The databases and methods disclosed herein reduce costly dictionary access (writes and reads) by storing data directly in an index (e.g., storing literal values or taking advantage of Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs)), thereby saving time and memory. One example embodiment is a database that includes a dictionary and an index. The dictionary stores associations between keys and data. Each entry in the index includes a plurality of values corresponding to data. A value of the index includes either (i) a direct representation of corresponding data for certain data types, or (ii) a hash of the corresponding data for other data types. The hash is used in the dictionary as a key associated with the corresponding data.

Eventual consistency is a model used in distributed computing with the goal that all individual accesses to an item will eventually return the same value. Systems on the Semantic Web that are eventually consistent are often referred to as BASE (Basically Available, Soft state, Eventual consistency). Resource Description Framework (RDF) is an example standard for data interchange on the Web. RDF uses Universal Resource Identifiers (URIs) to describe relationships between things as a subject, predicate, and object (referred to as a "triple"). A URI is a string of characters used to identify a resource. One example of a URI is a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), frequently referred to as a "web address." RDF can be represented as a directed, labeled graph, where nodes represent Web resources and edges between the nodes represent relationships between the resources.
Applications allowing the production of a very large amount of data can benefit from using an RDF dataset. In such cases, the production of very large numbers of URIs must be supported. A dictionary can be used to provide indexes to RDF triples storage to help optimize the persistence of vastly redundant information. The dictionary and index essentially offer three operations: (1) Insert—attribute an index to a RDF node and store its value in the dictionary, (2) Locate—provide the index associated with a RDF node, and (3) Extract—provide, from the dictionary, the value associated with an index. Locate and Extract operations can be costly as the dictionary grows, as they require accessing the latest updates to the dictionary as a whole from distant sites in order to distribute accurate indexes. The Insert operation can be problematic in the context of a decentralized and distributed dictionary, as two different sites may try to insert the same resource simultaneously.

Universally unique resources with no dictionary management


A controlling a cache memory includes: a data receiving unit to receive a sensor ID and data detected by the sensor; an attribute information acquiring unit to acquire attribute information corresponding to the sensor ID, from an attribute information memory, the attribute information memory storing the attribute information of the sensor mapped to the sensor ID; a sensor information memory to store information of a storage period, the sensor information memory including a cache memory storing the attribute information; and a cache memory control unit to acquire the attribute information from the attribute information acquiring unit when the attribute information is not stored in the cache memory, and store the acquired attribute information corresponding to the sensor ID in the cache memory during the storage period.

Currently, a system is available that sends data detected by a sensor, e.g. a temperature sensor, to a central apparatus such as a host computer, for example, and that executes a variety of applications including controlling air conditioning in response to the data received by the central apparatus.
In such a system, the sensor sends to the central apparatus the detected data and a sensor ID uniquely identifying the sensor. The central apparatus accesses a database having stored the sensor ID and attribute information indicating an attribute of the sensor and mapped to the sensor, and acquires the attribute information corresponding to the sensor ID. The central apparatus includes a cache memory, and stores temporarily the acquired attribute information in the cache memory. If data is acquired from the same sensor in a subsequent cycle, the central apparatus acquires the attribute information from the cache memory rather than from the database. The access load to the database is thus reduced.
The sensors include not only a continuous connection type that usually remains connected to a network and sends detected data on a real-time basis, but also an intermittent connection type that sends data intermittently, and a hybrid type that is switched appropriately between a continued connection operation and an intermittent connection operation.
The intermittent connection type sensor detects data periodically, and stores the detected data in a memory therein. When connected to the network, the intermittent connection type sensor sends the data stored in the memory to the central apparatus in a data burst.


A light-beam heating apparatus utilizes light energy effectively by having a light emitting portion of a radiating lamp coincide with a first focal point of an ellipsoidal reflecting mirror automatically and with high accuracy Light intensity and positional information at a light receiving end of an optical fiber are detected by means of a photodetector, a light intensity signal converted by a photoelectric converter is inputted to an arithmetic drive circuit, a drive mechanism of a radiating lamp fitting mechanism is actuated, the light emitting portion of the radiating lamp is moved in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction successively in a direction that the light intensity increases, a central axis of a distribution of light condensed by an ellipsoidal reflecting mirror and a central part of the light receiving end of the optical fiber are made to always coincide with each other so as to utilize the light energy effectively. The light energy incident to the optical fiber is computed from a light intensity signal and a detected position, and a lamp current is controlled so as to make the error with respect to an indicated value of a command circuit smaller, thereby to stabilize the light radiation energy at a predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light-beam heating apparatus which makes local heating possible by condensing light from a radiating lamp and is suitable for heating for soldering, removal of a coating of a fine polyurethane wire, or heating treatment of resin and so forth.
2. Description of the Related Art
A light-beam heating apparatus in which light from a radiating lamp is condensed and made to be incident to one end of an optical fiber, and light emitted from another end thereof is condensed by using an optical system, thereby to heat an article to be heated which is placed in the vicinity of a light condensing point has become to be widely used in recent years. In this apparatus, an ellipsoidal reflecting mirror for reflecting and condensing light is used, a light emitting portion of a radiating lamp is positioned at a first focal point thereof, and a light receiving end of the optical fiber is positioned at a second focal point thereof in order to utilize light energy generated in the radiating lamp effectively.
In such a conventional light-beam heating apparatus, the light emitting portion of the radiating lamp is fixed after adjustment to the position of the first focal point by means of a lamp fitting mechanism when service is commenced. The light emitting portion moves due to thermal expansion of the radiating lamp generated thereafter by light radiation and consumption of an electrode of the radiating lamp. As a result, light energy condensed at the second focal point and incident to the light receiving end of the optical fiber is reduced. Even if the light emitting portion of the radiating lamp is arranged in advance at a position shifted from the first focal point by the lamp fitting mechanism taking thermal expansion and electrode consumption into consideration, the converged light is not correctly focused on the light receiving end of the optical fiber until the radiating lamp reaches a predetermined temperature or after the electrode consumption advances to some degree. As a result, the article to be heated is heated in a state of low light energy, and the light energy of the radiating lamp cannot be utilized effectively. Since electrode consumption proceeds further, the light emitting portion comes off the position of the first focal point and heating conditions of the article to be heated are deteriorated similarly to the above, and the light energy of the radiating lamp cannot be utilized effectively. Furthermore, when the life of the radiating lamp has expired and a new radiating lamp is fitted, it is required to readjust the light emitting portion of the new radiating lamp at the position of the first focal point on all such occasions by means of the lamp fitting mechanism. Namely, in order to heat the article to be heated utilizing the light energy of the radiating lamp effectively, it is required to always adjust the lamp fitting mechanism so as to arrange the light emitting portion of the radiating lamp at the position of the first focal point. Due to low efficiency of such an adjustment, it has been impossible to utilize the light energy of the radiating lamp effectively. Further, it is demanded to hold the light energy for heating the article to be heated at a predetermined intensity and also to realize high reproducibility in order to utilize light-beam heating apparatus for industrial purposes. Thus, such a task as to adjust an electric current of a power supply circuit by means of an output con, hand circuit so as to maintain the light energy at a predetermined value is required. In this task , it is required to suspend the heating operation and to measure and confirm a light-beam output which is outputted from a lens holder provided at opposing end of the optical fiber with a power meter and the like.
In order to have the same operating conditions reappear, such a task has to be perforated every time the above-described fluctuation factor is generated. Since the efficiency of the heating operation is lowered, however, performing this task has not been practical.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An image forming apparatus includes a high voltage generating circuit, a voltage controller, a current detector, and a recovery process controller. If two inflection points (O and P) exist, which exist on a characteristic curve indicating a relationship between the voltage value and the current value when the frequency of the AC voltage is set as a first frequency or when a photosensitive drum is rotated at a first linear speed, the recovery process is performed if a potential difference between a first inter-inflection-point voltage (OP) between inflection points and a second inter-inflection-point voltage (OP′) between inflection points (O′ and P′) when setting a second frequency different from the first frequency, or a potential difference between the first voltage and a third inter-inflection-point voltage (OP″) between inflection points (O″ and P″) when setting a second linear speed different from the first linear speed becomes a predetermined value or less.

The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus including an electrifying member for electrifying an image carrier, and particularly to an image forming apparatus that can perform recovery process for reducing frictional resistance of the surface of the image carrier.
Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic process such as a laser printer or a digital multifunction peripheral, the surface of the photosensitive drum (image carrier) having photoconductivity is uniformly electrified by an electrifying device, an electrostatic latent image is formed by exposure with an exposing device, and the electrostatic latent image is developed into a toner image by a developing device. Next, the toner image is transferred onto the surface of the recording medium such as a paper sheet by a transfer portion, and the toner image is fixed to the surface of the recording medium by a fixing portion. Thus, the series of image forming process is finished. In addition, toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum after the toner image transfer is removed by a cleaning portion, and further, remaining charge is eliminated using a charge elimination lamp, as necessary, as a preparation for a next image formation.
In recent years, an amorphous silicon (a-Si) photosensitive drum is widely used as the image carrier of the image forming apparatus. The a-Si photosensitive drum has a high degree of hardness and a superior durability, and characteristics as a photoreceptor is hardly deteriorated after using for a long period of time so that high image quality can be maintained. Therefore, the image carrier can be easily handled with low running cost, and it is superior with high safety to environment.
As to the image forming apparatus using such the a-Si photosensitive drum, it is known that an image deletion is apt to occur due to its characteristics. In other words, when electrification is performed using the electrifying device, discharge from the electrifying device generates ozone. The ozone decomposes components in the air, and hence ionic products such as NOx and SOx are generated. The ionic products are water soluble and stick to the photosensitive drum so as to enter in a coarse structure of approximately 0.1 μm on the surface of the photosensitive drum, and hence they cannot be removed by a cleaning system used in a general-purpose machine. Further, if they absorb moisture in the air, resistance of the surface of the photosensitive drum is decreased. Thus, potential lateral flow occurs at an edge part of the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum, and as a result, an image deletion may occur.
Therefore, there is proposed a method of suppressing a decrease in the resistance of the surface of the photosensitive drum with a simple structure so as to reduce the image deletion, and there is known a method of performing a refresh mode at a predetermined timing, in which the photoreceptor is ground by interaction between developer containing abrasive (grinding toner) and a grinding member (a rubbing roller and a cleaning blade), so as to remove the products generated by ozone without using a heater or the like. In this method, developer is printed or developed when printing is not performed (in a start mode of the apparatus or in a standby mode after printing), and the developer is not transferred to the recording medium but is supplied to the grinding member in the photoreceptor unit so as to be used for grinding the surface of the photosensitive drum.
In addition, in recent years, instead of a corotron type or scorotron type electrifying device, a contact electrification type electrifying device with little generation of ozone is used, in which the electrifying member (an electrifying roller or the like) is disposed in contact with or close to the photosensitive drum so as to electrify the photosensitive drum. Among this type of electrifying members, there is one to which an oscillation voltage is applied, in which a DC voltage and an AC voltage are superimposed, so that the photosensitive drum is electrified, and there is known one that can set an appropriate peak-to-peak voltage value (Vpp) of a high accuracy AC voltage despite of environmental variation such as temperature and humidity or secular change of the photosensitive drum, the electrifying member, or the like.

Image forming apparatus having an electrifying member for electrifying an image carrier


The present disclosure provides a structural member for a vehicle. The structural member comprises a plurality of finned spar members interlocked with one another, wherein each of the finned spar members include a main body, a plurality of web members extending from a flange, a circuit board formed on the main body, and a bus bar formed on the main body, wherein a compartment is formed between adjacent web members, each compartment being sized to receive a battery.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatus for onboard battery storage as well as onboard energy subsystems integrated into structural components of an aircraft.
Batteries and other elements of energy systems for aircraft or other vehicles are conventionally packaged as part of a payload of the aircraft or other vehicle. This conventional packaging typically includes batteries at least partially enclosed in an explosion-proof and/or fire-proof structure. Thus, the weight of the batteries as well as the structures containing the batteries add payload weight to the aircraft or other vehicle, which results in the need for more operational power in order to compensate for the additional power consumed due to the weight of energy system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Energy subsystems integrated into structural components of an aircraft


An image forming apparatus (100) is equipped with a left-side cover (2), manual supply tray (10b), a carry guide (31) and a lift plate (33), and these are rotatably supported by a third shaft (35). The apparatus is reduced in size and a protrusion length L of the lift plate (33) is enlarged. The change in inclination angle of the lift plate (33) is reduced and a paper-sheet supply characteristic, even when the amount of paper sheets placed on the manual supply tray (10b) changes, is stabilized.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-084029 filed on Mar. 31, 2009 and No. 2009-081499 filed on Mar. 30, 2009, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a digital copy machine, laser printer and the like, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus that has a mechanism for opening and closing a paper sheet supply tray that is used to carry a sheet to an image forming portion.
2. Description of the Related Art
In some conventional image forming apparatuses, a paper-sheet carry path is formed in a vertical direction by using a carry guide to carry a paper sheet in the vertical direction. Besides, for a resolution process of jam in such a paper-sheet carry path and the like, the carry guide is supported by a shaft to be freely opened and closed, and a side cover that is freely opened and closed is disposed at a position that faces the carry guide which forms the paper-sheet carry path. Besides, in some cases, a manual supply tray (paper-sheet supply tray) is disposed on part of the side cover, and the uppermost surface of paper sheets placed on the manual supply tray is pressurized against a paper-sheet supply roller by a lift plate to perform paper-sheet supply.
In such image forming apparatuses, the carry guide, the side cover and the manual supply tray are not supported by the same support shaft. For example, JP-A-2002-214860 ([1.]) discloses a technology in which that a main component body of a both-side carry unit is formed of a resin and doubles as an exterior cover (side cover), so that the weight of the both-side carry unit and the number of parts are dramatically reduced to simplify the structures of a unit support member and the like, and positional accuracy of a carry roller is raised to allow stable paper-sheet supply. In this patent document [1.] the manual paper-sheet supply unit (paper-sheet supply tray) is supported by a shaft at a position higher than the both-side carry unit (side cover).
Besides, JP-A-2005-343700 ([2.]) discloses a technology in which a paper-sheet carry means that carries a paper sheet upward, an opening panel (side cover) that is disposed on a side of a casing to be freely opened and closed, and a manual supply tray that is disposed to be freely opened at a lower position of the opening panel and able to supply a placed paper sheet to the paper-sheet carry means in a time of being opened are disposed, so that size reduction is achieved and installation space is made small. Besides, in this patent document [2.], the paper-sheet carry means is unitarily formed with the opening panel to be freely opened and closed about a lower end that is used as a pivot; however, the manual supply tray is supported by a shaft at a position lower than the opening panel.
Besides, JP-A-2005-055862 ([3.]) discloses a technology in which first and second cover portions that are rotatable from a closing position to an opening position form first and second carry paths in parallel; a side of the first cover forms part (side cover) of a housing; first and second engagement means engage the first and second cover portions with the apparatus main body; the first engagement means is operated to together with the second engagement means in response to rotation between the closing position and the opening position, so that when a cover member that defines the first and second carry paths is opened or closed, it is possible to smoothly open or close the cover member. In this patent document [3.], a state in which the manual supply tray is supported by a shaft is not disclosed.
On the other hand, in such an image forming apparatus, rotary members such as the carry guide, the side cover, the manual supply tray and the like are rotatably supported in the apparatus main body by using a support shaft as shown in FIG. 17, for example. Specifically, a rear-side end portion 51a of a first shaft 51 that is formed into a D shape in section is inserted into a first through-hole 61a that is disposed through a rear-side wall 61 and formed into substantially the same shape in section as the rear-side end portion 51a; a come-off-preventive stop ring 55 is mounted from outside (left side in the figure) in a shaft direction, so that the rear-side end portion 51a is fixed.
Here, a front-side end portion 51b protrudes beyond a second through-hole 62a that is formed through a front-side wall 62; a first bearing 70 that is inserted onto the front-side end portion 51b is inserted into the second through-hole 62a; and the stop ring 55 is mounted from outside (right side in the figure) in the shaft direction like in the above description, so that the front-side end portion 51b is fixed.
Here, in such a technology, by reducing a clearance between an inner diameter of the first through-hole 61a and an outer diameter of the rear-side end portion 51a, positional accuracy of the first shaft 51 is raised. Accordingly, an inner diameter of the second through-hole 62a through which the first shaft 51 penetrates at the front-side side wall 62 is enlarged, so that it is made easy to insert the first shaft 51 from the front-side wall 62 to the rear-side wall 61 in a time of assembly and easy to insert the rear-side end portion 51a into the first through-hole 61a. And, the first bearing 70 through which the front-side end portion 51b penetrates is inserted into the second through-hole 62a, so that the first shaft 51 is supported.
However, because the above stop ring is used, the number of parts increases and mounting tools become necessary. Besides, because both end portions of the support shaft are situated in small places, that is, the front-side and rear-side end portions of the apparatus main body, it is hard to mount the stop ring and the like. To avoid this, a technology for fixing the bearing without using the stop ring is proposed.
For example, JP-A-1996-169588 ([4.]) discloses a technology in which two come-off-preventive protrusion portions for bearings are inserted into oblong bearing support openings (holes) formed through support walls until a state in which the come-off-preventive protrusion portions engage with side walls of the oblong bearing support openings to be prevented from coming off; a snap fit portion and an engagement portion formed on the support wall are snap-fitted to each other to prevent the bearing from rotating in a shaft rotation direction, so that with a simple structure and without using special tools and parts, the mounting and demounting of the shaft are made possible and the operability is improved at low cost.

Image forming apparatus with common support shaft


A protective arrangement includes an input configured to receive an input current from a current supply; one or more outputs configured to connect to one or more connection lines to supply current to one or more electric loads; one or more current supply paths arranged between the input and the one or more outputs; a first path circuit breaker and a second path circuit breaker in a series connection in a current supply path of the one or more current supply paths and configured to interrupt a current flow in the current supply path; and one or more setting units configured to set a trip current for at least one of the first path circuit breaker or the second path circuit breaker.

The present disclosure relates to an arrangement for protecting electrical loads and the connection lines thereof from overcurrent. A generic protective arrangement of this type has an input at which an input current is supplied to the protective arrangement from a current supply as well as at least one output to which a connection line for supplying a load with current is connectable. A current supply path is thereby arranged between the input and the output in which a separator element is in turn arranged to interrupt the current flow upon overcurrent.
Such a protective arrangement is known from the DE 103 59 736 A1 document. The protective arrangement (safety system) therein is connected between the current supply and the load within the load circuit of a motor vehicle, whereby the current in the load circuit is compared to a threshold value and the separator element (circuit breaker transistor or relay) activated as a function thereof and the load circuit interrupted.
The wiring in a motor vehicle, i.e. the connecting of loads via connection lines, is usually preset and only done once. The line cross-section of the connection lines is thereby already dimensioned for a maximum current which the current supply is able to supply.
With current-fed loads in the industrial environment, the wiring is first made in the switch cabinet and varies individually depending upon application.
In order to be able to reduce the line cross-section of the connection lines connected to the current supply, the prior art provides for upstream safety fuses for safety reasons.
However, the use of safety fuses is complicated and comparatively expensive. In addition, adapting the line cross-section requires changing the safety fuse, which is coupled with substantial expenditure.

Arrangement for protecting electrical loads and the connection lines thereof from overcurrent


The present invention relates to an azetidine derivative or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and an antidepressant agent or a composition for the prevention or treatment of psychiatric disorders including the same. The azetidine derivative is useful as a triple reuptake inhibitor capable of inhibiting reuptake of the neurotransmitters, dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine at the same time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a compound (triple reuptake inhibitor) capable of inhibiting reuptake of the neurotransmitters, dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine at the same time, and an antidepressant including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Depression, namely, depressive disorder means a disease that is characterized by loss of interest and sadness as major symptoms and causes various cognitive, emotional, and physical symptoms, leading to impairment of normal function. It has been estimated that the lifetime prevalence of depressive disorder is 15%, and in particular, 25% in women. Depressive disorder is a serious illness causing emotional, cognitive, physical and behavioral changes.
The etiology of depression is complex, resulting from interactions of various genes, and epigenetic, genetic, and environmental factors, rather than a single cause. Consequently, impairment in feelings occurs, leading to emotional disorders.
Compounds currently used for depression exhibit great therapeutic effects on other symptoms caused by a pathophysiologic substance, such as memory loss, desynchronization, and pain, as well as emotional impairment in depression.
Drugs typically used for other major mental or neurological disorders show their efficacy through a variety of neural mechanisms distributed throughout the brain. Similarly, pharmacological, anatomical, and neuropsychiatric approaches to alleviation of depression cannot be made to exhibit efficacy through one mechanism of action.
Since the antituberculosis drug iproniazid was proved to show an anti-depressant effect as a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOIs), modern antidepressants have been actively developed. In the early 1950s, an antihistamine, chlorpromazine was developed as an antipsychotic agent, and its therapeutic effect on schizophrenia was proved. Similarly, since imipramine was developed as an antihistamine by Geigy Drug Co. in Switzerland, 1955, active development of antidepressants has begun. These discoveries brought about development of tricyclic antidepressants (TCA), and many TCAs such as nortriptyline, doxepin, clomipramine or the like have come into use, in addition to amitriptyline or desipramine having a modified tricyclic structure.
Later, second- and third-generation antidepressants have been developed, and tetracyclic compounds such as maprotiline and amoxapine that are similar in the structure and efficacy were commercialized in the early 1980s, which are also called heterocyclics.
In the 1980s, one of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), Prozac was developed and used as an effective therapeutic agent. However, it has been reported that Prozac causes anticholinergic side effects of dry mouth, constipation, urinary retention, blurred vision, impotence or the like, acts on the cardiovascular system to considerably affect blood pressure, pulse, cardiac conduction or the like, blocks 1-adrenergic receptors to cause orthostatic hypotension, and has antihistamine effects that explain its sedative action.
Current antidepressant agents include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (DNRI), noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants (NaSSA), serotonin-antagonists/serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SARI), selective serotonin reuptake enhancers (SSRE) or the like.
These antidepressant agents currently used in the treatment show low remission rates. Thus, it is difficult to achieve sufficient therapeutic effects by using these drugs. For this reason, the antidepressant market is expected to reduce. In order to overcome the low remission rate, it is required to develop a new concept of therapeutic agent.
Representative side effects of the current therapeutic antidepressants are sexual dysfunction and weight gain, and development of new antidepressants that are able to overcome these side effects is expected to open a new market.
One of other major problems is that the current therapeutic antidepressants have a lag-time of several weeks to several months until its onset of action after drug administration. Improvement of efficacy by reducing the lag-time is also an important issue in the development of antidepressants.
For proper selection and efficacy improvement of antidepressant agents, personalized therapy must be provided through the investigations of new biomarkers for major depressive disorder.
Owing to their mechanism of action, antidepressant agents can be also applied to other neuropsychiatric disorders such as neurogenic pain, bipolar disorder or the like. Thus, the development of related studies makes it possible to achieve external extension of the antidepressant market.

Azetidine derivative and antidepressant composition including the same

KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A stretchable undergarment comprises a one-piece body slimming unit made of front and rear panels cut and sewn along the edges to form a tubular body shaping garment construction which is stretchable in the longitudinal direction, and having a lightweight zippered opening along the front. The undergarment is made from a woven stretchable satin material containing a small amount of thin spandex-type elastic fibers forming a predominately one-way vertical stretch in a base textile fabric made from thin polymeric textile fibers such as nylon.

Certain fashion designers, especially those who create custom dress designs worn by female celebrities, often require use of a stretchable body-shaping undergarment. Some stretchable body shaping materials can be sewn into the inside of the outer garment or dress. The present invention has to do with a stand-alone body slimming foundation undergarment worn independently of the outer garment or dress.
Foundation undergarments, commonly referred to as body shapers, bodysuits or "shapewear," are typically made from stretchable fabrics containing spandex or Lycra, for example. They typically firm the user's body shape underneath the outer dress or similar apparel.
These stretchable foundation undergarments should produce a smooth fit that flatters the figure while maintaining long-term comfort. However, some of these prior art foundation undergarments, while stretchable, are not effective in producing a body slimming function. They may "hold you in" but not make you look slimmer.


A method for changing an amorphous silicon film to a poly-crystalline silicon film includes the steps of irradiating an elongate pulse laser beam onto the silicon film while scanning in the direction normal to the major axis of the elongate pulse laser beam, to form a plurality of irradiated areas, irradiating flat-surface light onto the irradiated areas in the direction parallel to the major axis, and analyzing distribution of the reflected light from the irradiated areas to determine the threshold value of micro-crystallization. The threshold value is used to further determine an energy density of the elongate pulse laser beam for the phase change process.

In recent years, as a thin-film device to form an integrated circuit on a glass substrate, poly-Si TFTs (thin film transistors) have been vigorously developed. The poly-Si film is generally formed in an excimer laser crystallization technique. In this technique, an amorphous silicon (a-Si) film is once formed, and an excimer laser beam is irradiated onto the a-Si film to melt and re-crystallize the a-Si film, to form the poly-Si film. In the excimer laser crystallization technique, the molten state of the a-Si film depends on the film thickness thereof, optical constant of the film, wavelength of the excimer laser beam, energy density, pulse width, beam profile, and the like. In general, the laser irradiation process management deals with thickness of the a-Si film and energy density of the laser irradiation apparatus as targets to be managed. This is because the molten state which should essentially be managed is difficult to evaluate and manage.
In the molten state of the a-Si film, the depth of melt increases depending on the energy density of the laser beam. Significant phases in changes of the molten state appear at two points. One is the phase in which the film surface starts melting. The other is the phase in which the whole film completely melts once the melt depth reaches the full thickness of the film. The former and latter molten states bring about crystallization and micro-crystallization, respectively. Film temperature rises due to laser beam irradiation, and a part of the film melts. Then, the molten area or part is crystallized by later cooling. If the film does not completely melt, the nucleation sites during the crystallization in a solid-liquid interface. If, on the other hand the depth of melt equals the film thickness, the nucleation sites form in a-Si/substrate interface. In any case, crystallization is associated by heterogeneous nucleation. At this time, the grain diameter increases depending on the increase in the energy density. TFT characteristics and particularly the mobility thereof depend on the grain diameter. Hence, the grain diameter has been required to become as large as possible.
On the other hand, however, when a film completely melts, the mechanism of crystallization from a liquid phase, which has reached a thermal equilibrium state, changes into a homogeneous nucleation in which the nucleation occurs throughout the film. The grain diameter of crystal grains formed at this time is as small as 20 nm. A phenomenon of rapid reduction in the grain diameter which appears when energy density is excessively increased is called micro-crystallization. The energy density at which the micro-crystallization occurs is referred to as micro-crystallization threshold value. In a physical meaning, the micro-crystallization threshold value is a parameter which standardizes the change in film thickness, energy density, and the like together, and can evaluate the changes in the molten state. Besides, the micro-crystallization threshold value is a highly important value from the viewpoint of practical use that irradiation with higher energy density than the threshold value adversely reduces the grain diameter and degrades the TFT characteristics. It is to be noted that, as the film thickness decreases, the cooling period is shortened. Accordingly, solidification ends within the incubation time of the nucleation, and amorphous fraction is caused in some cases. This amorphous fraction may be included in the term of micro-crystallization, and referred to as micro-crystallization as well in this text.
Techniques of adjusting the output of a laser beam irradiated in the laser annealing process to be smaller than the threshold value of micro-crystallization of an a-Si film are described in Patent Publications JP-A-2000-114174 and JP-A-2002-8976.
FIG. 9 shows analysis of an irradiated area described in JP-A-2000-114174, wherein the irradiated area is analyzed by using an exciting laser 32. This publication teaches that, at first, a preliminary irradiation area is formed by irradiating a one-shot pulse laser beam onto a substrate 31 on which an a-Si film is formed, with the energy density being changed in a pulse-by-pulse basis. Thereafter, the exciting laser 32 is irradiated to obtain reflected scattered light 34 and determine whether or not the micro-crystallization has occurred, by using a Raman spectroscope 33 from the intensity of the scattered light 34 reflected from the poly-Si portions in the a-Si film irradiated with the one-shot pulse laser.
According to the technique described in JP-A-2000-114174, the micro-crystallization threshold value of the a-Si film is checked by this kind of a preliminary irradiation process. An energy density smaller than the micro-crystallization threshold value is then determined as the energy density of a laser beam to be irradiated in the main irradiation process on the a-Si film in the area where TFTs are to be formed in the poly-Si film converted from the a-Si film.
Meanwhile, there has been a proposal for a technique of controlling positions of crystal grains in which a laser beam having an energy density not smaller than the micro-crystallization threshold value of the a-Si film is intentionally irradiated (see JP-A-2003-332346), unlike the general laser irradiation techniques. In this case, determination of the micro-crystallization threshold value is also highly important in order to form crystal grains whose positions are steadily controlled.

Laser irradiation method and apparatus for forming a polycrystalline silicon film


A gas turbine engine includes an engine static structure. A rotating structure is configured to rotate relative to the engine static structure. The rotating structure has a target area with first and second directions. The first direction is greater than the second direction. A lubrication system includes a nozzle having a non-circular exit aimed at the target area. The exit provides a width and a height. The width is greater than the height. The width is oriented in the first direction.

This disclosure relates to a lubrication system for a gas turbine engine.
A gas turbine engine typically includes a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section. Air entering the compressor section is compressed and delivered into the combustor section where it is mixed with fuel and ignited to generate a high-speed exhaust gas flow. The high-speed exhaust gas flow expands through the turbine section to drive the compressor and the fan section. The compressor section typically includes low and high pressure compressors, and the turbine section includes low and high pressure turbines.
A common gas turbine engine oil delivery scheme to an engine bearing compartment includes plumbing oil to a strut in the main center body. The oil is delivered through a nozzle supported by the static structure, delivering oil at pressure and speed to various components within the bearing compartment, such as seal plates, oil scoops, bearings, and other components.
The nozzles are a cast component with cored passages, or a machined component with cross-drilled passages. Caps may be installed at the end of the passage to provide the nozzle that directs oil onto the intended target area.
The holes in the nozzle are typically circular in cross-section and deliver oil at high volumes toward the target area. The oil capture efficiency is derived primarily by the amount of oil reaching the target area versus the total oil flow. Axial and radial oil scoops are two approaches used to increase the amount of oil reaching the target area. The efficiency of scoops can be limited by geometrical constrictions, thermal/mechanical deflections of the various parts during operation, or "brooming" of oil flow as it exits the nozzle, impinging on non-target areas.

Non-uniform spray pattern oil delivery nozzle


An acceleration measuring system wherein acceleration transducers are mounted on a turntable supported by an air bearing and directly driven by a brushless motor. The output signals generated by the acceleration transducers are amplified by amplifiers mounted on the turntable and the output signals are converted to digital signals by an analog-to-digital converter also mounted on the turntable. The digital signals are modulated into AC signals by a modulator also mounted on the table and then transmitted to a demodulator on a fixed portion of the system through a rotary transformer. The output of the demodulator representing the acceleration signal is applied to digital-to-analog converters and also to a binary coded decimal converter. In an alternative embodiment, the acceleration transducers are mounted on individual separate turntables which in turn are mounted on a primary turntable. The individual turntables are each separately and individually driven by brushless motors and the primary turntable is also directly driven by a brushless motor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a centrifugal type acceleration measuring device, and more particularly a centrifugal type acceleration measuring device in which a turn-table having a measured acceleration transducer mounted thereon is rotationally driven by a motor to apply an acceleration to the acceleration transducer, an output of the acceleration transducer is properly processed for its signal and then the signal is transmitted to a fixed part to perform a measurement of the acceleration in a highly accurate manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
A centrifugal type acceleration measuring device in the prior art is operated such that a turn-table is rotated in a horizontal plane, a measured acceleration transducer (hereinafter called as "an acceleration transducer") is fixed to an outer circumference of the turn-table, the turn-table is rotated, a centrifugal acceleration is given to the acceleration transducer on the turn-table, an output characteristics at this time is inspected and measured.
In such a centrifugal type acceleration measuring device as described above, an induction electric motor is used as a motor for rotationally driving the turn-table, its rotating power is transmitted through a belt, a multi-stage gear box and a clutch or the like and in case of stopping the rotation of the turn-table, a braking action is applied to the motor through a brake.
In addition, a control over the rate of rotation of the motor is also carried out under an open-loop system.
In turn, rotational supporting of the turn-table is also carried out mechanically by a ball bearing.
As the turn-table is rotated, the acceleration transducer detects a centrifugal acceleration. This detected output is transmitted to a measuring system through a signal transmitting system. In this signal transmitting system, an analogue transmitting system performed by means of mechanical contact between a slip ring and a brush due to the fact that the turn-table is being rotated and the measuring system is mounted at a stationary location.
The detected output passed through this transmitting system is inputted into the measuring system in its analogue signal form and converted into a digital signal; thereafter the converted signal passes through an input/output circuit and is inputted to a central processing unit (hereinafter called as "CPU").
After a predetermined analyzing process is carried out at the CPU, a result of analyzing action is displayed at a display device or printed out in a printer.
In addition, electrical power is normally supplied the acceleration transducer disposed on the turn-table through a slip-ring system.
In view of the foregoing, as a calibration method for the acceleration transducer, a comparing calibration system and an absolute calibration system are employed by an official in inspection organization.
The comparing calibration system is operated such that a reference acceleration transducer and a calibrated acceleration transducer are integrally fixed on the same reciprocating vibrator device so as to apply a vibration and the calibrated acceleration transducer is calibrated at a vibration acceleration calculated in response to an output from the reference acceleration transducer.
In addition, the aforesaid absolute calibration system is operated such that a calibrated acceleration transducer is fixed on a reciprocating type vibrator so as to apply a vibration, a displacement amplitude at that vibration is accurately measured by a laser interferometer, a vibration acceleration or the like is calculated in reference to a vibration frequency (number of vibration oscillations per unit time) and then the calculated acceleration is applied as a reference acceleration.
As an additional calibration method of the acceleration transducer, the aforesaid centrifugal type is proposed and this process is not officially acknowledged as a calibration method.
In the prior art centrifugal type acceleration measuring device, at first, an induction motor or the like is used in the rotary driving system for the turn-table, resulting in that a sliding noise of the brush may occur and has a disadvantage that it is mixed in the detected output. In addition, driving transmission is carried out through a belt, a multi-stage gear box and a clutch or the like, resulting in that its size is increased, its vibration is added to the turn-table and then an accurate acceleration is hardly given to the acceleration transducer.
In addition, since the transmitting system for the detected output is also constructed as a mechanical analogue type transmitting system having a slip-ring or a brush, it is not avoidable to have frictional wear at the sliding part, poor contact at the sliding part and overlapping of noise accompanied by the contact on the detected output.
Further, supplying of an electrical power to the measuring system is also carried out by means of sliding system using the slip-ring or a brush, so that its wear is not avoidable.
In turn, in the case the of the acceleration measuring device of the aforesaid comparing type, it has a disadvantage that its calibration accuracy is 2% within a frequency range of 0.5 Hz to 5 KHz and it shows a quite low value of 5% within a frequency range of 5 Hz to 10 KHz.
In addition, the aforesaid absolute calibration system acceleration measuring device has a disadvantage that its calibration accuracy is a high value of about 1% within a frequency range of 20 Hz to 5 KHz and its use can not be carried out at a frequency range of lower than 20 Hz and a desired accuracy may not be satisfactory.
That is, as the device for calibrating the value, it is desirable that its accuracy is high, but in view of its mechanical configuration and a circuit configuration, there is a certain limitation. At present, since an accuracy less than 0.5% is required, it must be said that the aforesaid comparing calibration system measuring device is not adopted as a calibrating device and in turn, in the case of the absolute calibration system measuring device, although this is adopted in a frequency range of 20 Hz to 5 KHz of the calibrating device, a configuration of the calibration system requires a vibrator; a synthesizer and a power amplifier for driving the vibrator; a laser generating device, two fixed mirrors, one vibrating mirror, one beam splitter, an opto-electrical converter, a counter, a filter, a voltmeter for use in detecting a displacement amplitude of vibration; a load amplifier and a voltmeter for measuring an output from a calibrated acceleration transducer; and a computer for controlling in drive of these systems as well as for its calculation and a displaying control or the like, so that it becomes quite complex, large in size and it is expensive and further it has a disadvantage that its measuring operation is complex.
In addition, this absolute calibration system device also has a fatal disadvantage for calibration at a frequency range of 20 Hz or less and 5 KHz or more.

Centrifugal type acceleration measuring device


The present invention mainly relates to a cylindrical battery provided with a wound-type electrode plate group, and to a manufacturing method thereof. An object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing method by which a cylindrical battery can be produced at high productivity, without a welding electrode attaching to a current collector plate during connection of the current collector plate to a battery case. In the present invention, the maximum diameter of a hollow cylindrical portion of an electrode plate group is ⅙ or more and 2/6 or less of that of the electrode plate group; and a current collector having one first projection and a plurality of second projections are used. The one projection and the plurality of second projections are disposed on a face of the current collector plate facing an inner bottom face of the battery case, and protrude toward the inner bottom face side of the battery case. The height of the first projection is higher than that of the second projection. Further, the welding electrode used during connection of the current collector plate to the battery case has a maximum diameter of 60% or more and 100% or less of that of the hollow cylindrical portion of the electrode plate group, and is 4 mm.

Batteries such as nickel-cadmium batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries are known as cylindrical batteries. Cylindrical batteries are typically provided with an electrode plate group, obtained by stacking a positive electrode and a negative electrode each in strip form with a separator therebetween for separation, and then spirally winding a stacked body thus obtained. The electrode plate group is housed in a cylindrical battery case made of metal.
Cylindrical batteries as such are highly reliable and capable of easy maintenance, and are used for many purposes such as the power source for cell phones, laptop computers, and the like. In recent years, there is a demand for development of cylindrical batteries suited for high current discharge, as the power source for electrically-assisted bicycles, lawnmowers, electric vehicles, and the like.
Known as a current collecting structure suited for input and output of large currents is, for example, a current collecting structure in which a positive electrode core member and a negative electrode core member protrude from the upper end face and the lower end face of an electrode plate group, respectively, multiple points on the end edge portion of the positive electrode core member are welded to a positive electrode current collector, and multiple points on the end edge portion of the negative electrode core member are welded to a negative electrode current collector.
Further, Patent Literature 1 proposes a negative electrode current collector provided with a plurality of projections. In Patent Literature 1, the negative electrode current collector is disposed between an electrode plate group and the inner bottom face of a battery case, one projection is provided on the center part of the negative electrode current collector positioned correspondingly to the hollow cylindrical portion of the electrode plate group, and a plurality of projections are provided on the area between the center part and the peripheral edge portion of the negative electrode current collector. The plurality of projections protrude from the face of the negative electrode current collector facing the inner bottom face of the battery case, toward the inner bottom face of the battery case. The plurality of projections of the negative electrode current collector are welded to the inner bottom face of the battery case. A negative core member is connected to the face opposite to the face of the negative electrode current collector provided with the projections. In Patent Literature 1, the height of the projection provided on the center part of the negative electrode current collector positioned correspondingly to the hollow cylindrical part is lower than those of the projections provided on other parts of the negative electrode current collector.
[Citation List]
[Patent Literature]
    [PTL 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-100949

Cylindrical battery and manufacturing method thereof


This invention relates to a method for detecting quantity variation of high purity liquid chemicals by way of detecting capacitance variation to determine the liquid level of liquid chemicals. Meanwhile, the ratio of the area of the smallest electrode of the capacitor to the distance between the electrodes is adjusted to magnify the capacitance so that a very small variation can be observed clearly. This invention also discloses a device to carry out this method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for detecting quantity variation of high purity liquid chemicals in semi-conductor producing processes, and more particular a method that randomly measures the capacitance of the chemicals to observe tiny variations in the quantity of the chemicals. This invention also discloses devices to perform this method.
2. Description of Related Art
In processes to produce integrated circuits or deposited chips mounted on silicon wafers, a lot of chemical depositing procedures and chemical etching procedures are used in the processes. In these procedures, various high purity liquid chemicals, acting as precursors, are bubbled to become vapors or directly liquid injected. Then, the vapors are mixed with a carrier gas or liquids and then fed into a reaction chamber to be deposited on chips or wafers. The high purity liquid chemicals also can be nebulized and directly injected into the reaction room by an injector or atomizer to carry out the chemical depositing procedures. Because the thickness of the deposited layers may only be from a fraction of a nanometer to hundreds of nanometers, not much of the liquid chemical is used. Therefore, containers used to hold the liquid chemicals also have a small volume usually in the range of tens of milliliters to tens of liters.
Because conventional containers have a conventional detecting device such as a float ball or an optical device having only two or three detecting points at low, lower and empty liquid levels, knowledge of quantity variations at any time during the depositing procedure is not available. If the detecting device fails at the low liquid level, the process operator will not be aware that the liquid chemicals are very nearly depleted which may cause damage when the liquid chemicals run out and the depositing procedures are incomplete. Furthermore, conventional detecting devices have bad sensitivity. Taking the float ball for example, the float ball is not suitable used in a bubbling container that has a violently agitating liquid or with a high viscosity liquid that may stick to the float ball and damp the response of the float ball or otherwise cause false indicating signal. The optical device is not suitable to detect liquid chemicals possessing dark colors or high viscosity.
Another conventional detecting device is a platform weight scale to weigh the liquid chemicals. However, pipelines of the container are immovable, and measurement of the platform weight scale is not precise especially when the weight ratio of the liquid chemicals to the container is very small.
According to the foregoing description, processes of producing semi-conductors still have a troublesome problem with regard to the use of high purity liquid but tiny amount of chemicals. Many depositing procedures have to estimate the quantity of liquid chemical remaining in the container based on prior experience to determine when the process should be suspended to check and replenish the liquid chemicals inside the containers or replace with new containers. Therefore, the efficiency and product quality of the machines is low and the risk of missed operation is high.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantages of the conventional liquid chemical detecting devices.
The main objective of the method for detecting quantity variation of high purity liquid chemicals in accordance with the present invention is to be able to detect liquid levels instantly and continuously.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a device to carry out the method to detect the liquid levels instantly and continuously.
Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

Method for detecting quantity variation of high purity liquid chemicals and devices to carry out the method


A temporarily installable, quickly and easily removable rack provides for the carriage of long and/or large sheet materials on the outside of the sidewall of a pickup truck type vehicle or the like. The rack consists of an essentially vertical beam with a shoe which rests upon the upper flange of the vehicle cargo box sidewall. The upper end of the beam is secured by a strut or cable which extends into the cargo box and is attached to the bed of the box immediately adjacent the inner sidewall. The beam has a shoe at the lower end providing for the support of any materials carried thereupon, and provision is also made for a retaining strap for the securing of materials against the beam. Attachment points for the strut or cable may be permanently installed; a temporarily installable attachment point is also disclosed which does not require modification of the vehicle structure. The rack is preferably used in pairs, installed fore and aft along the vehicle cargo box sidewall for the support of the forward and aft ends of any materials carried thereupon, thus leaving the cargo box open for the carriage of other objects. The rack is particularly suitable for use with smaller pickup type vehicles, in which a standard four foot by eight foot sheet of building material will not fit.

In the past, most pickup truck type vehicles possessed a cargo box typically large enough to completely contain a four foot wide by eight foot long ("four by eight") panel of material. This was a prime requirement of many purchasers of pickups, since many of these persons were engaged in the building and construction trade, and the standard size of many sheet products used in the trade is four by eight.
However, with the increase in smaller imported vehicles, including pickups, more strict requirements for fuel economy, higher insurance for larger vehicles, and perhaps other factors, smaller pickups with smaller cargo box dimensions have become popular in the recent past. When such smaller pickups are used for the carriage of standard size building materials, the materials must be placed and/or secured at some other location than completely within the box. While one edge of such material may be placed within the box, the opposite edge will extend beyond the upper edge of the opposite sidewall and be subject to wind gusts or other upsetting forces which may damage the material or possibly cause it to be blown completely from the vehicle cargo box.
Even if such material were secured within the cargo box, a problem arises when it is desired to place additional bulky, heavy and/or non planar material in the box with the sheet material. Even in the case of larger pickups capable of carrying four by eight material completely within the cargo box, the bulky objects must be placed on top of the sheet material in order to achieve the most efficient loading. If it is desired to remove the sheet material first, any other objects atop the sheet material must also be removed and then reloaded.
One alternative is the overhead rack. Such racks are well known and may be fitted to virtually any size pickup type vehicle as well as others. While such overhead racks alleviate the problems associated with cargo boxes smaller than the sheet material to be carried and the carriage of additional objects with such sheet material, such racks are generally of such a size and weight so as to preclude their being quickly and easily removed or installed. They are generally left in place once installed, which results in poorer access to the cargo area and therefore less flexibility for the vehicle, as well as reducing vertical clearance. Moreover, the placement and removal of long and/or sheet material of large dimensions from the overhead rack is relatively awkward, generally requiring two persons, in comparison with the placement or removal of such material from the pickup box which is located at a lower, more accessible level.
The need arises for a rack which may be temporarily affixed to and removed from a pickup truck type vehicle or the like, which is capable of easily carrying relatively long and/or large sheet material of at least four by eight size or larger. The rack must leave the majority of the truck box open for the carriage of other objects, and permit the placement or removal of materials from the rack by a single person without undue effort, as well as permitting the rack itself to be quickly and easily removed from the vehicle by a single person without undue effort and must be capable of being carried within the cargo bed of the vehicle when not installed. The rack and attachments must permit a relatively rigid installation, as well as secure carriage of any materials placed thereon.

Removable side rack and attachments for pickup truck vehicles and the like


To separate high-molecular DNA strands, an electrophoresis system includes first means for changing the direction of an electric field within an electrophoresis separating unit at a first frequency having a period of no more than 20 seconds and second means for changing the electric field in another manner at a second frequency at least twice as high as the said first frequency. In one embodiment, the field strength in the direction of overall migration is selected so that, considering the DNA size and gel density, the leading segment of DNA to the first corner is sufficiently small so that excess friction forces due to bunching does not cause excessive band spreading. The field strength is selected so that the electric field is reduced until the changing of the electric field at the second frequency keeps the bunching effect to a sufficiently low level to not seriously interfere with the separation.

This invention relates to pulsed field gel electrophoresis of large DNA.
In the process of separating DNA molecules by electrophoresis, an electric field is applied across a gel to separate DNA molecules as they are moved by the field through the gel.
It is known to use the characteristics of the field established across the gel to control the electrophoresis for maximum separation. The fractionation of different molecular weight DNAs is presumably due to the sieving effect of the agarose gel matrix rather than differing electrophoresis mobilities of the DNAs as found in a free (completely liquid) medium.
In one prior art technique of electrophoresis that has been used for separating DNA, a static, unidirectional electric field is applied to a DNA sample resulting in the migration of the DNA molecules through the agarose. This technique is referred to as continuous field electrophoresis. Continuous field electrophoresis easily separates DNA molecules of size up to about 20,000 base pairs.
Continuous field electrophoresis has a disadvantage in that for DNA molecules of sizes above approximately 20,000 base pairs, separation becomes more difficult because the migration rate becomes independent of molecular size except at very low field voltages. At very low field voltages, separations take a long time. Usually, the practical upper limit is reached at a separation time of about two wee k s because DNA degrades at temperatures suitable for electrophoresis at times longer than this. This long time period is believed to be due to the extreme difficulty of totally eliminating minute amounts of nuclease from the system.
Several techniques are known to be successful in resolving larger chromosome fragments. Some of these techniques are successful in resolving chromosome fragments larger than 1 megabase in agarose gels . These techniques are different forms of pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) which is the resolution of large DNA molecules by periodically changing the electric field pattern during electrophoresis to produce DNA migration direction changes. These direction changes typically vary from close to 90 degrees to greater than 120 degrees. Sometimes these direction changes are curved loops, such as a sequence of curved segments with individual angles of arc. At other times, they are a zigzag path with concentrated angle changes of direction at the corners. The changes in field pattern reorient the DNA molecules and the separating medium, thus improving DNA separation.
In the prior art PFGE techniques, the pulse lengths relating to changing the field pattern are of sufficiently long duration to change the gross configuration of the DNA, being longer than one second in duration for the separation of large DNA. The changes in gross configuration are affected by the pulse duration and changes in direction and may vary from realigning direction of a substantially straight elongated strand to creating hooks or staircase-shaped strands.
Each of the prior art pulsed field techniques has the disadvantage of using a time duration for changing the field pattern that is in the order of a second or longer for separating large DNAs.
With pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) as usually practiced, it is easy to separate large DNA of size up to one million base pairs. Above this size it it becomes progressively more difficult. In order to get clear separations of larger DNA, the field voltage must be reduced and the angle-switching time increased. For example, the largest chromosome of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (YPH 80) about 1.5 megabase pairs, can be resolved in 15 hours with a field switching time of 120 seconds per direction and at a field voltage of 6 volts per centimeter. It is believed that this is an optimum separation. However, the S. pombe chromosomes of 3, 4.5 and 5.7 megabase pair require a switching time of 30 minutes per direction and a field of 115 volts per centimeter. The separating time is 3 to 6 days. It is believed that this is also an optimum separation. If the field voltage is raised in an attempt to get a faster separation, the DNA does indeed move faster but it smears out so that the bands overlap and no separation is discernible.
In the past, orthogonal pulses of duration too short to allow change in DNA configuration to take place were expected to appear as a vector sum, and be generally useless for separating DNA. This lack of separating effect was predicted in Schwartz, D.C. (1985) "Giga-Dalton Sized DNA Molecules ," p. 84, doctoral dissertation, Columbia University (University Microfilms International).
The prior art is deficient in some respects in providing adequate explanations of why pulsed field techniques provide the result that has been observed. As part of the development of the invention, a novel explanation has been developed.
According to this novel explanation, the limitations of ordinary pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for separating very large DNA occurs because of the electric field and time dependent forking, tumbling and bunching motion of DNA in gel. These effects have been reported and recorded on videotape cited by Smith, S.B., Aldridge, P.K., and Calles, J.B. (1989); Science 243 203-206. The videotape shows actual motion of DNA in constant and varying electric fields: Smith, et al (1989); "Observation of Individual DNA Molecules Undergoing Gel Electrophoresis"; University of Washington Instructional Media Services, Source L66-79-90, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash. 98195.
DNA is negatively charged and therefore a straight length of DNA has a positive counterion sheath around it when in an aqueous buffer solution. The positive ion in buffer solutions used for DNA electrophoresis is Tris. Tris is selected as the positive ion because it does not bind to the DNA. A consequence of this is that Tris ions comprising the counterion sheath are free to move along the length of the DNA in response to electrical and thermal diffusion forces.
If the DNA molecule is located in an electric field parallel to its length, it starts to migrate straight toward the positive electrode because it has a negative charge. However, the counterion sheath has a positive charge and therefore tends to be repelled from the positive electrode. The counterion sheath does not leave the DNA because this would expose the negative charge of the DNA thus bringing the counter ion sheath back. However, the centroid of the counterion sheath shifts toward the trailing edge of the molecule.
Because the centroid of the counterion sheath shifts toward the trailing edge of the molecule, the trailing end of the molecule is surrounded with more positive charges than the leading end. The trailing end of the molecule is immersed within this concentrated charge and is surrounded by it. The leading edge of the molecule is outside of the concentrated charge area and "sees" the concentrated charge behind it. This decreases the net electric field on the leading edge of the molecule to a larger extent but decreases the net electric field on the trailing end of the molecule to a lesser extent.
Because the net electric field on the trailing edge is decreased less than the net electric field on the leading edge, the trailing end of the molecule tends to migrate faster than the leading end of the molecule, causing the bunching phenomenon reported by Smith and others. This effect may be aggravated in pulsed field gel electrophoresis when the DNA is long enough to be completely engaged in a previous corner-turning at the time the next corner turning starts. This is because the trailing, concentrated counterion sheath will be particularly concentrated at a previous sharp corner in the DNA where there are two continuous segments of it in close proximity.
When the DNA molecule bunches up and is no longer linear, its counterion polarizability decreases because of the decrease in effective length of the DNA. The DNA becomes more isotropic; more compact than elongated. The positive counterion sheath then becomes more isotropic, encouraging a leading end of the DNA to propagate out of the bunched up DNA, and eventually pulling out the bunched DNA into a more or less straight length of DNA.
As before, the counterion sheath becomes more concentrated at the trailing end of the length of DNA than the leading end, but because of the finite relaxation time of the counterion sheath it takes a while, such as 30 seconds, for it to do so. When the counterion sheath becomes sufficiently anisotropic, the DNA bunches up again and the cycle repeats. Under some circumstances, this phenomenon does not repeat at very regular, clock-like, intervals, and therefore, each DNA molecule can accumulate an error in its overall velocity compared to the average of the overall velocities of all the DNA of that species being separated.
This causes the observed band broadening and a smeared "nonseparation" if the effect is bad enough. Higher electric fields and longer free leading lengths of DNA cause more profound bunching problems. The foregoing can explain the faster separations possible at higher buffer concentrations than at lower buffer concentrations, because at higher buffer concentrations, counterions are known to form a thinner layer at the surface of a charged molecule. A thinner trailing counterion layer exerts less bunching influence at the leading end of the DNA.
Counterion sheath polarization also can explain snapback of the leading end of DNA undergoing electrophoretic migration as the field is removed. This snapback is shown in the Smith, et al. videotape. The effect may arise because the internal field from the displaced counterion sheath pulls back the leading end of the DNA before the counterion sheath anisotropy has time to relax upon external field removal. Smith attributes this effect to an "entropic spring" effect as the DNA pulls back into a random coil upon removal of the field. However, it is hard to see how this could cause rapid movement, since movement into a random coil is inhibited because the DNA is threaded through the pores of the gel.
The tendency toward bunching, combined with frictional forces, explains why it is more difficult to separate 6 megabase DNA than it is to separate 1 megabase DNA with ordinary pulsed field electrophoresis. In pulsed field gel electrophoresis, DNA is forced to turn successive sharp corners. The hydrodynamic or boundary friction drag retards the DNA molecule as it goes around each corner along its length, thus cumulatively tensioning the segment of the molecule behind the leading corner. This should be the case regardless of whether boundary friction or hydrodynamic friction is dominant at a corner.
Corner turning friction is believed to account for much of the differential mobilities of different lengths of DNA. The average number of corners turned per unit distance of migration is directly proportional to the length of the molecule. The frictional force increases as a rapid function of the sum of the number of corners turned. This is because, at the front-most or leading corner, frictional drag from the following corners along the length of the DNA adds additional tension which either increases boundary friction force at the leading corner or decreases the thickness of the hydrodynamic layer between the DNA and the gel strands defining the corner. A thinner hydrodynamic layer results in higher viscous friction forces between the gel strand and the DNA. The retardation force due to the corners turned by the DNA is an exponential function of the summation of the angles of all the corners. This follows from basic engineering theory relating to ropes on capstans, belts on pulleys, etc. Tensioning of the DNA around the leading corner arises from the pull of the electric field on the segment of DNA ahead of the leading corner, working with frictional drag on the segment of DNA behind the leading corner. If the turn angle at the leading corner exceeds 90 degrees, a component of the electric field will exert a reverse pull on the DNA segment behind the corner, adding to the tensioning at the corner. This can account for the fact that corner angles greater than 90 degrees (typically 120 degrees) work better than angles of 90 degress or less with pulsed field electrophoresis. It can be seen that alternate corners do not have this field tensioning effect at any one time. However, when the field makes one of its periodic direction changes, the corners which previously had no tensioning due to field effects become tensioned due to field effects. Conversely, corners which previously were tensioned at least partly due to field effects lose this component of tensioning. Since all corners have the same tensioning mechanisms, they can be considered as a group.
The reason that ordinary pulsed field electrophoresis can easily separate DNA of size greater than 20 kilobase pairs but less than one megabase pairs is that the leading end of a migrating DNA molecule is closer to the leading (most recently) turned corner than it is to the other end of its own length. Since the polarizability of the counterion sheath of a linear molecule is proportional to the cube of its length in the direction along the electric field, the effective polarizability of the free or leading length of the molecule is only the length from the leading end to the location of the most recent corner turning. With ordinary pulsed field electrophoresis, this should allow the use of higher electric fields and therefore faster migration rates compared to conventional constant field electrophoresis, with less serious problems with the bunching problem described previously.
The foregoing explanation is consistant with the increasing difficulty that is observed when trying to separate DNA molecules progressively larger than 1 megabase pairs in length with ordinary pulsed field electrophoresis.

Pulsed field gel electrophoresis of large DNA


A method for adjusting a data set defining a set of process runs, each process run having a set of data corresponding to a set of variables for a wafer processing operation is provided. A model derived from a data set is received. A new data set corresponding to one process run is received. The new data set is projected to the model. An outlier data point produced as a result of the projecting is identified. A variable corresponding to the one outlier data point is identified, the identified variable exhibiting a high contribution. A value for the variable from the new data set is identified. Whether the value for the variable is unimportant is determined. A normalized matrix of data is created, using random data and the variable that was determined to be unimportant from each of the new data set and the data set. The data set is updated with the normalized matrix of data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods for analyzing the performance of wafer process operations run on wafer processing equipment, and more particularly, to methods for identifying variables that cause out-of-statistical-control signals and techniques for incorporating expert knowledge to ascertain the significance of such signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an attempt to quantify and study the effects of process conditions during wafer processing, process engineers are tasked with running numerous process runs, each with particularly set variables, and then comprehensively studying results. The set variables, as is well known, are many. For instance, variables can include chamber pressure, chamber temperature, the delivered power to one or both electrodes, electrostatic chuck clamping voltage, types of gases and flow rates, etc. In practice, therefore, data for such variables is measured and recorded as wafers are put through process runs. Databases are created to organize the data for such variables. In the analysis of such data, specific attention is paid to ascertain whether the behavior of particular variables is within an acceptable range.
Multivariate statistical process control tools are available for the monitoring of deviations between historical process runs and new process runs. These tools can statistically define normal operating behavior in a process based on historical data. Statistical projection-based techniques, such as principal component analysis (PCA), are used to produce out-of-statistical-control signals when a variable is identified as deviating out of the bounds of normal operating behavior.
As multivariate statistical process control tools accommodate analysis across a large number of variables the resulting models are very sensitive, too sensitive with respect to some variables.
Another challenge associated with using these techniques is to determine if an out of bounds signal is considered meaningful based on expert knowledge. Some variables or ranges of variable values are more critical than others. For example, once a wafer is clamped into position the clamp voltage could vary, yet still not be considered a fault, or error in the system. Generally, faults are generated when a value for a variable changes so much that it falls out-of-statistical control. So, if a value for clamp voltage is recorded as being out of an acceptable statistical bounds relative to other variables in the system, it may be flagged as a problem and an automatic fault code would be sent out halting the wafer processing.
However an expert observing the same value for clamp voltage might not be concerned with the variable deviation. For example, though the value for clamp voltage is out of the acceptable statistical bounds it could still fall in an operating range where the clamp properly holds the wafer. Unfortunately, a fault would still be registered, even though expert knowledge would deem the out of bounds signal as not warranting a fault. The end result is that reliance on pure mathematical statistical analysis will lead to false fault alarms. Nevertheless, during processing, every fault will generally lead to stoppage of wafer processing operations, thus resulting in wasted time and money.
The models generated in statistical projection-based techniques can be made more robust by incorporating large amounts of data for a particular process and by incorporating detailed information for each variable being recorded. The limitation with this approach is that during the phase when models are being built large amounts of data are not always available for the variables and the cost of experimental operation can be very impractical.
In view of the foregoing, what is needed is a method and system for incorporating expert knowledge in the identification and reduction of false fault alarms in wafer processing systems.

Expert knowledge methods and systems for data analysis


An oil and fat composition is provided which can reduce cooked odors without using an additive such as emulsifier. The oil and fat composition includes an oil and fat produced by oxidizing a fresh oil and fat so that a difference in anisidine value before and after the oxidation is 0.5 to 350, and an edible oil and fat. An added anisidine value of the oil and fat composition is 0.07 to 350 and is further calculated by the following formula: added anisidine value=(anisidine value after oxidation−anisidine value before oxidation)×[additive amount (wt. %)].

Edible oils and fats such as soybean oil, rapeseed oil, corn oil, sesame oil and palm oil are excellent as heating mediums and are used for cooking such as baking, panfrying and frying fried foods, tempuras or the like. The oil and fat produces specific irritating odors (hereinafter, referred to as "cooked odors") during cooking with heat. When the cooking with heat is carried out in factories or the like, the cooked odors are a relatively slight problem, while, when everyday dishes are cooked in a small space such as supermarket, the cooked odors can be a problem. Since the cases where the cooking is carried out inside of a small store, such as frying at a counter of convenience stores, are recently increasing, it is expected that the cooked odors are increasingly a problem in the future.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned problem, conventionally, high-cost special oil and fat such as high oleic rapeseed oil which does not produce many odors has been mostly used. Further, reduction of cooked odors produced by ordinary oil and fat has been attempted. For example, JP 2002-84970 A discloses an oil and fat composition obtained by adding and dissolving an emulsifier in an amount of 0.1 to 0.5 parts by weight to an edible oil in an amount of 100 parts by weight. JP 2004-173614 A discloses an oil and fat composition obtained by adding an emulsifier with an average molecular weight of 345 or more in an amount of 0.005 to 5.0 parts by weight and a silicone resin in an amount of 0.1 to 10 ppm to an edible oil in an amount of 100 parts by weight. JP 11-127884 A discloses an oil and fat composition wherein cooked odors are reduced due to dispersion of lipolytic enzyme as powder to plant-derived oil and fat at 81 to 130° C. However, in these inventions, the addition of emulsifier or the like changes physical properties of the oil and fat, so that a use range of the oil and fat is limited.


One embodiment of the invention relates to a field effect trench transistor with a multiplicity of transistor cells that are arranged like an array and whose gate electrodes are arranged in active trenches formed in a semiconductor body. Inactive trenches are arranged in the array of the transistor cells, there being no gate electrodes situated in said inactive trenches, and a series of polysilicon diodes are integrated in one or more of the inactive trenches which diodes, for protection against damage to the gate oxide through ESD pulses, are contact-connected to a source metallization at one of their ends and to a gate metallization at their other end, and/or alternatively or additionally one or more polysilicon zener diodes connected in series is or are integrated in the inactive trench or trenches and contact-connected to the gate metallization by one of its or their ends and to drain potential by its or their other end.

The invention relates to a field effect trench transistor with a multiplicity of transistor cells that are arranged like an array and whose gate electrodes are arranged in active trenches formed in a semiconductor body.
If, in applications of a field effect trench transistor, for example a DMOS power transistor as a high-side or low-side switch in motor vehicle ignition devices, a driver chip and the associated field effect power transistor are soldered separately on a circuit board, the leads may vary greatly depending on the application situation or customer requirements and, in principle, are exposed on the circuit board. This means that the signal exchange between the field effect trench transistor relating to signals from the temperature sensors and/or current sensors and the driver chip is subject to fluctuations in said leads and, moreover, there is the risk of individual or all components being destroyed by human ESD pulses coupled in via said leads. ESD pulses of this type may be coupled into the power transistor, for example, by the hand when touching such exposed regions or conductor tracks and destroy the gate oxide of said transistor.
In the case of an IGBT of the prior art, in order to protect the gate oxide from ESD pulses, planar diodes are provided between source metallization and gate metallization, as is illustrated for example in the accompanying FIG. 3. Here the planar diodes are realized by polysilicon diodes (n p n p n) on thick oxide above the silicon surface O and are contact-connected to a source metallization SM at one of their ends and to a gate metallization GM at their other end. In between, the surface of said polysilicon diodes is insulated by a dielectric DE. In order to obtain sufficiently low leakage currents and small drifts in this concept, the latter resorted to p+n polydiodes. By virtue of many individual diodes of this type being connected in series, it was possible to set reverse voltages as desired in steps of approximately 4 to 6 V depending on the number of diodes. If it were desired to integrate a concept of this type into a field effect trench transistor, this would result in disadvantages of a very large space requirement, for example in the chip edge region, and poor integrability into the process flow.
Many field effect trench transistors are usually subjected to an optimization of their on resistance relative to their gate charge or their gate capacitance in that a portion of the trenches (for example, every second trench) are formed as inactive trenches in which there are no gate electrodes arranged. This optimization is generally referred to as FoM (Figure of Merit) optimization.

Field effect trench transistor having active trenches


A rotary encoder includes a magnet disposed on a rotational axis of the encoder. The magnet is polarized transversely to the rotational axis. A first magnetic sensor is disposed on the rotational axis proximate the on-axis magnet. A magnet ring is disposed rotationally coaxially with the rotational axis and has a selected diametric distance from the axis. The magnet ring has a plurality of alternatingly polarized magnets. A number of pole pairs in the magnet ring is selected to match an angular resolution of the first magnetic sensor. A second magnetic sensor is disposed proximate the magnet ring.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of rotary orientation encoders. More specifically, the invention relates to rotary encoders having high angular resolution and absolute orientation determination capability.
2. Background Art
Rotary encoders provide information about the angular position of rotating device with respect to a selected reference. One type of such encoder uses one or more magnets rotatably mounted with respect to a magnetic field sensor. When the magnet is mounted to a shaft, for example, the sensor provides a signal related to the rotation angle of the shaft with respect to the sensor. There are two type of magnetic rotary encoders, on-axis and off-axis type.
In on-axis magnetic rotary encoders, an example of which is shown at 10 in FIG. 1, a diametrically magnetized magnet 14 is placed on the end of a shaft (not visible in FIG. 1, but affixed to baseplate 12), with a sensor 16 mounted on the coaxially with the shaft and in close proximity to the magnet 14. Analysis of the magnetic field from multiple sense elements within the sensor 16 is used to estimate orientation angle of the magnetic field from the magnet 14 with respect to the sensor 16. On-axis rotary encoders typically provide 8 bits to 12 bits of resolution (28=256 steps per revolution, 212=4096 steps per revolution) and can provide absolute orientation information, i.e., rotary orientation information is directly related to the angle between a line connecting the north to south poles of the magnet 14 and the sensitive axis of the sensor 16. Rotary orientation information is immediately available on application of power to the sensor 16.
In an on-axis sensor, however, the angular resolution however is limited by signal levels within the sensor 16 and the ability of associated signal processing circuitry to covert small voltages induced in the sensing elements to orientation information with sufficient accuracy.
An off-axis encoder is shown generally at 20 in FIG. 2. In the off-axis encoder 20, a magnet ring 22 with alternating north and south poles (not shown separately) may be mounted on a shaft (not shown for clarity of the illustration), with a sensor 24 mounted in close proximity to the magnet ring 22. Analysis of the magnetic field from multiple sensing elements within the sensor 24 is used to estimate the sensor 24 position with respect to the closest pair of magnetic poles (not shown separately) on the magnet ring 22.
Using the encoder 20 configured as shown in FIG. 2, rotary orientation can be measured to a resolution determined by the sensor's resolution per pole pair and the number of poles pairs on the magnet ring 22. For example, a magnet ring 22 with ten magnet pole pairs used with a sensor 24 providing 160 point resolution per pole pair, can effectively provide 1600 point resolution within a full rotation of the magnet ring 22.
The information available from an off-axis sensor 24, however, is related only to its position with respect to the closest pole pair. Information as to absolute rotational orientation of the magnet ring is not available. The off-axis encoder 20 is therefore unable to provide absolute orientation with respect to selected reference.
As a result, in order to obtain absolute rotational orientation information from an off-axis encoder, up on application of power the magnet ring 22 must first be rotated to a known reference position (i.e., "homed"), and the encoder reading recorded in memory. Then all subsequent encoder readings must be referenced against the reference position recorded in memory. The foregoing process is tedious. Further, in case the magnet ring rotational orientation changes during a subsequent power loss or power off condition, the change in orientation may not be recorded. Therefore, upon power up, orientation detected by the sensor 24 may be in error, necessitating another homing operation.
There is a need for a rotary encoder having high angular resolution and absolute rotational orientation information available from a single device.

High resolution absolute orientation rotary magnetic encoder


A plug device for closing of a pipe bore where the plug comprises an exterior sleeve formed in a flexible material, and a setting mechanism, and where the setting mechanism comprises wedges which between their passive position and their active position are displaced along a curved path.

This invention relates to a plug. More particularly it concerns a plug for closing of a pipe bore where the plug comprises an external sleeve made from a flexible material, and a setting mechanism, and where the setting mechanism comprises wedges which between their passive position and their active position run along a curved path.
Pipe bores in this context also comprise unlined boreholes in the ground.
During e.g. exploitation of petroleum, plugs that can be set for closing of a pipe bore are often used. Known plugs typically comprise one or more relatively thick cylindrical bodies made of an elastic material. When the plug is to be set, the bodies are squeezed axially such that they expand radially outwards against the pipe wall.
Plugs according to prior art exhibit some weaknesses. During setting, the position of the plug is unstable by the very fact that the plug end portions are displaced toward each other during the setting. Further, the relatively large mass of elastic material causes that so-called extrusion may occur. During extrusion, some of the flexible material is, due to differential pressure across the plug, squeezed out between the pipe bore and one end portion of the plug, whereby leaks can occur.
When prior art plugs are to be removed, they normally have to be drilled out.


A semi-tubular or tubular rivet for joining soft or fragile parts such as composite materials and comprising a pre-formed head (1) and a shank (2) having an axial hole (3) forming a tubular portion (2b) opposite the head (1), a peripheral groove (4) on the outside of the shank (2) at the tubular portion (2b), a pinning surface (Sa) on the outside surface of the shank near the free end of the shank; and a process particularly suited for assembling materials using the rivet.

Conventional rivets do not provide a satisfactory assembly of composite materials. Frequently, the radial expansion of the rivet shank and the pressures exerted underneath the post-shaped head may cause de-lamination of the material and unglueing of fibers and binder, so that the assembly poorly resists fatigue, and there is a danger that the rivet will come loose prematurely.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,041 describes a semi-tubular rivet which is supposed to overcome these drawbacks. However, testing has shown that such a rivet still undergoes a large expansion beneath the post-shaped head, and overall a fairly substantial swelling along the other segments of the shank, whereby the fatigue strength of the assemblies so made as a rule are not satisfactory, particularly in aeronautical applications.
Furthermore, the set-up conditions (applied pressure) affect considerably the quality of the assembly and these rivets must be set at a very precise riveting pressure. However, in practice such an operation is very delicate and difficult to achieve. Finally, a known rivet of a given size is suitable for assembling parts of precise thickness with only narrow tolerance, and under these conditions, the industrial application of these rivets raises substantial practical difficulties.
Accordingly, there is only a poor solution presently available for the problem of riveting soft or fragile materials.
The present invention, therefore, provides an improved rivet allowing the assembly of soft or fragile parts, particularly parts of composite materials, without significant degradation of the material in the area near the rivet, in order that the composite material may retain its original strength.
To that end, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a rivet which can be set without undergoing significant expansion or swelling, whether underneath the post-shaped head or along other parts of the shank.
Another object of the invention is to facilitate the rivet set-up conditions by permitting a wide range of riveting or assembly pressures.
A further object of the invention is to significantly increase the range of thicknesses which can be assembled by the same type of rivet, in order to facilitate the industrial use of these rivets.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved assembly process for composite materials.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon further consideration of the invention, on the basis of the following specification and claims, together with the accompanying drawings.

Rivet for composite material and composite material assembly process

STE Ateliers de la Haute-Garonne-Ets Auriol et Cie