application. While the prior art does teach that in some circumstances these spatial contexts can be managed in terms of confining the monitored subject/object during the radiation measurement process, the prior art has not addressed compensating for and managing these spatial context variables as a whole or in contexts where the radiation measurement system must by necessity be portable in nature.

Testing of digital devices by the signature analysis technique involves placing of output signals from the card under test into a shift register. The output signals are produced as a result of input signals which are applied to the card under test according to a predetermined sequence. The result of the test contained in the shift register represents the product of all of the output signals produced over a period of time although the resulting "signature" may be, for example, only 16 bits long if a 16 character shift register is used. If the circuit operates properly, those 16 bits should correspond to an expected 16 bits and the operation of the card can be termed a success. It is crucial in this test that the production of the signature begin at a specific known time in the operation of the card under test and end at a specific known time. If the start or stop signal is off by even one bit, the resulting signature will be incorrect and a properly operating card might be considered faulty. Also, it is crucial that the signature clock does not coincide with transitions in the signal from the card under test for this could cause different readings for a properly operating card (unstable signature readings). U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,976,864 and 4,192,451 disclose apparatus for testing digital equipment with the signature analysis technique. In each of these previous arrangements, however, it is a requirement that the device under test provide the necessary start and stop signals and signature clock in order to operate the signature generator. The result is a limitation on the usefulness of the signature analysis technique since some integrated circuits such as, for example, a single chip microprocessor, may not be provided with the necessary testability requirements for signature analysis. That is to say, the clock cycles of certain circuits are not available on I/O pins.

Conventionally, in a windshield wiper unit for wiping the front glass of a car, a system that activates a wiper arm by a link mechanism with a motor used as a drive source has been widely employed. As the function of the wiper system becomes more refined, a system that electrically controls a motor to thereby control the wiper movement has widely appeared in recent years in place of the above link drive system. In this motor control drive system, a configuration in which a control circuit and motor are integrated with each other is adopted in terms of product modulation or the like. For example, as disclosed in PCT Application Laid-open Publication No. 2002-511038, a motor is mounted in an automobile as a unit including a speed reduction mechanism. In such a motor unit, however, a control circuit section is two-dimensionally arranged in a housing, and circuit components are two-dimensionally placed on the control circuit section, thereby increasing an area occupied by the mounted circuit components. Further, in the control circuit section, power system components such as a power MOSFET and relay, are all arranged on the printed wiring board, so that the width of a copper-foil pattern must be widened on the printed wiring board according to the current amount, correspondingly increasing the board size. It is desirable that the power system components be arranged on the large-sized printed wiring board in consideration of the heat radiation properties thereof. Even in view of this, the board size tends to be increased. Accordingly, the size of the control circuit section is likely to be increased for these reasons to thereby increase the size of the motor unit. The larger the size of the motor unit, the larger the size of the required mounting space for the unit to be provided on the automobile side becomes, and this problem does need to be solved. An object of the present invention is to reduce the space occupied by the control circuit section in the motor unit to reduce the size of the entire motor unit.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to an illuminated display system for placement on a user or receiving object. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to a system and method for visually displaying information from a selection of light signals whereby the information, for example, may be used for prioritizing the degree of medical care administered to a user. 2. Description of the Related Art In the past, the concept of assessing an individual's medical condition and prioritizing that individual's need for medical care with respect to others requiring assistance is a concept commonly known as “Triage”. Triage is one of the first applications of medical care applied to an individual and is often used as a technique to address the most seriously injured first. The triage concept is applied to humans and animals alike and in a variety of patient care settings including hospital emergency rooms, in the field with emergency medical service providers such as with natural disaster conditions and in battlefield settings. Generally, triage techniques attempt to sort patients into categories for transport and immediate medical treatment. Triage is administered oftentimes in imperfect conditions where immediate medical care is limited, time is critical, and patients are prone to inaccurately advocating their precise medical condition. Triage assessors generally tag patients according to the degree of injury. Many typical examples of triage tags are based on color coded information cards by which an assessor provides a written description of the patient's condition on that paper card. Illustratively, in a battlefield setting, either a combat medic or corpsman provides triage assessments to injured soldiers on the battlefield. In practice, a medic is personally at risk from being fired on or the hazardous conditions associated with the battlefield. A medic's triage assessment must not only be accurate, but must be quickly provided so as not jeopardize the health of the injured soldier or of the medic themselves. Many times, a medic is not given the opportunity to provide a written description or even color code an injured soldier accordingly. Furthermore, battlefield conditions hinder one's ability to accurately read a corresponding triage card. Illustratively, smoke, dust, and changing weather conditions obscure one's ability to determine the triage status of an injured solider at a distance. Moreover, conditions such as complete darkness, underwater settings or in buried conditions could render the determination of written information on one's triage card as improbable. Unfortunately, there is no known device or method for quickly and accurately providing triage status at a distance, such as status of an injured soldier in various battlefield settings. Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for placement on a user that quickly and accurately provides information relating to the degree of injury of the user. There is also a need for a system and method for quickly and accurately providing information including triage information in varied visibility conditions and at a distance. Many other problems and disadvantages of the prior art will become apparent to one skilled in the art after comparing such prior art with the present invention as herein described.

Conventional mechanically driven valve trains operate the intake and exhaust valves based on the position and profile of lobes on a camshaft. The engine crankshaft is connected to the pistons by connecting rods and to the camshaft by a belt or chain. Therefore, the intake and exhaust valve opening and closing events are based on the crankshaft position. This relationship between the crankshaft position, piston position, and valve opening and closing events determines the stroke of a given cylinder, e.g., for a four stroke engine the intake, compression, power, and exhaust strokes. As a result, engine starting and the first cylinder to fire are determined in part by the camshaft/crankshaft timing relationship and the engine stopping position. On the other hand, electromechanically driven valve-trains do not have the physical constraints that tie the camshaft and crankshaft together, i.e., there may not be belts or chains linking the camshaft and crankshaft, at least for some valves. Furthermore, full or partial electromechanical valve-trains may not require a camshaft. Consequently, the physical constraints linking the camshaft and crankshafts are broken. As a result, additional flexibility to control valve timing is possible when electromechanical valves are used in an internal combustion engine. One method to control electromechanical valve operation during an engine operation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,514. This method provides for an injection sequence for the cylinders that is initialized when a first crankshaft pulse is generated after generation of a first signal pulse representing crankshaft rotation through 720 degrees. The injection sequence and crankshaft position sequence correspond to the position of each cylinder, whereby the opening/closing timing of each intake valve and exhaust valve can be controlled. The cylinders are set to the exhaust stroke, suction stroke, compression stroke, and explosion stroke, respectively. Once the above-mentioned method has set the stroke of each cylinder, timing of valve opening and closing is determined by retrieving a map based on accelerator pedal position and engine speed. Finally, a further valve timing adjustment is made to correct for air-fuel errors. In general, during a start, accelerator pedal position remains constant and in a low demand position while the oxygen sensor is not available due to low sensor temperature. As a consequence, engine speed is the primary input used to determine valve timing during a start. The above-mentioned method can have several disadvantages. Namely, valve timing that is based primarily on engine speed can result in further variation of engine speed, since changes in valve timing can affect engine speed. Also, it can create cylinder air-fuel ratio errors that may lead to increased emissions that result from inaccuracy of engine speed calculations. For example, calculating instantaneous engine speed during engine starting can produce errors in the determined speed that are introduced by sample frequency, calculation method, and sensor signal to noise ratio due to engine acceleration. Any deviation or variation of the determined engine speed from actual engine speed can thus result in an inadvertent and potentially unnecessary valve timing adjustment. Such adjustments can thus result in sub-optimal timing and performance.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention is in the field of tool path creation for computer controlled cutting operations. Particularly the invention relates to creating tool paths which minimize the appearance of undesirable tool marks and articles of manufacture created using the novel tool paths. 2. Summary of the Prior Art Conventional CNC (computer numeric control) manufacturing refers to the use of a type of computerized industrial tool in which the motion of a cutting tool is dictated by computerized commands. The type of CNC used for carving is generally known as a CNC router and consists of a table with a moving gantry on which a moving router or spindle is mounted. The spindle or router carves a target surface with differently sized and shaped router bits. One use for CNC routers is producing a textured panel for use on a wall inside a building. Several companies now produce carved, textured panels for ornamental purposes with CNC machinery. These textured panels are used to cover entire walls or parts of walls, the fronts of reception desks, as cabinet and entry doors and for other decorative purposes. The material used for them is often MDF (medium density fiberboard) but it can also be natural wood, plastics or other materials. Textured panels are mostly produced by passing a large round-end (also known as a ball-nose) router bit over the surface in specific paths to carve the textures as quickly as possible. In some cases straight or v-shaped bits are used. Currently available textured panel designs almost entirely consist of abstract texture but also include some line patterns which are representational of flowers or scrollwork. These representational patterns are created in the manner of line drawings with the router bits carving simple lines into the surface at a uniform height. Another category of relief carving exists besides the carving of textures, bas relief. Bas relief sculpture is found on classical carved furniture, older building facades or the surfaces of coins where faces of American Presidents and other notables or buildings or birds and animals are sculpturally represented. This type of carving is differentiated from that used to create contemporary textured panels whose designs consist of a myriad of completely abstract textures or textures suggesting patterns like the surface of flowing water or a brick wall. Textured panels as they exist today do not normally represent actual objects such as leaves or fruit or the forms of classical ornament but if they do, these textures take the form of simple line drawings milled at constant depth. The primary reason is that the CNC production of representations of actual objects with conventional techniques results in undesirable tool marks and requires a very large amount of machine time in order to prevent the need for secondary processing. CNC machinery is fully capable of producing traditional complex bas-relief carving with fine detail, however the process requires that smaller router bits are passed many times (often over 100 passes per linear inch) over each section of the carving to achieve acceptable results. Carvings such as these are offered today by many makers of carved ornament such as Enkeboll Designs. It would be considered desirable to offer more defined carved motifs, yet because of the high levels of production time required complex sculpted reliefs such as these or any other type of representative reliefs are not offered by the makers of textured panels. Additionally in carving of representative reliefs where small bits are used and the machine may make 100 passes per inch the router bit leaves slightly visible marks in the form of grooves and peaks on the underlying relief. These grooves and peaks are known as tool marks. The grooves and peaks in conventional CNC operation are perfectly parallel to each other. If small enough the marks are accepted and generally meet industry and consumer standards but they are often sanded away since they impart a machine-made look to the carvings. The tool marks are considered undesirable and would generally be avoided if a technique were available to carve finely detailed or representative work without them. Additionally, in general, a larger diameter bit can cut a relief with less passes, however a larger diameter tool will leave larger tool marks if each pass is stepped over a large distance, as results when cutting with less passes. Thus, even though a larger tool can perform a cutting operation quicker, because of the undesirable effects of larger tool marks which result with currently used tool path creation methods, CNC carving remains a slow process. One way to decrease required carving time it to increase the material removed with each pass of a cutter being operated along a given contour of a tool path. A basic concept of carving into materials with CNC machinery is to never put so much load on your cutting tool that it breaks. Conventionally the rule has been to never carve down deeper than the diameter of the bit on one pass. So when carving at a maximum depth of 1″ with a ¼″ diameter cutting tool a tool path is constructed which directs the cutting tool to cut away ¼″ of material from all deeper areas, then another pass of ¼″ and then another. Only then may the final pattern of tool paths be run which will carve the final surface without ever making a cut deeper than ¼″. This process may involve several different sized and shaped bits and takes a large amount of machine time but it is the conventional approach to CNC carving. The staggered depth of cut described above increases the time required to carve a given relief. There is a need in the art for a method of tool path creation for CNC machines which enables an operator to remove material from a target surface quicker and with reduced appearance of tool marks oriented so that they create a regular machine made appearance.

1. Field of the Invention This invention pertains generally to the field of display units and/or crew alerting units that provide flight and/or ground information to the pilot or flight crew of an aircraft. 2. Description of the Related Art Runway incursions are the most noticeable form of taxi navigation errors. Increased scrutiny by regulatory authorities has only heightened the awareness of the safety issues related to runway incursions. Taxi navigation errors cause many runway incursions and present potential collision hazards. Systems used for presenting runway incursion and/or basic surface traffic information to a pilot for avoiding runway incursions may comprise of two basic components. One component could comprise the display of airport, airport surfaces, and/or and other information on a visual display unit, wherein such display could show ground and/or air traffic. Another component could comprise advisories such as caution and/or warning alerts that could be generated by a processor employing one or more runway incursion-related algorithms to known traffic information. A runway incursion system may comprise of a navigation reference database for constructing airport surface maps, GPS-based own-ship positions, GPS-based traffic positions, automatic transmission of cooperative traffic positions through systems such as an automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (“ADS-B”) system, and automatic re-transmission of uncooperative traffic positions through systems such as a traffic information service-broadcast (“TIS-B”) system. Although these systems improve situational awareness, there are deficiencies. There is a lack of available navigation reference database for constructing airport surface maps. Also, the introduction of an ADS-B system may be slow and/or the mandated use of such system could be delayed for many years. In addition, transmission latency is inherent to both ADS-B and TIS-B systems resulting in traffic position uncertainty.

Generally, the vehicle wheel bearing apparatus is used to freely rotationally support a wheel hub to mount the wheel, via a rolling bearing, for a driving wheel and a driven wheel. For structural reasons, generally an inner ring rotation type bearing is adopted for a driving wheel. Both inner ring and outer ring rotation type bearings are used for a driven wheel. Double row angular bearings are widely used in such a bearing apparatus. This is due to the fact that it has a desirable bearing rigidity, high durability against misalignment and small rotation torque for superior fuel consumption. On the other hand, double row tapered roller bearings are used for heavy weight vehicles such as off-road cars or trucks. The vehicle wheel bearing apparatus is broadly classified into a structure of a first generation type where a wheel bearing of double row angular contact ball bearings is fitted between a knuckle, forming a part of a suspension, and a wheel hub. In a second generation type structure, a body mounting flange or a wheel mounting flange is formed directly on the outer circumference of an outer member. In a third generation type structure, one of the inner raceway surfaces is directly formed on the outer circumference of the wheel hub. In a fourth generation type structure, the inner raceway surfaces are formed directly on the outer circumferences of the wheel hub and the constant velocity universal joint. The wheel bearing apparatus shown in FIG. 21 is a fourth generation type superior for its light weight and small size. It includes a unit of a wheel hub 100, a double row rolling bearing 101, and a constant velocity universal joint 102. The double row rolling bearing 101 has an outer member 103, an inner member 104, and a plurality of balls 105 and tapered rollers 106 contained between the outer and inner members 103, 104. In the descriptions below, the term “outer side” defines a side that is positioned outside of a vehicle body (left-hand side in drawings). The term “inner side” defines the side that is positioned inside of a vehicle body (right-hand side in drawings) when the bearing apparatus is mounted on the vehicle body. The outer member 103 is formed with a body mounting flange 103c on its outer circumference. The body mounting flange 103c mounts on a knuckle (not shown) forming part of a suspension of the vehicle. Its inner circumference includes double row outer raceway surfaces 103a, 103b. A diameter of the outer side outer raceway surface 103a is set smaller than that of the inner side outer raceway surface 103b. The inner member 104 includes the wheel hub 100, an outer joint member 108 integrally formed with the wheel hub 100, and a separate inner ring 107 press-fit onto the outer joint member 108. The wheel hub 100 is formed with a wheel mounting flange on its one end. The wheel mounting flange 100b mounts a wheel (not shown). The wheel hub outer circumference has an inner raceway surface 100a arranged opposite to the outer side outer raceway surface 103a of the double row outer raceway surfaces 103, 103b. The outer circumference of the inner ring 107 is formed with an inner raceway surface 107a arranged opposite to the inner side outer raceway surface 103b of the double row outer raceway surfaces 103a, 103b. The constant velocity universal joint 102 includes the outer joint member 108 with a cup-shaped mouth portion 109 and a shoulder portion 110. The shoulder portion 110 forms a bottom portion of the mouth portion 109. The inner circumference of the outer joint member 108 is formed with curved track grooves 108a. The inner ring 107 is press-fit onto the outer circumference of the mouth portion 109 and axially immovably secured by a snap ring 111. The plurality of balls 105 are freely rollably contained between the outer side outer and inner raceway surfaces 103a, 100a. The plurality of tapered rollers 106 are freely rollably contained between the inner side outer and inner raceway surfaces 103b, 107a. The pitch circle diameter of the outer side balls 105 is set smaller than that of the inner side tapered rollers 106. This enables the fundamental rated load of the inner side rolling elements, which a larger load is applied than a load applied to the outer side rolling elements, to be larger than the fundamental rated load of the outer side rolling elements. Thus, this enables the life of the outer side and inner side rolling elements to be substantially the same to each other and to obtain a smart design (see e.g. Japanese Laid-open Patent publication No. 91308/1999). In such a wheel bearing apparatus, since the inner ring 107 is secured on the mouth portion 109 of the outer joint member 108, the size of the apparatus can be reduced in its axial direction. However, since the outer diameter of the outer member 103 is enlarged, not only is the reduction of weight of the wheel bearing apparatus hampered but also design modifications of related parts, such as a knuckle, are required. In order to solve such a problem, the wheel bearing apparatus shown in FIG. 22 has been proposed. This wheel bearing apparatus is formed by a double row angular contact ball bearing with an outer member 112 formed with a body mounting flange 112a on its outer circumference. The body mounting flange 112c is mounted on a knuckle (not shown) of a vehicle. Its inner circumference surface has double row outer raceway surfaces 112a, 112b. An inner member 116 includes a wheel hub 114 formed with a wheel mounting flange 113 on one of its ends. The wheel mounting flange 113 mounts a wheel (not shown). The wheel hub outer circumference has an inner raceway surface 114a arranged opposite to the outer side outer raceway surface 112a of the double row outer raceway surfaces 112a, 112b. A cylindrical portion 114b axially extends from the inner raceway surface 114a. An inner ring 115, formed with an inner raceway surface 115a, is arranged opposite to the inner side outer raceway surface 112b of the double row outer raceway surfaces 112a, 112b. Double row balls 117, 118 are freely rollably contained between the outer raceway surfaces and inner raceway surfaces. Cages 119, 120 freely rollably hold the double row balls 117, 118. The inner ring 115 is axially secured by a caulked portion 114c. The caulked portion 114c is formed by radially outwardly plastically deforming the end of the cylindrical portion 114b of the wheel hub 114. Seals 121, 122 are mounted within annular openings formed between the outer member 112 and the inner member 116. The seals 121, 122 prevent leakage of lubricating grease sealed within the bearing and the entering of rain water or dusts from the outside into the bearing. In this wheel bearing apparatus, a pitch circle diameter D1 of the outer side row of balls 117 is set larger than a pitch circle diameter D2 of the inner side row of balls 118. Accordingly, the diameter of the inner raceway surface 114a of the wheel hub 114 is larger than that of the inner raceway surface 115a of the inner ring 115. The diameter of the outer side outer raceway surface 112a of the outer member 112 is larger than that of the inner side outer raceway surface 112b. In addition, the number of the outer side balls 117 is larger than that of the inner side balls 118. By setting the relation between the pitch circle diameters D1, D2 as D1>D2, it is possible to increase the rigidity of the wheel bearing apparatus not only in the case of running in a straight way but also in the case of running in a curved way and thus to extend the life of the wheel bearing apparatus (see e.g. Japanese Laid-open Patent publication No. 108449/2004).

About one third of the adult population in the USA and other countries experiences frequent difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep or both, and wakes up unrefreshed despite the opportunity for adequate sleep. Nearly 10% of the US population suffers from chronic sleeplessness, called insomnia. Sleeplessness may result in impaired cognitive, emotional, social and physical functionality during daytime with increased risk for accidents, lower job performance and decreased quality of life. According to analysts, Americans spent over $30 billion in 2012 on sleep-related aids. Current methods for alleviating the problem include sleep pills, which frequently elicit side effects, improving sleep habits, controlling or eliminating negative thoughts and applying relaxation techniques for stress reduction. However, these do not appear to provide interventions that are efficient in restoring the normal falling-asleep process when disturbed. The normal falling-asleep process involves progressive disconnection from the environment and decline in control over mental activity and awareness of sensory stimuli. During this process sympathetic neural activity is decreased with resulting muscle tone relaxation; respiration undergoes a series of characteristic variations including respiratory instability, which reflects the intermittency between the different systems that control respiration in the awake and sleep states that changes into highly regular and low-amplitude respiration. A method and system for sensor-controlled interactive guiding of a user from normal- to slow respiration rates with modified respiration pattern has been described by the present inventor in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,076,281 and 5,800,337. This technology was implemented in a medical device sold under the name RESPeRATE™ that guides the inspiration and expiration of its user by musical tones, with which the user is requested to synchronize (‘sync’) breathing movements. The device has been demonstrated to reduce neural sympathetic activity and was cleared by the FDA for treating stress and hypertension. However, the use of that technology for sleep induction is limited by the very process of falling asleep: with increasing drowsiness the user ability to sync breathing movements with a guiding stimulus gradually decreases and the resulting stimulus, now perceived as de-sync, frequently wakes up the user. Furthermore, user awareness regarding the quality of performing the guided respiration is important for achieving outcomes associated with the reduction of sympathetic activity that also includes falling sleep. The prior art discloses neither the detection of the awake-to-sleep transition using a measure for awareness combined with respiration characteristics during guided breathing, nor a strategy for modifying the stimulus after such detection, in a way that would not interfere in the falling-asleep process. In addition, the prior art does not provide a satisfactory real-time continuous measure for the performance quality of guided respiration. Thus, it may be desirable to improve known methods and systems in a way that would extend their applicability to sleep induction and other applications aiming to reduce sympathetic activity.

The wall-plug is inserted at right angles into the surface of the material. Consequently, when fixing wall-plugs in a ceiling, the device is underneath the ceiling during insertion and is therefore liable to receive dust and other particles produced by the insertion of the plug. The effect of this is to accelerate the wear of the mechanism of the device and to interfere with its operation.

Power generation plants, owned by public utilities for producing electric power, are generally built with excess capacity. The excess capacity allows for future growth in an area. For example, if a large manufacturing site opens in the area that the power generation plant provides power to, the power generation plant would be able to provide some or all of the power required for the plant from the excess capacity. In another example, if the population of an area increased, some or all of the power required for the consumers in the area could also be provided. With public utilities, power is generated by condensing turbines with full control over the generation range. In addition to power generation plants owned by public utilities, there are also industrial energy units that produce power. In an industrial energy unit, part of the power is generated by back-pressure/extraction turbines. This part of power generation cannot be controlled as it is defined by the process and heating steam demand for the industrial application. The excess capacity of a power plant is placed on a power grid according to a power contract. The power generation plant will enter into a power contract with grid operator or another entity that needs power. Power contracts are for specific time slots (e.g. one hour) on a specific day. A power generation plant delivers the specified amount of electricity, in units of Megawatt hours, to a power grid. The power grid is a distribution network for moving power from a generator to a consumer of power. The power grid includes transmission substations, high voltage transmission lines, power substations, transformers, power lines, transformer drums on power poles, and other equipment. A power generation plant with excess capacity will have a set of power contracts specifying an amount of power to deliver to the power grid for a selected hour during a week. Many power generation plants with excess capacity will have a set of power contracts for each and every hour of the week. A power plant operator operates the power plant to meet the various contracts. Ideally, the power plant operator operates the plant to just meet all of the demands (direct consumers of the power generation plant) and just meet the power contract without producing excess power or having to cycle the equipment to generate the necessary power. If a power generation plant falls short of meeting the power contract, power can be bought on the spot market to make up the difference between the amount of power delivered to the power grid and the promised amount. Buying power on the spot market is costly.

The present invention relates to means for accelerating the discharge of exhaust gas from the internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle or the like. It is known that recent severe regulation on exhaust gas from motor vehicles has accompanied such a problem as an increase in fuel consumption or a decrease in engine output. Namely, due to such exhaust gas regulation, the exhaust gas discharging capacity of the engine is decreased.

The present invention relates to a serial communication device used for coupling an upper controller to motor drivers to be controlled by this upper controller, and it also relates to the motor drivers. An upper controller is coupled to a plurality of motor drivers via serial communication, and an operation command is supplied to the motors through this serial communication. This structure has prevailed recently in the market because of saving cables and more sophistication. For instance, an upper controller is an NC controller, and motor drivers are servo drivers that drive servo-motors. In this case, an operation command such as a position command, a speed command or a torque command is often supplied to the motor drivers from the upper controller. A serial communication is shown in FIG. 12, and 100BASE-T Standard is applied to the physical layer of the serial communication, thereby forming the foregoing instance. In FIG. 12, upper controller 1 incorporates first communication IC 3 and first communication connector 2. Both the elements work for transmitting and receiving a serial communication, and are equipped with receiving terminals 3r, 2r and transmitting terminals 3t, 2t. They are connected to each other respectively. In an actual operation, a pulse transformer is disposed between IC 3 and connector 2; however, they are omitted here to avoid complexity. Also in the actual operation, a pair signal formed of two transmission signals or two receiving signals is used; however, the respective signals are simplified to a single signal in the drawings. Motor driver 4 incorporates first IC 3 and first communication connector 2 similarly to upper controller 1, and signals are transmitted or received also in a similar way to upper controller 1. A plurality of motor drivers 4 are prepared in general, and three motor drivers are disposed as an example in the case of FIG. 12. Hub 5 works as a relay of communication data and is equipped with many of the same connectors as first connector 2. As a whole, upper controller 1 and all the motor drivers 4 are coupled with respect to hub 5 via first communication cables 6, each of which has a transmitting path and a receiving path independent of each other. The 100BASE-T STD specifies that first cable 6 uses four pairs of twist-pair lines (8 lines), and first connector 2 uses RJ-45 modular jack. The foregoing structure employs, in general, a master-slave method for communication, i.e., a master station issues a command and a slave station responds thereto. In FIG. 12, upper controller 1 is assigned to a master and motor drivers 4 are assigned to slaves. A command data issued by upper controller 1 is transmitted to one of motor drivers 4 via hub 5, and a response data from the motor driver 4 is transmitted to upper controller 1 via hub 5. After completing a transmitting/receiving data to/from one of motor drivers 4, upper controller 1 then starts transmitting/receiving data to/from another motor driver 4. This operation is repeated sequentially through every motor driver 4 before one communication cycle is completed. This communication cycle is executed repeatedly, thereby realizing a real-time transmission. The conventional structure discussed above forms so called xe2x80x9ca star wiringxe2x80x9d having hub 5 at the center in a transmission path. However, a radial configuration of upper controller 1 and motor drivers 4 with hub 5 at its center is practically not used because it takes space. The configuration as shown in FIG. 12, namely, upper controller 1 and motor drivers 4 are arranged side by side, is regularly used. In this case, first cables 6 are forced to be bundled at some place, which lowers wire-routing efficiency. An objective of the serial communication, i.e., save-wiring, is thus not sufficiently satisfied. Further the presence of hub 5 increases the cost of the entire system. The present invention provides a serial communication device to be used for controlling a motor, the serial communication device comprising the following elements: (a) an upper controller including: (a-1) a first communication IC for controlling a communication of a set of transmitting and receiving; (a-2) a first communication connector having a transmitting terminal connected to a transmitting terminal of the first IC and a receiving terminal connected to a receiving terminal of the first IC; and (b) motor drivers, each one of them including: (b-1) a second communication IC for controlling a communication of a set of transmitting and receiving; (b-2) a second communication connector having a receiving terminal connected to a receiving terminal of the second IC; (b-3) a third communication connector having a transmitting terminal connected to a transmitting terminal of the second IC, and a receiving terminal connected to a transmitting terminal of the second connector. In the foregoing structure, a first communication cable having independent paths for transmitting and receiving is used to connect the upper controller to the motor driver disposed in the front-most stage. In connecting the motor drivers to each other, the first cable connects the third connector of a first motor driver to the second connector of a second motor driver. In the motor driver disposed in the back-most stage, a coupling element that connects a transmitting terminal to a receiving terminal is connected to a third connector. The upper controller is daisy-chained to the respective motor drivers.

Optical amplifiers have become an essential component in transmission systems and networks to compensate for system losses, particularly in wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) and dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) communication systems. In a WDM transmission system, two or more optical data carrying channels, each defined by a different carrier wavelength, are combined onto a common path for transmission to a remote receiver. The carrier wavelengths are sufficiently separated so that they do not overlap in the frequency domain. Typically, in a long-haul optical fiber system, an optical amplifier would amplify the set of wavelength channels simultaneously, usually after traversing distances less than about 120 km. One class of optical amplifiers is rare-earth doped optical amplifiers, which use rare-earth ions as the active element. The ions are doped in the fiber core and pumped optically to provide gain. The silica fiber core serves as the host medium for the ions. While many different rare-earth ions such as neodymium, praseodymium, ytterbium etc. can be used to provide gain in different portions of the spectrum, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) have proven to be particularly attractive because they are operable in the spectral region where optical loss in the fiber is minimal. Also, the erbium-doped fiber amplifier is particularly useful because of its ability to amplify multiple wavelength channels without crosstalk penalty, even when operating deep in gain compression. EDFAs are also attractive because they are fiber devices and thus can be easily connected to telecommunications fiber with low loss. An important consideration in the design of a WDM transmission system is reliability, particularly when the system is not readily accessible for repair, such as in undersea applications. Since the laser pump is the only active component in the amplification system, it is the most likely to degrade or fail. Such failure would render the optical amplifier, and possibly the optical communication system, inoperative. In order to overcome such an event, several techniques have been developed to design optical communication systems capable of limiting the impact of laser pump failure or degradation. For example, redundancy is sometimes used to obviate optical amplifier failures. Redundancy can be conveniently employed when two or more optical amplifiers are employed in a single location, which is often the case in a typical long-range optical transmission system that includes a pair of unidirectional optical fibers that support optical signals traveling in opposite directions. In such systems each fiber includes an optical amplifier, which are co-located in a common housing known as a repeater. When multiple amplifiers are co-located redundancy can be achieved by sharing pump energy form all the available pumps among all the amplifiers. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,957, the output from at least two pump sources are coupled via a 3 dB optical coupler to provide pump energy to each of two optical fiber amplifiers simultaneously. If one of the pump sources fails, the other pump source provides power to each of the optical amplifiers. Thus, failure of one laser pump causes a 50% reduction in the pumping power of each of the two optical amplifiers. Without such pump sharing, a pump failure could lead to catastrophic failure in one amplifier and no failures in the other. As long as some pump energy reaches each amplifier, there will be enough gain to convey the signals to the next optical amplifier. On the other hand, if any given amplifier were to lose all its pump energy, it becomes a lossy medium and attenuates the signals, usually leading to excessive signal-to-noise ratio at the end of the systems. While the aforementioned pump redundancy arrangement may be satisfactory for some applications, it would be desirable to provide a pump redundancy arrangement with an even greater degree of reliability, particularly in an optical transmission system that employs multiple pairs of optical fibers.

With the development of an OpenAPI technology, OpenAPI providers become more and more, the number of OpenAPIs available on the Internet (Internet) also increases continuously, and the number of OpenAPIs with the same function also increases continuously, which provides more selections for a user. However, different OpenAPIs with equivalent functions are much different in the aspect of response time, reliability, and stability, and therefore, how to select an OpenAPI with better performance from numerous OpenAPIs with equivalent functions becomes a big problem that hinders further development and popularization of the OpenAPI technology.

Disposable absorbent articles such as diapers, training pants, incontinence garments, feminine hygiene garments and the like have become very popular in the market place today. Many of these articles include features such as side panels that provide a variety of functions including improved containment characteristics and better, more comfortable fit. An overriding consideration in the construction of a disposable absorbent article is the cost of manufacturing the article, including the materials cost. The present invention provides methods for manufacturing side panels for absorbent articles with little or no wasted material. Thus, the side panels made by the process of the present invention can be provided at a relatively lower cost than many of the side panels that are current manufacturing using techniques in which material is wasted. Accordingly, the method of the present invention can reduce the overall cost of the absorbent article. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing side panels for absorbent articles with little or no waste. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing relatively low cost side panels for absorbent articles. It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing "zero scrap", low cost, elastically extensible side panels for use with absorbent articles. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing little or no scrap, multi-directional side panel for use with absorbent articles. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing little or no scrap multi-piece, multi-directional side panels for use with absorbent articles.

This invention relates to a method of sizing liposomes, and more particularly to a sizing method which includes extruding liposomes through a branched-pore type aluminum oxide porous film. Liposomes are completely closed lipid bilayer membranes containing an entrapped aqueous volume. Liposomes may be unilamellar vesicles (possessing a single bilayer membrane) or multilamellar vesicles (onion-like structures characterized by multiple membrane bilayers, each separated from the next by an aqueous layer). The bilayer is composed of two lipid monolayers having a hydrophobic xe2x80x9ctailxe2x80x9d region and a hydrophilic xe2x80x9cheadxe2x80x9d region. The structure of the membrane bilayer is such that the hydrophobic (nonpolar) xe2x80x9ctailsxe2x80x9d of the lipid monolayers orient toward the center of the bilayer while the hydrophilic xe2x80x9cheadxe2x80x9d orient towards the aqueous phase. The original liposome preparation of Bangham, et al. (J. Mol. Biol., 1965, 13:238-252) involves suspending phospholipids in an organic solvent which is then evaporated to dryness leaving a phospholipid film on the reaction vessel. Next, an appropriate amount of aqueous phase is added, the mixture is allowed to xe2x80x9cswellxe2x80x9d, and the resulting liposomes, which consist of multilamellar vesicles (MLVs), are dispersed by mechanical means. This technique provided the basis for the development of the small sonicated unilamellar vesicles (SUVS) described by Papahadjopoulos et al. (Biochim. Biophys. Acta., 1968, 135:624-638), as well as large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs). In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,871, issued Nov. 25, 1980 to Papahadjopoulos et al., describes a xe2x80x9creverse-phase evaporation processxe2x80x9d for making oligolamellar lipid vesicles, also known as reverse-phase evaporation vesicles (REVs). Alternative methods have been developed for forming improved classes of multilamellar vesicles which have been shown to have particularly improved properties such as, for example, higher active ingredient trapping efficiencies and loadability, better stability, less leakage, and greater ease of production. One such improved class of liposomes, denominated as stable plurilamellar vesicles (SPLVs), is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,803, issued Jun. 11, 1985 to Lenk et al. Another such improved class, defined as monophasic vesicles (MPVs), is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,578, issued May 13, 1986 to Fountain et al. Both of these classes of liposomes have also been characterized as having substantially equal interlamellar solute distributions. A general review of various methods for producing liposomes, including an extensive bibliography, is set forth in Deamer and Uster, xe2x80x9cLiposome Preparation: Methods and Mechanismsxe2x80x9d, in the Liposomes, edited by M. Ostro, pp. 27-51 (1983), incorporated herein by reference. The administration of drugs encapsulated in or otherwise associated with liposomes has been proposed for use in a variety of drug delivery regimens in combination with or as an alternative to the administration of free drugs. In some applications, liposomes have been found to provide sustained release of drugs for extended periods, which can be of particular importance in the lengthy chemotherapy regimens often required for the treatment of various forms of cancer or AIDS-related illnesses. Another property of liposomes is their ability to be taken up by certain cells, such as phagocytes, such that they can deliver their active ingredient to the interior of the cells. This makes such liposome treatment particularly useful in treating intracellular infections, such as those associated with species of Mycobacteria, Brucella, Listeria, and Salmonella. Thus, drugs encapsulated in liposomes can be delivered for the treatment of such intracellular diseases without administering large amounts of free unencapsulated drug into the bloodstream. In addition, the mere association of certain drugs or other bio-active agents with liposomes has been found to potentiate or improve the activity of such drugs or bio-active agents, or to reduce their toxicity. Liposomes behave like particles, and are commonly described in terms of average particle size and particle-size distributions. For certain uses of liposomes, particularly in the parenteral administration of drugs, it is important to size the liposomes to a desired average particle size, and to maintain a controlled particle-size distribution, particularly by sizing the liposomes so that substantially all of the liposomes are of a size below a predetermined maximum diameter. For liposomes intended for parenteral administration, one desirable size range is between about 100 and 1000 nm, preferably between about 100 and 500 nm. (As used herein, nm represents nanometer (10xe2x88x929 m) and um represents micrometer or micron (10xe2x88x926 m).) The maximum desired size range is often limited by the desire to sterilize the liposomes by filtering through conventional sterilization filters, which commonly have a particle-size discrimination of about 200 nm. However, overriding biological efficacy and/or safety factors may dictate the need for a particular particle size, either larger or smaller. Control of the size range of the liposomes may also improve the effectiveness of the liposomes in vivo, as well as the stability and leakage resistance of the liposomes. The various methods for producing liposomes generally produce a suspension of liposomes of widely varying sizes, many of which exceed 1000 nm in average particle size. A number of methods have been proposed to reduce the size and size distribution of liposomes in such suspensions. In a simple homogenization method, a suspension of liposomes is repeatedly pumped under high pressure through a small orifice or reaction chamber until a desired average size of liposome particles is achieved. A limitation of this method is that the liposome size distribution is typically quite broad and variable, depending on the number of homogenization cycles, pressures, and internal temperature. Small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs), generally characterized as having diameters below 100 nm, are composed of highly strained, curved bilayers. The SUVs are typically produced by disrupting larger liposomes via ultrasonication. It has been found that a narrow size distribution of such liposomes can only be achieved when the liposomes have been reduced to their smallest sizes, less than about 50 nm. Furthermore, this process may not be amenable to large-scale production, because it is generally conducted as a batch process with long-term sonication of relatively small volumes. In addition, heat build-up during sonication can lead to peroxidative damage to lipids, and sonication probes may shed titanium particles which are potentially quite toxic in vivo. A method of sizing liposomes by filtration through a 200-nm Unipore(trademark) polycarbonate filter is discussed in Szoka, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 75:4194-8 (1978). A size-processing method based on liposome extrusion through a series of uniform straight-pore type polycarbonate membranes from about 1000 nm down to about 100 nm is described in Hunt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,561, issued Jul. 16, 1985. However, this method can be relatively slow, often requiring many passes through various size filters to obtain the desired particle-size distribution. Vesicles may also be size-reduced using an extrusion process described in Cullis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,050, issued Apr. 16, 1991, incorporated herein by reference. Vesicles made by this technique are extruded under pressure through a filter with a pore size of 100 nm or less. This procedure avoids the problems of the above homogenization and sonication methods, and does not require multiple passes through decreasing size filters, as described in the above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,561. Such a process can provide size distributions of liposomes that are quite narrow, particularly by cycling the material through the selected size filter several times. In addition, it is believed that such extrusions may convert multilamellar vesicles into oligolamellar or even unilamellar form, which may be desired for certain applications. However, as demonstrated by the Examples set forth below in the present specification, when such extrusions are made through 100-nm polycarbonate filters, such as the Nuclepore(trademark) filters used in the examples of this reference, even at relatively high pressures flow rates may be relatively low. U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,323, issued Apr. 12, 1988, describes a method for sizing liposomes by extrusion through an asymmetric ceramic filter. Such filters are designed for operation at relatively high pressure, and can be backflushed to prevent clogging. U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,637, issued May 23, 1990 describes a method of sizing liposomes by passing them through a polymer filter having a web-like xe2x80x9ctortuous-pathxe2x80x9d construction. An alternative type of filter medium is described in Furneaux et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,551, issued Aug. 18, 1987. This patent discloses a new type of filter sheet comprising an anodic aluminum oxide film having branched pores extending from one surface of the film to the other. The film is unique in that it includes a system of larger pores extending in from one face and a system of smaller pores extending in from the other face. The system of larger pores interconnects with the system of smaller pores such that the inner ends of one or more smaller pores are joined to the inner end of a larger pore and there are substantially no blind larger pores. This patent is incorporated by reference into the present specification for the purpose of disclosing such branched-pore type aluminum oxide porous films and the method for forming them. In a particular embodiment, the branched-pore anodic aluminum oxide film of the Furneaux et al. patent is described as: An anodic aluminum oxide film having pores extending from one face of the film to the other, including a system of larger pores extending in from one face a distance into the film, the larger pores having a diameter d near their inner ends, and a system of smaller pores extending in from the other face a distance s into the film, the smaller pores having a substantially uniform minimum diameter p, the system of larger pores interconnecting with the system of smaller pores, such that the inner ends of one or more smaller pores are joined to the inner end of a larger pore and there are substantially no blind larger pores, wherein d is 10 nm to 2 um p is at least 2 nm but less than 0.5 d, and s is 10 nm to 1 um. The size rating of such branched-pore type films is equal to p, the substantially uniform minimum diameter of the smaller pores. Filtration membranes made in accordance with the disclosure of the Furneaux et al. patent are commercially available and sold by the Anotec Separations, New York, N.Y., under the name Anopore(trademark). Additional information regarding such branched-pore type membranes is provided in Furneaux et al., xe2x80x9cThe Formation of Controlled-Porosity Membranes from Anodicaily Oxidized Aluminumxe2x80x9d, Nature 337:147-9 (1989). One use of such branched-pore Anopore(trademark) filters is described in Jones et al., xe2x80x9cComparison of a New Inorganic Membrane Filter (Anopore) with a Track-Etched Polycarbonate Membrane Filter (Nuclepore) for Direct Counting of Bacteriaxe2x80x9d, Applied and Environmental Microbiology 55(2):529-30 (1989). This article compares the bacteria filtering ability of a 200-nm-pore-size Anopore(trademark) filter against a 200-nm-pore-size Nuclepore(trademark) filter. In accordance with the method of the present invention, a population of liposomes substantially free of liposomes above a predetermined maximum size is produced by (1) providing a suspension of liposomes, a portion of which are of sizes larger than the predetermined maximum size; and (2) passing the suspension under pressure one or more times through an aluminum oxide porous film. Films with a pore size of 1000 nm or less may be used to obtain liposomes with an average particle size of in the range of about 100 to 1000 nm. In a particular embodiment of the present invention, a film with a pore-size rating of 200 nm or less is used to obtain a population of liposomes with a predetermined maximum diameter of less than about 500 nm. In another embodiment, a film with a Pore size of about 100 nm or less is used, and the suspension of liposomes is passed through the filter one or more times until the average liposome particle size is about 100 to 200 nm. In a further embodiment of the present invention, the suspension of liposomes is passed repeatedly through the porous film until a desired particle size distribution is obtained. In a particular embodiment, the liposomes are passed through the porous film two to ten times. In an additional embodiment, the liposomes are presized by being passed one or more times through a 2-10 micrometer filter. A preferred film for use in the present invention is a branched-pore type anodic aluminum oxide porous film. As discussed above, such a branched-pore anodic aluminum oxide porous film is an aluminum oxide sheet having two substantially parallel major faces with pores extending from one face of the sheet to the other, including a system of larger pores extending from one face into the sheet and a system of smaller pores extending in from the other face, the system of larger pores interconnecting with the system of smaller pores such that the inner ends of one or more smaller pores are joined to the inner end of a larger pore and there are substantially no blind larger pores. The size rating of such branched-pore type films is equal to the minimum diameter of the smaller pores, which are preferably substantially uniform. In a further embodiment of the present invention, apparatus is provided for carrying out the filtration method. The apparatus comprises one or more filter assemblies for holding the aluminum oxide porous films in operational configuration, means for supplying the suspension of liposomes to the filter assemblies, and means to receive the filtrate from the assemblies. In a particular embodiment, two or more assemblies are used in parallel configuration to filter the liposome suspension passing from the supply means to the receiving means. Optionally, means can also be provided for recirculating at least a portion of the filtrate from the receiving means back to the supply means, thus providing for multiple passes of the liposomes through the filters. In addition, a sterilization filter can be provided downstream of the receiving means, as may be appropriate to prepare the filtrate for pharmaceutical use. The extrusion is rapid and inexpensive, and does not require the use of solvents or other chemicals that must be removed.

It is now common practice to explore the oceans of the earth for deposits of oil, gas and other valuable minerals by seismic techniques in which an exploration vessel imparts an acoustic wave into the water, typically by use of a compressed air "gun." The acoustic wave travels downwardly into the sea bed and is reflected at the interfaces between layers of materials having varying acoustic impedances. The wave travels; back upwardly where it is detected by microphone or "hydrophone" elements in a streamer towed by the vessel to yield information regarding characteristics of the underwater material and structures. A towed streamer comprises a plurality of pressure-sensitive hydrophone elements enclosed within a waterproof jacket and electrically coupled to recording equipment onboard the vessel. Each hydrophone element within the streamer is designed to convert the mechanical energy present in pressure variations surrounding the hydrophone element into electrical signals. Due to its often extreme length (on the order of kilometers), the streamer is divided into a number of separate sections or "modules" that can be decoupled from one another and that are individually waterproof. Individual streamers can be towed in parallel through the use of paravanes to create a two dimensional array of hydrophone elements. Data buses running through each of the modules in the streamer carry the signals from the hydrophone elements to the recording equipment (so-called "acoustic data"). In addition to acoustic data, it is also important to collect and transmit data concerning operational status of the array to the vessel (so-called "nonacoustic data"). Nonacoustic data comprises physical characteristics of interest regarding the operation of each module, including whether water has invaded a module in the streamer, module temperature, module depth and power supply voltage. Today, many towed arrays have digital data channels. The primary advantage of digital data transmission is its ability to handle a significantly greater number of sensors for a given streamer size. For example, streamers with a thousand or more. sensors would be of an impractical large diameter to simply contain the analog bus conductors therein. Also, with digital data transmission, data transmission rates are higher and, with proper attention to shielding of electromagnetic interference, data fidelity is maintained from the hydrophone to the recording equipment. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,553, that issued on Dec. 7, 1976 is directed to a plurality of data acquisition units connected to a central signal processor through a common digital telemetry link. The telemetry link includes a data channel, an interrogation channel and a control channel. The central signal processor sends an interrogation signal through the interrogation channel to the data acquisition units. As each data acquisition unit recognizes the interrogation signal, it transmits its acquired data back up to the central processor through the data channel. Any selected data acquisition unit, when it receives a control signal through the control channel at the same time that it receives an interrogation signal through the interrogation channel, can be caused to perform a function different from all other units. The signal propagation velocity through the control channel is different from the signal propagation velocity through the interrogation channel. One of the two signals may be transmitted through the faster channel at a selected time later than the other of the two signals is transmitted through the slower channel. The selected time difference between the transmission of the two signals is proportional to the ratio of signal propagation delay difference between channels. Accordingly, the signal propagating through the faster channel will overtake and intercept the signal propagating through the slower channel at the selected data acquisition unit. Each data acquisition unit may have one or more input channels. Each input channel is connected in turn to the data channel through a stepping switch or multiplexer. The interrogation signal may exist in one of two or more states. In the first state, the interrogation signal resets the multiplexer, in the second state, the interrogation signal advances the multiplexer to the next input channel in sequence. Thus, this system allows for control signals to command changes of state within the individual multiplexers in the system. In the past, these data acquisition units were physically housed in metal canisters located between the modules in the streamer. Being metal and containing electronic components, the canisters were relatively heavy. Thus, the canisters were made large (on the order of 4-5 inches in diameter and 15-18 inches in length) and spacious inside to give the canisters an overall near-neutral buoyancy. As an exemplary teaching of such a canister arrangement, U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,629, that issued on May 30, 1978, is directed to a seismic sensor streamer having 50 modules and much of the seismic data processing electronics decentralized into the cable structure itself. The streamer is coupled to a central station mounted in a recording vehicle. The central station includes recording circuitry and apparatus to receive, process and record digital data words from a data link in the streamer and circuity for transmitting control signals into an interrogation link in the streamer. The electrical output of each sensor unit constitutes a separate input channel. The modules are spaced apart and interconnected by small diameter, cylindrical inter-module canisters that contain a transceiver unit for processing the signals from ten sensor units in an associated module. Contained within each transceiver unit is a multiplexer having a plurality of filtered input channels coupled respectively to the elemental sensor units, and an output. In response to a first interrogation pulse transmitted through the interrogation link from the central station unit, the multiplexer advances to a selected input channel to acquire a first analog data sample. A second interrogation pulse sequences the respective multiplexers in all 50 modules to select a second channel for sampling and digitizing to provide digital data words for the respective second channels. The self-clocking phase-encoded data words transmitted from the respective transceiver associated with each module are ordered in accordance with the propagation delay time of the interrogation link between the central station and the respective transceiver units. Self-clocking data words from corresponding channels within the respective transceiver units are ordered in accordance with the channel-select sequence during a scan cycle. Unfortunately, the inter-module canisters had several significant disadvantages. First, since they were of large diameter compared to the modules, they created viscous drag and turbulence when the streamer was towed. Not only was the streamer required to be stronger (thus heavier) to handle the extra strain caused by the drag, but the turbulence churned water, distorting the acoustic signals before they reached the hydrophones and impairing signal quality. Second, since streamers are commonly stowed on large spools (involving bending of the streamer around curved surfaces under tension) when not in use, the inflexible canisters presented storage problems. All long, flexible structures (such as ropes, streamers or bananas) have minimum bend radii beyond which excessive internal stresses may damage the structure, particularly if the structure is subject to axial stress. The canisters created strain on the ends of the modules as the modules were forced to bend and stretch to adjust for the inflexibility and length of the canisters length (15-18 inches). Since they were of large diameter (4-5 inches versus less than 3 inches for the module), they created lumps in the stored streamer. In an effort to alleviate the strain and lump problems, workers had to insert pads or blocks around the canisters as the streamer was wound onto its spool to cushion the modules. The workers also had to remove these pads or blocks when the streamer was deployed from the spool. Third, the signals emanating from hydrophones are of extremely low level since hydrophones are of high impedance, the pressure signals from the ocean floor are weak and the volume of piezoelectric material in the hydrophones is low for economic and space reasons. Signal attenuation and distortion due to the length of wire, triboelectric noise generated when the wire is flexed due to streamer motions and electromagnetically coupled noise from other wires within the streamer (e.g. digital telemetry data) all contribute to degradation of the hydrophone signal. It is optimal to transmit the hydrophone signals over the shortest possible wire distance. Since a module is typically 50 to 100 meters long, hydrophone signals had to travel, on average, half the length of the module before being processed in the prior art inter-module canisters, degrading signal quality. Fourth, electronic circuits are typically "active" in the sense that power must be supplied for their proper function. Such circuits dissipate most of their input power as heat, which must be managed so that high temperatures (that tend to shorten the life of electronic components) are avoided. Areas of high circuit concentration (such as the prior art canisters) are, in general, more prone to heat concentration (and resulting high temperatures) than spatially distributed circuitry. Finally, the inter-module canisters represented yet more parts that had to be assembled to create a streamer and required the use of twice the number of connectors. To date, deepwater seismic streamers have had a diameter of at least 2.8 inches, although some small streamers of limited capability and employed for specialized work have been of less diameter. This large diameter was necessary to house larger, stronger strain cables and larger diameter hydrophones. This larger diameter posed a storage problem, as such streamers are typically more than 3 km long. The sheer volume of the streamer and handling equipment exacerbated the modern practice of towing multiple streamers in an array. Further, as damaged modules must be shipped to repair sites, the larger diameter posed a shipping problem. What is needed in the art is a towed hydrophone streamer that eliminates the inter-module canisters, distributing the electronics instead within each module to yield a streamer that is thinner, more flexible, quieter and has fewer connectors.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention is generally related to broadband communication systems. More particularly, the present invention is related to broadband communications systems that use Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) or any of its derivatives, including but not limited to a DOCSIS-compliant two-way satellite communication system. In addition, the present application is not limited to systems which utilize DOCSIS and may easily be applied to other communication system specifications and protocols that use adaptive modulation techniques (e.g., digital video broadcasting—return channel system, or DVB-RCS). The present invention includes techniques for mapping Ethernet packets for input into a series of frames having moving pictures experts group (MPEG) frames as output. This output of MPEG frames may ultimately be used as an input to a variable encoder and modulator processing block to perform adaptive modulation. With adaptive modulation, bandwidth is increased over conventional approaches of fixed encoding and modulation implementations. When applied to a communications system such as DOCSIS, variants of DOCSIS, or DVB-RCS communication systems, adaptive modulation facilitates installation of more subscriber modems on the cable system. More subscribers ultimately translates into additional revenue. 2. Related Art DOCSIS is a series of specifications provided by CableLabs (www.cablelabs.com) to define a standard for cable modem headend and modem equipment. The cable modem headend (also known as the Cable Modem Termination System, or CMTS) provides a gateway between a wide area network from a central location to a plurality of cable modems (CM's) via a hybrid/fiber coaxial (HFC) interface cable. The DOCSIS specifications define the downstream as the direction of data flow from the CMTS to the CM's and the upstream as the direction of data flow from the CM's to the CMTS. DOCSIS specifies that the downstream data flow as a broadcast of MPEG frames which can be received by all CM's. These MPEG frames may contain DOCSIS frames. The DOCSIS frames may in turn contain DOCSIS management packets or Ethernet packets. The Ethernet packets can contain either user datagram protocol (UDP) packets, Internet protocol (IP) type packets, or potentially other types of protocol packets. DOCSIS specifies the upstream as a time-division multiple access (TDMA) method of sharing upstream bandwidth to be shared among a plurality of CM's. The unit of time used in this TDMA implementation and CM sharing is called a mini-slot. The mini-slot is a programmable length of time fixed during initialization time of the CMTS. The bandwidth of the upstream is divided among a consecutive number of these minislots to be used either by one or more multiple CM's. DOCSIS has also been adapted to work with communication systems other than the HFC interface between the CMTS and the CM. One of these systems is a fixed wireless system, whereby the gateway is called a Wireless Access Termination System (WATS) and the modem is called a Wireless Modem (WM). Another system that has adopted DOCSIS utilizes a two-way satellite system whereby the gateway is called the Satellite Modem Termination System (SMTS) and the modem is called the Satellite Modem (SM). The present application has primarily been adapted for the SMTS but is not limited to the SMTS and may be applied to other DOCSIS variants and non-DOCSIS variant systems. One challenge in the conventional DOCSIS approaches, however, is that all MPEG frames are transmitted between the DOCSIS based SMTS and a corresponding SM system, based upon the same transmission parameters. The limitation that all of the MPEG frames must be transmitted using the same transmission parameters prevents the SMTS from efficiently utilizing and optimizing downstream bandwidth. What is needed, therefore, is a process that enables a communication system such as a DOCSIS based SMTS to dynamically configure downstream MPEG frame parameters. This downstream configuring preferably occurs in a manner that efficiently allocates and optimizes available downstream bandwidth.

1. Field of the Invention The present patent application is closely related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 266,429 which is a parent application of Ser. No. 647,271, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,903 and U.S. Ser. No. 266,424, which is a parent application of Ser. No. 580,772, now abandoned both filed on even date with the present application and assigned to the assignee of the present application. The present invention relates generally to digital computer systems and more specifically co systems for representing data by means of operands and obtaining the address of the represented data from the operands. 2. Description of Prior Art A recurring problem in the design of digital computer systems is the manner in which data to be processed by the computer system is to be represented in the instructions to which the processor responds. In order to process an item of data, the processor requires at a minimum the address of the item. However, it is generally impractical to simply include the address in the instruction. First, the locations of many items of data are not known until a program is actually executed, and consequently, cannot be included in the program's instructions. Second, when the address is included in the instruction, the instruction will operate correctly only in a single addressing environment. Such a restriction bars the sharing of programs by different users and further bars the use of procedures which may be called at various points in a program. In the prior art, the above problems have been overcome by techniques such as base-displacement addressing and descriptions. In base-displacement addressing, utilized for example in the IBM 360-370 family of digital computer systems, the processor contains one or more base registers. Certain instructions permit the programmer to load the base registers with addresses obtained from memory or computed in the processor. Addresses of data may then be represented in instructions by specifying one of the base registers and a displacement from whatever address is currently stored in the base register. The address of the data is obtained by adding the specified displacement to the current value of the specified base register. Since the base registers may be set during execution of a program, addresses which are not known until the program is executed may be calculated by first setting a base register to the proper value and then specifying a displacement relative to the base address. Further, since the base registers may be set to different values for different executions of a program, programs are independent of a specific addressing environment. Base-displacement addressing is not well-suited to dealing with data items whose addresses are determined by complex computations dependent on values which are not known until the program is executed. For example, the address of an array element is found by obtaining an index value from memory, multiplying the size of an element in the array by the index value, and adding the result to the address of the beginning of the array. In base-displacement addressing, sequences of instructions specifying these computations and setting the base registers to the proper values must be executed each time a program processes an element of an array. Consequently, programs dealing with data such as array elements are much longer than those dealing with data requiring less-complex address computations. Descriptions, as implemented in the Burroughs B1700 processor and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,805,247, Zucker, et al., Apr. 16, 1974, entitled Description Driven Microprogrammable Multiprocessor System, solve the above-cited problems of base-displacement addressing schemes when complex address computations are required. In the system disclosed in Zucker et al., data items are represented in instructions by specifying a name register and a description address. Descriptions are data in memory which are associated with a specific execution of a program and which are used to calculate the addresses for that execution of the program. Where complex calculations are required, one description may refer to another. The name register specified in the instruction contains data allowing the specific location of a data item in an area specified by the description located by the description address. The address of the represented data item is computed using the information in the description specified in the instruction, descriptions referred to through that description, and the information in the name register specified in the instruction. Since one description may refer to another, no more instructions are needed in programs involving data items requiring complex address computations than in those requiring only simple address computations. Further, while instructions for complex address computations must be repeated each time the address computation is performed, a given description may be used to calculate addresses for many different instructions. There are two disadvantages to descriptions: first, they must be created anew each time a program is executed; second, they contain memory management and protection information which is subject to change while a program is being executed; consequently, even though the address of a data item may remain the same throughout the execution of the program, the address cannot be easily encached. The present invention provides data processing system improvements and features which solve the above-described problems and limitations.

Modern storage facilities handle a large number of inventory items on a daily basis. Examples of such inventory items may include groceries, apparels, or the like. The storage facilities typically store the inventory items on shelves of storage units, and utilize mobile robots to transport the inventory items or the storage units between various locations in the storage facilities for order fulfillment and/or inventory management. For example, for fulfillment of an order, the mobile robots may transport one or more storage units storing the corresponding inventory items to an operation station in the storage facility. At the operation station, an operator may handle (e.g., pick and put-down) the inventory items for the order fulfillment. Such systems, however, rely on manual intervention which is time-consuming. Further, manual operationality has limited applicability in a large-scale facility that aims to fulfil a large number of orders within a short duration of time. Robotic manipulators are widely deployed in the storage facilities to solve the aforementioned problem and to ensure efficient management of the inventory items. While the robotic manipulators provide efficient handling of inventory items, they have a few limitations of their own. For example, such robotic manipulators may only be utilized to handle non-deformable inventory items. When such robotic manipulators are utilized to handle deformable objects (e.g., apparels, deformable cartons, or the like) that are arranged in a stack, it is difficult for the robotic manipulators to prevent the deformation of the deformable objects. For example, when a robotic manipulator is utilized for handling a folded pair of jeans, an appearance of the jeans may change from a folded state to an unfolded state (i.e., a deformed state). Also, in an attempt to handle the deformable object arranged in the stack, such robotic manipulators may deform various other objects in the stack. The robotic picking technologies are thus unable to pick up such deformable objects and maintain original form factors of the object (e.g., a form factor in which the deformable object was stored originally) and the rest of the stack. In light of the foregoing, there exists a need for a technical solution that prevents deformation of the deformable objects when being handled by a robotic manipulator at storage facilities.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data reception process, especially to baud rate tracking and compensation of a data reception process. 2. Description of Related Art Regarding certain communication techniques such as Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) communication technique, in order to ensure the efficiency and the correctness of data recovery, a receiver will determine a baud rate of a transmitter according to a training sequence of a prescribed pattern from the transmitter and then adopt the determined baud rate. However, the problem of the above-mentioned technique is that both the receiver and the transmitter have to possess the information of the transmission timing and the pattern of the training sequence in advance so as to allow the receiver to determine the baud rate. It should be noted that in a standard process of UART communication technique, a receiver and a transmitter should negotiate to adopt the same initial baud rate before they start communication, and after the receiver and the transmitter have initiated communication the receiver, in certain UART communication technique, will determine an actual baud rate of the transmitter according to a training sequence received from the transmitter so as to allow the receiver to calibrate itself by executing a process of baud rate calibration.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an IC card system for performing the collation of a personal identification number (PIN) through a plurality of steps in data processing using an IC card. 2. Description of the Related Art Today, it is the so-called cash-less age, and it is possible to purchase commodities without paying cash, but using cards issued by credit card companies, etc. Conventionally-available cards include plastic cards, embossed cards and magnetic stripe cards, which are structurally easy to forge and hence raise the problem of unauthorized use. As a solution to such a problem, it has been proposed to use information-carrying cards, so-called IC cards, which store information such as personal identification numbers. In such IC cards, a personal identification number (PIN) is used as a key to access internal data, and an externally input PIN is collated with a PIN prestored in the cards and access to the internal data is permitted when they coincide with each other. Generally, however, only one PIN is used to permit such data access, so that in the case where important data written in an IC card needs to be checked by a plurality of persons, the individual checkers should read out the internal data with the same PIN for the checking operation. This does not make it possible to perform the checking operation in the correct sequence unless the order of the persons to check the data is determined in advance and the flow of the card is monitored according to the order. As a solution to this problem, the internal data of the IC card may be printed out and the print-out may be circulated for the checking operation. With this method, however, the internal data of the IC card is relatively easy to alter. This is the bottleneck in realizing a firm banking or home banking system, which has recently been proposed as one application of IC cards and executes various types of data processing for, for example, bank transactions, using IC cards. This is because it is difficult to provide a system for performing the responsible checking operation in the individual checking stages, permitting easy alteration of the data and thus significantly deteriorating the reliability and the security of IC cards.

1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates in general to a processing system, and more particularly to determining an Azimuth angle of an incident beam of a Scatterometry tool to a wafer. 2. Background Art The use of Scatterometry in semiconductor manufacturing has grown significantly over the past several years. This technology provides the capability to conduct measurements of a wide variety of critical wafer parameters, including, e.g., critical dimensions, depths and sidewall angles. Scatterometry is generally used for the characterization of a target with a series of periodic lines and spaces, commonly referred to as grating lines. FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of a measurement target 300 with grating lines 310. FIG. 2 shows an incident light beam 320 (incident beam) that strikes target 300 at an angle 322 to a surface normal 323 of a target surface 324. A plane 326 containing incident beam 320 and a reflected beam 328 is usually referred to as a plane of incidence. An ideal plane of incidence 326 is normal to both target 300 surface 324 and to grating lines 310, i.e., both angles 332 and 334 are 90 degrees. The angle between the plane containing incident beam 320 and ideal plane of incidence 326 is referred to as an Azimuth angle of incidence beam 320 to target 300, specifically, to grating lines 310 of target 300. FIG. 3 shows an illustrative Azimuth angle (α) 330 of incident beam 320 to grating lines 310 of target 300. As such, Azimuth angle 330 represents a deviation between actual plane of incidence 327 and ideal plane of incidence 326. Conventional approaches to Scatterometry either do not pay attention to the Azimuth angles of different Scatterometry tools or simply assume that the Azimuth angles are the same for all the tools. No effort has been made to determine an Azimuth angle of an incident beam to a wafer.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to acoustic transducers for use in pulse-echo acoustic ranging systems, and more particularly to transducers of the flexural mode type. 2. Review of the Art Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,028 (Panton), issued Jun. 1, 1982, describes a flexural mode transducer suitable for use in pulse-echo acoustic ranging systems, and also discusses prior art flexural mode transducers such as those described in an article in Ultrasonics, November 1978, "An Ultrasonic Transducer for High Power Applications in Gases", which had characteristics such as extremely high Q which rendered them unsuitable for use in echo-ranging applications. The Panton transducer has been very successful in a wide range of applications, but problems have arisen in certain applications due to difficulties in finding materials to form the matching rings applied to the transducer plate which exhibit consistent acoustic properties and provide good performance over extended intervals in applications involving extreme temperatures (high or low) and/or aggressive atmospheres. In order to meet these problems it has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,615 (Steinebrunner et al) to replace the matching rings used by Panton by a rigid, apertured masking plate in front of the flexural oscillator plate, defining annular rings which mask the radiation from adjacent antinodal zones of the oscillator plates , whilst air between the rings formed low-loss coupling means matching the remaining zone of the plate to the atmosphere. Whilst such a masking plate can readily be made resistant to extreme temperatures and aggressive atmospheres, the arrangement is inherently less efficient than those preferred embodiments of the Panton arrangement which seek to match the phases of radiation from adjacent antinodal zones, since the radiation from alternate antinodal zones is necessarily lost, and the coupling of the remaining zones by the air between the rings renders it less easy to obtain a system Q which is low enough to provide a rapid ring-down of the transducer following transmission of a ranging pulse. Furthermore, it is difficult to provide adequately against particulate material becoming trapped between the masking plate and the oscillating plate, with deleterious effects upon the performance of the transducer.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present techniques, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. Network-connected devices appear throughout homes, office buildings, and other structures. Some of these devices may be hazard detection systems, such as smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, combination smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, or may be other systems for detecting other conditions have been used in residential, commercial, and industrial settings for safety and security considerations. In the event a hazard is detected, an alarming mechanism may be activated to provide a warning. However, if the alarming mechanism does not work, the ability of the hazard system to alert the user may be compromised. Thus, testing of the alarming mechanism should be done to verify that is functioning properly.

This invention relates to surgical instruments and, in particular, to a powered instrument for attaching and removing a clip on a blood vessel during a surgical operation. In various surgical operations, it is often necessary to temporarily close blood vessels to prevent loss of blood and to prevent the surgeon's view from becoming obscured by blood. In some procedures, a hemostat (a forceps-like instrument) is used to press together opposite sides of a blood vessel to block the flow of blood. The hemostat has a latch mechanism on its handles for keeping the jaws of the hemostat closed upon the blood vessel until the latch is released by the surgeon. For deep incisions, there is often not enough room for one or more hemostats to be left in place while the procedure continues. In this situation, spring loaded clamps, known as aneurism clips, are used which are much smaller than a hemostat and interfere much less with the surgeon. The clips are attached and released with a separate instrument known as an applier. Aneurism clips are well known in the art and are commercially available in over one hundred sizes and shapes to meet every possible circumstance which a surgeon may encounter. The problem is getting the clip to the attachment site properly oriented with respect to the vein or artery. A second, but no less significant problem, is to apply the clip with an instrument which does not obscure the surgeon's view of the site or of adjacent, delicate tissue. Minimally invasive surgical procedures, i.e. procedures using the smallest and fewest incisions possible, were originally used for surgery in and around the brain. Later, arthroscopic surgery was developed. Now, minimally invasive procedures are being developed for all areas of the body, e.g. abdominal and thoracic surgery. Any minimally invasive procedure greatly increases the skill required of the surgeon since the exposure of the patient is small. When a small incision is combined with a deep exposure, e.g. 100 mm, visualization and application can become quite difficult. At rest, a clip is held closed by a spring which is an integral part of the clip. For insertion, the clip is placed in the jaws of the applier and is opened by closing the jaws of the applier. Clip appliers of the prior art are typically articulated or hinged at a point near one end, i.e. the jaws are much shorter than the handles. Since the jaws of the applier are closed, the handles of the applier are relatively close to each other. In this position, the applier is as narrow as it can be. Positioning the clip can be difficult if it is necessary to insert the applier in a direction other than perpendicular to the surface of the body. Even though the jaws are closed, the width of the applier limits its insertion angle, i.e. the angle from perpendicular. In addition, the surgeon must rotate his hand to orient the clip properly with respect to the blood vessel. Often, this obliges the surgeon to operate the applier at an awkward hand position. Opening the jaws of the applier to attach the clip, or to retrieve the clip, can be quite difficult because this widens the applier. Since the hinge is near one end of the applier, the handles must be opened a considerably greater distance than the jaws open. It becomes progressively more difficult to operate the applier at greater depths. The applier can obscure the surgeon's view of the clip and the blood vessel, particularly at the critical moment of attachment or removal. Both jaws move in commercially available appliers, requiring a clear view of both jaws and the region around them. In addition, the surgeon must manually actuate the applier without letting the hand motion cause any other movement of the applier. The result is a time consuming, delicate process which prolongs the surgery and is very demanding of the surgeon. U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,683 discloses a clip applier using a pair of parallel bars sliding one on the other, actuated by the gripping action of the surgeon's hand. One end of the fixed bar is in the shape of a hook for receiving a clip, which is held between the ends of the two bars. While providing a somewhat narrower instrument, it requires the surgeon to rotate his hand to orient the clip and to manually operate the instrument. U.S Pat. No. 4,038,987 discloses a forceps used as a clip applier having jaws operated by a toggle joint connected by wire to a syringe-like actuator. As with other appliers in the prior art, the surgeon must rotate his hand to orient the clip and manually operate the instrument. In view of the foregoing, it is therefore an object of the invention to provide a powered, remotely controlled, surgical instrument for operating a jaw mechanism at any desired rotational orientation relative to the hand of a surgeon. A further object of the invention is to provide an aneurism clip applier which can be oriented prior to insertion. Another object of the invention is to provide an aneurism clip applier which requires no separate hand movement for attaching or removing clips from blood vessels. A further object of the invention is to provide a surgical instrument capable of greater insertion angle than prior art instruments. Another object of the invention is to provide an aneurism clip applier enabling improved visualization and application.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates in general to poly(phenylene sulfide) compositions, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to poly(phenylene sulfide) compositions suitable for encapsulating articles such as electronic components. This invention also relates to methods of forming poly(phenylene sulfide) compositions and articles formed of poly(phenylene sulfide) compositions. 2. Description of the Prior Art Due to their excellent heat, chemical and electrical resistance, poly(phenylene sulfide) compositions are known to be useful for encapsulating articles such as electronic components. As encapsulating materials, poly(phenylene sulfide) compositions provide protection and electrical insulation. The mechanical properties and electrical resistance of an encapsulating material are important. The material must be suitable for use in connection with encapsulation techniques that do not break or dislocate wires or other parts. In many applications, the electrical resistance of the encapsulating material must not be adversely affected by high temperature and/or high humidity. The encapsulating material must be able to withstand certain physical stresses, particularly stresses encountered during shipping, handling and assembling associated with the completed product. When used in applications such as direct and indirect encapsulation of small electronic devices, it is critical for the rate of thermal expansion of the encapsulating material to be approximately the same as the rate of thermal expansion of the encapsulated component. A substantial difference between the rate of thermal expansion of the encapsulating material and the rate of thermal expansion of the encapsulated component can result in the formation of cracks in the encapsulating material and/or failure of the encapsulated component. Although poly(phenylene sulfide) resins inherently have good mechanical properties and electrical resistance, their rate of thermal expansion is significantly different from the rate of thermal expansion of many components. In order to compensate for this difference, a non-reinforcing filler is typically admixed with the poly(phenylene sulfide) resin. The non-reinforcing filler makes the overall rate of thermal expansion of the encapsulating material approximately the same as the rate of thermal expansion of the encapsulated component. Unfortunately, the non-reinforcing filler also tends to lower the mechanical properties, particularly the tensile strength, of the encapsulating material. The reduction of mechanical properties makes it difficult to ship, handle and assemble the completed product and can adversely affect the product during use. Although many additives are known to improve the tensile strength and mechanical properties of certain thermoplastic resins, there are no additives or additive systems that function to improve the tensile strength and other mechanical properties of all thermoplastic resins. The fact that a particular additive or additive system improves certain mechanical properties of one type of thermoplastic resin does not necessarily make it probable or even likely that the same additive or additive system will improve the same or additional physical properties of a different thermoplastic resin. Furthermore, even if a particular additive or additive system improves the tensile strength and other mechanical properties of the resin composition, it may render the composition unsuitable for use in encapsulating applications. For example, although reinforcing materials can be used to improve the tensile strength and other mechanical properties of poly(phenylene sulfide) compositions, they are not suitable for use in applications in which uniform thermal expansion is important. Unlike non-reinforcing fillers which expand uniformly in all directions, reinforcing fillers tend to have a low rate of thermal expansion in one direction and high rates of thermal expansion in the other directions. Nonuniform expansion of filler material can cause the encapsulating material to crack. Other additives or additive systems that may improve the mechanical properties of the resin often prevent use of the resin in certain encapsulation techniques.