The central nervous system (CNS) is composed of the brain contained in the cranium, and the medulla spinalis or spinal cord in the vertebral canal. The brain contains 12 cranial nerves. The spinal nerves spring from the medulla spinalis, and are transmitted through the intervertebral foramina. The spinal cord, which originates immediately below the brain stem, extends to the first lumbar vertebra, designated L1. Beyond L1 the spinal cord becomes the cauda equina. The spinal cord is comprised of 31 pairs of nerves comprising 8 pairs of cervical spinal nerves, 12 pairs of thoracic spinal nerves, 5 pairs of lumbar spinal nerves, 5 pairs of sacral spinal nerves, and 1 pair of coccygeal spinal nerves. The first cervical nerve (called the suboccipital nerve) emerges from the vertebral canal between the occipital bone and the atlas; the eighth issues between the seventh cervical and first thoracic vertebra. Each nerve is attached to the medulla spinalis by two roots, an anterior or ventral, and a posterior or dorsal, the latter being characterized by the presence of a ganglion, the spinal ganglion. Each spinal nerve is formed from a ventral or anterior root comprising axons from motor neurons and a dorsal or posterior root comprising nerve fibers from sensory neurons. The anterior root (radix anterior; ventral root) emerges from the anterior surface of the medulla spinalis as a number of rootlets or filaments (fila radicularia), which coalesce to form two bundles near the intervertebral foramen. The posterior root (radix posterior; dorsal root) is larger than the anterior due to the greater size and number of its rootlets which are attached along the posterolateral furrow of the medulla spinalis and unite to form two bundles which join the spinal ganglion. The posterior root of the first cervical nerve is smaller than the anterior. The spinal ganglia (ganglion spinale) are collections of nerve cells on the posterior roots of the spinal nerves. Each ganglion is oval in shape, reddish in color, and its size is in proportion to that of the nerve root on which it is situated. It is bifid medially where it is joined by the two bundles of the posterior nerve root. The ganglia are usually but not always found in the intervertebral foramina, immediately outside the points where the nerve roots perforate the dura mater. The ganglia of the first and second cervical nerves lie on the vertebral arches of the atlas and axis respectively, the ganglia of the sacral nerves are inside the vertebral canal, while the ganglion on the posterior root of the coccygeal nerve lies within the sheath of dura mater. When a dorsal root and a ventral root unite, they form a spinal nerve providing both motor and sensory utility. Spinal nerves split into two main branches, the dorsal ramus which innervates the skin of the back and deep back muscles, and the ventral ramus which innervates everything else from the neck inferiorly and also forms nerve plexuses which are a network of converging and/or diverging nerve fibers. The ganglia are comprised of unipolar nerve cells, and from these the fibers of the posterior root originate. Two other forms of cells are also present, i.e., the cells of Dogiel, whose axons ramify close to the cell (type II, of Golgi), and which are distributed entirely within the ganglion; and multipolar cells similar to those found in the sympathetic ganglia. The ganglia of the first cervical nerve may be absent, while small aberrant ganglia consisting of groups of nerve cells are sometimes found on the posterior roots between the spinal ganglia and the medulla spinalis. Each nerve root has a covering comprising pia mater, and is loosely invested by the arachnoid, the latter being prolonged as far as the points where the roots pierce the dura mater. The two roots pierce the dura mater separately, each receiving a sheath from this membrane; where the roots join to form the spinal nerve this sheath is continuous with the epineurium of the nerve.
The largest nerve roots and the largest spinal nerves are those of the lower lumbar and upper sacral nerves, and are attached to the cervical and lumbar swellings of the medulla spinalis.
These nerves are distributed to the upper and lower limbs. Their individual filaments are the most numerous of all the spinal nerves. The roots of the coccygeal nerve are the smallest. Immediately beyond the spinal ganglion, the anterior and posterior nerve roots unite to form the spinal nerve which emerges through the intervertebral foramen. Each spinal nerve receives a branch (gray ramus communicans) from the adjacent ganglion of the sympathetic trunk, while the thoracic and the first and second lumbar nerves each contribute a branch (white ramus communicans) to the adjoining sympathetic ganglion. The second, third, and fourth sacral nerves also supply white rami. These are not connected with the ganglia of the sympathetic trunk, but run directly into the pelvic plexuses of the sympathetic nerve system. A typical spinal nerve contains fibers belonging to two systems, i.e., the somatic nerve system, and the sympathetic or splanchnic nerve system, together with nerve fibers connecting these systems with each other.
The somatic fibers are efferent and afferent. The efferent fibers originate in the cells of the anterior column of the medulla spinalis, and run outward through the anterior nerve roots to the spinal nerve. They convey impulses to the voluntary muscles, and are continuous from their origin to their peripheral distribution. The afferent fibers convey impressions inward, for example from the skin, and originate in the unipolar nerve cells of the spinal ganglia. The single processes of these cells divide into peripheral and central fibers, and the latter enter the medulla spinalis through the posterior nerve roots.
The sympathetic fibers are also efferent and afferent. The efferent fibers, preganglionic fibers, originate in the lateral column of the medulla spinalis, and are conveyed through the anterior nerve root and the white ramus communicans to the corresponding ganglion of the sympathetic trunk where they may end by forming synapses around its cells, or may run through the ganglion to end in another of the ganglia of the sympathetic trunk, or in a more distally placed ganglion in one of the sympathetic plexuses. They end by forming synapses around other nerve cells. From the cells of the ganglia of the sympathetic trunk other fibers, postganglionic fibers, take origin; some of these run through the gray rami communicantes to join the spinal nerves, along which they are carried to the blood vessels of the trunk and limbs, while others pass to the viscera, either directly or after interruption in one of the distal ganglia. The afferent fibers are derived partly from the unipolar cells and partly from the multipolar cells of the spinal ganglia. Their peripheral processes are carried through the white rami communicantes, and after passing through one or more sympathetic ganglia without interruption end in the tissues of the viscera. The central processes of the unipolar cells enter the medulla spinalis through the posterior nerve root and form synapses around either somatic or sympathetic efferent neurons to complete reflex arcs. The dendrites of the multipolar nerve cells form synapses around the cells of type II (cells of Dogiel) in the spinal ganglia. By this path an original impulse is transferred from the sympathetic to the somatic system, through which it is conveyed to the sensorium.
After emerging from the intervertebral foramen, each spinal nerve gives off a small meningeal branch which reenters the vertebral canal through the intervertebral foramen and supplies the vertebra and their ligaments as well as the blood vessels of the medulla spinalis and its membranes. The spinal nerve then splits into a posterior or dorsal, and an anterior or ventral division, each receiving fibers from both nerve roots.
The spinal cord provides a means of motor and sensory communication between the brain and the nerves of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) which includes the somatic nervous system (SNS) and the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The somatic nervous system is voluntary, includes the nerves serving the musculoskeletal system and the skin, and reacts to outside stimuli affecting the body. The autonomic nervous system is involuntary, and controls and maintains homeostasis or normal function. The autonomic nervous system is comprised of the sympathetic nervous system associated with the flight or fight response, and the parasympathetic nervous system responsible for maintaining regular life functions such as heartbeat and breathing during normal activity. Nerve roots pass out of the spinal canal through the intervertebral foramen and distribute to the body anteriorly for motor activity or posteriorly for sensory activity. The anterior nerve divisions supply the front of the spine including the limbs while the posterior nerve divisions are distributed to the muscles behind the spine.
Cerebrospinal fluid is secreted from the choroids plexus in the brain and is present in the brain ventricles, in the spinal canal, and in the spinal cord. The fluid circulates among these tissues and cushions the tissues in the CNS from the effects of traumatic injury. The CNS in a normal adult contains about 150 milliliters of cerebrospinal fluid.
The brain and spinal cord are covered and protected by meninges membranes comprising strong connective dura mater tissue, or dura, as a gray outer layer of the spinal cord and nerve roots; arachnoid mater, thinner than the dura mater; and pia mater, the innermost layer covering the nerves as a delicate and highly vascular membrane providing blood to the neural structures.
The dura membrane that covers the spine and nerve roots in the neck is surrounded by the epidural space. Nerves pass through the epidural space to the neck, shoulder and arms. Inflammation of these nerve roots may cause pain in these regions due to irritation from a damaged disc or from contract with the bony structure of the spine.
Injury to the nerves in the central nervous system such as nerves in the spinal cord can result in functional impairment which can take the form of permanent loss of sensation and paraplegia. Most of the deficits associated with spinal cord injury such as traumatic spinal cord injury, crush injury, or lesion in the spinal nerves result from cell death and the loss of axons in the spinal neuronal population that are damaged in the central nervous system (CNS) which is comprised of nerves in the spinal cord and brain. Axons do not otherwise regrow across a lesion site in a damaged nerve in the CNS. Neurodegenerative diseases of the CNS are also associated with cell death and axonal loss. Representative diseases of the CNS include those that can result in impairment include stroke, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) dementia, prion diseases, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and glaucoma. The ability to stimulate growth of axons from the injured, damaged, diseased or otherwise affected neuronal population would improve recovery of lost neurological functions, and protection from cell death can limit the extent of damage in the CNS. For example, following a white matter stroke, axons are damaged and lost, even though the neuronal cell bodies are alive, and stroke in gray matter kills many neurons and non-neuronal (glial) cells.
Effective neuroprotective and neuroregenerative agents are desirable to potentially limit damage and to induce repair to the CNS. Compounds which promote axon growth in nerve cells of the CNS are especially desirable for treatment of damaged, injured, and/or diseased nerves in the CNS. Compounds which promote axon growth in nerve cells of the peripheral nervous system (the PNS) are also especially desirable for treatment of damaged, injured, and/or diseased nerves in the PNS.
Traumatic injury of the spinal cord can result in permanent functional impairment. Axon regeneration in nerve cells of the CNS does not occur at the site of injury or lesion site in the mammalian CNS because growth inhibitory proteins present in anatomical structures immediately proximal to nerves as substrate-bound proteins block axon growth. Anatomical structures such as myelin sheaths immediately proximal to nerves are referred to as inhibitory substrates. While compounds such as trophic factors can enhance neuronal differentiation and stimulate axon growth in tissue culture, most factors and compounds that enhance growth and differentiation cannot promote axon regenerative growth on inhibitory substrates.
A compound which stimulates axon growth in tissue cell culture and induces axon growth on growth inhibitory substrates is potentially useful for therapeutic use in axon regeneration when applied to cells residing in the CNS, such as directly to the site of a lesion in the CNS. Trophic and differentiation factors that stimulate growth on permissive substrates, that is, in the absence of inhibitory proteins or in the absence of inhibitory substrates, in tissue culture include neurotrophins such as nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived growth factor (BDNF). Neither NGF nor BDNF promotes neurite growth or axon regeneration in nerve cells on inhibitory substrates, and neither is effective in promoting axon regeneration in nerve cells in the CNS in vivo.
Cell death can occur by two major mechanisms, necrosis and apoptosis. While necrotic cell death results in cell lysis and release of cell contents, cellular apoptosis is programmed cell death that results in the relatively tidy packaging of cells which die with the prevention of release of cellular contents. Apoptosis is characterized morphologically by cell shrinkage, nuclear pyknosis, chromatin condensation, and blebbing of the plasma membrane. Traumatic injury and ischemia can lead to apoptosis of both neurons and non-neuronal cells, and this cell death is responsible for functional deficits after injury or ischemia. A cascade of molecular and biochemical events is associated with apoptosis including activation of an endogenous endonuclease that cleaves DNA into oligonucleosomes detectable as a ladder of DNA fragments in agarose gels. Apoptotic endonucleases not only affect cellular DNA by producing the classical DNA ladder but also generate free 3′-OH groups at the deoxyribose ends of these DNA fragments. A technique called Tunel labeling labels DNA fragments as a means to detect apoptotic cells.
Rho kinase, an enzyme that resides in the interior of cells such as nerve cells, is a target for treatment of cancer, metastasis, and hypertension. Rho kinase inhibitors may be useful to treat eye diseases such as glaucoma, as well as to inhibit cancer cell migration and metastasis.
Rho kinase antagonists may be useful in treatment of hypertension, asthma, and vascular disease such as thrombosis.
The superfamily of small GTP-binding proteins or small G-proteins can be divided according to the similarity of amino acid sequences into 5 groups of Ras, Rho (short for Ras homologue), Rab, Arf and others. The small GTP-binding proteins have a molecular weight of 20,000-30,000 Daltons, specifically bind GDP and GTP, and exhibit GTPase activity by hydrolyzing bound GTP. Rho is specifically ADP ribosylated and inactivated by C3, a botulinum toxin.
Protein kinases are proteins that phosphorylate and control the activity of other proteins by transferring a phosphate from ATP (adenosine triphosphate) to an amino acid, e.g. serine, threonine, or tyrosine, on another (target) protein. Target proteins regulated by phosphorylation include enzymes that transduce signals in a cellular environment and enzymes that turn certain genes on or off and can thereby regulate progression of many different diseases.
Rho kinase regulates cell cytoskeleton organization, cell adhesion and cell motility, and a cell's cycle. Rho kinase is a serine/threonine kinase, and is a Rho binding protein or an effector of Rho which is a GTPase, which catalyzes the reaction: GTP (Guanosine 5′-triphosphate)+H2O (water) to GDP (Guanosine 5′-diphosphate)+phosphate ion, and is linked to a cell membrane in its active state. Inhibition of Rho kinase by a compound of this invention can have potential therapeutic applications in a mammal, such as reduction of tumor metastasis in cancer, relaxation of vascular tension in cardiovascular disease, and reduction of ocular pressure in glaucoma, among other applications. Two different Rho kinase inhibitors, Fasudil™ and Radicut™, are in use in humans for treatment of stroke. Rho kinase is called ROK (Rho-associated kinase) and ROCK (Rho associated Rho kinase), ROKa, or ROCKI. Isoforms of ROCK exist: ROCKII (has 64% sequence identity with ROCKI, and ROKβ is 90% identical. The protein has three important domains: a Rho-binding domain (RB), a C-terminal PH (Pleckstrin homology) domain, and a catalytic domain.
ROCKI and ROCKII are each activated by Rho. An important distinction between ROCKI and ROCKII comprises their respective in vivo tissue distributions in a mammal (e.g., see Nakagawa et al., FEBS Lett. 1996 Aug. 26; 392(2):189-93). Analysis of relevant mRNA concentration levels has shown that ROCKI has widespread tissue distribution, but that there is relatively little ROCKI in brain and in skeletal muscle. Expression of ROCKII is high in brain, heart and lung, but is relatively low in liver, stomach, spleen, kidney and testis. Western blots used to study protein concentration levels show ROCKII concentration levels to be low in liver and kidney (Wibberley et al. 2003, British J. Pharmacology 138:757-766), whereas ROCKII is highly expressed in brain as compared to ROCKI (Leemhuis et al. 2002, J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 300:1000). Therefore, for therapeutic and diagnostic use in the CNS of a mammal, an inhibitor that is specific for inhibition of ROCKII would be desirable.
In this regard, known Rho kinase inhibitor Y27632 [(R)-(+)-trans-4-(1-aminoethyl)-N-(4-pyridyl)cyclohexane-carboxamide as a dihydrochloride salt] inactivates (inhibits) both ROCKI and ROCKII (Ishizaki et al. 2000, Molecular Pharmacology 57:976).
In addition, a Rho kinase inhibitor that is in clinical use for treatment of stroke, Radicut™ (edaravone; 3-methyl-1-phenyl-2-pyrazoline-5-one; 5-methyl-2-phenyl-2,4-dihydro-3H-pyrazol-3-one), is known to have kidney toxicity. An estimated 180,000 patients have taken the drug Radicut™ since it was approved for use in 2001 in Japan. Ninety-three were later struck down with kidney failure and 40 died. A Rho kinase inhibitor specific for ROCKII may not be expected to show this adverse effect profile in part because of the low abundance of ROCKII in liver and kidney (Wibberley et al. 2003, British J. Pharmacology 138:757-766).
Nearly all protein kinase inhibitors that have been developed are ATP-competitive, and for this reason the “drug concentration required for 50% inhibition” (IC50) of a protein kinase depends on the concentration of ATP used in the assays. A drug concentration required to suppress phosphorylation of a target substrate in a cell can be higher than the drug concentration required for inhibition of a protein kinase in vitro.
A compound known to inhibit the activity of Rho kinases is (R)-trans-4-(ethan-1′-amino)-N-(4″-pyridyl)cyclohexane carboxamide dihydrochloride known as Y-27632, which is available from Sigma Chemical Company and from Calbiochem in powder form and which can be dissolved in DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, Sigma) and which can be useful as a reference Rho kinase inhibiting compound.
Rho kinase regulates axon growth and regeneration in nerve cells, cell motility and metastasis, smooth muscle contraction, and apoptosis, and is a target for therapeutic treatment in many disease applications, including repair in the central nervous system. Rho kinase is activated by Rho and Rho kinase inhibitors block Rho signaling. Mutations of Rho family regulatory proteins have been found in clinical oncology samples which suggests that perturbation or alteration or interruption of, or interference with, the Rho signaling pathway can be a useful therapeutic modality. Examples with specificity for Rho include the DLC1 gene in hepatocellular carcinoma, p-190-A, which is in a region that is altered in gliomas and astrocytomas, GRAF, which has loss of function mutations in leukemia, and LARG, which is found in some gene fusions found in acute myeloid leukemia. Genetically engineered point mutations can activate RhoA and induce cellular transformation in vitro.
Rho kinase inhibitors have widespread potential for use in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly if the Rho kinase inhibitors have the property to enhance plasticity and axon regeneration in neurons. However, there is much scientific evidence for a direct link between Rho signaling and neurodegenerative disease. In an animal model of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), there is clear evidence that Rho kinase inhibitors can reduce the pathological hallmarks of the disease.
A trans-4-amino(alkyl)-1-pyridylcarbamoylcyclohexane, designated as Y27632, is a Rho kinase inhibitor and available from Calbiochem. Y27632 is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,834, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. Y27632 has been used to demonstrate that inhibition of Rho kinase is effective in preventing metastasis. Other compounds are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,838, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Rho signaling antagonists can be useful in treatment of hypertension. For example, Y-27632 can relax smooth muscle and increase vascular blood flow. Y-27632 is a small molecule that can enter cells, and is not toxic in rats after oral administration of 30 mg/kg for 10 days. Y-27632 reduces blood pressure in hypertensive rats, but does not affect blood pressure in normal rats.
A number of Rho kinase inhibitors are known. For example, the compound NHM-1152 can act as vascular relaxant in vascular vasospasm. The compound known as hydroxy fasudil may find use in the treatment of stroke after intravenous application and can reduce infarct volume, improve outcomes, can have anti-ischemic properties in vasospastic angina, and inhibits neutrophil migration in ischemic brain. A fasudil compound called HA-1077 is an antivasospasm agent which improves cerebral hemodynamic activity, inhibits production of superoxide anion by neurotrophils, and may find use in the treatment of spinal cord injury, stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and cerebral infarction. U.S. Pat. No. 6,218,410, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes a Rho kinase inhibitor. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/022,301 (McKerracher et al) published as U.S. 2002/0119140, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes Rho family antagonists and their use to block inhibition of neurite outgrowth. Canadian Patent applications 2,304,981 (McKerracher et al) and 2,325,842 (McKerracher), the disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, disclose the use of Rho antagonists such as for example C3 and chimeric C3 proteins as well as substances selected from among known trans-4-amino(alkyl)-1-pyridyl-carbamoylcyclohexane compounds or Rho kinase inhibitors for use in the regeneration of axons. C3 inactivates Rho by ADP-ribosylation and can be relatively non-toxic to nerve cells at therapeutically effective doses. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,857,301, and 5,741,792, the disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes a number of 4-substituted piperidine compounds. U.S. Pat. No. 6,140,333, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes certain piperidine compounds, one of which is a 4-aminomethylpiperidine acylated at the piperidine ring nitrogen by a group containing a carbon adjacent to the carbonyl group to which carbon is attached an aryl group and a hydroxyl group. U.S. Pat. No. 6,020,352, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes the use of certain 1-phenyl-2-piperidinoalkanol derivatives to treat ischemic disorders of the retina and optic nerve.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,849,521, 4,584,303, 4,866,077, 4,933,353, and 6,169,097, the disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, disclose methods to prepare a number of piperidines with substituents attached to one or more of the ring carbon atoms of a piperidine. U.S. Pat. No. 6,545,022, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes a method to prepare certain 4-substituted-4-aminoalkylpiperidines including certain 4-substitutedmethylene-4-aminomethylpiperidines.


In recent years, the availability of advanced location-specific agricultural application and measurement systems (used in so-called “precision farming” practices) has increased grower interest in determining spatial variations in soil properties and in varying input application variables (e.g., planting depth) in light of such variations. However, the available mechanisms for measuring properties such as temperature are either not effectively locally made throughout the field or are not made at the same time as an input (e.g. planting) operation.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a method for monitoring soil properties during an agricultural input application.


The present invention relates generally to drilling a borehole, and more particularly to a method for real time geostreering the drilling of a borehole.
In the search for oil and gas producing formations to meet the ever increasing demand for energy, the oil industry constantly strives to develop techniques to maximize the recovery from oil and gas producing reservoirs. Oftentimes, the recoverable oil and gas in the reservoirs is in thin oil and gas bearing formations or beds, for example, three to twenty feet thick, that requires the drilling of horizontal wells.
Techniques have been developed to steer the drill bit to maintain the borehole within a target formation. For example, various steering techniques use information from offset wells to compare with logging data obtained while drilling the well. A logging while drilling (LWD) tool provides real time borehole measurements while drilling through a formation. The LWD measurements are used to make drill bit trajectory adjustments to maintain the borehole in the target formation. Use of real time information in this manner is generally referred to in the oil industry as geosteering.


Approaches described in this Background section may include approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Targeted marketing techniques assist a variety of entities, such as product manufacturers, service providers, and retailers, in efficiently persuading consumers to purchase certain products and service. A marketing entity may include, without limitation, product manufacturers, service providers, retailers, third-party marketing firms acting on behalf of another entity, non-profit organizations, and so forth. The marketing entity may identify characteristics of people to which the entity wishes to “market” a product or service. For example, an entity that sells product X may determine that it wants to market to persons that have purchased a complimentary product Y within a timeframe of Z. Of course, one problem with targeted marketing is that it is sometimes difficult to ascertain exactly what characteristics to target.
Once targeted characteristics have been identified, the entity may then attempt to “market” to persons who have those characteristics. Unfortunately, it is also generally difficult to ascertain whether a given person actually has the targeted characteristics and/or how to actually reach specific persons that have those specific characteristics. For example, a particular retailer may have no idea that a potential consumer recently purchased product Y from another store, and thus be unable to specifically target marketing for Product X to that potential consumer. Large-scale targeted marketing is therefore typically difficult to achieve with a high degree of efficiency. Rather, a marketing entity is typically limited to less efficient targeting techniques, such as targeting specific zip codes or web sites, thus resulting in the marketing entity wasting marketing resources on many persons who do not have the targeted characteristics.
One common marketing technique involves incentivizing costumer behavior through targeted promotional offers. An “offer” may be construed to be a promise by an offer provider, which may be any entity engaged in targeted marketing, to provide a consumer with a benefit under a certain set of implicit or explicit conditions known as terms. Example benefits include, without limitation, a monetary gift, a discount applied to the purchase of one or more products or services, free products and/or services, access to additional offers, and so forth. Example terms may include any one or more of, without limitation, actions that the consumer must perform, a specific set of item(s) that must be purchased by the consumer, a specific amount of money that must be spent by the consumer, a timeframe during which the offer is valid, and so forth. A customer benefit of an offer is realized during a process sometimes called “redemption,” which typically takes place during a transaction between the consumer and a retailer. When the consumer wishes to engage in a transaction the retailer determines whether the conditions of the offer have been met. If so, the retailer, which may be any merchant or other entity that sells products or services, provides the benefit to the consumer on behalf of the offer provider.
In some embodiments, the retailer is in fact the offer provider. In other embodiments, the retailer may then seek compensation for providing the benefit from the offer provider by means of a process known as clearing. During the clearing process, the retailer provides evidence to a third-party clearinghouse, or directly to the offer provider, that the retailer provided the benefit. Assuming the evidence is sufficient, the third-party clearinghouse, or offer provider, provides compensation to the retailer. In embodiments involving a third-party clearinghouse, the offer provider may provide the third-party clearinghouse with funds in advance. The offer provider also sends to the third-party clearinghouse funds from which the compensation is provided, or reimburses the third-party clearinghouse for providing the compensation.
A frequent implicit or explicit term of an offer is that the retailer must be presented with a specific coupon during a transaction. In general, a coupon is a certificate, document, or other physical or electronic construct that entitles a consumer to accept an offer described or referenced by the coupon, thereby realizing the benefit of the offer. A coupon sometimes takes a “hard copy” form, such as a paper certificate, with printed images and/or text describing terms of the offer. The process of the consumer accepting an offer by presenting, referencing, or otherwise providing a coupon while purchasing, contracting, or otherwise transacting with another party involves “redeeming” the coupon. For example, a consumer may redeem a hard copy of a coupon by handing the copy to a clerk during a purchase at a retail store. The clerk may then provide the consumer with the subject of the offer, such as a discounted price, item, service or gift.
One technique for distributing coupons is to include printed coupons with newspapers, magazines, or other items that are distributed to consumers. One example of an item with which coupons are distributed is a printed receipt. For example, some retailers print receipts at a point of sale on register paper on which coupons have been pre-printed. As another example, some retailers print coupon(s) on a receipt at the time of the transaction for which the receipt is printed, thereby allowing the retailers to dynamically select which coupon(s) appear on the receipt based on the product(s) that were purchased during the transaction.
Recent distribution techniques now provide consumers with opportunities to print their own coupons. For example, a number of websites provide search engines or catalogs with which consumers may locate offers and then print coupons for the offers they find. The printed coupons may be used in the same manner as any other coupon.
Other recent distribution techniques involve creating digital coupons. One such technique involves creating unique digital coupons that are saved to an account associated with the consumer, such as a store loyalty account. The consumer may redeem such digital coupons during online or physical transactions by presenting an account identifier, such as a store loyalty card or an oral identification of the consumer's telephone number, for the associated account. Since many consumer accounts are tied to card-based identifiers, such as store loyalty cards or credit cards, the process of storing a digital coupon identifier to an account may also be referred to as saving a coupon to a card. Some examples of such techniques are described in U.S. application Ser. No. 12/878,231, filed Sep. 9, 2010, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
Another digital coupon-based technique involves creating unique digital coupons that may be stored on a computing device. The digital coupons may be transmitted from the computing device to a point-of-sale during a transaction using any of a variety of mechanisms. For example, information about the digital coupon may be uploaded to the point-of-sale during an online transaction involving the computing device. As another example, information about the digital coupon may be transmitted wirelessly from a smartphone to a receiving component coupled to a checkout register during a transaction at a brick-and-mortar store.
Considering the current state of the industry and market for digital offers (including digital coupons and other digital promotional discount vehicles), there is a need for improved systems, methods and technology platforms for generating, processing, storing, managing and delivering digital offers, for enhancing and customizing the digital offer experience of consumers in general, for increasing the value and benefits derived by consumers from digital offers, for improving the ability of offer providers, offer distributors and retailers to customize digital offer selection, delivery, utilization, management, monetization and redemption analysis, and for otherwise increasing the efficiency and financial return of the digital offer industry and market.


Conventionally, as a foam polyurethane material, for example, Patent Document 1 below has proposed a microcellular polyurethane elastomer produced by allowing a polyisocyanate compound to react with polyol, having an overall density of 100 kg/m3 or more, and having an overall density, a compression set, and a cell diameter on skin surface in specific relation.
Furthermore, as the foam polyurethane material, for example, Patent Document 2 below has proposed a polyurethane foam produced from materials including polyisocyanate including bis(isocyanatomethyl) cyclohexane, polyol, a blowing agent, and a catalyst.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional-position measuring method and a three-dimensional-position measuring apparatus.
The present invention also relates to a three-dimensional shape measuring method and a three-dimentional-shape measuring apparatus for measuring the position of an object and a three-dimensional-shape of the object using visual information of the three-dimensional object.
The present invention also relates to an image pickup (or picture taking) apparatus and a method for synthesizing respective picked-up images (or taken pictures) into one image (or picture), the respective picked-up images (or taken pictures) having been picked up (or taken) in a manner in which a portion of each image corresponds to a portion of another image, these images (or pictures) being images (pictures) present on an object plane to be input. Such an apparatus and a method enable picking up an image (or taking a picture) in a case where the object plane, an image (or picture) of which is to be input, is large or in a case where an object having the object plane, an image (or picture) of which is to be input, cannot be moved.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
In various fields such as surveying, production of a CAD model and so forth, measurement of a three-dimensional shape of an object has been demanded. As a method for measuring a three-dimensional shape, there is an active method in which a reference pattern or the like is projected on an object, and an image of distortion of the pattern is picked up. However, according to such a method, the object may be affected by projection of the reference pattern, and the effect of the reference pattern varies in accordance with the environment. Because such demerits exist, application of such a method is significantly limited. A passive method, by which an object is not affected, for measuring the shape of an object has been also used. Such a method for measuring a three-dimensional shape is a method in which, basically, corresponding points are extracted from images which have been picked up from two different points of view. Then, the three-dimensional position of the corresponding points is calculated in accordance with the principle of triangulation. In this method, two image pickup apparatuses are fixed and the images of an object are obtained from two different points of view. In another method, one image pickup apparatus is moved on rails a predetermined distance and images of an object are obtained from two different points of view. In these two methods, the relationship of the positions of the two different points of view and the change of the orientation of the image pickup apparatus(es) are treated as already-known information. Instead, there is another method in which an image pickup apparatus is moved in a condition where the apparatus is held by hands of a person, and the relationship of the positions of two different points of view and the change of the orientation of the image pickup apparatus(es) are treated as not-already-known information.
In methods such as those described above in which the relationship of the positions of two different points of view and the change of the orientation of image pickup apparatus(es) are treated as already-known information, a measuring apparatus therefor should be a large-scale apparatus. Therefore, application of such a method is limited. In the method in which the relationship of the positions of two different points of view and the change of the orientation of image pickup apparatus(es) are treated as not-already-known information, the method can be applied to various uses because an object is not affected by such a method and a measuring apparatus therefor can be a small-scale apparatus. As disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Nos.5-196437, 6-129833, 7-181024, 7-244735 and so forth, various measuring methods and measuring apparatuses have been developed.
In the method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.5-196437, an image of a measurement point on an object is picked up by a camera in orthogonal projection, the orientation of the camera at the current time is obtained from a three-axis gyro fixed to the camera, and the thus-obtained information is supplied to a three-dimensional-information measuring apparatus. Thus, the three-dimensional information of the object is measured. In the method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.6-129833, using moving image information of an object, images of which have been picked up by a monocular camera, the motion of the camera is obtained, and the three-dimensional shape of the object is calculated. In the method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.7-181024, an optical flow, which indicates movement between images, is obtained from a plurality of images of an object, picked up by image pickup means in a manner in which the points of view of the image pickup means are different. Then, based on the optical flow, distance information is calculated. Further, in this method, the distance information is directly calculated by using a formula for a relationship between the time difference and the space gradient of the images and by using the movement information of the image pickup means itself. Then, these ways for obtaining the distance information are combined, and the three-dimensional shape is measured. The apparatus disclosed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 7-244735 obtains three-dimensional information as a result of temporally combining distance information obtained by using moving image information and movement of a camera.
However, in the case where an integral value of output from an acceleration sensor or a gyro is used for obtaining position change or orientation change as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Nos.5-196437 and 7-181024, because of use of the integral value, reliability of the information of the thus-obtained position change or orientation change is low. In the case where only image information is used as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.6-129833, it is difficult to extract precise corresponding points. In the case where, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.7-244735, the movement speed of the image pickup apparatus is sensed, and the thus-obtained information is used in order to improve the measurement accuracy, the orientation change of the image pickup apparatus is not sensed. Because information concerning the orientation change is important for extracting corresponding points and shape measurement, significant improvement of the measurement accuracy cannot be expected.
An apparatus for inputting and restoring characters or a photograph present on a plane simply and with high accuracy is demanded. When an image of an ordinary size such as an image drawn on a paper sheet of A4 size, A3 size or the like is input, inputting the image with high accuracy can be performed by a copying machine, a scanner or the like. However, a copying machine, a scanner and so forth cannot be used for inputting, with high accuracy, a larger image, an image drawn on a medium which cannot be moved or the like, such as information drawn on a larger paper sheet, information drawn on a wall, information drawn on a panel or the like. As apparatuses and a method for inputting a larger image, an image drawn on a medium which cannot be moved, or the like, using an electronic camera, an electronic camera disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.6-141228 and a panorama image synthesizing apparatus and a method for producing a panorama image disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.9-90530 have been developed.
The electronic camera disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.6-141228 forms the image of an object on an image pickup element via an image pickup lens and a mirror, picks up an image of the object intermittently several times in a manner in which a portion of a previously picked-up image is the same as a portion of a currently picked-up image. The electronic camera moves in a manner in which the currently picked-up image is appropriately connected with the previously picked-up image. In the panorama image synthesizing apparatus and the method for producing a panorama image disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.9-90530, parameters for synthesizing images are calculated, and the images are synthesized based on the calculated parameters. Thereby, it is attempted to obtain a synthesized image with high accuracy using separate images picked up by the electronic camera.
However, in the electronic camera disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.6-141228, the mirror and a mechanism for driving the mirror are needed. Thereby, the scale of an apparatus therefor is large. Accordingly, it is difficult to install the apparatus in an electronic camera of an ordinary size.
Further, when an image on a paper sheet or a panel is picked up, the distance between a camera and an object is short. Therefore, in the panorama image synthesizing apparatus and the method for producing a panorama image disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.9-90530, due to influence of perspective projection due to translation operation of the camera, distortion of the synthesized image occurs. Further, an image rotates because a person holds the electronic camera, and the image rotation causes distortion of the synthesized image.


Pencil sharpeners for sale online and at retail stores are typically versions that are either held in one's hand during use, or fixed in one place such as on a desk during use. U.S. Pat. No. 2,702,022 discloses both of these pencil sharpener versions.
Both pencil sharpener versions have drawbacks. The handheld version must be carried about by the user so it is available when needed for use. This also makes it vulnerable to being misplaced or lost. The desk-mounted version requires that users have to go to where it is located and possibly wait in line to use it.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for an innovation that will overcome the deficiencies of past approaches and the problems that remain unsolved.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coupling structure of an optical connector, in particular, to that of an optical connector serving as an optical connecting device to be connected to a small-sized optical component which is, like an optical semiconductor module used in an optical communication system and others, fixed to a board.
2. Description of Prior Art
There have been developed and used various types of optical connectors and some of them are disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publications No. 211276 of 1997, No. 43453 of 1997, and No. 265026 of 1997. Among them, in an embodiment where an optical semiconductor module disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 211276 of 1997 and an optical connecting device using the optical semiconductor module are employed, the embodiment has an optical semiconductor module, which has a package body accommodating a semiconductor laser and an optical fiber optically coupled thereto and double side walls respectively provided with a recess and formed in the traveling way of the laser light radiated from the semiconductor laser, and a simplified connector to be coupled with said module, having a recess in the inner wall holding a ferrule to which one end of the optical fiber is fixed, and being provided at its front end with a protuberance, and optical fibers are optically coupled with each other through the coupling of the ferrules by coupling the simplified connector with the optical semiconductor module.
Though these conventional optical connectors are suitable, to some extent, for producing a large amount of low cost and small-sized optical semiconductor modules indispensable in optical fiber communication systems, they usually still have some following problems. That is to say, special tools are necessary for centering the ferrules during the assembly work of coupling the module with the connector, and this makes the assembly difficult. In case that the coupling sequence for a mate optical semiconductor module starts from a ferrule and there is no means to ensure the centering for the ferrules, a successful coupling is hard, the ferrule or a sleeve is sometimes damaged, and the coupling work eventually becomes difficult. Further, even if there is a guide means for centering the ferrules, this guide means does not sufficiently answer the need of low cost because the guide means is provided as a member completely independent of a lock means for locking the coupling of the mate optical semiconductor module, and this causes an increase in the number of components. Furthermore, the optical connection has been unstable due to the lack of means for ensuring the ferrule alignment after the coupling.
An object of the present invention is to provide a structure allowing the conventional technological problems described above to be eliminated for an optical semiconductor module, an optical connector, or a shape adapting optical connector.


The present invention relates to a pressurizing image forming apparatus which makes use of a photo- and pressure-sensitive heat-developable material having a substrate and a layer formed on the substrate from a substance which is photosensitive and developable by application of heat and capable of fixing the developed image by application of pressure. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a pressurizing image forming apparatus which fixes, by application of pressure, an image which has been formed on the heat-developable material of the type mentioned above through exposure and developed by application of heat.
An image recording material employing microcapsules containing a photosensitive composition has been known. An example of such a recording material is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 179,836/1982. This recording material has a substrate which carries capsules made of a synthetic polymeric resin and containing a vinyl compound, a photopolymerization initiator and a coloring precursor.
In recording an image using this recording material, the material is first exposed so that the microcapsules are hardened in conformity with the form of the image. Then, as the recording material is pressed, the microcapsules which have not been hardened are ruptured so as to release the coloring agent precursor, thus forming a color image. This image recording system provides a high quality of the recorded image with a dry-type simple processing, but suffers from a disadvantage in that the photosensitivity is much smaller as compared with the system which makes use of silver halide.
Under this circumstance, the present applicant has proposed, in the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 275742/1986, a novel recording material which has a high photosensitivity and which ensures a high quality of the recorded image with a simple dry-type process. This recording material is a photo- and pressure-sensitive heat-developable material constituted by a carrier and a layer formed on the surface of the carrier, the layer containing at least a photosensitive silver halide, reducing agent, polymerizable compound and a color image forming substance, wherein the polymerizable compound and the color image forming substance are confined in common microcapsules.
An image recording method which makes use of this photo- and pressure-sensitive heat-developable material is disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 278849/1986 filed by the same applicant. According to this method, the heat-developable material is first exposed so that a latent image is formed thereon in conformity with the image to be recorded. Then, the material is heated for development so that the polymerizable compound in the area where the latent image exists is polymerized to produce a polymeric compound, thus thermally setting the microcapsules. Then, the material is superposed on an image receiving material having an image receiving layer capable of receiving the color image forming substance, and is pressed to the image receiving material so that at least part of the microcapsules having no latent image is ruptured so as to transfer the color image forming substance to the image receiving material, thereby forming an image on the latter.
In order to obtain a clear image by the transfer of the heat-developed image from the photo- and pressure-sensitive heat-developable material to the image receiving material, it is essential that the heat-developable material be pressed uniformly onto the image receiving material under a given condition.


1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to technology of ejecting a liquid such as an ink.
2. Related Art
A liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid such as an ink has been proposed in the related art. In a case where the liquid ejecting head is filled with the liquid (hereinafter, referred to as “initial filling”), air, with which a space inside the liquid ejecting head is filled, needs to be discharged. In addition, in a state in which the space inside the liquid ejecting head is filled with the liquid, it is important that bubbles mixed with the liquid be discharged. In this respect, JP-A-2002-144576 discloses a configuration in which a bubble outlet for discharging gases is disposed in a ceiling surface of a common liquid chamber in which a liquid that is supplied to a plurality of nozzles is stored.
However, in the technology disclosed in JP-A-2002-144576, there is a possibility that the liquid stored in the common liquid chamber will leak through the bubble outlet or that bubbles from the bubble outlet will be mixed in the common liquid chamber.


Morphology of various organs of animals is constructed by epithelial tissues, and mesenchymal cells exist around the tissues. An epimorphin is a cell membrane protein that is expressed in mesenchymal cells, particularly in a high amount neighboring epithelial cells (Hirai, Y., et al., Cell, 69, pp. 471-481, 1992). It is considered that the progress of morphogenesis of the epithelial tissue requires a signal from the mesenchymal cells (Gumbiner, B. M., Cell., 69, pp. 385-387, 1992). Epimorphins have been cloned in humans, birds, and rats as well as in mice. The presences of isoforms are known which have a different sequence of a hydrophobic site (Zha, H., et al., Genomics, 37, pp. 386-389, 1996; Hirai, Y., et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 191, p. 1332-1337, 1993; Oka, Y., Developmental Biological Society, 1997, May).
Epimorphin is known to be deeply involved in morphogenesis by epithelial tissues in mice, i.e., differentiation into hair on the fetal talon skin, and differentiation into luminal structure in the fetal lung (Hirai, Y., et al., Cell, 69, pp. 471-481, 1992; Koshida, S., et al., Biochem. Biphys. Res. Commun., 234, pp. 522-526, 1997). Moreover, epimorphin activates mesenchymal cells and promotes secretion of cytokines, IL-6 and IL-8 (Oka, Y., et al., Exp. Cell Res., 222, pp. 189-198, 1996). Recently, it was revealed that the addition of epimorphin to milk protein-producing SCp2 cells induces cell growth to form a branched duct structure (Hirai, Y., et al., J. cell Biol., 140, pp. 159-169, 1998). Epimorphin is expected to be effective in elucidating the mechanism of onset of diseases due to abnormality of organs, developing methods for diagnosing and treating said diseases, generating hairs, lumens, bones, and teeth, generating new blood vessels, and developing new methods for treatment of injuries (Zha, H., et al., Genomics, 37, pp. 386-389, 1996; Panaretto, B. A., Reprod. Fertil. Dev., 5, pp. 345-360, 1993; Matsuki, Y., et al, Archs. Oral Biol., 40, pp. 161-164, 1995).


The present invention relates to charging condition control in a distance measuring apparatus for measuring the distance to an object and, more specifically, a method of controlling charging conditions suitably applied to an automatic focusing mechanism of a camera.
Conventionally, a distance measuring device which performs trigonometric calculation by projecting a light spot onto an object to be measured and receiving light reflected by the object using a position detection means such as a position sensitive detector (PSD) or the like is known. Further, another distance measuring device which circulates an accumulated charge using a ring-shaped charge transfer device, such as a CCD, to integrate reflected light of ON/OFF-projected light spots and skims a predetermined amount of charges of external light components other than the light spot has been proposed by Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-22843 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-233571. The distance measuring device of this type can keep accumulating charges while circulating the accumulated charge if the level of the accumulated charge is not high enough, thereby it is possible to obtain signals of good S/N ratio.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a light-receiving unit 500 used in a distance measuring apparatus.
Note, in FIG. 12, a photoelectric conversion (photo-receiving) device 520 of the light-receiving unit 500 is represented by three photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z, to simplify the explanation.
An image sensing apparatus having the light-receiving unit 500 operates in two different modes, namely, an active mode and a passive mode.
The active mode projects light onto an object 515 to be measured, the distance to which is to be measured, by turning on and off a light emit element (here, infrared light-emitting diode; IRED) 514 to emit light pulses, receives light reflected by the object 515, when the IRED 514 is on and when the IRED 514 is off, respectively, using the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z, and stores the charges separately when the IRED 514 is on and when the IRED 514 is off. Whereas, the passive mode receives external light reflected by the object without turning on the IRED 514 using the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z, and store the charges.
The distance measuring apparatus is of a hybrid-type capable of performing distance measuring operations both in the active mode and in the passive mode, and, when a reliable measurement result is not obtained in the active mode, then the distance is measured once again in the passive mode.
Further, the light-receiving unit 500 has a linear CCD 524 which includes ON-pixels 522x, 522y, and 522z and OFF-pixels 523x, 523y, and 523z, respectively corresponding to the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z, a ring-shaped CCD 521 which includes a plurality of ON-pixels and OFF-pixels, and a skim CCD 523.
The charges obtained as a result of photoelectric conversion in the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z are respectively transferred to the corresponding ON-pixels and OFF-pixels of the linear CCD 524 and stored. Thereafter, the charges are transferred to the ring-shaped CCD 521.
Next, timing of charge transfer operation in the light-receiving unit 500 is explained with reference to FIG. 13.
Referring to FIG. 13, the IRED 514 turns on and off in synchronization with the ON/OFF (High/Low) of a charging signal in the active mode, and the IRED 514 is kept off independent of the ON/OFF of the charging signal in the passive mode.
Below, the active mode is explained.
First, charges obtained in the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z while the charging signal is ON (i.e., High level) are transferred to the ON-pixels 522x, 522y, and 522z while an ON-pixel transfer signal is ON (i.e., High level).
Further, charges obtained in the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z while the charging signal is OFF (i.e., Low level) are transferred to the OFF-pixels 523x, 523y, and 523z while an OFF-pixel transfer signal is ON (i.e., High level).
In this manner, charges due to projected light reflected by the object and external light are stored in the ON-pixels 522x, 522y, and 522z, while charges due to external light are stored in the OFF-pixels 523x, 523y, and 523z in the active mode.
After the charges obtained in the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z are transferred to the ON-pixels 522x, 522y, and 522z and the OFF-pixels 523x, 523y, and 523z, the charges are transferred to the ring-shaped CCD 521.
To transfer the charges to the ring-shaped CCD 521, a ring transfer signal is used. The ring transfer signal becomes High so that charges from the same pixel of the linear CCD 524 are always transferred to the same pixel of the ring-shaped CCD. Accordingly, charges outputted from the ON-pixel 522x, corresponding to the photoelectric conversion element X obtained during the charging signal is ON, for example, are accumulated.
In FIG. 13, the numerals 1, 2, 3, and so on, indicate the number of circulations. The number of circulations indicates the number of times charges are transferred to the ring-shaped CCD 521.
More specifically, in the first circulation, charges are transferred to the ring-shaped CCD 521 once, as shown in FIG. 14A, and the charges obtained in one charging operation are stored. In the second circulation, charges obtained in two charging operations are accumulated, as shown in FIG. 14B, and in the third circulation, charges are transferred to the ring-shaped CCD 521 three times; in other words, three charging operations are performed and charges obtained in the three charging operations are accumulated in the respective pixels, as shown in FIG. 14C.
When the charges accumulated in the ring-shaped CCD 521 do not reach a predetermined level (level in which distance measurement can be performed on the basis of the charges), i.e., incoming light to the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z is low, the number of circulations, i.e., the number of charging operation, is increased, and the charges are sequentially transferred to the ring-shaped CCD 521 and accumulated until charges are accumulated to the necessary (predetermined) level. In this manner, it is possible to obtain charges of good S/N ratio.
Whereas, in a case where an amount of charge in the ring-shaped 521 exceeds a predetermined level within a predetermined number of circulations, i.e., in a case where incoming light to the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z is high, it is necessary to adjust the amounts of charges to be stored in the pixels of the linear CCD 524 in one charging operation in order to prevent the pixels from being saturated.
As for adjusting the amount of charges, there are a method of adjusting a charging period by controlling an electrical shutter function, and a method for controlling a frequency for operating the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z, thereby controlling a charging period.
More specifically, in the method of adjusting the charge amounts by controlling the electrical shutter function, if a reference charging period is 100%, then the charging period is reduced to 70%, 50%, and so on, when the object 515 is bright.
Further, in the method of adjusting the charge amount by controlling the frequency for operating the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z, if any of the ON-pixels 522x, 522y, and 522z and the OFF-pixels 523x, 523y, and 523z is saturated when the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z are operated at 1 MHz, then by operating the photoelectric conversion devices X, Y and Z in the doubled frequency, namely at 2 MHz , it is possible to halve the duration of the charging period without changing other charging conditions.
Further, means for changing the frequency for operating the linear CCD 524 and the ring-shaped CCD 521 depending upon the amount of external light in order to prevent the linear CCD 524 from being saturated is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-229676.
By adjusting the amount of charge as described above, the pixels of the linear CCD 524 are prevented from being saturated.
In such a hybrid-type distance measuring apparatus, a precise result of distance measurement is obtained since defects of the respective modes (active mode and passive mode) in the distance measuring operation are compensated by each other. The effects of a hybrid-type distance measuring apparatus are disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-229674 by the present applicant, for instance. However, in this apparatus, since the distance measuring operations are performed both in the active mode and in the passive mode in time serially; therefore, it takes a longer time to perform the distance measuring operation comparing to a distance measuring operation performed in only one mode. Accordingly, a plurality of techniques for reducing time required for performing distance measuring operation in a hybrid-type distance measuring apparatus have been proposed. One of those techniques is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-229681 by the present applicant. According to the technique, in a case of performing a plurality of distance measuring operations consecutively, such as a case of performing a multi-point distance measuring operation, the frequency for operating a sensor and an open period of an electronic shutter set in the first operation are used in the subsequent distance measuring operations.
In a distance measuring apparatus mounted on a camera having a wide angle lens, for instance, a plurality of sensor arrays are arranged in the direction of the base line, as shown in FIG. 15, so as to measure distances to objects in a wide range by the respective sensor arrays.
FIG. 15 is a view for explaining the conventional technique as described above. In FIG. 15, reference numeral 50 denotes a light-receiving lens; and 51 to 53, sensor arrays for receiving light. In FIG. 15, a light-receiving unit of a distance measuring apparatus is mainly shown, and a light-emitting device is not shown. The sensor arrays 51 to 53 receive light incoming from the right, center, and left, respectively, via the light-receiving lens 50. Reference numeral 54 denotes a selector for selecting one of the outputs from the sensor arrays 51 to 53, which is composed of a switch; and 55, a signal processing unit for performing distance measuring calculation using the output of the sensor array selected by the selector 54.
As shown in FIG. 15, since the respective sensor arrays 51 to 53 receive light from different directions, the intensity of light received in the respective sensor array 51 to 53 may differ from each other. Thus, if the operational frequency of a sensor and an open period of an electronic shutter which are set for measuring a distance to an object 222 using the central sensor array 52, are used as charging conditions for measuring distance to an object 221 using the left sensor array 51, since light is very strong it may cause the sensor array 51 saturation. Accordingly, in the multi-point distance measuring apparatus which measures distances to objects in the multiple directions as described above, it is necessary to independently set the operational frequency of the sensor and the open period of the electronic shutter for measuring distances in the different directions, which requires a considerably long time for performing distance measuring operation.
Next, referring to FIG. 16, processes performed in integration clear gate (ICG) mode for determining charging conditions which do not cause saturation in the pixels of the linear CCD 524 by external light during a charge period are explained. Note, the ICG mode is performed by a not-shown controller, such as a CPU, while controlling the light-receiving unit 500.
First, when the ICG mode is initiated, the operation frequency of the linear CCD 524 and the ring-shaped CCD 521, fc, is set to the lowest value, namely, 500 kHz in step S702.
Next, a charging period is set to an initial value, i.e., the longest period. Since the charging period and other charging conditions in the linear CCD 524 can be changed by communicating with the controller (not shown) as described above, the controller generates communication data indicative of the initial value which makes the charging period longest, and sends the data to the light-receiving unit 500, thereby the charging period is set to the initial value in step S703.
Thereafter, the linear CCD 524 and the ring-shaped CCD 521 are cleared in step S704, then charging processing is initiated in step S705.
At the same time, the controller monitors a signal SKOS outputted from the light-receiving unit 500. The signal SKOS has a characteristic of changing its signal level (high and low) when the level of charges integrated in the ring-shaped CCD 521 exceeds a predetermined level during integrating charges in the ICG mode. The predetermined level is set on the basis of a value obtained by multiplying the capacitance of each pixel of the linear CCD 524 by a desired number. Therefore, by monitoring time since the charging processing is initiated until the level of the signal SKOS changes, it is possible to determine whether or not the current charging conditions are proper.
Next in step S706, whether or not the level of the signal SKOS has changed is checked. If the level is not changed, then the process proceeds to step S707 where whether or not the number of circulations exceeds the maximum number of circulations, which is set in advance, is determined. If it does, then the integration of charge is terminated at that point, and the process is completed. Whereas it is does not, then the process returns to step S706 where the processes of the subsequent steps are performed.
Whereas, if it is determined in step S706 that the level of the signal SKOS has changed, then whether or not the number of the circulations is equal to or less than a predetermined number of circulations (in FIG. 16, four), in other words, whether or not time elapsed before the level of the signal SKOS has changed is within a predetermined period, is determined in step S709. If the number of circulations exceeds the predetermined number, then the process is completed.
Note that the number of circulations is counted by counting a clock IRCLK which will be explained later.
Whereas, if it is determined in step S709 that the number of circulations is equal to or less than the predetermined number, namely, equal to or less than four, then the process proceeds to step S710 where whether the set operation frequency fc is the maximum frequency or not is determined.
If it is determined that the operation frequency fc is the maximum, then in step S711, whether or not the charging period which is currently set is the shortest is determined. If it is determined in step S711 that the charging period is the shortest, then the process is completed. Whereas, if it is not, the charging period is changed to a shorter period in step S712, then the process returns to step S703, and the subsequent steps are repeated. By changing the charging period to a shorter period, the changing condition that changed so that the level of the signal SKOS does not change within the predetermined number of circulations.
Further, if it is determined in step S710 that the operation frequency fc is not the maximum, the operation frequency fc is changed to a higher frequency in step S713, then the process returns to step S703 and the subsequent processes are repeated.
After the ICG mode as described above is completed, the charging (integration) mode for integrating charges in the ring-shaped CCD 521 is performed, then the reading mode for outputting the charges integrated in the ring-shaped CCD 521 to a microcomputer, for example, is performed.
Then, the microcomputer performs operations for calculating the distance to the object 515 on the basis of the outputted charges.
FIG. 17 shows waveforms of signals when the operation frequency fc is changed from the lowest to the highest, further, the charging period is shortened by a predetermined period, in the ICG mode.
In FIG. 17, the signal IRCLK is a reference clock for changing the charging conditions, and the IRED 514 turns on and off in synchronization with the signal IRCLK. Further, the signal IRCLK is also used for counting the number of circulations.
Further, the signal SKOS is outputted from the light-receiving unit 500, and, as described above, the level of the signal SKOS is changed in accordance with the set charging conditions.
When the ICG mode is initiated, 500 kHz is set as an initial frequency of the operation frequency fc. With 500 kHz, if the level of the signal SKOS has changed in a time equal to or less than four circulations (i.e., if the level of the signal SKOS has changed before the count of the signal IRCLK reaches five), the operation frequency fc is changed to a higher frequency (in this case, 1 MHz ), then the ICG mode is repeated.
Next, with the operation frequency fc of 1 MHz, if the level of the signal SKOS has changed before the count of the signal IRCLK reaches five, the operation frequency fc (1 MHz ) is changed to a higher frequency (2 MHz ), then the ICG mode is repeated.
Thereafter, with the operation frequency fc of 2 MHz, if the level of the signal SKOS has changed before the count of the signal IRCLK reaches five, since it is not possible to change the operation frequency fc to a higher frequency, because 2 MHz is the maximum frequency, the charging period is shortened, and the ICG mode is repeated. Under the above conditions, the level of the signal SKOS does not change when the count of the signal IRCLK reaches four, in the example shown in FIG. 17. Accordingly, the ICG mode is completed, and the process moves to the charging mode.
In the above operation, it is necessary to drive the CCDs at a predetermined frequency while accumulating charges in the linear CCD 524 and the ring-shaped CCD 521 and while executing the ICG mode for determining the charging conditions. Whereas, it is not necessary to drive the CCDs at the predetermined frequency while communicating with the controller and clearing residual charges in the CCDs, for instance, and any frequency may be used as long as the CCDs are not improperly operated.
However, as described above, the operation frequency fc when communicating with the controller and clearing residual charges in the CCDs are the same as the operation frequency fc when accumulating charges in the CCDs and executing the ICG mode for determining the charging conditions.
More specifically, in the example as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, in the first execution of the ICG mode, the communication and the clearing of the CCDs in step S703 and S704 are performed at the operation frequency fc of 500 kHz, thereafter, charging operation is performed at the same driving frequency fc, i.e., 500 kHz, in the steps subsequent to step S705. In the next execution of the ICG mode, the communication and the clearing of the CCDs in step S703 and S704 are performed at the operation frequency fc of 1 MHz, thereafter, charging operation is performed at the same operation frequency fc of 1 MHz in the steps subsequent to step S705. In the next execution of the ICG mode, the communication and the clearing of the CCDs in step S703 and S704 are performed at the operation frequency fc of 2 MHz, thereafter, charging operation is performed at the same operation frequency fc of 2 MHz in the steps subsequent to step S705.
Therefore, when a driving frequency is set to a low frequency for driving a sensor to accumulate charges or to determine charging conditions, for instance, communication with a controller, such as a microprocessor, and clearing of residual charges in the sensor are conventionally performed at the same low frequency. Therefore, compared to a case where the operation frequency is set to a high frequency, it takes a longer time to communicate with the controller and clear charges in the sensor, which causes low throughput.


The marking of plastics by laser and the welding of plastics parts by means of laser energy are known per se. Both are brought about as a result of absorption of the laser energy in the plastics material, either directly, by interaction with the polymer, or indirectly, with a laser-sensitive agent added to the plastics material. The laser-sensitive agent may be an organic dye or a pigment which, by absorbing the laser energy, produces a visible local change in color in the plastic. It may also be a compound which, when irradiated with laser light, is converted from an invisible, colorless form into a visible form. In the case of laser welding, the heating of the plastics materials as a result of absorption of the laser energy in the joining region is so great that the material melts and the two parts weld to one another.
The marking of production goods is becoming increasingly important in virtually all branches of industry as part of the general rationalization measures. Thus, for instance, there is a need to apply production data, batch numbers, expiration dates, product IDs, bar codes, corporate logos, etc. Set against conventional marking techniques such as printing, embossing, stamping, and labeling, laser marking is significantly quicker, on account of its contactless operation, and is more precise and is also unproblematic to apply to nonplanar surfaces. Since the laser markings are generated beneath the surface in the material, they are durable, robust and substantially more secure with respect to removal, alteration or even counterfeiting. Contact with other media, such as in the case of containers for liquids, and closures, is likewise uncritical for this reason—on the assumption, of course, that the plastics matrix is stable. Security and durability of production IDs, and also freedom from contamination, are extremely important in the case, for instance, of packaging of pharmaceuticals, comestibles, and beverages.
Laser marking technology has proven very suitable in particular in connection with the marking of plastics. To be able to carry out efficient marking of plastics it is necessary to generate sufficient interaction between the plastic to be marked and the laser light. Here, firstly, it must be borne in mind that the energy introduced into the plastics should not be too high, since it may destroy the plastics article or its texture. Secondly, the laser beam must not pass through the plastic without significant interaction, since in that case the plastic cannot be marked.
In order to increase the interaction of the laser beam with the plastic, plastics are used in which absorption agents, also referred to as absorbers, have been incorporated. These absorbers may be, for example, laser-markable polymers or else pearlescent pigments and metallic effect pigments.
In the case of pearlescent pigments and metallic effect pigments, the irradiation of laser light results in heating of these pigments. In the immediate environment of the pearlescent pigments and of the metallic effect pigments, there is then a thermal change in the plastic, e.g., a carbonization or a foaming of the plastic, thereby allowing marking or identification of the plastics article.
DE 197 26 136 A1 discloses the use of laser-markable polymers in the form of microground particles having a size of 0.1 to 100 μm. A disadvantage of these laser-markable polymers is that they can melt during the processing of the plastics doped with the laser-markable polymers. It is therefore necessary for the melting ranges of the incorporated laser-markable polymer and of the plastics system used to be harmonized with one another.
DE 198 10 952 A1 discloses the use of pearlescent pigments or metallic luster pigments as absorbers in plastics. A disadvantage of the use of pearlescent pigments or metallic luster pigments or metallic effect pigments is that, in order to achieve satisfactory contrast after laser marking, the level of concentration must either be so high that it automatically entails coloring of the plastic with pearlescence or a metallic coloring.
Accordingly, with use of pearlescent pigments and/or metallic effect pigments, it is not possible satisfactorily to achieve high-contrast laser marking without appreciable coloring in the case of pearlescent pigments (pearl luster effect) or without appreciable metallic coloration in the case of metallic luster or metallic effect pigments. In addition, metallic effect pigments and pearlescent pigments are relatively expensive.
Moreover, the plateletlike structure of the pearlescent pigments or of the metallic luster or metallic effect pigments has the deleterious effect that the pigments, owing to their platelet structure, undergo orientation in the laminar flow that is an inevitable corollary of the operation of injection molding of the plastics mass, and this leads to flow lines or streaks in the plastics article produced.
To obtain a desired contrast in the laser marking of plastics, EP 1 145 864 A1 teaches using a mixture of metal powder and/or semimetal powder and of an effect pigment or two or more effect pigments based on phyllosilicates. Here again there is visible coloration or metallic coloring of the plastic, which is unwanted for clear and transparent plastics. Moreover, the pearlescent pigments likewise deleteriously produce streaks or flow lines in the plastics articles produced.
DE 10 2004 053 376 A1 discloses colored laser markings and laser inscriptions on plastics that are based on the welding of a polymeric inscription medium to the plastics surface. The energy absorbers suitable for marking that are mentioned in this specification include spherical metal powders, among other absorbers. No details, however, are given concerning the size of the metal powders.
In accordance with the teaching of DE 10 2004 045 305 A1, the problem that exists in the prior art of the absorbers sustainedly coloring the plastics to be inscribed can be eliminated by incorporating a boride compound, preferably lanthanum hexaboride, into the plastics material. A disadvantage is that these boride compounds, especially lanthanum hexaboride constitute a significant cost factor. Consequently these boride compounds are not suitable as a laser marking agent for widespread use.
In order to allow marking of transparent plastics materials without coloration, use is made, in accordance with the teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 6,693,657 B2 and also of WO 2005/047009, of a laser marking agent which comprises a mixture of antimony oxide and tin oxide. WO 2005/084956 describes high-transparency plastics materials which are laser-markable and/or laser-weldable by means of nanoscale indium-tin oxide or antimony tin oxide particles. A disadvantage is that, like any other antimony compound, antimony oxide is highly toxic. Consequently this laser marking agent poses, on the one hand, a considerable risk to environment and people, both in production and processing and in disposal, since, firstly, antimony or compounds containing antimony must be used and, lastly, the plastics articles which contain antimony and/or compounds containing antimony must be disposed of again.
WO 2002/055287 A1 describes a process for producing laser-welded composite moldings. It mentions metal flakes and metal powders as fillers. These fillers, however, are used at relatively high concentrations of 1% to 60% by weight, based on the plastics molding.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip-packaging structure, and more particularly to a stacked chip-packaging structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the progress of highly developed integrated circuit (IC) technologies, integration of internal circuits of IC chips steadily increases. As a result, number of transistors held in internal circuits of IC chips increases relatively, and sectional area of wires in the internal circuits of IC chips reduces accordingly. As the packaging technologies being continuously improved, various chip-packaging structures have been developed, including chip-packaging structures of ball grid array (BGA) structure and of multi-chip packaging module. Wherein, the BGA structure has advantages of high pin count and high reliability, while the multi-chip packaging module has shorter transfer route and better electronic properties. Such technical features make it possible to further reduce the space that the chip-packaging structure occupies, and therefore these packaging technologies could be widely applied in production of electronic devices.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional chip-packaging structure. The chip-packaging structure 100, through wire bonding for example, consists essentially of a substrate 110, a chip 120, a plurality of wires 130, a molding compound 140, and a plurality of solder balls 150. The substrate 110 is made of, for example, ceramic, glass, or plastics. The substrate 110 contains alternately stacked multiple conducting layers (not shown) and multiple insulating layers (not shown), while two adjacent conducting layers are separated by an insulating layer, and the conducting layers are electrically connected one another through conductive via or plating through hole. In addition, the top surface 110a and the bottom surface 110b of the substrate 110 have respectively a plurality of upper contacts 112 and a plurality of lower contacts 114, while the upper contact 112 is electrically connected to the lower contact 114 through the conducting layers in the substrate 110. Moreover, a chip 120 is disposed on the top surface 110a of the substrate 110, while the chip 120 has an active surface 122, and a plurality of bonding pads 124 (usually aluminum pads) are disposed on the periphery of the active surface 122. The bonding pads 124 are connected, through wire bonding by the wires 130, to the contacts 112 on the substrate 110, wherein the wires 130 are made of gold, for example.
The wires 130, the chip 120, and the upper contacts 112 on the substrate 110 are enclosed by the molding compound 140 for the protection of the chip 120 and the wires 130. The solder balls 150, made of Sn/Pb alloy for example, are disposed on the lower contacts 114. Wherein, the solder balls 150 serve as contact points of the chip-packaging structure 110 to contact with external electronic devices (e.g., printed circuits or motherboards). The solder balls 150 are disposed in a surface array distribution on the bottom surface 110b of the substrate 110, so that the chip-packaging structure 100 becomes a BGA packaging structure with high pin count.
FIG. 2 shows a conventional multi-chip packaging module. In the packaging structure, a plurality of chip-packaging units, 200(a) and (b) (only two units are shown), are disposed on the same carrier 210, wherein the chip-packaging units 200 are of a BGA type for example, and are sequentially disposed on the carrier 210. Therefore, the chip-packaging units 200(a) and (b) can be electrically connected by internal wires (not shown) of the carrier 210, so as to construct a packaging structure of multi-chip module, such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) module.
It is worthy of notice that, when the number of the chip-packaging units increases, the requisite supporting area on the carrier increase accordingly, which makes, for example, the assembled multi-chip packaging module to have a long bar or a flat plate structure. Therefore, it is a challenge to develop appropriate chip-packaging technologies to create certain chip-packaging structures containing more chip-packaging to meet the needs for fabricating a chip-packaging structure with high pin count and a structure of multi-chip packaging module.


U.S. application Ser. No. 08/960,149 filed on Oct. 29, 1997, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, describes a method of generating molecular iodine in the stomach of a human or animal using an iodine reductant and an iodine oxidant. One reductant/oxidant pair identified as one of the preferred embodiments in this invention is iodide and iodate. One reason that iodide and iodate are preferred is that both of these compounds are used separately as food additives and both have GRAS (generally regarded as safe) status in the U.S. The literature describes the stability of iodide and iodate individually but there are no published reports of the stability of these two compounds in combination. In fact, these two chemicals in an appropriate medium can react rapidly with each other to yield molecular iodine.
This invention describes methods and compositions to stabilize an oral pharmaceutical composition that generates molecular iodine in situ wherein the active agents in said compositions are iodide and iodate. Methods for preparation of said stabilized pharmaceutical compositions are also described. It is a further objective of this invention to set forth the conditions and materials necessary to formulate a stable dosage form of iodide and iodate in the presence of accepted pharmaceutical excipients. It is a further objective of this invention to identify methods and compositions that comply with the strict stability objectives embodied in published regulatory guidelines of the FDA.
Regulatory bodies in different territories around the world have published guidelines that define requirements that must be met to manufacture and distribute a new pharmaceutical agent for human and animal use. In the U.S. the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates drugs. Stability testing is a mandated aspect of the FDA drug development process and is required for manufacture and distribution of drugs.


This invention relates to the field of network management, and in particular to a method and system for analyzing and verifying compliance with security policies among devices in a network.
Network security is a continuing concern among network users and network managers. In a secure computer network, to prevent unauthorized access to the network, only a specified set of systems, services, and applications are permitted to use the network. Additionally, within a network, not all systems, services, and applications are permitted to communicate with each other. The term ‘security policy’ is used to identify the connections that should be permitted or denied between network elements.
Certain devices within a network, such as routers and firewalls, can be configured to enforce security policies within the network, and complex security policies may require that multiple devices be compatibly configured.
Verifying that each device in a network is properly configured to effect the intended security policies is a daunting task, particularly in complex networks that include multiple communication paths among network elements. This task is further complicated by the fact that different devices may use different schemes for effecting the same security policy. A security analyst must typically be aware of a variety of vendor-dependent configuration formats and protocols, and must be aware of each configuration setting's effect on the security policy of each connection to the device.
Often, security policy analysis and verification is a ‘hit or miss’ process, with minimal analytical basis. A security analyst reviews configuration settings, corrects any obvious security loopholes, and then verifies security by attempting to send messages to or from a variety of elements on the network. If a message traverses a denied connection, or is blocked from a permitted connection, the cause of the error is determined, the configuration is modified, and the test is repeated.
It is an objective of this invention to provide a method and system for identifying and verifying compliance with security policies within a network. It is a further objective of this invention to provide a method and system for identifying network configuration data that is inconsistent with intended security policies.
These objectives, and others, are achieved by a method and system that uses a security policy database that identifies the intended security policies within a network to generate test traffic that is configured to test each defined security policy, and simulates the propagation of this traffic on a model of the network. The model of the network includes the configuration data associated with each device, and thus, if devices are properly configured to enforce the intended security policies, the success/failure of the simulated test traffic will conform to the intended permit/deny policy of each connection. Differences between the simulated message propagation and the intended security policies are reported to the user, and diagnostic tools are provided to facilitate identification of the device configuration data that accounts for the observed difference. Additionally, if a network's current security policy is unknown, test traffic is generated to reveal the actual policy in effect, to construct a baseline intended security policy.
Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate similar or corresponding features or functions. The drawings are included for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.


1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to fuel systems for internal combustion engines and more particularly to fuel systems that provide both primary fuel and alternate fuel to an internal combustion engine.
2. Technical Background
For a variety of reasons, most of which relate to environmental and alternative energy pursuits, certain primary fuel engines, such as diesel engines, can be made to accommodate alternate fuels, such as straight vegetable oil (SVO), “biodiesel,” and other fuel oils (hereinafter “alternate fuels”). However, practical applications have demonstrated that fulltime use of these alternate fuels is not desirable. For instance, at low temperatures the viscosity of some of these alternate fuels is not optimal for use in an engine designed to run on primary fuel. The alternate fuel should be heated up to a temperature that will allow it to easily pass through the fuel delivery system. If left in an idle engine to cool, the alternate fuel also has a tendency to increase in viscosity and thus congeal or solidify inside the fuel delivery components. Thus, the alternate fuel should not be used until it has reached an appropriate temperature and it should be purged from the engine before shutting down. As a result, some of these systems typically run on diesel fuel during start-up and before shut-down, and rely on the consumer to manually switch to the alternate fuel source in between, i.e., when the alternate fuel is at a usable viscosity. For example, in an automobile that has been modified to include diesel and alternate fuel tanks, a driver can selectively toggle between the two fuels during operation of the vehicle using a switch that controls the flow of the two fuels.
Recently, some aftermarket automated control systems have been designed. These systems control the switching between a diesel fuel source and an alternative fuel source based on the temperature of the alternate fuel. Typically, when the engine is cold, such as during engine start, the engine operates using primary fuel, and once a predetermined alternate fuel temperature or a certain vehicle speed is achieved, the engine is then switched to the alternate fuel. If low temperature operation reoccurs, the engine is then switched back to primary fuel, and so on.
To automate this fuel selection process, various conventional aftermarket control systems have been designed that acquire and monitor alternate fuel temperature by using various measurement devices, such as temperature sensors. However, these aftermarket systems do not address the condition whereby the engine is prematurely shut down during or a short time after alternate fuel operation. Various concentrations of alternate fuel will remain in fuel delivery components. If these fuel delivery components are subsequently allowed to cool, the alternate fuel will congeal or solidify. Fuel flow therefore cannot be reestablished for start-up.
Therefore, an improved system and method of automatically purging an internal combustion engine of alternate fuel are desired.


Conventionally, electric toothbrushes that operate with a vibration that is appropriate for removing plaque have been proposed. It is desirable for a user of an electric toothbrush that information relating to where plaque is attached, whether plaque is removed by brushing, and the like is provided.
In order to fulfill this desire, in Patent Literature 1 (JP 2001-145645A) and Patent Literature 2 (JP 2001-170084A), a video scope and a toothbrush are integrally provided, and an image of teeth captured during brushing is displayed.
Also, in Patent Literature 3 (JP 2001-218624A), an image of teeth that are being brushed is captured with a camera incorporated in the brush portion of a toothbrush, and the image thereof is displayed.
Also, Patent Literature 4 (JP 2008-119154A) proposes a function of collecting attached substances removed from the oral cavity with a cleaning tool, and facilitating the checking of whether attached substances have been removed.
Also, in Patent Literature 5 (JP 2008-532619A), it is possible to adjust the power or operations of a toothbrush in accordance with information received by a sensor. Furthermore, Patent Literature 5 describes a configuration in which light is emitted from a toothbrush in order to carry out optical whitening and the like using a photochemical effect.
With these Patent Literatures, it is not possible to check an area unbrushed by a toothbrush, that is, a tooth where plaque remains. In contrast, the homepage of Non-Patent Literature 1 “Einstein Stella plaque” ((RF Co., Ltd.) http://www.rfsystemlab.com/product/dental/ein_plaque/index.html) and the homepage of Non-Patent Literature 2 “Intraoral Camera “MIHARU”” (http://www.shinwa-musen.co.jp/camera3/miharu.html) propose a wireless intraoral camera. The intraoral camera emits light having a predetermined wavelength to which only plaque and resin react, receives the light reflected therefrom, and converts signals of the received light into video signals to be output as video images. The intraoral camera thus has a function of providing information on an unbrushed area of teeth in video image form.