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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electronic gaming devices and in particular security measures in such devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic gaming devices, as used in casinos and similar gaming establishments, are common in the gaming industry. In particular, gaming devices employing video displays, microprocessor control, game software programs, and related data files describing and defining the game or games played are well-known in the art.
One problem seen in the industry arises from the need to ensure that games have not been tampered with or modified so as to unfairly affect payouts. In current computer- or microprocessor-based gaming devices (machines), all game software programs and related data files (such as graphics and paytables) are stored in read-only memory (ROM) physically located inside the device""s cabinet. The game software is thus under the physical control of the gaming establishment or casino using the device. The ROM is either soldered into the circuit board of the game or mounted in a socket with a tamper-proof device such as a security tape. These precautions are mandated in some locations by gaming regulators to prevent manipulation of the gaming program once installed in the machine.
With the comparatively recent advent of multimedia games, e.g., games employing sophisticated and complex sound, graphic, and video effects, the memory storage limitations of ROM devices has become a limitation. The latest multimedia games require many times more computer memory to hold the game program software and associated data files, such as special graphics, video, or sound files. The high cost, power consumption, and physical space required to install enough ROM in a gaming device to hold modern multimedia games has become an issue slowing the growth of these more appealing games.
Mass storage devices, such as local or networked disk, tape, and/or CD-ROM drives are known in the art for their ability to store such large multimedia games and related data files. Software and data files are loaded from the mass storage device into random access memory (RAM) within the gaming device by conventional means long known in the computer arts. However, RAM (by its very nature) is extremely easy to alter. Gaming regulators are reluctant to allow the use of RAM-based software and data storage systems without assurance that the game cannot be tampered with during play, either by the house or by a player so as to create an unfair game.
What is needed is a method of verifying and authenticating game program software and related data files upon loading into a gaming machine from a mass storage system, during play, and on the occurrence of certain events so that the game integrity is positively ensured at all times.
Presently disclosed is a method and apparatus for securing the game software and related data files used by a casino gaming device and for authenticating such files during game startup and play. In one embodiment of the present invention, a verification code is generated by the manufacturer for each software file and data file used by the game. The verification codes are stored in a non-volatile, tamper-proof, read-only memory device securely attached to the gaming device. On some or every download of the game software and/or related data files into the gaming device, commencement of a game, or on the occurrence of certain pre-defined events, the stored verification code is used to validate the game software and data files. Additionally, in some embodiments verification is performed automatically on a periodic basis without operator or player action.
Verification consists of calculating a xe2x80x9clivexe2x80x9d verification code for some or all of the software and data files present in the alterable random access memory using the same method chosen to create the stored verification code described above. In some embodiments of the present invention, the verification code is the result of a hash function of trusted copies of each software and related data file. If the live code matches the stored code for each and every file in question, then operation and play proceeds normally. If, however, one or more codes do not match, an error condition is declared and operation is halted. Notification of the error condition follows according to means well-known in the art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In the exploration of earth formations, it is known to move an array of sensors along an exposed surface of the earth formation, typically along the exposed wall of a bore-hole in the earth, to produce data signals representative of variations in certain meaningful characteristics of the adjacent earth formation. For example, this is commonly done in the so-called logging of bore holes, in search of natural deposits of oil. Typically also, the data signals produced by the sensors are in electrical form, or are converted thereto.
A common form of sensor system used for this purpose injects current from an electrode array into the adjacent earth formation and measures variations in that current and/or in a voltage related to the current. It is also possible to use an array of electrodes to sense variations in a potential known as the spontaneous potential or SP, which appears naturally along the explored wall. In either case, the electrical signals vary in accordance with certain characteristics of the adjacent earth formation, and can therefore be used to characterize that formation.
While it is possible to obtain some useful information in such systems which use only a single sensor, significant advantages result from using systems containing an array of multiple sensors to obtain the data signals, and using the data signals so derived to produce a two-dimensional image corresponding to an area of the bore-hole wall extending both along, and at right angles to, the direction of motion of the sensor array. One such system, commonly known as a Formation Microscanner or FMS.TM., conveys to an experienced observer a clearer mental picture of the distribution of the measured characteristic over a segment of the bore-hole wall than does a single-line graph of data produced by a single sensor.
One way in which to collect data to produce a two-dimensional image of a bore-hole wall would be to use a linear array of sensors, i.e., one in which the sensors are all distributed along a straight line, at right angle to the direction of motion of the array. In this way, the data collected would span two dimensions: at any given time the array of sensors would be collecting data along the azimuth direction (i.e., the direction transverse to the array motion along the bore-hole wall) and, over time, the array would be moved to successive different positions along the bore-hole wall.
In any sensor system, the individual sensors need to be sufficiently separated one from another to reduce the possibility that the sensors will interfere with one another in their operation; for example, sensor electrodes will electrically short-circuit to each other if they are placed too close together in the array. However, a deleterious result of such sensor separation in a linear array is the decrease in the resolution of the final image in the azimuth direction, or an increase in undesirable aliasing problems; in this connection see U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,759 of Ekstrom et al, issued Feb. 4, 1986.
One way to accommodate the sensor separation requirement and still achieve satisfactory azimuth resolution is to use a system in which the array of sensors is distributed in a two-dimensional pattern, so that the sensors span the azimuth direction with increased resolution (i.e., there are a larger number of sensors per unit of distance along the azimuth direction) while still being sufficiently separated one from another. One such sensor pattern positions the sensors across the array in a zig-zag pattern, whereby the sensors are very closely spaced, or even overlapping, along the azimuth direction, but are separated into rows such that adjacent azimuth sensors are in different rows. As such a sensor array is pulled along the bore-hole wall, the sensor array sweeps out a continuous, or more nearly continuous, area of the bore-hole wall than if a single row of sensors was used, and yet provides the necessary separation between electrodes.
At any given time, the array of sensors will be producing data corresponding to different positions on the bore-hole wall, both in the azimuth direction and in the logging direction, corresponding to the different positions of the sensors distributed on the face of the probe. For simplicity, position along the logging direction will be referred to herein as "depth," even though the logging direction is not necessarily limited to being purely vertical. In order to achieve maximal resolution, these different positions need to be taken into account when the data is presented in image form. More particularly, the depths associated with the sensor data from individual sensors need to be adjusted to ensure that all the data are presented for depths corresponding to those at which the sensors were when the data was produced. A system of this type using depth adjustment of the data is described, for example, in the above cited Ekstrom et al patent.
While two-dimensional display systems have proved to be effective for their intended purposes, as with nearly all measuring systems their maximum useful sensitivity and accuracy is limited by the presence in the data signals of variations which do not represent the characterics to be detected. Such undesired, false, or spurious signal components will be designated herein as "noise," to distinguish them from "true" data signals, without thereby suggesting that they are necessarily random.
When the desired, true data signals are large compared to the level of noise, noise is not as much of a problem as when the desired, true data signals are relatively small. For example, in usual bore-hole exploration, a water-based "mud" is used in the bore-hole which helps to support the bore-hole walls physically, and also provides a medium of rather high electrical conductivity for current flowing between sensors and bore-hole wall. With such a high-conductivity mud, it is relatively easy to obtain data signals sufficiently large compared to the level of noise to be practical for commercial FMS.TM. bore-hole exploration. However, it is sometimes desirable for certain purposes to use an oil-based mud, which has a much lower conductivity than usual water-based muds, and this lower conductivity reduces the strength of the desired, true data signals so that they are more easily obscured by noise signals. Accordingly, in this situation, it is especially desirable to discriminate against noise signals and to reduce their effects on the two-dimensional signal display.
One type of noise which can adversely affect the results of bore-hole exploration is designated herein as "one-dimensional" noise, since it varies primarily as a function of the position of the entire sensor array along its direction of motion, but is substantially the same for all sensor positions in the array. When such one-dimensional noise occurs in a system in which the sensors are distributed in a two-dimensional array, all of the sensors will be affected by the noise at the same time. After the data is depth-adjusted to take into account the vertical distribution of the sensors on the probe face, the noisy data will appear as anomalous artifacts in the final image in the shape of "footprints" of the pattern of sensors in the array. For example, where the sensors extend across the array in a zig-zag pattern, the artifacts are in the form of a corresponding set of zig-zags.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful signal filtering method and apparatus for reducing or eliminating certain artifacts which may appear in an electrically-derived two-dimensional image of an earth formation due to one-dimensional noise signals present in a two-dimensional array of logging sensors.
Another object is to provide a method and apparatus for reducing or eliminating artifacts of zig-zag form which tend to be produced in such a two-dimensional image by one-dimensional noise signals from a two-dimensional array of logging sensors arranged along zig-zag lines. A further object is to provide a method and apparatus for producing more accurate, and more readily interpreted, two-dimensional images of certain characteristics of a bore-hole wall. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a retractable writing instrument and more particularly to a stand having a retractable tether with a writing instrument attached to the tether.
2. Description of the Related Art
In banks, stores, restaurants and other places of business pens are provided for customers to use for filling out forms or signing documents, deposit slips, withdrawal slips, credit card slips, or other papers. Since it is desired to have the pen remain in place for the next user various tethers have been attached to the writing instrument to secure the writing instrument to a tabletop, desktop, countertop, or a holder of some type attached to the tabletop, desktop, and countertop. The writing instrument is preferably a pen.
The tether is usually a static fixed length line running from a device for attaching the tether to on one end and securing the pen on the other end. The tether is long enough to permit writing when the paper is near the tether attachment position. When the customer is finished with the pen the tether keeps the pen on the tabletop, desktop or countertop for use by the next person.
In some embodiments the pen is not just laid down on the tabletop, desktop or countertop but inserted into a penholder for securing the pen in an upright position for use by the next person or optionally laid down on the tabletop, desktop or countertop.
If the tether or the penholder is fixed to the tabletop, desktop or countertop it is not portable and limits the range of use of the device. This limits the usefulness of the penholder.
Further for the penholder with a tether the pen can be placed in any number of places relative to the penholder and may not be easy to find on a desk covered with papers or other objects. Therefore it is preferable to have a retractable tether so that the pen will always be in the same position relative to the stand for easily location the pen. It is also preferred to have a portable stand for selecting the placement of the pen on the tabletop, desktop or countertop or for easily moving the penholder to another location. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to a process for preparing immobilized lipase, to the immobilized lipase itself and to a process for enzyme-catalyzed conversion in the presence of the immobilized lipase.
Lipases can be used in solution as enzymatic catalysts for converting substrates. Immobilized lipases are distinguished from free lipases by having an increased stability and useful life on carrying out the reaction continuously and batchwise, and by easy recovery of the catalytically active species in batchwise reactions.
It is known to immobilize lipases by adsorption onto a solid support. It is also known to prepare immobilized lipases by contacting polyolefin particles with an aqueous solution of a purified lipase.
EP 232 933 describes the immobilization of a purified lipase from an aqueous solution by adsorption onto hydrophobic thermoplastic polymers such as, for example, aliphatic polyolefins. The immobilized lipase is used for fat hydrolysis.
WO 90/15868 discloses the immobilization of purified Candida antarctica lipase from an aqueous solution by adsorption onto aliphatic polyolefins which have been pretreated with organic solvents. The immobilized lipase is used for ester synthesis.
In WO 94/28118 a nonionic surface-active substance is added before immobilization of the purified lipase on hydrophobic support materials.
All prior art processes have the disadvantage that the lipase is purified to remove other proteins, enzymes and other cell constituents from the crude lipase solution before the immobilization on the solid support. This purification step by precipitation and chromatographic processes is time-consuming and costly.
In addition, the immobilized lipases prepared according to the prior art have a greatly reduced activity compared with the free lipases and must be reactivated by adding, for example, surface-active substances.
Addition of surface-active substances is also necessary to activate free lipases in organic solution which have been purified from a crude lipase solution according to the prior art (WO 95/17504).
In addition, the useful life of the immobilized lipases prepared according to the prior art is still not optimal.
It is an object of the present invention to remedy the described deficiencies and provide a novel simplified process for preparing immobilized lipase and novel immobilized lipases which have optimized properties and have been prepared by a simplified process.
We have found that these objects are achieved by a novel process for preparing immobilized lipase, in which a crude lipase solution is contacted with polyolefin particle.
A crude lipase solution means, for example, a lipase solution which contains more than 2% by weight, preferably more than 5% by weight, particularly preferably more than 15% by weight, of impurities such as, for example, other proteins, other cellular constituents of the lipase-producing organism or residues of nutrient media. The lipase can be present in aqueous solution or else in aqueous buffer systems or in organic solvents such as, for example, in optionally halogenated aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons such as, for example, toluene. An aqueous crude lipase solution is preferred.
Preferred aqueous crude lipase solutions are, for example, culture broths obtained by cultivation of a lipase-producing organism in an aqueous nutrient medium, or obtainable by dispersing and/or homogenizing a lipase-producing organism or a lipase-producing cellular tissue, such as, for example, of an animal organ or of a plant, in an aqueous solvent containing, where appropriate, a buffer or other lipase-stabilizing ingredients.
The crude lipase solution is preferably purified, before contacting with the polyolefin particles, to remove cells by methods known per se, such as centrifugation or filtration.
The contacting takes place, for example, by introducing the polyolefin particles into the crude lipase solution.
When the crude lipase solution is contacted with the polyolefin particles, the lipase is adsorbed onto the polyolefin particles. It was surprising in this connection that polyolefin particles have a very high selectivity for lipases so that there is adsorption from the crude lipase solution onto the polyolefin only of the lipase and, where appropriate, its fragments and notxe2x80x94or only to a very small extent (usually less than 2% by weight)xe2x80x94the other proteins.
The adsorption step is thus also a step to purify the lipase from the other proteins and enzymes in the crude lipase solution, so that another purification step before the immobilization on the solid support can be omitted for the crude lipase solution. Besides simplified preparation, the immobilized lipases prepared in this way have the following advantages over prior art immobilized lipases:
The immobilized lipase has a longer useful life.
The addition of activated substances such as, for example, oleic acid is no longer necessary and brings about no increase in activity.
It is possible in principle also to use further purified crude lipase solutions for the process according to the invention. The crude lipase solution can be purified, for example, up to the point where addition of oleic acid to the immobilized lipase again brings about a jump in activity.
Suitable purification steps are all conventional processes for protein purification such as, for example, ion exchange chromatography, molecular sieve chromatography, hydrophobic chromatography and precipitation methods.
However, it is preferred to use an unpurified, cell-free crude lipase solution in the process according to the invention.
Accordingly, a preferred process for preparing immobilized lipase is one in which the crude lipase solution is a cell-free culture broth which is obtainable by
a) cultivating a lipase-producing organism,
b) where appropriate subsequently dispersing and/or homogenizing the organism in a solution and
c) subsequently removing the cells.
A lipase-producing organism means an organism which is able by nature or through genetic modification, for example by insertion of a lipase gene into the genome of the organism, to produce a lipase. Organism means microorganisms, plants and animals, as well as cellular tissue of animal or plant origin.
Preferred bacterial and fungal lipases are derived from organisms of the genus Aspergillus, Arthrobacter, Alcaligenes, Bacillus, Brevibacterium, Pseudomonas, Chromobacterium, Candida, Fusarium, Geotrichum, Humicola, Mucor, Pichia, Penicillium, Rhizomucor, Rhizopus or Thermus.
Particularly preferred bacterial and fungal lipases are lipases from the genera and species Arthrobacter sp., Alcaligenes sp., Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus oryzae, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus coagulans, Brevibacterium ammoniagenes, Burkholderia plantarii, Candida antarctica, Candida cylindracea, Candida lipolytica, Candida utilis, Candida rugosa, Chromobacterium viscosum, Fusarium solani, Geotrichum candidum, Humicola lanuginosa, Mucor sp., Mucor japonicus, Mucor javanicum, Mucor miehei, Pichia miso, Rhizopus nigricans, Rhizopus oryzae, Rhizopus arrhizus, Rhizopus sp., Rhizomucor miehei, Rhizopus arrhizus, Rhizopus delemar, Rhizopus niveus, Penicillium acylase, Penicillium roqueforti, Thermus aquaticus, Thermus flavus, Thermus thermophilus, Chromobacterium viscosum, Pseudomonas sp., Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas cepacia, Pseudomonas burkholderia or Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Preferred animal and plant lipases are pig pancreatic lipase (PPL) and wheatgerm lipase.
Particular preference is given to the lipase from Pseudomonas burkholderia (former name: Burkholderia plantarii) or Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the use of Pseudomonas burkholderia or Pseudomonas aeruginosa as lipase-producing organism.
The cultivation of microorganisms or plant or animal cell cultures can take place in a manner known per se, for example by fermentation in a nutrient medium which, besides nutrients, trace elements and, where appropriate, antibiotics, contains, for example, a buffer system to stabilize the proteins and enzymes. It is usually possible in this case to omit step b), the dispersion and/or homogenization.
Plants, animals and cellular tissue of animal or plant origin, such as organs or parts of plants, can be cultivated in a manner known per se, for example in nutrient media or in animals, and be harvested or isolated in a manner known per se. The culture broth is then preferably prepared in a manner known per se by dispersing and/or homogenizing the plants or cellular tissue in a solvent, preferably in water or an aqueous buffer solution and subsequently removing the cells.
Polyolefin particles mean particles of polyolefins. Preferred polyolefins are homopolymers or copolymers of optionally substituted olefins such as, for example, ethylene, propylene, butadiene, butene or octene. Particularly preferred polyolefin particles are particles of polypropylene such as, for example, polypropylene particles obtainable under the name ACCUREL(copyright) (from Akzo via Enka AG, Obernburg, Germany).
The size and the void fraction of the polyolefin particles is not critical. Preferred particles have, because they are easier to handle, a size of from 100 xcexcm to 2000 xcexcm, and particularly preferred particles have a size of from 200 xcexcm to 1000 xcexcm. The void fraction of the polyolefin particles is advantageously 40%-80%, particularly preferably 60%-70%, very particularly preferably 65%.
The pore size of the polyolefin particles is preferably 0.01 xcexcm to 1 xcexcm, particularly preferably 0.05 xcexcm to 0.5 xcexcm,
The lipase loading of the polyolefin particles is not critical. The preferred loading at which the maximum amount of lipase is adsorbed and not too much lipase is lost in excess depends on the nature of the polymer and can be found by routine tests. In the preferred use of polypropylene particles, a loading of 2 mg-6 mg of lipase per g of polyolefin particles is preferred, and a loading of 4.2 mg of lipase is particularly preferred.
The influence of the pH of the crude lipase solution on the degree of loading is not critical. High degrees of loading are achieved at a pH between 4 and 7. A pH between 4.5 and 5.5 is preferred, and a pH of 4.8 is particularly preferred.
The influence of the ionic strength of the crude lipase solution on the degree of loading is likewise not critical. High degrees of loading are achieved with an ionic strength of less than 500 mM. An ionic strength of less than 300 mM is particularly preferred.
The optimal duration of the loading process depends on the lipase and the nature of the polyolefin particles and can be determined by routine tests. The final degree of-loading is usually reached after a contact time between the polyolefin particles and the crude lipase solution of 4 to 6 hours.
The immobilized lipases prepared by this process can be employed directly in the enzymatic reactions described hereinafter. Activation, for example by addition of oleic acid, is unnecessary.
It is advantageous for the immobilized lipase to be purified, before use in a reaction, to remove unadsorbed material, for example by washing with a suitable solvent, such as, for example, water. The immobilized lipase can then, where appropriate, be dried by methods known per se, such as, for example, by drying in the air.
The invention further relates to an immobilized lipase obtainable by the preparation process described above.
The invention further relates to a process for the enzyme-catalyzed conversion or enantioselective conversion of substrates by reacting the substrates in the presence of the immobilized lipase according to the invention.
The immobilized lipase according to the invention is accordingly used as catalyst.
Enzyme-catalyzed conversions mean chemical reactions of substrates which the lipases are able to catalyze in the nonimmobilized, free state in solution. The following reactions may be mentioned as examples:
acylation or enantioselective acylation of alcohols, acylation or enantioselective acylation of amines, acylation or enantioselective acylation of amino esters such as, for example, esters of amino acids, hydrolysis or enantioselective hydrolysis of carboxylic esters, acylation or enantioselective acylation of cyanohydrins, hydrolysis or enantioselective hydrolysis of cyanohydrin esters, asymmetrization of meso diols or asymmetrization of meso diesters by hydrolysis.
Preferred processes are processes for
acylation or enantioselective acylation of alcohols, acylation or enantioselective acylation of amines, acylation or enantioselective acylation of amino esters such as, for example, esters of amino acids or a process for the hydrolysis or enantioselective hydrolysis of carboxylic esters.
The immobilized lipase particularly preferably used in these processes is one from Pseudomonas burkholderia (former name: Burkholderia plantarii) or Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which has been prepared by the preparation process according to the invention described above.
The process for the enzyme-catalyzed conversion or enantioselective conversion of substrates comprises reacting the substrates in the presence of the immobilized lipase.
It is preferred for further reagents to be added if the reaction type requires this. Thus, for example, an acylation requires addition of an acylating agent, whereas, for example, hydrolysis requires no addition of other reagents.
A substrate means a chemical compound which can be reacted, i.e. chemically altered, with enzyme catalysis by lipases. In enantioselective conversions, mixtures of stereoisomers of which only one is reacted are likewise substrates.
Examples of substrates which may be mentioned are alcohols, amines, amino esters, amides, carboxylic esters, thioesters, thiols, cyanohydrins, cyanohydrin esters and meso diols and mixtures of stereoisomers thereof. Preferred substrates are alcohols, amines, amino esters and carboxylic esters, and racemic alcohols, amines, amino esters and carboxylic esters.
The process is preferably carried out in solution, with or without solvent in the case of liquid substrates. Examples of solvents which can be used are water, organic solvents or else aqueous/organic two-phase mixtures.
The organic solvents preferably used are dioxane, THF, diethyl ether, methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE), toluene or heptane. The aqueous/organic two-phase mixture preferably employed is a water/MTBE mixture in any suitable ratio.
When the process is carried out in solution, the substrate concentration is not critical but is preferably between 0.5% by weight and 50% by weight based on the solution, particularly preferably 20 to 30% by weight. The temperature for carrying out the process is likewise not critical but the upper limit is determined by the thermal stability of the lipase in the polymer.
The process is preferably carried out at from 0xc2x0 C. to 60xc2x0 C., particularly preferably 15xc2x0 C. to 40xc2x0 C.
The process can be carried out continuously or batchwise. To carry out the process continuously, for example, a liquid mobile phase is passed in a manner known per se through a bed of immobilized lipase in a reactor. The mobile phase can be either a solution of substrate (and reagents) or the liquid substrates (and reagents) without solvent. The flow rate is not critical and depends on technical aspects of the process, such as the height, diameter and particle size of the bed, and on the design of the reactor.
The reactors preferably used for the continuous process are the reactors customary for continuous heterogeneously catalyzed processes (liquid/solid reactions) (J. Hagen, Chemische Reaktionstechnik, VCH, Weinheim 1992, pp. 165-169). Examples which may be mentioned are fluidized bed reactors and fixed bed reactors, such as tubular reactor, column reactor, full space reactor, quench tube reactor, tube bundle reactor and flat bed contact reactor.
When the process is carried out batchwise, the immobilized lipases are suspended in a manner known per se in a solution of substrate (and reagents) or in liquid substrates (and reagents), with or without solvent, in a reactor, and the suspension is mixed. The reactors preferably used for the batchwise process are the reactors customary for batchwise heterogeneously catalyzed processes (liquid/solid reactions) with shaking, mixing or stirring device. Examples which may be mentioned are a stirred vessel and designs generated therefrom, and reaction vessels with shaking device.
After the reaction is complete (thermodynamic equilibrium reached), the immobilized lipase is isolated, for example by decantation, centrifugation or filtration and washing, and used in further reactions.
In a preferred embodiment of the process, substrates which contain functional groups which can be acylated, such as, for example, hydroxyl or amino groups, such as alcohols, amines or amino esters, are acylated or enantioselectively acylated in the presence of the immobilized lipase as catalyst and of an acylating agent.
This enzyme-catalyzed conversion is preferably carried out in an organic solvent such as, for example, dioxane, THF, diethyl ether, methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE), toluene or heptane.
A particularly preferred process is one for the acylation or enantioselective acylation of alcohols, amines or amino esters or racemic alcohols, amines or amino esters in the presence of an acylating agent and of an immobilized lipase from Pseudomonas burkholderia or Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
There is virtually no restriction on the alcohols, amines and amino esters. Thus, it is possible to use monohydric and polyhydric alcohols such as, for example,
1-phenylethanol, 2-chloro-1-phenylethanol, 2-chloro-1-(m-chlorophenyl)ethanol, pent-3-yn-2-ol, 1-butyn-3-ol, 2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutyric esters, a-methyl-(1,3)-benzodioxole-5-ethanol, 1-(1,3-benzodioxol-4-yl)-2-propanol, trans-2-methoxycyclohexanol or 2-methoxy-2-phenylethanol or mixtures of stereoisomers thereof,
monofunctional and polyfunctional amines or their stereoisomeric mixtures or xcex1,xcex2 or xcex3-amino esters such as, for example, the optionally halogen-substituted C1-C4-alkyl, alkylaryl, aryl, C2-C6-alkenyl or C2-C6-alkynyl esters of the natural amino acids or mixtures of stereoisomers thereof.
Acylating agents mean organic compounds able to act as acyl donors in the presence of lipases in solution. Examples which may be mentioned are:
aliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic carboxylic acids optionally substituted by halogen such as Cl, Br, I, F (acylation), such as C1-C6-alkanecarboxylic acids, for example formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid or
such as araliphatic or aromatic carboxylic acids, for example benzoic acid, 3-phenylpropionic acid or the corresponding carboxylic esters (transesterification) such as, for example,
3-phenylpropionic esters or alkyl acetates such as, for example, ethyl acetate.
Carboxylic esters preferred-as acylating agents are vinyl esters of the formula I
in which
R1 is hydrogen or a C1-C4-alkyl, preferably methyl, group and
R2 is hydrogen, C1-C18-alkyl which is optionally halogen-substituted, phenyl or (C1-C3)-alkoxy-(C1-C4)-alkyl,
such as vinyl formate, vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, vinyl butyrate or vinyl laurate.
Further acylating agents are aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic carboxylic anhydrides and mixed carboxylic anhydrides (acylation) such as acetic anhydride, succinic anhydride, butyric anhydride, 2-ethylhexanoic anhydride or methylsuccinic anhydride. When succinic anhydride or other anhydrides of low solubility are used as acylating agents it is possible particularly advantageously to admix propylene carbonate in order to dissolve the succinic anhydride. This is particularly important in relation to a continuous process.
In another preferred embodiment of the process, carboxylic esters are hydrolyzed or enantioselectively hydrolyzed in the presence of the immobilized lipase.
In this case there is no need to add any other reagents, although the presence of water is necessary. The hydrolysis of carboxylic esters is preferably carried out by adding water with use of a preferably two-phase system such as, for example, water/MTBE in the presence of the immobilized lipase.
A particularly preferred process for the hydrolysis or enantioselective hydrolysis of carboxylic esters takes place in the presence of an immobilized lipase according to the invention from Pseudomonas burkholderia or Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
There is virtually no restriction on the carboxylic esters. Thus, for example, it is possible to use compounds of the formula II or mixtures of stereoisomers thereof
where
R3, R4 and R5 are, independently of one another, hydrogen,
halogen such as, for example, F, Cl, Br or I,
a branched or unbranched, optionally substituted
C1-C8-alkyl radical, such as, for example, optionally substituted methyl, ethyl, propyl, 1-methylethyl, butyl, 1-methylpropyl, 2-methylpropyl, 1,1-dimethylethyl, pentyl, 1-methylbutyl, 2-methylbutyl, 1,2-dimethylpropyl, 1,1-dimethylpropyl, 2,2-dimethylpropyl, 1-ethylpropyl, hexyl, 1-methylpentyl, 1,2-dimethylbutyl, 1,3-dimethylbutyl, 2,3-dimethylbutyl, 1,1-dimethylbutyl, 2,2-dimethylbutyl, 3,3-dimethylbutyl, 1,1,2-trimethylpropyl, 1,2,2-trimethylpropyl, 1-ethylbutyl, 2-ethylbutyl, 1-ethyl-2-methylpropyl, heptyl or octyl,
C2-C6-alkenyl radical such as, for example, optionally substituted 2-propenyl, 2-butenyl, 3-butenyl, 1-methyl-2-propenyl, 2-methyl-2-propenyl, 2-pentenyl, 3-pentenyl, 4-pentenyl, 1-methyl-2-butenyl, 2-methyl-2-butenyl, 3-methyl-2-butenyl, 1-methyl-3-butenyl, 2-methyl-3-butenyl, 3-methyl-3-butenyl, 1,1-dimethyl-2-propenyl, 1,2-dimethyl-2-propenyl, 1-ethyl-2-propenyl, 2-hexenyl, 3-hexenyl, 4-hexenyl, 5-hexenyl, 1-methyl-2-pentenyl, 2-methyl-2-pentenyl, 3-methyl-2-pentenyl, 4-methyl-2-pentenyl, 3-methyl-3-pentenyl, 4-methyl-3-pentenyl, 1-methyl-4-pentenyl, 2-methyl-4-pentenyl, 3-methyl-4-entenyl, 4-methyl-4-pentenyl, 1,1-dimethyl-2-butenyl, 1,1-dimethyl-3-butenyl, 1,2-dimethyl-2-butenyl, 1,2-dimethyl-3-butenyl, 1,3-dimethyl-2-butenyl, 1,3-dimethyl-3-butenyl, 2,2-dimethyl-3-butenyl, 2,3-dimethyl-2-butenyl, 2,3-dimethyl-3-butenyl, 1-ethyl-2-butenyl, 1-ethyl-3-butenyl, 2-ethyl-2-butenyl, 2-ethyl-3-butenyl, 1,1,2-trimethyl-2-propenyl, 1-ethyl-1-methyl-2-propenyl or 1-ethyl-2-methyl-2-propenyl,
C3-C6-alkynyl radical such as, for example, optionally substituted 2-propynyl, 2-butynyl, 3-butynyl, 1-methyl-2-propynyl, 2-pentynyl, 3-pentynyl, 4-pentynyl, 1-methyl-3-butynyl, 2-methyl-3-butynyl, 1-methyl-2-butynyl, 1,1-dimethyl-2-propynyl, 1-ethyl-2-propynyl, 2-hexynyl, 3-hexynyl, 4-hexynyl, 5-hexynyl, 1-methyl-2-pentynyl, 1-methyl-2-pentynyl, 1-methyl-3-pentynyl, 1-methyl-4-pentynyl, 2-methyl-3-pentynyl, 2-methyl-4-pentynyl, 3-methyl-4-pentynyl, 4-methyl-2-pentynyl, 1,1-dimethyl-2-butynyl, 1,1-dimethyl-3-butynyl, 1,2-dimethyl-3-butynyl, 2,2-dimethyl-3-butynyl, 1-ethyl-2-butynyl, 1-ethyl-3-butynyl, 2-ethyl-3-butynyl or 1-ethyl-1-methyl-2-propynyl
or C3-C8-cycloalkyl radical such as, for example, optionally substituted cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cycloheptyl and cyclooctyl,
an optionally substituted
aryl radical such as, for example, optionally substituted phenyl, 1-naphthyl or 2-naphthyl,
arylalkyl radical such as, for example, optionally substituted benzyl,
hetaryl radical, such as, for example, optionally substituted 2-pyridyl, 3-pyridyl, 4-pyridyl, 2-furyl, 3-furyl, 2-pyrrolyl, 3-pyrrolyl, 2-thienyl, 3-thienyl, 2-thiazolyl, 4-thiazolyl, 5-thiazolyl, 2-oxazolyl, 4-oxazolyl, 5-oxazolyl, 2-pyrimidyl, 4-pyrimidyl, 5-pyrimidyl, 6-pyrimidyl, 3-pyrazolyl, 4-pyrazolyl, 5-pyrazolyl, 3-isothiazolyl, 4-isothiazolyl, 5-isothiazolyl, 2-imidazolyl, 4-imidazolyl, 5-imidazolyl, 3-pyridazinyl, 4-pyridazinyl, 5-pyridazinyl or 6-pyridazinyl, preferably 2-pyridyl, 3-pyridyl, 4-pyridyl, 2-furyl, 3-furyl, 2-thienyl, 3-thienyl, 2-thiazolyl, 4-thiazolyl or 5-thiazolyl,
or heterocycloalkyl or -alkenyl radical.
Suitable single or triple substituents of the C1-C8-alkyl, C2-C6-alkenyl, C2-C6-alkynyl, C3-C8-cycloalkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, hetaryl, heterocycloalkyl or -alkenyl radicals are, for example, halogen, nitro, amino, hydroxyl or cyano groups, C1-C4-alkyl, C1-C4-haloalkyl, C1-C4-alkoxy, C1-C4-haloalkoxy, C1-C4-alkylthio, hetaryl, aryl radicals or the xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94COxe2x80x94Cl-C4-alkyl radical.
Examples of preferred carboxylic esters are
1-butyn-3-yl acetate, 1-butyn-3-yl butyrate, 1-phenylethyl acetate or 2-acetoxy-4-phenylbutyric esters.
The process for the enantioselective enzyme-catalyzed conversion of substrates using the immobilized lipases according to the invention can be used for removing stereoisomers and, in particular, for removing enantiomers or diastereomers from a mixture of stereoisomers of the substrate. It is particularly preferably used for removing enantiomers or diastereomers from racemic substrates and thus for preparing optically active compounds from the respective racemic mixtures.
The enantioselective substrate specificity of the immobilized lipase means, for example, that only one enantiomer of the racemic substrate is converted, and the other enantiomer does not react. The resulting products can be easily separated in a manner known per se by chemical, physical and mechanical separation methods. Examples which may be mentioned are crystallization, precipitation, extraction in two-phase solvent systems, chromatographic separation methods such as HPLC, GC or column chromatography on silica gel or thermal separation methods such as distillation.
Accordingly, the present invention further relates to a process for preparing optically active compounds, which comprises mixtures of stereoisomers or racemates of substrates which can be reacted with enzyme catalysis by lipases being reacted enantioselectively in the presence of the immobilized lipase according to the invention, and then the mixtures being fractionated.
The process according to the invention can be used preferably to prepare the optically active compounds which can as mixtures of stereoisomers be reacted as substrates of lipases, or of whose mixture of stereoisomers at least one stereoisomer can be reacted as substrate of lipases.
A process for the enantioselective acylation of alcohols, amines or amino esters is preferably used for resolving racemic alcohols, amines or amino esters and thus for preparing optically active alcohols, amines or amino esters.
A process for the enantioselective hydrolysis or hydrolysis of carboxylic esters is preferably used for resolving racemic carboxylic esters and thus for preparing optically active carboxylic esters. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to vehicles in general, and more particularly to a pedal-driven vehicle.
There are already known various constructions of pedal-driven vehicle, such as bicycles, tricycles and mopeds, which usually include a frame, a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted on the frame, a pedal arrangement including a driving gear and rotatably supported in a pedal shaft bearing mounted on the frame, a driven gear mounted on the hub of one of the wheels for rotation therewith, and an elongated endless transmission element trained about and interconnecting the driving and driven gears. The frame usually includes a rearwardly arranged saddle tube which extends upwardly and slightly rearwardly from the pedal shaft bearing, a lower frontward frame tube extending inclinedly frontwardly from the pedal shaft bearing, a steering sleeve mounted on the upper region of the lower frontward frame tube, and a connecting structure which is arranged above the lower frontward frame tube at a distance therefrom and interconnecting the steering sleeve with the saddle tube.
In such pedal-driven vehicles, such as bicycles, there is usually used a chain transmission for transmitting the driving force exerted by the bicycle rider from the pedals to the rear wheel. Such chain transmissions initially have an efficiency of about 95%. However, this efficiency soon decreases, due to insufficient lubrication and as a result of wear to about 70%. The chain requires a certain degree of maintenance during its use; more particularly, it must always be well lubricated. As a result of this, the chain always constitutes a cause of soiling for the bicycle rider, which is especially disadvantageous if the chain has slid off from one or both of the gears and must be manually placed on the driving and driven gears. However, even during the normal operation of the bicycle, the legs or trousers of the bicycle rider may become soiled by the chain lubricant.
To the extent that the pedal drive of such pedal-driven vehicles includes a toothed belt instead of a chain, there exists the disadvantage that, when strongly pulsating tensional forces are encountered in the toothed belt, such as during the start-up or the braking operation, there may occur a so-called treading through or jumping over of the toothed belt. During this operation, there occurs withdrawal of the teeth of the toothed belt from the spaces between the teeth of the driven gear during vigorous pedaling. Herein, the teeth of the toothed belt ultimately reach the crests of the teeth of the driven gear and then slide over such crests and fall into the spaces between the respectively following teeth of the driven gear. Thus, there occurs an operation which is reminiscent of slippage.
An increase in the width of the toothed belt and of the gears is not of any interest for space reasons, inasmuch as a drive which is as thin as possible is desired in bicycles. Even the use of a pressing roller which engages the toothed belt from the outside at the input region to the driven gear, as it is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,737, does not bring about satisfactory results.
Moreover, if the connecting structure extends from the steering sleeve to the lower region of the saddle tube, as it does in the so-called ladies' bicycles, so that the frame has a substantially V-shaped configuration at its region located between and underneath the saddle and the handlebars so as to present upwardly of the pedal drive a mounting space which is not present in the so-called men's bicycle having a horizontal upper bar extending between the steering sleeve and the upper region of the saddle tube, the stiffness of the frame is rather low, so that it can be relatively easily deformed. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates generally to home appliance control and, more particularly, to a system using a fiber optic cable to distribute commands for controlling operations of an appliance.
In the art it is known to use an infrared (IR) blaster to transmit commands for controlling operations of one or more appliances. For example, as described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,650,247, manufacturers have provided appliances, such as cable converter boxes, with the ability to remotely control the operation of another appliance, such as a VCR. To this end, the controlling appliance is provided with an IR blaster which is used to transmit commands from the controlling appliance to a controlled appliance. In this regard, the controlling appliance may transmit commands to the controlled appliance via the IR blaster in direct response to receipt of commands from a remote control or from yet another appliance and/or the controlling appliance may transmit commands to the controlled appliance via the IR blaster as a result of its programming (for example, to transmit commands to cause the VCR to record a program at a designated, programmed time). To be compatible with the controlled appliance, the controlling appliance may be configured to use an appropriate set of commands that may be selected from a library of commands stored within the controlling appliance. In addition, the controlling appliance may be configured by learning the appropriate set of commands from, for example, a remote control or by having the appropriate set of commands downloaded thereinto from, for example, the Internet, the controlled appliance, or the like. Still further, the controlling appliance may function to merely pass through commands that are received from a remote control or another appliance. Another example of a system that uses an IR blaster to control operations of one or more appliances is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,086. It is also known to use IR blasters in so called remote extender applications, such as the RF to IR system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,647.
Known IR blasters generally include one or more electrical cables each having an attached IR LED. In this manner, the IR LED may be positioned in front of and near the IR receiver of the appliance to be controlled by, for example, placing it on or attaching it to the surface on which the appliance is resting or taping the IR LED directly over the IR receiver of the appliance. While these known IR blasters operate for their intended purpose, what is needed is an improved IR blaster, for example, one which may be more economically manufactured. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Technical Field
This document relates to a support assembly.
2. Background Art
Conventional hanger devices are available that mount on structures and suspend items out of the way in a convenient place. However, these devices do not readily permit universal movement of their hangers. While some of these devices allow a swiveling (spinning) movement of their hangers, they do not also allow pivoting and swinging movements of their hangers from side to side to any position in the range of 0° to about 180°. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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When the steel blade of a circular saw rotates at high speeds it generates a disturbing sound. As saw blades to-day operate at speeds of between 60 and 90 meters per second and the tendency is to accelerate the speed even further, which seems possible in view of the increasingly improved constructions and materials, the need for noise-suppressed saw blades becomes more and more pronounced.
Several ways of solving this problem have been suggested. On the market exists for instance so-called sandwich saw blades consisting of two core discs put together, with a layer of paper (cellulose) or other suitable noise-suppressing material between them, these discs being welded at their peripheries to a toothed rim of hard metal. One disadvantage with this type of circular saw blades is that after a period of operational life with the saw blade working on tree trunks and similar materials, the noise-reducing material will gasify on account of the extremely high temperatures that occur locally on the blade, or else deteriorate in some other way, whereby the noise-reducing effect of the material is lost. Another suggested improvement is the boring of holes through the blade, whereafter the holes are filled with copper plugs. The noise-reducing effect is, however, comparatively small. In accordance with a third suggestion, noise-reducing screens are attached to the sawing machine proper at either side of the saw blade below the saw table, whereby the lower portion of the blade will rotate between the screens. One disadvantage of this arrangement is that when the saw blade is removed from its shaft or spindle, for instance when the saw teeth are to be reground, it is necessary to dismantle at least one of the two noise-reducing screens, usually the outer one. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to monoalkyl-paradioxanes having alkyl groups of about 4 to about 22 carbon atoms.
These compounds find utility in the perfume art, either for their contribution to odor or for their fixative properties.
2. The Prior Art
Certain monoalkyl-, dialkyl-, and alkenyl-paradioxanes wherein the side substituents are of low molecular weight are known to the art, although none has been recognized in the art as having utility in perfumery. Examples of the published literature on the subject are the articles listed below.
Castro, Bertrand, Bull. Soc. Chim., Vol. 57, 1547-51 (1967) (In French).
This article discloses the methyl, n-hexyl-vinyl, propenyl, dimethyl, diethyl, and methyl ethyl-para-dioxanes.
Normant, H., and Castro, Bertrand, Compt. Rendu, Vol. 25, (4), 830-2, (July 27, 1964) (In French).
Discloses n-propyl, n-hexyl, vinyl, propenyl, dimethyl, diethyl and methyl ethyl-para-dioxanes.
Wallace, et al., Nature, 284-5 (April 20, 1963).
Interprets the reaction of para-dioxane with 1-octene and tert-butyl peroxide as a free-radical reaction.
Elad, D., and Youssefyeh, J. Org. Chem., Vol. 29 (7), 2031-2 (1964).
Discloses n-octyl-para-dioxane.
Summerbell, R., and Umhoefer, R., J. Amer. Chem. Soc., Vol. 61, 3016-19 (1939).
Discloses methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, n-butyl and alkyl-para-dioxanes. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image sensing device, comprising a detection means of a fluorescent lamp flicker under an illumination of a flickering light source such as the fluorescent lamp, in an XY-addressed-scanning type image sensor, for example, a CMOS image sensor.
2. Background Art
In a case where an object is imaged by a video-camera under an illumination of a fluorescent lamp directly lit on a commercial power source, a periodical brightness change, so called a fluorescent lamp flicker, is seen in a video signal of imaging output, due to a difference between a brightness variation period of the fluorescent lamp (an invert of a double the commercial power source frequency) and a vertical synchronization period of the video-camera, unless an exposure time is set to the brightness variation period of the fluorescent lamp multiplied by an integer. Particularly, in a case of an XY-addressed-scanning type image sensor such as a CMOS image sensor being used, the flicker is observed on an imaging plane as striped patterns due to a vertically periodical variation of a brightness intensity level or a hue, because the exposure timing is different between horizontal lines.
Here, strictly speaking, with the XY-addressed-scanning type image sensor such as the CMOS image sensor being used, the exposure timing per each pixel is sequentially shifted by a period of a read-out clock (pixel clock) from one pixel to its adjacent one, on each horizontal scanning line on the imaging plane. Even in case to assume that all of in-line pixels have the simultaneous exposure timing, no substantial problem is caused, although the exposure timings in all pixels are different. This is because a scanning time for a horizontal line is much shorter than the intensity variation period of the fluorescent lamp.
As a technique and method, to remove the flicker portion from the imaging plane signal, a shutter correction method to make corrections based on a relation between a shutter speed and a flicker level, and a gain correction method to put an inverted waveform of a detected flicker waveform onto the video signal as a correction gain, are principally known.
As an example of the shutter correction method, JP Publication H04-373365 describes a method to integrate a video signal for a one-field period using an integration circuit, to store the signal for the one-field period at shortest, then to sequentially compare a current input signal with a one-field previous input signal from the integration circuit, subsequently to detect the flicker by determining an existence of a regularity, and to control the shutter speed. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to natural language processing and, more specifically, to a method for performing natural language processing of free text using domain specific spreading activation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present application is directed toward methods and apparatuses for controlling the airflow around an airfoil having a leading edge device with a flexible flow surface.
Modern high speed, subsonic commercial aircraft typically have wings with a variety of leading edge and trailing edge devices to change the shape of the airfoil as the flight conditions change. Such airfoils can include flexible panels at the airfoil leading edge, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,994,451; 4,171,787; 4,351,502; 4,475,702; and 4,706,913. Other airfoils include flexible trailing edge panels, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,131,253 and 4,312,486. Other existing devices include variable camber, leading edge Krueger-type flaps, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,504,870; 3,556,439; 3,743,219; 3,910,530; 3,941,341; 4,189,120, 4,189,122; 4,262,868; 4,427,168; 5,158,252; and 5,474,265.
One potential drawback with some of the foregoing devices is that it may be difficult to arrange the devices to move to very high deflection angles and still stow cleanly for level flight. Accordingly, many of the foregoing devices represent a compromise between a desirable high deflection angle at landing and other low speed conditions, and a clean configuration when the devices are stowed. Another potential drawback with some of the foregoing devices is that they may be difficult to integrate with very thin airfoils and/or very thin portions of airfoils. Accordingly, it may be difficult to integrate these devices into high speed airfoils, which typically have a low thickness-to-chord ratio. Furthermore, it may be difficult to integrate these devices with the thin outboard sections of lower speed airfoils.
The present invention is directed toward methods and apparatuses for controlling airflow with a leading edge device having a flexible flow surface. An airfoil in accordance with one aspect of the invention includes a first portion having a first flow surface and a second flow surface facing opposite from the first flow surface. A second portion of the airfoil has a leading edge, with at least a part of the second portion being positioned forward of the first portion. The second portion is movable relative to the first portion between a first position and a second position, with the second position offset from the first position by an angle of about 45xc2x0 or more. The second portion can include a flexible flow surface having a first shape when the second portion is in the first position and a second shape different than the first shape when the second portion is in the second position. A guide structure can be coupled between the first portion and the second portion, for example, to guide the motion of the second portion of the airfoil.
In a further aspect of the invention, the second portion can include a leading edge body and a third flow surface opposite the flexible flow surface. The guide structure can include a crank pivotably coupled to the first portion, a link body pivotably coupled between the crank and the leading edge body, and a first link pivotably coupled between the first portion and the link body. The guide structure can further include a second link pivotably coupled between the crank and the flexible flow surface, a third link pivotably coupled between the crank and the third flow surface, a fourth think pivotably coupled between the link body and the leading edge body, and a fifth link pivotably coupled between the link body and the leading edge body. In another aspect of the invention, the guide structure can include a crank pivotably coupled to the first portion, a slider pivotably coupled to the crank and slidably engaged with the leading edge body, a first link pivotably coupled between the first portion and the slider, a second link pivotably coupled between the crank and the flexible flow surface, and a third link pivotably coupled between the crank and the third flow surface.
An airfoil in accordance with another aspect of the invention can include a first portion, a second portion movably coupled to the first portion and having an inboard leading edge, an inboard flexible flow surface, and an inboard guide structure having an inboard mechanical arrangement. A third portion can be movably coupled to the first portion and can have an outboard leading edge, an outboard flexible flow surface, and an outboard guide structure having an outboard mechanical arrangement different than the inboard mechanical arrangement.
A method for operating an aircraft airfoil having a first portion and a second portion movably coupled to the first portion in accordance with one embodiment of the invention includes moving the second portion relative to the first portion from a first position to a second position, with at least part of the second portion being positioned forward of the first portion and deflected through at least 45xc2x0. The method can further include changing a shape of a flexible flow surface of the second portion as the second portion moves from the first position to the second position.
A method in accordance with another aspect of the invention includes moving the second portion of the airfoil relative to the first portion by actuating a first guide structure having a first mechanical arrangement, and moving a third portion outboard of the second portion relative to the first portion by actuating a second guide structure having a second mechanical arrangement different than the first mechanical arrangement. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a transmission technique to transmit a content to a receiving apparatus connected to a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional content transmission system has been used, such as Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) (trademark), which is a transmission system configured to mutually connect apparatuses via a network and to transmit a content, such as a still image, a moving image, or audio information. In addition, a conventional content transmission system, such as Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) (trade mark), which is regulated based on UPnP (trade mark), has been used.
In the content transmission system described above, a transmission apparatus transmits a content and metadata of the content to a receiving apparatus, such as the content reproduction apparatus. The transmission apparatus can load a new content from a device or an apparatus external to the transmission apparatus via a memory card or via a network.
The transmission apparatus stores the newly loaded content in a predetermined directory within a logical file system managed by the transmission apparatus. Alternatively, as discussed by Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-20959, the transmission apparatus stores the content loaded into a temporary directory for temporarily registering a content or metadata of the content.
In addition, the transmission apparatus notifies the receiving apparatus what type of structure of the logical file system in which the content is stored within the transmission apparatus. More specifically, in the standard by the above-described DLNA (trade mark), a directory, which stores a content, has a hierarchical structure and is stored on the transmission apparatus. The transmission apparatus notifies the receiving apparatus of the hierarchical structure.
Furthermore, the reproduction apparatus acquires the content and information about the hierarchical structure of the directory from the transmission apparatus. In addition, the reproduction apparatus presents the content and the layers of the directory to the user. The user follows the presented layer and selects a desired content.
After loading a new content and updating the content managed by the transmission apparatus, the transmission apparatus notifies the receiving apparatus that the content has been updated as discussed by Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-166253. However, in the conventional method, the receiving apparatus presents the new content included in each directory to the user. Accordingly, the user may not know that a content has been newly loaded by the transmission apparatus and added into a directory other than a currently browsed directory. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a fuel heating system, and more particularly, to heating fuel during startup of a gas turbine engine.
A gas turbine engine combusts a mixture of fuel and air to generate hot combustion gases, which drive rotation of one or more stage of turbine blades. In turn, the rotation may be used to drive a load, such as an electrical generator. During startup, it is desirable to rapidly bring the gas turbine engine to a load level where its exhaust emissions are in compliance with the pertinent regulations. The faster the gas turbine reaches this so-called “emissions-compliant” load level, the smaller is the total amount of harmful emissions. The rate of loading is dependent on the stable operation of the combustor of the gas turbine, which is primarily controlled by the fuel temperature. In modern gas turbines, during normal base load operation gaseous fuel is heated to improve the thermal efficiency. This heating is typically accomplished by the hot feed water extracted from the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). Unfortunately, during a plant startup after a sufficiently long down time, the HRSG is not able to provide the hot water needed for gaseous fuel heating to a level required by stable combustor operation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Food and non-food products, including produce, snack foods, cheese and the like have long been packaged in containers such as pouches, bags, or lidded trays or formed webs made from various thermoplastic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, or polyester (PET). These containers can be formed from a web or webs of thermoplastic material on packaging equipment, using various packaging processes, at a processing/packaging facility. Such equipment and processes includes horizontal form/fill/seal (HFFS), vertical form/fill/seal (VFFS), thermoforming/lidstock, and continuous horizontal packaging (sometimes referred to as Flow-wrap). In each case, the product is manually or automatically placed in a pouch, bag, formed web, tray, etc., the filled container is optionally vacuumized or gas flushed, and the mouth of the container is hermetically or non-hermetically sealed to close and finish the package.
Opening of the finished package (i.e. opening with the use of tools such as scissors or knives) can provide access to the product by the consumer.
Common in the industry is the use of pressure sensitive adhesive to provide a reclosability feature to a package. However, based on the position of the adhesive relative to the package, the adhesive can sometimes be contaminated by the contained product before the package is opened, or once the package is opened, when product is removed from the package and comes in contact with the adhesive. This phenomenon can compromise the reclosability of the package. Also, the performance of the adhesive can sometimes be compromised at refrigerated conditions, or in the presence of grease or moisture caused by the packaging of greasy or wet foods.
Also common in the industry is the use of plastic zipper closures; press-to-close or slide zippers, interlocking closures; reclosable fasteners with interlockable fastener elements; and interlocking rib and groove elements having male and female profiles; interlocking alternating hook-shaped closure members, and hook and loop fasteners; fasteners employing self-engageable male fastener elements; fasteners utilizing interference fit, and the like. These features provide reclosability, and in some cases may provide an easy-open feature to the package.
There is need in the marketplace for a package, and methods of packaging involving e.g. an HFFS, VFFS, thermoforming/lidstock, or continuous horizontal packaging process, that can be used in a manner that requires little or no modification to the packager's packaging equipment, while providing a manually (i.e. by hand, without the need for tools such as scissors or knives) openable and easy to reclose feature, optionally while maintaining hermeticity of the package when made, and optionally without the use of pressure sensitive adhesive and the like.
The present invention relates to a package, and methods of making the package, which package is manually openable and reclosable, i.e. can be opened and reclosed a number of times, and adapted to package non-food products; food products such as e.g. produce, snack foods, cheese, luncheon meat, sausage, culinary nuts, trail mix, etc; medical or pharmaceutical products; or other items that benefit from being packaged in an easyopen/reclosable package. The package optionally maintains a hermetic seal until the package is opened. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Mirrors are made by the successive application of various metals, preferably silver and copper films of between 800 angstroms and 1,500 angstroms in thickness on suitable substrates of glass or plastics such as polycarbonates, by wet chemical plating processes or vacuum metallizing, followed by a paint coating application, usually known as a mirror backing.
Metallic layers are applied to glass substrates by one of three general methods, 1) electroplating, 2) chemical deposition, or 3) galvanic deposition. Galvanic deposition is the current method of choice and is now widely used. Usually a silver layer is applied and a copper layer deposited on the silver layer. The copper layer is important to provide good adherence of the backing to the silver layer. The present invention employs the galvanic deposition system.
It is known that reflective silver layers on mirrors, even when protected by "backing" coatings are extremely sensitive to corrosive decomposition when exposed to moisture, contaminants in the atmosphere, salt, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and chlorides, which are present in domestic environments. It is also known that zinc phosphate or zinc salts of dicarboxylic acids, commonly applied as corrosion inhibitors in protective primers on steel or aluminum, contrary to expectations, do not work well in mirror backing coatings and actually exhibit corrosive action on the silver layer.
Various mirror backing coatings have been proposed by the prior art, including coatings which comprise 20 mixtures of an organic resin and pigment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,405 to Evans et al, discloses a mirror backing coating which comprises an organic film forming resin and a cyanamide salt of a non-lead metal. The cyanamide salt is said to be a salt of group IIA or group IIB metal such as calcium, zinc or magnesium, with the preferred salt being calcium cyanamide. It is believed that the calcium and magnesium cyanamides have not been successful because both are water soluble, highly alkaline "non-pigment" products which interfere in detrimental fashion with curing processes of coating systems organic material. In addition, they exhibit only marginal corrosion preventive activity on silver, which is expected considering that typical technical grade calcium cyanamides contain considerable amounts (e.g., 1% CaS.sub.2) of soluble sulfide species as impurities. Therefore, the zinc cyanamides known heretofore have not gained commercial acceptance.
In parent application Ser. Nos. 07/754,898 and 07/902,206, an invention is set forth which provides superior anti-corrosion mirror backings using a non-lead pigment.
The present invention provides improved paint and coating formulations for mirror backings which have excellent long term corrosion preventive protection of the mirror reflective silver layer utilizing a novel resin formulation. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transconductance amplifier (hereinafter referred to as “Gm amplifier”) including a common-mode feedback circuit configured to determine a DC operating point of an output.
2. Description of the Related Art
A Gm amplifier utilizing differential amplification generally having a high differential mode gain has often a high common mode gain as well. In order to keep the Gm amplifier in a desired operation range, a common-mode feedback circuit configured to determine a DC operating point of an output is used. The DC operating point of the output is sometimes expressed as an output common voltage (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open H05-226950), a DC bias potential (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2005-286822), or a common potential (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2010-273009).
FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example of a related-art Gm amplifier 200. The Gm amplifier 200 includes, in addition to a main-body Gm amplifier 202, a common-mode feedback circuit 201 configured to determine a DC operating point of the output of the Gm amplifier 202. The common-mode feedback circuit 201 has resistors 211 and 212 and an amplifier 221. The Gm amplifier 202 has transistors 241, 242, 251, and 252, a current source 231, input terminals 281 and 282, and output terminals 291 and 292. The input terminal 281 corresponds to a positive input INP, and the input terminal 282 corresponds to a negative input INN. Similarly, the output terminal 291 corresponds to a positive output OUTP, and the output terminal 292 corresponds to a negative output OUTN.
The input terminals 281 and 282 of the Gm amplifier 202 are connected to gate terminals of the transistors 241 and 242, respectively. Source terminals of the transistors 241 and 242 are connected together to one terminal of the current source 231. Another terminal of the current source 231 is connected to a power supply terminal VDD. A drain terminal of the transistor 241 is connected to the output terminal 292, a drain terminal of the transistor 251, and one terminal of the resistor 211. A drain terminal of the transistor 242 is connected to the output terminal 291, a drain terminal of the transistor 252, and one terminal of the resistor 212. Gate terminals of the transistors 251 and 252 are connected together to an output terminal of the amplifier 221 of the common-mode feedback circuit 201. Source terminals of the transistors 251 and 252 are connected together to VSS. A positive input terminal of the amplifier 221 of the common-mode feedback circuit 201 is connected to a node between the resistor 211 and the resistor 212. A negative input terminal of the amplifier 221 is connected to a reference voltage Vref1.
The operation of the Gm amplifier 202 is described. A voltage of the input terminal 281 is denoted by V(281), and a voltage of the input terminal 282 is denoted by V(282). When an input voltage difference V(281)-V(282) is positive, the bigger the magnitude of the input voltage difference is, the more the transistor 241 is controlled to be off and the transistor 242 is controlled to be on. A larger portion of the current of the current source 231 is distributed to the transistor 242 than to the transistor 241. When the input voltage difference V(281)-V(282) is negative, the bigger the magnitude of the absolute value of the input voltage difference is, the more the transistor 241 is controlled to be on and the transistor 242 is controlled to be off. A large portion of the current of the current source 231 is distributed to the transistor 241 than to the transistor 242.
In this case, when common-mode voltages of the output terminals 291 and 292 of the Gm amplifier 202 increases, a middle-point voltage of the resistors 211 and 212, which are connected between both the terminals, of the common-mode feedback circuit 201 also increases. When the middle-point voltage of the resistors 211 and 212 is larger than Vref1, the amplifier 221 performs control so that the transistors 251 and 252 turn on and the common-mode voltages of the output terminals 291 and 292 decrease. When the middle-point voltage of the resistors 211 and 212 is smaller than Vref1, the amplifier 221 performs control so that the transistors 251 and 252 turn off and the common-mode voltages of the output terminals 291 and 292 increase. In this manner, the common-mode feedback circuit 201 determines the DC operating point of the output of the Gm amplifier 200.
A current source connected to a differential amplifier circuit in the Gm amplifier generally has a high impedance, and hence the gain of the Gm amplifier is reduced when a resistor is connected to the output of the differential amplifier circuit. The reduction of the gain which is supposed to be obtained in design causes increase in input offset voltage of the Gm amplifier or other influences. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a roofing sheet, which is intended to constitute the external roofing, especially at roof constructions, for small houses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When roofing, for example of sheet metal or glass fiber, is being mounted on roofs of small houses, boarding is attached sparsely or densely between the upper frames of the rafters, before the external roofing is applied. This has been necessary in order to provide the underlying support required by the roofing material. Conventional external roofings, namely, have not had such a size as to extend between two upper frames of adjacent rafters. The reason for this is that the roofings do not have sufficient carrying capacity so that they can be placed on the upper frames of the rafters and be cantilevered therebetween. | {
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Microwave sterilization of pre-packaged foodstuffs has been researched for a number of years. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,962,298 and 5,074,200 which are directed to a microwave system for sterilization of pre-packaged food articles; U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,503 which describes and apparatus for irradiating food products to pasteurize, sterilize or uniformly heat food products; U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,763 which describes a system for sterilizing food packages with microwaves under pressure; U.S. Pat. No. 5,750,966 which describes a plant for pasteurizing or sterilizing food products using microwaves in a pressurized chamber; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,119,313 which describes a processing line for pasteurizing and/or sterilizing foodstuffs with microwaves. Microwave sterilization and pasteurization of foods is being commercially used in Europe by TOP's Foods (Tang, Microwave Heating News Vol. 2(3), 2000) where temperature monitoring of the food is measured indirectly by infrared temperature sensors and displacement sensors which monitor bulging of the tray tops. Despite the commercial success of microwave sterilization in Europe, the process has not been widely adopted in the U.S.
It would be advantageous in a large scale microwave based food sterilization or pasteurization system to provide a mechanism for assuring proper sterilization or pasteurization for different batches of product and for allowing identification of areas within the processing line which require repair or adjustment. | {
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1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to an information processing apparatus configured to perform wireless communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
An information processing apparatus, such as a potable computer, comprising a main housing, a display housing, and a hinge section which rotatably couples the display housing to the main housing. A cable configured to supply a display panel with image data extends from within the main housing through the hinge section to the display housing.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-345463 discloses a computer containing a transceiver set. The computer comprising a computer base unit and a detachable display device which is detachably attached to the computer base unit. The detachable display device comprising an operation system and a processor, and functions as a tablet PC. Each of the computer base unit and the detachable display device comprising a transceiver, and is configured to perform wireless communication therebetween.
Recently, there has been a demand for further minimizing and sliming an information processing apparatus. However, in a recent information processing apparatus, a large number of cables extend from within a main housing through a hinge section into a display housing. Therefore, the flexibility in the configuration of the hinge section has been limited, and it has become difficult to ensure the strength of the hinge section. | {
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Recently, an apparatus that records digital stream data such as video images and audio as a file into a recording medium such as an optical disk and a semiconductor memory has been used commonly. According the increase of a capacity of the recording medium, the number of files that can be recorded also is increased. Also, the kinds of files to be recorded have been varied. As a result, it has been difficult to sort all of the files to be recorded into the recording medium and manage them. Therefore, a method for sorting the various kinds of files based on the respective directories so as to record and manage them is suggested (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Non-patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1 suggests a audio recording reproducing apparatus that can sort audio messages with various recording modes or data formats so as to manage them. This audio recording reproducing apparatus prepares a plurality of directories according to the recording modes or the data formats in advance. The audio messages are recorded into a directory that is selected according to an environment at the time of the recording, among the plurality of the directories.
Moreover, a DCF (Design Rule for Camera File System) described in Non-patent Document 1 is a standard that is formed for the purpose of exchanging image files and files relating to images between digital still cameras and relevant apparatuses easily. The DCF defines a specification for using the digital still cameras and the relevant apparatuses to record and reproduce the files relating to the images.
A directory structure of the DCF described in Non-patent Document 1 will be described below. FIG. 29 is a view showing a structure of the directory of the DCF. In FIG. 29, an ellipse represents the directory and a rectangle represents a file. Directly under a root directory 91, a DCIM directory 92 (DCF image directory) is recorded. The DCIM is an abbreviation of “Digital Camera IMages”. Directly under this DCIM directory 92, DCF directories such as a first DCF directory 93 and a second DCF directory 94 are recorded. Into the first DCF directory 93 and the second DCF directory 94, DCF objects are recorded, respectively. The DCF object is, for example, a DCF master file (image file) or the like. In the directory structure shown in FIG. 29, the DCF objects that are recorded in the first DCF directory 93 and the second DCF directory 94 directly under the DCIM directory 92 are managed according to the DCF. Moreover, the maximum number of DCF objects that can be recorded into the first DCF directory 93 and the second DCF directory 94 respectively are determined to be 999. This aims to facilitate the management of the DCF objects.
By the way, an increase of a capacity of the recording medium leads not only to an increase of the number of files but also to an increase of a file size to be recorded by a user. Whereas, a maximum file size of one file is determined, for example, by the limitation and the like of a file system (FAT 32 or the like) that is adopted by a computer. This does not result in the unlimited increase of the size of one file to be recorded into the recording medium. Accordingly, for example, in the case where digital video image audio stream data with a file size that is larger than a predetermined maximum file size is recorded into the large-capacity recording medium, sequential digital video image audio stream data is divided and recorded into a plurality of data files.
For managing the plurality of the thus recorded data files, the plurality of the data files that are divided from the sequential digital video image audio stream data preferably are recorded into the same directory. However, for example, in a directory structure defining a maximum data file number that can be recorded in the directory, such as the directory structure defined by the DCF, the plurality of the data files cannot be recorded into the same directory in some cases. This state will be explained below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 30 is a view showing an example of a case where the divided data files are recorded into the directory defining the maximum data file number that can be recorded. In the directory structure shown in FIG. 30, a first directory 32 and a second directory 51 are under a root directory 31. Maximum data file numbers that can be recorded in the first directory 32 and the second directory 51 are 99, respectively.
The first directory 32 records a first management file 33 that records information for managing data files in the first directory 32. The second directory 51 records a second management file 52. The first management file includes, for example, a first management table that is information for managing an order to store the data files recorded in the first directory 32, that is, a recording order. In the first management table, information that shows data files recorded in the first directory 32 is recorded in their recording order. Similarly, the second management file 52 also includes a second management table.
In the example shown in FIG. 30, in the case where the data file number that is already recorded in the first directory 32 is 98, a first data file 24 that is generated by dividing a digital stream data 21 is recorded. In this state, since the data file number recorded in the first directory 32 becomes the predetermined maximum data file number of 99, no more data files can be recorded into the first directory 32.
Thus, remaining data files that are generated by dividing the digital stream data 21, i.e. a second data file 25 and a third data file 26, are recorded into the second directory 51. The second management table records information showing the second data file 25 and the third data file 26 sequentially.
As described above, the three data files 24, 25 and 26 that form one sequential digital stream data 21 are divided and recorded into two directories of the first directory 32 and the second directory 51. Patent document 1: JP 2003-131698 A Non-patent document 1: Design Rule for JEIDA, Design rule for Camera File system, DCF Version 1.0 (JEIDA-49-2-1998), Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association, Published in December, 1998, p. 8-20. | {
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The present invention relates to a glasses type display and a controlling method thereof, in which the glasses type display is used with an audio-visual instrument and an information communication instrument, and in which error operation is prevented and operation by the user is simplified and power consumption is decreased by without using the unnecessary power. | {
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The present invention relates to methods for synthesizing chemical tags and structures that include the chemical tags.
Chemical tags are utilized in a variety of applications. Typically, chemical tags are utilized for monitoring, analyzing, and controlling any number of parameters in a wide range of applications. For example, chemical tags can include one or more atoms and/or molecules that maybe detected through one or more techniques. For example, chemical tags can include radioactive isotopes. Such a chemical tag might be useful where simply the presence of the chemical tag needs to be detected. Chemical tags can also include materials that will fluoresce in response to irradiation by selected wavelengths of radiation. For example, some chemical tags may fluoresce in response to irradiation by ultraviolet radiation.
A variety of means typically are used to detect the presence of the chemical tags. For example, simple visual inspection can detect the presence of chemical tags that emit visible light, or fluoresce, in response to irradiation. In some cases, special films or detectors may be necessary to detect the presence of a chemical tag. For example, films or detectors sensitive to radiation produced by the tag may be utilized.
Chemical tags can be utilized in a variety of applications. Examples of these applications include pollution control, product identification, geological studies, detecting currents in oceans, uptake of materials by plants, among others.
Aspects of the present invention provide a method for forming a biological chemical tag. The method includes providing at least one double stranded DNA molecule. In the subsequent description, typically the DNA molecule is a double stranded DNA molecule. At least a portion of the at least one double stranded DNA molecule is denatured. At least one chemical moiety that prohibits recrystallization of the at least one denatured portion of the at least one, DNA molecule is attached to at least one nucleotide in the at least one denatured portion of the at least one DNA molecule.
Other aspects of the present invention provide a structure that includes at least one, DNA molecule that includes at least one denatured portion. The structure includes at least one chemical moiety attached to at least one portion of the at least one denatured portion of the at least one DNA molecule. The at least one chemical moiety prevents recrystallization of the at least one denatured portion of the at least one DNA molecule to which the at least one chemical moiety is attached.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein it is shown and described only the preferred embodiments of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive. | {
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Food trays for holding and heating a food product are well known. One type in common use has a single compartment. When a pasta or other low value product is heated for consumption in the single compartment, any sauce, which may contain meat and or vegetables, is layered on top or beside of the low value product. Heating of the food arranged in this manner causes the flavours to blend and textures to deteriorate. Another food tray has two compartments, one beside the other. Heating does not cause blending of flavour, but having to spoon sauce from one compartment to another for consumption by the customer is inconvenient.
In another food tray available in Europe from InterFrost GmbH, a smaller paperboard tray is nested snugly within a larger paperboard tray. The two trays fit tightly together. Sauce may be placed in the smaller tray, and pasta or rice in the larger tray. Upon heating of the InterFrost food tray, steam may build up in the lower tray, and may be released suddenly when the smaller tray is removed from the larger tray. In addition, due to the close tight fit of the smaller tray in the larger tray, the smaller tray tends to stick in the larger tray, and pulling on the smaller tray can result in a sudden release of the smaller tray, causing a risk of spilling hot food product from the smaller tray. The steam and heat generated from the lower tray may cause the upper tray to deconstruct, which increases the probability of spillage. Risk of steam release and hot food spill makes the food tray somewhat of a hazard to use. | {
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An application ecosystem may be open, allowing any party to develop and submit applications to the application ecosystem for distribution. Applications developers may have their developer accounts banned from submitting applications to the application ecosystem for a variety of reasons, such as the submission of applications containing viruses or malware, or applications that violate data gathering, advertising, hardware usage, or other policies of the application ecosystem. Because the application ecosystem is open, a developer who had their developer account banned from submitting applications may create a new developer account from which to submit applications.
Preventing developers whose developer accounts were banned from submitting applications using new developer accounts may be difficult. When the developer opens a new developer account, it may be unclear that the developer who opened the developer account is in fact the developer who had their previous developer account banned. Signals in the developer's applications and developer account information may be examined to determine whether the developer or the developer's application should be banned from the application ecosystem. This may take time, due to, for example, a manual review process, allowing the developer to distribute and monetize applications in the application ecosystem during the time it takes to determine that the developer or application should be banned. Developers who are able to monetize their applications before having their developer accounts or applications banned may have an incentive to attempt to open new developer accounts from which to submit applications to the application ecosystem, resulting in more untrustworthy applications being submitted to the application ecosystem. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fiber comprising polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which is treated with calcined stannic acid of a specific crystal size to improve flame retardancy and resistivity to discoloration resulting from heat treatment of the fibers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Stannic acid and tin dioxide are well known flame retardants for cellulosic fibers. It is also known to add stannic acid as a flame retardant to a mixed PVA halogen-containing polymer fiber as suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,390 granted Jan. 7, 1975. The aforementioned flame retardants exhibit certain disadvantages, however, such as relatively poor fire retardancy unless more than 10% of the flame retardant is added to the fiber. Horemover, these known flame-retardants tend to cause glowing or reduction in the fiber strength.
The addition of stannic acid as a flame retardant in a mixed PVA/PVC fiber satisfactorily promotes flame-retardancy but causes considerable discoloration of the fiber during heat treatment thereof. When polyvinyl alcohol-polyvinyl chloride fiber is post-treated with tin tetrachloride to incorporate stannic acid in the fiber, discoloration resulting from such post-treatment is likewise significant. When the aforesaid fiber is manufactured by a process wherein the stannic acid is dispersed in the PVA/PVC spinning solution so as to incorporate stannic acid in the fiber, discoloration similarly results upon final heat treatment. | {
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Iron loss which is a very important factor for a core used in electric transformers is defined by eddy-current loss which is affected by a resistivity of the core, and hysteresis loss which is affected by strain in a soft magnetic powder, which is generated in a production process of the soft magnetic powder and subsequent processing steps. The iron loss W can be specifically defined by a sum of eddy-current loss We and hysteresis loss Wh as shown in the following formula (1). In the formula (1), expression in front of the plus sign is the eddy-current loss We and the expression after the plus sign is the hysteresis loss Wh. In the formula, “f” is frequency, “Bm” is exciting magnetic flux density, “ρ” is resistivity, “t” is material thickness, and “k1” and “k2” are coefficients.W=We+Wh=(k1Bm2t2/ρ)f2+k2Bm1.6f (1)
As shown in the formula (1), while the hysteresis loss Wh is proportional to the frequency f, the eddy-current loss We is proportional to the square of the frequency f. Therefore, in order to decrease the iron loss W, specifically in a high frequency area, it is effective to decrease the eddy-current loss We. In order to decrease the eddy-current loss We, it is necessary to increase the resistivity ρ by limiting the eddy-current in a small area. In a powdered core obtained by using powders, for example, nonmagnetic resin can exist between iron powder particles, and the like. Therefore, the powdered core has essential characteristics in which the resistivity ρ is high and the eddy-current loss We is small. Conventionally, a production technique for a powdered core was proposed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. S60-235412 (pages 1 and 2) in which a mixture of a soft magnetic powder and a resin powder was used, and compacting and heating were performed. In the powdered core described in the above laid-open application, resin existed between soft magnetic powder particles. Therefore, electrical insulation between the soft magnetic powder particles was specifically assured, whereby the eddy-current loss We was decreased, and the soft magnetic powders were tightly bound, whereby strength of the powdered core was increased.
The powdered core mentioned above has been widely used because it is easy to produce. However, when the powdered core is used in a high frequency area, the insulation characteristics are not sufficient, whereby the resistivity ρ is decreased, resulting in increasing the eddy-current loss We. The increase in eddy-current loss We causes heat generation, whereby resin binding the soft magnetic powder is deteriorated. Therefore, the powdered core has a disadvantage in that sufficient durability cannot be obtained. On the other hand, when the resin amount is increased in order to increase the electrical insulation, the amount of the soft magnetic powder contained in the core (packing factor) is decreased, whereby the magnetic flux density is decreased. Therefore, it is important to increase the magnetic flux density by increasing the density of the powdered core. However, in this case, the powder must be compressed at a high pressure, and strain is generated in the soft magnetic powder in compacting. Therefore, the hysteresis loss Wh would increase and the iron loss W would increase. Specifically in a low frequency area, the eddy-current loss We is small, whereby effect of the hysteresis loss Wh for the iron loss W is large. Decrease in the hysteresis loss Wh is also important in order to decrease the iron loss W.
The powdered core is used for electromagnetic actuators such as solenoids and motors. High attraction power and high responsiveness are required in an electromagnetic valve used for a fuel injector in a diesel engine, and high magnetic flux density and small eddy-current loss We in a high frequency area are preferable in stator core materials using the powdered core. These solenoid cores are powdered cores which are obtained by compacting a mixture of iron powder and a resin powder. High density and favorable electrical insulation between iron powder particles are required in the solenoid cores so as to increase the magnetic flux density and to decrease the iron loss.
In various motors, small size and high efficiency are required and high magnetic flux density and small eddy-current loss We in a high frequency area are also preferable in a rotor and stator material using a powdered core. Required characteristics for a powdered core used in various electromagnetic actuators are essentially the same as those for a core used in an electric transformer.
In order to obtain a powdered core with high magnetic flux density, high density of the powdered core is necessary, and the compacting pressure must be not less than two times the pressure in producing ordinary sintered alloys. In a powdered core with a complicated shape or a thin wall, the durability of a compacting die assembly would be deteriorated. In a powdered core having a shape similar to a solenoid core, the powdered core compacted to a simple cylindrical or columnar shape is machine finished into a predetermined shape and dimension. Alternately, a powdered core compacted to a shape close to a product shape is machine finished at portions in which dimension accuracy is specifically required. Therefore, the powdered core is required to have excellent machinability, whereby wear of cutting tool can be small and breakage and chipping of the material in machining can be prevented.
A magnetic flux density of the powdered core depends on material density thereof, whereby atomized iron powder in which relatively high density can be obtained is used as an iron power. In a surface of the iron powder, a phosphate compound is coated in order to decrease an iron loss of the powdered core. As resin powders mixed with the iron powder, it is proposed to use phenol, polyamide, epoxy, polyimide or polyphenylene sulfide. For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent No. 2002-246219 (summary) discloses a powdered core obtained by adding a resin selected from polyphenylene sulfide, thermosetting polyimide, and the like at 0.15 to 1 mass % to atomized iron powders coated with phosphate compound. Japanese Patent Publication No. 421944 (section 36) discloses a powdered core obtained by adding a thermosetting polyimide resin at 2 mass % to atomized iron powders coated with phosphate compound.
According to these findings, in order to simultaneously decrease the eddy-current loss We and the hysteresis loss Wh, various methods for decreasing the eddy-current loss We by assuring electrical insulation between the soft magnetic powder particles by preliminarily coating insulation film over the surface of the soft magnetic powders are disclosed, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent No. H9-102409 (pages 6 and 7). In a technique described in the above laid-open disclosure, a process in which the insulation film is coated on the surface of the soft magnetic powder is essential, thereby having a disadvantage of having high production cost. Recently, it has been requested to develop the production method for a powdered core in which low production cost can be realized, the eddy-current loss We and the hysteresis loss Wh are decreased, and durability of the powdered core can be improved.
In the solenoid core made of the above-mentioned powdered core, higher magnetic flux density and smaller iron loss are required. Furthermore, when the solenoid core is machined (including drilling) for shaping and assuring the dimension accuracy thereof, it is required to have enough strength to withstand chucking and without breakage, peeling, and chipping in the machining process.
The present invention has been made to essentially realize low production cost without performing special processes including coating of insulation film. A object of the present invention is to provide a production method for a powdered core, in which electrical insulation is increased by uniformly disposing a resin between soft magnetic powder particles, whereby the eddy-current loss We in a high frequency area and heat generation caused by the We are decreased, thereby improving the durability of the powdered core and improving performance of products using the powdered core. Another object of the present invention is to provide a production method for a powdered core, in which magnetic flux density is sufficiently assured by thinly disposing the resin between the soft magnetic powder particles, whereby the hysteresis loss Wh and heat generation caused by the Wh are decreased, thereby further improving the durability of the powdered core and improving performance of products using the powdered core. In the case of coating the insulation film over the surface of the soft magnetic powder in the present invention, there is an additional object that the electrical insulation is assured at higher levels and the magnetic flux density is further increased by decreasing the resin amount used, whereby the durability of the powdered core is further improved. | {
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The World Wide Web may be though of as a distributed data store comprising billions of data content items through the Internet. Search engines are commonly used to search the content items available on computer networks, such as the World Wide Web, to enable users to locate content items of interest. A typical search engine is capable of accessing the plurality of web pages, hypertext documents, and other content items from the Internet or other network through use of a crawler. A crawler identifies content items available from a number of sources, using various methods and algorithms. For example, a crawler may follow hyperlinks in a corpus of hypertext documents to identify other content items. The content items that the crawler identifies, or references thereto, may be stored in a database or a similar data store. Thereafter, these content items are indexed by an indexer, which may be operative to build a searchable index of the content items n the database. Existing methods for indexing may include inverted files, vector spaces, suffix structures, and hybrids thereof. For example, each web page may be broken down into words and respective locations of each word on the page. The pages are then indexed by the words and their respective locations. A primary index of the whole database may then be broken down into a plurality of sub-indices, with a given sub-index being sent to a search node in a search node cluster.
To use search engine, a user typically enters one or more search terms or keywords, which are sent to a dispatcher. A dispatcher may compile a list of search nodes in a cluster to execute the query and may forward the query to those selected search nodes. The search nodes in a search node cluster may search respective parts of the primary index produced by the abovementioned indexer and return sorted search results, along with an identifier and a score, to the dispatcher. The dispatcher may then merge the received results to produce a final result set for display to the user, sorted by relevance scores.
The relevance score may be a function of the query itself and the type of document produced. Factors that affect the relevance score may include: a static relevance score for the document such as link cardinality and page quality, placement of the search terms in the document, such as titles, metadata, and document web address, document rank, such as a number of external data records referring to the document and the “level” of the data records, and document statistics such as query term frequency in the document, global term frequency, and term distances within the document. For example, Term Frequency Inverse Document Frequency (“TF/IDF”) is a statistical technique that is suitable for evaluating how important a word is to a document. According to TF/IDF, the importance of a given word increases proportionally to the number of times the given word appears in the document, but is offset by how common the word is across documents in the collection.
In addition to search results identified as response to the one or more terms received from a given user, a user may also be presented with one or more advertisements. For example, an advertiser may agree to pay an amount of money to a search engine operator, commonly referred to as the bid amount, in exchange for a particular position in a set of search results that is generated in response to a user's input of a particular search term. A higher bid amount may result in a more prominent placement of the advertiser's website in a set of sponsored search results. Advertisers may adjust their bids or bid amounts to control the position at which their search listings are presented in the sponsored search results. The charging system places search listings having higher-value bids higher or closer to the top of the search listings. More prominent listings are seen by more users and are more likely to be clicked through, producing traffic of potential customers to the advertiser's web site.
Search engine operators have developed various tools suitable for use in pay-for-placement systems to help advertisers manage their bids and attract traffic. For example, a bidding tool may be used to select keywords upon which advertisers may bid to have their advertisements or websites displayed in response to a search comprising one or more terms associated with the selected keywords. Thus, when a user performs a search on a pay-for-placement search engine, or when selecting one or more advertisements for display, the sponsored results are conventionally sorted and displayed on the basis of an amount that a given advertiser has bid on a given search term. Because different users use different keywords to find the same information, it is important for an advertiser to bid on a wide variety of search terms to maximize the traffic to the advertiser's website.
Advertisers may attempt to place high bids on more than one search term to increase the likelihood that their websites will be seen as a result of a search for those terms. The better and more extensive an advertiser's list of search terms, the more traffic the advertiser will see. There are many similar search terms, however, for which the advertiser many not have bid. As a result, the advertiser can miss opportunities for advertising placement when these similar search terms are used, and the search engine operator may not receive any revenue from searches performed using such search terms for which there have been no bids.
Even in the context of non-sponsored searches, or search results that do not involve pay-for-placement listings, a search engine user is at a disadvantage in the absence of intelligent searching of search terms that are similar to those that the user provides to the search engine. This produces limited results that do not necessary reflect user intent in conducting a search. In some systems, there is some spell-checking that is performed on search terms that a user provides to the search engine.
Thus, there is a need for systems and methods that provide searches or suggested searches of search terms that are similar or related in meaning to the search terms that a user provides to a search engine. There is also a need for a system and method for searching unbidded search terms in a sponsored search systems that are similar or related or related in meaning to those that a user provides. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) is an immunoinhibitory receptor that is primarily expressed on activated T and B cells. Interaction with its ligands has been shown to attenuate T-cell responses both in vitro and in vivo. Blockade of the interaction between PD-1 and one of its ligands, PD-L1, has been shown to enhance tumor-specific CD8+ T-cell immunity and may therefore be helpful in clearance of tumor cells by the immune system.
PD-1 (encoded by the gene Pdcd1) is an Immunoglobulin superfamily member related to CD28, and CTLA-4. PD-1 has been shown to negatively regulate antigen receptor signaling upon engagement of its ligands (PD-L1 and/or PD-L2) The structure of murine PD-1 has been solved as well as the co-crystal structure of mouse PD-1 with human PD-L1 (Zhang, X. et al., Immunity 20: 337-347 (2004); Lin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 3011-6 (2008)). PD-1 and like family members are type I transmembrane glycoproteins containing an Ig Variable-type (V-type) domain responsible for ligand binding and a cytoplasmic tail that is responsible for the binding of signaling molecules. The cytoplasmic tail of PD-1 contains two tyrosine-based signaling motifs, an ITIM (immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motif) and an ITSM (immunoreceptor tyrosine-based switch motif).
Following T cell stimulation, PD-1 recruits the tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2 to the ITSM motif within its cytoplasmic tail, leading to the dephosphorylation of effector molecules such as CD3 zeta, PKC theta and ZAP70 that are involved in the CD3 T cell signaling cascade. The mechanism by which PD-1 downmodulates T cell responses is similar to, but distinct from that of CTLA-4, as both molecules regulate an overlapping set of signaling proteins (Parry et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 25: 9543-9553.). Bennett and coworkers have shown that PD-1-mediated inhibition of T-cell signaling is only effective when both activating and inhibitory signals are on the same surface, indicating that the PD-1 signaling mechanism is spatiotemporally determined (Bennett F. et al., J Immunol. 170:711-8 (2003)). PD-1 was shown to be expressed on activated lymphocytes (peripheral CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, B cells and monocytes) and has also been shown to be expressed during thymic development on CD4−CD8− (double negative) T cells as well as NK-T cells.
The ligands for PD-1 (PD-L1 and PD-L2) are constitutively expressed or can be induced in a variety of cell types, including non-hematopoietic tissues as well as various tumor types. PD-L1 is expressed on B, T, myeloid and dendritic cells (DCs), but also on peripheral cells, like microvascular endothelial cells and non-lymphoid organs like heart, lung etc. In contrast, PD-L2 is only found on macrophages and DCs. The expression pattern of PD-1 ligands is suggestive of a role for PD-1 in maintaining peripheral tolerance and may serve to regulate self-reactive T- and B-cell responses in the periphery. Both ligands are type I transmembrane receptors containing both IgV- and IgC-like domains in the extracellular region. Both ligands contain short cytoplasmic regions with no known signaling motifs.
To date, numerous studies have shown that interaction of PD-1 with its ligands leads to the inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Disruption of the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction has been shown to increase T cell proliferation and cytokine production and block progression of the cell cycle. Initial analysis of Pdcd1−/− mice did not identify any drastic immunological phenotype. However aged mice developed spontaneous autoimmune diseases which differ according to the strain onto which the Pdcd1 deficiency was backcrossed. These include lupus-like proliferative arthritis (C57BL/6) (Nishimura H. et al., Int. Immunol. 10: 1563-1572 (1998)), fatal cardiomyopathy (BALB/c) (Nishimura H. et al., Science 291: 319-322 (2001)) and type I diabetes (NOD) (Wang J. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102: 11823-11828 (2005)). Overall, analysis of the knockout animals has led to the understanding that PD-1 functions mainly in inducing and regulating peripheral tolerance. Thus, therapeutic blockade of the PD-1 pathway may be helpful in overcoming immune tolerance. Such selective blockade may be of use in the treatment of cancer or infection as well as in boosting immunity during vaccination (either prophylactic or therapeutic).
The role of PD-1 in cancer is established in the literature. It is known that tumor microenvironment can protect tumor cells from efficient immune destruction. PD-L1 has recently been shown to be expressed on a number of mouse and human tumors (and is inducible by IFN gamma on the majority of PD-L1 negative tumor cell lines) and is postulated to mediate immune evasion (Iwai Y. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99: 12293-12297 (2002); Strome S. E. et al., Cancer Res., 63: 6501-6505 (2003).
In humans, expression of PD-1 (on tumor infiltrating lymphocytes) and/or PD-L1 (on tumor cells) has been found in a number of primary tumor biopsies assessed by immunohistochemistry. Such tissues include cancers of the lung, liver, ovary, cervix, skin, colon, glioma, bladder, breast, kidney, esophagus, stomach, oral squamous cell, urothelial cell, and pancreas as well as tumors of the head and neck (Brown J. A. et al., J. Immunol. 170: 1257-1266 (2003); Dong H. et al., Nat. Med. 8: 793-800 (2002); Wintterle et al., Cancer Res. 63: 7462-7467 (2003); Strome S. E. et al., Cancer Res., 63: 6501-6505 (2003); Thompson R. H. et al., Cancer Res. 66: 3381-5 (2006); Thompson et al., Clin. Cancer Res. 13: 1757-61 (2007); Nomi T. et al., Clin. Cancer Res. 13: 2151-7. (2007)). More strikingly, PD-ligand expression on tumor cells has been correlated to poor prognosis of cancer patients across multiple tumor types (reviewed in Okazaki and Honjo, Int. Immunol. 19: 813-824 (2007)).
Blockade of the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction could lead to enhanced tumor-specific T-cell immunity and therefore be helpful in clearance of tumor cells by the immune system. To address this issue, a number of studies were performed. In a murine model of aggressive pancreatic cancer, T. Nomi et al. (Clin. Cancer Res. 13: 2151-2157 (2007)) demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. Administration of either PD-1 or PD-L1 directed antibody significantly inhibited tumor growth. Antibody blockade effectively promoted tumor reactive CD8+ T cell infiltration into the tumor resulting in the up-regulation of anti-tumor effectors including IFN gamma, granzyme B and perforin. Additionally, the authors showed that PD-1 blockade can be effectively combined with chemotherapy to yield a synergistic effect. In another study, using a model of squamous cell carcinoma in mice, antibody blockade of PD-1 or PD-L1 significantly inhibited tumor growth (Tsushima F. et al., Oral Oncol. 42: 268-274 (2006)).
In other studies, transfection of a murine mastocytoma line with PD-L1 led to decreased lysis of the tumor cells when co-cultured with a tumor-specific CTL clone. Lysis was restored when anti-PD-L1 mAb was added (Iwai Y. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99: 12293-12297 (2002)). In vivo, blocking the PD1/PD-L1 interaction was shown to increase the efficacy of adoptive T cell transfer therapy in a mouse tumor model (Strome S. E. et al., Cancer Res. 63: 6501-6505 (2003)). Further evidence for the role of PD-1 in cancer treatment comes from experiments performed with PD-1 knockout mice. PD-L1 expressing myeloma cells grew only in wild-type animals (resulting in tumor growth and associated animal death), but not in PD-1 deficient mice (Iwai Y. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99: 12293-12297 (2002)).
In human studies, R. M. Wong et al. (Int. Immunol. 19: 1223-1234 (2007)) showed that PD-1 blockade using a fully human anti-PD-1 antibody augmented the absolute numbers of tumor-specific CD8+ T cells (CTLs) in ex vivo stimulation assays using vaccine antigens and cells from vaccinated individuals. In a similar study, antibody blockade of PD-L1 resulted in enhanced cytolytic activity of tumor-associated antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells and increased cytokine production by tumor specific TH cells (Blank C. et al., Int. J. Cancer 119: 317-327 (2006)). The same authors showed that PD-L1 blockade augments tumor-specific T cell responses in vitro when used in combination with anti-CTLA-4 blockade.
Overall, the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway is a well-validated target for the development of antibody therapeutics for cancer treatment. Anti-PD-1 antibodies may also be useful in chronic viral infection. Memory CD8+ T cells generated after an acute viral infection are highly functional and constitute an important component of protective immunity. In contrast, chronic infections are often characterized by varying degrees of functional impairment (exhaustion) of virus-specific T-cell responses, and this defect is a principal reason for the inability of the host to eliminate the persisting pathogen. Although functional effector T cells are initially generated during the early stages of infection, they gradually lose function during the course of a chronic infection. Barber et al. (Barber et al., Nature 439: 682-687 (2006)) showed that mice infected with a laboratory strain of LCMV developed chronic infection resulting in high levels of virus in the blood and other tissues. These mice initially developed a robust T cell response, but eventually succumbed to the infection upon T cell exhaustion. The authors found that the decline in number and function of the effector T cells in chronically infected mice could be reversed by injecting an antibody that blocked the interaction between PD-1 and PD-L1.
Recently, it has been shown that PD-1 is highly expressed on T cells from HIV infected individuals and that receptor expression correlates with impaired T cell function and disease progression (Day et al., Nature 443:350-4 (2006).; Trautmann L. et al., Nat. Med. 12: 1198-202 (2006)). In both studies, blockade of the ligand PD-L1 significantly increased the expansion of HIV-specific, IFN-gamma producing cells in vitro.
Other studies also implicate the importance of the PD-1 pathway in controlling viral infection. PD-1 knockout mice exhibit better control of adenovirus infection than wild-type mice (Iwai et al., J. Exp. Med. 198:39-50 (2003)). Also, adoptive transfer of HBV-specific T cells into HBV transgenic animals initiated hepatitis (Isogawa M. et al., Immunity 23:53-63 (2005)). The disease state of these animals oscillates as a consequence of antigen recognition in the liver and PD-1 upregulation by liver cells. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
RNA-binding proteins are essential for a wide variety of cellular and developmental functions. They participate in RNA processing, editing, transport, localization, stabilization, and the posttranscriptional control of mRNAs. The RNA binding activity of these proteins is mediated by specific RNA-binding domains contained within the proteins. A variety of conserved RNA binding motifs have been defined through comparisons of amino acid homologies and structural similarities within these RNA-binding domains. These motifs include the RNP motif, an arginine-rich motif, the zinc-finger motif, the Y-box, the KH motif, and the double-stranded RNA-binding domain (dsRBD), all of which are characterized by specific consensus sequences (Burd, C. G. and Dreyfuss, G. (1994) Science 265:615-621).
The double-stranded RNA-binding domain (dsRBD) exclusively binds double-stranded RNA or RNA-DNA. A dsRBD motif consists of a region of approximately 70 amino acids which includes basic residues and contains a conserved core sequence with a predicted .alpha.-helical structure. The dsRBD motif is found in at least 20 known or putative RNA-binding proteins from different organisms. There are two types of dsRBDs; Type A, which is homologous along its entire length with the defined consensus sequence, and Type B, which is more highly conserved at its C terminus than its N terminus. These domains have been functionally delineated in specific proteins by deletion analysis and RNA binding assays (St Johnston, D., et al. (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 89:10979-10983).
Double stranded RNA-binding proteins participate in posttranscriptional regulation pathways which control gene expression. Posttranscriptional regulation allows the modulation of protein expression in the absence of new transcription and is active during entry into the M phase of the cell cycle, in viral infections, and in stress and heat shock conditions. The human cellular TAR RNA binding proteins (TRBP and TRBP2), contain two dsRBDs and participate in the trans-activation of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) genes. On integration into the host genome, HIV-1 remains latent until basal transcription produces a threshold level of the viral trans-activator protein, Tat. Tat increases the rate of viral mRNA production by increasing the elongation capacity of RNA polymerase. Tat interacts with the transcription machinery after binding to the trans-activation-responsive (TAR) RNA stem-loop element found at the 5 end of all HIV-1 transcripts. TRBP and TRBP2 proteins bind to TAR RNA with TAT and synergistically effect trans-activation. Biologically, TRBP has a growth-promoter effect and when overexpressed produces a transformed cell phenotype (Gatignol, A., et al. (1996) Gene Expression 5:217-228).
Gene expression is also down-regulated by dsRBDs, as has been shown with the mammalian double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase (PAR). PAR, which is a cell growth inhibitor, is activated by binding to double-stranded RNA or to single-stranded RNA with double-stranded regions (viral RNA or cellular RNA stem-loop structures). Activated PKR phosphorylates eukaryotic initiation factor eIF-2a inhibiting translation and preventing viral replication. The mouse Prbp protein, which contains two dsRBDs, affects the level of the Prm-1 gene by repressing its transcription and allowing normal spermatid differentiation (Benkirane, M. et al. (1997) EMBO J. 16: 611-624; Lee, K. et al. (1999) Mol. Cell. Biol. 16:3023-3034).
The discovery of a double-stranded RNA-binding protein and the polynucleotides encoding it satisfies a need in the art by providing new compositions which are useful in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cancer and disorders of cell growth. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to error checking and manipulation of a design layout, and more particularly to computer aided design layout and design rule verification of an integrated circuit design layout, and use thereof for circuit fabrication.
2. Background of the Invention
Design of an electronic circuit, for example, an integrated circuit (IC), is a complicated and time consuming process. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical design flow 80 of an integrated circuit device from conception through the generation of a fabrication ready design layout. Generally, design flow 80 commences with defining the design specifications or requirements, such as required functionality and timing, at step 82. The requirements of the design are implemented, for example, as a netlist or electronic circuit description, at step 84. The implementation can be performed by, for example, schematic capture (drawing the design with a computer aided design tool) or more typically, utilizing a high level description language such as VHDL, Verilog® and the like. The implemented design is simulated to verify design accuracy, at step 86. Design implementation and simulation are iterative processes. For example, errors found by simulation are corrected by design implementation and re-simulated.
Once the design is verified for accuracy with simulation, a design layout of the design is created, at step 88. The design layout describes the detailed design geometries and the relative positioning of each design layer to be used in actual fabrication. The design layout is very tightly linked to overall circuit performance (area, speed and power dissipation) because the physical structure defined by the design layout determines, for example, the transconductances of the transistors, the parasitic capacitances and resistances, and the silicon area which is used to realize a certain function. The detailed design layout requires a very intensive and time-consuming design effort and is typically performed utilizing specialized computer aided design (CAD) or Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools.
The design layout is checked against a set of design rules in a design rule check (DRC), at step 90. The created design layout must conform to a complex set of design rules in order, for example, to ensure a lower probability of fabrication defects. The design rules specify, for example, how far apart the geometries on various layers must be, or how large or small various aspects of the layout must be for successful fabrication, given the tolerances and other limitations of the fabrication process. A design rule can be, for example, a minimum spacing amount between geometries and is typically closely associated to the technology, fabrication process and design characteristics. For example, different minimum spacing amounts between geometries can be specified for different sizes of geometries. DRC is a time-consuming iterative process that often requires manual manipulation and interaction by the designer. The designer performs design layout and DRC iteratively, reshaping and moving design geometries to correct all layout errors and achieve a DRC clean (violation free) design.
Circuit extraction is performed after the design layout is completed and error free, at step 92. The extracted circuit identifies individual transistors and interconnections, for example, on various layers, as well as the parasitic resistances and capacitances present between the layers. A layout versus schematic check (LVS) is performed, at step 94, where the extracted netlist is compared to the design implementation created in step 84. LVS ensures that the design layout is a correct realization of the intended circuit topology. Any errors such as unintended connections between transistors, or missing connections/devices, etc. must be corrected in the design layout before proceeding to post-layout simulation, step 96. The post-layout simulation is performed using the extracted netlist which provides a clear assessment of the circuit speed, the influence of circuit parasitics (such as parasitic capacitances and resistances), and any glitches that can occur due to signal delay mismatches. Once post-layout simulation is complete and all errors found by DRC are corrected, the design is ready for fabrication and is sent to a fabrication facility.
As electronic circuit densities increase and technology advances, for example, in deep sub-micron circuits, skilled designers attempt to maximize the utilization of the design layout and manufacturability and reliability of the circuit. For example, the density of a layer can be increased, additional vias added to interconnection areas, and the like. Creation of a design layout and performing DRC become critical time consuming processes. Performing a DRC and manipulation of the design layout often requires manual interaction from the designer. More reliable and automated techniques for improving the design layout are consistently desired.
In a modern semiconductor design technology, many metal layers are used to implement interconnections throughout an integrated circuit. For some integrated circuits, one or more polysilicon (poly) layers are also used to implement interconnections. Vias are used to connect from one such metal or polysilicon layer to another metal or polysilicon layer. For example, a via may be used to connect a feature (i.e., a design geometry) on each of two metal layers. The lower one of the two layers is referred to as the landing metal layer and the upper one of the two layers is referred to as the covering layer. A via between a landing metal layer mtx and the covering metal layer mtx+1 is usually referred to as a vx via (i.e., using the same subscript designation as the landing metal layer).
Most design technologies include via enclosure rules to ensure that both the landing metal and the covering metal enclose the via by a certain amount. In other words, such an enclosure rule ensures that each metal layer overlaps a via with a certain amount of extra metal, to ensure that the via provides a good connection between the two metal layers once fabricated. The design rule specifying the extra amount of metal around each via may be referred to as a metal enclosure of a via design rule, and at times simply as a via enclosure design rule.
In a modern semiconductor design technology, especially for a deep sub-micron design, poly and metal layers which are used to implement connections through vias apply different via enclosure rules depending on the width of the metal or poly in the vicinity of the via. When a via is placed in a wide metal area, it may need more metal enclosure than that of a via which is placed in a narrower metal area. When a via is partially in wide metal area and partially in non-wide metal area, it may need different metal enclosure in each different area. In general, as the design technology advances, more and more wide classes of metal features may be used in a design layout, having different metal enclosure design rules for each wide metal class. Automated design rule checks to check such different enclosure rules for multi wide class objects without causing false errors (or false passes) have been difficult to develop, and additional improvements are needed.
Moreover, it may be desirable to apply different sets of rules to geometries on a given layer depending upon their relative size. For example, design layers which are used for implementing wires (e.g., metal layers) may apply different design rules, such as spacing rules, to improve wafer fabrication results. Implementing different rule checks for different width geometries may generate false errors and require manual intervention by skilled layout designers to determine whether the “error” should be corrected. Reliable, automated techniques are needed to facilitate design rule checking or design rule violation correction on a multi wide class design. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to a hold layout device for an aircraft for crew-member rest and an aircraft comprising same. It applies, in particular, to the use of the hold to provide a rest, even bedding, area, a cloakroom and/or a baggage bin, for at least one crew member.
In an aircraft, the available space is distributed among the passenger cabin space, the baggage and/or cargo transport hold space, these first two spaces having to be maximized, the cockpit space, and different spaces, for example between the systems cabinets and the portion of the hold able to accommodate standardized containers.
Crew members are asking for an improvement in their comfort and, for the long haul, a rest zone. Moreover, beyond a certain flight duration, the regulations or practices of the airline companies require that a second pilot and copilot pair be present in the aircraft in order to replace the first during the flight. This part of the crew, inactive for a portion of the flight, must have a rest zone. Finally, the members of the crew wish to be able to leave the aircraft and the destination airport as rapidly as possible, carrying their baggage and garments along with them without waiting for the contents of the hold to be brought to the baggage delivery zone of the airport involved.
It is known to have a zone comprising equipment items intended for the comfort of the crew between the crew station and the passenger cabin. These equipment items, however, consume useful space in the aircraft and reduce the space that could be made available to the passengers.
The document FR 2 886 622 describes a rest module positioned beneath the cockpit zone. The implementation of this module, however, would require the moving of a technical portion that should remain beneath the cockpit. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In many networking environments, multiple devices share a physical communication medium for transmitting data. For example, in some wireless networking environments (e.g., wireless local area networks implemented in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11 standards) multiple devices share a fixed number of channels for transmitting data to one or more access points. As another example, in some wired networking environments (e.g., wired local area networks implemented in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standards), multiple devices share common wired links to transmit data.
Medium access control (MAC) techniques are used to regulate how devices in a networking environment access the physical communication medium they share. MAC techniques can be used to help reduce or eliminate collisions that result from multiple devices concurrently transmitting data over a shared physical communication medium.
Some conventional medium access control techniques are implemented using a distributed control scheme and, as such, are herein referred to as distributed MAC techniques. In one illustrative distributed MAC technique, when a device, sharing a physical communication medium with other devices, has data to transmit, the device attempts to transmit the data. If the device fails to successfully transmit the data (e.g., due to collisions with data transmitted by one or more other devices), the device can repeatedly attempt to re-transmit the data after waiting for successively increasing time periods. Waiting to transmit data for successively increasing time periods is sometimes referred to as a “back-off” scheme.
Some other conventional medium access control techniques are implemented using a centralized control scheme and, as such, are herein referred to as centralized MAC techniques. In one illustrative centralized control scheme, a controller device can poll multiple devices one at a time (e.g., in a round-robin fashion) to determine which of the polled devices have data to transmit. After determining which devices have data to transmit, the controller device can create a conflict-free transmission schedule, in which one device at a time transmits data, and provide the transmission schedule to the devices. In turn, the devices can transmit data in accordance with the transmission schedule. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present application relates to the field of isotope analysis and, in particular, an emerging new field of analytical chemistry that is directed to the derivation of information regarding the origins of synthetic products from processes in which the amounts or ratios of isotopes in either synthetic starting materials, intermediates or products are traced.
The stable isotopic composition of matter is a way to differentiate one material from another when the materials have the same elemental composition. In the pharmaceutical industry, there is a need to trace precursors (i.e., starting materials and/or synthetic intermediates) through the manufacturing process, through the marketplace, and into various usages. Products such as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), excipients of drug products, synthetic intermediates, impurities in drug products, raw materials and drug products are among those products which a pharmaceutical manufacturer may wish to trace. The ready identification of products and chemical processes would allow a pharmaceutical manufacturer to monitor its products for quality purposes as well as to act as an impediment against fraudulent “knock-offs” or counterfeits. Product tracing and identification is also desirable with regard to other types of products, such as, for example, combustible fuel, environmental analytes, foods, explosive and ammunition and paint.
There is also a need for new techniques directed to “pharmaceutical authenticity” or “pharmaceutical security,” such as, for example, new techniques for investigating a suspect sample of undefined origin in furtherance of drug counterfeiting investigations and/or process patent infringement investigations. Manufacturers and regulatory authorities are confronting pharmaceutical security using multiple diverse tools, which can be categorized as overt techniques, covert techniques or forensic (analytical) techniques, the latter of which has only recently begun to receive significant attention. Purposeful misidentification of pharmaceutical materials threatens the efficacy of intermediates and end-products, consumer confidence, and the economic well-being of pharmaceutical manufacturers. Thus, pharmaceutical manufacturers and regulatory agencies have a strong interest in ensuring product authenticity and security. The main areas of concern associated with purposeful misidentification are counterfeiting, diversion (also known as countertrading), vicarious liability, theft, and patent infringement.
It is apparent from the above that there is a continuing need for advancements in the relevant field, including new methods and systems for identifying and distinguishing products and processes by which they are made. The present application provides such an advancement and provides a variety of additional benefits. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer pointing device, and more particularly, to a computer pointing device which uses capacitors installed in various directions to generate pointing signals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pointing devices are commonly used for controlling movements of a cursor or an object on a computer screen. Several types of pointing devices such as mouse, track ball, digitizer, joystick, point stick, etc., are currently sold in the market. Compared with other pointing devices, the point stick is very small and can be easily installed on a keyboard. A point stick usually comprises an upward protruding handle and a plurality of pressure sensitive resistors corresponding to various directions disposed under the handle for sensing a tilted direction of the handle. When the handle is tilted toward one direction, the resistance of these resistors will be changed accordingly. And the resistance of all the resistors will be detected and converted into pointing signals to reflect the tilted direction and exerted pressure of the handle. The pointing signals will be used to control movements of a cursor shown on a monitor screen.
The drawback of the above mentioned point stick is that it uses the pressure sensitive resistors to sense the tilted direction and exerted pressure of the handle. The moving speed of the cursor is made proportional to the pressure exerted on the handle. Such design makes it quite difficult to accurately control the moving speed of a cursor by using a finger because the finger force exerted on the handle can not be accurately controlled by a user. Besides, the pressure sensitive resistor may be damaged after a long period of use which will affect its capability in accurately sensing the force exerted on the handle. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
As part of a semiconductor or liquid-crystal plate manufacturing process, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) processes are generally used to deposit one or more films on a patterned surface of a workpiece, such as a semiconductor substrate. Those processes are typically accomplished by introducing a precursor gas or gas mixture into a chamber that contains a workpiece. The precursor gas or gas mixture is usually directed downwardly via a shower plate located at the top of the chamber. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to crop harvesting and more particularly to a field thrasher for grain sampling.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various thrashers have heretofore been devised for harvesting crop plants. Thrashers designed for normal harvesting operations can be relatively large, complicated and expensive. These characteristics are often necessary to achieve the objectives of a normal field harvesting operation, i.e., maximizing the crop yield in the shortest possible time with the lowest possible labor and fuel requirements.
Proper harvest timing can be important to maximize crop yields and also to obtain the best possible prices for the harvested crops. One timing factor involves crop moisture contents, which can vary considerably over relatively short periods of time as the crops are exposed to precipitation and the drying effects of sun and wind. Harvesting a crop in a wet condition can result in a lower price being paid for it. Crop buyers, such as cooperatives and grain elevators, often discount or "dock" grain prices for excessive moisture content because moisture can cause problems of spoilage and heat buildup in the stored grain.
Relatively "wet" grain may require drying and/or mixing with drier grain for marketability. Grain buyers often compensate for these problems and extra processing costs by "docking" grain sellers for damp grain.
Crop moisture conditions in the fields can change significantly in a few hours; for example, a heavy dew may cover a field early in the morning, and then substantially evaporate a few hours later. Thus, properly timing a grain harvest often involves timing within a matter of hours. Without hydrometers and other sophisticated equipment for determining moisture content, farmers and harvest workers often make estimates based upon their personal observations. However, such empirical measuring and sampling methods can be relatively imprecise.
As an alternative, harvesting equipment can be advanced into a field for a crop sample, which can then be analyzed for moisture content. However, much of the equipment designed for large scale field harvesting work is not particularly well suited for cutting and thrashing small samples, particularly moisture content analysis samples which generally require only a handful (e.g., about 250 grams or less) of grain. Some full-size equipment, therefore, tends to be wasteful when used for sampling since it thrashes considerably more grain than is needed for analysis purposes. Furthermore, transportation problems can be encountered with relatively large harvesting equipment, particularly when samples are needed from fields which are distant from each other. When remote fields are to be harvested, transporting large thrashers and combines to various distant locations can be expensive and inefficient when only small grain samples are needed.
A solution to some of these problems is to provide a portable thrasher, which can easily be transported from place to place and which is adapted for retrieving relatively small grain samples for moisture content analysis purposes. Such a thrasher is shown in the Brehon U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,593, and utilizes a beater and a fan system for thrashing grain both mechanically and pneumatically. However, the air handling system of the Brehon thrasher contributes substantially to its bulk, and it would be desirable to provide a more compact unit which can easily be carried by an individual. Furthermore, the Brehon thrasher is configured for feeding the grain heads downwardly into a conduit opening at the top of the thrasher, which might add the additional operational step of cutting the grain stalks prior to thrashing.
The present invention addresses some of these problems by providing a relatively compact thrasher which is adapted for gathering grain and other crop samples as they are found in the field. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for and a method of measuring a workpiece on a machine tool, wherein the workpiece is measured with a wired or wireless measuring head attached to a movable unit moving relatively to the workpiece in a machining area of the machine tool.
2. Description of the Related Art
For a machine tool such as a machining center, there have been proposed techniques of measuring the shape of the surface of a workpiece attached to the machine tool without removing the workpiece from the machine tool after machining. For example, a workpiece inspection system for a machine tool is described in Japanese published patent application JP2007-518579 (corresponding to WO 2005/065884).
This work inspection system has a probe (corresponding to the measuring head of the present invention) mounted on a main spindle of the machine tool. The data measured, when a needle of the probe contacts the workpiece, is output and an NC (numerical control) device also acquires position data of the probe. The measurement data and the position data are combined to inspect the workpiece.
The inspection system described in JP2007-518579 is configured in such a manner that a programmable controller receives the position data of the probe from the NC device for calculating. Accordingly, modification or change of the NC device or the programmable controller such as adding a new function thereto has been required in order to inspect the workpiece.
In addition, the inspection system, which is subject to restrictions of the NC device and the programmable controller, is not necessarily applicable to all machine tools.
The operation of acquiring the position data of the probe from the NC device is performed intermittently during the operation control on the machine tool, which is the primary role of the NC device. As a result, it has been difficult to acquire the position data of the probe at a precise timing. In addition, it has been also impossible to shorten the time interval for acquiring the position data to acquire a large amount of measurement data from the probe at high speed. Therefore, it has been difficult to measure a wide range of workpieces in a short time. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Technical Field
The present application is in the field of model railroading. More particularly, the present application is in the field of flashing rear end devices for model train cars.
2. Background Information
Creating realistic models of actual, full size trains has been the focus of the model railroad industry for many years. The industry has determined that several sizes or scales, of model trains are standard and well accepted. Some representative examples of these sizes or scales are HO scale, N scale and Z scale. These scales are often expressed in a ratio of real full size measurement to the scale model measurement. For example a real foot (12 inches) compares to 87 scale feet in HO scale. In N scale that same real foot (12 inches) compares to 160 scale feet. For Z scale, one foot (12 inches) compares to 220 scale feet. These real to scale comparisons can also be expressed as a linear ratio, such as 1:87 for HO scale or 1:160 for N scale and 1:220 for Z scale.
In addition to accurately scaling model railroad apparatus, the industry has also attempted to make model railroads operate like the full-size prototype. When the flashing rear end device was created to replace the caboose as the last part of a train, the model railroad industry followed. A model flashing rear end device like the prototype was now desired.
Conventional model railroad flashing rear end devices are typically installed in the interior of a model railroad car. Typically, a light source protrudes from the inside of the model railcar and out the rear wall. The light source may be an incandescent light bulb, a light emitting diode (LED) or a fiber optic filament. It is difficult to move these devices from one model railcar to another because they are permanently installed. Further, these devices are typically powered by a battery. This battery is installed in the interior of the model railcar. To preserve battery life, a power switch of some kind is utilized.
Another approach to powering the flashing rear end device is to use the track power. There are currently two types of power used in model railroading, digital and analog. Digital power is a newer system, wherein an alternating current with a digital data packet is applied to the rails. This system provides constant current and voltage to the track. The older type of power is analog, wherein a direct current is applied to the track and speed and direction are controlled by voltage and polarity selected.
In real, full-size railroading as well as in model railroading, there are different components with specific names used when referring to the vehicles that operate on the rails. A railcar can be any shape, size or geometry provided it has the following main components: a car body, two couplers, and two or more trucks or wheel assemblies. The car body is the main part of the railcar and is for the conveyance and protection of the goods being carried by the railcar.
The couplers are found at the extreme ends of the railcar, and are used to attach the railcar to another railcar, making a train. In real, full-sized railroading, the couplers are always attached to the car body, but in model railroading, the coupler may be attached to the car body or attached to the truck (wheel assembly).
The railcar truck is the wheel assembly found under the car body, usually near the ends, that supports the car body above the rails of the track that the railcar operates upon. This truck typically is used in a paired arrangement with one truck under each end of the car body, and may have one, two or more axles with two wheels attached to each axle.
In model railroading, the design of the model railcar truck and the model railcar coupler may be two separate pieces or assemblies or may be integrated into one unit. Since the assemblies must be attached in some manner to the car body, more than one fastener is needed if there is more than one assembly. An integrated design for the truck-coupler assembly can be seen in FIG. 2. and U.S. Pat. No. 3,564,766, Feb. 23, 1971, C. K. Edwards, et. al., which patent is incorporated by reference. This design uses only one fastener to attach to the car body, called a kingpin, which is part number 12 in the cited patent. Prior art can be illustrated to apply to a two-piece design, but not to an integrated unit design. | {
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This invention relates generally to the field of selective call control centers for transmission of calls to selective call receivers, such as paging receivers and more particularly to determining the order of transmission of calls to the receivers and/or determining which address within a receiver is to be called.
As the use of pagers becomes more and more established, the stage is already being reached where the control center of a paging system is becoming saturated at busy times, in the sense that more paging calls are being placed than the system is capable of transmitting to the destination paging receivers on the allocated radio frequency channels. To overcome this problem, control centers of paging systems administer a queue of calls for transmission, by storing each call in memory, and transmitting the calls, often on a first-in, first-out basis.
"Priority" is a concept used in paging control centers, or terminals, to alter the processing of selected calls, primarily in regard to their insertion into an output queue. Specifically, calls assigned a priority higher than that of other calls waiting for output are given advanced placement in the output queue, so that they will be transmitted sooner than calls assigned lower priority. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the use of magnetic material to secure advertising medium in a cavity in a floor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic material has been used for attaching advertising signs or information to metal doors. The known devices are either sheets of magnetic material having the sign incorporated thereon or the use of individual magnets for holding paper or the like to a door. These devices, however, project outward from the door and are not suitable for use for floor advertisement purposes on floors subject to foot traffic. Moreover, a sheet of magnetic material having a sign incorporated therein is a custom type single purpose system and is too expensive for advertisement purposes where the advertisement is changed often.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,361 discloses a ground advertising panel which appears to be complicated and expensive. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to power management within the context of wireless ad-hoc networks. More specifically, the invention relates to a power management scheme configured to reduce power consumption and enhance data throughput in wireless ad-hoc networks.
Wireless communication between mobile nodes has become increasingly popular. There are essentially two techniques used for linking nodes in wireless networks. The first uses existing cellular networks, which are essentially systems of repeaters wherein the transmitting or originating node contacts a repeater and the repeater retransmits the signal to allow for reception at the destination node. The obvious drawbacks to the cellular systems include significant infrastructure costs and geographic limitations. Because of the significant infrastructure costs it is not practical to have cellular networks in all areas. Furthermore, in times of emergency, such as earthquake, fire, or power interruption the cellular network can become disabled in the precise location where it is needed most.
The second technique for linking nodes is to form a wireless ad-hoc network among all users within a limited geographical region. In this situation each user participating in the ad-hoc network should be capable of, and willing to, forward data packets and participate in ascertaining if the packet was delivered from the original source to the final destination. The wireless ad-hoc network has a number of advantages over cellular networks. First, the wireless ad-hoc network is more robust, in that it does not depend on a single node, but rather has a number of redundant, fault tolerant, nodes, each of which can replace or augment its nearest neighbor. Additionally, the ad-hoc network can change position and shape in real time.
Various routing algorithms have been proposed for wireless ad-hoc networks in the literature. These algorithms are mainly focused on establishing routes and maintaining these routes under frequent and unpredictable connectivity changes. The implicit assumption in most of the earlier work on routing protocols is that nodes"" transmit powers are fixed. Power control is known in the context of cellular systems and satellite systems. Thus one drawback of the versatile ad-hoc network is power consumption. Conventional wireless ad-hoc networks have nodes that generally transmit at a single power level, regardless of the distance that the signal will traverse. Transmitting with too much power is costly in terms of node resources and can cause unwanted interference to nodes engaged in reception of other signals. Thus it would be desirable to have a power management scheme that reduces power consumption, enhances data throughput, and reduces demand for node resources traditionally allocated for data reception and transmission.
It is an object of the present invention is to provide both a method and apparatus configured to reduce power consumption, enhance data throughput, and reduce demand for node resources traditionally allocated for data reception and transmission.
Power based connectivity provides improved end-to-end network throughput, and simultaneously reduces power consumption. In wireless ad-hoc networks, as nodal transmitted power increases, the connectivity range also increases, consequently each node in the wireless ad-hoc network would reach almost all other nodes in a single hop. However, since higher powers cause higher interference levels, more collisions are likely to occur. By reducing the transmission power levels at each node such that the node can directly connect to only a small subset of nodes in the network, the interference zones may be significantly reduced.
The method and apparatus according to the present invention provides a system that dynamically reaches a near-optimal operating power level in a wireless ad-hoc network, such that the end-to-end throughput is optimized. In addition to optimizing end-to-end throughput the present invention permits a reduction in the total power usage. One of the major advantages provided by the present invention is conservation of power. Power is a particularly precious resource in the wireless environment. Typical wireless ad-hoc networks that might benefit from power based routing include low mobility wireless ad-hoc networks, including pedestrian networks formed by soldiers relaying situational awareness information on the battlefield, rescue workers and emergency disaster relief workers. The invention may also find application in a variety of sensor networks. Another object of the present invention is to provide a power management scheme that reduces power consumption, increases transmission range, enhances data throughput, and reduces demand for node resources traditionally allocated for data reception and transmission. The wireless ad-hoc network of the present invention uses only the minimum power required to contact a limited number of the nearest nodes, and consequently minimizes power requirements because transmission power requirements are reduced. Furthermore, transmission range can be greater than that found in a network where the signals are not relayed. | {
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At various alignment and/or test workstations along a television assembly line, it is required to couple RF television signals to the RF input terminals of a television receiver undergoing manufacture. In the past, it has been common practice for a human operator at a workstation to manually connect a coaxial cable of an RF signal distribution network to the RF input terminals of the receiver. In order to reduce manufacturing costs, it is desirable to perform the operation of coupling RF signals to a receiver at various workstations automatically rather than manually.
While it is possible to design apparatus which automatically makes direct physical contact between a coaxial cable providing the RF signal and the RF input of the receiver at each workstation, such contacting type of RF signal coupling arrangements have practical limitations. For low frequency applications, rugged types of contacts, e.g., such as brushes, which are not particularly susceptible to wear, can be used. However, for high frequency signals, the contacts should be designed to have a shape that will ensure that the RF transmission system maintains its proper impedance characteristics. Such high frequency contacts are susceptible to wear, making them prone to frequent repair or replacement to ensure reliable RF signal coupling. Robotic apparatus may be used in place of a human operator at each workstation to ensure reliable contact, however such robotic apparatus is relatively expensive.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a non-contacting type of high frequency signal coupling arrangement which does not have the aforementioned problems of the contacting type of signal coupling arrangements but which does provide a signal to the television receiver at a workstation which is of sufficient amplitude to properly perform the required alignments and/or tests. | {
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High power microwave sources, for example, microwave and millimeter wave high power electronic devices are important in the modern society. These sources/devices have wide applications in, for example, civilian infrastructure and consumer markets (e.g., broadcast media transmission, satellite communication, civilian radar, etc.), military (e.g., electronic countermeasures, high-power weapons, etc.), scientific applications (e.g., plasma heating, particle accelerators, etc.) and industrial applications (e.g., testing and instrumentation, materials processing, etc.).
Vacuum electron devices (VEDs) typically stand out from the solid state devices at high power and high frequencies as VEDs generally exhibit more reliable performance, higher efficiency, and lower cost and weight per watt. Despite the inroads made by solid-state devices, the current business of VEDs is estimated at about 1 billion USD. Among the different types of VEDs, travelling-wave tubes (TWTs) are noteworthy due to their large bandwidth and linearity. Communications satellites, airborne radar systems and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) commonly use travelling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs). TWTs have a majority share of 65% in the VED business and it has been projected that such majority share may be maintained in the coming years.
A travelling wave tube (TWT) is one of the most widely used high power microwave devices. The TWT has the largest bandwidth among all microwave vacuum electron devices (VEDs) and it usually acts as a high power amplifier in communication satellites, radar systems and electronic countermeasures (ECM). Apart from the wide bandwidth, TWTs also display the advantages of high efficiency, high linearity, low noise, and high gain in compact packages. The working frequency of TWTs can be from below 1 GHz to hundreds of GHz and are being developed to beyond 1 THz. The output power of normal TWTs may vary between several watts to hundreds of kilowatts. For pulse operation, the peak power of the TWTs may even reach megawatts levels. The efficiency of the TWTs may range from about 30% to about 70%
With relatively minor changes in the operating parameters, a TWT may work as an oscillator instead of an amplifier. Such a device is referred to as a backward-wave oscillator (BWO) and the oscillation frequency may be tuned by varying the acceleration voltage of electrons within the TWT.
The TWT generally includes an electromagnetic waveguide structure. The speed of an electron beam is much slower than the phase velocity in most typical electromagnetic waveguide structures. In order to have “velocity synchronism”, a waveguide structure is needed to slow down the wave speed and such a waveguide structure is referred to as a slow-wave structure (SWS). Commonly used SWSs may include, for example, helix transmission line, coupled cavity, ladder circuits, gratings, helical waveguides and dielectric-lined circuits.
As the operating frequency increases to millimeter wave or terahertz range, the physical dimensions of the various parts of TWTs become smaller and smaller. As a result, traditional fabrication processes can no longer achieve the required accuracy. As a solution to this problem, microfabrication techniques have been proposed in the recent years.
Circular helix slow-wave structure (SWS) has been widely used in travelling-wave tubes (TWTs) due to its wide bandwidth and high coupling impedance. The helix is usually supported by dielectric rods with high thermal conductivity to dissipate the heat from the helix. Normally, the magnetic focusing in the TWT prevents the axially flowing electrons from spreading in the radial direction, but some challenges such as inadequate focusing magnetic field and/or misalignment of the electron gun (e.g., off-axis or inclined with respect to the axis) may cause the electrons to hit the surrounding structure. The charge of the electrons that land on the metallic SWS is conducted away. However, the charge of the electrons that land on the dielectric rods may accumulate on the dielectric rods and may cause a voltage difference between the SWS and the dielectric support material. This voltage may be considerably high to a level causing dielectric breakdown. Even otherwise, a high voltage on the dielectric will affect the electron motion, leading to defocusing of the electron beam and in turn causing more electrons to hit the structure. This problem becomes more severe at millimeter-wave or terahertz frequencies where precise alignment of various parts of the TWT and good control of the magnetic field are more difficult to achieve.
Some methods have been proposed to address the problem of dielectric charging. For example, one method includes coating the dielectric with a thin layer of conductive material. However, the thickness of the coating has been found to be difficult to control and may induce excessive RF loss in the circuits. In another method, coating the dielectric with beryllia has been found to have a relatively less dielectric charging effect. However, the problem of dielectric charging may not be completely avoided in some cases. In yet another method, the material of the rods has been replaced by a lossy dielectric material that exhibits a relatively high electrical conductivity at low frequencies; but this may similarly cause high loss at millimeter-wave frequencies.
As such, there is a need for a SWS that is easily microfabricated and at least minimizes dielectric charging losses, thereby addressing at least the above-mentioned problems. | {
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Digital regulators, especially digital Low Dropout Regulators (D-LDOs for short), are applied in the field of power management due to their good process mobility and low operating voltage. | {
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It is known to manufacture paper by supplying the papermaking stock to the forming section of a paper machine under acid, neutral or alkaline conditions. Alkaline conditions are primarily used with a wood free fiber and at a pH in the range of about 8 whereas in acid papermaking from wood containing stock, the pH is generally well below 7 and normally in the order of 4 to 6. Neutral papermaking is usually carried out at pH of about 6.8 to 7.5.
One of the major advantages of alkaline papermaking is that it permits the use of calcium carbonate which is a relatively inexpensive filler in relatively large quantities in the paper. Calcium carbonate is generally less expensive than wood fiber and has a relatively high brightness which thus facilitates the production of low cost priming papers.
Attempts have been made to utilize calcium carbonate filler with acid papermaking and/or neutral papermaking by means of specific acid tolerant carbonates which are specially prepared, for example, by the addition of phosphorus compounds to the surface of the carbonate to stabilize the carbonate under acid conditions. It is also known when using such acid tolerant carbonates to operate the paper machine at pH generally below 7 (i.e. mild acid conditions) and to use phosphoric acid to maintain the pH of the stock.
Chalk has been used as a filler in paper. | {
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This invention relates to radio broadcasting and, more particularly, to methods of and apparatus for demodulating and equalizing a signal in a receiver for an amplitude modulated compatible digital broadcasting system.
There has been increasing interest in the possibility of broadcasting digitally encoded audio signals to provide improved audio fidelity. Several approaches have been suggested. One such approach, set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,022, teaches a method for simultaneously broadcasting analog and digital signals in a standard AM broadcasting channel. The broadcast signal includes an amplitude modulated radio frequency signal having a first frequency spectrum. The amplitude modulated radio frequency signal includes a first carrier modulated by an analog program signal. The signal also includes a plurality of digitally modulated carrier signals within a bandwidth which encompasses the first frequency spectrum. Each of the digitally modulated carrier signals is modulated by a portion of a digital program signal. A first group of the digitally modulated carrier signals lies within the first frequency spectrum and is modulated in quadrature with the first carrier signal. Second and third groups of the digitally modulated carrier signals lie outside of the first frequency spectrum and are modulated both in-phase and in-quadrature with the first carrier signal.
The waveform in the AM compatible digital audio broadcasting system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,022, was formulated to provide optimal data throughput for the digital signal while avoiding crosstalk into the analog AM channel. Multiple carriers are employed by means of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) to bear the communicated information.
Monophonic detectors for consumer AM radios respond only to the envelope and not the phase of the received signal. Because of the use of the multiple digitally modulated carriers, there is a need for a means to reduce the envelope distortion caused by this hybrid signal. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/671,252, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses a method for reducing envelope distortion in an AM compatible digital audio broadcasting system. Certain digital carriers that are above the frequency of the analog AM carrier have an associated digital carrier that is at an equal frequency offset below the analog AM carrier. The data and modulation placed on the upper digital carrier and its counterpart are such that the signal resulting from their addition has no component that is in-phase with the analog AM carrier. Digital carrier pairs arranged in this way are said to be complementary. Carriers that are not directly beneath the analog signal spectrum are called non-complementary, and are modulated in-phase and in-quadrature to the AM carrier. This configuration delivers dramatic fidelity improvements to analog AM reception of digital broadcast signals.
At the receiver, the digital signal is demodulated by means of a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). One possible method and associated apparatus to perform the demodulation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,896. That patent discloses a demodulation technique which minimizes the undesired crosstalk between the analog signal and the digital signals in an AM compatible digital audio broadcasting (AM DAB) system using an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) modulation format, by employing dual Fast Fourier Transform processes on separate respective in-phase and quadrature-phase components of a received OFDM digital signal. The output of the quadrature channel is used to recover the complementary data, and the resultant processed component signals are summed to recover the non-complementary data.
The received multi-carrier signal requires equalization in the presence of dynamic channel response variations. Without such equalization, a very distorted signal would be detected and the digital broadcasting signal information would be unrecoverable. An equalizer enhances the recoverability of the digital audio broadcasting signal information. One such equalizer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,830. The equalizer disclosed therein includes means for receiving an AM compatible digital audio broadcasting waveform and storing that waveform as a waveform vector. The equalizer then processes that waveform by multiplying the waveform vector by an equalization vector. This equalization vector comprises a plurality of equalizer coefficients, each of the coefficients initially set to a predetermined value. The equalizer then compares each location of the processed waveform vector with a stored waveform vector. The equalizer selects as the signal that vector location closest to the stored waveform vector. Preferably, the equalizer includes means for updating the equalizer coefficients using the waveform vector, the processed waveform vector, and the stored waveform vector to provide immunity to noise and response to channel changes.
In the equalizers of both U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,896 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,830, frequency domain information is presented to the equalizer as a frequency domain vector. Each block of frequency domain information is stored in a storage array. This storage array vector is multiplied by a plurality of equalizer coefficients. The resulting product of this multiplication is an equalized signal. A set of exact values is known a priori in the equalizer against which each vector location of the equalized signal can be compared. The ideal value closest to that described in the vector location is chosen as the actual signal value. The vector of decisions is stored in a decision array. Using the received signal, the equalized signal, and the decision array, an equalizer coefficient estimator calculates coefficient estimates. To provide immunity to noise, the equalizer coefficient estimates can be averaged over time. The rate of coefficient update determines equalizer noise immunity and convergence rate. Coefficients in different parts of the band may be updated at different rates depending on knowledge of the distortion mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,896 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,830 are hereby incorporated by reference.
While the dual FFT technique can improve system performance in a channel that has symmetric magnitude and anti-symmetric phase about the AM carrier frequency over the frequency range of the complementary carriers, for channels with non-symmetric magnitude or non- anti-symmetric phase, the process of using only the quadrature channel FFT output to obtain the complementary data destroys the non-symmetric magnitude and non- anti-symmetric phase information and the signal that drives the equalizer is not correct. A United States patent application for a "Method For Equalization Of Complementary Carriers In An AM Compatible Digital Audio Broadcast System", by the present inventors and M. Matherne, filed on the same date as this application, and assigned to the same assignee, discloses an equalization method that can provide proper equalizer coefficients when the equalizer coefficients may have non-symmetric magnitude or non- anti-symmetric phase.
Demodulation of the non-complementary carriers may require a high-pass filter on the in-phase portion of the signal to eliminate spectral spillage in the FFT from the analog signal. However, when a high-pass filter is applied, information in the in-phase signal is destroyed, thus preventing proper equalization of the complementary digital carriers. For channels that have non-symmetric magnitude or non- anti-symmetric phase over the spectral region of the analog signal, the destroyed information prevents proper equalization of the complementary carriers. The channel, as referred to here, includes not only phenomenon that affect propagation of the signal, but also any component in the transmitter or receiver that affects the magnitude and phase of the received signal. The present invention provides a method of demodulating the digital signal without the drawback of either spectral spillage of the analog signal onto the non-complementary carriers or destroying information needed for proper equalization of the complementary carriers. The present invention seeks to provide an improved demodulation and equalization method and receivers which include the method. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A refrigeration system sometimes needs to use multiple compressors at the same time. For example, the manifolding of compressors is being used in the air conditioning and refrigeration industry more and more frequently. Compressors connected in parallel have advantages such as convenience in energy modulation, convenience in maintenance of a single shutdown compressor, and low cost. Lubrication oil is indispensable during running of the compressors. However, due to different displacements and different piping designs between the multiple compressors, a compressor, especially a scroll compressor with a low-pressure chamber, may be damaged due to the lack of lubrication oil.
Therefore, it is necessary to manage oil levels of multiple compressors. In conventional oil level management, an active oil return apparatus is used in the refrigeration industry. However, the active oil return apparatus is not as applicable to commercial or light commercial air conditioning due to its high cost and complex system structure.
Alternatively, the oil level may also be managed by way of piping design, but this cannot effectively control the oil level of a compressor. Therefore, the conventional oil level management cannot meet requirements for both low cost and high reliability.
A conventional refrigeration system is widely used in an air conditioning device for cooling and heating indoor air and used in other refrigeration machines. A compressor group in the conventional refrigeration system includes multiple compressors. One of the multiple compressors is a “first” compressor. The first compressor may be a compressor with modulated capacity (or with variable displacement) or may be a fixed capacity compressor. To enable the refrigeration system to be operated in a partial load mode, others of the multiple compressors are “second” compressors connected in parallel. The second compressors can work intermittently according to load demands. When capacity requirement is precise, the first compressor further has a capacity adjustment (variable capacity) capability. In order to increase the precision of reaching the required capacity, the first compressor further has an ability to modulate capacity according to a request.
Specifically, in a conventional refrigeration system, there are several methods for balancing lubrication oil among the first compressor and the second compressors. To balance oil among a plurality of compressors, a method depends on an oil balancing pipe among compressors. Another method depends on an oil separator at a discharge pipe. However, none of the conventional methods can provide a reliable oil balancing solution in a partial load condition. If no oil balancing pipe is provided for a refrigeration system, a compressor having a small capacity tends to be short of oil. In a refrigeration system without an oil balancing pipe, a compressor having a larger capacity may reach an oil-starvation state faster.
Currently, an oil balancing pipe is provided in a conventional compressor group. The oil balancing pipe is connected in parallel or in series to an oil sump of a compressor. In some solutions, an additional gas balancing pipe is installed among the compressors, so as to reduce a pressure difference between compressors caused by different refrigerant flows.
In a conventional compressor group, when compressors are operated with different capacities, an oil return pipe and an oil balancing pipe for the compressors cannot solve the oil balancing problem in a partial load mode. It has been proven in practice that in some conditions (e.g., there is a large pressure difference between different compressors due to different compressor capacities), oil may be sucked from a compressor having a higher pressure and enter a compressor having a lower pressure. In addition, a gas balancing pipe may be helpful to reduce a pressure difference. However, the use of the gas balancing pipe requires changes to the structure of a compressor and requires more piping connections and welding work, resulting in a complex system.
Therefore, there is no reliable and economic oil balancing solution in the conventional art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A typical electric power cable generally comprises one or more conductors in a cable core that is surrounded by several layers of polymeric materials including a first semiconducting shield layer (conductor or strand shield), an insulating layer, a second semiconducting shield layer (insulation shield), a metallic tape or wire shield, and a protective jacket. Additional layers within this construction such as moisture impervious materials are often incorporated. Other cable constructions such as plenum and riser cable omit the shield.
In many cases, crosslinking of the polymeric materials is essential to the particular cable application, and, in order to accomplish this, useful compositions generally include a polymer; a crosslinking agent, usually an organic peroxide; and antioxidants, and, optionally, various other additives such as a scorch inhibitor or retardant and a crosslinking booster. Crosslinking assists the polymer in meeting mechanical and physical requirements such as improved thermal aging and lower deformation under pressure.
The crosslinking of polymers with free radical initiators such as organic peroxides is well known. Generally, the organic peroxide is incorporated into the polymer by melt blending in a roll mill, a biaxial screw kneading extruder, or a Banbury.TM. or Brabender.TM. mixer at a temperature lower than the onset temperature for significant decomposition of the peroxide. Peroxides are judged for decomposition based on their half life temperatures as described in Plastic Additives Handbook, Gachter et al, 1985, pages 646 to 649. An alternative method for organic peroxide incorporation into a polymeric compound is to mix liquid peroxide and pellets of the polymer in a blending device, such as a Henschel.TM. mixer or a soaking device such as a simple drum tumbler, which are maintained at temperatures above the freeze point of the organic peroxide and below the decomposition temperature of the organic peroxide and the melt temperature of the polymer. Following the organic peroxide incorporation, the polymer/organic peroxide blend is then, for example, introduced into an extruder where it is extruded around an electrical conductor at a temperature lower than the decomposition temperature of the organic peroxide to form a cable. The cable is then exposed to higher temperatures at which the organic peroxide decomposes to provide free radicals, which crosslink the polymer.
Polymers containing peroxides are vulnerable to scorch (premature crosslinking occurring during the extrusion process). Scorch causes the formation of discolored gel-like particles in the resin. Further, to achieve a high crosslink density, high levels of organic peroxide have been used. This leads to a problem known as sweat-out, which has a negative effect on the extrusion process and the cable product. Sweat-out dust is an explosion hazard, may foul filters, and can cause slippage and instability in the extrusion process. The cable product exposed to sweat-out may have surface irregularities such as lumps and pimples and voids may form in the insulation layer.
Industry is constantly seeking to find polyethylene crosslinkable compositions, which can be extruded at high temperatures (although limited by the decomposition temperature of the organic peroxide) and rates with a minimum of scorch and yet be crosslinked at a fast cure rate to a high crosslink density, all with essentially no sweat out, i.e., crystallization of the organic peroxide on the surface of the extrudate.
In certain polyethylene compositions, 4,4'-thiobis(2-methyl-6-t-butyl phenol) and 2,2'-thiobis(6-t-butyl-4-methylphenol) have been found to cause a color problem, which, in spite of their scorch inhibiting qualities referred to in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/098,179 filed on the same date as subject patent application by Michael J. Keogh for A Crosslinkable Polyethylene Composition (D-17873), can be commercially unacceptable. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to audio systems, and in particular to audio systems for motor vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
A great number and variety of audio systems for sound and musical playback are available. A basic audio system may be as simple as an AM/FM radio and a loudspeaker. More sophisticated systems often include the ability to play many different types of media, including cassette tapes, compact disks (CDs), and, in some cases, digital versatile disks (DVDs).
Some audio systems include sound enhancement features. While many basic audio systems are capable of two-channel (stereo) playback, other more sophisticated audio systems are capable of reproducing more channels of sound (multi-channel sound). If an audio source does not provide enough data or channels for more than two channels of sound, some audio systems may use algorithms to simulate additional channels of sound to create, for example, a simulated 5.1 channel surround sound playback from a two-channel audio source. Examples of these sound enhancement algorithms include Dolby Pro-Logic II™, DTS Circle Surround™, and Bose Centerpoint™.
A CD stores two channels of audio at known bit rate which is an industry standard, 44.1 kHz. Since the CD is currently the overwhelming preference in media formats used today, it can be assumed that all enhanced playback algorithms use this as a reference to tune their performance. Because audio information stored on a CD using a traditional CD audio format is generally of relatively high quality, the audio played from a CD will sound good when an enhanced playback algorithm, such as a simulated surround sound playback algorithm, is used.
More recently, however, different formats and media are used to store digital audio information. Some audio systems allow hard disk drives with stored digital audio to be directly connected to the system. Other audio systems are capable of reading an optical disk, such as a CD-ROM or DVD with digital audio information stored in a digital audio file format. In some cases, a file format different than the one used for a traditional CD is used.
When audio is stored digitally in a format other than the traditional CD audio format, digital audio information can be stored in many different storage formats and quality levels. Moreover, the quality of the recording may be deliberately reduced in order to store more audio in the same amount of space. This process of reducing the size of a digital audio file is referred to as compression.
Compression algorithms are optimized by eliminating information in the audio signal that is not readily perceived by human hearing, thus giving the best sound quality while reducing the file size. It is known that there is a trade off between audio performance and file size. Since these enhancement algorithms also use the same information in the audio stream to simulate surround sound, the higher the compression, the less effective the simulation. Because of this, some compressed digital audio files may not sound good when played back using an enhanced mode. Even if a digital audio file sounds good in a non-enhanced playback mode (e.g., two-channel stereo), the sound quality may deteriorate if a simulated surround sound or other enhanced playback algorithm is used.
Motor vehicles typically include at least a basic audio system, although more sophisticated audio systems with enhanced playback algorithms are also available. As audio systems need to process and playback various different types of digital audio files, and as hard disk drives and hard disk drive docking devices become more common in motor vehicle audio systems, audio systems need to be increasingly versatile. These systems must be able to receive, process and properly playback a variety of different types of digital audio files. Current audio systems lack these, as well as other abilities. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrode arrangement of a vacuum circuit breaker having improved breaking characteristics, and in particular to an electrode arrangement of a vacuum circuit breaker having a magnetic member for generating a longitudinal magnetic field between a pair of contact members for making electric connection and break.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A vacuum circuit breaker normally comprises, as shown in FIG. 1, a vacuum container 1 having an insulating container 2 with both end opening portions thereof being closed by covers 3a and 3b, and a pair of electrodes. The paired electrodes comprise contacts 4 and 5 which are arranged to face each other in the vacuum container 1 and conductive bars 6 and 7 which pass through the covers 3a, 3b and inserted into the vacuum container 1, respectively. The contacts 4 and 5 are provided on the end portions of the conductive bars 6 and 7, respectively. One conductive bar 7 is movable in the axial direction by an operation mechanism (not shown) such that one contact (to be referred to as "fixed contact" hereinafter) 4 can contact with and release from the other contact (to be referred to as "movable contact" hereinafter) 5.
A bellows 8 is provided between the cover 3a and the conductive bar 7 to tightly hold vacuum the inside of the vacuum container 1 and to allow the conductive bar 7 to move in the axial direction. Reference numeral 9 denotes a shield provided so as to surround the contacts 4 and 5 as well as the conductive bars 6 and 7.
The vacuum circuit breaker is normally energized when both of the contacts contact with each other. In this state, when the conductive bar 7 moves in the direction indicated by an arrow M, the movable contact 5 separates from the fixed contact 4 and an arc is generated between the contacts 4 and 5. The arc is maintained by generating a metallic vapor from a cathode such as a movable contact 5. As the contacts are distant from each other, the arc cannot be maintained, no current flows, and the generation of the metallic vapor stops to thereby complete breaking.
The arc generated between the contacts 4 and 5 turns into an extremely unstable condition by the interaction between a magnetic field generated by the arc itself and a magnetic field generated by an external circuit if the current to be broken is high. As a result, the arc moves on surfaces of the contacts and is biased to end portions or peripheral portions of the contacts. These arced portions are locally heated and a large quantity of metallic vapors are discharged, so that the degree of vacuum in the vacuum container 1 is thereby lowered. The breaking characteristics of the vacuum circuit breaker thus deteriorates. If the contacts are integrally formed on the electrodes, the arc may move on surfaces of the electrodes.
To avoid the deterioration of the breaking characteristics, there have been proposed, for example, (a) an electrode structure in which the contact surfaces have larger areas; (b) that in which a spiral slit is provided on the surfaces of the contacts or on the surfaces of the electrodes to rotate the arc; and (c), as shown in FIG. 2, a longitudinal magnetic field parallel to the arc is applied to the gap between the contacts by means of circumferential components of self-current which flow coil electrodes 10 and 10' being provided on the back of the contacts 4 and 5, respectively.
In a case of the electrode structure of (a) above, a biased arc may still be generated as described above. As a result, the contacts (electrodes) are locally molten and a vapor is generated more, whereby it may make circuit breaking impossible.
In a case of the electrode structure of (b) above, it is also impossible to uniformly flow current across the entire areas of the contacts, with the result that the phenomenon as same as the case of (a) occurs.
In a case of the electrode structure of (c) above, if current flows across the coil electrodes on the back of the contacts, a magnetic field is generated between the contacts in a direction perpendicular to the contact surface. During breaking operation, the arc generated between the both contacts is restricted by the longitudinal magnetic field. The arc distribution becomes the same as that of the line of magnetic force between the contacts. However, the distribution is not necessarily uniform and parallel. In addition, there occurs a phenomenon that the arc does not strike perpendicular to the contact surface and even shifts from the space between the contacts to the outside in the vicinity of the end portions of the respective contacts, with the result that expected breaking characteristics may not be exhibited.
As stated above, various improvements have been tried so far to contacts as well as electrode structures having the contacts provided thereon. Some of them, however, provide insufficient breaking characteristics and others push up cost. | {
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In wireless communication systems, space division multiple access (SDMA) has been actively considered in recent years as a technology for improving efficiency in the use of frequency, which is a limited resource. SDMA is a technology for using an adaptive array antenna 102 as shown in FIG. 9 to create beams having directivity toward terminals, and dividing a communication area using a single frequency into two or more wireless zones. SDMA technology makes it possible to avoid collisions between wireless signals transmitted and received between terminals 2a to 2c and a base station 101 even when using a contention method such as slotted Aloha to perform communication therebetween, thereby enabling two or more terminals to communicate with a base station at the same time on the same frequency channel.
Document 1, for example, discloses a method of further lowering the probability of failures in establishing a channel due to collisions between transmission signals when two or more terminals request the base station to establish a channel, by using an adaptive array antenna to dynamically control the directivity of the antenna.
On the other hand, “A DSRC System Proposal Extended From ARIB STD-T75 using Distributed Antenna and PSK-VP Scheme,” by H. Takai et al., ITST2002, pp. 239-244, November 2002, and Japanese Patent No. 3067751, for example, disclose road-to-vehicle communication systems that use a so-called distributed antenna technique in which antennas, each forming a wireless zone in a different area, are provided on the base station side, and transmit and receive the same data at substantially the same time on the same frequency to form an extended communication area.
In such road-to-vehicle communication systems, so-called diversity reception is used to perform selection/combining on signals received by two or more base station antennas based on error information in decoded data strings, reception levels, etc.
Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-300105
Non-patent document 2: “A DSRC System Proposal Extended From ARIB STD-T75 using Distributed Antenna and PSK-VP Scheme,” by H. Takai et al., ITST2002, pp. 239-244, November 2002
Patent document 3: Japanese Patent No. 3067751 | {
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Long Term Evolution wireless communication system (LTE system), an advanced high-speed wireless communication system established upon the 3G mobile telecommunication system, supports only packet-switched transmission, and tends to implement both Medium Access Control (MAC) layer and Radio Link Control (RLC) layer in one single communication site, such as in Node B (NB) alone rather than in NB and RNC (Radio Network Controller) respectively, so that the system structure becomes simple. Besides, one NB is responsible for controlling one or more cells, and thus a user equipment (UE) establishing connection with the network means the UE establishing connection with one cell of NB.
In LTE system, Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer of the UE merely includes two RRC states, i.e. RRC_IDLE and RRC_CONNECTED; and Radio Bearers for transmitting RRC signals, generally called Signalling Radio Bearers (SRBs), are divided into the following three types: 1. SRB0 is for exchanging RRC messages over a Common Control Channel (CCCH). Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL) both use a Transparent Mode (TM) RLC entity; 2. SRB1 is for exchanging RRC messages and upper layer Non-Access Stratum (NAS) messages over a Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH). The UL and DL both use an Acknowledged Mode (AM) RLC entity; and 3. SRB2 is for exchanging upper layer NAS messages over DCCH. The UL and DL both use the AM RLC entity.
Through use of the SRBs, the RRC layers of the UE and the network can exchange RRC messages, as a basis for radio resource settings, for completing various RRC control procedures. For example, the UE in RRC_IDLE state can establish RRC connection with the network through a RRC Connection Establishment procedure, while the UE in RRC13 CONNECTED state can re-establish RRC connection with the network through a RRC Connection Re-establishment procedure.
For the above two RRC connection procedures, the RRC layer of the UE shall generate a Connection Request message (or a Connection Re-establishment Request message), and the UE shall initiate a Random Access procedure in lower layer, i.e. MAC layer, for transmitting the Connection Request message (or the Connection Re-establishment Request message) to the network over CCCH. Meanwhile, the UE can perform radio measurement for neighboring cells, and reselect to another cell when measuring results reach to cell reselection criteria, i.e. a cell re-selection occurs. Detailed operation of the above RRC connection procedures is referable in related specification and not narrated herein.
According to the current specification, when the cell reselection occurs during an ongoing RRC Connection procedure, the RRC layer of the UE would then generate a new Connection Request message (or a new Connection Re-establishment Request message) to the lower layer for transmission to a new selected cell. However, since the MAC layer is not reset and the RLC layer mapping to the SRB is not re-established as well, the Random Access procedure for an original cell is still executed, causing the Random Access procedure for the new cell cannot be correctly performed. In addition, if the Connection Request message (or the Connection Re-establishment Request message) for the original cell cannot be sent out before the cell reselection occurs, there would be two or more Connection Request messages (or Connection Re-establishment Request messages) in a transmission buffer of the RLC layer. As a result, the follow-up RRC Connection procedure cannot be completed correctly, and may cause errors, such as sending a redundant Connection Request message (or Connection Re-establishment Request message) to the new cell. | {
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In a continuing effort to improve the quality of shipping fruits, we, the inventors, typically hybridize a large number of peach, nectarine, plum, apricot, and cherry seedlings each year. We also grow a lesser number of open pollinated seeds of each of these fruits. The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of plum tree, which has been denominated varietally as ‘Plumsweet XXI’.
During a typical blooming season we isolate as seed parents both individual and groups of different plum and interspecific trees by covering them with screen houses. A hive of bees is placed inside each such house, and bouquets to provide pollen from different plum, apricot, and interspecific hybrid trees are placed in buckets near the trees approximately every two days for the duration of the bloom. During 2010 one such house containing ‘Plumred X’ interspecific tree (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,591) was crossed by us in this manner. To pollinate this interspecific tree, we selected bouquets from several sources of plum trees without keeping specific written details. Upon reaching maturity the fruit from this interspecific tree was harvested, and the seeds were removed, cracked, stratified and germinated as a group with the label “H8”. They were grown as seedlings on their own root in our greenhouse and upon reaching dormancy transplanted to a cultivated area of our experimental orchard located near Le Grand, Calif. in Merced County (San Joaquin Valley). During the summer of 2014 the claimed variety was selected by us as a single plant from the group of seedlings described above. Subsequent to origination of the present variety of plum tree, we asexually reproduced it by budding and grafting in the experimental orchard described above, and such reproduction of plant and fruit characteristics were true to the original tree in all respects. The reproduction of the variety included the use of ‘Nemaguard’ (unpatented) rootstock upon which the present variety was compatible and true to type.
The present variety is similar to its seed parent, ‘Plumred X’ interspecific tree (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,591), by being self-unfruitful and by producing fruit that is clingstone in type, red in flesh color, mostly dark red in skin color, firm, juicy, and very sweet, but is distinguished therefrom by having a smaller size tree, by blooming in the late instead of mid season, and by producing fruit that is smaller in size, that is ovate instead of globose in shape, and that matures about thirty days later.
The present variety is most similar to ‘Blackred XXI’ plum tree (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,441) by being self-unfruitful, by blooming in the late season, and by producing fruit that is clingstone in type, medium in size, firm, juicy, and very sweet, but is distinguished therefrom by having a smaller size tree and by producing fruit that is darker red in flesh color, that is mostly dark red instead of black in skin color, that is ovate instead of oblate in shape, and that matures about thirty days later. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for sweeping overflowed resin on a semiconductor device manufacturing process, particularly to a method and an apparatus for sweeping overflowed resin stuck in between leads in resin-sealing the semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Resin is injected in a cavity of a semiconductor device package in a resin sealing process on the semiconductor device manufacturing process. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a semiconductor device for which such a resin sealing process is finished.
The lead frame 21 is provided with a plurality of leads 21A protruded in one or a plurality of directions and dam bars 21B for connecting those leads 21A. A semiconductor chip wire-bonded to a plurality of the leads 21A is sealed by thermosetting resin in the package 20. As the thermosetting resin, generally biphenyl epoxy resin is used. In FIG. 1, Fr indicates the top side of the package 20.
In resin sealing, unhardened state resin often leaks from a gap between upper and lower dies corresponding to the thickness of the lead frame 21A positioned between those dies. Leaked resin is then filled in openings like quadrate slots formed with boundaries of the package 20, the leads 21A, and the dam bar 21B and hardened by three-dimensional crosslinking as it is cooled down, resulting in forming of overflowed resin 25. This overflowed resin 25 is removed using a pressing machine, etc. after the resin sealing process is ended.
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view showing such a related art apparatus for sweeping overflowed resin. FIG. 3 explains how the overflowed resin is swept using a related art method of sweeping overflowed resin on the semiconductor device manufacturing proces. FIG. 4 is a view explaining the end of the overflowed resin sweeping. FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of a state after overflowed resin is swept using a related art method. Hereunder, how to sweep the overflowed resin from a semiconductor device will be explained with reference to those drawings.
In FIG. 2, the overflowed resin sweeping apparatus 50 of the pressing machine structure comprises a punch holder base 52 moving up/down according to the up/down motion of a shank 51 as shown by an arrow mark V10; a punch 54 built in the punch holder base 52 so as to be protruded downward and energized by a spring 53 for being pressed; and a base frame 56 provided with an approximately U-shaped lead frame holder 55 on its top and away from the punch holder base 52 downward.
The package 20 in which a semiconductor chip is sealed by resin is inserted in between the punch holder base 52 and the base frame 56 so that two leads 21A can respectively come in contact with both tips of the approximately U-shaped lead frame holder 55. In this state, the overflowed resin 25 between those leads 21A still remains inside both tips of the lead frame holder 55.
At this time, the punch holder base 52 is driven by the shank 51 to go down in the direction of the arrow mark V12 (moving toward the punch) so that the tip of the punch contacts the overflowed resin 25, then it is pressed against the resin 25 strongly to make the resin 25 be separated from the side wall surface of the lead frame 21 and be discharged as punched resin 60.
To prevent resin (not separated yet) from remaining on the side wall surfaces of the package, the leads, etc. at this time, the clearances from the package, the leads, and the punch must be minimized and the positions of the punch, the package, and the leads must be controlled properly to achieve the object. This is so difficult, however, as to be almost impossible under the present circumstances. Furthermore, if the above clearance is small, the punch comes in contact with both the package and the leads even by a very small positional error, resulting in partial damage of the leads.
In related art techniques, an attempt is made to design the tip of the punch 54 smaller than the gap between leads, that is, smaller than the size of overflowed resin 25 to prevent such a problem.
As a result, the punch 54 contacts the upper side (Fr side in FIG. 3) of overflowed resin 25 and presses it down to generate a stress inside the overflowed resin 25, so that the stress concentration is induced at ends P1 and P2 of the punch 54. Furthermore, the stress concentration is induced at the lower end P3 of the boundary Cs between the package 20 and the overflowed resin 25, as well as at the lower end P4 of the boundary Bs between the dam bar 21B and the overflowed resin 25. The stress .sigma.12 in the overflowed resin 25 is concentrated on the face 62 between the end P1 and the lower end P3, and on the face 63 between the end P2 and the lower end P4, respectively.
When the punch 54 further goes down, the stress reaches the breaking stress due to a static load to generate a crack on the faces 62 and 63 of the overflowed resin or in the neighbourhood thereof along a three-dimensional crosslinked chain and results in a brittle rupture. In other words, such a crack grows into a rupture face so that the overflowed resin 25 is ruptured and the ruptured resin 60 is separated from the lead frame 21 and dropped away as shown in FIG. 4.
In the above related art techniques for sweeping the overflowed resin, however, unseparated resin 61 is left on the side wall surfaces of the package and each lead as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. This is because a crack occurs from the side of the cutting edge of the punch as mentioned above before a shear stress between side wall surfaces of the package and the lead increases around the upper end of the boundary of overflowed resin 25.
This residual resin drops off in a subsequent process or after product delivery to be foreign matters which cause an accident due to imperfect operation of an apparatus using the device, or a problem of product quality deterioration, etc. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wireless cellular network systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to automatically allocating resources in an adaptive manner to reduce or eliminate the effect of a degradation of a wireless cellular network.
2. Related Art
Currently, wireless telephony services do not provide the same service availability as wireline telephony services. However, wireless telephony services are beginning to replace wireline telephony services. Users of the new wireless telephony services will expect little, if any, change in service availability as a result of the transition to the new technology. As a result, wireless telephony must improve service availability and quality, and ultimately match or exceed that provided by wireline telephony services. Wireless and cellular are used interchangeably throughout this specification.
When viewed from a user's perspective, improvement must occur in the areas of network availability, probability of call success, coverage reliability, and speech and data quality. With respect to network reliability, wireless networks must provide highly available wireless services. In terms of service availability, users will expect availability to equal or exceed that of wireline services. To improve the probability of call success, network caused service degradation must be minimized. The minimization can be measured by a decrease in blocked or dropped calls due to cell congestion, failed equipment, and other service provider problems. With respect to coverage reliability, users will expect service to be consistently available. With respect to speech and data quality, service quality must improve such that calls made from mobile equipment are no longer noticeably degraded.
Wireless networks face a variety of degradation sources that change a wireless network's status. These degradation sources impede the required improvements in service quality. Degradation sources include changes in network equipment availability, changes in user traffic patterns, and changes in radio propagation. Although modern technological advances have produced adjustable network equipment that is more adaptable to changes in a wireless network's status, control mechanisms have not been developed to organize and control the equipment's response to such changes. What is required, therefore, is a network control mechanism that supports adaption of radio coverage in response to the changes in a wireless network's status. | {
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It is well known in the art of color cathode ray phosphors to modify the absorptive, reflective and/or emissive characteristics of the phosphors by coating the surfaces of individual phosphor particles with a pigment, filter or other material. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,449, issued Apr. 1, 1975, phosphor particles are surrounded by a continuous coating of such a material, and the coated particles are then encapsulated in a protective resin coating, for example, polyvinyl alcohol. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,394, issued May 27, 1975, phosphor particles are covered with a filter material adhered to the surface of the particles by a gelatin layer, for example, polyvinyl pyrrolidone. The filter particles are thus embedded or dispersed in the adherent gelatin layer. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,020,231, and 4,128,674, issued Apr. 26, 1977, and Dec. 5, 1978, respectively, and assigned to the present assignee, a light modifying layer is formed on the phosphor by coprecipitation of of silica and pigment particles. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,588, issued May 3, 1977, a filter material is precipitated directly onto the phosphor particles, and the particles are then sintered to adhere filter particles to the surfaces thereof. Finally, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,845, issued Sept. 20, 1977, filter particles are adhered to the surfaces of phosphor particles by means of coagulating colloidal particles of latex from a suspension surrounding the particles therein.
With the exceptions of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,020,231 and 4,021,588, the above patents all describe organic-based coating systems. The major disadvantage of these systems is that the phosphor particles must retain their organic coating in order to retain the light modifying particles. Thus, the strong oxidizing agents and/or heat normally encountered during phosphor reclaim operations (in which a phosphor is reclaimed from the faceplate of a cathode ray tube) must be avoided. This requirement essentially renders such reclaim operations impractical, since organic-based systems are also used to adhere the coated phosphor particles to the faceplate. In practice then, pigment or other light modifying particles are removed during the reclaim operation and the reclaimed phosphor particles are then recoated prior to being redeposited on a faceplate.
Another disadvantage of organic-based coatings is that they tend to render coated particles unwettable by water-based slurry systems used to form cathode ray tube screens. Such poor wettability leads to poor dispersion of the phosphor particles and consequent poor screen quality.
Other coating techniques which avoid the use of organic materials have proved unsatisfactory for other reasons. For example, the coprecipitated coating of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,020,231 and 4,128,674 tend to have poor adherence when subjected to the handling associated with screening operations. The sintered coating of U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,588, while exhibiting good adherence, requires relatively high temperatures (at least about 800.degree. C.) for its formation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable data storage device and, in particular, to a high impact resistant data storage device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Conventional hard disk drives, such as those used with personal computers and other types of processors, suffer from an inherent fragility and Electrostatic Discharge sensitivity. Consequently, hard disk drives are conventionally fixed within the computer housing, which makes it difficult to access the disk drives, transfer large data files, or to update and replace the disk drives in case of a failure. Because hard disk drives are fixed units within a computer, and the operating systems (OS) is resident on the hard disk drives, the OS and application software are also non-transferable elements of computer systems. Thus, the fragility of conventional hard disk drives influence today's computer architecture, making it non-flexible, non-interchangeable, and expensive.
In nearly all current designs for disk drives, shock resistance is a major design consideration. Despite such efforts, shocks imparted to a drive as the result of being dropped, hit, jiggled, or by other movement are known to cause serious damage to the drive. Many design efforts have been attempted to reduce problems with shock, and substantial strides have been made compared to the extremely fragile designs of a few years ago. Nevertheless, disk drives are still generally fragile.
Several approaches have been attempted to make a portable data storage device. One approach is a removable media drive, such as that produced by Iomega and SyQuest. These systems attempted to solve shock problems in a portable environment by simply arranging for the removal of the media during power-off. In these designs, a fixed head stack remains in a housing, while the media cartridge is removed. While this configuration allows for shock resistance, the lack of a sealed environment has created serious limitations.
Another approach to a portable data storage device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,360. In this approach, a disk drive is basically encased in a padding material and mounted within a protective housing. While this approach provides a large shock resistance, other problems result, such as vibration, heat dissipation, large physical dimensions and EMI (electromagnetic Interference) shielding.
Thus, what is needed is an improved data storage device that is impact and vibration resistant, while being ergonomically sized and portable. | {
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Semiconductor image sensors are used to sense visible or non-visible radiation; such as, for example, visible light, infrared light, etc. Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors (CIS) and charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors are used in various applications such as digital still cameras, mobile phones, tablets, goggles, etc. . . . Arrays of pixels featured in CMOS and CIS devices can sense incoming radiation that is projected toward the sensor and convert it into electrical signals. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optoelectronic conversion header applied to a high-speed LSI package and a manufacturing method of the optoelectronic conversion header, an LSI package with an interface module equipped with the optoelectronic conversion header, and an optical interconnection system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a performance of large-scale integrated circuits (LSIs) is significantly improved to achieve a high speed processing due to an improved performance of electronic devices such as bipolar transistors and field effect transistors. However, even though the processing speed is improved in the LSI, a printed wiring board mounting the LSI is not so sufficiently improved as to have a sufficiently high signal transfer rate or speed for transferring a signal from the high speed processing LSI. The transmission speed in the printed wiring board is restricted due to following reasons. In the printed circuit board, it is necessary to prevent a reduction in a signal quality resulting from an increase in a transmission loss, noise and electromagnetic interference in electric wires due to an increased operation frequency. The longer lines in the circuit board need more restraint on the operation frequency to ensure the satisfactory signal quality. In this background, it is recognized in a common sense that a system speed is limited by a packaging technique rather than the LSI operation speed.
In view of such problems in the electrically wired systems, several optical devices have been proposed in which the LSI is connected via optical waveguides. In the optical waveguide, a signal loss has not frequency dependency even in a range between a direct current and 100 GHz or higher, and noise is not produced due to the electromagnetic interference of wiring paths and a variation in a ground potential. The optical waveguide can readily realize a data transmission capability of several tens of Gbps. An application of the optical waveguide is proposed in Nikkei Electronics, No. 810, pp. 121-122, Dec. 3, 2001, in which an interface module is directly mounted on an interposer for interconnecting the LSI to a peripheral device to transmit a high-speed signal between the LSI and the peripheral device.
In order to realize the optical interconnection disclosed in Nikkei Electronics, No. 810, pp. 121-122, Dec. 3, 2001, the interposer is essentially provided with an optoelectronic conversion component which converts an optical signal into an electric signal or converts the electric signal into the optical signal, and the optoelectronic conversion component is further required to have a small size in order to be arranged in the interposer. This small optoelectronic conversion component has a structure in which a surface emitting laser is optically coupled to an optical fiber, as disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-347072. There has been proposed in connection with this structure in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-281503 which discloses metal projections having different heights or a block having an inclined plane are used to obliquely dispose an optical semiconductor device such as semiconductor lasers to restrain external optical feedback. There has been also proposed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-284608 in which a photodiode (PD) of rear surface incidence type is adhesively bonded onto a fiber having an end face obliquely cut with respect to an optical axis.
The conventional structure disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-347072 has a problem that if the optical fiber is inserted in a support member provided with the surface emitting laser to optically couple the surface emitting laser to the optical fiber for assembly of the structure, the optical fiber contacts an active area of the optical semiconductor device and this contact easily damage the optical semiconductor device. There is also a problem that since the surface emitting laser is proximately disposed in parallel with the optical fiber, the external feedback light rays are input to the surface emitting laser and easily generate so-called external optical feedback noise.
A conventional structure for suppressing the external optical feedback noise has been disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-281503. However, there is a problem in which a temperature change easily varies an inclination angle of the optical semiconductor device in this structure that is provide with the metal projections having different heights or the block having the inclined plane to obliquely dispose the optical semiconductor device. In this structure, if thermal expansion is caused in the metal projections or the block, various changes in heights of the metal projections or the block are produced and the inclination of the optical semiconductor device is changed. In the conventional structure disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-281503, the external optical feedback noise is also generated depending on temperature, so that the excessively large inclination angle is set to avoid the external optical feedback noise. Another problem is the excessively low optical coupling efficiency between the surface emitting laser and the optical fiber resulting from the excessive setting of the inclination angle of the optical semiconductor device. Moreover, the conventional structure in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-281503 is complicated in the structure, and not suitable for mass production.
Furthermore, in the conventional structure disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-281503, the entire optical semiconductor device is inclined with respect to the member supporting the optical fiber. The conventional structure has a gap between an end face of the optical fiber and the optical semiconductor device, which has a distance delivered from a multiplication of the inclination angle and a length between an optical semiconductor device end and the active area. Thus, a photo detection area needs to be a small diameter. Especially in a combination of the high-speed photo detector, light rays exiting from the optical fiber are diverged to the high-speed photo detector, leading to a problem that the optical coupling efficiency is easily decreased. The external feedback light rays does not regarded as noise between the photo detector and the optical fiber. However, in such a case as in the inter-LSI wire lying over a relatively short distance of about 1 m at the maximum, most of the external feedback light rays are generated due to a reflection on the optical fiber end face on a photo detector side or a reflection on a photo detector surface and the reflection light rays return to a light emitter via the optical fiber so that the external optical feedback noise is induced. Therefore, measures for prevention of the light reflection are also needed on the photo detector side, and the photo detector needs to be inclined in the conventional structure of Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-281503, resulting in the problem that the optical coupling efficiency is decreased.
Another method to incline the optical semiconductor device is, as in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-284608, to obliquely form the optical fiber end face together with a ferrule and adhesively bond the optical semiconductor device to this end face. However, this method requires a polishing process to form the end face of the optical fiber into the inclined surface so that it is substantially difficult to significantly reduce costs. In an application of the interconnection between the LSI and the peripheral devices, a permissible cost is low as compared with costs in optical communications or LANs, and there is a problem that a time-consuming process such as the polishing process cannot be permitted. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to blind rivets, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to a blind rivet with high shear resistance.
A blind rivet assembly normally comprises a rivet body and a mandrel assembly. The rivet body comprises a flange portion and a cylindrical body that extends from the flange portion and an axial hollow bore that passes through the rivet body. A mandrel typically comprises a head portion and a long stem that passes through the rivet body, such that the mandrel head portion abuts a blind-side end of the rivet body.
In use, the rivet assembly is inserted into a prepared hole in a workpiece or application, so that the flange portion of the rivet body abuts an operator's side of the application. A workpiece or application typically consists of two, or more, sheets of material. In order to achieve setting a setting tool is attached to the blind rivet by sliding a nosepiece of the setting tool over the mandrel stem, such that the nosepiece of the setting tool abuts the flange of the rivet body.
On operation, jaws of the setting tool grip the mandrel stem and retract, such that a mandrel head portion applies an axial compressive load to one end of the rivet body. As the setting load increases, the rivet body experiences compressive loading. The compressive loading pulls the application parts together. The rivet body then deforms to fill the hole in the application. As the setting load increases further, the application parts are secured and the mandrel breaks at a predetermined breaking load. The setting is then complete.
The set rivet thus comprises a rivet body with its flange firmly abutted against the work piece; a radially expanded body on the blind-side and the residual mandrel head portion that remains in the rivet body. It can be seen that the mandrel is instrumental in providing the setting function in applying the rivet but it does not, however, contribute to the structural rigidity of the set rivet. For instance if the rivet were to be subjected to shear loads, for example two opposing forces in each sheet of the application at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the rivet, the rivet body will tend to tilt with its flange edge digging into one side of the application and the set-end into the opposite or blind side. Since the rivet is formed from a relatively softer material than the application, it tends to bend. If loading is cyclical there is a risk that the rivet body ultimately fails from fatigue induced stresses. In such instances a long break mandrel is usually specified. However, since such a long break mandrel also tilts, when subjected to shear forces, with the rivet body, (and as a result of its relatively smaller diameter), it does not contribute to the structural integrity or strength of the joint. This is a particularly acute problem where there is clearance between the mandrel shank diameter and the internal bore of the set rivet, as such a gap offers no resistive strength to a turning moment. This can be seen from published European Patent Application EP-A-0 945 631.
There are some assemblies, such as seats for passengers and drivers in automobiles, which are required to be securely anchored to an automobile frame and to be of rigid construction in order to resist impact and dynamic forces, that may be generated for example, during an accident.
A common method of seat construction uses blind rivets since they are low cost, easy to apply and contribute to the high productivity rates that are required by the automotive industry. Furthermore blind rivets are ideal where access to the blind-side or side remote from the assembly operator is difficult. This provides design flexibility and enables high production rates through semi or fully automated assembly.
With the ever increasing desire to improve rigidity and safety of seating construction, blind rivets or fasteners are required to be increasingly stronger, in particular in their shear resistance. One such method for improved strength is to make the rivet or fastener greater in diameter, as a greater amount of material provides improved strength and shear resistance and provides a greater bearing area to support applied loading.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved blind rivet which has improved strength and shear resistance.
A blind rivet body usually has a relatively thick wall section and is made from a relatively soft material, as the soft material is conducive to filling the hole in the application and forming a blind-side bulge on setting. Thick wall cylinders, however, formed from a relatively soft material such as a low-carbon steel, do not offer the optimum resistance to high shear stresses resulting from impact loads.
The present invention further seeks to provide a rivet with an improved shear resistance despite employing soft deformable materials in a blind rivet. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Work vehicles, such as skid steer loaders, include a cab structure to protect the operator. A number of cab structures fully enclosure the operator and include an elongated door. To assist the operator with opening the door, a device, such as a gas strut, is secured between the door and the cab structure. To save costs, a single strut is often used, and is either located adjacent to the upper or lower portions of the door to minimally obscure the operator's view. However, door handles are typically positioned on the frame of the door or along a side edge of the door. Door closure achieved by application of door closure forces applied at the door handles creates torsion forces due to the significant misalignment of opposed forces associated with the strut. These torsion forces may damage the door or associated components.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to significantly reduce or eliminate the torsion forces. | {
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The presence of microbes such as bacteria are an ever-present problem for humans. Microbes are the cause of a variety of skin ailments.
Microbes can be transmitted through building air conditioning systems. The lack of ventilation in current building designs increases the likelihood that air-borne microbes will become circulated through the air ducts of a building. Filtration systems provided with the air-circulating systems do not always adequately remove these microbes from the circulating air. The rapid spread of bacteria and other microbes, causing ill health among building occupants, will likely result unless this condition is treated. The cycling of the air through the ducts allows microbes to settle on the inside surfaces of the ducts, particularly when air flow has stopped during an off cycle. Some of these microbes are picked up from the surface of the ducts when the flow of air resumes, and are passed out through the vents to reach the building occupants. It is therefore desirable to provide a method for controlling the spread of such microbes through building air conditioning and ventilation systems. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a webbing wind-up force reducing apparatus for use in a seatbelt system designed to protect an occupant of a vehicle in an emergency situation of the vehicle, the apparatus being employed to reduce the webbing wind-up force which acts such as to apply pressure to the body of the occupant.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical seatbelt system is arranged such that an occupant restraining webbing can be fully wound up on a webbing take-up shaft by means of the biasing force of a spiral spring. With this arrangement, when an occupant has the webbing fastened, the webbing tension unnecessarily increases and makes the occupant feel the pressure from the webbing. In order to overcome this advantage, a webbing wind-up force reducing apparatus has been devised which is provided with a ratchet wheel which rotates together with the webbing take-up shaft in one unit, and a pawl which is engageable with the ratchet wheel, whereby the webbing take-up shaft is prevented from rotating in the direction in which the webbing is wound up when the occupant has the webbing fastened in a normal state of the vehicle (see the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 92233/1984). Provision of this apparatus on a webbing retractor eliminates any possibility of the occupant feeling the pressure from the webbing when he has the webbing fastened in a normal state of the vehicle.
The above-described conventional apparatus, however, suffers from the disadvantage that it is necessary to cause the pawl to engage with the ratchet wheel by the action of an actuator and to maintain this engaged state for a long period of time, which fact necessitates to supply the actuator with a relatively large amount of electric power. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ceramic multilayer substrate in which a connection between internal patterns and an external terminal is stably achieved, and a method for manufacturing the substrate, and more particularly to a low temperature co-fired ceramic multilayer substrate in which internal connection parts formed in the internal patterns are broader enough to surround the external terminal, and a method for manufacturing the substrate, thereby stably achieving a connection between the internal patterns and the external terminal and maintaining the connection even in the case of an error occurring in a step for forming a through hole on the substrate.
Further, the present invention relates to a low temperature co-fired ceramic multilayer substrate in which the internal connection part not being connected to the external terminal is not exposed at the outer surface of the substrate, and a method for manufacturing the substrate, thereby not breaking a vacuum state generated within a space for mounting a surface acoustic wave filter chip within the substrate and preventing cracks from forming on the outer surface of the substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique for manufacturing a low temperature co-fired ceramic (hereinafter, being referred to as “LTCC”) substrate is a process in which an internal electrode and passive elements (R, L, and C) for given circuits are formed a green sheet made of glass ceramic by a screen printing method using a metal with high electric conductivity such as Ag, Cu, or etc., and a plurality of the green sheets are stacked vertically and then fired (generally at less than 1,000° C.) so as to manufacture MCM (multi-chip modules) and multi-chip packages.
Since the ceramic substrate and the metallic elements are co-fired, the LTCC technique can form the passive elements (R, L, and C) within a module, thereby obtaining a complex configuration including many components and being advantageous in terms of miniaturization.
Since the LTCC substrate comprises the embedded passive elements, the LTCC substrate can be formed as a SOP (System-On-Package), thereby minimizing a parasitic effect generated in SMD (Surface Mounted Device) type components. Further, the LTCC substrate reduces electrical noise generated at soldering parts in surface mounting, thereby improving electrical characteristics of the manufactured device, and reduces the number of solderings, thereby improving the reliability of the manufactured device. Moreover, the LTCC substrate minimizes a temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (Tf) by adjusting a thermal expansion coefficient, thereby controlling characteristics of a dielectric resonator.
The LTCC multilayer substrate is formed by forming circuits in a single ceramic substrate and vertically stacking a plurality of the ceramic substrates. Therefore, external terminals to be connected to the outside must be formed on an outer surface of the LTCC substrate and electrically connected to circuit patterns within the substrate.
As shown in FIG. 1, a method for manufacturing a ceramic electronic component is disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Hei6-215982. Conventionally, when components made of dielectric or magnetic material are formed on a ceramic substrate adjacent to via holes formed through the ceramic substrate, the material flows into the via holes and finally seals the via holes. Further, in case that the material within the via holes is sucked from one ends of the via holes so as to form external electrodes at the internal surfaces of through holes, air flow into the via holes is dispersed by a difference of cross sectional areas of the via holes of each layer and the external electrode is non-uniformly deposited on the inner wall of the via hole. Therefore, these problems are solved by the method for manufacturing a ceramic electronic component disclosed by the above Japanese Publication.
In the above Japanese Publication, a base substrate 7 provided with a plurality of via holes formed therethrough is prepared. A ceramic stack structure 8 having internal electrodes embedded therein is formed on the base substrate 7 so as to block the via holes of the base substrate 7. A plurality of through holes are formed on the ceramic stack structure 8 so as to correspond to the via holes of the base substrate 7, and an external electrode 10 is formed in the through hole.
In the aforementioned structure disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Hei6-215982, a connection between the external electrode 10 and the internal electrode 9 is obtained by a line contact, thereby producing a small contact area. Since the connection between the internal electrode 9 and the external terminal 10 is unstable, stability of signal input/output is reduced and a defective proportion of manufactured products is increased by an error in the process. Since the internal electrodes 9 are first formed within the ceramic stack structure 8, and then the through hole is formed on the structure 8 and the external electrode 10 is formed in the through hole, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, in case a connection part between the internal electrode 9 and the external electrode 10 is small, the internal electrode 9 may be electrically blocked during a step for forming the though hole, or plating the through hole or the electrical connection between the internal electrode 9 and the external electrode 10 may be unstable. FIG. 2a shows the ceramic substrate with the through hole, and FIG. 2b shows the ceramic substrate without the through hole.
Further, when the position of the through hole is shifted by an error generated in the process, the contact area between the internal electrode 9 and the external electrode 10 is changed, and more severely the internal electrode 9 is not connected to the external electrode 10. Therefore, a defective proportion of the manufactured products is increased and the quality of the products is not easily controlled. | {
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A typical compressor employs a reciprocal piston for compressing a gas in a cylinder. A similar apparatus having basically the same structure as the compressor may be used for expanding a gas in a cylinder (hereinafter referred to as gas expander). In such compressor and expander, it is most important on one hand to keep the piston closely in contact with the cylinder to suppress gas leak from the cylinder as much as possible. On the other hand piston must be loose enough to reduce the friction between the piston and the cylinder for smooth operation of the piston.
A known approach to attain these seemingly opposite objectives is to provide the piston and the cylinder with a lubricant forming a thin layer between them. This lubricant layer only decreases the friction, but also helps seal the gap between the piston and the cylinder. However, any lubricant can evaporate into the gas under compression/expansion of the gas in the cylinder. The diffused lubricant will degrade thermal properties of the refrigerant and some components of the apparatus in the long run.
In order to circumvent such deterioration caused by the lubricant, it is necessary to keep the gas clean. This may be attained by the use of a lubricant-free compressor/expander, in which the piston is reciprocated without lubricants. Known lubricant-free apparatuses, however, have disadvantages that the piston-cylinder system are likely to have large friction and thus will suffer from quick wear, thereby shortening the life of the apparatus. In order to minimize such friction in the lubricant-free piston-cylinder system, the system must be designed to allow for a uniform gap of about 10 microns and yet to strictly suppress transverse fluctuation of the piston rod during its reciprocal motions, which is a burden in design and manufacture of the apparatus. | {
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Fixtures such as tubs and showers are vulnerable components of a construction site. Typically, the tubs, showers, and other fixtures must be installed early in the construction process when individual rooms are being framed. Thus, the fixtures are placed into the construction site when many tasks remain to be completed.
Workers such as plumbers, dry wall hangers, and carpenters must continue to work nearby the fixtures and/or work with the fixtures after the fixtures have been framed in place. These workers use various tools such as hammers and wrenches that will inevitably be dropped from time to time. Occasionally, these tools are dropped onto the fixture, which results in damage such as a dent, crack, abrasion, or hole. Furthermore, these workers often need to stand on the fixture, which may result in similar fixture damage. Ladders may need to be placed on the fixture, which may lead to further damage. In addition, general construction items such as nails, caulking, mud, plaster, etc. as well as debris may find there way onto the fixtures and result in more damage.
This damage to the fixtures has come to be expected. Often, builders budget in a fixed sum to cover repairs of the damage caused to the fixtures after they have been installed. Thus, this damage to the fixtures increases the overall costs of construction projects. Furthermore, some damage may be so great that the fixture cannot be repaired but must be replaced instead. This situation increases the costs of the project but may also delay the project due to the time required to obtain and install a replacement fixture.
Previous attempts to protect the fixture have been inadequate. Some of these attempts have utilized a rigid, thin gauge plastic structure that is positioned on the fixture. However, this rigid structure typically is not a perfect fit such that there is movement of the rigid structure within the fixture. This movement can itself cause abrasions to the fixture. Furthermore, the rigid structure does not adequately protect the fixture from dropped items that create an impact force that is transferred through the rigid structure to the fixture. Additionally, transporting and installing the rigid structure is awkward and difficult. Other attempts involve the use of spray on foam that is applied directly to the surface of the fixture. While this spray on foam may provide some degree of protection, its application is a messy process, and it is very difficult to remove from the fixture. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inspection method of an electric part such as a fuse and terminal fittings, to an inspection apparatus of an electric junction box for inspecting whether or not an electric part such as a fuse having an item symbol, which should be mounted on a mount, is mounted, and to an inspection apparatus of a terminal fittings for inspecting the quality of the terminal fittings mounted on an insulator.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Generally, on a motor vehicle as a mobile unit, there are mounted various electronic equipment, for example, lamps such as headlamps and tail lamps, and motors such as a starter motor and a motor for an air-conditioner.
In order to supply the electric power to the various electronic equipment, there are disposed junction blocks at suitable positions in the motor vehicle. In the junction block, wiring boards having printed-wiring boards and bus bars are laminated, into which various electric circuit units are integrated, thereby the junction block is constituted.
Since the junction block may have fuses, relays and bus bars, the junction block may be called as a fuse block, relay box, or an electric junction box as the general term. In this specification, the aforementioned fuse block, relay box and junction block are hereinafter called an electric junction box.
In such a junction box, various electric parts such as fuses, relays, diodes and fusible links are mounted. Each terminal of these electric parts is connected to the wiring board. The junction box electrically connects wires, which are connected to the power sources or loads, to the various electric parts in accordance with a predetermined pattern.
For example, a fuse, which is one of the aforementioned electric parts, has a plurality of item symbols having different capacity. On the outer surface of the fuse, there is shown a mark (for example, 10A and 20A) according to the permissible current. Generally, in the electric junction box, there are mounted fuses having a plurality of item symbols.
When the electric junction box, in which fuses having a plurality of item symbols are mounted, is assembled, a worker mounts each fuse having a required permissible current on a corresponding predetermined position in the electric junction box. Thereafter, whether or not each fuse is properly mounted on the corresponding position is judged by carrying out a continuity test for the electric junction box together with the visual inspection thereof.
In addition, the motor vehicle has a wiring harness for supplying the electric power and control signals to the various electronic equipment mentioned above. The wiring harness comprises a plurality of electric wires and connectors, which are connected to ends of the wires. The wire is so-called a coated wire having an electrically conductive core and an electrically insulating coating portion, which coats the core. The connector has a terminal fittings as an electric part and an insulating connector housing.
The terminal fittings is made by bending an electrically conductive sheet metal and has a pressure-welding part to be pressure-welded to the wire and a caulking piece for caulking the wire. The pressure-welding part has a pair of blades for pressure welding. A pair of the blades cut the coating portion of the wire so as to come in contact with the core when the wire is press-fit between a pair of the blades, thus the pressure-welding part is pressure-welded to the wire. The caulking piece caulks the wire by being bent. The connector housing has a plurality of mounts on which the terminal fittings are mounted. The connector housing mounts the terminal fittings thereon by mounting the terminal fittings on the mounts thereof.
After the terminal fittings are mounted on the mounts of the connector housing, the wire is pressure-welded to the pressure-welding part of the terminal fittings and the caulking piece is bent, thus the terminal fittings is fixed to the wire. In this way, the wiring harness is assembled. When the wiring harness is assembled, the quality of the pressure-welding part and the caulking piece of the terminal fittings, which is mounted on the connector housing, have so far been inspected by a known appearance inspection apparatus. Also, the quality of the pressure-welding part and the caulking piece of the terminal fittings, to which the wire is pressure-welded, have so far been inspected by a known appearance inspection apparatus.
The appearance inspection apparatus mentioned above stores one image of a non-defective terminal fittings in advance and another image of a non-defective terminal fittings to which a wire is pressure-welded in advance. Then, after obtaining an image of the terminal fittings mounted on the connector housing to be inspected and an image of the terminal fittings to which the wire is pressure-welded, the quality of the terminal fittings and that of the pressure-welding state of the wire have so far been judged by comparing these images with the images of the non-defective.
In the aforementioned conventional assembling method of the electric junction box, since a worker selects a required fuse and mounts it on a corresponding position of the electric junction box, there is a possibility that a fuse of improper permissible current is mounted on the corresponding position. Furthermore, since a worker confirms the permissible current of the fuse mounted on the position by the visual inspection, there is a possibility that a fuse of improper permissible current is still mounted on the corresponding position.
In addition, since the terminal fittings is made of sheet metal, if the brightness of the lighting or the positional relation between the terminal fittings and the lighting is changed, the image of the terminal fittings mounted on the connector housing changes. Therefore, when the quality of the terminal fittings is judged by using the appearance inspection apparatus mentioned above, mistake in the judgement, such as judging a non-defective terminal fittings to be defective and judging a defective terminal fittings to be non-defective, can often arise. Therefore, so far it has been difficult to securely judge the quality of the terminal fittings.
As described above, it has been difficult to securely judge the quality of a fuse or a terminal fittings with the conventional inspection method. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel electrically conducting ceramic that can be desirably used as an electrode material in an electrochemical apparatus operated at high-temperature conditions in addition to being used for the isolation of gases and electrolysis in a vapor phase.
The invention further relates to a solid oxide fuel cell and, particularly, to an improvement of an air electrode formed on one surface of a solid electrolyte.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ceramic materials have heretofore been used in a variety of applications owing to their multiple functions. Among them, a ceramic having electrically conducting property is finding applications in various fields where it is not allowed to used metals to substitute for the metals that are good electrically conducting materials.
In a solid oxide fuel cell, for instance, electrodes are deposited on both sides of the electrolyte. Such a fuel cell makes use of an electrically conducting ceramic of the type of oxide as a cathode electrode since the environment in which it is used is as severe as 800.degree. C. or higher.
The solid oxide fuel cells that are known so far can be divided into two types, i.e., those of the tubular type and those of the planar type. The fuel cell of the planar type has an advantage of power generation of a high power density per a unit volume but involves problems in regard to incomplete gas sealing and non-uniform temperature distribution in the cell when it is to be put into practical use. On the other hand, the fuel cell of the tubular type has a low power density but presents such features that the cell has a large mechanical strength and the temperature is maintained uniform in the cell. Study has been positively forwarded concerning the solid oxide fuel cells of these two types in order to utilize their respective features.
In the fuel cell of the tubular type, a unit cell is obtained as shown in FIG. 3 by forming a porous air electrode 2 composed of an LaMnO.sub.3 -type material by the slurry-dip method on the surface of a support tube 1 composed of a CaO-stabilized ZrO.sub.2 having an open porosity of about 40%, forming on the surface thereof a Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 stabilized ZrO.sub.2 electrolyte 3 by the vapor-phase synthesizing method (EVD) or the spraying method, and forming a fuel electrode 4 composed of porous Ni-zirconia cermet surface of the solid electrolyte. In a module of fuel cell, a plurality of the thus constituted single cells are connected together via an interconnector 5 composed of an LaCrO.sub.3 -type material or the like material. The electric power is generated by flowing the air (oxygen) into the support tube 1 and flowing the fuel (hydrogen) into the outer portion at a temperature of 1000.degree. to 1050.degree. C.
In order to fabricate the fuel cell through a simplified process in recent years, it has been attempted to use the LaMnO.sub.3 -type material which is the air electrode directly as a porous support tube. As the support tube material which also functions as the air electrode, use is made of the LaMnO.sub.3 solid solution in which La is substituted by 10-20 atomic % of Ca or 10-15 atomic% of Sr.
In a single cell of the fuel cell of the planar type which uses the same materials as those of the tubular type fuel cell as shown in FIG. 4, on the other hand, a porous air electrode 9 is provided on one side of a solid electrolyte 8 and a porous fuel electrode 10 is provided on the other side thereof. The single cells are connected together by a separator 11 composed of the LaCrO.sub.3 -type material in which is solid-dissolved MgO or CaO which is a dense material. The electric power is generated by feeding the air (oxygen) toward the side of the air electrode and feeding the fuel (hydrogen) toward the side of the fuel electrode at a temperature of 1000.degree. to 1050.degree. C.
In the above-mentioned LaMnO.sub.3 perovskite-type composite oxide, however, the electrical conductivity is about 150 to 200.OMEGA..sup.-1. cm.sup.-1 in the open air at 1000.degree. C. In can be expected to increase the formation of holes by substituting La in an increased amount with a divalent metal element. When La is substituted by more than about 30%, however, there is formed a crystal phase which is different from the perovskite type, and the electrical conductivity is not improved.
Furthermore, according to the report of Mori et al. in Electrical Central Laboratory Report (W90002) dated Feb. 7, 1990, LaMnO.sub.3 -type perovskite compounds have three type crystalline structures according to temperatures, and have a problem of lacking stability at high temperatures because the thermal expansion behaviors of these crystalline phases are different. The report tells that stability at high temperatures is improved by substituting a part of La with a moderate amount of Sr or Ca. But in a system wherein a part of La is substituted with Sr or Ca, the crystalline structure changes. Thus, a substantial improvement is not attained. On the other hand, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 303565/1992 proposes that annealing treatment is carried out at a temperature of 800 to 1400.degree. C. in order to solve a problem that La (Sr, Ca) MnO.sub.3 is unstable at high temperatures. Its effect is not sufficient.
Moreover, in a cell of the structure in which the CaO-stabilized ZrO.sub.2 is used as the support tube and is equipped with the LaMnO.sub.3 material as the air electrode in which is solid-dissolved SrO, and in a tubular fuel cell of the structure which uses the air electrode directly as the support tube, when a power generating system using this material is operated for a long period of time, the cell is deformed or the output decreases. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a projection type display apparatus for enlarging and projecting picture images, generated by picture forming means comprising a cathode ray tube (CRT) and other devices, onto a screen by means of a projection optical system.
2. Description of Related Art
The constitution of a projection type display apparatus of a prior art will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. In these figures, numeral 1 denotes a CRT which is picture forming means, numeral 2 denotes a projection lens, numeral 6 denotes a coolant liquid, numeral 11 denotes a screen, numeral 12 denotes a spacer and numeral 13 denotes a packing.
The CRT 1 and the projection lens 2 are usually used in three sets for red, blue and green images, though only one set is shown in the drawing for the purpose of describing the operation of the projection type display apparatus of the prior art. A picture image generated on the CRT 1 is enlarged and projected onto the screen 11 by the projection lens 2 thereby to form an image thereon. The CRT 1 and the projection lens 2 are fixed on either side of a spacer 12 with the space surrounded thereby being filled with the coolant liquid 6. The coolant liquid 6 is sealed by means of the packing 13 to prevent it from leaking. The coolant liquid 6 has both cooling effect to suppress heat-up of the CRT 1 and optical coupling effect to prevent unnecessary reflection at the boundary between the glass member and the air layer. Thus the coolant liquid 6 plays an important role to obtain high brightness and high contrast.
Having the constitution and operation as described above, the projection type display apparatus of the prior art has such problems as described below.
As described before, a projection type display apparatus generally employs three projection units each having the CRT 1 comprising a cathode ray tube and other devices and the projection lens 2. FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing illustrative of the key portion of the projection type display apparatus, where the projection units UR, UG and UB for red, blue and green images are so arranged that the optical axes thereof cross each other at the center of the screen 11. The projection unit UG for green image emits light beams at right angles to the screen 11, and the projection units UR and UB for red and blue images emit light beams with a required convergence angle of .theta.1 to the screen 11.
In order for the image on the CRT 1 and the screen 11 to satisfy the correct relationship of image forming, it is necessary to incline the projection lens 2 and the CRT 1 at a correction angle .theta.2 which is determined by the following equation. In addition, relative distance between the CRT 1 and the projection lens 2 is changed to adjust the focusing on the periphery. EQU tan .theta.2=(n/m) tan .theta.1 (1)
where n denotes the refractive index of the coolant liquid and m denotes the magnification factor (screen size/CRT size) of the projection lens. The spacers 12 for red and blue images shown in FIG. 2 are fabricated with the CRT-mounting surface and the projection lens-mounting surface being inclined by the correction angle .theta.2 determined by the above equation.
Recently, demands have been increasing for projection type display apparatuses which are capable of changing the screen size in a wide range from 70 inches to around 300 inches in a single unit. However, because changing the screen size requires to change the magnification of the projection lens, it is necessary to change the correction angle .theta.2 between the CRT 1 and the projection lens 2 according to the screen size as shown in the equation (1). Because the spacer 12 is an integral body as shown in FIG. 2 in the conventional apparatus, however, it must be operated with fixed correction angle .theta.2. Consequently, correct image forming conditions cannot be maintained resulting in images out of focus in the periphery of the screen when the screen size is other than the design size.
There is a conventional apparatus devised to solve the above problem as shown in FIG. 4, wherein the holding member for mounting the CRT 1 and the projection lens 2 is separated into holding members 3 and 4 while sealing the coolant liquid only for the holding member 4 of the CRT 1, and light beam is emitted through a glass window 15. Although this construction has an effect of cooling the CRT, there is an air layer between the holding members 3 and 4 which inhibits optical coupling which has been another effect of the coolant liquid, resulting in the generation of a large amount of unnecessary reflecting light in the boundary with the air layer, thereby leading to significantly deteriorated contrast of the projected picture image.
To solve these problems, there has been proposed an apparatus having no air layer existing between the CRT 1 and the projection lens 2, which is capable of adjusting the relative angle and distance between these components.
FIG. 5 is a cross sectional drawing illustrative of the constitution of a projection unit composing a conventional projection type display apparatus, for example, disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model Application Publication H2-41979 (1990), and FIG. 6 shows the exploded perspective view thereof. Numeral 21 denotes a CRT or cathode ray tube, numeral 22 denotes a spacer block made of a material of good thermal conduction such as aluminum diecast. The spacer block 22 has a boss 22c having a threaded hole 22d on the side where the CRT 21 is mounted. Numeral 23 denotes a holding plate having a contact hole 23a which contacts with the external wall 21b of the CRT 21 and has a set hole 23b at each of the four corners. In order to press the holding plate 23 uniformly against the CRT 21, a post 24 with one end being in contact with each of the bosses 22c of the spacer lock after passing through the set hole 23b, and a spring 25 surrounding the post 24 with an end being in contact with the holding plate 23 are provided. The CRT 21 is clamped onto the spacer block 22 by the compressive force of the spring 25, by setting a screw 27 with a washer 26 through the post 24 and screwing it into the threaded hole 22d of the boss 22c. Numerals 36, 37, 38 denote a deflection yoke, a focus magnet and a CRT board, respectively mounted on the CRT 21.
On the other hand, a lens barrel 28a of the projection lens 28 is mounted by means of screws 35 on the side of the spacer block 22 opposite to the CRT. The space between the face 21c of the CRT 21 and the CRT mounting surface 22f of the spacer block 22, and the space between a lens surface 28b of the projection lens 28 and a lens mounting surface 22g of the spacer block 22 are provided with a CRT packing 29 and a lens packing 30, respectively, in order to keep the space 31 surrounded by the CRT 21, the projection lens 28 and the spacer block 22 liquid-tight.
Numeral 32 denotes a coolant liquid such as ethylene glycol which keeps the light emitted by the CRT 21 from returning to the fluorescent surface thereby to prevent the contrast of projected image from deteriorating and, at the same time, to transmit the heat generated on a face 21c of the CRT 21 during operation of the projector to the spacer block 22 thereby dissipating the heat to the outside. Numeral 33 denotes a tank which accommodates an excess of the coolant liquid 32 when it undergoes thermal expansion.
FIG. 7 is a cross sectional drawing illustrative of a projection unit composing a conventional projector, for example, disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open H4-352141 (1992), and FIG. 8 shows the cross section of a key section thereof. The CRT 21 is mounted liquid-tight via a first O-ring 52 fitted in an annular groove 51a provided at the periphery around an opening of a CRT frame 51 on the CRT 21 side thereof. And, the projection lens 28 is mounted liquid-tight via a second O-ring 54 fitted in an annular groove 53a provided at the periphery around an opening of a lens frame 53 on the lens side thereof.
Numeral 55 denotes a bellows which serves as a coupler, comprising a cylindrical bellows formed of an iron-based metallic material such as stainless steel which is energized in the axial direction, and is installed between the CRT frame 51 and the lens frame 53. The method of installation is as follows. The bellows 55 is provided with an annular member A 56 and an annular member B 57, each having a plurality of set holes 56a and 57a disposed at intervals along the periphery, which serve as mounting flanges and are welded on the respective ends of the bellows 55. The space within the bellows 55 is made liquid-tight by tightening screws 60 through the set holes 56a of the annular member A 56 via a third O-ring 58 fitted in an annular groove 51b provided at the periphery around an opening of the CRT frame 51 on the lens side thereof. Liquid-tight condition is obtained also by tightening the screws 60 through a set holes 57b of the annular member B 57 via a fourth O-ring 59 fitted in an annular groove 53b provided at the periphery around an opening of the lens frame 53 on the CRT side thereof.
Numeral 61 denotes a holding section which links a CRT block 81 whereon the CRT 21 is mounted on the CRT frame 51 via the first O-ring 52 and a lens block 82 whereon the projection lens 28 is mounted on the lens frame 53 via the second O-ring 54, forming an adjustment mechanism 98 which changes the relative angle and the distance between these members.
Now the operation will be described below. In the projector, which enlarges and projects the image generated by the CRT by means of the projection lens to form a large picture image, heat generated on the face 21c of the CRT 21 which reaches a very high temperature is transmitted via the coolant liquid 32 to the spacer block 22 made of aluminum of good thermal conductance and is dissipated therefrom. Therefore it is important to prevent the coolant liquid 32 from leaking, making it necessary to press the CRT 21 and the projection lens 28 against the mounting surfaces 22f and 22g of the spacer block 22 into tight contact, with the CRT packing 29 and the lens packing 30 being placed in the specified positions.
The coolant liquid 32, being made of a material such as ethylene glycol or silicon oil having a refractive index similar to that of glass, makes the light from the CRT 21 enter the projection lens 28 without refracting so that the deterioration of contrast is prevented, as well as providing the heat dissipation effect. Further, because the holding section 61 and the lens frame 53 shown in FIG. 7 are each provided with a spherical guide being formed thereon to allow relative rotary motion, the angle between the CRT 21 and the projection lens 28 can be changed by turning it. Adjustments of the relative angle and distance are carried out by means of the adjustment mechanism 98.
FIG.9 is a cross sectional drawing illustrative of the constitution of a projection type display apparatus disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open H2-143884 (1990). Numeral 203 in the drawing denotes a CRT mounting base having a substantially rectangular shape whereon a CRT 201 is mounted by means of an adhesive agent. Numeral 204 denotes a coupling frame having a substantially rectangular shape whereon a projection lens 202 is mounted with a packing 205 being interposed between thereof. The CRT 201 and the projection lens 202 are connected via the CRT mounting base 203 and the coupling frame 204 so that liquid-tightness is maintained. The CRT mounting base 203 and the coupling frame 204 are clamped with bolts 207 at four points with a packing 206 of substantially rectangular shape being interposed between thereof. A space 208 formed by the CRT 201, the projection lens 202, the CRT mounting base 203 and the coupling frame 204 is filled with a coolant liquid 209. Further, a part of the space 208 is made to serve as a bubble storage 208a to accommodate the change in the volume of the coolant liquid 209. In the conventional apparatus as described above, the relative angles between the CRT 201 and the projection lens 202 in the vertical and horizontal directions can be changed by adjusting the degree of tightening the bolts 207.
Projecting the image to focus on a point of the screen makes it necessary to set each projector unit at a proper convergence angle and correction angle. The conventional projection type display apparatus shown in FIG. 5 requires separate spacer blocks of three kinds to set proper values of convergence angle and correction angle for each projector unit, because the apparatus comprises the three projector units and has the CRT and the projection lens which are connected in a fixed structure. Moreover, production of a model of the apparatus having a different projection distance or a different screen size requires to manufacture a different spacer block which leads to longer design period and increased cost of dies. Furthermore, because the relative position of the CRT to the projection lens depends on the accuracy of machining the spacer block, high accuracy is required in machining the spacer block and it is difficult to correct the dimensional errors, once the apparatus has been assembled.
On the other hand, although the conventional apparatus disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open H4-352141 (1992) shown in FIG. 7 allows to change the relative angle between the CRT 21 and the projection lens 28, because the space 31 filled with the coolant liquid 32 is separated in the middle section by the bellows 55, four sealing members to keep the space 31 liquid-tight are required between the CRT 21 and the CRT block 81, between the projection lens 28 and the lens block 82, and between the CRT block 81, lens block 82 and bellows 55. This results in disadvantages of, in addition to the increase in cost, lower reliability such as higher likeliness of liquid leakage. Workability in assembly is also lowered because either the CRT frame 51 or the lens frame 53 interferes when fastening the bellows 55 with screws. And the bellows 55 made of a metal is poor in flexibility and has a disadvantage of being unable to change the inner volume even when the coolant liquid 32 expands due to heating of the CRT 21. Furthermore, installation of the bellows 55 requires longer distance between the CRT frame 51 and the lens frame 53.
The conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 9 has problems such as allowing to change the relative angle both in vertical and horizontal directions and the pressure exerted on the packing 206 becomes uneven from point to point when changing the relative angle, resulting in the possibility of deteriorated liquid-tightness. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Asset management has always been an important part of commerce, and the ability to identify an item and locate its whereabouts may be considered core to companies that ship items from one location to another. For example, tracking packages is important to organizations of all kinds, whether it be a company keeping track of inventory to be sold in its stores, or a package delivery provider keeping track of packages being transported through its delivery network. To provide quality service, an organization typically creates and maintains a highly organized network for tracking its items—packages, people, objects, etc. Effective management of such networks allows lower cost, reduced delivery time, and enhanced customer service. And efficient deployment of the network helps manage costs.
In addition to tracking packages, parties that ship and receive packages may also need information regarding the conditions of the packages, such as the temperature and humidity of the package. For example, a customer that has ordered a box of wine may want to monitor the temperature of the contents of the box to determine if the temperature and/or humidity goes above or below a set range. Likewise, the party that ships the package may also want to monitor the conditions of the package to ensure that the content arrives in the proper condition.
Conventionally, this tracking function may be provided by a variety of known mechanisms and systems. Machine-readable barcodes are one way organizations keep track of items. A retailer, for example, may use bar codes on items in its inventory. For example, items to be sold in a retailer's store may each be labeled with a different machine-readable bar code. In order to keep track of inventory, the retailer typically scans or otherwise captures an image of the bar code on each item so that a back-end part of the retailer's operation can keep track of what is coming in and leaving their possession from suppliers. In addition, when an item is sold to a consumer, the bar code for that item is scanned or captured to track sales and inventory levels.
Similarly, a package delivery provider may utilize machine-readable bar codes by associating a bar code with packages to be delivered to a recipient. For example, a package may have a bar code corresponding to a tracking number for that package. Each time the package goes through a transit checkpoint (e.g., the courier taking initial control of the package, the package being temporarily placed in a storage facility while being moved from a pickup point to a delivery location, and the package being delivered to the recipient, etc.), the package's bar code may be scanned. Bar codes, however, have the disadvantage that personnel must manually scan each bar code on each item in order to effectively track the items.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags are another known mechanism for tracking items. In contrast to barcodes, RFID tags do not usually require manual scanning. For example, in a retail context, an RFID tag on an inventory item may be able to communicate with an electronic reader that detects items in a shopping cart and adds the cost of each item to a bill for the consumer. The RFID tag usually transfers a coded number when queried or prompted by the reader. RFID tags have also been used to track items such as livestock, railroad cars, trucks, and even airline baggage. These tags typically only allow for basic tracking, but do not provide a way to improve asset management using information about the environment in which the items are tracked.
Sensor-based tracking systems are also known which can provide more information than RFID systems. Shippers, carriers, recipients, and other parties often wish to know the location, condition, and integrity of shipments before, during, and after transport to satisfy quality control goals, meet regulatory requirements, and optimize business processes. However, such systems are typically expensive given the complexity of the sensors, and may provide extraneous and redundant item information.
An additional challenge faced for tracking systems may be how to monitor and keep abreast of what is going on at a low level of the network without overloading or unduly stressing communications with a backend server that operates to manage elements of the networked system. Monitoring of nodes in a network of wireless nodes may generate a relatively large amount of data—e.g., time series scanning data on what is detected as being broadcast by particular nodes. The status of nodes typically changes over time, and thus the data generated when monitoring nodes will be dynamic and change over time to reflect such node behavior and changing status. As a result, monitoring systems are usually faced with a challenge on how to efficiently identify, report, and respond to relevant changes with respect to nodes amidst such vast amounts of data. Additionally, conventional tracking systems do not typically monitor the status of individual elements to collectively learn from what is being monitored so that it can identify that what is going on may be tied to known, anticipated, or new node relevant activity.
To address one of more of such challenges, a wireless node-based system is needed that may monitor data regarding objects (such as shipped items, personnel, or equipment) and efficiently extend visibility of such objects. There remains a need for an improved system that may provide more extensive and robust identification, tracking, and management of objects via different types of wireless nodes and managing backend servers and do so in a cost effective manner. In particular, there remains a need for systems, apparatus and methods for enhanced monitoring for an event candidate related to elements of a wireless node network and adaptive management of the wireless node network based upon the event candidate. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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(i) Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a method for increasing the storage carbohydrate content of sugarcane plants.
(ii) Description of the Related Art:
Those involved in the fields of agriculture and forestry constantly strive to provide higher-yielding plants, in particular to safeguard the food supply of the continuously increasing world population and to ensure the supply of renewable raw materials. A traditional attempt is to maintain high-yielding plants by means of breeding. However, this procedure is time- and labor-consuming. In some cases, progress has already been made by subjecting plants to genetic manipulation, i.e. by the directed introduction and expression of foreign (recombinant) nucleic acid molecules in/into plants.
Besides sugar beet, sugarcane is the most important plant used for the production of sugar (sucrose). To obtain cane sugar, the sugarcane is harvested in an expensive fabrication procedure and then transported to the factory. Prior to the extraction of the sugar, the sugarcane is cleaned. In the traditional method, the sugarcane is subsequently comminuted and then passes through 4-6 roller presses to separate the juice from the fiber (bagasse). The crystallized and centrifuged sugar (sucrose) is obtained by clarification, evaporation, fractional crystallization and separating the mother liquor (molasses) from the crystals by centrifugation. The molasses, is currently the economically most important by-product of obtaining sugar from sugarcane, comprise approximately 50% sugars (sucrose and monosaccharides). They is used as starting material for fermentation products, of which ethanol is the most important, and moreover as animal feed and, in some countries, also for human nutrition (“black honey” in Egypt).
Current biotechnological methods allow the generation of sugarcane plants which, besides cane sugar (sucrose) and molasses, synthesize valuable storage carbohydrates such as, for example, fructans, which can subsequently be employed for industrial, cosmetic or pharmaceutical purposes and in the food industry.
Thus, for example, the international patent applications WO96/01904, WO96/21023, WO98/39460 and WO99/24593 propose to express 1-SST genes alone or in combination with 1-FFT genes in sugarcane in order to produce fructans in transgenic sugarcane.
Obtaining storage carbohydrates (sucrose and fructans) from sugarcane plants in an efficient manner requires methods which lead to increasing the storage carbohydrate content in sugarcane plants | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Optical fibers and cables have become very common data carriers. One issue that can arise with optical fibers is their interconnection with other optical fibers. For example, many industrial, office and apartment buildings include data centers, where cables transmitting data from outside the building are ultimately interconnected with devices (phones, computers, and the like) inside the building. Commonly, incoming optical fibers pass to the data center in cable form, where they are spliced together with “pigtail” cables. The pigtail cables travel to a termination point, where they are interconnected with a termination device (for example, a termination cartridge or module) that, in turn, interconnects them with “jumper” fibers that exit to other parts of the building for use with various devices.
Splicing of optical fibers is often accomplished via one of three different splicing techniques: mechanical splicing; fusion splicing; or mass fusion splicing. These techniques are well known and need not be described in detail herein. Splices are often stored in splice trays, which are generally planar devices that include multiple splicing sites designed to organize interconnected fibers and splices. Splice trays can assist in keeping a number of spliced fibers in an organized arrangement (typically a tray will have a capacity of 6 to 24 splices). Splice trays are then stored inside shelves on an equipment rack within the data center. An exemplary splice tray is the 2524-MF FIBRLOK multi-fiber splice organizer tray, available from 3M, Minneapolis, Minn.
As data centers are required to handle increased amounts of data, they often accumulate vast numbers of cables, pigtail fibers and jumper fibers to be spliced and terminated. In an effort to include increasing numbers of splice trays on a single shelf, in some instances splice trays have been stacked on top of one another to reduce the amount of space that they occupy; in certain of these instances, the splice trays have been adhered together with “double-stick” tape to attempt to maintain some degree of organization within an equipment rack shelf. Nevertheless, as the density of cables and fibers grows, it would be desirable to provide more splicing sites in a limited space, and to maintain and/or improve the level of organization that that splice trays can provide. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Premium content is any digital or otherwise intangible product sold to consumers. Examples of premium content may include, but are not limited to articles, eBooks, sound files, music, interactive applications, software, games, video files, movies or other digital products. Other examples of premium content may include, but are not limited to, live comedy shows, movie screenings, entertainment, educational lectures, art shows, animal shows, museum displays and other intangible products. The majority of premium content is available over the internet. Furthermore, many digital or otherwise intangible products which are not available for sale automatically qualify as premium content when the products are made available for sale.
Generally, the term “content” refers to any digital or otherwise intangible product. The more specific term “free content” refers to any digital or otherwise intangible product distributed at no-cost. Comparatively, premium content is a type of “content” for which publishers require compensation. Therefore, publishers require consumers to pay for premium content. This difference explains why premium content, generally, is of a higher quality than free content.
Despite the theoretical efficiencies offered by the internet, current payment methodologies for the sale of premium content are inferior to current payment methodologies for the sale of tangible products. This contrast is the result of an economic property which does not generally apply to tangible products, but does generally apply to premium content.
This property is a practically non-existent variable cost, i.e., no significant cost to transfer premium content from source to consumer. For example, the required variable costs for distributing premium content from a web server to an internet user's personal computer are virtually zero. In contrast, the variable costs for distributing physical products from a manufacturer's warehouse to a consumer's home are relatively high.
The lack of variable costs for publishers represents an opportunity for consumers to use a variety of premium content flexibly within the context of their individual lifestyles. Particularly, the lack of variable costs for publishers may enable a consumer to freely watch movies, listen to music, view pictures, play games, interact with software or engage in other activities made possible by the internet for as long as the consumer likes, on the devices the consumer prefers, and at times which are most convenient to the consumer.
Unfortunately, consumers are unable to take full advantage of hardware devices, technological developments and economic features of premium content because the currently available systems for purchasing premium content are overly burdensome. Due to the lack of an efficient payment system, publishers have little incentive to make premium content available to consumers.
One explanation for the lack of publisher incentive to make premium content available is the prevalence of credit card processing rates which are costly to premium content publishers. The average cost for processing a credit card payment is approximately 2.2% plus 25 cents. Therefore, if a premium content publisher sells an article for thirty cents, the publisher only receives 4 cents.
Several attempts have been made to resolve this credit card processing issue. These attempts include the development of payment methodologies such as the micropayments methodology, the high-price methodology, and the subscription methodology.
The micropayments methodology has been embraced because it attempts to value individual pieces of premium content at fair market values. As an overview, micropayments are small transactions often for cents or fractions of cents, which are paid for individual premium content items. Some examples of micropayment transactions for premium content include purchasing a concise 5-minute movie clip detailing the Peloponnesian War for 18 cents, sending an electronic birthday card for 9 cents, playing a multiplayer game for 31 cents, reading six stock recommendations from top-investors for 26 cents and listening to one hour of satellite radio for 45 cents.
Most emerging micropayment companies have offered a service called aggregated payment processing. Aggregated payment processing involves aggregating the micropayments for multiple publishers into a larger credit card charge on a per-customer basis. For example, if the previously mentioned premium content items are purchased through a micropayments provider implementing aggregated payment processing, the micropayments provider places one charge of $1.29 on the consumer's credit card instead of placing five individual charges.
Despite the theoretical efficiencies of micropayments, the payment methodology is inconvenient for consumers. Before the consumer reads any article, views any image, hears any sound file or watches any video, the consumer must make the decision to buy or not to buy the premium content. Therefore, one problem with the micropayments methodology is that it requires the consumer to formulate many decisions on a minute-by-minute basis, resulting in consumer inconvenience. Consumer inconvenience includes the consumer's cost of time and anxiety associated with evaluating premium content, forming a buying decision and completing a purchase.
Some micropayments companies have developed systems which attempt to respond to the issue of consumer inconvenience by not requiring customers to actively formulate consumer decisions. Instead, the companies either charge customers a flat rate for each piece of premium content or charge customers prices which are preset by publishers. Following this method, customers are charged for each piece of premium content that customers access but are not asked to actively approve each sale. This payment methodology creates what has been termed “a double-standard of value” as discussed by Clay Shirky in his 2000 essay, “The Case Against Micropayments.” A double standard of value occurs when publishers collect payment for premium content but imply that the cost of the premium content is too slight for customers to contemplate purchasing the premium content. This procedure further confuses customers and only increases consumer inconvenience.
Since the micropayment methodology is not practically feasible, a surprisingly high number of publishers have decided to charge for premium content on a per-item basis by adopting the high-price methodology. The high-price methodology is a solution where premium content publishers charge exceptionally high prices. The theory for the high-price methodology is that increased prices will make-up for reduced consumption. For instance, a publisher may face a situation where the publisher spends $100,000 in fixed costs on producing and marketing an eBook. This publisher would break-even, disregarding credit card processing fees, by charging ten cents to each of its one-million estimated customers. Instead of charging ten cents per eBook, the publisher charges ten dollars per eBook. By charging ten dollars, the publisher will break-even, disregarding credit card processing fees, by selling to only ten thousand customers.
The high-price methodology typically fails for multiple reasons. One reason is that the customer demand curve for premium content, i.e., the relationship between the price of premium content and how many customers will buy premium content for that price, is a non-linear function. For example, if a price of ten cents attracts one million customers, a price of ten dollars is unlikely to attract ten thousand customers. Moreover, demand for most premium content tends to be very price elastic.
Another reason why the high-price methodology fails is the increase in purchase risk for customers. Purchase risk is the risk that a customer's purchase will not meet expectations. This purchase risk involves the potential to lose time or money. For instance, when a customer purchases a disappointing eBook, the customer generally may not return it, as the eBook is a digital product. Therefore, the customer is forced to either read an eBook which does not meet expectations and lose time or not read the eBook despite paying for it and lose money.
The majority of publishers have rejected the micropayments and high-price payment methodologies as inferior revenue models. Instead, the publishers sell premium content via the subscription payment methodology. The sale of a subscription generally involves receiving a fixed-fee payment from a customer in exchange for unlimited access to a single type of premium content over a fixed period of time. For example, a music subscription may include unlimited access to two million songs. Here, for $20 per month, a customer may listen to as many of the two million songs as the customer would like, for as long as the customer would like during the month.
This music subscription is a good deal for a heavy user of the service. However, this music subscription is expensive for a casual music listener. For example, if a customer spends two hours per day listening to music, that person is paying roughly 33 cents per hour for music according to this example. On the other hand, if a customer spends two hours per month listening to music, that customer is paying $10 per hour for music. All else being equal, the music subscription is a much better value for the former customer. More generally, all subscriptions work in a similar manner. The subscriptions are good deals for frequent customers and poor deals for infrequent customers.
Furthermore, the wide variety of subscriptions available on the internet creates additional problems for customers who may be interested in premium content from more than one subscription. For example, an average customer may desire to access premium content from an eBook subscription, an audio book subscription, a nutrition and fitness article subscription, three news article and video subscriptions, two music subscriptions, a satellite radio subscription, three arcade game subscriptions, two media-driven game subscriptions, three movie subscriptions, an investment advice subscription, two research service subscriptions and three dating services system subscription packages over a period of time. In this example, an average customer must pay for 23 different subscriptions as though the customer is a heavy user. Moreover, the customer must also complete 23 registrations and decide to purchase each of the subscriptions, resulting in significant consumer inconvenience.
These problems explain why approximately only 12% of internet users buy premium content on the internet, according to the Online Publishers Association's 2005 report. Moreover, these problems characterize a dysfunctional market, where many internet users are interested in premium content, but very few actually pay for it.
Some in the industry have argued that internet users simply do not want to pay for premium content. Instead, publishers are urged to adopt advertising subsidies while making high-quality content available as free content. However, advertising is only a viable option in limited circumstances. More precisely, only publishers who can connect contextual advertisers with highly targeted customers can cover their fixed costs.
The refusal of traditional publishers to make content available over the internet for free demonstrates the wide variety of high-quality content which could potentially be available to customers if a functional payment methodology, rather than a standalone advertising model, was known. Moreover, when consumers do not pay for premium content, publishers have less incentive to acquire, finance or develop more or better premium content.
Currently, the premium content industry suffers from a problem termed a double-coincidence of wants. A double coincidence of wants occurs where a market functions only when both parties, co-incidentally, want each other's products, in the acceptable quantities, at the same time, according to agreeable terms. Historically, the double coincidence of wants problem is only known to have appeared to this extent in barter economies.
When the double coincidence of wants problem appeared in barter economies, money was invented to help solve this problem. The invention of money as a medium of exchange sparked increased trade, allowed for specialization, lead to capitalism and industrialization and lead finally to today's consumer economy. The invention of money also lends insight into the current crisis facing the premium content industry, which is a double-coincidence of wants problem. Publishers want money and consumers want to obtain the most satisfaction from their time. Using money as a medium of exchange is overly time-consuming, thus, self-defeating to consumers. Therefore, the seemingly most-efficient micropayments methodology is a dysfunctional paradox. Also, many alternatives, whether the alternatives fit under the high-price or subscription payment methodologies, allow for sales of premium content but only to consumers who are not price-conscious or who are heavy users of individual pieces or types of premium content coincidentally.
Most internet users are dissatisfied with the current methodologies available for purchasing premium content. The result is substantially less economic activity. Moreover, some internet users steal premium content. This issue would occur less frequently if a payment solution for premium content existed that would function much like money functions for tangible products, but solves the double coincidence of wants problem facing the premium content industry.
Therefore, a need exists for another or alternative medium of exchange in addition to money. Additionally, a need exists for a premium content access and payment method that eliminates the need for numerous consumer decisions by minimizing transaction costs such as consumer inconvenience. Furthermore, a need exists for a method that increases total compensation publishers receive for premium content. Desirably, the variety of premium content includes an extensive selection of high-quality articles, images, music, video and interactive applications serving a wide variety of purposes and interests that are provided by a wide variety of publishers. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data processing and more particularly to memory management in a logically partitioned environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Logical partitioning refers to the ability to make a system run as if it were two or more independent systems. Each logical partition represents a division of resources in the system and operates as an independent logical system. Each partition is logical because the division of resources may be physical or virtual. An example of logical partitions is the partitioning of a multiprocessor computer system into multiple independent servers, each with its own processors, main storage, and I/O devices. One of multiple different operating systems, such as AIX®, LINUX, and others can be running in each partition. AIX® is a registered trademark of International Business Machines, Inc.
Logically partitioned systems include a software component referred to as a partition manager. The partition manager is responsible for managing the various logical partitions on the system. In order to perform its responsibilities, the partition manager must have sufficient memory available. In addition, some form of a preemptive memory management technique is needed to avoid arriving at some unknown point in an activation path before discovering that insufficient memory is allocated to the partition manager. Such a condition would require extensive ability to “undo” a partially accepted configuration change throughout the partition manager. Implementing such ability would involves central tracking of which components had already been initialized and which had not, as well as interfaces in all the components to deal with undoing the partially committed change a user has requested. In addition, the likelihood of a memory allocation failing during the activation path increases, which may expose a coding bug for not handling the failure.
One possibility to ensure sufficient memory is to “pre-allocate” memory. However, pre-allocation presents numerous challenges and undesirable consequences. In particular, pre-allocation would require extensive cross component interfaces between configuration management and every other component in the partition manager which allocates storage. New interfaces would also be necessitated between numerous other components to pipe pre-allocation messages around. In essence, the entire allocation code paths would have to be triplicated: pre-allocate, rollback-pre-allocated, and commit-pre-allocated. The pre-allocate code path allocates space for a given configuration change, but does not allow the system to act as if the change has been accepted. The rollback-pre-allocated code path returns the pre-allocated space to the system because the change is being discarded (most likely because of some component's failure to pre-allocate due to insufficient storage). The commit-pre-allocated code path accepts the change that caused the pre-allocate. In addition, all components which allocate memory would have to track the state of their allocations (i.e., non-allocated, pre-allocated and allocated), and participate in some form of multiphase commitment control, such as the above three phases. These changes would add considerable amounts of code to the partition manager, in addition to nontrivial code complexity to every component that allocates memory, as well as requiring additional space, since components would need to allocate structures in order to track the pre-allocation and allocation state of their allocations.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for managing memory in a partitioned environment. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device and circuit thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to an ESD protection device and circuit thereof for bypassing an ESD current with higher shunting efficiency, faster turn-on efficiency and lower power consumption.
2. Description of Related Art
As the semiconductor technology advances, the integration of the semiconductor devices are enhanced by, for example, reducing the line width and increasing the stacked layers of the semiconductor device. For example, as the scale of the metal on oxide semiconductor (MOS) device is reduced, the gate oxides has to be thinner, the channel length has to be shorter, the source/drain junction has to be shallower, and the lightly doped drain (LDD) structure has to be adopted. However, as the area and the tolerance of the integrated circuits (IC) reduce, the damage caused by the electrostatic discharge (ESD) could become a serious problem.
Conventionally, the waveform of the electrostatic discharge (ESD) has the properties of short rise time (e.g., generally between 5 ns to 15 ns) and high pulse power (e.g., generally between 1000V to 3000V). Therefore, when the integrated circuit (IC) is damaged by the ESD, the IC might get punched through or burned out suddenly.
In general, in order to resolve the problems described above, an ESD protection circuit is generally disposed between the input and output pads of the IC to protect the IC from the ESD damage by shunting the electrostatic charges of the ESD source from the IC.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram schematically illustrating a conventional ESD protection circuit of an IC. Referring to FIG. 1, an ESD protection circuit 100 including a gate-ground NMOS (GGNMOS) 108 is connected between two pads 104 and 106 of the IC 102. The pad 104 is connected to a voltage VDD and the pad 106 is connected to a voltage VSS. The drain of the GGNMOS 108 is connected to the pad 104 and the source, the gate and the substrate of the GGNMOS 108 are connected to the pad 106. In general, when a positive ESD voltage is suddenly applied across the pads 104 and 106, a bipolar transistor 110 (illustrates as dotted lines 110 in FIG. 1) of the GGNMOS 108 is performed to bypass the ESD current. Alternatively, when a negative ESD voltage is applied suddenly across the pads 104 and 106, a parasitic diode (illustrated as dotted lines 112 in FIG. 1, which exists everywhere in the well/substrate junction of the integrated circuits (IC) 102 or in the ESD protection circuit 100) is forward biased and therefore is turned on to bypass the ESD current. Generally, the performance of the ESD protection circuit 100 including the GGNMOS 108 shown in FIG. 1 is not effective enough to protect the IC 102. In addition, the turn-on efficiency of the GGNMOS 108 is not fast enough.
FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are circuit diagrams schematically illustrating another conventional ESD protection circuit of an IC. Referring to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, an ESD protection circuit 200 is connected between two pads 204 and 206 of the IC 202. The pad 204 is connected to a voltage VDD and the pad 206 is connected to a voltage VSS. The ESD protection circuit 200 includes a gate-ground NMOS (GGNMOS) 208, a resistor 210, a capacitor 212 and an inverter 214. The drain of the GGNMOS 208 is connected to the pad 204, the source and the gate of the GGNMOS 208 are connected to the pad 206, and the substrate of the GGNMOS 208 is connected to the output terminal of the inverter 214. The resistor 210 is connected between the pad 204 and the input of the inverter 214, and the capacitor 212 is connected between the pad 206 and the input terminal of the inverter 214. Referring to FIG. 2, the inverter 214 may be constructed by a PMOS 214a and an NMOS 214b. The gates of the PMOS 214a and an NMOS 214b are connected to and used as the input terminal of the inverter 214, and the drains of the PMOS 214a and an NMOS 214b are connected to and used as the output terminal of the inverter 214. The sources of the PMOS 214a and an NMOS 214b are connected to the pads 204 and 206 respectively.
Referring to FIG. 2A or FIG. 2B, the resistance-capacitance (RC) constant (i.e., the resistance R of the resistor 210 and the capacitance C of the capacitor 212, wherein the rise time of the RC constant is generally between 0.1 μs to 1 μs) is generally much larger than the rise time of the ESD voltage (generally between 5 ns to 15 ns). Therefore, when a positive ESD voltage is suddenly applied across the pads 204 and 206, the input voltage V1 at the input terminal of the inverter 214 is at low level compared to the voltage VDD due to the larger RC constant. Thus, the output voltage V2 at the output terminal of the inverter 214 is at high level since the voltage V1 is inverted by the inverter 214. Accordingly, the GGNMOS 208 will function as a bipolar transistor 110 (as illustrated by the dotted lines 110 in FIG. 1) and is triggered by the high level output voltage V2 to bypass the ESD current.
Alternatively, when a negative ESD voltage is suddenly applied across the pads 104 and 106, a parasitic diode (as illustrated by the dotted lines 112 in FIG. 1, which exists everywhere in the well/substrate junction of the integrated circuits (IC) 202 or in the ESD protection circuit 200) is forward biased and therefore is turned on to bypass the ESD current. However, as the semiconductor technology advances, the integration of the semiconductor device is enhanced and the tolerance of the semiconductor device to the ESD current is reduced, and the conventional ESD protection circuit design may not be effective in protecting the advanced semiconductor device with low tolerance to ESD current. Therefore, an ESD protection circuit with higher performance, higher shunting efficiency, faster turn-on efficiency and lower power consumption is highly desirable. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for applying a coating layer of a thermoplastic resin on the outer periphery of a linear body; and, in particular, to a structure of the apparatus capable of precisely producing a cross-sectional form of the coating layer.
2. Related Background Art
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a slotted rod. This slotted rod B comprises a rod core A, which is constituted by a tension member 1 disposed at its center and a primary coating layer 2 disposed on the outer periphery of the tension member, and a coating layer 4 (spacer) disposed on the outer periphery of the rod core A. The surface of the coating layer 4 is provided with slots 3 (grooves for accommodating optical fibers) spirally extending along the longitudinal direction of slotted rod B. An optical cable in which an optical fiber ribbon (including a plurality of optical fibers) is inserted in each slot 3 has excellent characteristics in that it can attain higher density in containing fibers, workability would improve since connection can be made ribbon by ribbon, and so forth. In order for each of the optical fiber ribbons to maintain its transmission characteristics, the slotted rod B is required to be made with high accuracy. Therefore, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 10-101211 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-179408 discloses a method of making a slotted rod by a resin extrusion coating apparatus.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a configuration of such a conventional extrusion coating apparatus for making a linear body having a coating layer such as slotted rod B. In this drawing, the tension member 1 paid out from a drum 53 is guided via a guiding device 50a to a first coating unit 20a attached to the front end portion of a first extrusion unit 10a, where the primary coating 2 made of adhesive polyethylene is applied thereto, thereby the rod core A having a circular cross section is formed.
As the rod core A is passed through a cooling bath 51a, the primary coating 2 is cured. Thereafter, the rod core A passed through the cooling bath 51a is sent to a second coating unit 20b attached to a second extrusion unit 10b, where the spacer 4 having the spiral slots 3 therearound is applied thereto, thereby the slotted rod B is obtained. Thus obtained slotted rod B is further introduced into a cooling bath 51b so as to be cooled and solidified and then is wound up around a take-up drum 54 by way of a guiding device 50b and a capstan 52.
Having studied the conventional extrusion coating apparatus, the inventors have found the following problems. Namely, in the conventional extrusion coating apparatus, the tension member 1 or rod core A is set by the guiding devices 50a, 50b such as to run at a predetermined position constantly. On the other hand, the first coating unit 20a and the second coating unit 20b are fixed at the front end portions of their corresponding extrusion units 10a and 10b, respectively. As a consequence, if the front end portion of the extrusion unit 10a, 10b moves upon thermal expansion to a direction (Y-axis direction) orthogonal to the drawing surface, the disposed position of the first or second coating unit 20a, 20b will fluctuate, thereby the relative positions of the first coating unit 20a and tension member 1 or the relative positions of the second coating unit 20b and rod core A will change with respect to each other. Hence, in thus obtained rod core A, the tension member 1 may become eccentric with respect to the center of the primary coating 2, or the rod core A may become eccentric with respect to the center of the spacer 4. When the rod core A becomes eccentric excessively with respect to the center of the spacer 4, bumps and dips may be generated at the bottom of the spiral slots 3 because of loss of resin at the bottom of the spiral slots 3, thereby problems may occur in that the optical fiber ribbons inserted in the slots 3 are damaged by the bumps and dips.
Also, since each coating unit is fixed at the front end portion of its corresponding extrusion unit in the conventional extrusion coating apparatus, there have been problems in that the vibration of the coating unit would increase when a die therein is rotated at a high speed in one direction or alternately in opposite directions, and so forth.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an extrusion coating apparatus having a structure which is adapted to overcome the above-mentioned problems, thereby being capable of forming and applying a coating layer with a predetermined cross-sectional form onto the outer periphery of a linear body, such as a tension member and a rod core, as a target linear body, at a high speed even when thermal distortion occurs in its extrusion unit.
The extrusion coating apparatus according to the present invention comprises, at least, an extrusion unit extruding a thermoplastic resin while heating the resin, and a coating unit applying the extruded resin on the outer periphery of a linear body in a predetermined form while the linear body is passing therethrough. The extrusion unit and coating unit are connected to each other with a connecting tube guiding the heated thermoplastic resin from the extrusion unit to the coating unit. The connecting tube has a first opening connected to a resin inlet of the coating unit; and a second opening, opposing to the first opening, connected to a resin-extruding orifice of the extrusion unit.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the extrusion coating apparatus according to the present invention further comprises a distortion-absorbing structure absorbing the distortion generated in the extrusion unit upon heating the thermoplastic resin.
For example, the distortion-absorbing structure can be realized by a rail extending along a predetermined direction with respect to the coating unit, and a pedestal movable on the rail in a state carrying the extrusion unit.
Thus, the coating unit is fixedly installed on a horizontal basis (corresponding to an installation floor surface), whereas the extrusion unit is movably disposed on the horizontal basis (by the distortion-absorbing structure). As a consequence, even when the extrusion unit is heated and thereby thermal distortion occurs to cause a positional fluctuation of the extrusion unit, the relative positional relationship between the coating unit and the linear body running therethrough would not change. Since the relative positions of the linear body and the coating unit with respect to each other are thus always kept constant, a coating layer having a predetermined form can be applied to the linear body without unevenness. Also, the vibration can be minimized in a coating unit having a rotator.
The installed positions of the extrusion unit and coating unit may have various modes. For example, the extrusion unit may be disposed such that the pass-line direction of the linear body and the direction of the heated thermoplastic resin extrusion are orthogonal to each other. Preferably, in this case, the connecting tube has such a form that straightly extends from the first opening toward the second opening while having a side face continuous from the first opening to the second opening.
In thus configured extrusion coating apparatus, even when the extrusion unit is heated and then this heat is conducted to the connecting tube to cause thermal expansion, the resulting thermal distortion is canceled as the extrusion unit moves about the coating unit. Therefore, the relative positions of the linear body and the coating unit are always kept constant with respect to each other, thereby a coating layer having a predetermined form can be applied to the linear body without unevenness. Also, since the main body of the extrusion unit and the coating unit have structures substantially identical to those of the conventional apparatus, they can be embodied easily.
The extrusion unit may also be disposed such that an angle formed between the pass-line direction of the pulled linear body and the extruded direction of the heated thermoplastic resin is not less than 0xc2x0 and is less than 90xc2x0. In this case, the connecting tube has such a form that is bent at a predetermined location from the first opening toward the second opening while having a side face continuous from the first opening to the second opening.
In thus configured extrusion coating apparatus, when the extrusion unit is heated, this heat is conducted to the connecting tube. As a consequence, thermal distortions occur in the extrusion unit mainly along the extruding direction thereof, and in the L-shaped connecting tube along the extruding direction and the direction orthogonal thereto. These thermal distortions, however, are canceled as the extrusion unit moves about the coating unit with the aid of the connecting tube. As a consequence, the relative positions of the linear body and coating unit with respect to each other are always kept constant, thereby the coating layer having a predetermined form can be applied to the linear body without unevenness. Also, when the pass-line direction of the linear body and the extruding direction of the extrusion unit are disposed in parallel to each other, then a plurality of extrusion coating apparatus can be arranged close to each other, thereby the floor area can efficiently be used.
The distortion-absorbing structure can also be realized by changing the configuration of the connecting tube. Namely, the connecting tube may be provided with the distortion-absorbing structure which comprises a first flexible joint section including the first opening and a second flexible joint section including the second opening.
As a consequence, even when each of the coating unit and the extrusion unit is fixedly installed, they are connected to each other with the connecting tube having the distortion-absorbing structure, thereby the positional fluctuation of the extrusion unit caused by thermal distortion would not influence the relative positions of the linear body and the coating unit with respect to each other. Therefore, a coating layer having a preferable cross-sectional form can be formed on the outer periphery of the linear body.
In the case where the extrusion coating apparatus according to the present invention is employed as the apparatus for making a slotted rod such as that mentioned above, the extrusion coating apparatus can provide a primary coating layer around a tension member to form a rod core and then the spacer around a rod core. In this case, the coating unit includes a rotatable die having a through hole through which the linear body penetrates, the rotatable die having a protrusion extending from the inner wall of the through hole toward the center of the through hole. In this coating unit, as the rotatable die is rotated in a predetermined direction about the linear body or the rotating direction of the rotatable die is reversed every time the linear body travels a predetermined distance, a spiral slot is formed on the coating layer surface of the linear body. Here, the die in the coating unit is not necessarily be rotated about the linear body but may also be made stationary.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not to be considered as limiting the present invention.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. | {
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The present invention relates to a surgical instrument for determining the size and/or height of an intervertebral implant insertable into an intervertebral space between two adjacent vertebral bodies of two vertebrae of a human or animal spinal column, wherein the intervertebral implant comprises a first abutment element for abutment against an articular surface of one of the two adjacent vertebral bodies as well as a second abutment element supported directly or indirectly on the first abutment element for abutment against an articular surface of the other of the two adjacent vertebral bodies, wherein the instrument comprises a holding part defining a longitudinal direction and at least one test implant, which comprises a first and a second test-implant abutment element each having at least one abutment surface for abutment against one of the articular surfaces, wherein provided on a distal end of the holding part is at least one abutment-element holding element for detachable connection to the at least one test implant.
The treatment of degenerative diseases in the region of the spinal column very often involves the surgical removal of intervertebral disk tissue. Adjacent motion segments, i.e. adjacent vertebral bodies, are then fused by means of a bone chip and/or artificial intervertebral implants. An alternative to the fusion of adjacent vertebral bodies is to implant artificial intervertebral disks, by means of which a mobility of adjacent vertebral bodies relative to one another may be at least partially maintained.
An artificial intervertebral disk is used, inter alia, to restore the original intervertebral disk height and re-stabilize the spinal column.
For determining the required size and/or height of the intervertebral implant, various instruments or test implants are known, which are introduced into the cleared intervertebral space to determine the size and height. In dependence upon the size and height of the implant determined by means of the instrument and/or test implant, the actual intervertebral implant is selected and then implanted.
Therefore, it is desirable to improve an instrument of the initially described type in a way that allows the size and/or height of an intervertebral implant to be determined in a simple and different manner. | {
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1 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processor which processes digital image data for image reproduction.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a printer or the like wherein an image of full color is reproduced, digital image data R, G, B of three primary colors of red, green and blue of the additive color system which have been read by scanning a document are converted for image reproduction to data C, M, Y of three colors of cyan, magenta and yellow for color reproduction (of subtractive color system).
In the data processing of a full color image to convert the digital data of red, green and blue of the three primary colors to the data of the colors for image reproduction, it is demanded to reconcile the purity of black and the brightness of chromatic colors.
In the reproduction of black in a full color image, when black is reproduced by overlaying cyan, magenta and yellow, it is difficult to reproduce pure black due to the effects of the spectral characteristics of each toner. Then, the reproducibility of black is improved by using the subtractive mixing of the reproduction color data C, M and Y and black painting of black data K. That is, the reproduction color data C, M and Y are subtracted by a certain amount (under color remove amount), while the black data K is obtained from the reproduction color data C, M and Y to reproduce black by using black toner. However, in this method, though the purity of black is improved with increasing the degree of black painting, whereas the brightness of chromatic colors is deteriorated.
As explained above, the reproducibility of black and the improvement of the brightness of full color are not compatible as to the under color remove amount for chromatic colors and the amount of black paint for black. Therefore, it is necessary to control optimally the subtraction amount for chromatic colors and the amount of black paint for black.
It is better to emphasize an edge for an image such as a character. The read data is converted to the density data in order to adjust to the sense of naked eyes. When the edge emphasis is conducted on the data after the density conversion of the read data, the following problems arise: As to an edge portion of a character or a narrow line, the data changes more smoothly than before the density conversion, and sufficient edge emphasis is not performed. Further, the data change at the high density side is large so that an edge is easily detected at the high density side and even image noises are emphasized. This is ascribable to that the slope of the -log characteristic is small at the low density side and large at the high density side. As to a full color image, the hue changes if the edge emphasis is performed on the data after the color correction. | {
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Chalcogenide glasses, those containing one or more of the chalcogenide elements sulfur, selenium, or tellurium, are used in a variety of optical applications. Because of their excellent infrared transmittal properties and relatively low production costs, these glasses, especially selenium-based glasses, are commonly used in infrared optical systems, such as thermal imaging and night vision systems.
Currently, most chalcogenide glasses are produced as small boules in sealed quartz reaction containers. This helps minimize the loss of selenium, which is prone to evaporate out of the reaction melt during the glass formation reaction due to its relatively high vapor pressure. However, production processes such as these suffer from high production costs due to the consumption of the quartz reaction containers, long production times, and environmental risks due to possible explosions.
Once the glass is formed, any practical optical application requires that the glass be formed into an optical component, such as a lens. Current production processes for such optics rely mainly on grinding or molding the chalcogenide glass into lenses. These, however, are rather lengthy processes. After the glass is formed from its constituent elements in a quartz reaction container, the glass is cast into a plate and annealed, so as to avoid breakage. The annealed plate is then cut into blanks, which are ground to thickness, edged, and turned or ground into lenses or formed into lenses in a vacuum press. This process can take several days to complete. Furthermore, production volumes are constrained by the size of the mold ovens used to produce the lenses.
The production of chalcogenide lenses is also hampered by the molds used to form the lenses. Molds typically used for such molding are relatively complex, having a large number of parts and requiring measuring and shimming each time the molds are disassembled for cleaning. Because of their high part count, the tolerance stack-up for each mold prevents molds from being built with acceptable tolerances for high yield processes. Furthermore, reassembly of the molds adds much variability to the part tolerance stack-up, as well.
The molds also suffer from a variety of mechanical problems, as various mold components fail due to the high temperatures they are exposed to during casting and molding. Often times threaded fasteners employed in the molds fail or gall at high temperatures. Furthermore, galling and friction with the mold guide pins frequently lead to mold closing failures. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit package comprising an insulating substrate for receiving a number of conductor poles that pass signal, power, and ground from an integrated circuit mounted on the integrated circuit package.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Recently, there has been a demand in the field of integrated circuit packaging to reduce the pitch of the conductor poles received in the insulating substrates of integrated circuit packages in order to increase the speed and density, and decrease the size, of the integrated circuits that are mounted on integrated circuit packages.
The art has not been able to overcome two fundamental problems that occur when the pitch of the conductor poles becomes narrow. First, crosstalk noise becomes significantly high, between the conductor poles. Accordingly, the art has failed to reach the desired density of the conductor poles and also reduce crosstalk noise. A second problem is that the characteristic impedance of the conductor poles is scattered which causes signal reflection noise and deteriorates signal transmission characteristics. | {
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This application is based on and incorporates herein by reference Japanese Patent Applications No. 2001-127182 filed on Apr. 25, 2001 and No. 2001-345743 filed on Nov. 12, 2001.
The present invention is related to vehicular power generation control device and method for controlling power generating conditions of a vehicular power generator installed in passenger vehicles and trucks.
A vehicular power generation control device for controlling power generating conditions of a power generator generally has a function for detecting a power generation start by an ignition switch closure. This type of power generation control device performs a control operation so that the power generator starts generating power when the ignition switch closure is detected.
A power generation start detection circuit without the ignition switch closure detection function is disclosed in JP-U-62-44698. This start detection circuit determines whether or not a rotor starts rotating, namely, an onboard engine is started. This determination is made by detecting a frequency of induced voltage in stator windings.
A voltage regulator having both a function for detecting an ignition switch closure and a function for detecting an engine start utilizing residual magnetism is disclosed in JP-A-6-284596. With this device, power generation control can be continued even when a line for detecting the ignition switch closure is broken.
However, the ignition switch closure detection function is one kind of engine start detection functions. Therefore, when using the ignition switch closure detection function with the engine start detection function utilizing residual magnetism, those functions conflict each other. This may cause extra power consumption and unwanted oscillation because the engine start detection function is activated even though the ignition switch closure is already detected.
The first objective of the present invention is to provide a vehicular power generation control device having an ignition switch closure detection function and an engine rotation detection function utilizing a residual flux, as well as reducing power consumption and noise generation.
The second objective is to provide a vehicular power generation control method utilizing ignition switch closure detection and engine rotation detection that are performed without redundancy in order to reduce unnecessary power consumption and noise generation. That is, when ignition switch closure is detected, the rotation detection will not be performed, and when the ignition switch closure is not detected, the rotation detection is performed.
The third objective is to reduce a malfunction of the vehicular power generation control device due to a leak current.
A vehicular power generation control device of the present invention controls output voltages of a vehicular power generator. The power generation control device has the first switching device, a voltage control device, an engine rotation detection device and an ignition switch closure detection device. The first switching device is connected in series with the field winding of the power generator. The voltage control device controls on/off conditions of the first switching device in order to control the output voltage. The rotation detection device detects the output voltage of the stator windings of the power generator to detect the start of engine and starts the operation of the voltage control device. The ignition switch closure detection device detects an ignition switch closure and starts the operation of the voltage control device.
When the ignition switch closure is detected by the ignition switch closure detection device, the device stops the operation of the rotation detection device. Performing the engine start detection by the rotation detection device although the ignition switch closure has been detected results in extra power consumption. An occurrence of unwanted oscillation caused by switching components in each part of the rotation detection device can be reduced. This reduces unwanted noise. Therefore, it is possible to provide a vehicular power generation control device having both ignition switch closure detection function and engine rotation detection function with low power consumption and low noise.
A frequency of phase voltage generated by the residual magnetism is proportional to the number of rotation of the rotor. Therefore, by measuring this frequency to detect the start of engine, a start detection function with high reliability at low cost can be provided in a small space.
When utilizing special-purpose sensors including a rotation sensor, special consideration for a structure is necessary to ensure the reliability. Vehicular power generators are generally used in high temperature and heavily vibrating conditions. Because the space for the power generators is limited, the one that can withstand such environments becomes high in cost and large in size. On the other hand, when detecting the frequency of the phase voltage generated by the residual magnetism, no additional sensor nor space for it is necessary. Moreover, only modification to a part of the circuit is required to implement the detection. As a result, high reliability can be provided at low cost. | {
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A type of displays often used for presenting video signals (such as television) are known as (sample and) hold type displays. An example of a hold time display is Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) which are used in many current televisions. For most LCD television and displays, hold times are typically 20 msec.
In contrast to conventional Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) displays wherein an electron beam sweeps the surface of a cathode ray tube to light any given part of the screen only for a miniscule fraction of the frame time, the image of a hold type display is sampled and held constant for the entire frame time. The hold effect corresponds to a time domain filtering by a finite impulse response filter having a square impulse response with a duration equal to the frame time. As this corresponds to a frequency domain low pass filtering (with a sin x/x pulse shape), the sample and hold approach can significantly reduce the temporal bandwidth resulting in significantly reduced dynamic performance and in particular in perceptible motion blur.
Thus, hold-type displays such as LCD displays are characterized by a high spatial bandwidth and low temporal bandwidth. This does not only affect the visibility of image details, but also affects the visibility of noise in video signals in several aspects. Firstly, noise is more visible on such displays (compared to e.g. CRTs) because the high spatial bandwidth means that there is no attenuation of high spatial frequencies by the display. Furthermore, the low temporal bandwidth not only introduces motion blur for moving objects in the image but also results in noise being increasingly perceptible to a user due to the long hold time for the individual frame.
The first aspect is addressed by using efficient noise reduction techniques that can reduce the spatial noise. Such noise reduction techniques typically include elements of spatial low pass filtering to reduce the high spatial bandwidth of the display (while at the same time seeking to maintain the sharpness associated with the high spatial resolution, for example by using edge preserving noise reduction algorithms).
In order to address motion blur, techniques have been introduced which seek to efficiently reduce the hold time for the video signal, corresponding to an increase in temporal bandwidth. Examples of such techniques are presented in “Comparison of LCD Motion Blur Reduction Methods using Temporal Impulse Response and MPRT”, Michiel Klompenhouwer, Proceedings of the SID, 54.1, 2006. Such techniques can be divided in two categories: impulse driving (scanning backlight, black frame insertion, . . . ) and increased frame rate. Since the former will introduce large area flicker if the frame rate is not increased, state of the art motion blur reduction will first increase frame rate, and only then optionally apply impulse driving. Since no input video formats provide increased frame rate, state of the art motion blur reduction includes motion estimation with motion compensated frame rate up-conversion as for example described in “Video Processing for Optimal Motion Portrayal on LCDs”, Frank van Heesch, Michiel Klompenhouwer, et. al, Proceedings of the IDW, 2006. Thus, in such a method, motion estimates are made for moving objects and the estimated motion compensation is introduced to interpolated upconverted frames thereby resulting in an increased frame rate and thus reduced hold time.
However, although such methods may increase the temporal bandwidth of hold-type displays for moving objects, it only reduces the motion blur for the components of the image itself and accordingly only improves the quality of the noise free video signal but does not improve the video noise. In particular, the effect of the hold time on video noise is not reduced. The underlying difference is that the noise free video signal is correlated between frames along the estimated motion direction (and therefore can be motion compensated in the interpolated upconverted frames), while noise is uncorrelated between frames. In other words: the temporal bandwidth of the video signal is increased by these methods, but the temporal bandwidth of the noise is not. This is true for an increased frame rate motion blur reduction system, even when a certain degree of impulse driving is applied. The visible effect of this is a so-called “dirty-window” effect, where the noise seems to be moving differently from the image signal.
Hence, an improved video signal processing would be advantageous and in particular a system allowing increased flexibility, reduced complexity, facilitated implementation, improved temporal performance (in particular for hold time displays), improved perceived video noise reduction, improved video quality and/or improved performance would be advantageous. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a liquid crystal display, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display and a driving method thereof to prevent deterioration of picture quality.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display (LCD) controls a light transmittance of a liquid crystal having a dielectric anisotropy using an electric field thereby displaying a picture. To this end, the LCD includes a liquid crystal display panel for displaying a picture and a driving circuit for driving the liquid crystal display panel. In the liquid crystal display panel, liquid crystal cells control light transmittance in accordance with pixel signals to thereby display a picture. The driving circuit includes a gate driver for driving gate lines of the liquid crystal display panel, a data driver for driving the data lines, a timing controller for controlling a driving timing of the gate driver and the data driver, and a power supply for supplying power signals required for driving the liquid crystal display panel and the driving circuit.
The data driver and the gate driver are separated into a plurality of integrated circuits (IC's) that are manufactured as chips. Each of the integrated drive IC's is mounted in an open IC area of a tape carrier package (TCP) or in a base film of the TCP by a chip on film (COF) system, and is electrically connected to the liquid crystal display panel by tape automated bonding (TAB) system. Alternatively, the drive IC may be directly mounted onto the liquid crystal display panel by a chip on glass (COG) system. The timing controller and the power supply are manufactured as a chip and mounted on a main printed circuit board (PCB).
The drives IC's connected to the liquid crystal display panel by the TCP are connected, via a flexible printed circuit (FPC) and a sub-PCB, to the timing controller and the power supply on the main PCB. More specifically, the data drive IC's receive data control signals and pixel data from the timing controller mounted onto the main PCB and power signals from the power supply by way of the FPC and the data PCB. The gate drive IC's receive gate control signals from the timing controller mounted onto the main PCB and power signal from the power supply by way of the PCB.
The drive IC's mounted onto the liquid crystal display panel by the COG system receive control signals from the timing controller mounted onto the main PCB and power signals from the power supply through the FPC and line on glass (LOG) type signal lines provided at the liquid crystal display panel. Even when the drive IC's are connected, via the TCP, to the liquid crystal display panel, the LCD adopts the LOG-type signal lines to eliminate the PCB, thereby having a thinner thickness. Particularly, the gate PCB delivering a relatively small number of signals is removed, and signal lines for applying gate control signals and power signals to the gate drive IC's are provided on the liquid crystal display panel in a LOG type. Thus, the gate drive IC's mounted in the TCP receives the control signals from the timing controller and the power signals from the power supply by way of the main PCB, FPC, the data PCB, the data TCP, the LOG-type signal lines and the gate TCP in turn. In this case, the gate control signals and the gate power signals applied to the gate drive IC's are distorted by line resistances of the LOG-type signal lines, thereby causing quality deterioration in a picture displayed on the liquid crystal display panel.
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a configuration of a related art line on glass (LOG) type liquid crystal display. As shown in FIG. 1, a LOG-type LCD having no gate PCB includes a main PCB 20 having a timing controller 22 and a power supply 24, a data PCB 16 connected, via a FPC 18, to the main PCB 20, a data TCP 12 having a data driving IC 14 connected between the data PCB 16 and liquid crystal display panel 6, and a gate TCP 8 having with a gate driving IC 10 connected to the liquid crystal display panel 6.
In the liquid crystal display panel 6, a thin film transistor array substrate 2 and a color filter array substrate 4 are joined to each other and have a liquid crystal therebetween. Such a liquid crystal display panel 6 is provided with liquid crystal cells driven independently by respective thin film transistors, which are adjacent to where gate lines GL and data lines DL cross each other. More particularly, the thin film transistor applies a pixel signal from the data line DL to the liquid crystal cell in response to a scanning signal from the gate line GL.
The data drive IC 14 is connected, via the data TCP 12 and a data pad of the liquid crystal display panel, to the data line DL. The data drive IC 14 converts a pixel data into an analog pixel signal and applies it to the data line DL. The data drive IC 14 receives a data control signal, a pixel data and power signals from the timing controller 22 and the power supply 24 mounted onto the main PCB 20 by way of the data PCB 16 and the FPC 18.
The gate drive IC 10 is connected, via the gate TCP 8 and a gate pad of the liquid crystal display panel 6, to the gate line GL. The gate drive IC 10 sequentially applies a scanning signal having a gate high voltage VGH to the gate lines GL. Further, the gate drive IC 10 applies a gate low voltage VGL to the gate lines GL in the remaining interval excluding a time interval when the gate high voltage VGH has been supplied.
The gate control signals and the power signals from the timing controller 22 and the power supply 24 on the main PCB 20 are applied, via the FPC 18 and the data PCB 16, to the data TCP 12. The gate control signals and the power signals applied via the data TCP 12 are applied, via a LOG-type signal line group 26 provided at the edge area of the thin film transistor array substrate 2, to the gate TCP 8. The gate control signals and the power signals applied to the gate TCP 8 are input via input terminals of the gate drive IC 10. Further, the gate control signals and the power signals are outputted via output terminals of the gate drive IC 10, and applied, via the gate TCP 8 and the LOG-type signal line 26, to the gate drive IC 10 mounted in the next gate TCP 8.
The LOG-type signal line group 26 includes signal lines for supplying direct current driving voltages from the power supply 24, such as a gate low voltage VGL, a gate high voltage VGH, a common voltage VCOM, a ground voltage GND and a base driving voltage VCC; and gate control signals from the timing controller 22, such as a gate start pulse GSP, a gate shift clock signal GSC and a gate enable signal GOE. Such a LOG-type signal line group 26 is formed from the same gate metal layer as the gate lines at a specific pad area of the thin film transistor array substrate 2 in a fine pattern. Further, the LOG-type signal line group 26 is in contact with the gate TCP 8 at contact portion A, which has a contact resistance. Thus, the LOG-type signal line group 26 has a larger line resistance than signal lines on a gate PCB. This line resistance distorts gate control signals (i.e., GSP, GSC and GOE) and power signals (i.e., VGH, VGL, VCC, GND and VCOM) transmitted via the LOG-type signal line group 26, thereby generating a horizontal stripe and/or stain, which causes a deterioration of picture quality, such as cross talk in a dot pattern and a greenish hue.
FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a horizontal line stripe phenomenon in the liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the LOG-type signal line group 26 supplying the gate control signals (i.e., GSP, GSC and GOE) and power signals (VGH, VGL, VCC, GND and VCOM) is comprised of first to third LOG-type signal line groups LOG1 to LOG3 between the gate TCPs 8. The first to third LOG-type signal line groups LOG1 to LOG3 have line resistances aΩ, bΩ and cΩ proportional to the line length thereof, respectively, and are connected, via the gate TCP 8 and the gate drive IC 10, to each other in series. The first to third LOG-type signal line groups LOG1 to LOG3 generate a level difference between the gate control signals (i.e., GSP, GSC and GOE) and power signals (VGH, VGL, VCC, GND and VCOM) input for each gate drive IC 10. As a result, a brightness difference is generated between horizontal line blocks A to C that are driven by different gate drive IC's and thereby cause the appearance of a horizontal line stripe 32.
The first gate drive IC 10 is supplied with gate control signals GSP, GSC and GOE and power signals VGH, VGL, VCC, GND and VCOM across a line resistance aΩ of the first LOG-type signal line group LOG1; the second gate drive IC 10 is supplied with such gate control signals across line resistances aΩ+bΩ of the first LOG-type signal line group LOG1 and the second LOG-type signal line group LOG2; and the third gate drive IC 10 is supplied with gate control signals across line resistances aΩ+bΩ+cΩ of the first to third LOG-type signal line groups LOG1 to LOG3. Thus, a different voltage drop is generated among scanning pulses VG1 to VG3 applied to the gate lines at the first to third horizontal blocks A to C driven by different gate drive IC's 10, thereby causing horizontal line stripes 32 among the horizontal line blocks A to C. | {
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An arrangement of this type is known from the document EP-A-449,659.
For a linear operation of the charge pump circuit it is necessary that the two current sources, which respectively charge and discharge the storage capacitance, can be active at the same time. In this way even the smallest shift in time between the up and the down command applied to the current sources of the charge pump will result in a net charge of the storage capacitance and in this way a "dead zone" in the control of the voltage across this capacitance is avoided.
However, the time during which the two current sources of the charge pump are simultaneously active should be minimised, on the one hand for reasons of current consumption, which is of particular importance when the application is of the battery-powered portable type, and on the other hand for noise reasons, bearing in mind that the noise across the storage capacitance may be considered to be zero when the two current sources are inactive and that noise appears when the two current sources are active, which noise originates both from said current sources and from their command signal.
Thus, the technical problem to be solved is to minimised the time interval during which the two current sources of the charge pump are simultaneously active.
From a technological perspective it appears that the response times are longest in the part relating to the charge pump, which employs transistors of large dimensions, whereas the control signals can be obtained by means of low-consumption logic circuits whose switching times are substantially smaller.
Therefore, it has been proposed to use the up and down commands in order to detect in a logical manner the instant at which these commands are simultaneously active and to apply the resulting signal to a delay device which allows for the comparatively large rise time of the current in the current sources of the charge pump. The signal from this delay device is then applied to a reset input of the phase detector or, which amounts to the same, to a logic device which sets the up and down command signals to their inactive logic levels.
A conventional delay device comprises a plurality of logic gates arranged in series, the delay obtained at the output of this device being equal to the sum of response times of all the gates of the device. If the performance of such a system as a function of temperature is now considered it appears that the delay produced by the delay device can be adapted correctly to the rise times of the current sources of the charge pump at a given temperature, whilst at the limit temperatures of the specified temperature range this delay is completely maladjusted.
Differences in performance as a function of the temperature arise in particular from the fact that different technologies are used for the gates forming the delay device and for the current sources of the charge pump.
In order to mitigate this problem it has also been proposed to use one of the transistors of each of the current sources of the charge pump for generating two signals which, combined by a logic gate, provide the reset signal at the output. In accordance with this technique the current supplied in the course of time is measured within the charge pump itself, so that this measurement allows for the temperature characteristics of said current sources.
Such a technique is therefore more accurate than the preceding one but has a disadvantage when such a circuit is to be operated at a low supply voltage. Two transistors in one of the current sources of the charge pump then have to be reserved exclusively for producing the signal for resetting the up and down commands, without the current supplied by these two transistors being used for charging and discharging the storage capacitance.
This is caused by the fact that if the current of the relevant transistors would be used for charging or discharging the storage capacitance this would result in the voltage swing available across this storage capacitance being reduced by two forward diode voltages.
Therefore, if low voltage operation is required with a maximal swing at the output of the phase-locked circuit, this means that two transistors, whose areas are not negligible, have to be reserved for measuring the current, the current supplied by them not being used for charging and discharging the storage capacitance. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to a semiconductor device package wherein large- and small-current semiconductor chips are formed in a single package.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional resin-sealed semiconductor device package for a large-current semiconductor chip, a heat-radiation fin is disposed, and a large-current semiconductor chip is placed on the fin. According to such a resin-sealed semiconductor package wherein a large-current semiconductor chip is placed on a heat-radiation fin, heat generated from the semiconductor chip can be dissipated through the heat-radiation fin to achieve a stable function of the semiconductor chip, and to prevent abnormal heating of the chip.
Conventionally, however, a region on a heat-radiation fin serves as an island region of a semiconductor chip, and only a large-current semiconductor chip is placed on the island region. A small-current semiconductor chip which generates less heat is formed in another package. These large- and small-current semiconductor chips cannot be contained in a single package for the following reason. First, since the chips are formed on the heat-radiation fin, heat is rapidly conducted, and the small-current semiconductor chip may be adversely affected by heat generation from the large-current semiconductor chip, thus degrading the characteristics of the small-current semiconductor chip. Second, a conductive adhesive is conventionally used to fix a small-current semiconductor chip to a substrate. The conductive adhesive has a poorer heat resistance than that of a solder or an AuSi eutectic for fixing a large-current semiconductor chip. In regard to this problem, it may be proposed to fix the small-current semiconductor chip to the heat-radiation fin by, e.g., a solder. However, the small-current semiconductor chip normally has a micropatterned and complicated, e.g., multi-layered, element structure. Therefore, the small-current semiconductor chip cannot withstand a high temperature generated when it is fixed by, e.g., a solder, and may be broken.
As described above, large- and small-current semiconductor chips cannot be simultaneously placed on a heat-radiation fin to be contained in a singe package, and a demand for high-integration packaging cannot be satisfied. | {
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The present invention relates to a light emitting device applicable to an optical-assisted magnetic recording head, the optical-assisted magnetic recording head, and an optical-assisted magnetic recording device.
As a typical example for the conventional optical-assisted magnetic recording system, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-176034/1992 (Tokukaihei 4-176034, published on Jun. 23, 1992) discloses a high density magnetic recording system. In this high density magnetic recording system, adopted is a magnetic recording medium having a film laminated structure on a transparent substrate, and a laser beam is projected on the magnetic recording medium from the side of the substrate to be focused at a portion right below a magnetic recording head section by an optical lens, thereby locally heating the magnetic recording medium. As a result, the coercive force of the heated portion is reduced, and further by applying thereto a magnetic field using the magnetic recording head, a high density recording operation can be realized.
The foregoing techniques on the optical-assisted magnetic recording system can utilize conventional techniques on a magnetic recording head or an optical system used in magneto optical recording, and therefore permit developments of various new systems in combination with the existing technology with ease. Further, since a magnetic recording operation can be performed in an overlapped area between the magnetic head and the laser beam spot, a still finer bit recording can be performed, thereby realizing a high density magnetic recording.
In the foregoing conventional techniques, however, in order to realize high density magnetic recording, a high precision servo system is required for the positioning of a magnetic recording head and a laser focusing position. Besides, with the above conventional system, it is difficult to perform a both-sided magnetic recording.
In response, Japanese Patent No. 2881983 (issued on Apr. 12, 1999, (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-67451/1992 (Tokukaihei 4-67451), published on Mar. 3, 1992)) discloses a magneto-optical recording technique which solves the above problem although the optical-assisted magnetic recording technique is not adopted. This Japanese patent discloses the laser focusing technique from the side of a coil for use in magnetic recording using a composite magnetic recording head wherein an optical system for focusing a laser beam and the coil for use in magnetic recording are combined. In this technique, the both sides of the recording medium can be utilized. Therefore, the foregoing laser focusing technique is applicable to not only the conventional single-sided magneto-optical recording but also both-sided magneto-optical recording. Moreover, with the described technique, the servo system for use in positioning the magnet coil and the laser light spot can be omitted, thereby simplifying the overall structure of the system.
However, in the magneto-optical recording adopting the above composite magnetic recording head, an optical lens system is adopted for focusing, and therefore the head becomes complicated in structure, larger in size and heavier, yet high precision is required for the relative positioning of the coil and the optical system.
Moreover, when forming a super resolution image of a laser utilizing the apotization effect using a conventional lens, a phase shift occurs due to aberration of an optical system, particularly an aberration of the lens, resulting in a broader intensity distribution of the laser beam. The above super resolution image enables recording and reproduction in a smaller area than a beam spot utilizing the intensity distribution of the laser beam at a beam spot. In this case, it is therefore not possible to utilize the effects of high density recording and reproduction by the super resolution image effectively. On the other hand, in order to eliminate the aberration of the lens, an optical system of a complicated structure or a high precision optical lens is required.
In the described conventional composite magnetic recording head, the problems in terms of productivity and the cost remain unsolved.
By the way, in order to realize an optical-assisted high density magnetic recording, it is required to reduce the laser spot diameter and to have a sharp magnetic field distribution at the center of the laser spot.
In the conventional composite magnetic recording head adopting the optical lens, however, it is not possible to reduce the laser spot diameter to not more than 100 nm by the effect of optical diffraction. Moreover, in the above conventional magneto-optical recording system, the magnet coil and the magnetic recording medium are positioned at a large interval, and therefore, a sharp magnetic field distribution cannot be obtained at the center of the laser spot.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a light emitting device for focusing a laser beam without adopting an optical lens system, and also to provide a composite magnetic recording head and a magnetic recording device, which realize a smaller laser spot diameter and a sharp magnetic field distribution, whereby an optical-assisted high density magnetic recording can be realized, and which also realize a simplified head structure, and improvements in productivity and costs.
In order to obtain the above object, the present invention realizes an optical-assisted magnetic recording by utilizing the microfabrication technique. Specifically, for example, by adopting a composite magnetic recording head wherein a magnet coil and a main magnetic pole are formed directly at a laser aperture serving as a laser emitting surface of a surface-emitting semiconductor laser (light source), a laser beam is focused at portion right below a shielding member by the apodization effect, thereby realizing the optical-assisted magnetic recording.
In the present invention, the laser aperture is defined as a laser beam emitting area (an area through which the laser beam is emitted), and in the case of limiting the emitting area by a shielding member such as mask, etc., as other area than the shielded area by the shielding member, through which the laser beam can be projected.
In general, when the radius of the laser aperture is around a half wavelength of the laser beam, and the laser aperture and the irradiation surface (in the present invention, the surface of the magnetic recording medium) are positioned at an interval of not more than 100 nm, the light beams emitted from the periphery and the center of the laser aperture are attenuated one another on the irradiation surface at portion right below the aperture for the following reason. That is, respective paths of the laser beams emitted from the center and the periphery of the laser aperture are displaced from one another by around the radius of the laser aperture, i.e., the half wavelength, and the respective light beams are therefore countervailed. In response, for example, a shielding member may be formed at the center of the aperture so as to shield the light beam projected from the center of the laser aperture. In this way, it becomes possible to focus the light projected from the periphery of the laser aperture on the irradiation surface at portion right below the shielding member. The described phenomenon is called xe2x80x9capodization effectxe2x80x9d.
By utilizing the foregoing apodization effect, a laser beam of a desired intensity can be obtained by adjusting the area of the aperture. Further, by providing the shielding member at the center of the aperture, it becomes possible to focus the laser beam at portion right below the shielding member. In the foregoing method of emitting a light beam, a passive optical system can be omitted, thereby simplifying the structure of the light emitting device.
In order to achieve the above object, the light emitting device of the present invention is characterized by including:
a light source for emitting a laser beam having a wavelength xcex, wherein a laser aperture serving as a laser emitting surface has a radius R within the range of:
xcex/2+axcexxe2x89xa6Rxe2x89xa61.3xcex+axcex (a is 0 or a positive integer (axe2x89xa70)); and
a shielding member for shielding only a laser beam, which passes through a predetermined area at a center of the laser aperture, of all laser beams which pass through the laser aperture.
According to the foregoing structure, the apodization effect of the laser beam appears. The laser beam can be focused without using the lens.
In order to achieve the above object, the magnetic recording head of the present invention which includes a light source for emitting a laser beam and a magnet coil for use in magnetic recording, is characterized in that the magnet coil is integrally provided with the light source at around a center of the laser aperture serving as the laser emitting surface of the light source.
According to the foregoing structure, by adopting the light source and the magnet coil which are formed in one integral part, a magnetic recording can be performed from the side of emitting a laser beam. With the foregoing positioning of the light source and the magnet coil, a perpendicular magnetic field can be applied onto the surface of the aperture at the center of the laser aperture, and the foregoing structure is therefore effective in performing a perpendicular magnetic recording. Further, by reducing the radius of the magnet coil formed at the center of the laser aperture to a size of several xcexcm, it is possible to apply a strong magnetic field at around the center of the laser aperture.
In order to achieve the above object, the magnetic recording device of the present invention is characterized by including:
light emitting means, which includes a) a light source for emitting a laser beam having a wavelength xcex, wherein a laser aperture serving as a laser emitting surface has a radius R within the range of: xcex/2+axcexxe2x89xa6Rxe2x89xa61.3xcex+axcex (a is 0 or a positive integer (axe2x89xa70)), and b) a shielding member for shielding only a laser beam, which passes through a predetermined area at a center of the laser aperture, of all laser beams which pass through the laser aperture; and
a magnet coil for applying a magnetic field onto a magnetic recording medium,
wherein the light emitting means forms a light spot by focusing a laser beam onto the magnetic recording medium using the shielding member; and
the magnet coil applies the magnetic field for use in magnetic recording in an area including a light spot forming region of the magnetic recording medium.
According to the foregoing structure, the light emitting means is arranged so as to include the light source for emitting a laser beam having a wavelength xcex, wherein the laser aperture has a radius R within the range of xcex/2+axcexxe2x89xa6Rxe2x89xa61.3xcex+axcex (a is 0 or a positive integer (axe2x89xa70)), and the shielding member for shielding only a laser beam, which passes through a predetermined area at a center of the laser aperture, of all laser beams which pass through the laser aperture. As a result, a laser spot can be formed by the apodization effect onto the magnetic recording medium at portion right below the shielding member.
With the foregoing structure, it is possible to perform a high density magnetic recording in an overlapped area between a thermal distribution of a magnetic recording medium generated by the laser spot focused at portion right below the shielding member and a magnetic flux distribution as applied by the magnet coil.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the ensuing detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. | {
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Various online entities such as GOOGLE™ or YAHOO® facilitate marketplaces in which multiple sellers may offer products to consumers. Many of the sellers that list products may operate their enterprises in a manner that ultimately reduces their profitability due to a lack of knowledge and experience as to how to run an online enterprise. | {
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Assembly machines of the type herein disclosed are utilized in machining operations covering numerous type of work pieces, where it is the common practice to mount the work pieces on a pallet and to clamp and transfer the pallet over rails into successive work stations. With such machines it is required that there be employed at each station a means for accurately locating and firmly clamping the pallet in place. By synchronized action the pallets are released from their clamp station and transferred linearly over a track into a succeeding work station.
Prior assemblies have disclosed hydraulic, gears and spring arrangements for accomplishing the required transfer and clamping operation, all of which are costly, inefficient by reason by lack of uniformity and action, and require extensive and complicated drive mechanisms. These prior assemblies have included belted pallets which have been found to be mechanically cumbersome and inefficient. See for example the disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,636,783 and 3,968,869 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,260. | {
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Paperback books are commonly formed by the process of perfect binding wherein the individual sheets or leaves of a book are assembled and held together by a backbone adhesive, usually a hot melt glue, applied to the spine edges of the leaves to form a book block. The same adhesive which joins the sheets into a book block usually attaches the book block to the inner spine of a stiff paper cover. Paperback books may be produced according to this common method with efficiency and low cost; however, because the book block is affixed along the length of its back to the stiff paper cover the sheets of the book are not free to open fully and the pages in a spread will not lie flat. Books to be used as instruction manuals, cookbooks, workbooks, or textbooks should be readable without the need for the reader to place his hands on the book, so that he may carry on other tasks with his hands while reading the book. Furthermore, because of the stiffness of the spine of the book, when the book is opened a deep depression or "V" is formed at the binding. This deep "V" makes it difficult to read the printing at the inner margins of the bound pages.
A book binding is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 951,436 to Duryea which employs a tubular binding formed by adhesively overlapping an elongated piece or strip of pliant flexible material disclosed by Duryea as tough paper, muslin, or the like. However, a tube of ordinary flexible material such as paper or muslin may lack the strength and glue adhesion needed to durably bind the book back to the cover in a commercially acceptable manner. The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 998,283 to Duryea et al. recognizes this by providing additional strength to the binding of U.S. Pat. No. 951,436 by having lateral extending portions from the sides of the tubular book bindings which are glued between the back cover and the end sheets of a book. The tubular book bindings of the Duryea patents are not in widespread use. To be practical, a tubular binding requires a durable and flexible material exhibiting substantial tensile strength.
An attribute of most previous materials employed for tubular bindings is a tendency for the glue which is used to attach the tubular binding to the back of the -hook block and to the spine of the book cover to render the tubular material inflexible and brittle such that when the bound book is opened the glue in the area along the hinges between the cover and the book block cracks and breaks the material of the tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,000 to Sallinen teaches a method of overcoming the glue saturated enbrittlement of the tubular binding by wrapping the tubular binding around the side of the book back and leaving the portions so wrapped free of glue to form flexible hinges. Leaving these hinge areas unglued, however, involves additional cost and complexity in manufacturing. Sallinen discloses a tubular binding using some elastically flexible material such as plastic or crepe nonpenetrable by glue. The commercial embodiment of the Sallinen invention utilizes paper or paper reinforced with gauze mesh, both materials which must be kept glue free to remain flexible.
Another method for producing paperback bindings which allows the bound pages to lie flat is known which attaches the book block to a flexible crepe capping which provides support for the sheets of the book block but which is not directly attached to the spine of the cover, rather the book block is attached to the cover by stripes of glue affixing the first and last sheets of the book block to the stiff paper cover on either side of the cover's spine. Thus the entire weight of the book block is carried on only a small portion of a ribbon and two sheets of paper. Furthermore, this method requires that a portion of the first and last pages of the book block be given over to adhesive purposes.
What is needed is a paperback binding which would leave the book block free to bend--allowing the book to lie flat when opened--yet which is also sturdy and simple to manufacture. | {
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Java Management Extensions (JMX) is a known library extension to JAVA programming language. JMX has been described as “a Java technology that supplies tools for managing and monitoring applications, system objects, devices (e.g. printers) and service oriented networks. Those resources are represented by objects called managed beans. In the API, classes can be dynamically loaded and instantiated.”
A known blogger blogged in June 2009 about various JMX use cases, including using JMX to manage an application's configuration, explaining that “even though each application has different needs regarding configuration (one needing a initial thread number attribute, the other an URL), every application needs to be more or less parameterized. In order to do this, countless generations of Java developers . . . have created two components: [1] the first one is a property file where one puts the name value pairs, [2] the other one is a Java class whose responsibilities are to load the properties in itself and to provide access to the values . . . . This is good and fine for initialization, but what about runtime changes of those parameters? This is where JMX comes in. With JMX, you can now expose those parameters with read/write authorizations. JDK 6 provides you with the JConsole application, which can connect on JMX-enabled applications.”
Meanwhile, a well-known database vendor provides a feature found in numerous versions of its database software system. The documentation explains that “Database Change Notification is a feature that enables client applications to register queries with the database and receive notifications in response to DML or DDL changes on the objects associated with the queries. The notifications are published by the database when the DML or DDL transaction commits.”
AJAX is shorthand for asynchronous javascript and XML. AJAX has been described “a group of interrelated web development techniques used on the client side to create interactive web applications. With AJAX, web applications can retrieve data from the server asynchronously in the background without interfering with the display and behavior of the existing page. The use of AJAX techniques has led to an increase in interactive or dynamic interfaces on web pages . . . . Despite the name, the use of javascript or XML is not actually required, nor do the request need to be asynchronous.” Moreover, it has been explained that some drawbacks of AJAX are that “the same origin policy prevents some AJAX techniques from being used across domains, although the W3C has a draft of the XMLHttpRequest object that would enable this functionality.”
Numerous content management systems are known in the art. Content management systems are known for storing and, upon request, providing content of various types, including multimedia content. Numerous other software companies are known that provide content management and similar types of software products and/or systems. | {
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This disclosure relates to a product for cleaning and removing stains, and more particularly to cleaning and removing stains from items that are exposed to the outdoors for extended periods of time.
The task of cleaning items has been practiced for centuries. In the context of cleaning a surface, cleaning involves solubilizing and removing impurities and undesirable materials from the surface without damaging the surface. In the context of cleaning surfaces that are exposed to the outdoors for extended periods of time, such as for example decks, docks, fences, patios, homes, boats, RVs, campers, and outdoor furnishings, a unique set of challenges is presented which differs from that of other cleaning processes. Outdoor items are made up of a variety of materials having exposed surfaces made of, for example wood, composites, concrete, brick, stone, stucco, grout, gelcoat, elastomerics, fiberglass, plastic, vinyl, metal, and a wide array of outdoor fabrics. Due to their exposure to outdoor elements, such surfaces are often stained by inorganic debris, organic matter, algae, mold and mildew, and by-products of microorganism metabolism. Prior cleaning processes fail to clean and remove stains from these outdoor items. A sufficient cleaning method for this task is one that can clean a variety of outdoor stains from a variety of outdoor surfaces.
One unique challenge presented by the task of cleaning outdoor items is the particular types of stains that are formed outdoors. Cleaning outdoor stains caused by mildews, molds, and algae from outdoor surfaces is fundamentally different than cleaning soap scum, lime or rust stains, calcium deposits, and biological proteins from indoor surfaces in kitchens and bathrooms or cleaning microbes and bacteria from lab settings or cleaning dust or grease build-up from industrial settings. Accordingly, the types of cleaners that are effective on these indoor stains and impurities are ineffective on outdoor stains and materials. Additionally, the environmental conditions that are present during formation of outdoor stains are fundamentally different than those during formation of indoor stains. Outdoor temperatures and UV light from sunlight set stains on outdoor substrates much more strongly than the temperatures and fluorescent or other lights that are present indoors.
Furthermore, the types of substrates on which these outdoor stains are formed often have different characteristics than indoor substrates. Substrates like wood and fabrics that are used in outdoor settings are generally more weathered than similar substrates used in indoor settings. Additionally, weather resistant outdoor substrates like brick, stone and concrete, generally have roughened surfaces not found indoors. The surface properties and textures of these outdoor substrates usually make them more difficult to clean than indoor substrates. Accordingly, prior cleaning products suitable for use on indoor items are generally ineffective for outdoor items due to the types of stains the environmental conditions during the formation of the stains, and the conditions of the substrates on which the stains are formed.
Prior cleaning processes which are used to clean roughened surfaces like pulps and textiles are also inappropriate for cleaning outdoor stains in an at-home setting. These prior cleaning processes often use harsh chemicals, which are too dangerous to be used at home, and require particular environmental conditions, such as heating the substrates to extremely high temperatures, during the cleaning process. Processes for bleaching wood pulp further include soaking individual wood fibers and other contaminants present in trees shortly after harvesting. Pulp bleaching processes can include three or four different stages of continuous cleaning and bleaching, with each stage involving different chemicals and reactions. Cleaning large items, such as decks, RVs, docks, patios, fences, boats, campers, homes, and outdoor furniture generally must occur in an outdoor open air setting. Accordingly, the cleaning process for outdoor items must not release certain hazardous chemicals and must be effective at a broad range of temperatures that occur in ambient outdoor settings.
Prior cleaning processes which are effective at cleaning laundry items are also ineffective at removing outdoor stains. Processes for cleaning laundry items include submerging the items in a cleaning composition and achieving heightened temperatures to activate the cleaning compositions. In contrast, cleaning outdoor items that have large surface areas requires a cleaning process that is effective without requiring the item to be submerged in a cleaning composition or maintained at certain temperatures.
Another unique challenge presented by the task of cleaning outdoor items is making a process that is achievable by a consumer in a home or commercial setting. Such a process should not damage the substrate to be cleaned or other surrounding items. The process should not require use of chemicals that are unsafe for consumer use or that are harmful to the environment. While bleaching compositions, such as sodium hypochlorite, are effective cleaners in some applications, they release chlorine which can infiltrate earth, air, and water, destroy plant life, and unintentionally ruin materials.
Additionally, the process should be easy for users to prepare and perform in home and commercial settings. One way to facilitate ease of use by consumers is for the process to include compositions provided in a single package that can be stored without degrading or reacting with one another. Prior cleaning products and processes that use particular chemicals and compositions are inappropriate for consumer use due to their hazardous properties, their undesirable side effects, and their difficulty of use. Accordingly, there is a need for a cleaning process which is effective on stains on outdoor items, that does not harm the environment, and that is easily applied by consumers. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a voice warning system for an automotive vehicle, and more particularly to a repeat switch provided for the voice warning system whereby the driver can hear the voice information repeatedly, if necessary.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, as means for informing the driver of various vehicle operating conditions, there have been used various meters with pointers and various warning indication lamps. In addition, recently, there have appeared vehicles in which a computer is mounted so as to display digitally various vehicle operating conditions whenever the driver depresses pushbuttons to obtain the vehicle conditions. That is to say, in these devices, the driver is informed of the vehicle conditions through the sense of sight. On the other hand, as devices by which the driver is informed through the sense of hearing, there have been used various devices which produce a simple warning sound such as buzzer or chime.
Although these conventional warning devices which depend upon the sense of sight have the advantage that a number of vehicle conditions can be displayed at the same time, it is comparatively difficult to attract the driver's attention and to give the driver complicated information. Also, in the case of the conventional devices which depend upon the sense of hearing, it is difficult to inform the driver of different items of information, even if the device can attract the driver's attention.
Therefore, recently, various voice warning systems have come to be used for vehicles by which the driver can hear various vehicle operating conditions such as the distance traveled detected by a trip meter, the amount of fuel consumed and so on, in voice form.
When such a device as described above is used for an automotive vehicle, it is possible to attract the driver's attention well and also to inform the driver of relatively complicated vehicle operating conditions without any difficulties. However, since various information is indicated to the driver in voice form, the driver may sometimes fail to hear the information correctly, because of noise generated from the engine or carelessness. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Light modulating displays use arrays of light modulating elements to modulate light to produce visual images. Examples of such displays include displays as described in PCT Patent Publications PCT/CA03/00350 and PCT/CA2005/001111, and in United States patent applications US 2007/0268577 A1, US 2008/0043034 A1, US 2008/0043303 A1, US 2008/0111502 A1 and US 2008/0074060 A1, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
Light modulating displays may be used to show video content. Because cathode ray tube (CRT) displays were the original video display technology, video content is typically provided to displays serially for raster scan display. In CRT raster scanning, an electron beam sweeps horizontally left-to-right across a screen at a steady rate, then turns off and moves rapidly back to the left, where it turns back on and sweeps out the next line. After the end of the last line of the image, the electron beam turns off and moves rapidly to the top-left to begin scanning the next image. Signals driving raster scanning displays typically include an image information signal, a horizontal synchronization signal and a vertical synchronization signal. The horizontal synchronization signal provides a pulse timed to coincide with the end of a horizontal line of element-specific image information. This pulse is used in CRT displays to control the turning off of the electron beam between horizontal lines. The vertical synchronization signal provides a pulse timed to coincide with the end of the last line of the image. This pulse is used in CRT displays to control the turning off of the electron beam between images.
Light modulating displays, such as LCD displays, typically accommodate video content provided serially for raster scan display by writing data for the next image to be displayed into a buffer. At some time after data for the next image to be displayed has been written into the buffer, the data in the buffer is latched into driving circuits for light modulating elements of a spatial light modulator (SLM), thereby replacing the existing data driving the light modulating elements with new data. The light modulating elements are then driven according to the new data.
As used herein in connection with light modulating elements and SLMs, the term “updating” includes driving a light modulating element according to new data. Some light modulating displays update the SLM in stages. At each stage image data is latched into the driving circuits of a plurality of light modulating elements.
Light modulating elements typically take some time to switch from one state to another. When the driving values of light modulating elements, such as pixels of LCD modulators, are changed, the light modulating elements may overshoot the desired output level and oscillate about the desired level before settling to the correct level. Such response characteristics can lead to an undesirable visual characteristic known as “inverse ghosting”.
In displays known as dual modulation displays, both the SLM and a light source may be updated according to new image data. Some such dual modulation displays are known to be capable of delivering enhanced dynamic range and improved contrast. In dual modulation displays the SLM may be updated according to new image data before, after or at the same time as the light source is updated. The inventors have determined that timing of the updates according to new image data of the SLM and the light source can affect the visual characteristics of images, and produce perceived negative phenomena such as flicker and motion blur artifacts.
In some applications, dual modulation displays are used to display video. A display showing video typically receives image data representative of images (frames) that are to be displayed in sequence. It is frequently desirable to update both the SLM and the light source to display new frames. Updating both a SLM and a light source can be computationally intensive. Some displays lack the computational resources to update both the entire SLM and the entire light source at the video frame rate.
There is a need for methods and apparatus for controlling dual modulation displays in ways that reduce or avoid undesirable visual artifacts. Preferably, such apparatus and methods permit scaling or managing the computational burden associated with updating a light source. There is a specific need for such methods and apparatus for controlling light sources of liquid crystal displays. | {
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The instant invention relates to apparatus for marking the edge of an envelope, and more particularly to such apparatus which is movable between a marking and non-marking position.
The use of envelope inserting machines to insert a plurality of documents into an envelope is well known. After the envelopes emerge from the inserting apparatus, they are moistened and sealed preparatory to further processing, which typically includes separating the envelopes into groups based on zip code. One means of separating the envelopes is to identify the first of a group of envelopes which are to be grouped together, and then to mark that envelope. Obviously, the apparatus used to mark the envelopes must not interfere with the travel of the envelopes, and this requires that the marking apparatus be movable between a marking and non-marking position. Marking of envelopes is also useful when it is desired to identify envelopes which are miscollated or overweight or mismarked or have other defects requiring separation from the stream of envelopes being processed. It is known to use different color ink for different defects in the envelopes.
The prior art envelope marking devices require that they be wetted with ink prior to each day's operation because they lack a reservoir for storing a supply of ink which is transferred to a marking roller. The instant invention accordingly overcome the problem associated with the prior art marking devices by providing an envelope marking device which includes a reservoir and which is movable between a marking and non-marking position with respect to a path for moving envelopes. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In most manufacturing processes, management of through-put and yield are of concern. The ability to locate potential problems, identify problems, and take corrective action to obviate the source of the defect, and if possible, to repair the defect, can make a significant difference in the performance of manufacturing process. Therefore, it is desirable to have the best systems possible for identifying possible problems or anomalies, identifying an anomaly as a particular type of defect, identifying the source of the defect, and repairing the manufactured object to correct the defect if possible. This is particularly true in the semiconductor industry.
In the semiconductor manufacturing industry, a challenge remains to improve yields as the designs get smaller and smaller. Particles and process defects can limit yields in manufacturing semiconductor devices. Therefore, systems that perform the general functions described above can become extremely important. Conventional techniques have shortcomings including less than desirable speed and accuracy. With respect to identifying defects in the manufacturing process, manual classification has been required of anomalies and manual diagnosing of the cause of defects. Such manual inputs may have resulted in inconsistent results and consumption of considerable operator time. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to digital image processing. More specifically, the present invention relates to the detection, in a digital image, of any predetermined pattern.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A known method of such a detection is described hereafter in relation with FIGS. 1A and 1B.
FIG. 1A schematically illustrates a pattern 1, the possible presence of which is desired to be determined in a digital image. FIG. 1B illustrates a digital image 2 in which pattern 1 of FIG. 1A is searched. It is assumed, in this example, that image 2 does include pattern 1 and that image 2 has dimensions greater than those of pattern 1.
To detect the presence of pattern 1 in image 2, a reference image or window 3 containing only pattern 1 is used. The detection is performed by scanning image 2 with a current window 4 of same dimensions as reference window 3 and by comparing the content of the two windows 3 and 4. Such a comparison consists of evaluating the correlation degree between reference window 3 and current window 4. For this purpose, the Euclidean distance pixel by pixel, which is cumulated on the current and reference windows, is used. More specifically, for each pixel of the current window, the square of a distance EDi,j defined by the following relation is calculated:ED2i,j=(Pi,j−Ri,j)2, where
Pi,j is the value of the level of grey of the current pixel of current window 4, and where Ri,j is the value of the level of grey of the pixel of the reference window of same coordinates i,j in reference window 3.
Then, the squares of distances EDi,j are added on vertical dimension M (i ranging from 1 to M) and on horizontal dimension N (j ranging between 1 and N) of the current window, to deduce therefrom the Euclidean distance ED from a window to the other. This amounts to applying the following formula:
ED = ∑ i = 1 M ∑ j = 1 N ED i , j 2 .
To enable locating the same patterns of different sizes, sum ED may be normalized. The energy of the current and reference windows is then, for example, used. The “energy” of a current or reference window designates the sum of the squares of the levels of grey of all the pixels in the considered window.
To localize pattern 1, Euclidean distance ED is calculated for all possible positions of the current window in the image. Pattern 1 then is at the location corresponding to minimum distance ED.
A disadvantage of this method is the great number of calculations to be performed. Indeed, assuming that A is the number of lines of image 2, and B the number of columns of image 2, and assuming that M is the number of lines of reference window 3 and N its number of columns, the total number of calculations is equal to the total number of pixels of reference image 3, that is, product MN, by the number of possible spatial positions for current window 4, that is, M*N*(A−M)*(B−N).
Another disadvantage of this method is its high sensitivity to luminosity conditions upon acquisition of the processed image or of the reference window. Indeed, as previously discussed, the correlation search is based on a difference of levels of grey. A variation in the acquisition conditions of images to be processed may locally modify the results by causing wrong detections or wrong rejections. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Female Stress Urinary Incontinence (FSUI) is a disorder that can interfere with daily activity and impair the quality of life of women. In approximately 30% of the women suffering from FSUI, incontinence is caused by intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD), a condition in which the valves of the urinary sphincter do not properly coapt. In approximately another 30% of FSUI sufferers, incontinence is caused by hypermobility, a condition in which the muscles around the bladder relax, causing the bladder neck and proximal urethra to rotate and descend in response to increases in intraabdominal pressure. Hypermobility may be the result of pregnancy or other conditions which weaken the muscles. Urinary incontinence may also be caused by a combination of ISD and hypermobility. Other causes of urinary incontinence include birth defects, disease, injury, aging, and urinary tract infection.
Numerous approaches for treating urinary incontinence are available. For example, several procedures for stabilizing and/or slightly compressing the bladderneck or urethra to prevent the leakage of urine have been developed. The stabilizing or compressive force may be applied directly by sutures passing through the soft tissue surrounding the urethra or, alternatively, may be applied by means of a sling suspended by sutures. In some procedures bone anchors are inserted into the pubic bone or symphysis pubis in order to anchor the sutures to the bone. The suture or sling is anchored to the bone by one or more bone anchors and the support provided improves the incontinence condition.
The instruments used to insert bone anchors are designed to be inserted transvaginally and to position the bone anchor so that a retrograde or pulling force is applied for insertion of the anchor into the bone. However, the optimal configuration or position of the handle of such an instrument for insertion of the device into the vagina is not necessarily the optimal handle position for providing a retrograde force for implanting the bone anchors into the bone. For example, the fixed handle position of conventional bone anchor devices is particularly awkward when treating obese patients. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This technology relates to oil and gas wells, and in particular to seals in gate valves used in oil and gas field applications.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Typical gate valves used in connection with oil and gas operations have a valve body with a flow passageway that extends therethrough. The flow passageway intersects a central cavity, where a gate is located. The gate has an opening, and moves between open and closed positions. When in the open position, the opening is aligned with the fluid path so that fluid can flow therethrough. Conversely, when the gate is in the closed position, the gate blocks the flow passageway. The gate is attached to a stem, which controls the position of the gate between the open and closed positions. Typically, seat rings are placed in counterbores formed in the valve body at the intersection of the flow passageway and the cavity.
A typical gate valve may further include a bonnet that is attached to the valve body. The bonnet surrounds the stem, which passes from the central cavity through a stem opening in the bonnet. This stem opening is generally in communication with the central cavity. Accordingly, the space between the stem and the bonnet must be sealed to avoid leakage.
In addition, the seat rings generally have seat seals that seal the seat rings to the valve body. Such seat seals prevent the entry of fluid from the central cavity to the downstream flow passageway. When the gate is open, the seat seals help to keep the seats centralized in their pockets, and minimize the ingress of sand and debris into the central cavity. When the gate is closed, fluid will flow past the upstream seat ring and into the central cavity. The seat seals of the downstream seat ring prevent this fluid from passing between the downstream seat ring and the valve body into the downstream flow passageway. By positioning seat rings on either side of the gate, the gate valve can be used for bi-directional fluid flow, because no matter which way the fluid flows, there is always a seat ring having seat seals on the downstream side of the gate.
Elastomeric stem and seat seals have been used in the industry. However, since elastomeric seals do not have the necessary longevity, especially in corrosive environments, or the ability to withstand high temperatures and pressures, metal seals have become popular. Metal seals, however, have their own problems, including premature wear, damage to the sealing surfaces, and insufficient sealing capacity under certain conditions. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In a magnetic data storage device, as the data density of magnetic discs increases, the distance between the transducing head and the disc decreases to very small distances. In such systems, there is an increased possibility of contact between the head and the disc due to factors such as built up particle contamination, slider manufacturing process limitations, limited air-bearing modeling capabilities, and other occurrences. Contact between the head and disc can cause errors when writing or reading data and can result in an increased risk of failure of the magnetic data storage device.
There is a need for a method and device for sensing contact between a transducer and a disc. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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