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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to photographic apparatus, e.g., a camera having a spread roller assembly for spreading a photographic processing composition across a layer of an exposed film unit of the instant type so as to initiate the formation of a visible image.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention relates to compact photographic apparatus for use with film units of the instant or self-developing type, and more particularly to such an apparatus having a spread roller assembly for assisting in the movement of an exposed film unit from an exposure position to a storage chamber. The spread roller assembly is adapted to move the film unit through a minimum path of travel while simultaneously spreading a photographic processing composition, preferably liquid, across a layer of the exposed film unit in order to initiate the formation of a visible image within the film unit.
Generally speaking, the concept of providing a compact photographic apparatus by minimizing the length of the path of travel of the exposed film unit between its exposure position and its storage position may be accomplished by locating the latter substantially adjacent to the former and moving the exposed film unit in a first direction away from the exposure position and then in a second generally opposite direction toward the storage position. During such movement a processing liquid is spread across a layer of the film unit to initiate the formation of a visible image within the film unit. Examples of cameras utilizing such concept may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,426,664, 3,537,370 and 3,722,383.
As regard the camera described in the '664 patent, a rather complicated and expensive belt system is required to move the film unit from its cassette into and through its exposure position and then into its storage position while simultaneously synchronizing the camera's exposure system with such movement. The compactness of the camera shown in the '370 patent is compromised, at least in its long dimension, due to the requirement of a flat compartment for receiving a portion of an exposed film unit prior to its movement back toward a storage position. Finally, the camera shown in the '383 patent requires movement of an image-receiving sheet into superposition with an exposed image-recording sheet, movement of the two between a pair of spread rollers, and then stripping of the image-recording sheet from the image-receiving sheet. | {
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The present invention relates to a series of novel derivatives of the compound rhizoxin. The invention also provides a process for preparing such compounds and methods and compositions for using them.
Rhizoxin itself is a known substance having the following formula: ##STR1##
Rhizoxin itself and its acetate were disclosed in J. Antibiotics, 37, 354 (1984) and the anti-tumor activity of rhizoxin was disclosed in the Abstracts of the 43rd General Meeting of the Japanese Cancer Society, page 243, Title No. 1005 (1984).
Rhizoxin-2-ene was reported on Dec. 18th, 1984 to the 1984 International Chemical Congress of the Pacific Basin Society, Honolulu, Hawaii.
We have now discovered a series of rhizoxin derivatives which have far better anti-tumor activity than rhizoxin and its acetate and which have a lower toxicity than rhizoxin itself. | {
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The requirements for protection of a motor drive against electric shock are presented e.g. in the standards IEC 61140: “Protection against electric shock. Common aspects for installation and equipment.”; IEC 60364-4-41: “Low-voltage electrical installations—Part 4-41: Protection for safety—Protection against electric shock”; IEC 60204-1: “Electrical equipment of machine”; IEC 61800-5-1: “Adjustable Speed electrical power drive systems—Part 5-1: Safety requirements—Electrical, thermal and energy”.
According to standard EN 61140 a fundamental rule of protection against electric shock is that hazardous-live parts shall not be accessible and that accessible conductive parts shall not be hazardous live in normal circumstances or as a consequence of a single fault. For these reasons accessible conducting parts are normally earthed. | {
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This invention relates to a method for processing an input signal to generate an output signal, and to applications of that method in hearing aids and listening devices.
So-called transient limiters are signal processing units which are capable, without any delay or overshoot, of limiting rapidly ramping, short-duration i.e. transient signal components to a predefined level, hereinafter referred to as the threshold value. The threshold value concerned, at which the transient limiter performs its function, is not signal-dependent but can instead be set as a parameter. Transient limiters are employed for instance in hearing aids which serve to compensate for a patient's hearing impairment, but also in auditory amplification systems which are used for enhancing audibility in special situations such as listening and monitoring operations. In the following description the term “hearing aid” is to be understood as comprehensively referring to the medical hearing aids and to the listening devices mentioned above. Where any of the following elucidations relate uniquely to applications in listening devices, they will be explicitly identified as such.
In hearing aids, transient limiters serve the purpose of preventing the maximum output level in the hearing aid from exceeding a predefined threshold value. This protects the user of the hearing aid from excessive noise exposure.
It is a known fact that human speech occupies a dynamic range of about −15 to +18 dB (decibels) around the respective mean level; in quiet surroundings with little ambient noise, that mean level is about 60 to 65 dB. In loud surroundings the mean level can rise to about 80 dB or higher. Given these facts, the conventional methods for limiting the audio signal components for persons with normal hearing have employed fixed maximum values of 100 to 120 dB. In cases of diminished hearing capacity the threshold value is suitably set at a comfortable maximum level below the threshold of pain for the patient or user.
It is a characteristic aspect of human auditory perception that not only sounds above the maximum threshold value or comfort level are bothersome. Indeed, it is also transient sounds (such as intermittent noise), even when at a level distinctly below the maximum threshold value, that are perceived as unpleasant in an otherwise prevalently quiet environment. For example, in quiet surroundings, the transient noise of dishes and cutlery, even if well below the maximum threshold value of 100 to 120 dB, creates an unpleasant auditory sensation. | {
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While cold brewing, a technique that involves steeping coffee at cold temperatures for an extended period of time, is by no means a new technique, in recent years general knowledge of and demand for cold-brewed coffee, or cold brew, has increased dramatically. Presently, there are generally four conventional methods for cold brewing coffee.
The first method involves a filtration process utilizing a cheese cloth felt filter for holding coffee grinds, while water is passed through the filter to produce a cold brewed coffee. However, this filter is limited to producing small amounts of coffee and requires an extensive amount of cleaning to remove contaminants from the cloth filter.
The second conventional method is generically referred to as a “bucket system” which involves batch brewing within individual buckets. The primary disadvantage with his system is the significant lack of consistency from batch to batch.
The third method is generally carried out in coffee shops or cafes and involves use of a commercially available dripper machine. This method is limited is designed for brewing individual cups of coffee and is not well suited for large scale production.
The fourth conventional method utilizes equipment initially designed for brewing beer, but which has been adapted for cold brewing coffee. While this method is suitable for industrial scale cold brewing of coffee, the necessary equipment is very expensive and difficult to use.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an apparatus and method for cold brewing coffee that overcomes the above described drawbacks. Specifically, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for cold brewing coffee on a large scale that is inexpensive and easy to implement and use with high consistency of the finished brew, and that is also easy to clean. | {
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Media content is frequently time-shifted so that a viewer is able to watch the content at a time that is convenient for that viewer. Instead of watching a sporting event or a new television show live, the viewer is instead able to delay playback to a more convenient time. However, when a viewer decides to postpone event playback, the viewer runs the risk of learning about the event outcome before the viewer experiences the time-shifted event firsthand. This can spoil the event, thus decreasing the viewer's overall enjoyment. Furthermore, when watching a time-shifted event, a viewer may miss out on complimentary activities (social interaction, polls and trivia challenges, etc.) that happen in real-time from associated media such as web-sites. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to stacked integrated circuit memory.
2. State of the Art
Manufacturing methods for increasing the performance and decreasing the cost of electronic circuits, nearly without exception, are methods that increase the integration of the circuit and decrease its physical size per equivalent number of circuit devices such as transistors or capacitors. These methods have produced as of 1996 microprocessors capable of over 100 million operations per second that cost less than $1,000 and 64 Mbit DRAM circuits that access data in less than 50 ns and cost less than $50. The physical size of such circuits is less than 2 cm2. Such manufacturing methods support to a large degree the economic standard of living in the major industrialized countries and will most certainly continue to have significant consequences in the daily lives of people all over the world.
Circuit manufacturing methods take two primary forms: process integration and assembly integration. Historically the line between these two manufacturing disciplines has been clear, but recently with the rise in the use of MCMs (Multi-Chip Modules) and flip-chip die attach, this clear separation may soon disappear. (The predominate use of the term Integrated Circuit (IC) herein is in reference to an Integrated Circuit in singulated die form as sawed from a circuit substrate such as s semiconductor wafer versus, for example, an Integrated Circuit in packaged form.) The majority of ICs when in initial die form are presently individually packaged, however, there is an increasing use of MCMs. Die in an MCM are normally attached to a circuit substrate in a planar fashion with conventional IC die I/O interconnect bonding methods such as wire bonding, DCA (Direct Chip Attach) or FCA (Flip-Chip Attach).
Integrated circuit memory such as DRAM, SRAM, flash EPROM, EEPROM, Ferroelectric, GMR (Giant MagnetoResistance), etc. have the common architectural or structural characteristic of being monolithic with the control circuitry integrated on the same die with the memory array circuitry. This established (standard or conventional) architecture of circuit layout structure creates a design trade-off constraint between control circuitry and memory array circuitry for large memory circuits. Reductions in the fabrication geometries of memory cell circuitry has resulted in denser and denser memory ICs, however, these higher memory densities have resulted in more sophisticated control circuitry at the expense of increased area of the IC. Increased IC area means at least higher fabrication costs per IC (fewer ICs per wafer) and lower IC yields (fewer working ICs per wafer), and in the worst case, an IC design that cannot be manufactured due to its non-competitive cost or unreliable operation.
As memory density increases and the individual memory cell size decreases more control circuitry is required. The control circuitry of a memory IC as a percentage of IC area in some cases such as DRAMs approaches or exceeds 40%. One portion of the control circuitry is the sense amp which senses the state, potential or charge of a memory cell in the memory array circuitry during a read operation. The sense amp circuitry is a significant portion of the control circuitry and it is a constant challenge to the IC memory designer to improve sense amp sensitivity in order to sense ever smaller memory cells while preventing the area used by the sense amp from becoming too large.
If this design constraint or trade-off between control and memory circuits did not exist, the control circuitry could be made to perform numerous additional functions, such as sensing multiple storage states per memory cell, faster memory access through larger more sensitive sense amps, caching, refresh, address translation, etc. But this trade-off is the physical and economic reality for memory ICs as they are presently made by all manufacturers.
The capacity of DRAM circuits increase by a factor of four from one generation to the next; e.g. 1 Mbit, 4 Mbit, 16 Mbit and 64 Mbit DRAMs. This four times increase in circuit memory capacity per generation has resulted in larger and larger DRAM circuit areas. Upon introduction of a new DRAM generation the circuit yields are too low and, therefore, not cost effective for high volume manufacture. It is normally several years between the date prototype samples of a new DRAM generation are shown and the date such circuits are in volume production.
Assembling die in a stacked or three dimensional (3D) manner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,695 of the present inventor, incorporated herein by reference. Furthermore, assembling die in a 3D manner has been attempted with regard to memory. Texas Instruments of Dallas Tex., Irvine Sensors of Costa Mesa Calif. and Cubic Memory Corporation of Scotts Valley Calif., have all attempted to produce stacked or 3D DRAM products. In all three cases, conventional DRAM circuits in die form were stacked and the interconnect between each DRAM in the stack was formed along the outside surface of the circuit stack. These products have been available for the past several years and have proved to be too expensive for commercial applications, but have found some use in space and military applications due to their small physical size or footprint.
The DRAM circuit type is referred to and often used as an example in this specification, however, this invention is clearly not limited to the DRAM type of circuit. Undoubtedly memory cell types such as EEPROMs (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memories), flash EPROM, Ferroelectric, or combinations (intra or inter) of such memory cells can also be used with the present Three Dimensional Structure (3DS) methods to form 3DS memory devices.
The present invention furthers, among others, the following objectives:
1. Several-fold lower fabrication cost per megabyte of memory than circuits conventionally made solely with monolithic circuit integration methods.
2. Several-fold higher performance than conventionally made memory circuits.
3. Many-fold higher memory density per IC than conventionally made memory circuits.
4. Greater designer control of circuit area size, and therefore, cost.
5. Circuit dynamic and static self-test of memory cells by an internal controller.
6. Dynamic error recovery and reconfiguration.
7. Multi-level storage per memory cell.
8. Virtual address translation, address windowing, various address functions such as indirect addressing or content addressing, analog circuit functions and various graphics acceleration and microprocessor functions.
The present 3DS memory technology is a stacked or 3D circuit assembly technology. Features include:
1. Physical separation of the memory circuits and the control logic circuit onto different layers;
2. The use of one control logic circuit for several memory circuits;
3. Thinning of the memory circuit to less than about 50 xcexcm in thickness forming a substantially flexible substrate with planar processed bond surfaces and bonding the circuit to the circuit stack while still in wafer substrate form; and
4. The use of fine-grain high density inter layer vertical bus connections.
The 3DS memory manufacturing method enables several performance and physical size efficiencies, and is implemented with established semiconductor processing techniques. Using the DRAM circuit as an example, a 64 Mbit DRAM made with a 0.25 xcexcm process could have a die size of 84 mm2, a memory area to die size ratio of 40% and a access time of about 50 ns for 8 Mbytes of storage; a 3DS DRAM IC made with the same 0.25 xcexcm process would have a die size of 18.6 mm2, use 17 DRAM array circuit layers, a memory area to die size ratio of 94.4% and an expected access time of less than 10 ns for 64 Mbytes of storage. The 3DS DRAM IC manufacturing method represents a scalable, many-fold reduction in the cost per megabyte versus that of conventional DRAM IC manufacturing methods. In other words, the 3DS memory manufacturing method represents, at the infrastructure level, a fundamental cost savings that is independent of the process fabrication technology used. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an advantageous door design and, more particularly, to a door design having particular utility for rack-related mounting, e.g., in connection with a cable raceway or other electronic equipment application(s). The advantageous door design of the present disclosure is structured so as to be simultaneously hinged at the left and at the right, and to permit easy opening from either the right or left, as well as complete removal of the door from its mounting structure.
2. Background of the Disclosure
Typical electronic cabinets include a frame structure that defines a plurality of shelves upon which electronic items may be positioned and/or stored. Electronic cabinets typically include openings at various locations, e.g., top and side locations, to facilitate wiring, heat dissipation, and/or ready access to power source(s). Generally, electronic cabinets include a door that permits the contents of the cabinet to be shielded from view and/or protected from damage. The door is typically mounted to the frame by a hinge that is located on one side of the door, and a latch is typically provided on the other side of the door so that the door may be opened, for example, from left to right. Many existing electronic cabinet designs allow the user to unfasten the hinge assembly from the cabinet to allow the door to be flipped over, remounted and subsequently opened in the opposite direction, for example, from right to left.
The patent literature discloses prior efforts directed to developing modified systems for mounting movable elements, e.g., windows and doors, relative to fixed frames. Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,148 to Chang discloses a dual axle linkage mechanism for doors and casement windows. The dual axle linkage mechanism disclosed in the Chang '148 patent includes a rotary unit that utilizes a spindle, an upper guiding block, a lower guiding block, a holding device, a retaining device and a restoring spring. According to the Chang disclosure, the driving device is able to move a pair of spindles on one side up or down in the frame, thereby permitting either side a door or window to serve as a rotary axle, provided it has a spindle disposed therein.
Additional teachings in the patent literature include U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,518 to Ladisa, wherein a double-action door structure is provided that may be opened along either side edge and in either direction by pushing or pulling. The disclosed Ladisa '518 door structure includes spring-loaded balls that are movable upwardly and downwardly into engagement on the sides of the door by a push bar/cam mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 3,403,473 to Navarro provides a mechanism for reversibly mounting a door on a cabinet frame so that the door may be opened from either side. The Navarro '473 mechanism includes a pivot pins on both sides of the door that are movable into and out of engagement with supports using toggle arrangements. U.S. Pat. No. 3,048,898 to Davis discloses a combination latch and hinge mechanism that permits a door to be opened relative to the left or right hand edge. Additional systems for mounting movable elements, e.g., windows and doors, relative to fixed frames are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 331,466 to Whitney; U.S. Pat. No. 1,560,537 to Cole; U.S. Pat. No. 1,550,205 to Cemazar; U.S. Pat. No. 2,195,991 to Lovett; U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,728 to Moriyoshi; U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,652 to Yamada; U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,828 to Hashemnia; U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,916 to Lee et al.; and commonly assigned U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0020379 to Larsen et al.
Despite efforts to date, a need remains for a door design with enhanced usability. More particularly, a need remains for a door that enables a user to easily and efficiently open from left to right and from right to left, or to completely remove the door from its mounting structure. Although such need extends across a wide variety of applications, particular interest for an enhanced door design in applications involving storage of, and access to, electronic equipment and associated cabling/wiring. | {
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U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,785 describes films consisting of a polyethylene or polypropylene layer between two layers of an ethylene/vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer containing at least 18% by weight of acetate. These films may be welded to make flexible sachets. These films have a permeability to oxygen; indeed, when the sachets contain concentrated bleach, decomposition of the bleach takes place over time with evolution of oxygen. If this oxygen is not released, the flexible sachet may split. These films are also permeable to fragrances. The prior art presents this loss of fragrances to the outside of the sachet as being necessary to allow the user to identify the product in the flexible sachet.
The loss of fragrance should not exceed 15% in 90 days of storage of the sachet. This is all merely a desired situation, the prior art includes no examples. Indeed the Applicant has found that the loss of fragrance was such that after 30 days the sachet no longer had any odour, although it originally contained large amounts of fragrance. The EVA must also contain slip agents, but exactly which they are is not stated and the film can only be welded within a period of from 4 to 20 weeks of its manufacture.
EP 477,025 has also described such multilayers, which consist of a polymer barrier between two layers of EVA or of ethylene/alkyl (meth)acrylate copolymer. The polymer barrier may be a linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), a polyamide-polyethylene (PE) bilayer, an EVOH-polyethylene bilayer and preferably a polyamide or an EVOH between two layers of polyethylene (EVOH denotes a copolymer of ethylene and of vinyl alcohol, also known as hydrolysed EVA); that is to say that the films of the prior art may consist, for example, of the following layers:
EVA/PE/PA/PE/EVA or EVA/PE/EVOH/PE/EVA PA1 of one or more amino acids, such as aminocaproic acid, 7-aminoheptanoic acid, 11-aminoundecanoic acid and 12-aminododecanoic acid of one or more lactams such as caprolactam, oenantholactam and lauryllactam; PA1 of one or more salts or mixtures of diamines such as hexamethylenediamine, dodecamethylenediamine, meta-xylylenediamine, bis-p-aminocyclohexylmethane and trimethylhexamethylenediamine with diacids such as isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid, adipic acid, azelaic acid, suberic acid, sebacic acid and dodecanedicarboxylic acid; PA1 or mixtures of some of these monomers which lead to copolyamides, for example PA-6/12 obtained by condensation of caprolactam and lauryllactam. PA1 polyethylene, polypropylene, copolymers of ethylene with alpha-olefins, it being possible for these products to be grafted with unsaturated carboxylic acid anhydrides such as maleic anhydride or unsaturated epoxides such a glycidyl methacrylate. PA1 copolymers of ethylene with at least one product chosen from (i) unsaturated carboxylic acids, their salts and their esters, (ii) vinyl esters of saturated carboxylic acids, (iii) unsaturated dicarboxylic acids, their salts, their esters, their hemiesters and their anhydrides, and (iv) unsaturated epoxides. PA1 styrene/ethylene-butene/styrene (SEBS) block copolymers which are optionally maleic-treated. PA1 polyethylene, PA1 copolymers of ethylene and of an alpha-olefin, PA1 copolymers of ethylene/an alkyl (meth)acrylate, PA1 copolymers of ethylene/an alkyl (meth)acrylate/maleic anhydride, the maleic anhydride being grafted or copolymerized, PA1 copolymers of ethylene/an alkyl (meth)acrylate/glycidyl methacrylate, the glycidyl methacrylate being grafted or copolymerized, PA1 polypropylene. PA1 polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene-propylene copolymers, ethylene-butene copolymers, all of these products being grafted with maleic anhydride or glycidyl methacrylate. PA1 ethylene/alkyl (meth)acrylate/maleic anhydride copolymers, the maleic anhydride being grafted or copolymerized. PA1 ethylene/vinyl acetate/maleic anhydride copolymers, with the maleic anhydride being grafted or copolymerized. PA1 the above two copolymers in which the maleic anhydride is replaced with glycidyl methacrylate, PA1 ethylene/(meth)acrylic acid copolymers and optionally their salts, PA1 polyethylene, propylene or ethylene-propylene copolymers, these polymers being grafted with a product having a site which is reactive with amines; these grafted copolymers then being condensed with polyamides or polyamide oligomers having only one amine end. PA1 5 to 15% of an ethylene-propylene copolymer containing a predominant amount of polypropylene grafted with maleic anhydride and then subsequently condensed with monoamine oligomers of caprolactam. PA1 the remainder to 100% being polypropylene. PA1 5 to 15% of at least one copolymer of ethylene with (i) an alkyl (meth)acrylate or a vinyl ester of unsaturated carboxylic acid and (ii) an unsaturated carboxylic acid anhydride or an unsaturated epoxide which is grafted or copolymerized. PA1 the remainder being polyethylene. PA1 5 to 15% of polyethylene or copolymers of ethylene and of an alpha-olefin grafted with maleic anhydride or glycidyl methacrylate. PA1 the remainder being polyethylene. PA1 monomers having: PA1 an additive for improving the slip nature such as, for example, a fatty acid metal salt (zinc stearate), PA1 an antioxidant, such as, for example, a sterically hindered phenol, a mercaptan or a phosphite, PA1 ultraviolet radiation absorbers such as substituted benzophenones, substituted phenylbenzotriazoles and sterically hindered amines; extinguishers such as nickel complexes, inorganic or organic pigment, such as zinc oxide or titanium oxide.
Furthermore, between the PE and the PA, as between the EVOH and the PE, it is necessary to place a coextrusion binder or to introduce into the PE, the EVOH or the PA, a polymer having reactive groups in order to facilitate the adhesion of the various layers. Sachets manufactured with these multilayers are permeable to oxygen, and are therefore suitable for bleach. | {
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The present invention relates to an access controller and method for controlling access to a data store. In particular, the invention relates to a method operable in a mail client and a mail client for filtering incoming e-mail.
When an e-mail message is sent, a receiver can discover the sender""s e-mail address from the information attached to the e-mail message. Thus, the receiver may subsequently send as many mails as the receiver wishes to the sender. The receiver may also inform someone else of the sender""s e-mail address and third parties may also do the same. Normally this wouldn""t be a problem but there is an increasing amount of unsolicited and useless xe2x80x98Spamxe2x80x99 mail which can choke in-boxes (in-folders) and make it difficult for a receiver to discern real or important e-mail from junk-mail.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an access controller for a data store, said access controller being cooperable with means instantiable to send messages across a network to a plurality of clients and means instantiable to receive messages from said clients across said network, said access controller including: means instantiable to generate a token indicative of the number of times a client can access said data store; and authenticating means instantiable to validate any token included in a message from a client to allow or deny access to said data store and a method for controlling access to a data store comprising the steps of: generating a token indicative of the number of times a client can access said data store; and validating any token included in a message from a client to allow or deny access to said data store.
The invention enables the sender to control the ability of 3rd parties to successfully send e-mail or to enable the classification of real e-mail from unsolicited possibly junk-mail. | {
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This invention relates generally to gas turbine engines, and, more specifically, a blade assembly for a gas turbine engine.
Some known turbines include a compressor that compresses fluid and channels the compressed fluid towards a turbine wherein energy is extracted from the fluid flow. Some known compressors include a row of blades secured to the compressor casing. Such blades may be secured to the casing using flanges on the base of the blade that are inserted into grooves defined in the casing. More specifically, in at least some known embodiments, the casing includes T-shaped grooves for each row of blades, and the blade flanges are sized and shaped to fit within the T-shaped groove.
During operation, some blades in the compressor may loosen in the grooves and shift with respect to each other and with respect to the compressor casing. Such movement may increase the turbine dynamics and may increase the wear of the blade. The movement of the blades may also induce stresses to the blade, which, over time, cause cracking or failure of the blade.
To reduce blade movement, some known compressor blades are shimmed to decrease the clearance between turbine blade bases and to limit movement of the blade within the casing. Some known shims are formed with tabs extending from each side to enable the shim to be secured in position against the casing. In at least some compressors, the tabs fit into the same grooves used to retain the blades within the casing. During turbine operation, some known shims may be chafed by the adjacent blade bases causing the shim to thin. As the shim wears, the clearance defined between the blade and the shim, or between the blade and the groove, is increased. Over time, the increased clearance enables the blades to move within the casing groove.
In some known turbines, during turbine operation, the pressure and loading on each blade and shim may fluctuate. Variations in loading induced to the blades and/or shims may cause wear of the shim tabs. Over time, the wear to the tabs may loosen the shim from the casing such that the shim may protrude into the fluid flow path and/or fall into the flow stream. Any shim protruding into the flow stream may disrupt the flow stream and/or decrease turbine operating efficiency. Any shim falling into the flow stream may contact other compressor components, such as the blades, which may damage such components. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and, more particularly, to a synchronous DRAM including a dedicated strobe signal used only for commands and addresses and an associated method.
2. Description of the Related Art
To improve system performance, the integration and speed of semiconductor memory devices, in particular, DRAMs is continuously increasing. Notwithstanding these continuous advancements, a DRAM capable of processing more data at higher speed is necessary. Accordingly, a synchronous DRAM that operates synchronous with a system clock has been developed for high speed operation. The transmission speed of data has significantly increased with the appearance of the synchronous DRAM.
In the conventional synchronous DRAM, the input and output of data are synchronous with a system clock. Commands and addresses are input responsive to a system clock. Accordingly, the commands and addresses must be transmitted from a memory controller to the synchronous DRAM within a predetermined cycle time of the system clock. Even though the commands and addresses arrive at the synchronous DRAM before the system clock, the commands and addresses are provided internally responsive to the arrival of the system clock. Therefore, the latency corresponding to the time difference between the arrival of the commands and addresses and the arrival of the system clock increases in the conventional synchronous DRAM. Also, when the cycle time of the system clock is reduced because of increased system clock frequency, it is difficult to transmit commands and addresses to all synchronous DRAMs in a memory module within a single clock cycle time in a memory module having multiple synchronous DRAMs.
It is an object of the invention to overcome the disadvantages associated with conventional synchronous DRAMS.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a synchronous DRAM that is capable of reducing a latency associated with a time difference between the arrival of commands and addresses and the arrival of a system clock and safely transmitting the commands and addresses to all the synchronous DRAMs of a memory module within a clock cycle time even when the frequency of the system clock increases.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of inputting commands and addresses that is capable of reducing the latency corresponding to a time difference between the arrival of commands and addresses and the arrival of a system clock and safely transmitting the commands and addresses to all the synchronous DRAMs of a memory module within a clock cycle time even when the frequency of the system clock increases.
A semiconductor memory device operating responsive to a system clock is provided. The device includes a strobe signal input buffer circuit for receiving a dedicated command and address strobe signal. A command input buffer circuit receives commands responsive to an output signal of the strobe signal input buffer circuit and latches the received commands. An address input buffer circuit receives addresses responsive to the output signal of the strobe signal input buffer circuit and latches the received addresses. The dedicated command and address strobe signal is different from the system clock.
In one embodiment, the dedicated command and address strobe signal is activated only when the commands and the addresses are input to the semiconductor memory device. In another embodiment the dedicated command and address strobe signal is a free running clock that continuously toggles.
A method of inputting commands and addresses responsive to a system clock is provided. The method includes receiving a dedicated command and address strobe signal, receiving commands responsive to the reference edge of the dedicated command and address strobe signal, and latching the received commands. The method further includes receiving addresses responsive to the reference edge of the dedicated command and address strobe signal and latching the received addresses, wherein the dedicated command and address strobe signal is different from the system clock.
In one embodiment, the dedicated command and address strobe signal is activated only when the commands and the addresses are input to the semiconductor memory device. In another embodiment, the dedicated command and address strobe signal is a free running clock that continuously toggles. | {
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Contemporary and future aerospace vehicle requirements continue to provide challenges to the structural designer for reducig structural weight. In the interst of fuel economy, a premium is placed on structural weight in the design aircraft. Similarly, the anticipated needs for very large area space structures will tax the load carrying capability of any conceivable booster system. Relative recent advances in filamentary composite materials have provided the structural design improvements of a factor of two to four in strength-to-density ratios and a factor of three to eight in modulus-to-density ratios when compared with the normally used metal structures. To fully exploit this potential, structural designs must be developed wherein the unidirectional nature of the advanced composite materials is considered from the outset.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved lightweight structural panel.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel panel construction.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a lattice type structural panel wherein the unidirectional characteristics of filamentary compositions are exploited.
An additional object of the present invention is the provisions of composite material panel structure wherein the geometry of the panel lattice network is tailored to provide the appropriate stiffness and loading requirements.
A further object of the present invention is a novel method of making a composite lattice panel structure. | {
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} |
In tooth decay, also known as dental caries, the enamel and thereafter the dentine are etched away until the internal pulp is reached. Eventually the tooth may die. Caries appear to be caused by acid released when bacteria in the mouth utilise carbohydrates such as sucrose. Examples of the bacteria involved include Streptococcus spp.
It is possible to reduce the incidence of caries by regular exposure of the teeth to fluoride ions. Such ions react with the enamel and render it more resistant to etching by acid. However, there is a strong feeling in the UK and elsewhere that it is not right to enforce mass medication on the population by addition of fluoride to water supplies.
It is accepted that regular cleaning of the teeth can lead to a more healthy dentition. A further way of lessening the chance of tooth decay is to reduce the carbohydrate intake, especially the amount of sucrose in the diet. For this reason there is a growing market for artificial sweeteners which can replace the sucrose and are non-cariogenic (i.e. do not cause caries).
It is important at this stage to distinguish between non-cariogenic and anticariogenic behaviour. A substance is non-cariogenic if it does not contribute to the incidence of caries. Thus, for example, low-calorie sweeteners such as saccharin are non-cariogenic. Low-sugar foodstuffs and related products containing these sweeteners cause less tooth decay because, for the same sweetness, their content of cariogenic material has been largely substituted by the non-cariogen.
A substance is anticariogenic, on the other hand, if it can reduce the cariogenicity of a product by virtue of the addition of the substance to the product. Anticariogenic substances can thus help avoid the need to lower the carbohydrate content of a product in order to lower its cariogenicity.
West German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2700036 is described the use of a group of chlorodeoxysucrose derivatives as artificial sweetening agents. This group comprises sucrose derivatives of the general formula ##STR2## in which R.sup.1 represents a hydroxy group or a chlorine atom;
R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 respectively represent a hydroxy group and a hydrogen atom, a chlorine atom and a hydrogen atom, or a hydrogen atom and a chlorine atom, the 4-position being the D-configuration; PA1 R.sup.4 represents a hydroxy group; or, if at least two of R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3 and R.sup.5 represent chlorine atoms, R.sup.4 represents a hydroxy group or a chlorine atom; and PA1 R.sup.5 represents a hydroxy group or a chlorine atom; PA1 provided that at least one of R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3 and R.sup.5 represents a chlorine atom. PA1 1. 1'-chloro-1'-deoxysucrose PA1 2. 4-chloro-4-deoxy-.alpha.-D-galactopyranosyl-.beta.-D-fructofuranoside [ie 4-chloro-4-deoxygalactosucrose] PA1 3. 4-chloro-4-deoxy-.alpha.-D-galactopyranosyl-1-chloro-1-deoxy-.beta.-D-fruc tofuranoside [ie 4,1'-dichloro-4,1-4,1'-dideoxygalactosucrose] PA1 4. 1',6'-dichloro-1',6'-dideoxysucrose PA1 5. 4-chloro-4-deoxy-.alpha.-D-galactopyranosyl-1,6-dichloro-1,6-dideoxy-.beta .-D-fructofuranoside [ie 4,1',6'-trichloro-4,1',6'-'-trideoxygalactosucrose] PA1 6. 4,6-dichloro-4,6-dideoxy-.alpha.-D-galactopyranosyl-6-chloro-6-deoxy-.beta .-D-fructofuranoside [ie 4,6,6'-trichloro-4,6,6'-trideoxygalactosucrose] PA1 7. 6,1',6-trichloro-6,1',6'-trideoxysucrose PA1 8. 4,6-dichloro-4,6-dideoxy-.alpha.-D-galactopyranosyl-1,6-dichloro-1,6-dideo xy-.beta.-D-fructofuranoside [ie 4,6,1',6'-tetrachloro-4,6,1',6'-tetradeoxygalactosucrose] PA1 9. 4,6,1',6'-tetrachloro-4,6,1',6'-tetradeoxysucrose. PA1 R.sup.6 is a hydroxy group or, if at least one of R.sup.4.alpha., R.sup.4.beta. or R.sup.1' is a chlorine atom, then it is a hydroxy group or a chlorine atom; PA1 R.sup.1' is a hydroxy group or a chlorine atom; and PA1 R.sup.6' is a hydroxy group or, if at least one of R.sup.4.alpha., R.sup.4.beta. or R.sup.1' is a chlorine atom, then it is a hydroxy group or a chlorine atom. PA1 (i) Saline, negative control for endogenous metabolism PA1 (ii) Sucrose, positive control PA1 (iii) 6,1',6'-trichloro-6,1',6'-trideoxysucrose, compound no. 7. PA1 (iv) Compound no. 7 plus sucrose. PA1 (v) 1',6'-dichloro-1',6'-dideoxysucrose, compound no. 4 PA1 (vi) Compound no. 4 plus sucrose PA1 (vii) 4,1',6'-trichloro-4,1',6'-trideoxygalactosucrose, Compound no. 5. PA1 (viii) Compound no. 5 plus sucrose PA1 (ix) 4,6,6'-trichloro-4,6,6'-trideoxygalactosucrose, Compound no. 6 PA1 (x) Compound no. 6 plus sucrose PA1 (xi) 1'-chloro-1'-deoxysucrose, compound no. 1 PA1 (xii) Compound no. 1 plus sucrose
The hope was that these compounds could be used to replace at least part of the sucrose in the diet, and thereby act as non-cariogenic materials.
Particular examples of compounds of the above general formula (I) are as follows (the systematic name is given first, followed by a trivial name using "galactosucrose" in those cases where an inverted 4-chloro substituent is present):
Unexpectedly, I have now found that not only do compounds such as the compounds no. 1 to no. 9 appear to fulfil the hope of non-cariogenicity, but also they exhibit an anticariogenic effect when retained in the mouth.
More specifically, I have found that there is a group of chlorodeoxysucroses which can reduce the amount of acid produced by mouth bacteria and which can reduce the adhesion of bacterial cells to dental surfaces. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In accordance with a common construction of the prior art, a box car end 10 is provided with an offset portion 12 and a corrugated portion 14, usually of steel construction. The box car end 10 is welded to a flat metal end liner 20 leaving a space 22 between liner 20 and offset portion 12. The assembly of liner 20 and end 10 is then suspended by means of appropriate overhead crane means (not shown) and is brought above the floor portion of the box car indicated generally at 30. Already in place and comprising the lower or floor portion of the car is an end sill 32 comprising a generally horizontal portion 34 and a generally vertically extending portion 36. Welded or otherwise appropriately affixed to end sill 32 is a floor panel support member 40. Panel support member 40 comprises a lower generally vertically extending portion 42 and a generally horizontally extending portion 44 which is welded to end liner 20 at 43 and supports on its upper surface a floor panel member 48. Floor panel member 48 extends along horizontal portion 44 of floor panel support 40 but terminates at a point 50 wherein it is welded or otherwise affixed to horizontal portion 44 leaving a space or gap 52.
However, prior to welding the panel support to the end sill and the panel to the panel support, in order to obtain engagement of the end and end liner assembly with the end sill 32 it is necessary to lower the end and end liner assembly and in such a way as to have the vertical portion 36 of the end sill enter into the opening 22 defined by offset 12 and flat end liner 20. This is a difficult operation. It is often time consuming and occasionally dangerous.
In order to provide an unobstructed end area 51, countersunk fasteners, for example, huck bolts 58 are usually utilized to hold the liner and end in engagement with the vertical extension of the end sill. The countersinking of the end liner and extension 36 indicated respectively at 54 and 56 and the drilling of holes 57 in offset portion 12 is done prior to lowering the end and end liner over the end sill extension. However, it often occurs that there is misalignment between the countersunk holes 54 in the end sill as compared with holes 56 in the end liner and/or holes 57. As a result it is often necessary to recountersink in order to put the fasteners in place. This is a time consuming operation and when a whole assembly line may be held up with such operations, the expense is greatly multiplied.
In another construction shown in FIG. 3 a fastener 59 is utilized to hold the end 10 and liner 20 in engagement with the end sill 32 and vertical extension 36. The fastener is not countersunk and the head 59a extends into the car so that when the horizontal portion 44 of the floor panel support is welded to the liner 20 an inwardly inclined extension 44a is provided which provides an obstruction in the car which can damage lading and/or make it difficult to pack in the end area 51 of the car.
Another prior art construction utilizes a corrugated end liner in which mechanical fasteners are placed between or below the corrugations which hold the end sill vertical extension in engagement with the offset portion of the end. A panel support is welded to the horizontal portion of the end sill and to the lower portion of the corrugations and/or the vertical extension of the end sill. However, in this construction the end of the car is obstructed to the extent of the corrugations. Also, the corrugations may damage some ladings. Furthermore, a corrugated end is weaker than a flat steel end, particularly with regard to bending applied longitudinally to the end of the car.
Still another prior art construction is shown in FIG. 4 wherein the end 10 and the flat end liner 20 are integral throughout the lateral extent of the car. The end has no offset 12 and a weld, for example, as shown at 11 holds the members together. This construction does avoid the obstructions in the end area such as 44a in FIG. 3 and the countersunk construction in FIG. 2. However, many customers are opposed to an integral end and end sill because if the end of the car is damaged the entire car end structure must be disassembled, for example, by torch burning, resulting in considerable expense and downtime to repair the car. For this reason the integral end and end sill construction is not desired by many customers.
It therefore is an object of the present invention to provide a box car end construction which leaves the end portion of the car unobstructed.
It is another object of the present invention to avoid the step of lowering the end liner and offset of the end into alignment with a vertical extension of the end sill.
It is another object of the present invention to avoid the problem of misaligned drilled and/or countersunk holes in the end structure of the car after the vertical extension has been placed within the opening defined by the liner and offset end portion.
Another object of the present invention is to avoid an integral end and end sill construction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a fabrication technique which is less expensive than prior techniques.
Other objects will be apparent from the drawings and the following description. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The invention relates to the processing of the contrast density of an image in a radiography device. More particularly, the invention is directed to interpretation or reducing the appearance of artifacts for image reconstruction.
In numerous X-ray imaging applications where the object of which images are being taken has a very low contrast, a contrast agent is injected for the purpose of improving the contrast of the object. For example, a contrast agent of this sort is used for cardiology examinations or for mammographs or for DSA (Digital Subtraction Angiography) examinations. In many cases, the visibility of the object is further improved by acquiring an image called a mask image before injecting the contrast agent. This mask image is then subtracted from the image made after the contrast agent is injected in order to obtain a final image that will be used. In this case, a logarithmic subtraction is carried out. A logarithm of the mask image and the logarithm of the image made with the contrast medium. The logarithm of the mask image is subtracted from the logarithm of the image made with the contrast medium. The resulting image gives a good idea of the distribution of the concentration of the contrast agent but has drawbacks. Because of the beam hardening of the X-ray radiation, the contrast of an image made with a given density of contrast agents depends on the amount of tissue that is superimposed. In the case of DSA examinations, which require high concentrations of contrast agents, the beam hardening of the X-ray radiation may also be due to the contrast agent itself. This drawback is problematic when trying to interpret the images resulting from the subtraction and generally leads to artifacts when using the images for image reconstruction, in particular, three-dimensional construction. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to recording media, and methods and apparatuses associated therewith.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A new type of high density optical disc, such as a Blu-ray RE-writable disc (BD-RE), that can record and store high definition audio and video data for a long period of time, is being developed. As shown in FIG. 1, the BD-RE has a lead-in area, a data zone, and a lead-out area. An inner spare area (ISA) and an outer spare area (OSA) are respectively allocated at a fore end and a rear end of the data zone. A recording unit of the BD-RE is a cluster. Referring to FIG. 1, whether or not a defect area exists within the data zone can be detected during the recording of the data. When a defect area is detected, replacement recording operations are performed. For example, the data that is intended to be recorded in the defect area is recorded in a spare area (e.g., the inner spare area (ISA)). Then, position information of the detected defect area and the replacement recorded spare area are recorded and stored as management information in a defect list (DFL) of a disc management area (DMA) located within the lead-in area.
During a read operation of this data, the data recorded in the spare area is read and reproduced, instead of the data of the defect area, by accessing the DFL; thereby preventing a data recording/reproducing error from occurring.
A write-once recordable blu-ray disc (BD-WO) is also under development. Unlike a rewritable disc, data can only be recorded once in the entire area of a write-once optical disc; and data cannot be physically overwritten in the write-once optical disc. Nevertheless, there may occur instances, where it would be desirable to edit or partially modify recorded data. For example, for simplicity of use of the host or the user, virtual overwriting of the data may be desirable. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording/reproducing apparatus including a magnetic recording medium on which a data track pattern and a servo pattern are formed by patterns with recording regions and non-recording regions, a recording head, and a reproducing head. The invention also relates to a method of measuring a parameter that measures a predetermined parameter for at least one of a recording head and a reproducing head installed in a recording/reproducing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one example of a recording/reproducing apparatus that can measure a predetermined parameter for at least one of a recording head and a reproducing head using this type of method of measuring a parameter, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-166115 discloses a hard disk drive apparatus (a “magnetic recording apparatus”) with an offset measuring function. This hard disk drive apparatus includes a discrete track-type hard disk (magnetic recording medium) where non-magnetic regions are formed between tracks in discrete regions (data track pattern regions), a composite magnetic head including a recording head and a reproducing head, a driving mechanism that moves the magnetic head between the inner periphery and the outer periphery of the hard disk, and a control unit that carries out overall control of the hard disk drive apparatus. The hard disk described above is provided with offset measurement regions that are used for carrying out an offset measuring process and are disposed between the discrete regions (data track pattern regions) for recording data and the servo regions (servo pattern regions) in which servo data is recorded. The offset measurement regions are entirely constructed of a magnetic material without non-magnetic regions being formed therein.
During an offset measuring process carried out by this hard disk drive apparatus, offset measurement signals (measurement patterns, hereinafter also referred to simply as “measurement signals”) are written in offset measurement regions on the hard disk in a state where data has not been recorded on the hard disk and the offset measurement regions have been initialized. More specifically, in a state where the reproducing head is being made on-track to an innermost track, for example, measurement signals are written in the offset measurement regions using the recording head. When doing so, in a hard disk drive apparatus of this type, when the magnetic head has been moved toward the inner periphery or the outer periphery of the hard disk, a line that joins the center in the width direction of the recording head and the center in the width direction of the reproducing head (as one example, a line that is parallel to the direction in which the arm extends) is intersected by the center line of a track (i.e., a skew angle is produced). Accordingly, when the reproducing head is being made on-track (i.e., when the center in the width direction of the reproducing head has been aligned with the center in the width direction of a track), the center in the width direction of the recording head will be positioned away from the center of the track, or in other words, the recording head will be made “off-track”. This means that the measurement signals will be recorded at positions that are separated from the center line of the track by a distance corresponding to the extent to which the recording head is made off-track.
Next, by reading the measurement signals using the reproducing head, the center in the radial direction of the regions in which the measurement signals were written, or in other words, a position that matches the center in the width direction of the recording head when the measurement signals were written is specified. More specifically, by moving the reproducing head in the radial direction of the hard disk by increments of a predetermined amount, the measurement signals are read from the offset measurement regions. Here, when the center in the width direction (i.e., the radial direction) of the reproducing head is positioned off the center in the radial direction of the regions where the measurement signals are written toward the inner periphery or the outer periphery, the amplitude of the reproducing signal for the read measurement signal decreases. On the other hand, when the center in the width direction (i.e., the radial direction) of the reproducing head matches the center in the radial direction of the regions where the measurement signals were written, the amplitude of the reproducing signal for the read measurement signal reaches its maximum value. Accordingly, the control unit specifies the center position of the reproducing head at a point where the amplitude of the reproducing signal for the measurement signals reaches its maximum value as the center in the radial direction of the regions in which the measurement signals were written and sets the distance between the specified center and the center of the reproducing head during the writing of the measurement signals (i.e., the center of the track) as the offset of the recording head with respect to the reproducing head, thereby completing the measurement process. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to on-chip interconnect and more specifically to redundancy to satisfy on-chip interconnect timing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A source-synchronous, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-repeater-based interconnect provides a simple, high-performance topology for global on-chip communication fabrics. However as silicon die sizes increase, the on-chip interconnect may span 10 mm or more in length and the communication channels are subject to many sources of timing error including crosstalk, power-supply-induced jitter (PSIJ), and wire delay variation due to transistor and wire metallization mismatch.
For a 10-mm lower-level metal wire with 130 um width and space, 50% utilization on adjacent layers, and with repeater size and spacing optimized for the minimum power-delay product, the 1-σ delay variation is about 8 ps per transition polarity per wire due to transistor variation (slow process, 0.75V, and 125 degrees Celsius). If a “lone 1” is transmitted across such a wire, the leading and trailing signal transitions may each exhibit independent timing offsets normally distributed about a mean delay with σ=8 ps. This is equivalent to 1-σ values of 2.3% duty-cycle distortion (DCD) for a 4-Gb/s toggle (or 2-GHz double-data-rate clock) and 5.7 ps skew (i.e. net delay offset in the central point between the two edges). An example on-chip network is composed of one hundred 10-mm channels, each 10 bytes wide and operating at 4 Gb/s per wire (i.e. delivering a total of 4 TB/s over 10-mm). Assuming crosstalk, PSIJ, and random jitter (extrapolated to the bit error rate of interest) amount to 0.44UI (110 ps), and flip-flop tolerances and clock buffer skews amount to 0.2UI (50 ps), a statistical timing budget predicts a yield of 0% for the assembly of links comprising the on-chip network due to wire delay mismatch. In other words, with a yield of 0% no chips including such an on-chip network would function properly at full speed.
Crosstalk mitigation methods developed for source-synchronous, CMOS-repeater-based interconnect topologies can limit resulting timing jitter to about 200 milli unit interval (mUI) at aggressive bandwidth densities (e.g. on the order of 30 Tb/s per mm of bus width at the 28-nm process node). Power supply noise on the order of +/−7% can result in significant modulation of data rate (through modulation of signal propagation velocity), further reducing the effective timing margin by as much as 400 mUI. In such harsh environments, wire delay mismatch can cause chips to fail to operate properly, as explained above regarding the transmission of the “lone 1”, resulting in severe yield loss. The combination of wire delay mismatches, timing jitter, and power supply noise may reduce the effective timing margin such that clock frequency must be reduced to ensure that timing margin constraints are met so that the chip operates properly. In particular, the chips may fail when an on-chip source-synchronous, CMOS-repeater-based interconnect serves as the building block for large on-chip networks responsible for moving several terabytes of data per second across large portions of the chip. Failure of even a single signal transmitted on the wire of the interconnect to satisfy the timing requirements will likely result in a functional failure of the chip.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is an improved technique for satisfying timing requirements of on-chip source-synchronous, CMOS-repeater-based interconnect. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Until recently, poly(alkylene carbonates) have had limited commercial application. They have been used as sacrifice polymers in the electronics industry but in few other applications. Other applications of these polymers have been limited, among others, by their relative thermal instability.
The present inventors have realised that these poly(alkylene carbonates) offer environmentally friendly potential. The use of carbon dioxide in the formation of poly(alkylene carbonates) provides a useful sink for carbon dioxide and therefore these polymers offer an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuel based materials such as a polyolefin. There are therefore significant benefits to using PACs industrially.
As noted above, commercial applications of poly(alkylene carbonates) are limited by their low thermal stability. Furthermore, thermal decomposition of these polymers occurs at rather low temperatures, e.g. at 180° C. for poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC). These properties severely limit the processability of PACs on a commercial scale. Methods of broadening the properties and processing window so as to enhance the applicability of PACs are therefore sought. Crosslinking the PAC is one route which has been investigated and, to date, some progress has been achieved.
There remains, however, a need for new methods to produce significant quantities of PAC's, which possess advantageous properties such as improved thermal stability. In particular, the inventors sought new processes which produce PAC's with higher glass transition temperatures and/or enhanced higher temperature thermal stability over those known in the art are needed.
The present inventors have surprisingly established that careful control of polymer purification procedures can give rise to polymers with improved thermal properties. The resulting materials exhibit beneficial properties, in particular in terms of rigidity and thermal stability.
Moreover, the inventors have found that purification can be successfully effected in the absence of organic solvents. In typical purification procedures for aliphatic polycarbonates, the use of organic solvents is normal. The polymer formed contains catalyst residues and in order to remove these, organic solvents are routinely used, in particular chlorinated solvents such as chloroform and dichloromethane. These solvents are potentially toxic but are definitively expensive. Moreover, the quantities of solvent employed can be vast. Even if the solvent is recycled, there are still expensive separation and purification procedures needed to reuse solvent.
Organic solvents are also believed essential to remove certain impurities from the formed polycarbonate. For example, the polymerisation of propylene oxide and carbon dioxide forms polypropylene carbonate and may also form propylene carbonate. This compound is believed to cause melt fracture, act as a plasticizer and make the resin tacky. To remove this impurity, the use of dichloromethane and methanol or other solvents and antisolvents is conventional. Typically, the process involves a liquid-liquid extraction. After dissolution in the solvent, the polycarbonate material is washed with an aqueous acid and subsequently a non solvent such as methanol is added to precipitate the polycarbonate.
These organic solvents also dissolve oligomeric portions of the polycarbonate however. They also remove portions of the PAC in which there is a high ether linkage content. Whilst removing some of these oligomeric compounds might be regarded as advantageous in order to reduce migration, the amounts lost in organic solvent may be significant. Valuable PAC is simply being removed with the organic solvent.
Peng, Polymer degradation and stability 80 (2003) 141-147, suggests end capping as a means for improving polymer stability by decreasing the chain unzipping from the hydroxyl end groups in the PAC at low temperatures Peng achieves end capping in organic solvent. In a similar disclosure Yao et al, J Appl Polm Sci vol 120, 3565-3573 (2011) achieves that result by melt blending with maleic anhydride. Further more, thermal stability can be further improved by the addition of calcium stearates and stearic acid according to Yu et al in J Appl Polm Sci vol 120, 690-700 (2011).
There are therefore various methods available to improve thermal stability. However, the amount of acid applied, in particular to cause end capping, is high. Resins from the prior art with reported enhancement of thermal stability, suffer from the presence of acid residues that may represent a problem for further processing (corrosion of machinery) and application (migration of acid residues).
In the present invention, the amount of acid residues present will be lower since the products have been subjected to a thorough washing as part of the treatment. Additionally, the processes used in the prior art may be insufficient in the removal of unwanted side products and may likewise leave undesirable high solvent residues in the polymer. Also, the prior art precipitation method from solvent mixtures may not give polymer particles suitable for further handling as agglomeration is an issue. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Obtaining useful chemicals, fuels, and energy from renewable biomass represents an important challenge as conventional fossil sources of these materials are slowly depleted. Lignocellulosic biomass is being studied widely as a viable feedstock for renewable liquid biofuels and chemicals because of its low cost and global availability. Biomass-derived fuels and chemicals are projected to substantially reduce net CO2 emissions as well, if produced with minimal use of fossil fuels.
To meet this challenge, there have been extensive efforts to convert biomass to fuels and other useful chemicals. Producing fuels and chemicals from biomass requires specialized conversion processes different from conventional petroleum-based conversion processes due to the nature of the feedstock and products. High temperatures, solid feed, high concentrations of water, unusual separations, contaminants, and oxygenated by-products are some of the features of biomass conversion that are distinct from those encountered in petroleum upgrading. Thus, there are many challenges that must be overcome to efficiently produce chemicals from biomass.
Lignocellulosic biomass (wood, grasses, agricultural residues, etc.) is an alternative, renewable, and sustainable source of feed with significant potential to address the increasing demands for alternative liquid fuels and ‘green’ chemicals. These feedstocks do not directly compete with the food supply, but have limited utility due to their inherent characteristics and storage limitations. Feedstock supply and the logistics of lignocellulosic biomass upgrading are challenging due to the low bulk density, low energy density, and high ash content of the feed. The chemical and physical inconsistencies of feedstocks are substantial barriers that limit the ability of designing a single, widely applicable process for the upgrading of biomass to fuels and chemicals.
Biomass materials generally comprise cellulose (35%-60%), hemicellulose (15%-40%) and lignin (10%-40%) as major components, a variety of lesser organic materials, water, and some mineral or metallic elements. A range of biomass derived materials can be pyrolyzed to produce mixtures of hydrocarbons, oxygenates, CO, CO2, water, char, coke, and other products. A particularly desirable form of pyrolysis is known as catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) that involves the conversion of biomass in a fluid bed reactor in the presence of a catalyst. The catalyst is usually an acidic, microporous crystalline material, usually a zeolite. The zeolite is active for the upgrading of the primary pyrolysis products of biomass decomposition, and converts them to aromatics, olefins, CO, CO2, char, coke, water, and other useful materials. The aromatics include benzene, toluene, xylenes, (collectively BTX), and naphthalene, among other aromatics. The olefins include ethylene, propylene, and lesser amounts of higher molecular weight olefins. BTX aromatics are desirable products due to their high value and ease of transport.
The minerals or metallic elements present as contaminants in biomass, sometimes collectively referred to as alkali and alkaline earth elements (AAEMs) although they may contain many other elements, present a challenge to catalytic processes. These elements can deactivate the catalyst or interfere with the smooth operation of a CFP process by a number of mechanisms. It is thus desirable to limit the amount of the AAEMs that are introduced into the CFP process, or remove the AAEMs, or both, in order to provide a commercially viable process for upgrading biomass to fuels and chemicals. Other impurity elements, primarily sulfur and nitrogen, present in biomass are also detrimental to the conversion of biomass to useful chemicals and fuels. Sulfur and nitrogen can inhibit catalyst activity, complicate product purification, and contaminate effluent streams. Processes for removing sulfur and nitrogen are also needed. The present invention addresses methods to reduce impurities including the AAEMs and sulfur and nitrogen in biomass feed to a CFP process.
In U.S. Pat. No. 8,022,260, a process is described that utilizes an activating step of introducing an additive to make a biomass more susceptible to conversion, and then converting the activated biomass to a product comprising bio-oil. Magnesium and aluminum salts are introduced into the biomass in a wet milling step in one example.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2013/0340746 describes a process for converting AAEMs present in biomass into thermally stable, catalytically inert salts using hydrochloric, sulfuric, or phosphoric acids in preparation for a biomass pyrolysis process.
In U.S. Pat. No. 8,168,840, a process is described comprising: (i) swelling biomass with a solvent, optionally aided by pH control, application of mechanical action, the incorporation of additive(s), and temperature control; (ii) removing solvent from the swollen solid biomass material by applying mechanical action to the solid biomass material to form a solid modified lignocellulosic biomass material having an increased bulk porosity; and (iii) subjecting the solid modified lignocellulosic biomass material to enzymatic hydrolysis, thermoconversion, or combinations thereof. Optionally the material can be modified by incorporation of a soluble catalyst before it is upgraded. Catalytically upgrading of the swollen, modified, and dried biomass in a fixed or fluid bed of solid catalyst is not discussed.
In U. S. Patent Application Publication 2012/0301928, a method is described for pretreating lignocellulosic biomass prior to hydrolysis, comprising: immersing lignocellulosic biomass in water to swell the biomass; wet-milling the swelled biomass; and popping the wet-milled biomass. Neither minerals removal nor catalytic pyrolysis is mentioned. In U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0161689, a process is described for digesting biomass to remove sulfur or nitrogen compounds, reforming the resulting solution with a soluble catalyst to form oxygenate compounds, and then catalytically producing a liquid fuel from the reformed solution. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,940,060, a method is described for forming a pyrolysis oil wherein the feed biomass is washed with a portion of the pyrolysis condensate to produce a washed biomass having a reduced level of metals, and thermally pyrolyzing the washed biomass. Catalytic reaction is not discussed.
Experimental results have been presented (see V. Paasikallio, C. Lindfors, E. Kuoppala, Y. Solantausta, A. Oasmaa, “Experiences from an extended catalytic fast pyrolysis production run”, Green Chem., 2014, 16, 3549-3559) in which the amount of ‘Alkalis’ deposition as a function of time on stream in a CFP process showed a linear increase with time. ‘Alkalis’ are defined to include K, Ca, Mg, and P. After a four day test of pine sawdust catalytic fast pyrolysis with H-ZSM-5 catalyst, the catalyst had accumulated 1.1 weight % of the ‘alkali metals’ including K, Ca, Mg, and P. The acidity of the catalyst decreased and the O/C ratio of the produced bio-oil increased, which were interpreted to indicate a reduction of catalytic activity. No attempts to remove alkali metals from the feed or from the process were discussed.
Oudenhoven et al in “Demineralization Of Wood Using Wood-Derived Acid: Towards a Selective Pyrolysis Process for Fuel and Chemicals Production” J Anal Appl Pyrolysis 103 (2013) 112-118, describe the use of a raw pyrolysis water product phase to wash biomass prior to a thermal pyrolysis. Increased yields of bio-oil rich in oxygenated products, i.e. levoglucosan, are reported for the washed wood experiments. Catalytic pyrolysis or the production of aromatics was not discussed. By contrast, Kasparbauer in his PhD thesis entitled “The effects of biomass pretreatments on the products of fast pyrolysis” (2009), Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Paper 10064 at Iowa State University, concludes on page 127 that: “The water wash pretreatment showed no significant difference when compared to unwashed biomass in terms of product yields.”
It has been often reported that improved yields of useful products are obtained when AAEMs are introduced into, or not removed from, biomass. U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,898 describes a process for “pretreating a lignocellulose-containing biomass comprising the steps of adding calcium oxide or hydroxide and water and an oxidizing agent to the biomass” to obtain better yields of sugars, ketones, fatty acids, and alcohols.
Wang et al have reported that AAEMs reduce the yields of aromatics and olefins in ex situ catalyzed pyrolysis reactions in “The deleterious effect of inorganic salts on hydrocarbon yields from catalytic pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass and its mitigation”, Applied Energy 148 (2015) 115-120. Their studies used separate pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading reactors to show that pretreatment of the AAEM-infused cellulose can improve aromatics and olefins yields. No attempts were made to react biomass in the presence of a catalyst in a single reactor.
Among other methods of pretreating biomass, wet milling of corn is routinely used in the industry to separate the various components. Typically the hemicellulose and cellulose are hydrolyzed for further upgrading to ethanol or other products. Wet milling is not used for minerals removal. As it is applied in extracting sugars from corn, wet-milling is a process in which feed material is steeped in water, with or without sulfur dioxide, to soften the seed kernel in order to help separate the kernel's various components. The hydrolysis of the hemicellulose and cellulose is detrimental for a feed that will be upgraded by the CFP process of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,981 teaches the removal of minerals from biomass as part of a biomass saccharification process that produces dimeric and monomeric saccharides (sugars) from cellulose and hemicellulose using sulfuric acid.
Pretreatment of biomass has been developed broadly for the production of monomeric sugars as precursors in fermentation processes to produce ethanol. These pretreatment processes are optimized for the hydrolytic deconstruction of cellulose and hemicellulose, separation of lignin, and the removal of contaminant materials to provide a sugar rich solution for fermentation. For a catalytic fast pyrolysis process in which all of the cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contribute to the yield of valuable materials such as BTX, the processes adapted for ethanol are not applicable since in the production and separation of the sugars a very significant amount of organic material is lost in the lignin and other minor components. The yields of BTX obtainable from these deconstructed feeds in a CFP process are fundamentally limited by the loss of carbon.
Conversion of wood or other cellulosic feedstocks into paper has been commercial for more than a hundred years. The Kraft process is the dominant process used to convert wood into wood pulp, which consists of almost pure cellulose fibers. Wood pretreatment processes have been developed to improve the quality of the wood pulp obtained in the subsequent Kraft process. For example, Lundquist et al in “Removal of Nonprocess Elements From Hardwood Chips Prior to Kraft Cooking,” presented at the 59th Appita Conference, 16-19 May 2005, in Auckland, New Zealand, reported that a 24-hour acid leaching of birch or eucalyptus chips in sulfuric acid solution of pH 2.5 at room temperature (22° C.) resulted in thorough removal of K ions and partial removal of Ca ions. However, the extremely long leaching times required make the process unacceptable for large scale, continuous or semi-continuous manufacture of chemicals such as BTX.
In light of current commercial practices and the disclosures of art, a simple, economical, rapid process for enhancing production of aromatic compounds, such as, for example, benzene, toluene and xylenes, from a catalytic pyrolysis process utilizing biomass containing impurities such as alkali and alkaline earth metal components, sulfur compounds and/or nitrogen compounds is needed. The present invention provides such a process. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to organic thin film transistors, and in particular, to an organic thin film transistor including a gate electrode, a gate insulating film, an organic active layer and a source/drain electrode, or a gate electrode, a gate insulating film, a source/drain electrode and an organic active layer, sequentially formed on a substrate, wherein the gate insulating film is a multi-layered insulator comprising a first layer of a high dielectric constant (k) material and a second layer of an insulating organic polymer compatible with the organic active layer, the second layer being positioned directly under the organic active layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, most of thin film transistors (TFT) used for display application consisted of amorphous silicon as the semiconductor, silicon oxide, or silicon nitride as the insulator, and metal electrodes. However, with the recent development of various conductive organic materials, research into developing an organic thin film transistor (OTFT) using an organic material as the semiconductor has been made actively. Since its first development in the 1980s, the OTFT has widened its application into functional electronic devices and optical devices. For example, in the field of liquid crystal displays (LCD), which includes the TFT as switching elements controlling the electric fields, there are many attempts to adopt the OTFT due to its flexibility and easy preparing process. As novel electronic material, the organic semiconductor in the OTFT is superior to its inorganic counterpart (i.e. amorphous silicon) because it has many synthetic routes and can be formed in any shape from fiber to film. Further it shows high flexibility and can be manufactured at a low cost. Therefore, the OTFT using the organic semiconductor such as conducting polymers as an active layer is considered to be advantageous in that the overall manufacture can be achieved by a roll to roll process using a plastic substrate because its active layer can be formed by a printing-process under atmospheric pressure, instead of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using plasma and requiring high pressure and high temperature, so low-priced TFT could be realized.
But, compared with the amorphous Si TFT, the OTFT exhibits disadvantageously lower charge mobility and higher driving and threshold voltages. In this regard, N. Jackson et al. made an improvement and raised possibility for the OTFT's practical use by achieving a charge mobility of 0.6 cm2·V−1·sec−1 with pentacene active layer (54th Annual device Research Conference Digest 1996). However, the charge mobility achieved by N. Jackson still falls short of the required value, and as well, the OTFT in the prior art requires a driving voltage higher than 100 V and a sub-threshold voltage at least 50 times as high as that of amorphous silicon-TFT. Meanwhile, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,970 and Science (Vol. 283, pp822–824), there is disclosed a method of lowering the driving voltage and the threshold voltage in the OTFT by use of a high dielectric constant (i.e. high k) gate insulator, in which the gate insulator is made of an inorganic metal oxide such as BaxSr1-xTiO3 (BST; Barium Strontium Titanate), Ta2O5, Y2O3, and TiO2, or a ferroelectric insulator such as PbZrxTi1-xO3(PZT), Bi4Ti3O12, BaMgF4, SrBi2(Ta1-xNbx)2O9, Ba(Zr1-xTix)O3 (BZT), BaTiO3, SrTiO3, and Bi4Ti3O12. In the OTFT prepared by said method, the gate insulator was prepared by chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, sputtering, or sol-gel coating techniques and its dielectric constant, k, was 15 or higher. By using this high k insulator, the driving voltage can be decreased to −5V, but the charge mobility still remains unsatisfactory, lower than 0.6 cm2·V−1·sec−1. Further, since the process requires high temperatures of 200–400° C., there is a limit in selecting the type of the substrate and as well, it becomes impossible to adopt a common wet process such as simple coating or printing. U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,157 discloses a method of using polyimide, benzocyclobutene or polyacryl as the organic insulating film, but, the OTFT prepared by the method cannot exhibit device characteristics equal to those of the TFT of inorganic insulator.
In order to improve the performance of thin film electronic devices in the prior art, there were many attempts to adopt a multi-layered gate insulator having two or more layers. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,563,174 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,987 disclose a multi-layered gate insulating film made of amorphous silicon nitride and silicon oxide and a double insulating film made of the same material, respectively, and both of the patents reported that there was a substantial improvement in electrical property of the insulator and crystalline quality of the semiconductor layer. However, these patents are inherently related to the inorganic TFT using the inorganic material, such as amorphous or monocrystalline silicon, and thus cannot be applied in the preparation of the organic semiconductor device.
Recently, many attempts have been made to use the OTFT for various drive devices. However, to realize the practical use of OTFT in LCD or flexible displays using organic EL, not only should a charge mobility increase to the level of 5 cm2·V−1·sec−1 or higher, but also improvement in the driving and threshold voltages of the device should be achieved. In particular, for simplifying the preparation and reducing the cost, it can be desirable for the whole process of preparing the OTFT to be carried out by an all-printing or all-spin method on a plastic substrate. Under the circumstances, there have been many research efforts for developing a method to simplify the preparation of the organic gate insulating film and to increase the charge mobility in the interface between the insulator and the organic active layer. However, satisfactory results have yet to be obtained.
Thus, in this art, it is urgently demanded to develop an organic TFT of a new structure that shows high charge mobility, superior insulating properties, and low driving and threshold voltages, and that can be prepared with ease, for example, by a common wet process. | {
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This invention is in the field of mechanized or continuous mining or tunneling although other technologies such as directional drilling, gas removal and pipe jacking are relied upon. The invention relates more specifically to the field of continuous mechanized mining or tunneling wherein a rotating cutter is remotely controlled and moves in substantially a straight line with all extracted material being continuously moved. However, there are several important differences between the present invention and known mining or tunneling methods. For instance, tunneling proceeds from one predetermined point to another; however, the present method of mining can follow a mineral seam utilizing a guide member and at the same time supporting the entire bore with removable supports. It is, of course, the material being removed in a non-cyclical manner that is of primary concern and not the resulting bore.
Prior art patents issued to the inventor include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,355,215; 3,399,738; 3,232,361; 3,678,694; 3,776,594; 3,778,107 and 3,411,826. While these inventions describe novel means of tunneling through the earth, neither these nor other methods known to the inventor provide a method for removing a desired material from a horizontal or pitching seam of great length without the necessity of having miners at the face being mined. The well-known horizontal augering method is practical for only a few hundred feet, after which the auger becomes overstressed due to the friction between the auger flights and the bore as well as between the loose material and the bore. This friction limits the diameter as well as the length of bore in which the auger may be utilized.
Also, augering can only be accomplished in a straight line while the method of the present invention utilizes directional control. One of the more difficult seams to be mined is a seam which pitches at an angle from the horizontal. Such seams often decline from the horizontal at 15 to 20 degrees or more. Conventional mining of such seams is expensive and for the most part uneconomical. The present invention provides a method which can be carried out from an outcrop or a beginning face wherein the bore follows the seam and no miners are needed at the face, and yet the material being mined is removed up the slope and the bore is supported until mining has been completed.
Furthermore, the present method is less damaging to the ecology and the environment that known mining methods and is capable of removing 80% of a given mineral deposit. | {
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The present invention relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and to a method for fabricating the same. In particular, it relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device having memory elements and peripheral circuits for inputting and outputting data to and from the memory elements formed on a single semiconductor substrate and to a method for fabricating the same.
At present, flash EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM) devices (hereinafter referred to as FEEPROM devices) have been used widely in electronic equipment as nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices which allow for electrical write and erase operations. The structures of memory cells in a nonvolatile semiconductor memory element can be divided roughly into two types, which are a stacked-gate type having a multilayer electrode structure composed of a floating gate electrode and a control gate electrode stacked on a semiconductor substrate and a split-gate type having an electrode structure composed of a floating gate electrode and a control gate electrode each opposed to a channel region in a semiconductor substrate.
The memory cells of the split-gate type are larger in size than those of the stacked-gate type because of the floating gate electrode and the control gate electrode disposed adjacent to each other on the semiconductor substrate. In addition, the floating gate electrode and the control gate electrode adjacent to each other are formed by individual lithographic steps, which requires a margin for the alignment of respective masks used to form the floating gate electrode and the control gate electrode. With the margin, the memory cells tend to be further increased in size.
FIGS. 58A to 58H show the cross-sectional structures of a conventional split-gate FEEPROM device in the individual process steps.
First, as shown in FIG. 58A, an insulating film 202 is formed on a semiconductor substrate 201 composed of silicon. Then, control gate electrodes 203 are formed selectively on the insulating film 202.
Next, as shown in FIG. 58B, the portion of the insulating film 202 on the region of the semiconductor substrate 201 to be formed with drains is removed therefrom by wet etching by using a first mask pattern 251 having an opening corresponding to the drain formation region and the gate electrodes 203 as a mask. Then, boron (B) ions at a relatively low dose are implanted into the semiconductor substrate 201 such that a lightly doped p-type region 204 is formed in the drain formation region.
Next, as shown in FIG. 58C, a silicon dioxide film having a thickness of about 100 nm and doped with boron (B) and phosphorus (P) (BPSG (Boron Phosphorus Silicate Glass)) film is deposited over the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate 201. The deposited BPSG film is etched back by anisotropic etching to form sidewalls 205 composed of the BPSG film on the both side surfaces of each of the control gate electrodes 203.
Next, as shown in FIG. 58D, dry etching is performed with respect to the semiconductor substrate 201 by using a second mask pattern 252 having an opening corresponding to the drain formation region of the semiconductor substrate 201, the gate electrode 203, and the side walls 205 as a mask, thereby forming a recessed portion 201a having a stepped portion composed of the portion of the semiconductor substrate 201 underlying the sidewall 205 as the upper stage and the drain formation region as the lower stage.
Next, as shown in FIG. 58E, arsenic (As) ions at a relatively low dose are implanted into the semiconductor substrate 201 by using the second mask pattern 252, the gate electrode 203, and the sidewall 205 as a mask, whereby an LDD region 206 as a lightly doped n-type region is formed in the drain formation region.
Next, as shown in FIG. 58F, the sidewalls 205 are removed by using vapor-phase hydrofluoric acid and the semiconductor substrate 201 is thermally oxidized in an oxygen atmosphere at about 850xc2x0 C., whereby a thermal oxide film 207 with a thickness of about 9 nm is formed over the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate 201 including the gate electrodes 203. The portion of the thermal oxide film 207 overlying the drain formation region serves as a tunnel oxide film for each of floating gate electrodes.
Next, a polysilicon film doped with phosphorus (P) is deposited over the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate 201 and etched back to form sidewalls composed of the polysilicon film on the both side surfaces of the control gate electrodes 203. Then, as shown in FIG. 58G, the sidewall closer to a region to be formed with sources is removed, while the sidewall closer to the drain formation region of the semiconductor substrate 201 is divided into parts corresponding to individual memory cells on a one-by-one basis, thereby forming floating gate electrodes 208 composed of the polysilicon film in the drain formation region.
Next, as shown in FIG. 58H, arsenic (As) ions are implanted into the semiconductor substrate 201 by using the gate electrodes 203 and the floating gate electrodes 208 as a mask such that source and drain regions 209 and 210 are formed in the source formation region and in the drain formation region, respectively, whereby memory cells in the FEEPROM device are completed.
Since the floating gate electrodes 208 each opposed to the control gate electrode 203 via the thermal oxide film 208 serving as a capacitance insulating film is thus formed by self alignment relative to the control gate electrode 203, it is sufficient to perform only one lithographic step for forming the gate electrode 203 and a displacement does not occur between the control gate electrode 203 and the floating gate electrode 208 during the alignment thereof.
In a typical method for fabricating the conventional FEEPROM device, however, the floating gate electrode 208, the thermal oxide film 207, and the control gate electrode 203 covered with the thermal oxide film 207 which are shown in FIG. 58G are mostly composed of polysilicon, a ""silicon dioxide, and polysilicon, respectively. This causes the problem that, if the floating gate electrode 208 is to be formed selectively by etching, the control gate electrode 203 composed of the same material composing the floating gate electrode 208 may be damaged unless the etching speed is controlled with high precision.
Although the thermal oxide film 207 serving as the capacitance insulating film between the control gate electrode 203 and the floating gate electrode 208 and serving as the tunnel insulating film between the floating gate electrode 208 and the semiconductor substrate 201 is formed in the single step illustrated in FIG. 58F, if the tunnel film is formed after the formation of the capacitance insulating film, the interface between the control gate electrode 203 and the capacitance insulating film is oxidized or a bird""s beak occurs at the interface, which causes the problem that the thickness of the capacitance insulating film is increased locally and the capacitance insulating film does not have a specified capacitance value.
In the split-gate or stacked-gate FEEPROM device, if not only the memory cells but also other elements, particularly active elements such as MOS transistors each of which controls carriers implanted from the source region by using the gate electrode, are formed on a single semiconductor substrate, it is typical to simultaneously form the control gate electrodes of the FEEPROM device and the gate electrodes of the MOS transistors.
In terms of reducing the number of fabrication process steps, the conventional fabrication method is desirable since it simultaneously forms the control gate electrodes of the memory cells and the gate electrodes of the MOS transistors contained in, e.g., peripheral circuits or the like for controlling the memory cells. However, the memory cells of a FEEPROM device are larger in element size than MOS transistors whether the FEEPROM device is of the split-gate type or stacked-gate type. If the memory cells and the MOS transistors are formed simultaneously, each of the memory cells and the MOS transistors cannot be formed as an element with an optimum structure. If the diffusion region of each of the memory cells and the MOS transistors is provided with an LDD (Lightly Doped Drain) structure, the concentration of a diffused impurity differs from one region to another so that it is difficult to provide an optimum structure by forming each of the elements simultaneously.
If a method for fabricating a semiconductor device composed only of existing MOS transistors has been established, it is not easy to form, on a single substrate, the semiconductor device containing the existing MOS transistors and the memory cells of a FEEPROM device as shown in FIGS. 58.
If a method for fabricating a semiconductor device by forming, on a single substrate, other memory cells different in structure from those shown in FIGS. 58 and MOS transistors has been established, it is also not easy to form the other memory cells as a replacement for the memory cells shown in FIG. 58. This is because the fabrication process for the memory cells of the FEEPROM, in particular, adversely affects the fabrication of the MOS transistors.
Since the method for fabricating the split-gate FEEPROM device shown in FIGS. 58 forms the floating gate electrodes 208 after forming the control gate electrodes 203 on the semiconductor substrate 201, the floating gate electrodes 208 can be formed by self alignment relative to the control gate electrode 203 so that the memory cells are reduced in size.
As a method for fabricating such memory cells and MOS transistors on a single semiconductor substrate, the following process steps can be considered.
First, the gate electrodes of the MOS transistors to be formed in the other regions of the semiconductor substrate 201 are formed by simultaneous patterning during the formation of the control gate electrodes 203 shown in FIG. 58A.
Next, as shown in FIGS. 58B to 58G, the process steps for fabricating the memory cells are performed. If the implant conditions for the LDD region 206 coincide with the implant conditions for the LDD region of each of the MOS transistors, the impurity is implanted simultaneously into the LDD region of the MOS transistor.
Next, as shown in FIG. 58H, the source and drain regions of each of the MOS transistors are formed simultaneously with the formation of the source and drain regions 209 and 210 of each o f the memory cells.
Thereafter, a specified interlayer insulating film and a specified multilayer interconnect are formed by a normal fabrication process, whereby a semiconductor device composed of the memory cells and the MOS transistors formed on the single semiconductor substrate 201 is implemented.
In accordance with the fabrication method, however, the thermal oxide film 207 serving as the tunnel oxide film between the semiconductor substrate 201 and each of the floating gate electrodes 208 is formed also on the upper and side surfaces of the gate electrode of each of the MOS transistors, which causes the necessity to remove the portion of the thermal oxide film 207 covering the gate electrode.
It is to be noted that the gate electrode of each of the MOS transistors is typically composed of polysilicon and each of the gate oxide film and the film protecting the source and drain regions of the MOS transistor is a silicon dioxide film. To selectively remove the thermal oxide film 207 from the gate electrode composed of polysilicon, therefore, the etching speed for the MOS transistor should also be controlled with high precision, which renders the fabrication of the semiconductor device more difficult.
If the thermal oxide film 207 of the gate electrode of. each of the MOS transistors is removed by wet etching using hydrofluoric acid, e.g., the thermal oxide film 207 covering the upper and side surfaces of each of the control gate electrodes in the memory cell portion is also etched. If etching proceeds to the control gate electrode 203, the performance of the control gate electrode 203 may also deteriorate.
In addition, etching may also proceed to the LDD and channel regions of each of the MOS transistors formed in the. previous steps after the removal of the thermal oxide film 207. This reduces the depth of a junction in the channel region and increases resistance in the channel region, resulting in a reduced amount of current between the source and drain. As a result, the driving ability of the MOS transistor is lowered.
In the conventional semiconductor device in which the memory cells and the MOS transistors are formed on the single semiconductor substrate, if only the memory cell portion is composed of the split-gate memory cells shown in FIGS. 58, the MOS transistors are influenced by thermal hysteresis, which has not been observed previously. This causes the necessity to change the design of the entire semiconductor device. Since the thermal oxide film 207 is formed after the formation of the LDD region 206, e.g., an implant profile in the LDD region of each of the MOS transistors changes to change the operating characteristics of the MOS transistor, which causes the necessity to change process conditions including an amount of ions to be implanted in the LDD region.
In view of the foregoing problems, it is therefore a first object of the present invention to ensures the formation of memory cells in a split-gate nonvolatile semiconductor memory device. A second object of the present invention is to allow easy replacement of existing memory cells with memory cells according to the present invention by utilizing a fabrication process for a semiconductor memory device in which the existing memory cells and MOS transistors are formed on a single semiconductor substrate and prevent the memory cells according to the present invention from affecting the operating characteristics of the MOS transistors.
To attain the first object, the present invention provides a memory cell having a protective insulating film formed on a side surface of a control gate electrode to protect the control gate electrode from etching.
To attain the second object, the present invention provides a method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device in which the memory cell for attaining the first object of the present invention is formed first and then a transistor is formed, thereby preventing the step of forming the memory cell from affecting the operating characteristics of the transistor.
Specifically, a first nonvolatile semiconductor memory device for attaining the first object of the present invention has a control gate electrode and a floating gate electrode provided on a semiconductor substrate to have their respective side surfaces in opposed relation, the device comprising: a gate insulating film formed on the semiconductor substrate; the control gate electrode formed on the gate insulating film; a protective insulating film deposited on each of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode to protect the control gate electrode during formation of the floating gate electrode; the floating gate electrode opposed to one of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode with the protective insulating film interposed therebetween so as to be capacitively coupled to the control gate electrode; a tunnel insulating film formed between the floating gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate; a drain region formed in a region of the semiconductor substrate containing a portion underlying the floating gate electrode; and a source region formed in a region of the semiconductor substrate opposite to the drain region relative to the control gate electrode.
Since the first nonvolatile semiconductor memory device has the protective insulating film deposited on each of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode to protect the control gate electrode during the formation of the floating gate electrode, the configuration of the control gate electrode is not impaired by etching or the like during the formation of the floating gate electrode. This ensures the formation of a memory cell in the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device.
A second nonvolatile semiconductor memory device for attaining the first object of the present invention has a control gate electrode and a floating gate electrode provided on a semiconductor substrate to have their respective side surfaces in opposed relation, the device comprising: a gate insulating film formed on the semiconductor substrate; the control gate electrode formed on the gate insulating film; a protective insulating film deposited only on that one of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode opposed to the floating gate electrode to protect the control gate electrode during formation of the floating gate electrode; the floating gate electrode opposed to the side surface of the control gate electrode with the protective insulating film interposed therebetween so as to be capacitively coupled to the control gate electrode; a tunnel insulating film formed between the floating gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate; a drain region formed in a region of the semiconductor substrate containing a portion underlying the floating gate electrode; and a source region formed in a region of the semiconductor substrate opposite to the drain region relative to the control gate electrode.
Since the second nonvolatile semiconductor memory device has the protective insulating film deposited only on the side surface of the control gate electrode opposed to the floating gate electrode to protect the control gate electrode during the formation of the floating gate electrode, the configuration of the control gate electrode is not impaired during the formation of the floating gate electrode. This ensures the formation of a memory cell in the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device.
A third nonvolatile semiconductor memory device for attaining the first object of the present invention has a control gate electrode and a floating gate electrode provided on a semiconductor substrate to have their respective side surfaces in opposed relation, the device comprising: a gate insulating film formed on the semiconductor substrate; the control gate electrode formed on the gate insulating film; a protective insulating film deposited on that one of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode opposite to the side surface opposed to the floating gate electrode to protect the control gate electrode during formation of the floating gate electrode; a capacitance insulating film formed on the side surface of the control gate electrode opposed to the floating gate electrode; the floating gate electrode opposed to the side surface of the control gate electrode with the capacitance insulating film interposed therebetween so as to be capacitively coupled to the control gate electrode; a tunnel insulating film formed between the floating gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate; a drain region formed in a region of the semiconductor substrate containing a portion underlying the floating gate electrode; and a source region formed in a region of the semiconductor substrate opposite to the drain region relative to the control gate electrode.
Since the third nonvolatile semiconductor memory device has the protective insulating film deposited on the side surface of the control gate electrode opposite to the floating gate electrode to protect the control gate electrode during the formation of the floating gate electrode, the configuration of the control gate electrode is not impaired during the formation of the floating gate electrode. This ensures the formation of a memory cell in the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device.
In the third nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the capacitance insulating film preferably has a uniform thickness.
In each of the first to third nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices, the protective insulating film preferably has a uniform thickness.
In each of the first to third nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices, the gate insulating film preferably has a uniform thickness.
In each of the first to third nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices, the tunnel insulating film preferably has a uniform thickness.
Preferably, each of the first to third nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices further comprises an insulating film formed between the control gate electrode and the protective insulating film.
In each of the first to third nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices, the protective insulating film is preferably a multilayer structure composed of a plurality of stacked insulating films having different compositions.
In each of the first to third nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices, the semiconductor substrate preferably has a stepped portion formed to be covered up with the floating gate electrode.
A first method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, which is for attaining the first object of the present invention, comprises: a control-gate-electrode forming step of forming a first insulating film on a semiconductor substrate, patterning a conductor film formed on the first insulating film, and thereby forming a control gate electrode from the conductor film; a second-insulating-film depositing step of depositing a second insulating film over the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate including the control gate electrode; a protective-insulating-film depositing step of selectively removing the second insulating film so as to leave a portion of the second insulating film located on each of side surfaces of the control gate electrode and thereby forming, from the second insulating film, a protective insulating film for protecting the control gate electrode; a gate-insulating-film forming step of selectively removing the first insulating film so as to leave a portion of the first insulating film underlying the control gate electrode and thereby forming a gate insulating film from the first insulating film; a tunnel-insulating-film forming step of forming, on the semiconductor substrate, a third insulating film serving as a tunnel insulating film; a floating-gate-electrode forming step of forming by self alignment a floating gate electrode capacitively coupled to one of side surfaces of the control gate electrode with the protective insulating film interposed therebetween and opposed to the semiconductor substrate with the tunnel insulating film interposed therebetween; and a source/drain forming step of implanting an impurity into the semiconductor substrate by using the control gate electrode and the floating gate electrode as a mask and thereby forming a source region and a drain region in the semiconductor substrate.
In accordance with the first method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, each of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode is covered with thee protective insulating film also serving as the capacitance insulating film when the floating gate electrode capacitively coupled to one of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode with the protective insulating film interposed therebetween and opposed to the semiconductor substrate with the tunnel insulating film interposed therebetween is formed by self alignment. The arrangement prevents damage caused by etching to the control gate electrode and ensures the formation of a memory cell in the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device.
A second method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, which is for attaining the first object of the present invention, comprises: a control-gate-electrode forming step of forming a first insulating film on a semiconductor substrate, patterning a conductor film formed on the first insulating film, and thereby forming a control gate electrode from the conductor film; a second-insulating-film depositing step of depositing a second insulating film over the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate including the control gate electrode; a sidewall forming step of forming sidewalls over the first insulating film and on portions of the second insulating film located on side surfaces of the control gate electrode; a protective-insulating-film forming step of performing etching with respect to the first and second insulating films by using the sidewalls and the control gate electrode as a mask and thereby forming, from the second insulating film, a protective insulating film for protecting the control gate electrode on each of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode, while forming, from the first insulating film, a gate insulating film under the control gate electrode; a tunnel-insulating-film forming step of removing the sidewalls and then forming, in a region in which the semiconductor substrate is exposed, a third insulating film serving as a tunnel insulating film; a floating-gate-electrode forming step of forming by self alignment a floating gate electrode capacitively coupled to one of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode with the protective insulating film interposed therebetween and opposed to the semiconductor substrate with the tunnel insulating film interposed therebetween; and a source/drain forming step of implanting an impurity into the semiconductor substrate by using the control gate electrode and the floating gate electrode as a mask and thereby forming a source region and a drain region in the semiconductor substrate.
In accordance with the second method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, each of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode is covered with the protective insulating film when the floating gate electrode capacitively coupled to one of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode with the protective insulating film interposed therebetween and opposed to the semiconductor substrate with the tunnel insulating film interposed therebetween is formed by self alignment. The arrangement prevents damage caused by etching to the control gate electrode and ensures the formation of a memory cell in the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device.
In the second method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the tunnel-insulating-film forming step preferably includes removing the sidewalls and then selectively removing respective portions of the protective insulating film covered with bottom surfaces of the sidewalls. The arrangement suppresses the trapping of electrons or holes in the portions of the protective insulating film covered with the bottom surfaces of the sidewalls and thereby suppresses the degradation of a memory element due to an increase in the number of write or erase operations performed with respect to the memory clement.
In this case, the tunnel-insulating-film forming step preferably includes the step of selectively removing the respective portions of the protective insulating film covered with the bottom surfaces of the sidewalls and then selectively removing respective portions of the gate insulating film covered with the bottom surfaces of the sidewalls. The arrangement suppresses the trapping of electrons or holes in the portions of the gate insulating film covered with the bottom surfaces of the sidewalls and thereby reduces the degradation of the write and erase characteristics of a memory element.
Preferably, the second method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device further comprises, between the protective-insulating-film forming step and the tunnel-insulating-film forming step, the step of: performing etching with respect to the semiconductor substrate by using the sidewalls as a mask and thereby forming a stepped portion to be covered up with the floating gate electrode in a region of the semiconductor substrate to be formed with the floating gate electrode. The arrangement increases the efficiency with which electrons are implanted into the floating gate electrode.
In the first or second method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the tunnel-insulating-film forming step preferably includes the step of forming the third insulating film also on the protective insulating film.
A third method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, which is for attaining the first object of the present invention, comprises: a control-gate-electrode forming step of forming a first insulating film on a semiconductor substrate, patterning a conductor film formed on the first insulating film, and thereby forming a control gate electrode from the conductor film; a second-insulating-film depositing step of depositing a second insulating film over the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate including the control gate electrode; a protective-insulating-film forming step of selectively removing the second insulating film so as to leave a portion of the second insulating film located on one of side surfaces of the control gate electrode and thereby forming, from the second insulating film, a protective insulating film for protecting the one of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode; a gate-insulating-film forming step of selectively removing the first insulating film so as to leave a portion of the first insulating film underlying the control gate electrode and thereby forming a gate insulating film from the first insulating film; a tunnel-insulating-film forming step of forming, on the semiconductor substrate, a third insulating film serving as a tunnel insulating film; a floating-gate-electrode forming step of forming by self alignment a floating gate electrode capacitively coupled to the side surface of the control gate electrode with the protective insulating, film interposed therebetween and opposed to the semiconductor substrate with the tunnel insulating film interposed therebetween; and a source/drain forming step of implanting an impurity into the semiconductor substrate by using the control gate electrode and the floating gate electrode as a mask and thereby forming a source region and a drain region in the semiconductor substrate.
In accordance with the third method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, one of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode is covered with the protective insulating film also serving as the capacitance insulating film when the floating gate electrode capacitively coupled to the side surface of the control gate electrode with the protective insulating film interposed therebetween and opposed to the semiconductor substrate with the tunnel insulating film interposed therebetween is formed by self alignment. The arrangement reduces damage caused by etching to the control gate electrode and ensures the formation of a memory cell in the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device.
A fourth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, which is for attaining the first object of the present invention, comprises: a control-gate-electrode forming step of forming a first insulating film on a semiconductor substrate, patterning a conductor film formed on the first insulating film, and thereby forming a control gate electrode from the conductor film; a second-insulating-film depositing step of depositing a second insulating film over the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate including the control gate electrode; a sidewall forming step of forming sidewalls over the first insulating film and on portions of the second insulating film located on side surfaces of the control gate electrode; a protective-insulating-film forming step of performing etching with respect to the first and second insulating films by using the sidewalls and the control gate electrode as a mask and thereby forming, from the second insulating film, a protective insulating film for protecting the control gate electrode on each of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode, while forming, from t he first insulating film, a gate insulating film under the control gate electrode; a protective-insulating-film removing step of removing the sidewalls and then selectively removing the protective insulating film so as to leave a portion of the protective insulating film located on one of the side surface s of the control gate electrode; a tunnel-insulating-film forming step of forming, in a region in which the semiconductor substrate is exposed, a third insulating film serving as a tunnel insulating film; a floating-gate-electrode forming step of forming by self alignment a floating gate electrode capacitively coupled to the side surface of the control gate electrode with the protective insulating film interposed therebetween and opposed to the semiconductor substrate with the tunnel insulating film, interposed therebetween; and a source/drain forming step of implanting an impurity into the semiconductor substrate by using the control gate electrode and the floating gate electrode as a mask and thereby forming a source region and a drain region in the semiconductor substrate.
In accordance with the fourth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, one of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode is covered with the protective insulating film also serving as the capacitance insulating film when the floating gate electrode capacitively coupled to the side surface of the control gate electrode with the protective insulating film interposed therebetween and opposed to the semiconductor substrate with the tunnel insulating film interposed therebetween is formed by self alignment. The arrangement reduces damage caused by etching to the control gate electrode and ensures the formation of a memory cell in the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device.
In the fourth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the protective-insulating-film removing step preferably includes the step of removing the sidewalls and then selectively removing respective portions of the protective insulating film covered with bottom surfaces of the sidewalls.
In this case, the protective-insulating-film removing step preferably includes the step of selectively removing the respective portions of the protective insulating film covered with the bottom surfaces of the sidewalls and then selectively removing respective portions of the gate insulating film covered with the bottom surfaces of the sidewalls.
Preferably, the third or fourth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device further comprises, between the protective-insulating-film forming step and the protective-insulating-film removing step, the step of: performing etching with respect to the semiconductor substrate by using the sidewalls as a mask and thereby forming a stepped portion to be covered up with the floating gate electrode in a region of the semiconductor substrate to be formed with the floating gate electrode.
In the third or fourth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the tunnel-insulating-film forming step preferably includes the step of forming the third insulating film also on the protective insulating film.
Preferably, the third or fourth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device further comprises, between the control-gate-electrode forming step and the second-insulating-film depositing step, the step of: introducing hydrogen and oxygen into a space over the heated semiconductor substrate, generating water vapor from the introduced hydrogen and oxygen over the semiconductor substrate, and thereby forming an insulating film on each of side portions of the control gate electrode.
In this case, the protective-insulating-film forming step preferably includes forming the protective insulating film by stacking a plurality of insulating films having different compositions.
In the third or fourth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the tunnel-insulating-film forming step preferably includes the step of introducing hydrogen and oxygen into a space over the heated semiconductor substrate, generating water vapor from the introduced hydrogen and oxygen over the semiconductor substrate, and thereby forming the tunnel insulating film, while forming an insulating film having a composition different from a composition of the protective insulating film on a surface of the protective insulating film.
A fifth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, which is for attaining the first object of the present invention, comprises: a control-gate-electrode forming step of forming a first insulating film on a semiconductor substrate, patterning a conductor film formed on the first insulating film, and thereby forming a control gate electrode from the conductor, film; a second-insulating-film depositing step of depositing a second insulating film over the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate including the control gate electrode; a protective-insulating-film forming step of selectively removing the second insulating film so as to leave a portion of the second insulating film located on that one of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode opposite to the side surface to be formed with a floating gate electrode and thereby forming, from the second insulating film, a protective insulating film for protecting the control gate electrode; a gate-insulating-film forming step of selectively removing the first insulating film so as to remove a portion of the first insulating film underlying the control gate electrode and thereby forming a gate insulating film from the first insulating film; a capacitance-insulating-film forming step of forming a capacitance insulating film on that one of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode to be formed with the floating gate electrode; a tunnel-insulating-film forming step of forming a tunnel insulating film on the semiconductor substrate; a floating-gate-electrode forming step of forming by self alignment the floating gate electrode capacitively coupled to the side surface of the control gate electrode with the capacitance insulating film interposed therebetween and opposed to the semiconductor substrate with the tunnel insulating film interposed therebetween; and a source/drain forming step of implanting an impurity into the semiconductor substrate by using the control gate electrode and the floating gate electrode as a mask and thereby forming a source region and a drain region in the semiconductor substrate.
In accordance with the fifth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the side surface of the control gate electrode opposite to the floating gate electrode is covered with the protective insulating film when the floating gate electrode capacitively coupled to the side surface of the control gate electrode with the capacitance insulating film interposed therebetween and opposed to the semiconductor substrate with the tunnel, insulating film interposed therebetween is formed by self alignment. The arrangement prevents damage caused by etching to the control gate electrode and ensures the formation of a memory cell in the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device.
A sixth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, which is for attaining the first object of the present invention, comprises: a control-gate-electrode forming step of forming a first insulating film on a semiconductor substrate, patterning a conductor film formed on the first insulating film, and thereby forming a control. gate electrode from the conductor film; a second-insulating-film depositing step of depositing a second insulating film over the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate including the control gate electrode; a sidewall forming step of forming sidewalls over the first insulating film and on portions of the second insulating film located on side surfaces of the control gate electrode; a protective-insulating-film forming step of performing etching with respect to the first and second insulating films by using the sidewalls and the control gate electrode as a mask and thereby forming, from the second insulating film, a protective insulating film for protecting the control gate electrode on each of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode, while forming, from the first insulating film, a gate insulating film under the control gate electrode; a protective-insulating-film removing step of removing the sidewalls and then selectively removing a portion of the protective insulating film located on that one of the side surfaces of the control gate electrode to be formed with a floating gate electrode; a capacitance-insulating-film forming step of forming a capacitance insulating film on the side surface of the control gate electrode to be formed with the floating gate electrode; a tunnel-insulating-film forming step of forming a tunnel insulating film in a region in which the semiconductor substrate is exposed; a floating-gate-electrode forming step of forming by self alignment the floating gate electrode capacitively coupled to the side surface of the control gate electrode with the capacitance insulating film interposed therebetween and opposed to the semiconductor substrate with the tunnel insulating film interposed therebetween; and a source/drain forming step of implanting an impurity into the semiconductor substrate by using the control gate electrode and the floating gate electrode as a mask and thereby forming a source region and a drain region in the semiconductor substrate.
In accordance with the sixth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the side surface of the control gate electrode opposite to the floating gate electrode is covered with the protective insulating film when the floating gate electrode capacitively coupled to the side surface of the control gate electrode with the capacitance insulating film interposed therebetween and opposed to the semiconductor substrate with the tunnel insulating film interposed therebetween is formed by self alignment. The arrangement reduces damage caused by etching to the control gate electrode and ensures the formation of a memory cell in the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device.
In the sixth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the protective-insulating-film removing step preferably includes the step of removing the sidewalls and then selectively removing respective portions of the protective insulating film covered with bottom surfaces of the sidewalls.
In this case, the protective-insulating-film removing step preferably includes the step of selectively removing the respective portions of the protective insulating film covered with the bottom surfaces of the sidewalls and then selectively removing respective portions of the gate insulating film covered with the bottom surfaces of the sidewalls.
Preferably, the sixth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device further comprises, between the protective-insulating-film forming step and the protective-insulating-film removing step, the step of: performing etching with respect to the semiconductor substrate by using the sidewalls as a mask and thereby forming a stepped portion to be covered up with the floating gate electrode in a region of the semiconductor substrate to be formed with the floating gate electrode.
In the fifth or sixth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the capacitance-insulating-film forming step and the tunnel-insulating-film forming step are preferably composed of identical steps proceeding concurrently.
In the fifth or sixth method for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the capacitance-insulating-film forming step or the tunnel-insulating-film forming step preferably includes the step of introducing hydrogen and oxygen into a space over the heated semiconductor substrate, generating water vapor from the introduced hydrogen and oxygen over the semiconductor substrate, and thereby forming the capacitance insulating film or the tunnel insulating film.
In each of the first to sixth methods for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the second insulating film is preferably a multilayer structure composed of a plurality of stacked insulating films having different compositions.
To attain the second object, in each of the first to sixth methods for fabricating a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the semiconductor substrate preferably has a memory circuit formation region including the source region and the drain region and a peripheral circuit formation region to be formed with a peripheral circuit containing a field-effect transistor for generating and outputting a drive signal to the control gate electrode, the floating gate electrode, the source region, or the drain region, the method further comprising the step of: forming the field-effect transistor in the peripheral circuit formation region after forming the source region and the drain region in the memory circuit formation region.
The arrangement prevents the memory cell of the present invention from affecting the operating characteristics of a field-effect transistor composing the peripheral circuit and thereby implements a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device having desired characteristics.
In this case, the step of forming the control gate electrode in the memory circuit formation region preferably includes the step of forming also a conductor film for forming a gate electrode of the field-effect transistor simultaneously with-the formation of the conductor film on the first insulating film. Although the step of completing a field-effect transistor in the peripheral circuit is performed subsequently to the step of producing a memory cell, the conductor film on the first insulating film is formed simultaneously with the formation of the conductor film for forming the gate electrode in the memory circuit formation region. Accordingly, the arrangement omits the step of forming the conductor film for the field-effect transistor without affecting the operating characteristics of the field-effect transistor and thereby reduces the number of process steps.
In this case, the step of forming the control gate electrode in the memory circuit formation region preferably includes the step of patterning also a conductor film for forming a gate electrode of the field-effect transistor simultaneously with the patterning of the conductor film. The arrangement omits the, patterning step for the gate electrode of a field-effect transistor without affecting the operating characteristics of the field-effect transistor and thereby reduces the number of process steps. | {
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The huge volume of image and video data available on the networks (e.g., the Internet), scientific databases, and newspaper archives, along with recent advances in efficient (approximate) image matching schemes have opened the door for a number of large scale matching applications. The general field of content based image retrieval (CBIR) uses many different input modalities to search for similar images in a database.
In the realm of freeform hand sketches using interactive displays and a standard drawing interface, if a novice user is asked to sketch a face, the result will typically look rough and unrefined. Similarly, if asked to draw a bicycle, for example, most of users would have a difficult time depicting how the frame and wheels relate to each other.
One solution is to search for an image of the object to be drawn, and to either trace the object or use the object in some other way, such as for a reference. However, aside from the difficulty of finding an image of what is to be drawn, simply tracing object edges eliminates much of the essence of drawing (there is very little freedom in tracing strokes). Conversely, drawing on blank paper with only the image in the mind's eye gives the drawer more freedom. Without significant training it is difficult to get the relative proportions of objects correct. Thus, freehand drawing remains a frustrating endeavor. | {
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The present invention relates to an automatic tape engaging and securing device for a cassette reel.
At present, a cassette reel having a construction as shown in FIG. 1 is comparatively often used. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a reel body made of synthetic resin or the like, and on its peripheral surface 2 a recessed portion 3 is formed having the shape of a groove, and an engaging and securing element 4 is inserted into the recessed portion 3 so that a tape 5 is held or sandwiched between the recessed portion in the reel body and the securing element. Therefore, the engaging element 4 is groove-shaped with ends projecting outwardly in the form of fringes.
The engagement of the tape 5 is usually carried out by pushing the engaging element 4 into the recessed portion 3 in a manual operation, so that it takes time and becomes a problem when producing cassette tapes. However, an automatic device for solving this problem is not because it is difficult to position correctly the engaging element 4 relative to the recess portion 3 and if it is forcibly pushed, there is the possibility that the reel main body 1 or the engaging element 4 may be broken. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to high-performance, fault-tolerant HTTP, streaming media and applications delivery in a content delivery network (CDN).
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well-known to deliver HTTP and streaming media using a content delivery network (CDN). A CDN is a self-organizing network of geographically distributed content delivery nodes that are arranged for efficient delivery of digital content (e.g., Web content, streaming media and applications) on behalf of third party content providers. A request from a requesting end user for given content is directed to a “best” replica, where “best” usually means that the item is served to the client quickly compared to the time it would take to fetch it from the content provider origin server. An entity that provides a CDN is sometimes referred to as a content delivery network service provider or CDNSP.
Typically, a CDN is implemented as a combination of a content delivery infrastructure, a request-routing mechanism, and a distribution infrastructure. The content delivery infrastructure usually comprises a set of “surrogate” origin servers that are located at strategic locations (e.g., Internet Points of Presence, access points, and the like) for delivering copies of content to requesting end users. The request-routing mechanism allocates servers in the content delivery infrastructure to requesting clients in a way that, for web content delivery, minimizes a given client's response time and, for streaming media delivery, provides for the highest quality. The distribution infrastructure consists of on-demand or push-based mechanisms that move content from the origin server to the surrogates. An effective CDN serves frequently-accessed content from a surrogate that is optimal for a given requesting client. In a typical CDN, a single service provider operates the request-routers, the surrogates, and the content distributors. In addition, that service provider establishes business relationships with content publishers and acts on behalf of their origin server sites to provide a distributed delivery system. A well-known commercial CDN service that provides web content and media streaming is provided by Akamai Technologies, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass.
CDNSPs may use content modification to tag content provider content for delivery. Content modification enables a content provider to take direct control over request-routing without the need for specific switching devices or directory services between the requesting clients and the origin server. Typically, content objects are made up of a basic structure that includes references to additional, embedded content objects. Most web pages, for example, consist of an HTML document that contains plain text together with some embedded objects, such as .gif or jpg images. The embedded objects are referenced using embedded HTML directives, e.g., Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). A similar scheme is used for some types of streaming content which, for example, may be embedded within an SMIL document. Embedded HTML or SMIL directives tell the client to fetch embedded objects from the origin server. Using a CDN content modification scheme, a content provider can modify references to embedded objects so that the client is told to fetch an embedded object from the best surrogate (instead of from the origin server).
In operation, when a client makes a request for an object that is being served from the CDN, an optimal or “best” edge-based content server is identified. The client browser then makes a request for the content from that server. When the requested object is not available from the identified server, the object may be retrieved from another CDN content server or, failing that, from the origin server.
In some CDNs, such as Akamai FreeFlow® content delivery service, data about the content provider's (CP's) objects, or so-called “metadata,” is often directly encoded “in-URL,” namely in the HTML or SMIL directives that are modified during the content modification process. More specifically, metadata is the set of all control options and parameters that determine how a CDN content server will handle a request for an object. Such metadata may include, for example, a CP code or other internal tracking number used, for example, to facilitate billing, coherence information (e.g., TTL or fingerprint) about how CDN servers should cache the object and maintain its freshness, a unique serial number value that may be used for load balancing, access control data, a hostname identifying the origin server where a copy of the object may be located, and other feature-specific metadata.
By including object metadata directly in the HTML or SMIL directives, content providers may set up their metadata as part of the publication process, i.e., without requiring changes in their web server or involving network operations personnel. The “in-URL” embedding technique ensures that any modified URL pointing to the CDN has, in a self-contained way, the information needed to serve the object. On the other hand, the modified URL generated by this process is often long and complex. In addition, some content providers may only have a need to specify site-wide or global metadata specifications.
Thus, there remains a need to provide a framework that allows for both a simple method of creating modified URLs for sites with simple global metadata specifications, while allowing arbitrary complexity for sites with arbitrarily complex metadata needs. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field
Exemplary embodiments relate to a probe for use in conjunction with an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly, to a probe for use in conjunction with an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is capable of performing a test by closely adhering to a particular portion of a test subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is an apparatus which is configured to radiate an ultrasonic signal toward a desired portion at an inside of a body from the surface of a subject and to obtain an image with reference to a cross section of a soft tissue or a blood flow by using the information included in the reflected ultrasonic signal in an non-invasive manner. The apparatus as such, as compared with other display apparatuses such as an X-ray photographing apparatus, a CT apparatus (Computerized Tomography Scanner), an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image), or a nuclear medical diagnostic device, is smaller in size, less expensive, and capable of displaying images obtained in real time, and is not exposed to radiation of an X-ray, and thus relatively safer, thereby being used widely for the diagnosis of medical conditions relating to hearts, abdomens, genital organs, and in gynecology.
In particular, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a probe which is configured to transmit an ultrasonic signal to a subject in order to obtain an ultrasonic image of the subject and to receive an echo signal that is reflected from the subject.
A probe includes a transducer, a case which is provided with an open upper end thereof, and a cover portion which is coupled to the open upper end of the case in order to directly contact with a surface of the subject.
A transducer includes a piezoelectric layer which is configured to reciprocally change an electrical signal and a sound signal as a piezoelectric object vibrates, an acoustic matching layer which is configured to reduce a difference of a sound impedance between the piezoelectric layer and the subject so that the ultrasonic wave generated at the piezoelectric layer is delivered primarily to the subject, a lens layer which is configured to concentrate the ultrasonic wave which proceeds to a front portion of the piezoelectric layer to a certain position, and a sound absorbing layer which is configured to reduce a distortion of an image by preventing the ultrasonic wave from proceeding to a rear portion of the piezoelectric layer.
A probe which is configured for use in conjunction with an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes at least one of a concave-type probe which is used for a diagnosis relating to an abdomen and which has a concave surface thereof, a linear-type probe which is used for a diagnosis relating to one or more of breasts, a thyroid, and testicles and which has a flat surface thereof, an endocavity-type probe which is used for a diagnosis relating to a uterus and an ovary, and a hockey stick-type probe.
A muscular skeletal system (for example, shoulders and knees) having a curved surface thereof may not be convenient for using a linear-type probe provided with a flat surface thereof, as a footprint of the probe has a length which falls approximately within a range of between 40 mm and 50 mm, and thus the probe may not closely adhere to the curved surface of the subject. Therefore, multiple uses of a probe having a small footprint, such as a hockey stick probe, are required in order to perform a scan, and in a case in which a probe other than a linear-type probe is used, the probe may not be closely in contact with the subject, as the body figure of the subject and the shape of a probe may not be in correspondence to each other.
In addition, when an ultrasonic test is performed, an ultrasonic wave does not penetrate a bone and air, so in a case in which a probe configured for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus directly contacts the skin of the subject, the collection of data is not possible. Thus, in a case in which an ultrasonic wave diagnosis is being performed, a liquid is typically applied on the skin in order to eject the air which is situated in between the probe and the skin of the subject, or a pad provided with a liquid applied thereon is used. | {
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Mobile heating devices are known, such as for example heat radiators comprising one or more radiant elements, connected to each other and hydraulically communicating, each of which is defined by two metal plates connected in sealed manner with each other so as to define a central portion more or less extended with respect to the width of the plate.
The central portions are normally connected hydraulically with each other by means of upper and lower collectors.
A diathermic oil, heated by means of one or more electric resistances, is made to flow in the central portions and, through the collectors, from one radiant element to the other.
In the field of mobile heating devices of this type, one of the problems generally faced is that of transmitting heat energy in the room so as to heat the room as rapidly as possible, or to heat large-size rooms, keeping the temperature of the peripheral zones, which can easily come into contact with a part of the body of a user, particularly children, at a lower level with respect to that of the central portions.
The purpose is to keep said temperature at a level such as not to cause the user any burns.
In known heating devices, this problem has been faced, for example, by making, directly in the peripheral zones of the plates, geometries defined by bends or fins which allow to dissipate the heat arriving from the central portion towards the room.
Although efficient and appreciated, this known solution can be improved so as to obtain a temperature level in the peripheral zones of the plate even lower with respect to that obtainable at present, given the same heat energy emitted.
DE-A1-1679446 discloses a mobile radiator in which, for aesthetic reasons, thin covering plates are mounted in front of the edge of each single module of the radiator. The covering plates are fixed to a lower and an upper mounting cross-bars, which run for the length of the radiator, and are mounted with screws and rivets at a distance from the respective module of the radiator.
The covering plates are made with a material which does not affect the heat transmission, both by contact and by radiation, from the radiator to the environment.
One purpose of the present invention is therefore to improve the techniques currently used, achieving a mobile device for heating rooms which allows to keep at a lower temperature than that which is obtainable at present at least the zones that can easily come into contact with the parts of the body of a user, while still allowing to produce the desired and efficient heating of the room.
Another purpose of the present invention is to achieve a mobile device for heating rooms which has good accident-prevention characteristics and pleasant and personizable aesthetics.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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There currently exist laser shows and music shows which combine lights and lasers synchronized to music to enhance the experience of the audience. Besides an auditory experience, they add a visual aspect that thrills the audience. In a music show or the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics for example. In a live music show we have lights and lasers linked to the overall music and/or the beat or drums but none that links the audience to any particular instrument player as they play each individual note or beat. Similarly when a musician is practicing alone and would like an enhanced visual effect to every note that is played, there currently exists no such solution. There currently exists a need for a device that enhances the experience of both a single live instrument player alone and together with an audience | {
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This invention relates to actuator arms for data storage disc drives, and particularly to rigid actuator arms formed of pliable material, such as sheet metal, with integral struts arranged to support an actuator coil.
Rotating disc data storage devices store data along concentric tracks of a rotatable disc. An actuator assembly positions a transducer adjacent a selected track to transfer data between the disc media and the transducer. Electrical conductors couple the transducer to external circuitry, such as a data processor, so that data may be transferred to the transducer to write data to the medium and so that data read from the from the medium by the transducer may be transferred from the transducer. The actuator assembly consists of a rigid actuator arm that is pivotably mounted to the frame of the disc drive, a flexible suspension at the distal end of the actuator arm, a transducer mounted to the flexible suspension to xe2x80x9cflyxe2x80x9d a predetermined distance from the rotating storage medium, and a motor that rotates the actuator arm about the pivot point to move the transducer across the tracks on the medium. The suspension is resilient to provide a force, or load, to counter the upward force imposed on the transducer by the air movement supporting the transducer as it flies adjacent the rotating medium.
It is important that the actuator assembly have minimum weight to minimize inertia that may adversely affect the response of the motor and arm to actuation signals to move the transducer across tracks of the medium. The arm of the actuator assembly must be sufficiently rigid so that impulse and acceleration forces on the arm during a track seek operation does not bend or distort the arm.
Presently, arms of actuator assemblies are constructed of sturdy, lightweight materials, such as aluminum and aluminum alloys, plastic, and metal encapsulated plastic. The flexible suspension is attached to a distal end of the arm, such as by fasteners, swaging, staking, etc. Additionally, support mechanisms are employed to attach the motor, such as a coil, to the proximal end of the arm. These attachment mechanisms add weight to the actuator assemblies, adversely affecting inertia. Moreover, these attachments often require multiple assembly steps, adding to the cost of the actuator assembly. The present invention provides a solution to these and other problems, and offers other advantages over the prior art.
In accordance with the present invention, an actuator arm for a rotary actuator assembly is arranged to position a transducer adjacent a track on a rotatable data storage medium of a disc drive to transfer data between the transducer and the medium. The actuator arm comprises a substantially planar sheet of pliable material defining a longitudinal actuator arm having longitudinal edges, a distal end for supporting the transducer, a proximal end supporting an actuator coil, and a bore hole through the sheet having an axis aligned with the pivot bearing axis. The bore hole is arranged to receive the pivot bearing on the disc drive so that the arm may pivot about the pivot bearing axis for arcuate movement of the transducer. A strut integral with the sheet extends substantially normal to the plane of the sheet along at least a portion of at least one longitudinal edge and/or the proximal end of the arm. The strut provides rigidity to at least a portion of the arm.
In one embodiment, the strut includes a first integral strut portion extending along at least a portion of at least one longitudinal edge of the arm and a second integral strut portion defining a support at the proximal end of the arm. The actuator coil is wrapped about the support on the sheet.
In another embodiment, the strut includes first and second strut portions that extend along opposite longitudinal edges of the arm from a region of the bore hole to a location proximal the distal end. The strut portions define a rigid portion between the strut portions and a flexible suspension region distal to the rigid portion.
Other features and benefits that characterize embodiments of the present invention will be apparent upon reading the following detailed description and review of the associated drawings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In recent years, there have been various image forming apparatuses or multifunction peripheral (MFP), which can perform a tab printing function to insert tab sheets into desired positions in a printed document having a plurality of pages and printing letters and such on a tab of the tab sheet. Use of this tab printing function saves user's trouble of inserting tab sheets into specific portions or positions in a printed document or writing, thereby improving user-friendliness in creating a printed document with tab paper.
However, tab sheets do not come in only one size. Rather, tab sheets can have a main sheet having one paper size with tabs having different sizes and shapes, or alternatively, the paper size of the tab sheets can be different. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a system and method for recognizing tab sheets and displaying one or more sets of tab sheets as a thumbnail image on a graphical user interface of an image forming device and/or a printer driver user interface of client device. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to programmable thermostats and in particular to the display capabilities of such thermostats.
Programmable thermostats have heretofore included alphanumeric displays located within the thermostat. These displays are typically located on the front of the thermostat so as to be viewable by a person making selections as to set point temperatures that are to occur at various times of the day or night. The size of these displays is constrained by virtue of the limited space available for such displays on the front panel of the thermostat. As a result, the displays are relatively small resulting in only limited information being displayed. There is no room for on-screen instructions as to how to program the thermostat.
What is needed is a thermostat with a capability to legibly display more information than is permitted on the front face of the thermostat.
A thermostat is provided with an image projection capability that allows images concerning the operation of the thermostat to be projected onto a surface in the vicinity of the thermostat. The image projection is preferably accomplished by directing an internally generated image to an image enlargement device which thereafter projects an enlarged image onto the surface in the vicinity of the thermostat. The image is preferably generated by a microprocessor and displayed on an internal image forming device located within the body of the thermostat. One or more mirrors or prisms located within the body of the thermostat transfer the image to the image enlargement device which is preferably a convex mirror. The enlargement device is preferably mounted within a housing located on a top front portion of the thermostat so as to maximize the projection length onto the surface in the vicinity of the thermostat. The surface that receives the projected image is preferably defined by a screen affixed to the wall that the thermostat is mounted to. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to automotive windshields, and in particular to a temperature sensing and windshield crack detection device.
2. Discussion
The proper functioning of a vehicle's heated backlight of a rear windshield is an important aspect for the daily operation of a vehicle. This proper functioning of the heated backlight is made even more critical during the colder months of the year, when fogging and ice formation on the rear windshield is more likely to occur.
Malfunctions of the heated backlight can occur due to several reasons. A proper and expedient identification of the root cause for the malfunction is very useful for diagnosis of the malfunction. However, previous rear windshield configurations do not allow for early detection of cracks which would be severe enough to render the heated backlight inoperational. Moreover, past configurations do not provide for temperature monitoring of the vehicle's outside environment that would enable the vehicle to perform such functions as automatically turning on the heated backlight whenever the temperature falls below a predetermined set point. | {
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Patients may consume a number of prescription drugs or other medicines during the course of a day or week. These patients may keep lists or other records reminding them of how and when to consume their medicines. These patients may also refer to packaging while trying to adhere to dosage regimens for their medicines. It may be difficult for patients to keep track of all their medicines, let alone for them to remember proper dosage, refill, and other medicine and prescription information. | {
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The present invention relates generally to management of servers in a large wide area network and, more particularly, to processes for building servers consistently.
A large enterprise with hundreds or thousands of servers may easily build or rebuild 30 or more servers each month with a goal of having each server being built being as similar as possible to the other servers. Having this consistency in the server build process makes the support of the servers, once they are in production environment, much easier to manage. To this end, exhaustive effort is applied to developing processes and procedures to be followed while building a server. However, even with such processes and procedures, due to the number of persons involved in building servers and the odd times at which a server might need to be rebuilt, mistakes are often made which can cause problems once the server is in a production environment.
Prior art solutions for server customization use an assortment of batch files, Visual Basic scripts, and compiled executables. Each of these components can handle part of the installation process, but not the entire process.
Other prior art solutions require detailed manual step-by-step written procedures to make sure the technical components are executed correctly. More training is required for a manual approach because the installer has to understand the procedures and also know which technical tools to use to follow the steps of the procedures. This means that there is more room for error and inconsistency because the installer may miss a step or complete a step incorrectly. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laminated glazing comprising at least two rigid substrates joined by an interlayer comprising at least one sheet of a thermoplastic material, in particular, polyvinyl butyral (PVB) . More particularly, the invention relates to a laminated glazing for use as a sliding side window in the body of a motor vehicle, but it is nevertheless not limited to an application of this kind.
2. Background of the Invention
The side windows of motor vehicles are usually fitted by sliding the glass into the body of the vehicle, generally the doors. In order to be fitted in such a way that it can be moved, the window needs to be positioned in the mechanism by which the window is raised and lowered. This mechanism is referred to as the lifting mechanism.
Known methods of positioning of the type mentioned above may, without implying any limitation, be divided into two categories:
A first method of positioning involves a screw assembly. This method requires PA1 the drilling of one or more hole(s) through the window, then screwing two parts PA1 which are integral with the lifting mechanism tight against the two faces of the PA1 window by means of a screw passing through the hole(s). The second method of positioning is that which is described in EP 0 694 669, and involves assembly by gripping. This is done by making two plates bearing on the outer faces of the windows move towards one another, these plates generally forming part of the same U-shaped piece. Specifically, they are moved towards one another by one or more screws which are tightened with a high torque to ensure effective fastening, more particularly when the window is being lowered into the body. This high torque generates a very sizeable force gripping the outer faces of the windows, equal to at least 120 daN. The degree of the torque employed is dictated by the car companies.
There is an increasing demand from the same automobile manufacturing companies, to improve the performance of side windows of an automobile, especially in terms of acoustic insulation and mechanical strength, in particular resistance to break-ins. These factors contribute to the establishment of standards in force, such as regulation No, 43.
It is moreover known that monolithic glazings provide only minor attenuation of acoustic waves, and that the mechanical strength properties of glass windows are greatly enhanced when the glass is toughened. However, in the particular case of side windows, this mechanical strength should not be too high, because, when it becomes desirable to break the windows, for example in the event of an accident, it prevents rapid breaking and, therefore, impedes the possibility of rapid escape by the occupants of the vehicle.
This is why, in order to reach a satisfactory compromise between the abovementioned required properties, laminated glazings, which include glazings of two glass substrates and which have a differentiated level of toughening either from one substrate to another or over the surface of one or both glass substrates, in particular by making the core tensile stress greater in the marginal region of the glazing, have already been proposed, for example in patents EP 0 418 123 and EP 0 560 639.
In order to manufacture such a laminated glazing, it is necessary either to use a thermoplastic sheet of relatively large thickness and/or complex chemical formulation as an interlayer, or to make adequate use of bending/toughening devices designed for the aforementioned differentiated toughening, devices for which fine tuning may prove difficult. In other words, such manufacturing requirements significantly increase the costs of laminated glazings.
It has been found that laminated glazings prepared from two glass substrates having a low degree of toughening over their entire surface, which is to say the core tensile stresses are less than 35 MN/m.sup.2 and which have a thickness .ltoreq. 2.1 mm, and are joined together by a "conventional" interlayer such as a sheet of polyvinyl butyral (PVB), results in a perfect compromise between the properties of mechanical strength and acoustic insulation of the glazing which are desired for side windows which slide in the door of a motor vehicle. Such glazings meet standards such as rule No. 43, particularly from the viewpoint of resistance to breaking. What is more, glazings of this type are easy to manufacture using customary manufacturing techniques, which is advantageous from the industrial viewpoint.
It would, therefore, be beneficial, to substitute the latter type of laminated glazing for the optionally laminated toughened glazing mentioned above as side windows in motor vehicles. The problem which results from this substitution is, quite clearly, that of fitting the laminate glazing in question.
It would, therefore, be very beneficial, both in practical and economic terms, to be able to fit such glazings without major modification either to the frame of the side window or to the mechanism for moving it, particularly with respect to the positioning mechanisms mentioned above, since, among other reasons, it would make it possible to have standardized fittings for all the abovementioned side windows for motor vehicles.
Several types of solution may then be envisaged.
A first type consists in employing the screw assembly mentioned above. For this method a drilling step is required. This step may be carried out before or after the glazing has been laminated by the combined effect of a difference in pressure and heat, for example, in an autoclave. The drilling requirement may lead to a problem of matching up the holes. A second possible problem is that it may be difficult to effectively utilize this method because of the very fact that the thickness of the laminated glazing is small.
A second solution employs the gripping assembly mentioned above, wherein the gripping action is exerted on one of the two glass substrates whose dimensions are larger than the other's, as this configuration is described in EP 0 418 123. However, if the gripping assembly is applied to a substrate made of glass having a low degree of toughening with a thickness .ltoreq. 2.1 mm by means of the fixed tightening torque, this force will be too strong and the substrate will, therefore, fracture.
A third and last solution involves gripping on the sleeve of a rigid plastic piece extended by a U-shaped end part whose branches are bonded to the laminated glazing using an adhesive. However, as well as the fact that this method dictates a particular geometry for the piece which exerts the gripping, care must be taken, on the one hand, that the area of adhesive provided is sufficient and, on the other hand, that no part of the said plastic piece protrudes into the region of the seal which is referred to as the "weather strip", thereby preventing water from entering between the window and the door of the motor vehicle. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data and reproduction apparatus which is called a data streamer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a data recording method employing a magnetic tape as a recording medium, what is commonly called a non-tracking method is known.
As shown in FIG. 1, a magnetic tape T is wound around a rotating head, and tracks TK are formed obliquely with respect to the direction of the movement of tape. The non-tracking method is designed so that, by performing scanning at a density higher than that during reproduction as indicated by a solid line Pa and a dotted line Pb, all data on the tracks TK can be read without accurately tracing on the tracks, and by rearranging the read-in data by using the address recorded together with the data, a reproduction data stream can be reconstructed accurately.
FIG. 2 shows the structure of the tracks TK on a magnetic tape in the non-tracking method.
As shown in FIG. 2, one track is made up of 108 blocks, and one block is composed of 288 bits.
The 92 blocks in the central portion of the track are made to be a main data area, and an inner double recording area of 9 blocks and an outer double recording area of 7 blocks are formed on both sides of the main data area.
In the inner double recording area, data having the same content as that of the block in the main data area spaced 92 blocks away in the outward direction from the position of the inner double recording area is recorded. In the outer double recording area, data having the same content as that of the block in the main data area spaced 92 blocks away in the inward direction from the position of the inner double recording area is recorded. In other words, as shown in FIG. 2, data having the same contents as that of the leading 7 blocks (the shaded portion) of a data area 1 is recorded in the outer double recording area at a different address, and data having the same contents as that of the trailing 9 blocks (the dotted-line portion) of the data area 1 is recorded in the inner double recording area at a different address. Therefore, even if the touch position of the head is deviated due to fluctuation of tape, the data is designed to compliment each other. That is, blocks (data contents) which cannot be read, in particular, at the leading and trailing ends, will not occur for the data in the form of blocks which are recorded within the main data area.
The two central blocks of the main data area are allocated to an area for subcodes (AUX), each one block on both sides thereof is allocated to an area for IBG (Inter-Block Gap), and each four blocks on both sides thereof are allocated to an area for control codes (CTL). Further, on both sides thereof, data areas of 40 blocks are formed.
The signal format within one block is as shown in FIG. 2. The leading 11 bits are made to be a sync pattern, and an address ADRS is recorded by the subsequent 13 bits. The address ADRS is made up of a track address of 6 bits and a block address of 7 bits. Since a track address and a block address are recorded in each block in this manner, it is possible to reconstruct a data stream in an appropriate block sequence during reproduction.
In the case of a non-tracking method, since tracks TK are not always traced accurately, all blocks can be read out for each track by performing high-density scanning as shown in FIG. 1. In this case, however, the reading sequence of each block is random. The read block data is temporarily stored in a RAM. At this time, a writing address is created by using the track address and the block address in the RAM, and each block of data is written. Therefore, at the stage where all the blocks are read for a certain track, all the data of that track is arranged in the RAM. Therefore, if block data is read out in sequence from the RAM, an appropriate data stream is reconstructed.
Following the address ADRS, P and Q parities (P.sub.OD, Q.sub.OD, P.sub.EV, Q.sub.EV) each comprising 4 words are each recorded by 12 bits per word. Following the parity words, data comprising 16 words (DT.sub.1 to DT.sub.16) are each recorded by 12 bits per word. Following the 16-word data (DT.sub.1 to DT.sub.16), two CRCs (Cyclic Redundancy Check Codes) words are each recorded by 12 bits per word. An overwrite protect code (hereinafter referred to as an "OWP code") is recorded in the CRC word.
In the non-tracking method, since a deviation of a recording area is allowed, old data might be left without being erased near both ends of the track. Also, there might occur unerased portions which are not erased at overwrite time due to omission during recording or the clogging of the head. Since such unerased data is safe in terms of CRC during reproduction, the data is incorrectly recognized as correct data. Therefore, an OWP code is recorded as a code which is updated at each pause in the recording operation.
During reproduction, an OWP code is extracted from each block read out for a track to be scanned for reproduction, and a reference OWP code is set by a majority decision. In a case where an unerased portion has occurred in a certain portion within one track, the OWP code extracted from the unerased block is different from the OWP code which is extracted from the overwritten block. Therefore, when a track is reproduced, most correctly overwritten blocks can be read even if there is a partially unerased portion. Therefore, by deciding an OWP code by majority, the OWP code at the majority side can be determined as an OWP code set when it is correctly overwritten.
The above-mentioned OWP code is set as a reference OWP code. Thereafter, during reproduction for the series of records, data of the block having a different OWP code is determined to be unerased data, and the data can be nullified. Thus, it is possible to prevent erroneous data from being output.
The OWP code is recorded after Exclusive-OR is computed with the CRC of 24 bits in which the same two words are arranged. Therefore, during reproduction, it is possible to reconstruct the OWP code by computing Exclusive-OR with the CRC created from the reproduced data.
When recording data, such as computer programs, on a magnetic tape is taken into consideration, omission of data and recording of erroneous data during recording must be avoided. For this reason, the recorded data is checked after the data is recorded (check-after-write).
For this check, as heads to be disposed, for example, in a rotating drum, heads A.sub.1 and B.sub.1 are disposed, and heads A.sub.2 and B.sub.2 are disposed at positions oppositely facing the heads A.sub.1 and B.sub.1 by 180.degree.. Data is recorded in the form of tracks by the heads A.sub.1 and B.sub.1, and the data of the recorded tracks is reproduced by the heads A.sub.2 and B.sub.2 so that a check is made to determine if the data has been correctly recorded. The heads A.sub.2 and B.sub.2 trace the recorded tracks with a difference of several tracks with respect to the heads A.sub.1 and B.sub.1.
Here, when recording by the heads A.sub.1 and B.sub.1, the track address (ADA-V) is of a repeat value of 0 to 31, and the track address is incremented per one rotation of the drum, and is recorded in the address ADRS of each block of FIG. 2.
When, for example, there is a previously recorded data file on the tape T as shown in FIG. 3A, track address (ADA-V) 0 to 31 shown in FIG. 3B is repeatedly recorded for each track constituting the data file. The track address (ADA-V) also serves as an address of RAM for temporarily storing data during recording and reproduction as described above. When the RAM has a capacity for 32 tracks, a value from 0 to 31 is set in the track address (ADA-V).
It is now assumed that, for example, following the previously recorded data file, a new data file is begun to be recorded from the position indicating the start of recording as shown in FIG. 3A. If it is assumed that the track address (ADA-V) of the final track is sixteen when recording of the previously recorded data file stopped, a new data file is begun to be recorded starting at the track address (ADA-V) of 17. Then, the track address (ADA-V) is updated as 18, 19, . . . , 31, 0, 1 for each track.
In a case where recording by the heads A.sub.1 and B.sub.1 starts, the heads A.sub.2 and B.sub.2 which trace with a difference of several tracks will at first trace a previous data file. Therefore, the heads A.sub.2 and B.sub.2 trace data which is not related to the data of the track recorded by the heads A.sub.1 and B.sub.1, and thus the data read by the heads A.sub.2 and B.sub.2 is not necessary for checking data.
However, since, in practice, the point at which the tracks recorded for this time start cannot be determined from the reproduction data, a data check operation based on data read by the heads A.sub.2 and B.sub.2 must be also performed before the leading track on which recording is actually started as a data file for this time is reached. The data check operation for the previously recorded data tracks wastes electric power, and in some cases an improper check operation might be performed.
In a case where a series of data files are recorded on the magnetic tape T as described above, an OWP code is added; for example, for tracks which constitute file X as shown in FIG. 4A, an OWP code is recorded as OWP.sub.x in each block. Also, for tracks which constitute file Y, an OWP code is recorded as OWP.sub.y in each block.
When, for example, file X is reproduced, a reference OWP code is set in OWP.sub.x, the reference OWP code is compared with the OWP code for each block. When the reference OWP code matches the majority reference OWP code, the block is assumed to be valid data. Even if reproduction scanning is performed in the direction indicated by the long dashed line P in FIG. 4A and the block of file Y is read in, the block is set as OWP.sub.y and OWP.sub.y is different from the reference OWP code OWP.sub.x, and the block is not assumed to be valid data of file X. Thereafter, when the process proceeds to the reproduction of file Y, the reference OWP code is changed to OWP.sub.y because a greater number of OWP codes which become OWP.sub.y are read in, and the blocks of the file Y are assumed to be valid data.
It is now assumed that data file Z is overwritten on file X as shown in FIG. 4B and the OWP code in this case is OWP.sub.z. It is assumed that, however, an unerased portion occurs due to some reason, such as the clogging of the head, and previous data of file X is partially left as indicated by the shaded portion REC-ER in FIG. 4B.
If this data is reproduced, regarding data read out by the reproducing head from the magnetic tape T, unerased data D.sub.x which constitutes file X is contained in the middle of data D.sub.z which constitutes file Z as shown in FIG. 4C. The OWP code of the block having data Dx is OWP.sub.x as shown in FIG. 4D. Since the reference OWP code which is set during reproduction as shown in FIG. 4E is set to OWP.sub.z at first, and it is compared with the OWP code (OWP.sub.z) of the block having data D.sub.z, data D.sub.z is made to be valid reproduction output when a code match occurs.
However, when the process proceeds to the reproduction of the unerased portion, a great number of OWP.sub.x is read out, the reference OWP code is updated to OWP.sub.x as shown in FIG. 4F. After the reference OWP code is changed, the unerased data Dx which is read out is processed as valid data. Since a great number of OWP.sub.z is read out again after the unerased portion is reproduced, the reference OWP code is set to OWP.sub.z again, and data D.sub.z which is read out is made to be valid reproduction output.
With the above-described operation, in the reproduction of file Z, unnecessary data might be made to be valid data in a period ED.sub.1 as shown in FIG. 4F, and valid data which is read out in a period ED.sub.2 might be omitted, causing a serious problem that the reliability is decreased. | {
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Surgeons practicing in the field of neurosurgery have been aware for a number of years of the importance of perforating a patient's cranium at an angle of substantially 90.degree. to a plane tangent to the surface thereof. The purpose behind this requirement is actually twofold: first, a burr hole drilled at an orientation of 90.degree. to the surface of the skull prevents injury to the underlying dura and brain tissue which may otherwise be caused due to the continued rotation of the metal bit of the drilling apparatus once the bit tip exits the skull.
That is to say that, at an orientation of other than 90.degree., the drill bit of drilling devices in current use often continues to rotate after the tip portion has pierced the cranium, despite the incorporation of a standard, safety clutch mechanism commonly utilized with these drilling devices. The operation of this standard clutch is such that the drill should automatically stop rotating once the pressure upon the tip of the bit is released, i.e., once the tip of the bit passes entirely through the cranium.
In current state of the art drills, a secondary drill hole is used to prevent forward motion of a drill bit ("plunging") once the cranium has been penetrated. This secondary hole is made by using two concentric dill bits, that is, a primary bit is positioned inside a secondary bit. The secondary hole forms a platform which prevents forward motion once both the primary and secondary drill bits stop rotating.
The type of drill bit commonly utilized during neurological procedures, however, comprises an outer sleeve and a slideable inner sleeve, partially rotatable within the outer sleeve, which extends a minimal distance beyond the outer sleeve. If the burr hole is oriented at some angle other than 90.degree., while the trailing edges upon the outer sleeve of the bit are still engaging the bony surface of the patient's skull, the grinding surfaces upon the inner sleeve, which extend beyond those of the outer sleeve as noted above, can and often do cause serious injury to the underlying tissue within the cranial cavity.
In contrast, however, a burr hole aligned at an angle of substantially 90.degree. to the surface of the skull permits the clutch mechanism to operate properly and thus stops the rotation of the entire bit once the tip has penetrated the bone, preventing accidental injury to the brain and related tissues.
The second and no less important general purpose behind providing a burr hole at an angle of substantially 90.degree. to the surface of the skull is to ensure that a ventricular catheter subsequently inserted into the brain, perpendicular to the curvature of the cranium, will not deviate from its intended path due to a misaligned skull hole. Standard procedures for ventricular catherization are disclosed in the textbook literature (see, for example, Neurosurgery, edited by Robert H. Wilkins and Setti S. Rengachary, Section A, Chapter 13, "Techniques of Ventricular Puncture" (McGraw-Hill 1984).
A recently developed apparatus and procedure for ensuring correct catheter placement was, in fact, disclosed and claimed by one of the present applicants in U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,324, issued Sep. 23, 1986. The apparatus comprises a guide assembly which, when positioned over an orifice (previously drilled by other means) above the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle in the cranium, guides a catheter and obdurator through the orifice and into the lateral ventricle at an angle normal to an imaginary plane formed by a tangent to the cranium at the orifice.
Although, as discussed above, the importance of orienting one or more burr holes at an angle of substantially 90.degree. to the surface of the patient's skull during such a surgical procedure is well-known, there is currently no relevant art of which the applicants are aware which teaches how this burr hole through the patient's cranium can be prepared and aligned so as to extend through the skull at an angle of substantially 90.degree. to the surface thereof. The difficulty in producing such a precisely aligned burr hole has thus led to the search for a rapid, simple, inexpensive and accurate method and apparatus for perforating the patient's cranium at the required angle.
Another drawback of current perforators is their lack of re-start capability, that is, the ability to re-start the drill if drilling should stop prior to penetration of the cranium.
Current perforators incorporate a straight slot on the drive stem which engages a pin holding the inner and outer sleeves of the perforator together. The inner sleeve is also spring loaded thus allowing it to move along the axis of the perforator. The mechanism works provided that the inner drill is pressed against the drive stem by the pressure of the skull bone against its tip and subsequent compression of the spring. Once this pressure is relieved either by penetration of the inner table of the skull or by the surgeon relaxing the force on the perforator, the spring forces the drive stem to disengage from the inner drill, thereby preventing any further perforator penetration. Thus, the current design requires a surgeon to remove the apparatus from the burr hole and manually re-align the inner and outer drill sleeves with the drive stem before re-drilling can begin. While it is imperative that the perforator stop immediately after penetration of the inner table of the skull to prevent damaging the dura or the cortex, it is also important that the surgeon be able to stop and start drilling before completing the burr-hole. | {
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Social networking is a concept that an individual's personal network of friends, family colleagues, coworkers, and the subsequent connections within those networks, can be utilized to find more relevant connections for dating, job networking, service referrals, activity partners, and the like.
A social network typically comprises a person's set of direct and indirect personal relationships. Direct personal relationships usually include relationships with family members, friends, colleagues, coworkers, and other people with which the person has had some form of direct contact, such as contact in person, by telephone, by email, by instant message, by letter, and the like. These direct personal relationships are sometimes referred to as first-degree relationships. First-degree relationships can have varying degrees of closeness, trust, and other characteristics. These relationships can also be unidirectional or bidirectional. A unidirectional relationship typically means that a first person is willing and able to interact with a second person, but the second person may not be willing or able to interact with the first person. Conversely, a bidirectional relationship typically means that both people are willing and able to interact with each other.
Indirect personal relationships typically include relationships through first-degree relationships to people with whom a person has not had some form of direct contact. For example, a friend of a friend represents an indirect personal relationship. A more extended, indirect relationship might be a friend of a friend of a friend. These indirect relationships are sometimes characterized by a degree of separation between the people. For instance, a friend of a friend can be characterized as a second-degree relationship.
The above personal relationships, and others, can be utilized to find and develop relevant connections for a variety of objectives. Finding and developing relevant connections can be accelerated with online services. Such online social networking can be used to mine personal and/or interest relationships in a way that is often more difficult and/or time-consuming to do offline. Thus, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made. | {
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Internet streaming is the art of transmitting digital media in such a way that the media can be played at the receiver side as it is being received, without the requirement of saving a media file to disk. Streaming enables live broadcast in the digital world, similar to radio and television broadcasts in the analog world.
Conventionally, streaming has been used for time-based media, including digital audio and digital video. A user can listen to music generated from audio data and watch movies generated from video data, as the data is being received by his client computer from a server computer, without the need to save an audio file or a video file on the client computer. As additional data is received at the client, the music and video being played advance in time.
Image streaming is a new paradigm for non-time based media, useful for images and other media that can be interactively viewed and that require large amounts of data for storage. Although an image is a single frame, and not a time-ordered sequence, nevertheless there is great advantage in being able to interactively view the image as image data is being received, without the need to save the image data into a file.
A high-quality raster image generally cannot be displayed at its full resolution within a computer display screen. Instead, either a low-resolution version of the image can be displayed in full, or else a high-resolution version can be displayed in part. A user can interactively view different portions of the image by zooming in to a smaller portion of the image at a higher resolution, by zooming out to a larger portion of the image at a lower resolution, or by panning left, right, up and down within a fixed resolution.
Image streaming involves sending image data from a server computer to a client computer in response to a user's interactive viewing requests, in such a way that the client has the necessary data to display the currently requested portion of the image at the currently requested resolution. In distinction from audio and video streaming, which generally push data to the client in a time sequential order, image streaming generally pulls data from the server in an “on demand” order, based on individual user navigation. Thus, while a first user may navigate through the image in his own sequential order, a second user may navigate in a different order. In each case, “just enough data” is streamed to each user in order to satisfy each user's interactive requests.
For raster images, image streaming is implemented by generating versions of a raster image at various resolutions, and partitioning the image into rectangular local image tile regions at each generated resolution. A user request for a specific portion of the image at a specific resolution is satisfied by identifying and transmitting one or more appropriate local image tile regions.
Image streaming can be implemented using various architectures, including server-side rendering, client-side rendering, and hybrid server-side and client-side rendering. Server-side rendering requires the server to assemble together the appropriate local image tile regions, and crop and re-scale the assembled image as appropriate, to generate a single JPEG image, for each interactive user request. An advantage of server-side rendering is that image streaming is enabled for any client computer that has a conventional web browser running; i.e., it does not require special purpose software on the client side. Client-side rendering shifts the image processing burden from the server to the client. The appropriate local image tile regions are transmitted from the server to the client as raw unprocessed data, and the client does the processing work to assemble the local image tile regions. An advantage of client-side rendering is faster performance at the client.
A significant distinction between conventional time-based audio and video streaming and between non-time based image streaming, is recurrence of data that is rendered. Specifically, audio and video sequences are generally rendered in a one-pass forward play order, and the same data is generally not rendered more than once. Image navigation, however, is characteristically recurrent. While zooming in and out, and panning left, right, up and down, a user often returns to the same data over and over again. Typically, the same local image tile regions are rendered multiple times while a user is navigating through an image. As such, image streaming performance benefits greatly from tile caching.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,120 to Guedalia describes image streaming by transmitting local image tiles. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,121,970 and 6,356,283 to Guedalia describe embodiments of server-side image streaming that operate by modifying references to image files within HTML pages, using the Internet Imaging Protocol.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,536,043 to Guedalia and U.S. Pat. No. 6,721,952 to Guedalia et al. describe progressive image streaming, in which successive chunks of image data are transmitted, each successive chunk serving to upgrade the quality of the rendered image.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,226 to Guedalia describes a push-pull method and system for transmitting image data, in which data for a low quality version of an image is pushed to a user's desktop, and data for upgrading the quality of the image is pulled on demand by a user at will.
With the advent of wireless devices and the cost of transmission time for large digital files, it has become more practical to distribute vector images for large graphics, instead of raster images. Vector images are generally comprised of vector primitives, also referred to as vector objects, such as points, lines and areas, and raster images are generally comprised of arrays of pixel color values. Vector objects are typically specified by attributes, including inter alia attributes for a color, a style and one or more control points. As such, for large graphics, vector image files are typically much smaller than their counterpart raster image files.
Moreover, vector images are significant for maps that can be viewed at a variety of scales, such as maps displayed by GPS systems.
Vector images are also significant for rich text format documents, since true type fonts are generally represented as vector objects. Many of today's wireless devices, such as cellular phones, do not have the capability to render rich text documents, such as WORD and PDF documents. Instead, the documents are converted to plain ASCII text. For example, if a user receives e-mail with a WORD document attachment on his cell phone, the WORD document is generally displayed in plain text.
The lack of capability to render rich text documents in wireless devices is not due to inherent limitations in wireless communication or wireless device processors. Instead, the primary reason for not rendering rich text documents is the drawback of the download time required to receive such a document over the air and save it to memory. Clearly image streaming should be used to mitigate such drawback. Image streaming should enable a client device to render portions of a document on demand, as data for the document is being received at the client, without the need to save the entire document to memory.
However, conventional image streaming applications only stream raster images, and not vector images. Using conventional technology, vector images have to be first converted to raster images before they can be streamed from a server computer to a client computer. Such conversion clearly eliminates the size advantage of vector images over raster images.
There is thus a need for an application that streams vector images without conversion to raster images, so that vector images can be interactively viewed by a user on demand. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to aircraft in general and to lifting body aircraft in particular.
2. Prior Art
Lifting body aircraft are known in the art. The theory was pioneered by Dr. Alfired J. Eggers, Jr. who discovered that lift could be generated by modifying the shape of a blunt nose cone reentry vehicle. Eggers'theories led to several NASA and U.S. Air Force experimental aircraft in the 1960's and 1970's, namely the M2-F1, the M2-F2, the M2-F3, HL10, X-24A and X-24B. Eggers'lift concept can also be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,276,722. All of these craft generate lift with the fuselage of the aircraft only; i.e. without a wing.
The Eggers craft can generally be described as conical sections. They have a blunt nose, swept back sides, round bottoms, and generally flat tops. As the crafts move through air, the high profile of their curved lower surfaces causes a significant amount of air to be displaced up and around the body of the vessel. This does two things. First, pressure is being exerted on the air mass at the interface with the hull. In response to this pressure, the air is compressed and it is displaced, up and around the lower surface of the craft. Air has viscosity, so it resists both the compression and the displacement. The greater the speed at which the craft is moving, the greater the resistance of the air. This resistance of the air is transmitted as force to its surroundings. Thus, the air pressure below the craft will be increased.
Second, a lift body is designed to move forward with its nose slightly elevated. As the craft moves forward, the craft will displace air, rarefying (reducing the density of) the air above the craft. This will result in a decrease in pressure above the upper surface of the lifting body.
The difference between the increased pressure generated on the lower surface and the decreased pressure at the upper surface will result in an overall upward force on the lifting body. This upward force is lift.
Although lift bodies were previously known, limited maneuverability and stability of many of the craft in atmospheric flight created significant challenges. Moreover, the inventors are not aware of any that were ever able to takeoff under their own power. Rather, previous lifting bodies were all believed to carried aloft by a winged aircraft and released to perform rocket powered maneuvers and then to return to earth at a glide. Accordingly, a lifting body craft meeting the following objectives is desired. | {
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Charged particle beam columns are typically employed in scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which is a known technique widely used in the manufacture of semiconductor wafers, being utilized in a CD metrology tool, the so-called CD-SEM (critical dimension scanning electron microscope), and a defect review SEM. In a SEM, the region of a sample to be examined is two-dimensionally scanned by means of a focused primary beam of electrically charged particles, usually electrons. Irradiation of the sample with the primary electron beam releases secondary (and/or backscattered) electrons. The secondary electrons are released at that side of the sample at which the primary electron beam is incident, and move back to be captured by a detector, which generates an output electric signal proportional to the so-detected electric current. The energy and/or the energy distribution of the secondary electrons is indicative of the nature and composition of the sample.
SEM typically includes such main constructional parts as an electron beam source (formed with a small tip called “electron gun”), an electron beam column, and a detector unit. The detection unit may be located outside the path of the primary beam propagation through the column, or may be located in the path of the primary beam (the so-called “in-column” or “in-lens” detector). The electron beam column includes inter alia a beam focusing and collecting arrangement formed by a lens arrangement and a deflector. The deflection of the primary beam provides for scanning the beam within a scan area on the sample, and also for adjusting incidence of the primary beam onto the sample (an angle of incidence and/or beam shift).
One of the common goals of all imaging systems consists of increasing the image resolution. In SEM, in order to reduce the “spot” size of the electron beam up to nanometers, a highly accelerated electron beam is typically produced using accelerating voltages of several tens of kilovolts and more. Specifically, the electron optic elements are more effective (i.e. produce smaller aberrations) when the electrons are accelerated to high kinetic energy. However, in order to avoid damaging a sample (resist structure and integrated circuit) that might be caused by such a highly energized electron beam, the electron beam is decelerated just prior to impinging onto the specimen. Deceleration of the electrons can generally be accomplished by selectively creating a potential difference between the pole piece of a magnetic objective lens and the specimen. Alternatively, the same effect can be achieved by actually introducing electrodes having selective potential applied thereto.
Another known problem of the inspection systems of the kind specified is associated with locating defects (foreign particles) on patterned surfaces. The pattern is typically in the form of a plurality of spaced-apart grooves. To detect the existence of a foreign particle located inside a narrow groove, it is desirable to tilt the scanning beam with respect to the surface, which tilting should be applied to selective locations on the specimen. A tilt mechanism may be achieved by mechanically tilting the sample holder relative to the charged particle beam column, and/or by electronically tilting the primary beam propagation axis. | {
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Various 2-(hydroxyalkyl)-1H-benz[de]isoquinoline-1,3(2H)-diones have been prepared as chemical intermediates as note Fierz-David et al., Chem. Abst., Vol. 33, 1318.sup.3, Nursten et al., Chem. Abst., Vol. 44, 7829b and Yanagi et al., Chem. Abst., Vol. 54, 5426h. These compounds have been of particular interest as optical brighteners and intermediates in the preparation of optical brighteners as note Senshu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,834, Schellhammer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,958 and Chiaki et al., Chem. Abst., Vol. 61, 16210a.
These compounds are also disclosed as intermediates in the preparation of pharmaceutically active compounds in U.S. Ser. Nos. 501,411 (filed Aug. 28, 1974), now U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,227; 523,293 (filed Nov. 13, 1974), now U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,397; 538,976 (filed Jan. 6, 1975), now U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,452; 538,977 (filed Jan. 6, 1975); 543,558 (filed Jan. 23, 1975), now U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,398; 581,444 (filed May 28, 1975); and 586,678 (filed June 13, 1975). | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication device, and particularly to a power supply for a mobile communication device carrying out wireless data communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a mobile communication device such as a portable telephone and a car telephone, during communication to a base station, when a battery voltage becomes lower than a voltage necessary for the communication, the communication is cut off. Thus, after exchanging a battery, a user of the communication device must make operations again for connection of a communication line, such as a calling operation. Besides, since various kinds of information required for communication operations or for signal processing are stored in a RAM, they are lost at the exchange of the battery.
With regard to such a problem, for example, Japanese patent application Laid-open No. Hei. 5-22188 discloses a technique in which when a battery voltage is lowered, data stored in a RAM is stored in an EEPROM to protect the data.
FIG. 1 is a structural block diagram schematically showing a mobile communication device disclosed in the publication.
In FIG. 1, at the reception of a signal from a not-shown base station, the signal received through an antenna 51 is subjected to processing such as amplification and demodulation by a wireless section 52. Thereafter, the output of the wireless section is subjected to predetermined signal processing by a signal processing section 53 and is outputted as a voice from a speaker 54.
On the other hand, when a signal is transmitted to the base station, a line is connected by the operation of a key pad 60. Thereafter, a voice from a microphone 55 is subjected to predetermined signal processing by the signal processing section 53, and then, is subjected to processing of demodulation and amplification and is transmitted from the antenna 51.
A micro-computer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer) 56 is a circuit for controlling and processing these transmitting/receiving operations, and the information regarding the controlling or processing is stored in a RAM 57.
A battery 62 supplies power to the respective sections of the communication device, and the output voltage thereof is monitored by a voltage monitoring circuit 61. On the basis of the output of the voltage monitoring circuit 61, when the battery voltage becomes lower than a predetermined value, the microcomputer 56 stores the information stored in the RAM 57 into an EEPROM 58. In this way, the information is protected.
Thereafter, after an exchange of batteries is ended, the information stored in the EEPROM 58 is restored in the RAM 57, and on the basis of the information from the RAM 57, the microcomputer 56 makes setting of a transmission/reception channel, transmission/reception output level, and the like. That is, the state before the power was cut off is recovered. Then the operation of the device shifts to a communication operation.
On the other hand, in recent years, wireless communication of data from an information terminal such as a personal computer is carried out by using a mobile communication device. It is also possible to use the above described mobile communication device in this wireless data communication.
However, in the above described conventional mobile communication device, when a drop in battery voltage is detected, the information must be transmitted from the RAM to the EEPROM, and the information must be recovered from the EEPROM to the RAM after the exchange of batteries is ended.
On the other hand, even if the above described conventional mobile communication device is applied to the wireless data communication, data from the information terminal is lost by the voltage drop of the mobile communication device. Otherwise, it is necessary to interrupt the data communication by a communication application which has operated until now at the side of the information terminal. Thus, if the application at the side of the information terminal does not retransmit all the data lost during the interruption, data communication after resumption can not be realized. That is, the data communication which has been carried out by the communication application at the side of the information terminal comes to nothing, and the same data communication must be carried out again, so that finite radio frequencies are wasted, and also time is wasted. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to laser treating pile fabrics and, more particularly, to changing a fiber height in the pile fabric by laser energy, while maintaining a desired feel or hand of the fabric, wherein selected fabrics can exhibit color alteration.
2. Description of Related Art
Materials have commonly been used to make clothing, linens, footwear, belts, purses and wallets, luggage, vehicle interiors, furniture coverings, wall coverings, and many other manufactured goods. Consumer demand for graphics on these materials has increased over the recent years. Consumers often desire graphics on these materials to give the materials a unique and attractive appearance.
The typical methods of forming graphics on materials include dyeing, printing, weaving, embossing, and stamping. Unfortunately, such methods are very costly in terms of capital investment and operating cost. In addition, these prior methods are often unfriendly to the environment.
Lasers have been used in the fabric industry to cut fabrics into separate pieces. Lasers have also been used to fix dyes. However, in the past, certain technical barriers have often prevented the use of lasers to form graphics on certain fabrics.
Therefore, the need exists for a laser treatment of a pile fabric that can preserve the hand (feel) of the fabric, while still imparting a change in fiber length. That is, the need exists for pile fabric that can have a sculpted, three-dimensional appearance, without destroying the traditional soft feel of the pile. Thus, the aesthetic feel or tactile quality of something, such as a fabric, textile, or carpeting, that indicates its fineness, texture, and durability (hand) is substantially preserved, while imparting a variation in the pile height. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a messaging system comprising mobile terminals operated by users and a network for connecting the terminals to a message server comprising means for exchanging messages originating from the terminals, making use of an identification code.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such a system is generally known as a “voice mail” system. A voice mail system is, however, limited to the leaving of a message from A intended for B and the retrieval of that stored message by B.
People with occupations such as sales reps, maintenance engineers and the like do not see their colleagues very much and are often on the move. Such people nevertheless still need to communicate with their colleagues. Moreover, they often travel by car and are therefore limited in what they can do on the move. | {
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With the development of display technology, flat panel display devices, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), have advantages of high display quality, low power consumption, small thickness and wide range of applications, etc., and thus have been widely used in mobile phones, televisions, personal digital assistants, digital cameras, notebook computers, desktop computers and other consumptive electronic products, and the LCD has become the mainstream of the flat panel display devices.
A polysilicon (PS) thin film transistor (TFT) LCD is different from a traditional amorphous silicon TFT-LCD. Because lattice arrangement of polysilicon is regular, electron mobility of the polysilicon is over 200 cm2/V-sec. In a case that the polysilicon acts as an active layer of the thin film transistor, area of the thin film transistor is effectively reduced, so that aperture ratio is improved, and whole power consumption is reduced while brightness of the display device is enhanced. In addition, in a case that the active layer of the thin film transistor has high electron mobility, a part of drive circuits may be integrated on a glass substrate of the display device, which reduces a number of drive chips and greatly enhances reliability of the LCD panel. Therefore, the polysilicon TFT-LCD, especially a low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) TFT-LCD, has gradually become a research focus in the display field. | {
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The present invention relates in general to an optimistic, robust, distributed data base system, and in particular to a system for merging virtual partitions in a distributed data base system.
The purpose of a database system is to reliably store data and to process valid, authorized read and write requests on that data. A database system provides a uniform interface for accessing data by executing transactions. A transaction is a unit of work comprising a sequence of steps required to achieve some goal. Each transaction consists of an inhibition phase; a read, compute, and write phase; and a commit phase. In the initiation phase, the transaction is authenticated and assigned some priority for being executed. In the read, compute, and write phase, the transaction carries out the requested action. The commit phase installs all of the results written by the transaction into the database making them visible to other transactions.
The purpose of a "distributed" database system is to provide global database service to users at a collection of sites. A distributed database system is a coalition of sites that share access to a set of data. Each site maintains directory information about the data so that each site has knowledge of all data stored by the database system. Copies of the data itself are distributed among the sites. The sites are connected by a communication network consisting of some physical communication medium and a communication protocol for controlling communication over that medium. This basic communiction protocol is part of the network services of an operating system.
A distributed database must, under normal operating conditions, maintain internal and mutual consistency of the data stored by the system. Internal consistency is maintained if all database updates performed by committed transactions are reflected in the database, none of the updates performed by the uncommitted transactions are reflected in the database, and no transaction is allowed to read a data value written by another transaction that is not yet committed. A distributed database system maintains mutual consistency of the database if given a data item, all replicated copies of the data item are the same. Mutual consistency is defined to mean, "all copies converge to the same state and would be identical should update activity cease".
A "robust" distributed database system is one that processes transactions and preserves internal and mutual consistency even when system components have failed. There are a number of types of component failures. A "site crash" is a machine failure due to loss of power, operating system deadlock or panic, processor malfunction, or human intervention to restart a site. A "network partition" occurs when two or more groups of sites are running but are unable to communicate. "Media failure" occurs when a storage device fails while reading or writing data, rendering some portion of the stored data unreadable. "Software failure" occurs when the internal consistency or the mutual consistency of the database has been compromised due to an error in the implentation of the database system or due to the occurrence of failure types not managed by the protocol implemented by the software.
Preserving internal consistency in the event of failures requires some mechanism for undoing results written by uncommitted transactions and ensuring the results written by committed transactions are reflected in the database. Preserving mutual consistency in the event of failures in the distributed environment requires that all sites acquire knowledge of new data items and new values for existing data items in as timely a manner as possible.
A "robust" system should provide users with continuous service while maintaining internal consistency and mutual consistency of the database. The traditional approach to building a robust system has been to extend failure free protocols for maintaining internal consistency and mutual consistency. However, degrees of robustness can be gained only at considerable cost in time and storage space. In addition, a system can be robust only in the event of failures it can detect and have anticipated detecting.
A robust distributed data base system is described in the paper "Robustness in Distributed Hypothetical Databases" by D. Ecklund, published 1985 in Proceedings of The Nineteenth Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, and incorporated herein by reference. The system described in this paper establishes "virtual partitions" after system component failure prevents communication between various sites. Each virtual partition is a collection of sites that have access to a copy of the data base and which can still communicate with each other. The sites in each virtual partition continue to read and write access their copy of the data base even though they cannot communicate those changes to other sites in the system. The described system can support robust optimistic access control because under normal processing conditions the system ignores the possibility of update conflicts until they actually occur. If a failure partitions the network, the system may unknowingly process conflicting updates in separate partitions. In some sense the system ignores these conflicts until the failure is repaired and the partitions are brought back together. When the partitions are merged, the conflicting updates occur but are managed by implicitly deriving alternate versions. The general philosophy is that the results of conflucting updates will be by allowing one result to prevail over another.
However, the system described in the above mentioned paper is unsuitable for merging partitions in a hierarchical data base system wherein groups of data objects are grouped into "configurations" that themselves have version histories. While the system can resolve conflicting updates of low level data objects, it is unable to resolve conflicts between updates of configurations so as to provide a consistent version history of each configuration. | {
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In three-dimensional printing, building material is selectively jetted from one or more printing heads and deposited onto a fabrication tray in consecutive layers according to a pre-determined image data. In printing machines that utilize photopolymers as building material, the liquid layers are solidified, conditioned or cured using a radiation source. The radiation source may emit light such as ultraviolet (UV) light according to predetermined working parameters, such as output radiation intensity and spectral region. Formation of high-quality 3D objects requires maintaining the radiation power and wavelength region substantially constant. For example, the radiation power may only vary within ±5%-±10%. The intensity of the light source, however, may decrease in more that 10% from various reasons including deterioration of the light source, deterioration of a reflector of the light source, appearance of mist or undesired splashes of material on the protective glass of and the like. Further, the desired spectral region of the light source may shift so that light may be at less effective wavelengths. Accordingly, there is a need to monitor the radiation power and other characteristics of the radiation source.
It will he appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the drawings have not necessarily been drawn accurately or to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity or several physical components included in one functional block or element. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the drawings to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Moreover, some of the blocks depicted in the drawings may be combined into a single function. | {
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This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Most individuals and organizations, such as businesses and governmental agencies, utilize computers on a daily basis to perform a variety of functions. These functions may include, for example, email, internet access, word processing, computer-aided design, media streaming, and many others. Indeed, individuals and organizations not only utilize their own computers to perform these functions, but since many of the functions are “cloud-based” most individuals and organizations utilize servers in data centers around the globe to perform many of these functions.
As organizations grow, the number of users and, thus, computers and associated devices, such as file servers, email servers, routers, etc., increase as well. Hence, many organizations utilize Information Technology Operations Management (ITOM) tools to manage such systems. The ITOM tools may include policies, processes, and procedures to design and maintain the computers and associated functionalities for an organization. For example, ITOM tools may keep track of user computers and associated software, servers, routers, etc., within an organization so that administrators can determine when users have been added or removed, when equipment has been added, removed, or needs to be upgraded, when software needs to be updated, etc.
When dealing with individuals or small organizations, such tasks can be relatively straight forward and easy to perform. However, as organizations and their associated information technology (IT) infrastructure grows, designing and maintaining such systems can be a difficult task. To facilitate the management of IT systems in such organizations, discovery services are available to provide administrators a process by which devices, software, and associated functionalities may be discovered and mapped. Some of these discovery services may be cloud-based where an ITOM service provider maintains one or more datacenters that can facilitate discovery services within an organization's network or networks to perform such discovery services, while other discovery services may be performed “on-premises” by IT administrators utilizing discovery software residing within the organization's computer network.
The resulting map of devices, software, and associated functionalities produced by the discovery service may be utilized by IT administrators to design and maintain an organization's computer network. For example, using a map produced by a discovery service, an IT administrator can monitor the status of the hardware or software connected to provide a software service of the computer network. Such discovery services may require that an IT administrator configure how the discovery service will operate, for example, by manually creating a discovery profile used to identify aspects of IT systems to be discovered. | {
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This invention relates to a tubular medical device designed for invention into a body, for example a hollow organ or body cavity heart, blood vessel, alimentary canal, urethra, abdominal cavity, etc.), for medical examination or treatment, and especially to a tubular medical device used for guiding an endoscope into a hollow organ or body cavity to examine.
Low invasive operations are gradually taking the place of high invasive operations such as incision. Especially, application of endoscopic surgery using an endoscope has rapidly spread in recent year.
Endoscopic surgery was generally in the field of digestive organs. It was then applied to the field of respiratory organ, ear/nose/throat, neurosurgery, obsterics and gynecology, and orthopedics.
A small-diameter endoscope system used for endoscopic surgery comprises a catheter body which is inserted into the body of a patient and a control portion which an operator manipulates by hands. The catheter body is generally provided at the distal end portion with a mechanism which turns the distal end portion in an intended direction in order to make the distal end portion proceed along a curved or branched hollow organ (insertion path) or to view a different part of the organ.
To make the distal end portion of a tubular medical device bendable, a method which connects two or more articulation rings movably in series and bends the distal end by pulling a wire (wires) is used. However, a tabular medical device which does not have articulation rings is proposed to meet the increasing request for a thinner endoscope.
The tubular medical device has a closely wound coil with a compression resistance in She direction of the axis securely held in a lumen extending throughout the entire length of the tubular body except the distal end portion. This tubular medical device has a wire whose distal end is secured near the distal end of the tubular body away from the axis and which is passed through the compression-resisting member or another lumen. The distal end port of this tubular medical device can be bent from outside the body by pulling the proximal end of the wire (Japanese Patent Application laid open under No. 94-343702). This tubular medical device is made so that only the distal end portion bends to pull on the wire, by putting a closely wound coil in the tubular body which resists compression in the direction of the axis.
In the manufacturing process of this tubular medical device, a lumen in which the closely wound coil is held is formed in the tubular body, then the closely wound coil is inserted into the lumen to the predetermined position, and the coil is secured in the lumen at some portions (distal end portions and proximal end portion of the coil, for example). To make iron of the coil into the lumen in this process, the interior diameter of the lumen must be made a little larger an the exterior diameter of the coil, and hence a certain gap is inevitably formed between the aside wall of the lumen and the outside surface of the coil. Because of its very smear exterior diameter of the coil and a gap between the side wall of the lumen and the outside surface of the coil, the coil easily bends in the lumen to a small compressing force except the secured portions.
If the wire is pulled when the coil is thus bendingand the pulling force is applied in a direction deviated from the direction axis, the coil bends easily. As the result, not only the distal end portion of the tubular body but also the potion with the coil put in bends, and hence the distal end portion does not bend accurately according to pull on the wire.
The object of this invention is to solve the above problem, by providing an improved tubular medical device for insertion into a body only the distal end portion of which bends accurately according to the pulling force.
This object is attained by the tubular medical device of this invention which comprises a tubular body, a lumen extending in almost entire length of said tubular body, and a compression-resisting member which is held in said lumen with a distal end positioned at a predetermined distance from a distal end of said tubular body to a proximal side and secured in said lumen so as not to move in a direction of an axis of said tubular body, a wire whose distal end is secured at a position a wall of said tubular body close to said distal end of said tubule body and displaced from the axles of said tubular body and whose a proximal end is lead out of a proximal end of said tubular body, means for pulling said wire which is provided at the proximal side of said tubular body and operated to control a direction of a distal end portion of said tubular body by said wire. The said compression-resisting member comprises a major component which constitutes an essential part of said compression-resisting member and resists a pressure in a direction of a length and secured portions which are connected to said major component or formed as integrated parts of said major component | {
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Personal subscriber stations such as cellular telephones or other Personal Communication System (PCS) equipment are commonly used to communicate with other parties via a wireless communications system, such as a cellular telephone network. The ability of a personal subscriber station to access and properly operate within a wireless communications system depends in large part upon certain unique, and often secret, operational information which is programmed into each subscriber station prior to activation of wireless service, or initial use of the equipment within the wireless system. Generally, this operational information is used for such things as "authentication" of the subscriber station. Authentication is a procedure whereby information is exchanged between a subscriber station and a base station for purposes of enabling the base station to confirm the identity, or validity, of the subscriber station. A standardized method for authenticating a cellular subscriber station has been established by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). This procedure is described in EIA/TIA Interim Standard IS-54 (IS-54) and TIA/EIA Telecommunications Systems Bulletin TSB50 (TSB50), both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
A successful outcome of the authentication process generally occurs only when it can be demonstrated that the subscriber station and the base station process identical sets of Shared Secret Data (SSD). This Shared Secret Data is generally a multi-bit pattern stored in semi-permanent memory of the subscriber station. It is, however, known to the Base Station and is calculated, or derived, based upon certain information which may include operational information unique to the subscriber station. One method of deriving SSD is more thoroughly disclosed in TIA IS-54.
Operational information may include such things as a Mobile Identification Number (MIN), or a Personal Identification Number (PIN), sometimes referred to as "A-Key". A Mobile Identification Number generally refers to the directory telephone number assigned to the particular subscriber unit and is considered non-secret. The Personal Identification Number on the other hand is a secret number which is managed by the Home Service Operator for each subscriber station. The PIN is intended primarily for use in "authenticating" the subscriber station. Both the PIN and MIN identities are uniquely assigned to a particular subscriber station which is further distinguished by an Electronic Serial Number (ESN). The ESN may be, for example, a 32-bit binary number which uniquely identifies the subscriber station to any cellular system. It is generally factory-set and is not readily alterable since modification thereof generally requires a special facility not normally available to subscribers. Whereas the ESN and MIN are generally not regarded as secret information, the PIN, or A-Key, is usually considered confidential. This confidentiality, however, may be jeopardized under commonly accepted practices for authenticating a cellular telephone or the like.
Generally, confidential operational information such as A-Key information is generated for a subscriber station only when a new customer, or subscriber, contracts with a wireless communication system operator (Home Service Operator) for wireless service. However, A-Key information may also be generated in those situations when the validity of an active A-Key value is in question.
A procedure for loading confidential A-Key or Authentication information, or the like, into a subscriber station via a numeric keypad, is described in TIA IS-54 and TIA TSB50. Under this procedure, A-Key information or values are usually generated and issued to a new subscriber by a Home Service Operator. The A-Key value information is then delivered to the new subscriber, in printed form, either at the point of sale by an agent of the Home Service Operator or via the postal service. With reference to FIG. 2, once the "A-Key" value information is received by a subscriber, the information must be manually entered, or programmed, via a keypad (23) into the subscriber station (20) during a special programming mode of the subscriber station. This information is then stored in the A-Key register (21).
Under the procedure for loading authentication information into a subscriber station described in IS-54 And TSB50, the confidential authentication information is, at best, only minimally secure from the risk of theft or pirating. This is due, in part, to the fact that operational personnel involved in generating, issuing, printing and mailing authentication information to subscribers, have access to the authentication information and ample opportunity to pirate the information during the course carrying out their duties. Further, by mailing authentication information to a subscriber, there exists the additional risk that the authentication information can be intercepted, or retrieved from the mail, by an unauthorized party. The stolen authentication information could then be loaded into a "clone" or "pirate" subscriber station, while the printed material disclosing the authentication information is re-mailed or otherwise allowed to reach the legitimate subscriber who would have no immediate knowledge that this confidential operational information had been pirated.
Other disadvantages of this method of generating and entering authentication information include the fact that the manual entry of, for instance, a 26 digit authentication number into a subscriber station can be awkward or burdensome for a user. Further, if an error is made during the manual entry of the authentication number the entire authentication number must be re-entered, since it is not possible to correct only the erroneously entered digit or digits. | {
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A storage system storing logical volume data in a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) 6 configuration stripes the volume data across corresponding physical regions on two or more data storage devices, and stores two parity values to corresponding physical regions on two parity storage devices. As a result of mathematical calculations (e.g., Reed Solomon encoding calculations), storage devices arranged in a RAID 6 configuration have an ability to recover from a failure of any two of the storage devices.
An additional feature of RAID 6 is an ability, while processing a write operation, to recalculate the two parity values without retrieving all the corresponding physical regions on the data storage devices. For example, while processing a request to write new data to a given one of the storage devices, the two parity values can be calculated using the new data, existing data currently stored on given one of the storage device that is to be replaced with the new data, and two existing current parity values currently stored on the parity storage devices. Therefore, to process a request to write data to a given data storage device in a RAID 6 8+2 configuration, the two parity values can be calculated with data obtained via three read operations.
Documents incorporated by reference in the present patent application are to be considered an integral part of the application except that to the extent any terms are defined in these incorporated documents in a manner that conflicts with the definitions made explicitly or implicitly in the present specification, only the definitions in the present specification should be considered.
The description above is presented as a general overview of related art in this field and should not be construed as an admission that any of the information it contains constitutes prior art against the present patent application. | {
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Composites may be fabricated with thermoset plastics such as epoxies, polyurethanes, and silicones. Epoxies may be produced by reacting an epoxy resin and a hardener. Polyurethane polymers can be formed by reacting an isocyanate with a polyol. Silicones may comprise polymerized siloxanes with organic side groups.
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene have been used to reinforce thermoset plastics like epoxies, polyurethanes, silicones, and other resins and polymers. CNTs, functionalized CNTs (or hybrid CNTs, denoted HNTs), graphene, and functionalized graphene may collectively be referred to as hybrid graphitic materials (HGMs). These HGMs can be incorporated into any of the epoxy components such as the epoxy resin and hardener. HGMs may also be incorporated into polyurethanes and silicones.
Thermoset plastics, CNTs, graphene, and HNTs may increase modules and toughness, but elasticity may be preferred for certain plastic composites. In order to increase elasticity, siloxane may be added. Siloxane backbone may be coiled, and it can be covered by alkyl or aryl groups in silicones. Thus, silicones can be very flexible and hydrophobic. Hydrophobicity can be increased by functionalization with groups such as fluorinated alkyl or aryl groups.
Numerous functionalization methods for the CNTs have been developed. These include nitric acid/sulfuric acid oxidation of the CNTs, aryl radical addition to the CNTs, ball milling induces addition of amines and sulfides into the CNTs, butyl lithium activated coupling to alkyl halides, and ultrasonic vibration assisted addition of many reagents, including amines, and epoxies. Improving mechanochemical reactions, such as mechanical or ultrasound cutting, may induce chemical reactions of the CNTs.
An anticorrosive coating may contain sacrificial metal particles, such as zinc particles. The concentration of the particles may exceed the percolation limit, which is about 30% for spherical particles. High concentration of these particles can reduce the integrity of the coating, especially if the particles are not chemically bound with the polymer. Anticorrosive coatings may use sacrificial metal particles that are electrically connected with a coated metal surface through a CNT or graphene network. Using the CNT or graphene network may require less sacrificial metal particles within an anticorrosive coating. Additionally, the graphitic material may be coated with a metal layer. The metal layer may be comprised of nanoparticles or microparticles. The metal particles may be coated with a thin oxide layer unless the graphitic material is coated in the absence of oxygen. With the nanoparticles, the oxide layer can be a relatively large part of the particle. The oxide layer may also be a large portion for a metal coating around a CNT. Besides metallic particles, the particles may also be ceramic. | {
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The present invention relates to fibrous web finishing. In particular, the invention concerns a method according to the preamble of claim 1 for increasing the smoothness of paper and board webs by mechanical treatment.
Paper is normally manufactured by the wet method. According to that method fibres are suspended in water to form a fibrous furnish and a wet web is formed from the furnish on a wire screen. The web is then dried step by step using different mechanical and thermal systems to a preselected state of dryness.
In conventional technology, the fibrous furnish is maintained in turbulent state before web formation in order to avoid orientation of the fibres. However, as a result of the turbulence, there will be formed flocks in the web, having a fibre density larger than that of the surrounding parts of the web.
For the purpose of all printing operations, the surface of the paper should be as smooth and/or homogeneous as possible. The same is true for papers coated with mineral particle layer and latex binding materials. Therefore, very often (base) papers are calendered before coating and also papers containing mineral fillers are treated with a calender for achieving a smoother surface. Calendering is in particular necessary for certain paper qualities because of the above-mentioned flock formation.
There are numerous types of calenders, but all of them even the surface by mechanical pressing and sliding forces. Conventional calendering is hampered by some considerable disadvantages. After remoisturing, a surface smoothened by calendering will totally or partially regain its original form. It is also known that papers loose up to 35-40% of its strength properties and 25-35% of its original opacity as a result of calendering. Further, the original tenacity of the paper web will remarkably decrease.
In view of the above problems related to calendering, great efforts have been made to avoid said flock formation and to find some different methods for surface smoothening.
U.S. Pat No. 2,349,704 discloses a method for polishing the surface of a paper web with a cloth polishing roll. The surface of the roll contains a powdered abrasive which is bound to the surface with the aid of a binder. The object is to press and polish paper to the same extent as is made by the supercalendering process, and according to specification of the patent, the density of the treated paper is the same as after a supercalendering process and gloss, measured by a Baush and Lomb glossmeter, is 10 points higher than before the treatment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,244 discloses another method, somewhat similar to the one mentioned above, for polishing paper with a woven belt which slides at different speed over the paper web than the web itself, producing frictional action.
A soft calender device which acts as a rubbing friction device on paper surface is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,738. The device will smoothen the paper surface in the same way as original supercalenders.
None of the prior art method will provide for a satisfying removal of high density flocks from the paper surface. Further, it is apparent that the strength properties of the paper deteriorate during the application of the known methods.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a novel method for treating the surface of a fibrous web, in particular a paper or board surface in order to improve its smoothness while substantially retaining the mechanical properties of the web.
The present invention is based on the surprising finding that the surface of many fibrous webs can be smoothen by grinding off only the most protruding parts of the web with a grinding means, such as a grinding belt or viberating grinding device or rotating grinding cylinder, to provide a smoothened surface having unaltered or even improved properties of mechanical strengthness. In particular, the presention comprises grinding in the dry state (xe2x80x9cdry grindingxe2x80x9d) only the higher parts of fibrous web (in cross section) while pressing the surface against the grinding surface so little that no noticeable increase of density of the web can be found.
More specifically, the invention is mainly characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of claim 1.
The present invention provides a number of advantages. Surprisingly, it has been found that, e.g., ground paper had a better tensile strength and also better bursting strength that the original paper. Although we do not wish to be bound by any particular theory, it would appear that this phenomenon is based on the forces inside the stressed web becoming more evenly distributed when the strength of the parts having the highest strength is decreased. Initially, because of the poor evenness (formation) of the paper web, the forces are not so strong at the thinnest part of the paper. However, grinding will redistribute the adhesion forces within the web matrix. Another possible explanation is that fines generated obviously during the grinding process and also fibrils, one end of which still sticks to the original fibre, are reassembled on the surface.
During the surface grinding process of the present invention, very limited amounts of loose fibres and dust are formed. This is probably because the grinding friction of the present invention will release some water vapour from the surface and it will condense on the paper leaving the grinding process part of machinery. This condensed water will bind fines back to the surface.
Next the invention will be examined in more detail with the aid of the following detailed description and with reference to a working example.
Within the scope of the present invention, the terms xe2x80x9ccellulosicxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9clignocellulosicxe2x80x9d are used to designate materials derived from cellulose and lignocellulosic materials, respectively. In particular xe2x80x9ccellulosicxe2x80x9d refers to material obtainable from chemical pulping of wood and other plant raw material. Thus, a web containing xe2x80x9ccellulosic fibresxe2x80x9d is made for example from kraft, sulphite or organosolv pulp. xe2x80x9cLignocellulosicxe2x80x9d refers to material obtainable from wood and other plant raw material by mechanical defibering, for example by an industrial refining process, such as refiner mechanical pulping (RMP), pressurized refiner mechanical pulping (PRMP), thermomechanical pulping (TMP), groundwood (GW) or pressurized groundwood (PGW), or chemithermo-mechanical pulping (CTMP) or any other method for manufacturing a fibrous material which can be formed into a web and coated.
The terms xe2x80x9cpaperxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpaperboardxe2x80x9d refer to sheet-formed products containing cellulosic or lignocellulosic fibres. xe2x80x9cPaperboardxe2x80x9d is synonymous with xe2x80x9ccardboardxe2x80x9d. The grammage of the paper or paperboard can vary within broad ranges from about 30 to about 500 g/m2. The roughness of the web which is to be treated in about 0.1 to 30 xcexcm, preferably about 1 to 15 xcexcm. The present invention can be employed for treating any desired paper or paperboard web. As a practical matter, the term xe2x80x9cpaperxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cpaper webxe2x80x9d is herein used to designate both xe2x80x9cpaperxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpaperboardxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpaper webxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpaperboard webxe2x80x9d, respectively.
The terms xe2x80x9cfinesxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cfibrilsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cfibresxe2x80x9d denote finely divided material having a cross-sectional diameter of less than about 10 xcexcm, typically in the range of 0.001 to 2 xcexcm and the xe2x80x9cfibrilsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cfibresxe2x80x9d are materials having a length to cross-section diameter ratio of more than about 6.
The xe2x80x9croughnessxe2x80x9d of the web which is to be coated is generally given as xe2x80x9cmicronsxe2x80x9d (xcexcm). The print-surf surface roughness at 1000 kPa can be measured according to, for example, ISO 8791-4:1992 (E). Typically the roughness of paper webs is in the range of 8 to 2 microns. As discussed below and shown in the working examples, by subjecting the surface of a paper or paperboard web to a grinding treatment according to the invention, it is possible to reduce the roughness of the web by at least 20%, preferably about 40 to 60% while maintaining the mechanical properties of the web.
The present invention comprises the steps of forming a wet web from a fibrous furnish on a wire screen. The web is then dried on a paper or board machine to preselected state of dryness. At any desired point of the drying, but preferably after the web has been dried to sufficient dryness to impair reasonable mechanical strength on the web, the web is subjected to a dry grinding operation as explained in more detail below. The grinding can be carried out between the unwinding and winding of the web. After the grinding and possible smoothing, the treated web can then be coated with suitable coating colours as known per se.
The grinding according to the invention is carried out by contacting the surface of the paper web with a grinding means. According to a preferred embodiment of the present grinding process, the grinding is made by grinding grains fixed to a movable grinding belt or a vibrating plate which produces a not glossy but faded or mat surface. The preferable size of the grinding media grains is between about 5-20 micron, of course depending on the surface quality and the surface weight of the paper or board. The surface of the grinding medium is essentially dry (moisture content less than about 50%, preferably less than 20% and in particular less than 10%) and preferably no water is fed between the web and the grinding medium during grinding.
According to the present invention, it is essential that the higher points, i.e. the xe2x80x9chillsxe2x80x9d. are ground away from the paper surface and for fulfilling this goal the grinding belts back support and the papers support must be built so that only higher level parts from papers surface are removed. Generally, the roughness of the surface, as measured in micrometers, is reduced by 10 to 90%, preferably about 40 to 60%, after grinding.
During grinding, the web is subjected to a grinding energy on the order of 700 to 14,000 J/m2, preferably about 2,000 to 8,000 J/m2. According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the web is subjected to 2,000-3,000 J/m2 grinding energy/micron roughness of the web. As mentioned above, the mechanical properties of the paper or board remain unchanged by the grinding according to the present invention. They can even be improved by the grinding as explained above. Thus, when the roughness of the surface is reduced by a maximum of 90% the strength properties of the web will remain essentially unchanged or they are improved. When the roughness of the surface is reduced by about 40 to 60% the tear strength is increased with at least 5% (preferably over 10%) in comparison to an untreated web.
A visual inspection of a paper treated by the present grinding method reveals that the opacity of the paper is not significantly changed when 40 to 60% of hills and similar irrregularities on the surface have been subjected to grinding. At the same time, the mechanical strength of the paper is excellent.
The pressure exerted on the web can vary within a wide large as long as no significant compressing of the paper takes place. This would otherwise weaken the mechanical strength of the web. Generally, the surface pressure of the grinding should be about 0.01 to 20 kPa, preferably about 1 to 10 kPa.
After the grinding it is advantageous to remoisturize the treated surface and press it slightly against a very smooth surface or against a moving smooth surface for getting all loose fibres and fines back to the surface. This treatment will even further smoothen the ground surface. For moisturizing, steam or water vapour can be used as well as a mist containing evenly distributed small droplet produced by, e.g., an ultrasonic treatment, and which can be attached to the surface by ionization methods.
In an article titled xe2x80x9cFriction in Wood Grindingxe2x80x9d (Paper and Timber, Vol. 79 (1997) No. 4) wood grinding with a grinding stone is discussed in some detail. The authors claim that a grinding speed of less than 7 m/s is totally ineffective and that only at speeds of 10 to 30 m/s the grinding stone will release some fibers from wood. At lower speed only some unwanted fibrillation will take place on the contact surface of wood.
The present invention is based on the opposite concept: we do not want to release whole fibers from the surface of the paper or board web, but instead only fibrils and loose parts of fibers. Therefore, the velocity difference can, according to the present invention, be in the range of 1 to 10 m/s and still satisfying results are obtained. However, according to another embodiment the higher the speed difference between the belt and paper or board to be grinded, the better the result. The best way to do it is to arrange the belt and web to be running in the same direction but with different speed. This provides for efficient removal of dust. High grinding speed is advantageous for two different reasons: firstly, it will prevent dust and fines from gathering on the belt and, secondly, at high speed the surface pressure can be kept low and melting of resins, lignin etc. does not take place on the surface and so the grinding belt or other grinding media surface will not to be blocked. The critical speed depends on the wood or pulp quality from which the paper or board has been made and also on the quality of the grinding particles on the grinding media surface. The grinding speed and pressure must nevertheless always be kept on a level where no local heating will happen to the extent that resins and lingnins are softened. Should this happen, the grinding medium would soon be clogged with fibres, resins, lignin and loose dust from the web.
According to a preferred embodiment, wherein a belt grinder comprising a dry belt of a polymeric material is used, the fibrous belt is friction electrified as a result of the grinding. Therefore, fibrils and fine particles released from the web by the grinding are rebound to the surface by electrostatic forces between the fibrils and the web. No dusting of the web takes place. The electrical loading of the surface can also be effected before grinding in order to increase the electrical load of the surface.
By treating the fibrous web with cationized starch or a similar cationic material, conventionally used for improving retention of pigments or fines on the wire of a paper or board machine, the cationic material will effectively bind fibrils loosened during the grinding process to the surface.
According to a further preferred embodiment, the ground surface, which as mentioned above, is usually faded or mat after grinding, can be made glossy by moisturizing it slightly with steam and pressing it against a smooth surface.
A paper or board treated according to the present invention can be coated or used as such optionally after glossing with a conventional calender or, preferably as explained above, after moisturizing. For coating purposes the paper can be provided with a polymer layer, a barrier layer, a laquer or with normal coating colours. These papers and board are particularly suitable for printing and writing and ink jet printing. Untreated optionally glossy-quality products are also suitable for packaging, wrapping and bagging purposes.
The following non-limiting example illustrates the invention: | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a temperature control method in image forming apparatuses, such as copying machines, and laser printers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, in the image forming apparatuses, temperature rise suppression control has been implemented not to give rise to image defects due to temperature elevation, in other words, to form good images on a recording medium even if the interior temperature rises during an image forming operation. For example, as discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-194921, a control system is installed to control the apparatus to temporarily stop the image forming operation when the internal temperature reaches a predetermined temperature level, and a cooling operation takes place to reduce the temperature in the apparatus, and after the temperature is cooled to some extent, the image forming operation is resumed.
However, when the image forming operation is stopped temporarily for the purpose of cooling, a drop in throughput accrues. In this respect, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-156758 proposes an image forming apparatus configured such that when a temperature reaches a level at which the image forming operation is to be changed, cooling is performed in such a manner that the image forming time will be as short as possible on the basis of a number of images yet to be printed and a temperature change rate based on the apparatus's interior temperature detected at that time.
In this conventional technology, however, in the control method that changes the operation to another stage after a fixed temperature for a change of operation is reached, no consideration has been given to controlling the image forming operation until the temperature rises to a level for a change of operation. In other words, if the image forming operation can be controlled before the interior temperature rises to the level for a change of operation, it is possible to shorten the image forming time more than when controlling the image forming operation after the interior temperature has reached the level for operation change. There is also a room for improvement in control of the image forming operation at a stage before the temperature rises to a level for a change of operation. | {
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1. Field of Invention This invention relates to a document holder and, in particular, to a document holder for use with a computer keyboard.
2. Brief Statement of the Prior Art
Document holders for typists have been provided in many different forms. In many of these applications, the document is held or clipped to a board which is supported by a stand that is either free standing or is clamped to the edge of a desk top. These document holders are not well suited for computer applications because the computer base and monitor are quite bulky and limit the space available to support the document holder. Additionally, the computer monitor must be located in a convenient line of sight for the user, further complicating the requirements for an acceptable document holder.
Some document holders have been designed specifically for use with computers. One very simple document holder comprises a clip which is secured to one side of the monitor and which supports a document. Another document holder is incorporated into a keyboard cover that is hinged for pivoting into an upright position to uncover the keyboard and serve as a document holder.
None of the document holders truly meets the requirements for a universally adjustable and stable document holder. While it is desirable to provide a base that can be attached to the keyboard of a computer, there is no standard of size and shape of keyboards for computers. Accordingly, it is difficult to provide a truly universal base that will fit all or substantially all of the existing keyboards. Additionally, it is desirable that the base also have adaptability to clamp to the edges of table tops and desks, thereby increasing its versatility. | {
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This invention relates to a differential for wheeled vehicles and more particularly relates to a limited slip differential of the automatic clutch controlled variable resistance type.
Conventional differentials normally depend on frictional drag inherently created therein or on attendant devices, such as pre-loaded clutch packs associated with the axle gears or positive lockup devices, to transfer drive torque to a non-slipping wheel during vehicle operation. The torque transfer capacity in such differentials is normally limited and often times proves insufficient to adequately propel the vehicle when its wheels encounter unbalanced traction conditions. Latter limited slip differentials have included means of transferring high torque to a non-slipping wheel during vehicle operation, but these devices have been complex and as a result prone to failure. Of general interest are U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,750,981; 2,894,416; 2,985,035; 3,077,835; 3,109,323; 3,158,042; 3,229,550; 3,237,483; and 3,724,289. | {
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1. Technical Field
This disclosure is related, generally, to waterjet cutting systems, and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for controlling a standoff distance between a waterjet cutting head and a surface of a workpiece to be processed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fluid jet or abrasive-fluid jet cutting systems are used for cutting a wide variety of materials, including stone, glass, ceramics and metals. In a typical fluid jet cutting system, a high-pressure fluid (e.g., water) flows through a cutting head having a cutting nozzle that directs a cutting jet onto a workpiece. The system may draw an abrasive into the high-pressure fluid jet to form an abrasive-fluid jet. The cutting nozzle may then be controllably moved across the workpiece to cut the workpiece as desired. After the fluid jet, or abrasive-fluid jet, generically referred to throughout as a “waterjet,” passes through the workpiece, the energy of the cutting jet is dissipated by a volume of water in a catcher tank. Systems for generating high-pressure waterjets are currently available, such as, for example, the Mach 4™ five-axis waterjet system manufactured by Flow International Corporation, the assignee of the present application. Other examples of waterjet cutting systems are shown and described in Flow's U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,058, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Manipulating a waterjet in five or more axes may be useful for a variety of reasons, including, for example, cutting a three-dimensional shape. Such manipulation may also be desired to correct for cutting characteristics of the jet or for the characteristics of the cutting result. More particularly, as understood by one of ordinary skill in the relevant art, a cut produced by a waterjet has characteristics that differ from cuts produced by more traditional machining processes. These cut characteristics may include “taper” and “trailback,” as explained in more detail in Flow's U.S. Pat. No. 7,331,842, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. These cut characteristics, namely taper and trailback, may or may not be acceptable, given the desired end product. Taper and trailback vary, depending upon the thickness and hardness of the workpiece and the speed of the cut. Thus, one known way to control excessive taper and/or trailback is to slow down the cutting speed of the system. Alternatively, in situations where it is desirable to minimize or eliminate taper and trailback while operating at higher cutting speeds, five-axis systems may be used to apply taper and lead angle corrections to the waterjet as it moves along a cutting path. A method and system for automated control of waterjet orientation parameters to adjust or compensate for taper angle and lead angle corrections is described in Flow's U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,216, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
To maximize the efficiency and quality of the cutting process, a standoff distance between where the waterjet exits the nozzle and a surface of the workpiece is preferably controlled. If the standoff distance is too small, the nozzle can plug during piercing, causing system shutdown and possibly damage to the workpiece. If the distance is too great, the quality and accuracy of the cut suffers. Systems for detecting and controlling such a standoff distance are known, and include, for example, direct contact type sensing systems and non-contact inductance type sensing systems. Examples of waterjet cutting systems including a sensing system for controlling a standoff distance are shown and described in Flow's U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,331,842 and 7,464,630, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Known standoff detection systems, however, typically require direct contact sensing of the workpiece surface from which the desired standoff distance is to be maintained or positioning of a non-contact inductance type sensor proximate the surface. These types of systems therefore often include features which may limit, for example, the mobility and/or flexibility of the waterjet cutting system to traverse a workpiece in a particularly advantageous cutting path. In addition, components of these systems may be unavoidably exposed to spray-back which occurs when the waterjet first impinges on a surface of a workpiece or as the waterjet interacts with a structure beneath the workpiece during operation, thereby leading to potential wear and damage of the components. | {
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1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fabrication of semiconductor devices and more particularly to a process for etching metal with an in-situ plasma cleaning step.
2) Description of the Prior Art
In semiconductor fabrication, circuit elements or devices are typically connected by patterned metal layers. Metal gates are also increasingly formed from patterned metal layers. The patterned metal layers are typically formed by photolithography and etching. During etching polymers form on the metal sidewalls. The photoresist mask and polymer formations on the metal sidewalls are difficult to remove. When the metal etching source gasses include both CHF.sub.3 and N.sub.2 polymers form easily on the chamber walls as well as the metal sidewalls. Typically multiple wet etching cycles are required to adequately remove the polymers.
The importance of overcoming the various deficiencies noted above is evidenced by the extensive technological development directed to the subject, as documented by the relevant patent and technical literature. The closest and apparently more relevant technical developments in the patent literature can be gleaned by considering: U.S. patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,916 (Hsu et al.) discloses a method for forming a void free TiN anti-reflective coating on aluminum containing, conductor layer and patterning using a conventional etching process. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,015 (Tabara) discloses a W-plug etch back using SF.sub.6 and N.sub.2 and switching to a chlorinated gas before exposing the Al alloy layer to prevent AlF.sub.3 formation which makes photoresist removal difficult. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,742 (Kadomura) discloses a method of coating Al sidewalls with a sulpher nitride to prevent corrosion. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,812 (Kadomura) discloses a method of etching an Al layer using a Cl or Br compound followed by an etch using a compound containing S and F to deposit S on Al sidewalls. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,293 (Tabara) discloses a method of ashing using O.sub.2, an H and O containing gas, and a F containing gas to remove resist after etching. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,653 (Yanagida) discloses a method of forming an Al-based pattern using a post-etch processing step using CF.sub.4 and O.sub.2 to remove a sidewall protection film. | {
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(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a valve apparatus, applicable for instance to analyzers, consisting of a plurality of electromagnetically operating clamp valves, purposed to unclamp and/or clamp an elastic tube passing through the valve and thus respectively to turn on or off the fluid flow in said tube.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In analyzers individual clamp valves are commonly used. Tubes are individually inserted in the mouth of such valves. If the analyzer requires the use of numerous clamp valves and tubes to be inserted therein, such insertion causes difficulties in cramped sites. An additional problem with such individual clamp valves is the chance of erroneous tube installation. | {
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Certain diseases or conditions may be treated, according to modern medical techniques, by delivering a medication fluid or other substance to the body of a patient, either in a continuous manner or at particular times or time intervals within an overall time period. For example, diabetes is commonly treated by delivering defined amounts of insulin to the patient at appropriate times. Some common modes of providing insulin therapy to a patient include delivery of insulin through manually operated syringes and insulin pens. Other modern systems employ programmable fluid infusion devices (e.g., insulin pumps) to deliver controlled amounts of insulin to a patient.
A fluid infusion device suitable for use as an insulin pump may be realized as an external device or an implantable device, which is surgically implanted into the body of the patient. External fluid infusion devices include devices designed for use in a generally stationary location (for example, in a hospital or clinic bedside environment), and devices configured for ambulatory or portable use (to be carried or worn by a patient). External fluid infusion devices may establish a fluid flow path from a fluid reservoir or cartridge to the patient via, for example, a suitable hollow tubing, needle, or other type of fluid conduit.
A fluid infusion device can be implemented with a rotary micropump mechanism that accurately delivers a precise volume of fluid with each revolution or cycle. The inlet of the micropump is connected to a fluid source such as a reservoir, and the outlet of the micropump is connected to a fluid delivery conduit that leads to the body of the patient. Under normal operating conditions, the micropump draws fluid from the fluid source (via a vacuum or suction action) and then delivers a predictable volume of fluid with each cycle.
It is desirable to reliably and accurately detect at least two conditions, for purposes of alerting the user and/or to otherwise control the operation of the fluid infusion device in a responsive manner. One of these “fault” conditions is a downstream occlusion in the fluid delivery path (e.g., a blockage downstream from the outlet of the micropump). Another “fault” condition is an upstream occlusion (e.g., a blockage located before the inlet of the micropump). In this regard, an empty fluid reservoir can be considered to be an upstream occlusion because continued operation of the micropump in the presence of an empty reservoir does not result in the normally expected delivery of fluid.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a fluid infusion device and related operating methodologies that effectively detect upstream and/or downstream occlusions in the fluid delivery pathway associated with a rotary micropump. In addition, it is desirable to provide an improved rotary micropump having certain features and functionality that facilitate the detection of upstream and/or downstream occlusions in the fluid delivery pathway. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a disk drive including a read channel circuit and a disk controller circuit. More particularly, the invention relates to a disk drive which demodulates a read signal representing data in a data sector and a servo sector in a first order and provides data-sector data and servo sector data to a disk controller in a second order.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Information
Magnetic hard disk drives conventionally arrange data as blocks, also known as sectors, within concentric tracks on the surface of rotating storage mediums. Such disk drives are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,466 to Fisher et al.
Disk drive storage capacity is governed by the areal density expressed in bits/in2 which can be achieved on a disk media surface. The two components of areal density are track pitch (the distance between adjacent tracks) and linear bit density (the distance between bits along a track). Improvements in linear bit density are to a great extent dependent on signal processing in a read channel circuit which demodulates signals read from the track to produce digital symbols.
In order to continue improving linear bit density and maintain competitive product offerings, read channel demodulating circuits currently and will continue to provide more complex signal processing, which will in turn require longer periods of latency to convert media signals to digital symbols which can be provided to a disk controller or formatter for assembly into discrete data blocks and error correction.
The latency problem is further complicated by the embedded servo system employed in most disk drives to control read/write head positioning by interspersing servo sectors with data regions on each track of a disk surface. Such as system is described in Application Ser. No., 08/815,352 filed Mar. 11, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,411,452 (the Sync Mark Patent), assigned to the assignee of this invention. The Sync Mark Patent is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
With an embedded servo system, servo sectors must be processed by the channel circuit in real time regardless of signal processing which is related to data sectors. The above-mentioned embedded servo system format requires that servo sectors and data sectors are alternately presented to a read channel circuit for demodulating. The servo sectors must be demodulated and presented with minimal latency to a servo controller which may be included in a disk controller circuit to enable the servo system to maintain control of the position of read/write heads. The disk controller comprises a timer for sampling the servo sectors synchronous with the servo sample rate as described in the Sync Mark Patent.
After demodulating the servo and data sectors, the read channel transmits them on a bus connected between the channel circuit and the disk controller, the combination defining a disk drive signal path. The disk controller is responsible for providing timing signals which alert the channel circuit to presence of servo or data sectors which are currently passing or about to pass under the read/write head by asserting one of a plurality of signals comprising a SERVO GATE, a READ GATE and a WRITE GATE for defining periods or intervals for reading servo sectors, or reading or writing data sectors, on the rotating medium. Generally, asserting a signal as defined herein means driving a signal to its logically xe2x80x9ctruexe2x80x9d state regardless of polarity. A further convention used herein is to identify signals having negative polarity assertions with a trailing xe2x80x9cxe2x88x92xe2x80x9d sign as for example SYNC DETxe2x88x92.
As linear bit densities have increased, the problem of so-called pulse crowding has become more prevalent. Pulse crowding problems and their drawbacks are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,466. As further described therein, more powerful synchronously sampled data detection channels have been employed to place coded information bits, which can be placed more closely together, within the data sectors. One class of read channels comprises partial response, maximum likelihood (PRML) channels also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,249 to Abbott et al, and the Sync Mark Patent.
PRML channels, and other read channels which work with coded bits, demodulate the coded bits when receiving the data bits from the data sectors. This process is also known as demodulating the data sectors and is so called herein. As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,466, the demodulating of the data sectors causes a demodulating delay, or latency, of at least several bytes for typical bit coding algorithms of today. Conversely, the servo sectors are typically not coded to such a degree, and therefore an inequality in demodulating time by the read channel exists between the servo sectors, which are and must be demodulated in relative real time without such a latency, and the data sectors, which have heretofore been demodulated and transmitted to the disk controller in order of receipt from the rotating medium. Further, as bit coding techniques become more complicated, so that linear bit densities may increase, the latency for demodulating the data sectors may increase to hundreds of bits or even multiple sectors. However, the servo sectors must nevertheless be demodulated and transmitted to the disk controller in real time so that the servo system may keep the transducer head in the servo system on track.
Some systems add pad fields or speed tolerance buffers to separate sectors on the drive so that the digital latency delay may be compensated for on the rotating medium as described with respect to FIG. 1 in U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,466. U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,466 describes another technique for dealing with the latency period which comprises clocking real-time and digital signal processes by a clock synchronized to the data sector as the data sector passes under the transducer head, clocking the digital signal processes for the data sector by an asynchronous clock, and clocking the servo sector in real time. However, neither of these solutions allow for larger latencies during which the servo sector must be demodulated and transmitted to the disk controller in real time while a previously received data sector or segment thereof is still being demodulated. Adding pad fields between sectors is undesirable because such a technique lowers the capacity of the hard disk system. The latter technique is undesirable because it delays both the demodulating of data sectors, and the demodulating of the servo sectors so that the order of transmission of the servo and data sectors may be maintained after the latency. It is not desirable to delay demodulating the servo sectors because the servo sectors provide the information needed for the disk controller to keep the system on track.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for allowing a longer latency period for demodulating and transmitting of the data sectors, while allowing demodulating and transmitting of the servo sectors in relative real-time. Such a system would ideally be implemented without having to define a separate or significantly wider set of data lines in the disk controller bus between the channel circuit and the disk controller. U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,011 discloses a method for transmitting register values and user data on the same lines. However, the system disclosed therein does not provide a method for allowing a longer latency period for demodulating and transmitting of data sectors, while allowing demodulating and transmitting of the servo sectors in relative real-time.
This invention can be regarded as a disk drive having a disk comprising a track. The track has a data sector and a servo sector arranged in a first order. A read head provides a read signal representing data stored in the data sector and data stored in the servo sector in the first order. The disk drive further comprises a channel circuit and a disk controller circuit. The channel circuit comprises means for demodulating the read signal to generate data-sector data and servo sector data and means for providing the data-sector data signal and the demodulated servo sector signal to the disk controller circuit in a second order wherein the second order is different from the first order. Beneficially, the invention provides structure for accommodating long latency demodulating algorithms which must be employed simultaneously with real-time demodulating of servo sectors.
Preferably, the means for demodulating the read signal to generate a data-sector data signal and a demodulated servo sector signal comprises a sampled data detection circuit. In one embodiment the sampled data detection circuit comprises a viterbi detector.
Preferably the means for providing the data-sector data signal and demodulated servo sector signal to the disk controller circuit in a second order comprises a buffer. In one preferred embodiment the buffer is a FIFO buffer. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to artificial putting greens and more particularly, to an adjustable and folding putting green which is characterized by a playing surface frame and a flexible playing surface, both of which are adapted for folding into an enclosure for storage and extension from the enclosure in playing configuration. The playing surface frame is further provided with spaced adjusting levers which are selectively attached to the playing surface and may be manipulated individually or in concert to vary the topography, contour or terrain of the playing surface and simulate actual putting conditions on a golf course. A rotating cup member is provided at the target end of the playing surface frame and includes cups located in varying positions to create a variety of putting conditions. A player support is hinged to the opposite end of the playing surface frame to facilitate a support or stand for the putter.
The game of golf has long enjoyed great popularity among people of all ages. An integral part of the game of golf is putting and extensive practice is required in order to gain proficiency in the art of putting on a golf course. Accordingly, it has become customary to practice putting indoors on a flexible material resembling an artificial grass-like ground covering sold under the trademark "Astroturf" or on carpet in an office or home, as well as on the golf course. Unfortunately, these artificial surfaces seldom accurately duplicate the actual conditions found on a golf course, since the topography and contour of the greens may vary widely on any golf course.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various devices are known in the art for simulating putting greens in order to practice putting. An early "Putting Green" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,384,723, dated Sept. 11, 1945, to W.F. Brodzik, et al. The putting green is constructed of a pile fabric wherein the piles are characterized by tufts of angora, mohair or other natural or synthetic fiber having substantially the same characteristics of resilience and stiffness. A "Variable-Surface Game Table" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,170,694, dated Feb. 23, 1965, to J.P. Dolce. The table includes a substantially horizontal playing field for supporting rolling spherical elements and is characterized by selectively actuating an adjusting mechanism to variably raise and lower the surface areas of the field and create a surface contouring effect. U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,917, dated Apr. 17, 1973, to George D. MacLean, details a "Variable Contour Golf Putting Device". The device includes multiple hingedly interconnected base sections extendible to form an elongated golf putting surface, along with a flexible, continuous associated surface covering. The apparatus is adjustable for varying putting surface contours and is collapsible to an easily portable package by interconnecting adjoining base sections with hinges located alternately at the top and bottom surfaces thereof. Also provided are multiple pegs and blocks for supporting adjacent base sections at different selected elevations. A "Variable Contour Miniature Golf Surface" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,949, dated Aug. 27, 1974, to Georges Henning. The golf device is characterized by a foldable unit adapted to play mini-golf by putting thereon and arranged to play a multi-hole game therewith by arranging the same into a desired number of different configurations. A variable mini-golf unit includes multiple floor sections interconnected by multiple connecting ramp sections, each section being pivoted end-to-end and having lateral side walls to form a continuous floor path and having legs pivoted to each floor section to selectively elevate the latter relative to other floor sections. Angularly adjustable deflection bars are pivoted onto the floor sections and the floor path to vary the difficulty of putting a ball into a hole, the sections being of progressively increasing width to facilitate folding one within the lateral confines of the side wall of the other, to form a compact package. A "Portable Golf Game" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,391, dated June 24, 1986, to Leo P. Carolan, Jr. The golf game includes a planar playing surface formed of multiple segment portions, one end of the playing surface having a location thereon for placement of a cup for receiving golf balls. Walls extend substantially normal to the playing surface located partly around the edge thereof, with predetermined locations indicated on portions of the playing surface and at least one obstacle member for placement on the playing surface at the predetermined location and increasing the difficulty of play. At least two of the playing surface segment portions are selectively joined to form a container for containment of the other segment portions and the obstacle members.
It is an object of this invention to provide an adjustable and folding putting green which is characterized by a playing surface frame assembled in hinged segments and adapted for folding in stored configuration and extension to present an adjustable practice putting surface in functional configuration.
Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable and folding putting green which includes an enclosure, a playing surface frame characterized by hinged segments provided with a playing surface, with multiple adjusting levers mounted in the playing surface frame for selective attachment to the playing surface and adjusting the contour of the playing surface to simulate actual putting conditions.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an adjustable and folding putting green for practicing putting in the game of golf, which putting green is characterized by an enclosure, at least two playing surface frame segments hingedly connected for folding in the enclosure in stored configuration and extension from the enclosure in playing configuration, a playing surface adjustably mounted on the playing surface frame segments and multiple adjusting levers pivotally mounted in the playing surface frame in alternating, spaced relationship, and adapted for selective attachment to the playing surface and adjusting the contour of the playing surface and simulating actual putting conditions on a golf course.
Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable and folding putting green which is characterized by an enclosure, a hinged playing surface frame provided with an adjustable playing surface, which playing surface and playing surface frame are hingedly foldable into the enclosure in stored configuration and extendible from the enclosure in playing configuration, multiple levers pivotally and adjustably provided in spaced, alternating pivoting relationship in the playing surface frame for selectively engaging the playing surface and adjusting the contour of the playing surface and a rotating cup member located inside the enclosure for adjusting the cup position in the adjustable and folding putting green. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel optically active compound having a .delta.-valerolactone ring in the structure thereof, and a liquid crystal composition comprising the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystals currently used in a liquid crystal display are classified into the nematic phase, and since they are of the light-receiving type, are featured by a freedom from eye fatigue and a very small power consumption. Nevertheless, these liquid crystals have problems such as a low response speed and an impossibility of viewing the display depending upon the viewing angle.
Display devices and printer heads using a ferroelectric liquid crystal having advantageous characteristics similar to those of the nematic liquid crystal, such as the property of not causing eye fatigue and a small power consumption, and having a high response speed and high contrast characteristics comparable to those of a light-emitting type display element, have been studied.
The ferroelectric liquid crystal was reported of its existence for the first time by R. B. Meyer et al. in 1975 [J. Physique, 36, L-69 (1975)]. This ferroelectric liquid crystal has a chiral smectic C phase (hereinafter referred to as "Sm*C phase"), and a typical example of the ferroelectric liquid crystal is p-decyloxybenzylidene-p'-amino-2-methylbutyl cinnamate (hereinafter referred to as "DOBAMBC") represented by the formula: ##STR1##
In the above-described DOBAMBC and most of the ferroelectric liquid crystals proposed thereafter, however, the range of temperature showing the ferroelectric property (the range of temperatures wherein the Sm*C phase is present) is very narrow, and these liquid crystal materials cannot be practically used alone. Therefore, attempts have been made to expand the range of temperatures showing the Sm*C phase to the lower and higher temperature sides, taking room temperature as the center, by mixing a variety of ferroelectric liquid crystals. A ferroelectric liquid crystal having a larger spontaneous polarization than heretofore proposed ferroelectric liquid crystals is desired for a printer head for which a very short response time is required.
An object of the present invention is to provide an optically active compound which is chemically stable, is not colored and has a good optical stability and which gives a liquid crystals composition having a large spontaneous polarization when the optically active compound is incorporated in a liquid crystal composition, and a liquid crystal composition comprising the compound. | {
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The present invention relates to a method of making a dual-faced corrugated paperboard which has at least one reinforcing strip located within the paperboard layers and product therefrom, and more particularly, to such a method and product requiring the use of only a single adhesive station.
Corrugated board is available in various grades of thickness, including single-, double-, or triple-walled, as well as in single- or double-faced configurations. A single-faced corrugated board has one smooth liner board side adhered to an opposite exposed corrugated side. Due to certain packaging and shipping requirements, it is sometimes desirable to produce corrugated board with discrete regions of reinforced thickness. This structure affords increased resistance to crushing forces in those areas protecting fragile contents therein, yet minimizes the additional material costs of reinforcing the entire carton.
A cardboard carton may be strengthened thus by selectively inserting strips of a reinforcing material between layers of corrugated board and facing liner in only those regions where additional strength is desired. However, as such a reinforced corrugated board is currently manufactured in the prior art, multiple gluing stations are required, which unnecessarily duplicates production steps and requires additional manufacturing materials. | {
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In using electronic devices such as cable boxes and cable modems, it is sometimes desired to connect such devices to televisions, digital video disc playback devices, digital video recorders, personal computers, or other sources of electronic signals. Typically, a coaxial cable supplied by a cable service company penetrates a wall in the user's premises and is distributed to one or more locations within the home through the use of additional coaxial cable segments typically referred to as jumper cables. The jumper cable is terminated near the location of the television, cable box, cable modem or digital phone. Each end of a jumper has a coaxial cable connector installed thereon. A common interface for the coaxial cable connector is an internally threaded rotatable nut. The connector threads onto an externally threaded port on the cable box, cable modem, or other device. Other devices may be connected to the cable box or cable modem using similarly configured coaxial cable jumpers and connectors.
Conventional coaxial cable typically contains a centrally located electrical conductor surrounded by and spaced inwardly from an outer cylindrical braided conductor or sheath. The center and braid conductors are separated by a foil and an insulator core, with the braid being encased within a protective outer jacket.
A first end of a conventional coaxial cable typically includes an inner cylindrical post adapted to be inserted into a suitably prepared end of the cable between the foil and the outer braid conductor, an end portion of the latter having been exposed and folded back over the protective jacket. The center conductor, the insulator core, and the foil thus form a central core portion of the cable received axially in the inner post, whereas the outer braided conductor and protective jacket comprise an outer portion of the cable surrounding the inner post. The conventional coaxial cable end connector further includes a connector body and/or compression member designed to coact with the inner post to securely and sealingly clamp the outer portion of the cable therebetween. The clamping to the jumper cable may be carried out by crimping, swaging or radial compression of connector body or compression sleeve by use of special tools adapted to mate with these components.
The second end of the connector typically includes an internally threaded nut rotatably secured to the connector body. The nut may be secured to a corresponding threaded port on the cable box, television, or other electronic device. The nut may be tightened using an appropriately sized wrench. To establish a reliable connection between the connector and the port, the nut must be threadedly advanced until a flange on the end of the post contacts then end face of the port.
One drawback to this tightening approach is that often space is very limited in the back of the electronic device and there is inadequate room for a wrench. For example, the cable box or television may be located within an entertainment console and access to port on the equipment may be limited. Or, access to a television housed in an entertainment console may be limited because the television may be too large or heavy to be moved.
Another drawback is that the person making the connection may be unaware of the proper method of establishing a reliable connection. In some instances, particularly when a wrench is unavailable, the user may cease hand-tightening after one or two turns. Although such a loose connection may provide adequate video signal, data transmission may be severely hampered or break down completely. Data transmission problems may affect voice over internet protocol (VOIP), for example. | {
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The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Nuttall oak tree (Quercus nuttallii), which I have named ‘QNMTF.’ | {
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There are a number of different types of trailers that are used in conjunction with towing vehicles that serve a variety of purposes. These can include trailers for towing boats, for hauling ATVs, for hauling motorcycles, for hauling snowmobiles, utility trailers, and any number of other types of trailers. A common problem with trailers of this type, for instance, boat trailers, comes when the boat is being unloaded. In the example of a boat trailer, the boat trailer may be hauled by a pickup, a pickup with a camper on the bed, or by a recreational vehicle. The typical procedure for launching a boat in such a trailer is to back the trailer down a boat ramp until the trailer is submerged in the water and the boat is able to float free of the trailer. Once the boat is free of the trailer, the towing vehicle can pull the trailer up the launching ramp and the user can park the towing vehicle and the trailer in a parking area.
The difficulty with this procedure is that the towing vehicle may be difficult to use in backing the vehicle down the boat ramp. Visibility may be constrained, and the driver may not be very skilful at backing a trailer. Also, the area of the launching ramp may be crowded and only a narrow slot may be available to back the boat down the ramp. Especially in the case of a large vehicle such as a recreational vehicle, there may not be room to easily back the boat down some ramps, and the whole backing process may be very awkward and constrained.
In any of these situations, an improvement would be if the towing vehicle could unhook the trailer in the parking area, and the trailer could propel itself down the launching ramp to a launch position for the boat, and then propel itself up the launching ramp to the parking area. The reverse would be accomplished when the boat is ready to be taken out of the water. The present invention accomplishes this task with a self propelled boat trailer. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to uninterruptible power supplies. More specifically, the preferred embodiments of the present invention relate to an uninterruptible power supply with controllable leakage current.
2. Background Discussion
Uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) are commonly used to provide power to critical equipment that must not experience even short duration brownouts or blackouts. For example, computer servers, computer networks, telecommunications electronics and medical devices are often powered by an uninterruptible power supply.
A UPS device typically has an AC-DC-AC converter and backup battery that is activated in case the alternating current (AC) line power is temporarily disconnected or falls below a voltage threshold.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional UPS circuit according to the background art. The conventional UPS circuit includes an input rectifier (having switches Q1, Q2) and an output inverter (having switches Q3, Q4) connected in series. The input rectifier converts AC input power to DC power, and the output inverter converts the DC power to AC output power. Typically, the switches Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 will be MOSFET devices or insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), though switches Q1 Q2 can also be diodes. The switches Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 are controlled by a gate drive circuit (not shown). Storage capacitors C1, C2 store DC power. Typically, an isolation transformer T is provided. The input rectifier switches Q1, Q2 receive AC line power and provide direct current (DC) power to the inverter switches Q3, Q4. The inverter switches Q3, Q4 are typically operated according to a pulse-width modulation (PWM) scheme. The PWM waveform is filtered by output inductor Lo and output capacitor Co to create a smooth AC output waveform. With this arrangement, the voltage and frequency of the AC output can be accurately controlled and will be independent of the AC input.
Leakage current is often a problem with the conventional circuit of FIG. 1 and similar UPS circuits. Leakage current results when AC signals (egg from the PWM waveform produced by the inverter switches Q3, Q4) couple to ground, the device chassis, or nearby electronic components. A typical UPS providing a kilowatt of power may experience several hundred microamperes of leakage current. In some applications, leakage current can produce ground loop currents, noise, and disturbances in sensitive electronic circuits. Leakage current is particularly a problem in medical device electronics because medical devices are often very sensitive to noise and ground loop current. Leakage current can be dangerous in medical applications as it may cause a malfunction of critical life support or monitoring equipment.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a UPS circuit that has reduced leakage current. It would be particularly beneficial to provide a UPS circuit that has a leakage current less than an adjustable maximum level. Also, it would be beneficial to provide a UPS circuit that allows the maximum leakage current to be controlled by a user. | {
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The androgen receptor (“AR”) is a ligand-activated transcriptional regulatory protein that mediates induction of male sexual development and function through its activity with endogenous androgens. Androgenic steroids play an important role in many physiologic processes, including the development and maintenance of male sexual characteristics such as muscle and bone mass, prostate growth, spermatogenesis, and the male hair pattern. The endogenous steroidal androgens include testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (“DHT”). Steroidal ligands which bind the AR and act as androgens (e.g. testosterone enanthate) or as antiandrogens (e.g. cyproterone acetate) have been known for many years and are used clinically.
New compounds are needed which are useful for treating and/or preventing a variety of hormone-related conditions, for example, conditions associated with androgen decline, such as, inter alia, anemia; anorexia; arthritis; bone disease; musculoskeletal impairment; cachexia; frailty; age-related functional decline in the elderly; growth hormone deficiency; hematopoietic disorders; hormone replacement; loss of muscle strength and/or function; muscular dystrophies; muscle loss following surgery; muscular atrophy; neurodegenerative diseases; neuromuscular disease; obesity; osteoporosis; and, muscle wasting. | {
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Network Address Translation (NAT) technology allows a gateway or router device to use a particular set of Internet protocol (IP) addresses for internal private message traffic and a different set of IP addresses for external public message traffic. To this end, administrative entities map the private addresses to public addresses and further map a particular port on the router's public interface to a specific device in the private network. This mapping technique is known as port address translation.
For example, to enable an “outbound session”, wherein a source device in a private network tries to communicate with a destination device that is outside of the private network, a router device typically allocates a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) source port for use during the outbound session. The router then replaces the source IP address for each source packet (from a device within the private network) with the IP address of the external or Internet adapter on the gateway device, and replaces the source TCP or UDP port number of the packet with the allocated source port number. In this manner, the gateway device dynamically maps the IP address and source port of the source device to a different IP address and source port (port/address translation).
In the above example, if the destination device sends a response to the router, the port/address mapping that was created during the outbound session is used to restore the source's originating IP address and originating port number. The router then forwards the resulting packets to the correct device in the private network. External devices are unable to initiate connections with devices behind the routing device. In this manner, NAT provides a type of firewall by hiding internal IP addresses from the external devices.
A substantial amount of administrative effort is typically required both to facilitate peer-to-peer connections for devices that reside behind a NAT firewall, and to enable inbound communication sessions. An inbound communication session is where a source device that is not behind the firewall initiates communication with a specific resource that is behind the firewall. This means that a network administrator must typically configure a static NAT route, or static address/port mapping at the router to identify a protected resource's address and gateway port by which the resource can be accessed during an inbound session.
Just as routes to network devices that are behind a NAT gateway are dynamically and/or statically configured, the devices themselves are often dynamically and/or statically configured with network addresses, configuration data, other data, and the like. To illustrate this, consider that a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server such as a digital subscriber link (DSL) modem, a cable modem, and/or the like, may assign IP addresses as well as configuration data and other data to devices (“DHCP clients”) in a network. Unless a network address is permanently assigned to a specific network device, the DHCP server places an administrator-defined time limit on the address assignment, called a lease. (Permanent address assignment is generally referred to as a reservation).
The lease is the length of time that a DHCP server specifies that a client device can use and assigned IP address. The lease ensures that network addresses are not wasted because network addresses are typically a limited resource. Halfway through the lease period, to maintain the validity of its assigned IP address, a DHCP client must typically request a lease renewal, whereupon the DHCP server may extend the lease.
There are any number of reasons why the DHCP client device may not request lease renewal such as if the client device is malfunctioning, if it has been moved to another network segment, if the device has been retired, and/or the like. If the DHCP client does not request renewal of the lease, it expires. Upon lease expiration, the device's assigned IP address is returned to an address pool for reassignment to a different device.
DHCP network address management can cause a number of significant problems in a NAT protected network. One problem, for example, is that by expiring and reassigning network addresses, the security of the private network may be compromised. To illustrate this, consider that a NAT gateway is maintaining a particular address/port mapping to enable peer-to-peer communication between a protected resource behind the NAT firewall and a device that is on the other side of the firewall. The lease on the protected resource's network address expires, meaning that the address can no longer be used to access the protected resource.
At this point, the NAT route that is mapped at the gateway to the protected device is invalid. If the DHCP server reassigns the expired address to a different device (e.g., a payroll server, a client file server, and/or the like) before a network administrator has had an opportunity to update routing table(s) at the gateway to reflect the invalidated route, the invalid route may be used by a device that is not behind the firewall to gain unauthorized and potentially damaging access to the different device.
The following described systems, apparatus, and procedures address these and other problems of existing techniques to configure and manage device routes in networks. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates generally to use of thermal management. Still more particularly, the present application relates to a computer implemented method, data processing system, and processor for tracing thermal data via performance monitoring.
2. Description of the Related Art
The first-generation heterogeneous Cell Broadband Engine™ (BE) processor is a multi-core chip comprised of a 64-bit Power PC® processor core and eight single instruction multiple data (SIMD) synergistic processor cores, capable of massive floating point processing, optimized for compute-intensive workloads and broadband rich media applications. A high-speed memory controller and high-bandwidth bus interface are also integrated on-chip. Cell BE's breakthrough multi-core architecture and ultra high-speed communications capabilities deliver vastly improved, real-time response, in many cases ten times the performance of the latest PC processors. Cell BE is operating system neutral and supports multiple operating systems simultaneously. Applications for this type of processor range from a next generation of game systems with dramatically enhanced realism, to systems that form the hub for digital media and streaming content in the home, to systems used to develop and distribute digital content, and to systems to accelerate visualization and supercomputing applications.
Today's multi-core processors are frequently limited by thermal considerations. Typical solutions include cooling and power management. Cooling may be expensive and/or difficult to package. Power management is generally a coarse action, “throttling” much if not all of the processor in reaction to a thermal limit being reached. Other techniques such as thermal management help address these coarse actions by only throttling the units exceeding a given temperature. However, most thermal management techniques impact the real-time guarantees of an application. Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide a thermal management solution which provides a processor with a method to guarantee the real-time nature of an application even in the event of a thermal condition which requires throttling of the processor. In the cases where the real-time guarantees can not be met, the application administrator is notified so that a corrective action can be implemented. | {
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Computation systems based upon adaptive learning with fine-grained parallel architectures have moved out of obscurity in recent years because of the growth of computer-based information gathering, handling, manipulation, storage, and transmission. Many concepts applied in these systems represent potentially efficient approaches to solving problems such as providing automatic recognition, analysis and classification of character patterns in a particular image. Ultimately, the value of these techniques in such systems depends on their effectiveness or accuracy relative to conventional approaches.
In a recent article by Y. LeCun entitled "Generalization and Network Design Strategies," appearing in Connectionism in Perspective, pp. 143-155 (Elsevier Science Publishers: North-Holland 1989), the author describes five different layered network architectures applied to the problem of optical digit recognition. Learning in each of the networks was attempted on pixel images of handwritten digits via inherent classification intelligence acquired from the back-propagation technique described by D. Rumelhart et al., Parallel Distributed Processing, Vol. I, pp. 318-362 (Bradford Books: Cambridge, Mass. 1986). Complexity of the networks was shown to increase finally to a hierarchical network having two levels of constrained feature maps. Performance of the hierarchical network exceeded that of the less complex networks. Moreover, it was postulated that the multiple levels of constrained feature maps provided additional control for shift invariance.
While the hierarchical network described above appears to have advanced the art of solving the character recognition or classification problem, it is equally apparent that existing systems lack sufficient accuracy to permit realization of reliable automatic character recognition apparatus. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to data processing system, and in particular, to a system for wireless communication between a processor unit and one or more peripheral devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional data processing system, such as a personal computer system, for example, typically includes a system unit having a processor sub-system such as a microprocessor, a display device, such as a cathode ray tube display or a liquid crystal display for displaying data generated by the system unit, display communication means for communicating data between the display device and the system unit, a peripheral device, such as a pointing device, a keyboard or a printer, and peripheral communication means for communicating data between the peripheral device and the system unit.
The display communication means and the peripheral communication means are generally implemented by electrical cables each containing plural signal lines. One problem with this arrangement is that the cables tend to become tangled, thereby hampering maintenance of the system. Another problem with this arrangement, which is particularly noticeable in "desk-top" computer systems is that the cables tend to occupy a large amount of otherwise useful space. A further problem with this arrangement is that the cables create large ground loops which tend to increase undesirable radio frequency emissions from the computer system. The above problems are exasperated by the addition of more peripheral devices, which each require their own individual cable connection to the system unit.
Consequently, it would be desirable to provide a system for wireless communication between a data processing system and peripheral devices. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present application is the national stage under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7371 of international application PCT/ES00/00064, filed Feb. 23, 2000 which designated the United States, and which application was not published in the English language.
The invention concerns a door trim for vehicles which is fitted to the door of the motor vehicle and which incorporates the window winder motor.
In traditional systems, the window winder motor and other door components are fastened directly onto the inner covering of the door shell, i.e. they are bolted directly onto the steel sheet. A trim or decorative coveringxe2x80x94what the user will see inside the vehiclexe2x80x94is then fitted over the unit.
The current trend is for modular solutions. These solutions are characterised by the fact that the window winder motor is fastened beforehand to a single part or module, which is then bolted to the door after being fitted on. This part also acts as a trim and can be termed as such.
Traditional door shells are exposed to incoming moisture and dirt and, logically, form a damp area. In order to prevent water and dust from getting inside the vehicle, various dust-tight and watertight systems are employed, such as the forming of holes on the unit to enable water to escape or the positioning of insulating material around the perimeter of the trim (thus forming a dry area between the steel sheet or the inner cover of the door shell and the trim). The dust-tight and watertight systems do not prevent, however, the window winder motor and other elements housed in the door shell from becoming exposed to a damp atmosphere and, as a result, from coming into contact with water.
There are modular systems in which, however, the window winder motor and other elements can be housed in the dry area, more precisely in the area between the inner covering of the door and the trim bolted to it (featuring the necessary insulating material, as in the previous example). The elements are arranged as follows: the motor, all the electronic components and the gear-motor system are housed in this dry area whereas the drum from which the window winder mechanism cables run and the drum cover are located in the damp area formed by the door shell. Logically, the holes linking the elements in both areas must be properly insulated.
There are a number of drawbacks associated with these solutions. First of all, the trim must be taken off in order to gain access to the motor. Secondly, a number of elements are required to make the unit dust-tight and watertight. Thirdly, the various elements on the module must be assembled in a number of operations beforehand.
It is an object of this invention to provide a trim bearing the window winder motor in a dry area and which needs only a minimum number of requirements to protect it against moisture, reducing costs in the process.
Another object of this invention is to provide a trim which already has the window winder mechanism system fitted onto it, which would enable these operations to be carried out easily, quickly and ergonomically.
Another object of this invention is the fact that all the operations for the assembly of components on the trim can be removed from the vehicle-door assembly line, thereby saving the manufacturer time and space.
Another object of this invention is to make the motor dust-tight and watertight using only a very few elements in order to create a lighter and more economical unit.
Another object of this invention is to make the motor accessible without having to remove the trim completely, thereby making it easier to resolve problems in the event of the window becoming stuck at the top.
To attain these objectives, the invention claims a trim panel bearing the window winder motor, both during the fitting of the window winder mechanism unit onto the door and throughout its operating life. The motor is connected to the trim panel during the assembly phase and can be fastened either to the trim panel only or to the steel sheet through said trim panel.
According to the invention, this trim panel ensures that the motor is housed in the dry area with it being incorporated, regardless of how it is fastened, on the visible side or exterior of the trim panel. To achieve this, at least one part of this trim panel has been designed to conceal the motor, thereby ensuring that this part can easily be dismantled to provide access to the motor if the window winder mechanism malfunctions.
The door trim panel, regardless of the material it is made of, features a concave area on its visible side which is designed to house the vehicle""s window winder motor specifically and the gear-motor system and electronic components at the very least. This concave area must be shaped in such a way that it can also house the connector linking the motor""s electronic box to the wiring on the door.
The wiring runs from the non-visible side of the trim to the visible side through the concave area housing the motor and passes through a hole made in the trim itself, which is why bushing or a similar system guaranteeing the unit remains dust-tight and watertight is used.
The concave area forms a dry area in itself which completely insulates the elements it houses.
At the same time, the trim panel according to the invention features another portion situated on the outer side, i.e. the side visible from the inside of the passenger compartment of the vehicle, located above the concave area and concealing the elements housed inside it. This second portion of the trim panel is easy to close and open, as will be demonstrated later.
By this invention two practical solutions are envisaged and claimed, namely:
A) One, the aforementioned solution, according to which the gear-motor unit, its electronic components and the connector are housed inside the dry area formed by the concave area on the trim panel.
B) The other solution, according to which all the components of the window winder motor, including the connector linking the motor""s electronic box to the wiring on the door are housed in the concave area on the trim panel.
In solution A the concave area comprises the gear-motor unit and its electronic components as well as the connector. The wiring for the motor passes through a hole featuring dust-tight and watertight bushing formed in the thickness of the trim panel to the interior of the concave area.
The drum holding the cable for the window winder mechanism is positioned on the non-visible side of the trim panel, outside the concave area and projecting towards the damp area. The interconnection is made through a hole in the thickness of the trim panel in the concave area, with the hole being made dust-tight and watertight by a gasket fitted on the motor itself as part of a manufacturing solution that is already on the market.
The other holes formed in the concave area allow the bolts connecting the drum cover to the rest of the motor and the whole of the system to the door trim panel or panel and steel sheet to pass through, with all these holes having been designed to be dust-tight and watertight.
The drum and its cover feature, logically, the outlets for the window winder mechanism cables.
In solution B, the concave area houses the window winder motor with all its components, with all these components situated, therefore, in the dry area.
As the drum holding the cables is on the visible side of the trim and the cables are on the unseen side, the concave area in this solution features a lateral aperture on one of its sides. The entire motor passes through this aperture to the outer side of the trim panel, leaving the rest of the window winder mechanism it is connected to on the other side.
In order to ensure the concave area is dust-tight and watertight, this lateral aperture must remain closed during the useful life of the unit, with only a few dust-tight and watertight holes being left for the outlets on the drum cover. The function of these holes is to guide these cables to the rest of the window winder system.
Two different means of closing off the unit in this way have been considered. One of them is based on a gasket and the other on a manufacturing solution. In this last version a projection on another part of the trim panel, such as the one concealing the concave area on the outside and the elements situated on the interior, can be provided in order to cover the open lateral.
This solution, B, has an additional advantage over solution A: the window winder mechanism can be adjusted before being fitted onto the trim panel. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible mounting apparatus, and in particular, to an improved universal ball-and-socket mounting apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many known mounting apparatus that connect a movable object to a relatively stationary object in a manner where the movable object is supported on the stationary object at variable angular orientations with respect to both of the objects. As non-limiting examples, U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,885 to Carnevali and U.S. Pat. No. 7,025,315 to Carnevali both illustrate universal ball-and-socket mounting apparatus. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Human process sounds received at two ears, which perform similar to microphones. The sounds is processed to distinguish different sound sources both by types of the sound sources and location of the sound sources. The human brain performs this processing, which may be referred to as binaural processing, in an efficient and effective manner.
Computer science, on the other hand, has not yet mastered binaural processing. Instead of two ears, computer science techniques rely on many more microphones in order to estimate the location of a sound source. When multiple sound sources are present, the problem becomes increasingly difficult. In addition, where there is a loudspeaker, which is likely the case in videoconferencing environments, the speaker is often located very close to the microphones.
The loudspeaker is a constant noise source because it plays room and comfort noise from the far end participants. The noise may not be heard by the local participants because the local participants are likely located a couple meters or more away from the constant noise source. However, the microphones may only be a few centimeters from the constant noise source. Thus, the constant noise source may significantly impact calculations for estimating the source of the local sound (i.e., the local participants) based on the output of the microphones. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Wind power is considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A modern wind turbine typically includes a tower, a generator, a gearbox, a nacelle, and one or more rotor blades. The rotor blades capture kinetic energy from wind using known foil principles and transmit the kinetic energy through rotational energy to turn a shaft coupling the rotor blades to a gearbox, or if a gearbox is not used, directly to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be deployed to a utility grid.
Wind turbine rotor blades generally include a body shell formed by two shell halves of a composite laminate material. The shell halves are generally manufactured using molding processes and then coupled together along the corresponding ends of the rotor blade. In general, the body shell is relatively lightweight and has structural properties (e.g., stiffness, buckling resistance and strength) which are not configured to withstand the bending moments and other loads exerted on the rotor blade during operation. In addition, wind turbine blades are becoming increasingly longer in order to produce more power. As a result, the blades must be stiffer and thus heavier so as to mitigate loads on the rotor.
To increase the stiffness, buckling resistance and strength of the rotor blade, the body shell is typically reinforced using one or more structural components (e.g. opposing spar caps with a shear web configured therebetween) that engage the inner surfaces of the shell halves. The spar caps are typically constructed of various materials, including but not limited to glass fiber laminate composites and/or carbon fiber laminate composites. Such materials, however, can be difficult to control, defect prone, and/or highly labor intensive due to handling of the dry and pre-preg fabrics and the challenges of infusing large laminated structures.
As such, modern spar caps may be constructed of pre-fabricated, pre-cured (i.e. pultruded) composites that can be produced in thicker sections, and are less susceptible to defects. Accordingly, the pultruded composites can eliminate various concerns and challenges associated with using dry fabric alone. As used herein, the terms “pultruded composites,” “pultrusions,” “pultruded members” or similar generally encompass reinforced materials (e.g. fibers or woven or braided strands) that are impregnated with a resin and pulled through a stationary die such that the resin cures or undergoes polymerization through added heat or other curing methods. As such, the process of manufacturing pultruded composites is typically characterized by a continuous process of composite materials that produces composite parts having a constant cross-section. A plurality of pultrusions can then be joined together to form the spar caps and/or various other rotor blade components. The thickness of the pultruded material helps to lower the unit cost of the components by increasing the material throughput of the die. In addition, the die shape is simple (i.e. preferably rectangular) to increase the pull rate of material through the die.
Pultruded components, however, are not without certain drawbacks. For example, the thickness of the pultruded components does not easily conform to the aerodynamic profile of the blade. Further, changing the cross-sectional area of the pultruded component to be flexible can increase complexity of the pultrusion process, thereby slowing down the material manufacturing process.
Accordingly, the art is continuously seeking new and improved methods of manufacturing pultruded or belt-pressed rotor blade components, such as spar caps, having one or more areas of variable stiffness such that the components can conform to various locations of the rotor blade. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a method for transferring articles.
More specifically, this invention relates to a method for transferring articles and which can be used to transfer food products in a packaging system.
Systems of this kind are generally equipped with gripper heads having suction cups which pick up one or more articles and place them in a packaging container.
The articles to be packaged are placed on conveyor belts in such a way that customary pickup devices (grippers) equipped with gripper head can pick the articles up when these are positioned under them at the gripper heads. The pickup devices which have captured the articles with their gripper heads are then moved towards a container in order to fill it.
The articles are usually fed in “ranks”, that is to say, in rows.
In many cases, however, in most packaging systems, the articles are positioned on the conveyor belt in a relatively uncontrolled or erratic manner and this makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the gripper heads to pick up the articles simultaneously.
In effect, if the articles are not perfectly aligned and spaced from each other according to precise values, the recurrent risk is that the gripper head which should pick them up simultaneously is unable to capture them all correctly.
In other words, it is very difficult for all the articles in one row to be aligned precisely enough to allow them to be picked up by a single pickup device (or “gripper”).
To pick up all the articles in one row, therefore, the user must resort to individual gripper actions, thus increasing the number of movements necessary, that is, the total pickup time, and consequently increasing the number of pickup devices needed to complete the operation. | {
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A casting system may be, for example, a strand casting system, a billet strand casting system or else a die-operated continuous casting and rolling system. In the case of a strand casting system, a strand, generally a metal strand, in particular a steel strand, is drawn off from a die by means of driven rollers or pairs of rollers. In the case of a billet strand casting system, generally a plurality of extruded billets are cast in a die, generally two to six extruded billets.
Generally, electrical driven rollers or pairs of rollers are provided for guiding a cast material, for example a strand or an extruded billet, when it is being drawn off. For example, a strand is drawn off substantially vertically out of the die and transferred into a substantially horizontal direction by means of a casting bow.
In order to reduce the effort involved in rolling in a rolling mill, in the case of casting systems the rollers or pairs of rollers are advantageously used not only for guiding the strand but also for reducing the thickness of the cast material.
Critical variables in the casting of a cast material are the casting speed and the desired final thickness, if a thickness reduction is envisaged.
The rotational speed of the drives for the rollers or the drives for the pairs of rollers may serve for setting the casting speed of the cast material. For example, the mean value of the speed of all the drives is kept constant for this purpose. As a result, the casting speed drops as the thickness of the strand is increasingly reduced. However, since the driven rollers rotate with the same radial speed, adequate allowance cannot be made for a change in the speed of a portion of the cast material that results from the thickness reduction. Therefore, in the case of such a method, generally no thickness reduction of the cast material is envisaged for this reason.
Alternatively, it may be provided that the rollers or pairs of rollers acting on the cast material are driven by means of drives which all run with the same load. The pairs of rollers together with the drive and means for producing rolling force are referred to as the reduction stand. In the case of a dynamic thickness reduction—dynamic since the rolling forces depend on the time-variable phase response within the strand—of the strand or billet, operation of the drives with the same load has the consequence that, with low vertical force or rolling force on the strand, the frictional forces are so low that the roller loses adherence and does not transfer any forward motion, or transfers reduced forward motion, to the strand. Moreover, increased friction occurs in the case of rollers with increased vertical force or increased rolling force on account of the evenly distributed load on the drives, and increased friction leads to a slowing of the circumferential speed of the roller concerned. This leads to a slowing of the speed of the strand or to the cast material coming to a standstill in the casting system.
On account of a dynamic distribution of forces in the case of roller drives operated with the same load—the thickness reduction of the strand over the various pairs of rollers is highly process-dependent and dynamic during casting—instabilities in the casting speed occur. In particular, the dynamics of the thickness reduction are determined in part by the calculated liquid core component within a strand, which is determined by appropriate models that are not the subject of this application.
Patent specification EP 0 463 203 B1 discloses a guiding method for electrical drives of rollers of a strand casting system in which the strand is drawn off out of the die of the strand casting system by the driven rollers, the drives of which are individually controlled by means of controllers, and can be reduced in its thickness. A disadvantage of this teaching is that the drives consequently cannot be controlled adequately flexibly with regard to use within casting systems with reduction stands. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile communication devices which operate in wireless communication networks, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for limiting communication capabilities at the mobile device based on predetermined conditions detected at the mobile device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern-day mobile communication devices which operate in wireless communication networks provide end users with the ability to place and receive two-way voice calls, send and receive text messages and e-mail messages, and send and receive other information such as Internet data. Such communication devices utilize a radio frequency (RF) transceiver for transmitting and receiving such information.
Unfortunately, adverse conditions (such as adverse temperature conditions) may compromise the performance or utility of the mobile device. For example, when a mobile device is communicating information with use of its RF transceiver, the RF transceiver heats up and its temperature rises. If the temperature of the RF transceiver is outside certain specification parameters, the RF transceiver undesirably emits spurious signals at unacceptable levels. These spurious signals may be outside certain standards, such as those established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or Industry Canada, for example, and/or cause interference with other communications in the network. In addition, if the temperature of a rechargeable battery of the mobile device is outside certain specification parameters for too long, the battery may experience permanent damage and require replacement or could even explode.
Under such adverse conditions, the mobile station could power down its circuitry and inhibit all communications, but the end user would be left with no ability to communicate information. This would be undesirable in at least some circumstances, such as in emergency situations. What are needed are methods and apparatus which overcome the deficiencies of current practices. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Heretofore, a lot of biodegradable resins and biodegradable compositions, containing, as main components, biodegradable resins such as polylactic acid and fatty acid polyester as well as natural materials such as starch, have hitherto been proposed, and processed biodegradable articles using these biodegradable resins and biodegradable compositions have been provided.
For example, JP-A-Hei07-17571 (Patent Document 1) discloses a biodegradable buffer material which contains starch as a main component, and is obtained by adding vegetable fibers and/or protein, followed by blow molding. JP-A-2005-119708 (Patent Document 2) discloses a biodegradable resin composition obtained by blending starch and polyol, monosaccharide or oligosaccharide, and protein. JP-A-Hei05-320401 (Patent Document 3) discloses a biodegradable molded article obtained by blending wheat flour, starch and cellulose, followed by foaming and further firing.
However, when natural materials such as starch are used, the resultant product often has poor water resistance and tends to have poor strength. Therefore, JP-A-Hei05-278738 (Patent Document 4) and JP-A-Hei05-57833 (Patent Document 5) and JP-A-2002-355932 (Patent Document 6) each discloses a method of coating the surface of a processed article molded from a biodegradable composition with a water-resistant resin. However, according to this method, coating must be conducted again, resulting in increase of the number of steps.
On the other hand, JP-A-Hei06-248040 (Patent Document 7) discloses, as a biodegradable composition having improved impact resistance and improved heat resistance, a composition composed of phenols, sugar and starch. This composition is obtained by applying formation of a resin by the reaction between phenols and sugar. JP-A-2004-137726 (Patent Document 8) discloses a composition for a biodegradable gravel product, which is composed of starch and tannin or polyphenol and, furthermore, protein and a crushed mineral powder, and a divalent metal powder having the chelate mordanting effect with tannin or polyphenol. However, this composition is obtained by supporting a condensation compound of a metal salt and a polyphenol on starch and also contains a divalent metal salt, and therefore it is not suitable for applications such as tablewares. Also, tannins and polyphenols used herein are condensed tannins such as persimmon tannin, tea tannin and bark tannin, and are suitable for use as a substitute of gravel, but are not suitable for processed articles such as tablewares because condensed tannins and divalent metal salts are used and therefore the strength becomes too higher. Furthermore, since the metal salts are used, metals thereof remain after decomposition and thus it is considered that an adverse influence may be exerted on the environment.
JP-A-2005-23262 (Patent Document 9) discloses a biodegradable composition using main materials obtained by finely dividing 100% natural materials, for example, grains such as maize, dietary fibers such as weeds, and sugar cane, and natural binders such as persimmon tannin and konjac powder. However, a specific composition ratio is unclear and also it is unclear whether or not the product is actually produced. Since this composition is composed only of natural materials such as cereals, quality of the resultant molded article is not maintained and the molded article is not suitable for use as an industrial product.
Furthermore, translation of PCT application No. 9-500924 (Patent Document 10) discloses a biodegradable composition containing starch, protein, cellulose, phenol and tannin, and tall oil or wax. However, this composition contains tall oil or wax, there is a fear of ooze of wax or the like. Therefore, the composition is suitable for production of woodworks. However, when applied to processed articles such as tablewares, there is a possibility that problems for safety may arise. Patent Document 1: JP-A-Hei07-17571 Patent Document 2: JP-A-2005-119708 Patent Document 3: JP-A-Hei05-320401 Patent Document 4: JP-A-Hei05-278738 Patent Document 5: JP-A-Hei05-57833 Patent Document 6: JP-A-2002-355932 Patent Document 7: JP-A-Hei06-248040 Patent Document 8: JP-A-2004-137726 Patent Document 9: JP-A-2005-23262 Patent Document 10: Translation of PCT application No. 9-500924 | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a spinal fixation device for spinal fusion and particularly relates to a uni-directional anterior cervical spinal fixation plate device for progressively maintaining a bone graft between adjacent vertebrae under compression.
Spinal plates have been developed for stabilization of the spine upon spinal fusion. Conventional anterior cervical spinal fixation plates typically comprise a unitary plate having a pair of bone screw openings at each of its opposite ends. The plate has sufficient length to span an excavated bone graft-receiving site in the vertebral column and in which site a bone graft is located for fusion to adjacent vertebrae. These prior anterior cervical fixation plates fix the adjacent vertebrae on opposite sides of the bone graft-receiving site relative to one another. It will be appreciated, however, that with both ends of the unitary plate secured by screws to the adjacent vertebrae, advantageous and beneficial compression of the bone graft between the adjacent vertebrae and during the fusion process cannot be obtained. While it has been recognized that compression of a bone graft is desirable over time as the graft fuses to the vertebrae, the nature of these unitary anterior cervical spinal plates fixed at opposite ends to the adjacent vertebrae precludes compression of the bone graft beyond any initial compression during the surgical procedure. Consequently, there has developed a need for a spinal fixation device in which the bone graft can be progressively compressed between adjacent vertebrae over time. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a transfer case for all-wheel drive vehicles and, more particularly, to a transfer case which is provided with a self actuated, locking limited slip planetary differential. 2. Summary of Related Art
It is well known that all-wheel drive vehicles conventionally employ front and rear driving axles having front and rear differentials, respectively, drivingly connected to front and rear pairs of wheels through a transfer case including a third, inter-axle differential powered by the vehicle engine. Thus, should either the front or the rear drive axle experience a low friction condition, high torque could not be transmitted to the other wheel due to the constitution of the inter-axle differential. To avoid this, there is provided a differential lock up or limiting mechanism which effects a torque transfer to the drive axle in the higher friction condition, thus increasing the total available tractive force for propelling the vehicle and thereby improving the mobility and performance thereof.
To this end, the transfer cases employed previously have typically included a viscous coupling, or an electronically controllable clutch mechanism which may vary the amount of clutch force applied. Such mechanisms have generally performed adequately, but are unduly complex. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Embodiments described and claimed herein relate to monitoring to detect clogging in a gas filter, which is utilized in a gas conduit attached to a gas blower, the latter having a motor for producing a first gas flow. Example applications include filter monitoring for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. Such systems are used for a variety of functions, from simple ventilation to heating, cooling, and humidity control.
Generally, the purpose of a HVAC system is to move air for temperature and environmental comfort within a house, building, or factory (collectively referred to herein as building). The same purpose applies to automobiles and other structures in which healthy, comfortable air/gas quality is necessary or desired. In a HVAC system, a blower, having a motor for producing a first gas flow, moves air in the gaseous phase through one or more gas conduits (ducts) to different locations within a building before it exits the duct through a vent. After entering a duct through a HVAC system's air intake, air flows in response to a blower. Typical blowers have a motor that rotates a fan having a plurality of blades, in order to pull air through a duct in a direction that can be thought of as moving from upstream to downstream.
Many HVAC systems use filters to remove dust, dirt, contaminants, and other undesired particles that adversely affect air quality so they are not delivered past a certain location within the duct, and do not exit through a vent. Filters limit the progress of undesired particles through a duct, for example by physical restriction in which the small size of openings in a filter keeps particles from progressing through and past it, or by electrostatic attraction that hold particles to a filter.
As a filter collects undesired particles, it becomes discolored and dirty. Although a dirty filter does not substantially affect flow of air through a duct, over time, the accumulation of undesired particles produces clogging in a filter, which substantially decreases air flow in the building, and causes dust and dirt to accumulate inside the duct system and on the blower fan blades, all of which potentially reduces the quality of air in a building and adversely affects the performance of the HVAC system. Consequently, filters in systems such as HVAC systems, as well as automobiles, must be changed periodically.
Visual inspection is one way to determine when a filter should be changed, but it is time- and labor-intensive. Therefore, it is desirable in many situations to automatically sense whether a filter should be changed. This is often done by evaluating the condition of a filter as a function of measurable conditions that are related to air flowing through a duct. For example, one such air treatment system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,178,410, titled Clogging Detector for Air Filter, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. This patent discloses a filter clog detector, in which a first temperature sensor, which is coupled to a heater, and a second temperature sensor, which is unheated, are positioned in a duct. The heated sensor is kept at a temperature higher than the unheated sensor by a fixed number of degrees. If air flow velocity is greater, then more energy is dissipated away from the heated sensor. Accordingly, a measurement of the voltage required to maintain the temperature difference between the two sensors indicates the amount of air flowing through the duct where the sensors are located. Using techniques that are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art, including but not limited to those disclosed in the above-referenced patent, filter condition can be determined based on voltage readings, or similar properties having a relationship to air flow through a duct.
Other examples, regarding how filter condition is determined as a function of measurable properties or conditions within a duct, include differential pressure sensors, which respond to a pressure drop that occurs from the upstream side of a filter compared to the downstream side. Even if only to a slight degree, a new, or clean, filter restricts air flow through a duct. This restriction produces a corresponding pressure on the upstream side of the filter. Further, air passing through the filter also produces pressure on the downstream side. These pressures are measured using sensors and methods that are known to those having ordinary skill in the art. For a clean conventional filter, the differential pressure from the upstream side of the filter to the downstream side will usually be relatively small. However, as a filter becomes dirty and then clogged, the restriction on air that passes through the filter tends to decrease pressure on the upstream side. Further, because less air passes through a clogged filter, this tends to correspond to an increase in pressure on the downstream side.
Although various techniques have been disclosed for determining filter condition, as a function of measurable conditions within or related to a duct, other variables besides the extent of filter clogging may affect air flow in a duct, as indicated by measurable properties such as the voltage sensor as discussed above. For example, changes in blower speed may either increase or decrease the amount of air pulled into and through a duct. Multi-speed blowers differ from single-speed blowers and two-speed blowers, the latter of which use a two-speed motor, e.g., one speed for summer cooling and another speed for winter heating. Multi-speed blowers are capable of operating at any of a number of different speed settings. Many blowers require a period of time to stabilize and reach a consistent operating speed. For example, some blowers require approximately 60 seconds for this to occur.
Consequently, when determining when a filter should be changed, it is desirable to ascertain that readings of measurable conditions in a duct are actually indicative of a change in filter condition over time. In other words, it is desirable to prevent there from being an indication of clogging merely because of changes in blower speed. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in an electronic device such as an image forming apparatus, to control actuators such as stepping motors, DC brushless motors, or the like arranged in respective locations, CPUs or ASICs for outputting control signals of motors are arranged by being distributed on a plurality of substrates. In a case of such an arrangement, for connection between a main CPU for outputting an overall control timing instruction for causing rotation of each motor and CPUs or the like arranged on each substrate, 2-line type and 3-line type serial communication modes are commonly used for transmitting with fewer signal lines (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-186231).
Conventionally, as a method for causing driving of CPUs or the like connected by a serial communication signal line arranged on each substrate, a method for connecting each substrate to a quartz oscillator, a method for providing a CLK signal on a communication signal line and driving by the CLK signal, or the like are used.
In a case of a configuration that connects the CPU or the like of each substrate to a quartz oscillator, a cost in proportion to the number of quartz oscillators is incurred. In addition, in the case of a method for transmitting a CLK signal together with a serial communication signal, there are problems such as radiant noise, a CLK signal line cost, and operation instability due to external noise on a transfer path.
Accordingly, a configuration for performing control by using an integrated oscillator that is integrated in a CPU or the like as illustrated in FIG. 1 is can be considered. In this configuration, an integrated oscillator and a CPU are provided in each of a main substrate and a sub substrate, and control of a DC brushless motor or a stepping motor connected to each is performed.
Generally an integrated oscillator has a low cost compared to an external quartz oscillator, and is superior from a cost perspective. However, generally, for an integrated oscillator, there is a significant tendency of a change of a frequency characteristic with respect to temperature in comparison to a quartz oscillator. Therefore, in a case of using integrated oscillators to perform control for which precision is necessary for CPUs or the like arranged dispersed on substrates installed at places where the temperature is different in an image forming apparatus, problems arise due to differences of operation due to environmental temperatures of the plurality of integrated oscillators. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Many digital cameras have limited dynamic range and as a result, details of a scene may be missed while capturing an image. Examples of a conventional technique for high dynamic range (HDR) image generation include a multi-exposure image composition method, where the multi-exposure image compositing method includes capturing a plurality of images with different exposures and generating HDR data. An image pyramid is a type of multi-scale signal representation where repeated smoothing and subsampling operations are applied to a source image to generate a series of reduced resolution images. The exposure fusion method merges different parts of different weighted images which may differ according to image contrast levels, saturation levels, exposure levels, and so on. The technique then restores those weighted images seamlessly using pyramidal image decomposition.
Exposure fusion is generally effective when dealing with simple exposure conditions. However, most HDR images consist of complex exposure conditions of a scene and therefore, details in over-exposed and/or under-exposed regions in the image may be lost. Specifically, higher pyramid levels may lose details of highlight and shadow regions and where lower pyramid level may lead to visible transitions in the luminance values from one region of the image to the other, also known as a halo effect. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Embodiments of the inventive subject matter generally relate to the field of population-based optimization, and, more particularly, to generating or modifying constraint compliant populations in population-based optimization simulations.
Population-based optimization algorithms are used to find solutions to optimization problems by starting with an initial set of random candidate solutions (e.g., provided by a user, randomly generated, etc.) and iteratively analyzing and modifying the candidate solutions, according to an objective function, until reaching a satisfactory solution. Population-based optimization algorithms may also be referred to as metahueristic optimization algorithms, combinatorial optimization algorithms, soft-computing algorithms, etc. For instance, one type of population-based optimization algorithm is an evolutionary algorithm. An evolutionary algorithm uses biological techniques loosely based on biological evolution, reproduction, mutation, recombination, and natural selection to find solutions to optimization problems. Simulations that implement evolutionary algorithms act upon populations, such that individuals in a population represent candidate solutions to an optimization problem. The candidate solutions are evaluated for fitness (i.e., evaluated according to a fitness function) and the population “evolves” as successive generations of the population are selected/generated and modified loosely based on the biological techniques. As the population evolves, overall fitness of the population tends to increase. A solution to the optimization problem is found when the overall fitness of the population has reached a satisfactory level, or in other words, when the fitness function, or other objective function, evaluates to an optimal solution. Simulations based on population-based optimization algorithms, such as evolutionary algorithms, can perform well for finding solutions to problems in engineering, biology, economics, robotics, etc. because objective functions can be tailored to fit the problems. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
DE 101 25 059 A1 describes an inductive voltage generator which comprises a mechanical energy storage device. The energy storage device stores actuation energy until a transition point has been reached, after reaching which a permanent magnet of the induction system undergoes an abrupt movement. As a result of this movement the magnetic flux changes abruptly and at the beginning or end of its movement the permanent magnet strikes the core.
An inductive voltage generator can be used in connection with a remote switch. At present, however, a great deal of mechanical energy is needed in order to be able to produce enough electrical energy to operate the remote switch. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Spas and hot tubs have long been utilized by people for relaxation and physical therapy. To allow for optimal enjoyment and utilization of a spa or hot tub it is desirable that dirt, leaves and other types of debris be prevented from falling into the water to the greatest extent possible. Additionally, since spas and hot tubs are heated in normal use, it is desirable to reduce as much as possible the heat loss from the heated water to the surrounding atmosphere. A reduction of heat loss results in a reduction of the spa owner's energy bill to heat the spa.
To address the problems of debris in the water and heat loss, spa owners have long utilized covers for their spas. The spa covers are generally sized and configured to completely cover the spa. To prevent or reduce heat loss, they are typically formed of an insulating material, such as foam, encased within a waterproof cover. Commonly, the covers are formed of two half sections connected by a folding seam or joint formed in the waterproof cover. This construction allows one half of the cover to be folded back on the other half when removing the cover from the spa. Although, satisfactorily dealing with the problems of debris and heat loss, the spa covers created a new problem due to their size and bulkiness. Spas and hot tubs commonly have diameters of up to eight (8) feet or more. Covers large enough to cover spas of this size create problems in terms of removal of the cover to allow access to the spa and storage or placement of the cover once it is removed. Due to their size and weight, it frequently requires two individuals to remove the spa cover without it dragging on the ground. When the spa covers come into contact with the ground they potentially can pick up debris and their useful life span can be severely shortened due to undesired wear and tear on the cover.
Prior attempts to deal with the problem of handling of the spa covers have been directed towards devices which still require excessive effort on the part of the individual user or designs limited in application to a specific spa cover. Prior devices are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,238 to Forrest and U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,374 to Perry.
The Forrest patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,238 is directed to a device which is mounted on the side of the spa enclosure. This device requires that an open space equal to at least one half the diameter of the spa cover be provided on the side of the spa upon which the device is mounted. It also requires that the spa user push or pull the spa cover off of the spa and onto the device. In addition to problems of space constraint, the Forrest device also presents problems to the elderly or to small individuals who are unable to handle the spa cover without the assistance of another individual.
The Perry patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,374 is directed to a spa/hot tub cover which is utilized in connection with a gas spring apparatus to assist in the lifting of the spa cover. The device of the Perry patent is not adjustable and can only be used in connection with a particular spa cover. As illustrated in Perry, the spa cover is hinged to the spa frame and the gas spring assembly is rigidly fastened to the side of the spa cover. This type of construction requires a special plastic cover or layer on the waterproof cover to provide the rigidity necessary for a durable connection.
Given the shortcomings of these prior devices, a need exists for a spa cover lifting apparatus which can be mounted on the spa or spa frame without regard to external space available about the spa. A need also exists for a spa cover lifting apparatus which can be utilized with a variety of spa covers and does not require any external connections between the spa cover and the spa frame or rigid connections between the apparatus and the cover. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a method for the real-time exchange of speech and other audio over the Internet and other networks. Audio may be converted into digital form, broken up into units of data called packets, and transmitted across a network. Upon receipt, the packets are assembled, and the audio may be converted from digital form to analog form and played.
VoIP calls may be made by several methods. In one method, a call is placed from a standard telephone which is connected to a computer with an analog telephone adapter. The adapter converts sound into digital form for transmission over a network. In a second method, a call is made from an IP phone. The IP phone may convert audio to digital form. The IP phone may connect directly to an Ethernet port for transmission of the digital audio across a network. A third method is from a computer. The computer may include equipment for processing sound, such as a microphone to capture sound, a sound card to convert the sound to digital form, and speakers to play the sound. The computer may be connected to a network for transmission of the sound.
VoIP calls may be made in several settings. A VoIP call may be limited to one participant at each end. A VoIP call may be a conference call, with multiple participants. In addition, a VoIP call may be part of a chat conference. Chat conferences are the real-time exchange of text among groups of people.
It may be desirable to obtain permission to record VoIP calls. Obtaining permission may be demanded by the law or suggested by civility. In some US jurisdictions, it may be illegal to record a call without obtaining the proper permission. In addition, a participant in a VoIP call may become angered upon learning that a message originated by the participant was recorded without permission. Current VoIP systems may provide little or no aid in controlling the recording of VoIP messages based upon permission to record the messages. They may leave it up to participants to generate requests for permission to record VoIP messages. They may not provide restrictions on recording VoIP messages when permission to record has not been obtained. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Resource scheduling is a complex task that requires satisfaction of several potentially conflicting goals and constraints. In a complex environment a resource scheduling algorithm may reach its conclusion with several unfulfilled goals and exceptions. These unfulfilled goals frustrate the intended result of a working resource schedule. One such complex environment of resource scheduling is call center forecasting and agent scheduling. In this complex an diverse setting, a significant amount of configuration and parameter specifications must be done via user interfaces before a final result can be produced. Existing applications for resource scheduling do not adequately produce an unobtrusive interactive mechanism for warning the user of parameter or configuration selections that are likely to result in poor performance or failure of the schedule.
Current algorithms produce warnings or an indication of a conflict that interrupt the scheduling process. Present systems, known to one skilled in the art, use modal interfaces to detect and inform the user of errors. Errors that are detected in mid-stream of the user's work forcibly interrupt the user with a warning message. This warning message prevents the user from continuing work without at least acknowledging its presence. These warning mechanisms are rigid in their application and, if disabled, are completely ineffective at providing any type of failure notification. For example, this warning process is accomplished through a series of programmed communications between the error detection program and the primary scheduling program that results in the scheduling operations ceasing.
The prior art fails to provide an unobtrusive or concurrent means to notify a user of a resource scheduling conflict. By forcing the user to interact with a warning or notification of a pending error, the efficiency of the scheduling process suffers. If the user elects to dismiss the warning, no further indication is present to convey to the user that the conflict is still present. Furthermore, should a user elect to correct the conflict upon receiving notification, the user is required to navigate independently in the program to the position in the program that contains the cause of the conflict, which is both inefficient and costly. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Retailers routinely display articles of merchandise, such as telephones, portable computers (e.g. notebooks, laptops, tablets, etc.), e-readers, media players, and the like for customers to evaluate before making a purchase. These articles of merchandise are continually being made smaller and lighter in weight due to advances in technology and materials. As a result, such merchandise is increasingly vulnerable and susceptible to theft. At the same time, the retail price, and hence the profit margin, for such merchandise continues to decline. Accordingly, these articles of merchandise need to be secured by a security device that effectively and cost efficiently protects the merchandise from theft.
It is common in the field of retail merchandise security to tether electronic devices to a store fixture to prevent theft, yet still allowing a customer to interact with the device. The retailers and their customers want these tethers to be as unobtrusive as possible, making smaller diameter tethers desirable. One problem with keeping tether size small is the number of conductors needed to supply power and sensing signals. Typically, a plurality of conductors is needed to provide both power and security. As a result, reducing the number of conductors while maintaining necessary functionality and security can be challenging. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electronic signal modulation, and more specifically, to spread spectrum modulation of binary messages.
2. Description of Related Art
Many systems provide for a plurality of transmitter and receiver pairs, "communicating pairs", to communicate simultaneously with little or no interference between communicating pairs. This may be accomplished by allocating a different communication frequency to each communicating pair, known as frequency division multiple access (FDMA). There are situations in which it is difficult or impossible to assign each communicating pair a unique frequency. This occurs when there are simply too many communicating pairs close to each other on a designated bandwidth.
Another access method, such as time division multiple access (TDMA), may be employed, wherein each communicating unit is assigned a "time slice" in which to communicate on the same frequency band. This causes the "time slices" to become shorter as the number of communicating pairs increases.
Since both FDMA and TDMA communicate on narrowly defined bands, they are both susceptible to narrowband interference. Another method employs a spreading each message from each communicating pair across the entire usable bandwidth. They are all specially encoded such that they may be separated at the receiver. These are known as spread spectrum techniques.
Spread spectrum techniques are those modulation techniques which require a transmission bandwidth that far exceeds the message information bandwidth. The spread spectrum modulation characteristics should not depend upon the individual message to be transmitted as is the case with some other wideband modulation schemes such as wideband FM. There are many spread spectrum mechanisms. They can be conveniently classified as: (i) direct sequence, (ii) frequency hopping, (iii) time hopping, and (iv) hybrids.
In direct sequence spread spectrum modulation, a wideband carrier signal is combined with the relatively narrowband message to yield an encoded wideband signal. A typical digital implementation would be to create a high speed random binary sequence in having an equal probability of being a one or zero at any particular time. This high speed binary sequence is added to a binary message sequence. The addition is typically done by exclusive-ORing ("XOR") the two sequences together. The bits of the message sequence are much longer in duration than the bits from the high speed random source and thus many random bits are used per information bit. The random bits are often referred to as "chips" and the relationship between the random sequence rate and the message rate is such that an integral number of chips are used per message bit. The code used to "spread" the signal at the transmit unit, is required in "despreading" the signal at the receive unit.
There are many uses for direct sequence spread spectrum techniques. One primary use is that of spectrum sharing. It is possible for a number of different communicating pairs to occupy the same bandwidth simultaneously without significant mutual interference. This is usually accomplished in direct sequence spread spectrum systems by assigning each communicating pair a different spectrum spreading code. This is known in the art as code division multiple access (CDMA).
Since the messages are spread over a large bandwidth, there is less possibility of loss of communications due to narrow bandwidth interference. The effect of the interference is therefore reduced by the bandwidth over which it is applied.
Typically, one problem with direct sequence spread spectrum communications and CDMA is synchronization. In order to function properly, the receiver must generate a signal from the spreading code which is the inverse from the transmitted spread spectrum signal, and do so at the same rate as the transmit unit. The receive unit must also correct relative phase discrepancies between the transmit and receive unit. This requires synchronization to be established and maintained at a tolerance finer than a single chip width. Further, the receiver must know the particular spreading code employed by the transmit unit in order to decode the signal and recover the message.
Currently there is a need for a simplified method of direct spread spectrum modulation which is not as sensitive as conventional systems to synchronization, and which does not require the spreading code in advance. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to an apparatus for converting or reconverting of spin flow energy into pressure energy.
In systems which employ centrifugal forces for the separation of materials, a type of flow emerges from the separation housing and enters into the pipe conduits, which has a spin flow component. Such spin flow component may be smaller or larger, depending on the type of system involved. Since the spin energy within the pipe conduit is lost as such, it may, under certain circumstances, be useful to recover the spin energy by means suitable for this purpose. One advantage of such recovery of the spin energy is seen in that the energy requirement of the material separation system may be substantially reduced. Thus, several different solutions for reconverting the spin energy into pressure energy have been made heretofore.
Thus, it is, for example, known to employ so-called spin diffusers. In such diffusers the spin flow is guided into a pipe of increasing cross sectional flow area. In such a pipe diffuser, the circumferential component, as well as the meridional component of the flow velocity is decelerated due to the increasing flow cross sectional area, whereby pressure energy may be recovered. However, the spin diffuser has the drawback that its flow guide characteristics are disadvantageous. Besides, the flow at the outlet port of such a spin diffuser still comprises a remainder spin. Thus, this type of diffuser is not capable to provide an immediate transition of a spin flow into a parallel flow in a pipe.
Another way of recovering the spin energy employs a spirally shaped housing. Such spin housing is substantially flat and the spin flow enters centrally into the spiral housing in a direction extending perpendicularly to the plane of the spiral and centrally thereof. The flow emerges from the spiral housing from a tangentially extending exit port. One drawback of such housings is seen in that the flow on its way from the center of the spiral to the outer wall of the spiral, is guided in a disadvantageous manner. Such disadvantageous flow or flow guide conditions cause flow losses which substantially diminish the converting efficiency of the housing. It is also disadvantageous from a construction or manufacturing point of view that the inlet channel and the outlet channel form a right angle relative to each other.
Another prior art method for recovering of spin energy employs a so-called axial guide apparatus, wherein the rotating flow in the pipe or conduit is converted or transformed into an annular flow by means of a central body. The annular or ring flow in turn is deflected into the longitudinal direction by means of guide veins arranged in ring fashion. In this manner it is possible to substantially diminish the circumferential component of the ring flow so that at the end of the central body an adequately parallel pipe flow prevails. However, this type of prior art apparatus operates with substantial losses at higher circumferential speeds because the transformation of the spin energy into pressure energy takes place in this type of apparatus along a very short flow passage. In addition, it is necessary to carefully adapt the guide vanes relative to any given operational condition due to the short length of the transformation passage. Thus, where deviations occur from the given operational condition, the apparatus operates with substantial flow losses. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of a filter element of an air cleaner unit of an open element type built in an engine of an automobile and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although a typical air cleaner unit built in an air suction system of an automobile engine is of a covered type in which a filter element is housed in an air cleaner case connected to a suction duct, an air cleaner unit of an open element type, in which a filter element itself is directly connected to a suction duct without any cover such as an air cleaner case, is also known as one of options or replacement parts.
In such an open-element air cleaner unit, since the filter element is exposed outside, the air suction efficiency is higher than that of the covered type, by which an output increase effect of the engine can be obtained. Therefore, the open-element air cleaner unit is often substituted for an existing one in, for example, a sports car. However, since the mount space in an engine room is limited, the shape and structure of the filter element are so designed as to achieve high air suction efficiency.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional air cleaner unit 10 of the above-mentioned open element type. A filter element 11 is shaped like a tapered cylinder with a filter wall made of an adequate filter material, such as paper, cloth and nonwoven cloth, and having a zigzag shaped cross section. A ring-shaped connecting member 12 made of synthetic rubber and having a suction duct connecting opening 12a, and an edge member 13 made of synthetic rubber with a metallic blank cap member 13a, are respectively integrally connected by vulcanization adhesion to ends of major and minor diameter side openings of the filter element 11. The air cleaner unit 10 is mounted in an engine by fixing the suction duct connecting opening 12a in engagement with a joint fitting 20 connected through a joint collar 21 made of rubber and the like, and connecting the collar 21 to an inlet pipe 22 on the side of the engine.
Only a peripheral part of the blank cap member 13a of the air cleaner unit 10 and the edge member 13 may be combined into one rubber ring.
In the conventional air cleaner unit 10 shown in FIG. 2, the filter element 11 is formed as a tapered air suction plane having a zigzag shaped cross section, by which a large air suction area can be secured even if the occupation capacity, that is, the outer dimensions thereof, are relatively small. Accordingly, it is possible to efficiently suck more air with the filter element 11 having small outer dimensions.
However, it is pointed out that turbulent flow arises almost just under the blank cap member 13a when air is sucked through the tapered cylindrical filter wall of the filter element 11 in the above-mentioned conventional air cleaner unit 10, and that the turbulent flow makes the air suction sound louder and causes a considerable loss of sucked air. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Percussive techniques in respiratory therapy are increasingly ordered by physicians. Patients recovering from surgery are treated with percussive techniques to prevent or minimize the onset of pneumonia or atelectasis. It is also ordered to prevent or treat the occurrence of emphysema, chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, asthma, and other respiratory ailments. Percussion can be ordered in many ways, i.e., CPT or chest physiotherapy, which consists of percussion during postural drainage including coughing and/or suctioning. PVD or percussion vibration and drainage and PVS or percussion vibration and suctioning. Also used prior to percussive therapy are various inhaled medications including broncho-dilators, mucolytics and corticosteroids.
An important part of percussive techniques is administering the therapy to specific focal points on the chest wall. This procedure is also known as cupping and clapping since the therapist cups his or her hand against the patient's chest wall in rapid succession. This previous technique of using the hands had several disadvantages e.g., the direct contact of the percussor's hand with the patient's body, who may have open wounds or sores creating increased risk of contamination and infection. It was also very difficult to focus percussion on body areas where there were intravenous devices (IV), cardiac monitoring devices, chest tubes and lines for equipment or the like.
Furthermore, the hand of the therapist was really too large to properly percuss neonates and small children, since the adult hand is too large to contact only areas of specific location.
Also, there are many areas of the body which the respiratory therapist must avoid striking, e.g., kidney, spine, and breast. Therefore, complete percussive therapy could be severely limited between those areas which were occluded due to medical equipment and its attachments or sensitive body areas which had to be avoided. When it was impossible to use the hand, nurses and therapists frequently used or adapted whatever was nearby.
Therefore, in accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention, a hand held medical appliance comprises a partially enclosed cavity presenting a substantially circular opening bordered by an annular ring of moldably compressible material for effecting a pneumatic seal of the cavity to a body area against which it is placed. The important objective of the use of percussion in respiratory therapy is to transfer percussive waves into a body area, such as the lungs, to dislodge blocked mucus and allow it to move along to a point that the patient can expectorate it or spit it up. A non-skid finish is provided on the external surface of the appliance to keep the user's hand from slipping off. The embodiments increase the transfer of percussive energy into the desired body area while reducing the severity of the impact to the skin surface. This is accomplished by creating an excellent seal of the cavity of the appliance to the body surface. Also the cavity is designed to compress resiliently deform and compress in response to the impact pressure applied by the therapist. The annular moldable ring thus provides both a seal and provides some protection for the skin tissue at the contact point. Also, one could use the embodiments with pneumatic or electrically driven vibrator action to enhance the mucus loosening effect, or these embodiments can be used to percuss and then the body area could be vibrated. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to a container having an opening, or mouth, covered with a flexible sheet of material, and an outer closure lid disposed above the flexible sheet. Such containers are generally used in the food packaging industry and embody various sizes, shapes and forms for packaging various food products, particularly of the flowable type.
Cottage cheese, butter, yogurt and similar foot-stuffs are commonly packaged and marketed in a container that is generally wax-coated or wax-impregnated paper or plastic. The container has a receptacle portion, consisting of a base and upwardly extending sidewall, and an outer closure lid which is pressed onto the sidewall top peripheral opening, or mouth, as snuggly as possible so as to minimize the entry of air or the escape of food-stuff from the closed container. Outer closure lids for such containers are either the plain disc-like lids which engage a peripherally extending bead located below the mouth rim on the container on the interior surface of the sidewalls, or so-called flush-type lids which fit across the opening of the container and have a depending skirt or snap-on engagement with an exterior portion of a beaded rim of the container, or so-called plug-type lids which project into the interior of the container adjacent the inner surface of the upwardly extending sidewall and engage the sidewall opening in snap-on relation.
Conventionally, with containers of this type, it is relatively easy for the consumer, or other person, to remove the outer lid as well as the underlying flexible sheet closure. Because of the relative ease with which the flexible sheet closure and the outer closure lid may be removed from the top of the container, innocent, or willful and malicious tampering with the container's internal contents is possible. After removing the outer lid closure, a potential consumer may lift up a portion of the flexible sheet closure from engagement with the top of the container. With such containers, it is possible to determine if the flexible sheet closure has been loosened from the top of the container, but only by lifting the outer closure lid from the container and performing a close inspection.
In known containers which include a flexible sheet inner closure underneath the lid, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,301,464; 3,338,027 and 3,471,992, a thin film or sheet of flexible material is disposed across the opening of the top of the container and is in contact with, and supported by, the top peripheral surfaces of the rim of the container. With those containers employing plug-type lids, the plug-type lid presents a substantially vertical and peripherally-extending wall area, which will lie adjacent to the interior surface of the container sidewall immediately below the top edge of the rim of the container when the lid is placed thereon. This vertically disposed peripheral wall area of the plug-type lid will engage a portion of the flexible sheet film and press it against the interior surface of the sidewall of the container. In some conventional containers, the flexible sheet closure is heat-sealed to the portion of the container sidewall adjacent the vertical and peripherally-extending wall area of the plug-type lid. In other containers, the flexible sheet closure material may be heat-sealed across the upper surface of the rim of the container. Further, instead of heat-sealing, adhesive means can be employed.
While such double-seal containers have functioned generally satisfactorily, several problems have been encountered, both in manufacture and in ultimate use. With respect to manufacturing, in accordance with known techniques, it is necessary to cut the sheet closure to a relatively precise size and shape corresponding to the size and shape of the container lid and the mouth of the container. And, it is necessary to maintain the sheet in relatively precise registry with the lid and to secure the sheet to the lid prior to insertion of the lid into the mouth of the container. The strength of the attachment between the lid and sheet must be accurately controlled to prevent the lid from tearing the sheet when the lid is removed, as for example, to check the tamper-proof integrity of the container. And, since the sheet does conform in size and shape to the lid and mouth of the container, there are no readily graspable tabs to facilitate removal of the sheet when it is desired to get access to the contents of the container.
Owing to the possibility and ease of opening of the flexible sheet closure, as a result of inadvertent shipping and handling activities or as a result of innocent potential consumer curiosity or malicious tampering, it is desirable to be able to more easily determine if the flexible sheet closure has been opened. Further, it is desirable that a tamper-indicating construction be employed with such flexible sheet closures that will allow the closure to be used with many types of lids and containers now in use. Advantageously, such a tamper-indicating construction of a flexible sheet closure should be effective regardless of the manner of engagement of the closure with the upper rim of the container. That is, the tamper-indicating flexible sheet closure construction should be effective regardless of whether or not the flexible sheet closure is heat-sealed or adhesively secured to the top rim of the container or just non-sealingly supported thereon. Further, it is desirable that the tamper-indicating construction of the flexible sheet closure not require visual inspection through complicated, relatively more expensive, transparent windows in the outer closure lid when such outer closure lid is used. The taper-indicating flexible sheet closure construction should also work with a large variety of different types of flexible sheet materials that may be used. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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