A process for continuous production of a carbonaceous paste in which at least one carbonaceous aggregate and a cokable binder are introduced continuously into a kneader having an upstream end, a downstream end, and a rotating shaft associated with kneading elements. During the kneading operation, the paste, is passed from the upstream end to the downstream end of the kneader and is heated in the upstream end of the kneader. Water is injected into the paste in the downstream end of the kneader, causing a reduction in temperature of the paste and vaporization of the water, which is subsequently discharged from an orifice in the kneader. The paste reduced in temperature to a shaping temperature is continuously discharged from the downstream end of the kneader.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a process for the production of a carbonaceous paste based on at least one carbonaceous aggregate and a cokable organic binder. It essentially concerns adjusting the temperature of the paste to the particular conditions involved in shaping thereof as soon as it issues from the mixer.
2. Description of Related Art
Carbonaceous agglomerates are obtained by firing pieces which are shaped from a carbonaceous paste resulting from mixing of a cokable organic binder and a carbonaceous aggregate in the form of grains of graded sizes. Depending on the use to which the agglomerates are to be put, the nature of the binder (coal tar, petroleum tar, liquid or solid tar) and that of the carbonaceous grains (coal coke, petroleum coke, anthracite, etc.) may vary substantially but in all cases the procedure involves the stage of prolonged mixing between the binder and the carbonaceous grains (the granulometric distribution of which is carefully controlled), at a temperature such that the binder is sufficiently fluid (for example 140.degree. C. to 180.degree. C.) and for a period of time which ensures as perfect impregnation as possible by the binder of the carbonaceous grains. The quality of the electrodes (which is evaluated in particular by measuring geometrical density, electrical resistivity and resistance to crushing) after firing is closely linked to the effectiveness of the mixing operation.
In modern works for the production of carbonaceous pastes, as is the case in particular with the manufacture of anodes for the production of aluminum using the HALL-HEROULT process for the electrolysis of alumina in molten cryolite, the operation of mixing the blend of binder plus carbonaceous grains is carried out in a continuous mixing chain which comprises one or sometimes two mixers in series and the temperature of which is regulated at between 140.degree. and 160.degree. C. and which feeds a shaping installation using vibro-compacting.
One type of mixer which is currently in use is formed by a tubular body provided with fixed teeth which are inclined with respect to the axis of the tube, within which a shaft is moved with a reciprocating movement synchronized with a rotational movement, the shaft itself being provided with teeth co-operating with the fixed teeth in order to ensure that the carbonaceous paste is kneaded or worked and caused to flow along the arrangement. The fixed teeth are disposed along a helicoidal line and the amplitude of the backward and forward movement of the shaft is adjusted to the pitch at which the fixed teeth are disposed. The outlet of the mixer or mixers comprises a nozzle which is closed by motorised flap valves, while opening and closing of the valves can be regulated in dependence on thresholds in respect of instantaneous power in order to provide for satisfactory mixing of the paste and to prevent "jamming" or "stalling" of the apparatus, that is to say blocking thereof under load as a result of excessive filling thereof.
That type of mixer was described in particular in CH-A-515 061, CH No. 606 498 and FR-A-2 038 173 in the name of BUSS A.G. A process for regulating the mixing power thereof was described in European patent application EP-A-157 987 in the name of Aluminium Pechiney.
Mention may also be made of a second type of continuous mixer which is also very widely used, comprising two parallel agitators which rotate in opposite directions and which are disposed in side-by-side relationship in a casing of suitable shape. The main shaft carries radial discs which are themselves connected by mixing bars. In parallel to the shaft, the cleaning shaft which carries cleaning frame structures rotates at a ratio in respect of speed which is from 4 to 6 times higher. One or more retaining plates as well as one or more braking blades which are disposed on the body or the cover of the mixer, at the side of the cleaning shaft, make it possible to control the flow of paste within the apparatus. A mixer of that type was described in French patent application FR-A-2 039 628=U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,628 in the name of H. LIST.
The man skilled in the art is aware from experience that in certain situations, for example that which involves shaping the anodes for Hall-Heroult electrolysis tanks, the optimum mixing and shaping temperatures do not coincide.
In order to provide for good penetration of the tar into the grains of coke and good homogeneity in respect of the carbonaceous paste, mixing must be carried out at about 160.degree. C. while the shaping operation, for example using vibro-compacting, has to be performed at a substantially lower temperature (110.degree. to 140.degree. C.), as otherwise the agglomerates collapse far beyond the accepted dimensional tolerances after removal thereof from the mould and prior to the firing operation. It is therefore necessary for the mixed paste to be cooled by one to several tens of degrees prior to the shaping operation.
FR-2 154 842 (=U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,983) in the name of Aluminium Pechiney provides arranging two mixers in series. The paste which issues from the first mixer at a temperature of 150.degree./170.degree. falls under the force of gravity into a vertical column which opens to the intake of the second mixer, the column being provided with controlled water spray means which effect controlled cooling of the paste to about 110.degree.-115.degree. C.
The disadvantage of that process is that it requires the use of two mixers and that the second mixer which operates on the cooled paste requires a much higher level of power by virtue of the increased viscosity of the carbonaceous paste when it has been cooled in that way.

Process for continuous production of carbonaceous paste


A method for improving the reliability of a memory having a used memory region and an unused memory region, wherein defect memory elements in the used memory region can be substituted by functional memory elements in the unused memory region, having the steps of providing the used memory region with a first stress sequence; and providing the unused memory region with a second stress sequence.

The memory field of DRAMs consists of rows, which are also referred to as word lines (WL), and columns, which are also referred to as bit lines (BL). When a memory is accessed, a word line is at first activated. By this, the memory cells arranged in a row are each connected to a bit line in a conducting manner. Thus, the charge of the cell is divided into cell and bit line capacity. Corresponding to the ratio of the two capacities, which is also referred to as transfer ratio, this results in a deflection in the bit line voltage. At the end of the bit line, there is a sense amplifier, which is also referred to as primary sense amplifier (SA), which compares this voltage to the constant voltage on the reference bit line and subsequently amplifies same.
The memory field of DRAMs has redundant elements allowing replacement of defect cells or columns without impeding functionality of the memory chip. If the defect elements exceed the number of redundant elements, the chip will have to be discarded as being "defect." In order to minimize refusal of memory chips, one tries to sell sub-regions of chips of this kind as smaller size memory chips or lower memory capacity chips. Typically, one tries by using and repairing half the memory region to sell such a "defect" chip as a functional memory chip having half the memory size.
This kind of chip is referred to as "half good" (HG), the process is referred to as HG grading. A full capacity chip is correspondingly referred to as "full good" (FG).
There are two ways of producing HG chips, as is shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 shows an exemplary 256-Mbit chip comprising four memory banks bank0-bank3 each comprising a memory capacity of 64 Mbits. If the dark region marked by 1 is repairable, only these regions will be used. Instead of a 256-Mbit chip, the chip will be sold as a 128-Mbit chip. Here, it has the same functionality as a 256-Mbit chip, but a smaller memory capacity of 128 Mbits.
If the light colored region referred to by 0 is still repairable, the 128-Mbit chip will only use the light colored regions.
In order for the 128-Mbit HG chip consisting of a 256-Mbit chip to be compatible with a true 128-Mbit chip, one of the upper row addresses or one of the upper row address bits is not bonded externally, but the chip-internal pad of this row address is clamped to, for example, VCC=1 or VSS=0, depending on the area chosen.
When bit-addressing a 256-Mbit chip, the memory address has an address length of, for example, 28 bits, wherein, for example, the first two bits may be used for addressing the four memory banks and 13 bits (RA1, . . . , RA13) for addressing the individual cells in the memory banks for the row address (RA), and 13 bits (CA1, . . . , CA13) may be available for addressing the columns, referred to as column address (CA).
The more significant the respective address bit clamped to a fixed value, the greater the contiguous memory regions used, referred to as "used HG," and the contiguous memory regions not used, also referred to as "unused HG." Since during production, it is typically not only individual memory cells to be defect, but greater areas which are also referred to as error clusters, preferably more significant bits, such as, for example, referring to FIG. 5 the column address or column address bit CA12, are used to select the memory regions used.
More precisely, FIG. 5 thus shows the two ways of a division into used and unused memory regions on the basis of the second most significant column address bit CA12. If CA12 is internally clamped to VCC=1, the dark regions marked by 1 will form the used HG memory region, if CA12 is clamped to VSS=0 or ground (GND), the light regions marked by 0 will form the used memory region.
In order to further increase the HG yield, one may use redundant rows or word lines from the unused regions of an HG chip for repairing defect elements in the used region of the HG chip. This means that, for an HG chip using the dark region marked by 1 in FIG. 5, defect rows can be repaired by redundant rows which are physically in the light unused HG memory region.
The failure probability of semiconductors or semiconductor devices is particularly high in the first weeks after production and at the end of the lifetime, usually after some years. This is expressed by the "bathtub curve" known in semiconductor technology indicating the failure probability of a semiconductor device in dependence on the lifetime or life cycle of the semiconductor device and having a "bathtub shape," that is it decreases steeply at the beginning, then remains on a low level and increases again steeply at the end of the lifetime. In order to reduce the failure probability of the semiconductor devices in the first weeks, which is also referred to as early failure probability, the semiconductor devices are usually subjected, after production, to a so-called burn in where the devices are subjected to high voltages at high temperatures so as to "age" more quickly. Thus, failing devices may be sorted out before being delivered or used. The remaining elements are of higher reliability.
The redundant rows of unused HG regions are connected to bit lines, which are only stressed to an insufficient degree in stress tests of the 128-Mbit memory in burn in since only addressing the redundant word line causes spreading of this bit line and thus stress for the bit line. All the other word lines along a bit line, which is in the unused HG region, are not used and thus do not generate stress on the bit line.
Thus, the early failure probability discussed above of the bit lines in the unused HG region addressed by the redundant ones increases, since they do not "age" more quickly. This is illustrated in FIG. 6.
FIG. 6 shows the frequency of defects, such as, for example, bit line shorts, also referred to as "BL shorts," in defects per million (dpm) depending on time.
FIG. 6 shows the early range of the bathtub curve discussed above. The bit lines unstressed or stressed to an insufficient degree during burn in (unstressed BLs) of the unused HG memory region have a considerably higher defect frequency and thus also failure probability than the bit lines stressed during burn in (stressed BLs) of the used HG memory region. The difference is indicated as defect frequency difference (delta dpm).
Additional burn-in time cannot eliminate this problem since the bit lines in the unused HG region are not addressed sufficiently frequently. This is illustrated in FIG. 7.
FIG. 7 shows an exemplary stress ratio between bit lines in the two different memory region types, namely the used memory region (used HG region) and the unused memory region (unused HG region). FIG. 7 shows an example where, out of 1,024 word lines (WL) in the used memory region, four word lines are represented as repaired word lines and are substituted or repaired by means of the inter block repair or inter block redundancy described above by four redundant word lines of the unused memory region. Since burn in is usually performed in rows or words, the result is that the bit lines of the used memory region are stressed 1,024/4=256 times more frequently or longer during burn in than the bit lines in the unused memory region.
The result is a higher early failure rate due to short circuits on used bit lines in unused HG regions.

Memory and method for improving the reliability of a memory having a used memory region and an unused memory region


The present invention relates to a heat exchanger apparatus for a combustion engine. The apparatus comprises a heat exchanger comprising at least one magnetic component; and an induction heater positioned adjacent at least one magnetic component of the heat exchanger. The induction heater is connectable to a power supply to provide inductive heating to the heat exchanger.

It can be difficult to start combustion engines of vehicles during winter months due to the low external temperatures. If an engine is started when the operating components of the engine are at a low temperature the engine produces an increased level of pollution during the first few miles. Fuel consumption is also high when the engine is operating at low temperatures. It has however been found that engines are easier to start, pollution is reduced or minimised, and fuel efficiency is improved if one or more of the operating members of the engine are warmed during the process of starting the engine.
There are a number of conventional devices for raising the temperature of components of a combustion engine. For example, engine heaters are used in regions with cold winters such as northern US, Canada, Russia and Scandinavia. Typically, an engine heater is immersed directly into either the engine coolant or the lubricant of a vehicle. There is however a risk of pressure loss within the system during the insertion of the engine heater into the engine fluids. Once inserted, the engine heater is connected to a normal AC power overnight or before driving via external power outlets. The heater element heats the fluid which is circulated by thermo-siphon through the engine. The use of an external power supply means that it is not possible to use the heater once the engine has been started. The heater can therefore not be used to speed up the rate at which the engine temperature increases once the engine has started. Furthermore, the dimensions, and therefore the exchange surfaces, of the engine heater are also limited by the need to be able to insert the heater directly into the engine fluids. As a result, the power than can be delivered from the engine heater to the fluid is also limited. There is also an associated risk of coolant boiling or oil cocking in regions adjacent to the engine heater.
Alternative devices for warming components of an engine include external heating devices, such as for example pumping systems, which may be fitted in parallel or series to a coolant system. Heating reservoirs, such as for example Thermo-like reservoirs, may be filled when the engine is still hot. The capacity of the reservoir is however limited and the effect produced by the heating reservoirs on the coolant or lubricant also has a limited duration.


According to the motor vehicle braking apparatus of the present invention, the engine throttle valve is closed when the driver treads the accelerator pedal to an extent exceeding a predetermined range, and the brakes are applied when the driver further treads the accelerator pedal to an extent equal to or greater than a predetermined limit. The braking force is adjusted according to the accelerator pedal treading. When the accelerator pedal treading is released to an extent equal to or greater than a predetermined limit, the application of the brakes is released. However, the engine throttle valve still remains closed. The normal function as the accelerator pedal is restored only after the accelerator pedal treading has been released to an extent near the level causing the accelerator pedal to be fully released. According to the apparatus of the present invention, when intended to apply the brakes in case of emergency, the driver is not required to change the pedal to be trodden, from the accelerator pedal to the brake pedal. This reduces the distance of vehicle travelling made while such pedal change is carried out. This also prevents an accident due to treading of an improper pedal. Further, there is reduced the likelihood that the driver erroneously applies the brakes, against his own will, in pedal operation.

The present invention relates to a motor vehicle braking apparatus using accelerator pedal arranged such that the brakes are applied when the accelerator pedal of a motor vehicle is trodden with a treading force/displacement not smaller than a predetermined value.
In a motor vehicle, the brakes are conventionally applied with, the use of the brake pedal and the parking brake independently the accelerator pedal. In case of an emergency, accidents often occur due to erroneous treading of the accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal or due to the fact that the motor vehicle still travels without braking before the driver changes the pedal to be trodden from the accelerator pedal to the brake pedal and the driver actually treads the brake pedal. To avoid such accidents, there have been proposed a number of inventions relating to a pedal structure arranged such that one pedal serves as both accelerator pedal and brake pedal as disclosed by, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publications SHO49-16127 and SHO49-61826, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publications SHO56-64826, SHO57-48131 and SHO59-72130. These inventions have been proposed with the object of achieving both accelerator and brake functions by treading the same pedal, not only in case of emergency, but also under normal conditions. These structures are arranged such that the accelerator and brake functions are respectively selected according to different positions at which the driver applies a treading force to the same pedal. However, it is not always easy for the driver to select either function by properly treading the same pedal. Accordingly, these inventions may not duly constitute a solution for avoiding the danger that the driver erroneously treads the pedal when applying the brakes in case of emergency.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication SHO54-155529 discloses an apparatus in which the accelerator pedal treading force and treading speed are detected, and in which, if the pedal is once trodden with a treading force or a treading speed equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the engine throttle valve is thereafter closed in a continuous manner to apply the brakes, causing the motor vehicle to be rapidly stopped. Further, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication SHO61-47762 of the same applicant, discloses an apparatus in which the engine accelerator is continuously stopped upon detection of an accelerator pedal speed or acceleration speed equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and in which, upon detection of a treading displacement equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the brakes are continuously applied to emergently stop the motor vehicle.
According to these inventions, after the accelerator pedal treading force, displacement, speed, acceleration speed or the like has reached a predetermined value, the state where engine acceleration is stopped, is maintained to apply the brakes even though the factor above-mentioned thereafter becomes below the predetermined value concerned. Such application of the brakes is continued until a specified release operation is carried out, for example, by turning OFF the ignition switch (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication SHO54-155529), or by once releasing the accelerator pedal and treading it again (Japanese Utility Model Publication SHO61-47762). According to these inventions, the motor vehicle may be automatically stopped even though, after the driver has carried out an emergency operation when it is required to rapidly stop the motor vehicle, he falls, due to an accident or the like, into the state where he cannot futher operate the motor vehicle. This enables the motor vehicle to be securely stopped in case of emergency. However, this apparatus also involve the likelihood that, when the accelerator pedal is suddenly strongly or deeply trodden with the intention of, for example, rapid acceleration at the time it is not required to stop the motor vehicle, the emergency brakes are applied to provoke an accident.
Japanese Utility Model SHO61-47762 discloses, as an embodiment of the invention, a mechanism incorporating a spring adapted to start compression at a position slightly higher than the accelerator pedal displacement position at which the emergency brakes are applied. By such provision, the driver may become aware of the emergency braking start position. However, it is also difficult that such provision securely prevents the driver from erroneously treading the pedal.
In view of the foregoing, the present invention has the object of providing an emergency braking apparatus for a motor vehicle which overcomes the defects of the above-mentioned conventional inventions.

Motor vehicle braking apparatus using accelerator pedal


A triode structure of a field emission display is manufactured with thick-film technology. The triode structure includes a cathode electrode layer that comprises a metallic catalyst. Isomeric carbon emitters can be grown on the cathode electrode layer by CVD process at a low temperature because of the metallic catalyst. Instead of mixing the metallic catalyst in the cathode electrode layer, a metallic catalyst layer can be formed on the cathode electrode layer to facilitate the growth of the isomeric carbon emitters. The combination of thick film technology and low temperature CVD process provide a low cost method for fabricating a large area field emission display with isomeric carbon emitters.

The present invention generally relates to a field emission display (FED), and more specifically to the growth of isomeric carbon emitters onto a triode structure of a field emission display.
Field emission displays have been researched extensively in recent years for manufacturing large-size flat panel displays. A field emission display uses cold cathode emitter tips as electron sources instead of a hot cathode electron gun used in a conventional cathode ray tube (CRT). When a field emission display is placed in an electric field, cold cathode emitter tips aim at a phosphor-coated anode substrate fabricated in the field emission display and emit a bundle of electrons to hit the phosphor.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a carbon nanotube field emission display with a triode structure. Electrons, being attracted by an electric field and emitted out of emitter tips 103 formed above a cathode glass substrate 101, are accelerated by the positive voltage applied to an anode substrate 104 to hit coated phosphor 106 on the anode 105 and then produce luminescence. Carbon nanotube emitters 103 are formed within cavities of a dielectric layer 107 on a cold cathode layer 102 that is formed on the glass substrate 101. Openings are formed at the intersections of the cathode layer 102 and a gate layer 108 for the electrons to emerge through.
FIGS. 2A-2D illustrate a method of manufacturing the cathode plate of a carbon nanotube field emission display. A conductive paste is deposited and patterned on the surface of a transparent substrate 201 to form a cathode electrode layer 202 as shown in FIG. 2A. The whole surface of the cathode electrode layer 202 is deposited with a layer of etchable dielectric material 203 as shown in FIG. 2B. A layer of conductive gate material 204 is further deposited on the dielectric layer 203. The gate pattern is defined by a patterned photo-resist layer 205 as shown in FIG. 2C. The gate electrode and dielectric materials are removed by sandblasting and fired in air. Finally, carbon nanotube emitter layer 206 are coated on the cathode electrode layer 202 shown in FIG. 2D by a screen printing process.
The carbon nanotube emitter layer 206 of the field emission displays shown in FIG. 2 is fabricated by a screen printing method. A pre-mixed paste is applied to the surface of a pre-patterned screen and scraped using a scraper to print the pattern onto a glass substrate. Such process is repeatedly used to stack layers of patterns. The method has some drawbacks. It is difficult to increase the resolution of the printed pattern because of the limitation in the size of the screen mesh. The initial field emission voltage must be high enough to get sufficient brightness for the display. Also, the thickness of the printing film may not be uniform enough and the printed pattern may be inaccurate due to the non-uniform tension of the screen. Therefore, the distribution of the electric field is non-uniform and the alignment at post-process is difficult.
In order to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional methods and improve the quality of carbon nanotube filed emission displays, fabrication of the cathode plate using other thick-film technology has been proposed. By combining photolithography process and etching process, one method uses a photoconductive paste and an etchable dielectric material to fabricate the cathode plate of a carbon nanotube field emission display.
FIGS. 3A-3E illustrate a method of manufacturing the cathode plate of a carbon nanotube field emission display using a thick-film technology. A conductive paste is deposited and patterned on the surface of a transparent substrate 301 to form a cathode electrode layer 302 as shown in FIG. 3A. The whole surface of the cathode electrode layer 302 is deposited with a layer of etchable dielectric material 303 as shown in FIG. 3B. A layer of conductive gate material 304 is further deposited on the dielectric layer 303. Gate patterns are then printed by a photolithography process and sintered to finish a gate electrode layer 304 as illustrated in FIG. 3C. The gate pattern is used as a protecting film to etch a portion of the dielectric layer not covered by the protecting film in a photolithography process as shown in FIG. 3D. Finally, a carbon nanotube emission layer 305 is filled on the cathode electrode layer to form a cathode plate structure shown in FIG. 3E.
The fabrication of the carbon nanotube emission layer 305 can be accomplished with a photolithography method by depositing a layer of photosensitive carbon nanotube paste on the surface of the cathode plate shown in FIG. 3D and define a pattern for the carbon nanotube emission layer 305 by alignment and exposure. It is then sintered in an nitrogen atmosphere. The carbon nanotube emission layer 305 can also be fabricated by an electrical deposition method comprising the steps of depositing a layer of positive or negative photoresist on the surface of the cathode electrode layer 302 and the gate electrode layer 304 shown in FIG. 3D, and using a mask to define a photoresist pattern by alignment and exposure. After the photoresist pattern is formed above the gate pattern 304, the carbon nanotube emission layer 305 is then formed by electrically depositing a carbon nanotube paste on the cathode electrode 302 and sintering in an oven at a nitrogen atmosphere.
As described above, the fabrication process of the carbon nanotube emitter layer in the triode structure of a carbon nanotube field emission display requires rigorous alignment between the gate aperture and the pattern of the carbon nanotubes. The process is difficult and expensive. Many technical obstacles remain to be overcome for the mass production of carbon nanotube field emission displays.
Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using catalytic metals has many advantages over other techniques and has proved to be a cheap process for large-area deposition of carbon nanotubes. However, the reaction temperature of thermal CVD is generally as high as 700-1000xc2x0 C. which is well above the softening temperature 600xc2x0 C. of a commonly used glass substrate of a flat panel display. Recently, the growth of carbon nanotubes on Ni catalyst coated on soda-lime glass substrate using CVD of C2H2 gas at 550xc2x0 C. has been reported. There is a strong need in developing an integrated thick-film process for fabricating the triode structure in combination with a low temperature CVD process for the mass production of carbon nanotube field emission displays.
This invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks in manufacturing conventional field emission displays. The primary object is to provide a low cost method for fabricating isomeric carbon emitters onto a triode structure of a field emission display. Accordingly, the triode structure is manufactured using a thick-film technology and then the isomeric carbon emitters are grown onto the triode structure by using CVD process.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cathode electrode layer of the triode structure on which the isomeric carbon emitters can be readily grown by using CVD process. According to the invention, a metallic catalyst is first mixed with the conductive metal powder that is used to form the cathode electrode layer. A conductive metal paste is then formed from the conductive metal powder. The cathode electrode layer is fabricated by the conductive metal paste on a transparent substrate using thick-film technology. A dielectric layer and a gate electrode layer are then deposited above the cathode electrode layer and patterned to form the triode structure. Because the cathode electrode layer comprises the metallic catalyst, the isomeric carbon emitters can be grown onto the triode structure easily.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a metallic catalyst layer in the triode structure to facilitate the growth of the isomeric carbon emitters of the field emission display. Instead of mixing the metallic catalyst with the conductive metal paste that forms the cathode electrode layer on a transparent substrate, a layer of metallic catalyst is formed on the cathode electrode layer. A dielectric layer and a gate electrode layer are then formed above the metallic catalyst layer, the cathode electrode layer and the transparent substrate. After patterning the dielectric layer and the gate electrode layer, the triode structure is formed. The isomeric carbon emitters can then be grown on the metallic catalyst layer using CVD process.
According to the present invention, the triode structure can be manufactured using screen printing, dry-etching and sandblasting, or thick-film photo process with yellow light. The patterning of the cathode electrode layer or the metallic catalyst layer can be accomplished by screen printing or thick-film photo process using yellow light. The metallic catalyst comprises iron (Fe), cobalt (Co) or nickel (Ni). The isomeric carbon emitters fabricated can be carbon nanotubes, carbon fiber or graphite nano-fiber.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood from a careful reading of a detailed description provided herein below with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

Method of growing isomeric carbon emitters onto triode structure of field emission display

Industrial Technology Research Institute


Embodiments of the invention relate to partial authentication to access incremental information. An aspect of the invention concerns a method of authorizing access to information that comprises providing an initial segment of a password wherein the password includes password segments each associated with an incremental portion of the information. In response to the initial password segment satisfying an expected value, the method may authorize access to the information portion associated with the initial password segment. The method may authorize access to other information portions associated with subsequent segments of the password in response to the subsequent password segments satisfying respectively expected values.

Mobile client devices and applications such as smart phones and their applications are increasingly being used to access data repositories that were traditionally set up to support larger clients, such as laptop and desktop computers. A key difference in the operation between these two categories of client devices and applications is the amount and level of information detail that they typically access. Users of mobile devices and applications generally need to access certain specific information in a database quickly, download small amounts of data from the database, or communicate with a private computer system in short interactions while away from the office or home. For example, a user may be interested in signing into a private enterprise computer to quickly check for new electronic messages, forward office phone calls to a voice mail system, or look up the status of a pending financial transaction.
Conventional information handling systems often use an authentication process such as password verification to grant a client access to information in a database. A password is a unique string of characters that a user has previously created for the user or a user's client in order to be authorized to access a target system. To increase the level of protection, it is often desirable to have a password that includes a relatively long and unique combination of alphabet characters and numbers that is difficult to guess. However, long and complex passwords are generally not suitable for mobile client devices and applications due to their limited input capability. For example, these mobile devices may have small display screens, simplified keypads, limited network bandwidth, or minimum graphics support.
The limited resources in mobile devices generally require the users to spend more time in entering a sufficiently secure password or pass phrase. In addition, the applications that operate on mobile user devices are often designed to support short commands and brief interactions with remotely connected systems to access specific information in the systems.
One possible approach for simplifying access to information from mobile devices utilizes a caching of either an access token or the password itself. For example, a Web application for smart phones may allow users to stay logged in for two weeks after being authenticated to access a server by caching the phones' access token. Other smart phone applications may save a user's password on the device and then log in on the user's behalf. Both approaches are problematic for business enterprises because corporate IT departments are concerned about the consequences of lost smart phones, particularly the potential for compromised data or services. Requiring that users enter a password during each session provides some minimum level of protection even in the event of a lost device.
While passwords are problematic, eliminating them or reducing their complexity is often not an option for enterprises that want to maintain some minimum level of security around business information. Further, in many cases, users of mobile clients typically need to access more detailed information only if there is new information or information that they need to act on rather than accessing the full information initially.

Partial authentication for access to incremental data

International Business Machines Corporation


Provided is a radio receiver for selective calling that improves the efficiency of a battery saving function and that can reduce the possibility that an incorrect time will be displayed. According to the radio receiver for selective calling of the present invention, when a controller receives input time information from a reception section, it compares the time indicated by the time information and time indicated by a clock. When the two times match, for a subsequent specified period of time the controller does not turn on the reception section, even at the time of transmission of time information. When the times do not match, the clock is adjusted to reflect the time indicated by the time information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio receiver for selective calling that receives time information by radio and corrects the time of an incorporated clock, and in particular to a radio receiver for selective calling that can save on battery usage and can reduce the possibility that an incorrect time will be received and displayed.
2. Related Arts
Some systems for a radio receiver for selective calling periodically receive time information by radio.
FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing the timing for time corrections employed for a conventional radio receiver for selective calling. Time information is transmitted in the frame "0," shown in FIG. 6A, the processing for this being shown in FIG. 6B. Other information is transmitted in the other frames.
Conventionally, a radio receiver for selective calling receives time information in each time frame "0" is transmitted, and corrects the time displayed by an incorporated clock, as is shown in FIG. 6C.
For a current radio receiver for selective calling, generally a technique called a battery saving function is employed in order to extend the service life of an incorporated battery.
According to this technique, a frame for self-calling is determined in advance to be frame "27," for example, and at a time other than the time of transmission of frame "27," the radio receiver for selective calling disconnects a power supply for a reception section or the like.
In the conventional radio receiver for selective calling, however, the power source for the reception section is turned on upon each transmission of time information (frame "0"), in addition to the transmission time for the frame for self-calling. As a result, the efficiency of the battery saving function is deteriorated.
In addition, since the time is corrected upon each transmission of time information, time correction is constantly performed in an area where a reception barrier occurs, even when incorrect time information is received, so that an incorrect time is frequently displayed.


A beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage material having a machine and method for wrapping filled bottles, wherein one roll of wrapping material is replaced with a new roll of wrapping material quickly and accurately to minimize disruptions or interruptions in the bottle wrapping process.

1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage material having a machine for wrapping filled bottles.
2. Background Information
A beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage filling material can possibly comprise a beverage filling machine with a plurality of beverage filling positions, each beverage filling position having a beverage filling device for filling bottles with liquid beverage filling material. The filling devices may have an apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined volume of liquid beverage filling material into the interior of bottles to a substantially predetermined level of liquid beverage filling material. The apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined flow of liquid beverage filling material further comprises an apparatus that is designed to terminate the filling of the beverage bottles upon the liquid beverage filling material reaching the predetermined level in bottles. There may also be provided a conveyer arrangement that is designed to move bottles, for example, from an inspecting machine to the filling machine. Upon filling, a closing station closes the filled bottles. There may further be provided a conveyer arrangement configured to transfer filled bottles from the filling machine to the closing station. Bottles may be labeled in a labeling station, the labeling station having a conveyer arrangement to receive bottles and to output bottles. The closing station and the labeling station may be connected by a corresponding conveyer arrangement.
On packaging machines, the packaging or flat material (e.g. packaging film) to be used is drawn off rolls and fed to the process sequence. When a roll that has just been in use is about to come to an end, the conventional practice to return the packaging machine to operation as quickly as possible is to keep at least one replacement or connecting roll in the supply unit, the flat material of which is then connected during a brief machine shutdown by means of a leader or connecting area to the flat material on the roll that was in use before the roll change, and specifically by connecting this connecting area with the flat material of the roll that was previously in use, and then by cutting through the flat material on this roll. Then the packaging machine can be restarted, whereby the flat material is then drawn off the connecting roll.
To achieve a secure connection and a smooth transition when changing a roll of printed packaging or flat material so that, among other things, the register and the distances between the printed images etc. on the packaging material can be kept constant even in the connecting area, in addition to a correct and accurately positioned stopping of the movement of the packing material of the roll that is in use, it is also necessary for the connecting area of the packaging material of the connecting roll to be accurately positioned in the connecting station where the connection is to be made. In the prior art, that means that after the insertion of a connecting roll into the supply unit, the connecting roll and its connecting area by which it is to be connected must be correctly oriented in the connecting station, which is a complicated process that takes a lot of time, especially on packaging machines that are still running and in particular given the very limited accessibility of the respective connecting station in systems of the prior art.

Beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage material having a machine and method for wrapping filled bottles


The device consists in compensating for the distortion of the characters marked on the dial caused by a lens, by writing the characters with a reverse pin cushion or barrel distortion.

The information that generally appears in the form of alphanumerical characters on an LCD display, or in an aperture cut into the dial, to give complementary information to the current time, such as the date, the month or the day of the week, or even non time-related information such as the ON/OFF state of a function. In this latter case, this information is carried by discs or rings driven by the timepiece movement and are formed by successions of alphanumerical signs or pictograms of small dimensions, with the exception of course of "large date" devices, which have the drawback of relying on a bulkier, more complicated and therefore more expensive mechanism.
In order for the user to be able to read the displayed information better, designers have imagined for a long time placing a magnifying glass above the information to be read. By way of example, one can cite JP Patent No. 62014083 in which a convex lens is provided in the dial on an LCD display, said dial further comprising an analogue display using hands. In JP patent No 61205889, the magnifying device is formed by a magnifying ring formed in the external part of the crystal. The magnifying device can also be provided in the internal face of the crystal by adding a lens in a housing provided for this purpose, as disclosed in EP Patent No. 0 814 388 or by machining said lens in the internal face of the crystal, as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,769.
All of these magnifying devices magnify the information carried by the display, making it more visible, but necessarily induce distortions that may be more or less significant. It is known to correct such distortions, for example in cameras, using a stack of corrective lenses, as disclosed for example in US Patent No 2003/0189760. In a timepiece, given the small space available between the dial and the crystal and the probable occupation of such space by hands, it is not possible to envisage performing this optical correction by means of such a lens stack.


Embodiments facilitate generating a biochemical recurrence (BCR) prognosis by accessing a digitized image of a region of tissue demonstrating prostate cancer (CaP) pathology associated with a patient; generating a set of segmented gland lumen by segmenting a plurality of gland lumen represented in the region of tissue using a deep learning segmentation model; generating a set of post-processed segmented gland lumen; extracting a set of quantitative histomorphometry (QH) features from the digitized image based, at least in part, on the set of post-processed segmented gland lumen; generating a feature vector based on the set of QH features; computing a histotyping risk score based on a weighted sum of the feature vector; generating a classification of the patient as BCR high-risk or BCR low-risk based on the histotyping risk score and a risk score threshold; generating a BCR prognosis based on the classification; and displaying the BCR prognosis.

One curative treatment for prostate cancer (CaP) is radical prostatectomy (RP). RP is the surgical removal of the entire prostate. Following RP, some patients will experience the return of cancer, known as biochemical recurrence (BCR). BCR may be detected by two consecutive serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test results >0.2 ng/mL. BCR is a surrogate endpoint for CaP, carrying a hazard ratio (HR) of 4.32 for disease-specific death. Adjuvant therapy reduces the risk of metastasis and disease-specific death, although adjuvant therapy is not appropriate for all patients due to the low overall mortality rate of CaP. If a patient's future BCR status could be known at the time of RP surgery, high-risk patients could begin adjuvant therapy sooner with the goal of avoiding metastasis, while low-risk patients could be spared the morbidity associated with further treatment.
Existing BCR prognostic tools, including nomograms, produce a risk score based on several clinical variables, but require human observers for Gleason grading. Existing approaches thus suffer from intra-observer and inter-observer variations. In addition to nomograms, some existing BCR prognosis approaches employ molecular companion diagnostics for outcome prognosis. However, these existing approaches are tissue destructive, expensive, and their results are only available after a significant delay, which may postpone treatment. Furthermore, existing CaP diagnostic tools are exclusively prognostic, rather than predictive of benefit of therapy, and none provide perfect risk stratification. Thus, existing approaches to BCR prognosis or predicting benefit of therapy in CaP are sub-optimal.

Prognosis of prostate cancer with computerized histomorphometric features of tumor morphology from routine hematoxylin and eosin slides


A gear-driven bearing unit comprising a housing, a drive gear and a rolling element bearing The rolling element bearing comprising: an outer member with teeth for meshing with drive gear teeth, an inner member and rolling elements between the inner and outer members. At one axial side, the housing is connected to the inner member enclosing the outer member. A first radial gap extends between an outer member radially inner surface and an inner member radially outer surface. A second radial gap exists between an outer member radially outer surface and a housing radially inner surface. The radial gaps are sealed by seals, each comprising radial sealing lips. The unit is lubricated with a grease comprising a calcium-based thickener or calcium salt additives and the teeth on the outer member are made of a hardening treated bearing-grade steel which diffuses nitrogen into the surface of the teeth.

An example of a gear-driven bearing unit of this kind is disclosed in US 2004/0244521. The unit comprises a toothed connection element and an untoothed connection element, between which one or more rows of rolling elements are arranged. The unit further comprises a housing and worm gear or a spur gear for driving the toothed connection element. Part of the housing is connected to the untoothed connection element and axially encloses the toothed connection element at one side. A further part of the housing radially encloses the toothed connection element. The unit is lubricated with grease and comprises sealing rings for sealing a gap between the housing and the toothed connection element and a further gap between the toothed connection element and the untoothed connection element. The sealing rings are designed to allow grease to escape via the sealing rings when the unit is filled with new grease.
The unit disclosed in the above-mentioned US application is therefore designed to facilitate relubrication. The prescribed relubrication interval for commercially available gear-driven bearing units typically lies in the order of several months. The refilling of a unit with fresh grease is a time-intensive procedure, leading to high maintenance costs, especially when many such units are located at a site.
Consequently, there is room for improvement.


The present invention can provide a process for producing a protein having β1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase activity using a transformant comprising a DNA encoding a protein having β1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase activity derived from a microorganism belonging to the genus Pasteurella and a process for producing an N-acetylglucosamine-containing complex carbohydrate using a transformant capable of producing a protein having β1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase activity derived from a microorganism.

As β1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase and its genes, genes derived from animals [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 96, 406 (1999), J. Biol. Chem., 276, 3498 (2001)] and the like have been obtained. However, there is no example in which the β1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase derived from an animal was expressed in a microorganism, such as Escherichia coli, as a protein having activity.
On the other hand, in the case of microorganisms, there is a report in which a gene encoding the β1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase was obtained from a microorganism belonging to the genus Neisseria and the β1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase was expressed in Escherichia coli using the gene [Carbohydr. Res., 328, 3 (2000); Glycobiology, 9, 1061 (1999)]. However, there is no report in which the gene is obtained from a microorganism belonging to the genus Pasteurella.
Also, all nucleotide sequences of the genomic DNA in Pasteurella multocida PM70 have been determined [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 98, 3460 (2001)], and it has been suggested that pm0511 gene is a gene encoding glycosyltransferase by homology search and the like (http://www.cbc.umn.edu/ResearchProjects/Pm/pmhome.html). However, there is no report that the gene product has β1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase activity.

Process for producing β 1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyl-transferase and N-acetylglucosamine-containing complex carbohydrate


A multiple component anhydride-free, thermosetting epoxy resin composition comprising, (A) at least one epoxy resin, and (B) at least one curing agent selected from the group of (b1) a polyetheramine of the formula (1) (Formula (1)), wherein x is a number of from 2 to 8, and (b2) a polyetheramine with at least one terminal end group of the formula (2) (Formula (2)), and (C) at least one epoxy silane, is, in particular, suitable for the manufacture of instrument transformers and dry-type transformers by casting, potting and encapsulation processes, wherein said articles exhibit good mechanical, electrical and dielectrical properties.

Epoxy resin compositions are commonly used for the preparation of insulation systems for electrical engineering. However, most of these epoxy resin compositions utilize anhydrides as curing agents. Due to the developing regulatory framework for chemicals, it is expected that the use of anhydrides in epoxy resins will be restricted in the near future, because of their R42 label (respiratory sensitizer). Therefore, some anhydrides are already on the SVHC candidate list (substances of very high concern) of the REACH regulation. It is likely that in some years these substances may no longer be used without special authorisation. As methyl hexahydrophthalic anhydride (MHHPA) and hexahydrophthalic anhydride (HHPA) are widely used as the main curing agents for epoxy resins for electrical insulation applications, there is a future need for alternative solutions that are not regarded as SVHC. As all known anhydrides are R42-labeled and even yet unknown anhydrides would be expected by toxicologists to be also R42-labeled, a solution that is free of anhydrides is desirable.
Curable epoxy resin compositions containing a polyetheramine for the preparation of encased electrical articles by casting applications are suggested in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,001,902 and 8,399,577. The systems of the prior art use anhydrides as an additional curing agent.
Accordingly, there is a need for new thermosetting, anhydride-free epoxy resin compositions which advantageously can be used in potting or encapsulation applications for manufacturing of electrical insulation systems, such as switchgear or transformer applications.

Thermosetting epoxy resin composition for the preparation of articles for electrical engineering, and the articles obtained therefrom

Huntsman Advanced Materials Licensing (CH) GmbH


A photosensitive resin base printing material in the form of laminate comprising, in successive order, a support, a photosensitive resin layer, a slip layer of a high molecular substance which is soluble or swellable in a developer, an optional releasing layer and a sheet or film form of protective layer, which is characterized in that a dyestuff is included in an amount of 0.01 to 20% by weight of the high molecular weight substances in said slip layer.. The present printing material is specifically excellent in resolution and far improved as compared with heretofore proposed printing materials in respect to both handling and visual inspection properties.

In various relief printing areas including newspaper printing, flexographic printing material has been widely used. Such material is usually constructed as a laminate comprising, in successive order, a support, a photosensitive layer consisting essentially of a developer soluble, high molecular weight binder, a polymerizable unsaturated monomer or monomers and a photoinitiator, slip layer of a high molecular weight substance for the purpose of improving a close contact of the photosensitive resin layer to an original, a releasing layer and a protective film or sheet.
On the use of such material, the protective film or sheet and the releasing layer are peeled out to expose the slip layer of the laminate. An original is then placed on said slip layer and exposed to an actinic radiation for a desired time to effect photo-curing (or setting) of the exposed resin layer.
The exposed material is then treated with a developer to remove the unexposed, uncured photosensitive resin and the slip layer to obtain a printing plate having a relief exactly copying the image in the original.
Therefore, from a standview of light penetration, it is preferred that the photosensitive layer is as clear as possible, and, in fact, many of the commercialized printing materials do bear a transparent photosensitive resin layer. Light goes through the resin layer. However, it is well know that when a light beam passes through a medium with a certain thickness, there often occurs irregular reflection or refraction of the light depending on the nature of said medium. In the preparation of a relief printing plate using a photosensitive resin base printing material, such irregular reflection or refraction of an incident light is believed to be important for the formation of shoulder of the relief image.
However, excessive amounts of irregular reflection or refraction are undesirable because it would cause photocuring, in certain degree, at the unexposed area of the photosensitive layer (the so-called fogging phenomenon), and hence, a deficient dissolving of the photosensitive layer at the unexposed area in a development stage.
More concretely speaking, at the time when a half-tone negative with various sizes of dots is closely contacted as an original with a transparent photosensitive resin layer and exposed to a light, there are indeed no particular problems at the portion of said photosensitive resin layer where it is contacted with negative dots having comparatively smaller dot-area (the so-called high-light area of letterpress), but at the portion where the photosensitive resin layer is contacted with negative dots having comparatively larger dot-area (the so-called shadow area of letterpress), there arises the so-called fogging phenomenon, thereby resulting in the loss of shoulder under the influence of irregular reflection of incident light and reflected light from a support. As a consequence, a shallow depth image is transformed at the shadow area of the printing plate and a solid printing is results.
Attempts have therefore been made to provide an antihalation layer containing a pigment or dyestuff which will absorb visible or ultraviolet rays used in an exposure stage, between a photosensitive resin layer and a support, thereby absorbing the reflected light from the support and reducing the undesired influence of the reflected light toward shadow area. However, in that case, the desired amounts of reflected light for high-light area are likewise absorbed and there often arises the case wherein high-light area, fine letter or fine dot area are exposed deficiently. To compensate for this, a longer time exposure is required.
Moreover, it is essential that a non-diffusing coloring matter should be selected. This is because, if the coloring matter is of diffusible nature there is a tendency that the coloring matter used would migrate into a lower portion of the photosensitive layer through diffusion, whereby the reflected light desired for photo-curing of resin at that portion is objectionably absorbed. Thus, there occurs a side-edging of the image at high-light area, fine letter or fine dot area and, in an extremely case, undesired falling off the relief image.
In other attempts, such coloring matters are directly added to and uniformly kneaded with a photosensitive resin composition to be used for the preparation of photosensitive layer. However, in this case, an incident light is inevitably absorbed by the photosensitive layer itself in regular succession as it goes through said layer.
Therefore, there is a severe side-edging of the relief image at the high-light area and the like and falling off of the desired image. Even if a long time of exposure is adopted, there are various troubles such as fogging and the like at the shadow area, in return.
Thus, a photosensitive resin base printing material capable of resulting high quality images both in shadow area, where it is easily affected by irregular reflection of incident light and reflected light from a support at a comparatively upper portion of a photosensitive layer, and in high-light area, where it is easily affected by transmitted light and reflected light from a support at a comparatively lower portion of the photosensitive layer, has never been found.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a printing material capable of resulting high quality images both in high-light and shadow areas, through conventional processes of photo-exposure and development. An additional object of the invention is to provide a printing material having an improved resolution and being useful in a relief printing area.

Photosensitive resin base material for making relief printing plates having a slip layer containing a blue anthroquinone


A closure system comprising a container having a neck with external threads thereon and a cap having an end wall, an annular skirt and a dispensing opening extending through the end wall. The skirt has internal threads complimentary to the external threads on the container neck for selectively screwing the cap onto the container neck. Cooperating locking members are provided on the outer surface of the container neck and on the inner surface of the skirt, the locking members preventing rotation of the cap. In one embodiment, a tear out section is provided on the cap skirt which is torn when an attempt is made to unscrew the cap from the container. In another embodiment of the closure system, the locking members are used in association with a non-cylindrical container and a non-cylindrical cap to position the dispensing opening relative to the container in a predetermined position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a closure system including a container and a cap, the closure system having interengaged locking members which not only prevent unscrewing of the cap on the container neck when the cap is fully screwed on the neck but which also position the cap relative to the container in a predetermined position. The invention also includes a tamper evident tear out section which will give a visual indication of an attempt to unscrew the cap from the container.
2. Background Information
It is well known to provide closures for containers. One type of commonly used closure consists of a cap having a dispensing opening and a hinged lid. The cap is typically provided with internal threads which engage external threads on the container neck to allow the closure to be screwed onto the container. In use, the hinged lid is pivoted away from the cap to expose the dispensing opening, thus allowing the contents of the container to be dispensed.
It is also well known to provide closures having tamper evident means which provide a visual and mechanical indication that the container has been opened or tampered with. Some of these closures are provided with tamper evident means which are actuated by attempting to unscrew the cap from the container. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,414,420; 4,197,955; and 4,372,456.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,477 discloses a childproof of bottle. The bottle and cap are provided with a gap near the lower end of the thread in the cap and a projection on the outer surface of the container neck. A "flag" springs outward into a gap in the threaded cap when an attempt is made to unscrew the cap. The flag is torn off by continued unscrewing of the cap. This provides a visual indication of tampering with the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,248 provides a container closure assembly having intermediate positioning means. The closure assembly has detent means for positive positioning of the closure with respect to the container at a preselected intermediate position between full closure-container cooperation and non-cooperative relationship.
Despite these devices, there remains a need for a closure system that locks the cap onto the container neck and which provides a visual indication of any attempt to unscrew the cap from the container. Also, there remains a need for a closure system associated with a non-cylindrical cap and a non-cylindrical container which has locking members that position the dispensing opening relative to the container in a predetermined position.


In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a roller bearing seal assembly is provided that includes a seal case and a rotor having a unitary, one-piece construction. The rotor is connected to the seal case and is rotatable relative to the seal case about an axis. The seal case and rotor include interfering portions that limit axial separation of the rotor and the seal case. In one embodiment, the rotor and seal case include at least one snap-fit connection that permits the rotor and seal case to be readily assembled. The at least one snap-fit connection includes the interfering portions which inhibit axial separation of the rotor and seal case after the rotor and seal case have been assembled.

Railcars have undercarriage truck assemblies that include a frame, one or more wheel assemblies, and roller bearings that connect the wheel assemblies to the frame. Each wheel assembly includes an axle with journals at opposite ends thereof and wheels connected to the axle. Each roller bearing includes a first component mounted to the journal that turns with the journal and a second component that is mounted to the frame.
Various types of roller bearings are used for railcars. One type of roller bearing is a tapered roller bearing that includes one or more rows of tapered rollers. Tapered roller bearings, and other types of bearings, include a lubricant within the bearing to reduce resistance to movement between components of the bearing. Bearings may also include a seal to contain the lubricant within the bearing and to prevent water, dirt, and debris from entering the bearing.
One prior seal for a tapered roller bearing includes a seal case mounted to a bearing cup of the tapered roller bearing. The seal further includes an insert press-fit in the seal case, a rotor mounted to a journal, and a slinger connected to the rotor. During operation of the tapered roller bearing, the rotor and slinger rotate together relative to the seal case and insert as the journal turns. Further, the assembly of the seal case, insert, rotor, and slinger defines a labyrinth seal that resists egress of lubricant from the tapered roller bearing and the ingress of water and debris into the bearing.
The seal may be separately manufactured from the rest of the tapered roller bearing. In one prior approach, the seal case, insert, rotor, and slinger are assembled at a first facility, transported to a second facility, and then subsequently assembled with a bearing cup and a wear ring of the tapered roller bearing at the second facility. More specifically, the seal case and insert are assembled at the first facility by pressing the insert into the seal case. Next, the rotor is press-fit into the insert which fixes the rotor to the insert. The press-fit engagement between the rotor and the insert keeps the rotor assembled with the seal case and insert during transport. An annular inner wall of the slinger is then inserted into an opening of a slightly larger annular wall of the rotor to form a slip-fit connection therebetween. There is some nominal interference between the annular walls of the slinger and the rotor, but the slinger can shift relative to the rotor. The slinger may be made of a more pliable material than the rotor and the loose fit between the slinger and rotor permits the slinger to expand more than the rotor when the rotor/slinger assembly is subsequently press fit onto a wear ring. The assembled seal including the seal case, insert, rotor, and slinger is packaged at the first facility and transported to the second facility.
After the seal has been transported from the first facility to the second facility, an operator at the second facility removes the seal from the package. The operator inserts the seal into a press machine and operates the press machine to press a wear ring into the slinger of the seal which expands the annular wall of the slinger into tight engagement with the annular wall of the rotor and inhibits relative rotary and axial movement between the rotor and slinger. The pressing of the wear ring into the slinger also shifts the rotor axially relative to the insert and disengages the press-fit engagement between the rotor and the insert which disconnects the rotor/slinger assembly from the insert/seal case assembly. Thus, the operation of press-fitting the wear ring into the slinger both secures the wear ring to the rotor/slinger assembly and disengages the rotor/slinger assembly from the insert/seal case assembly. This disconnecting operation permits the rotor/slinger assembly to turn relative to the insert/seal case assembly with turning of the journal. Although the disconnecting operation is necessary in the prior approach to permit the rotor/slinger assembly to turn, the disconnecting operation complicates assembly of the tapered roller bearing at the second facility.
Further, the rotor and the insert are made from an injection-molded plastic and the tolerances between the rotor and the insert may be too loose or too tight which adversely affects assembly and transportation of the seal. For example, if the rotor is too loosely engaged with the insert, the slip-fit connection between the rotor and the insert may permit the rotor and the slinger to fall off of the insert/seal case assembly when the seal is removed from the package at the second facility. If the rotor is too tightly engaged with the insert, the operation of press-fitting the wear ring into the slinger may cause the rotor to rip the insert out of the seal case.

Roller bearing seal assembly and a component thereof


An adaptive PID.tau..sub.d controller has a proportional derivative section that generates an error signal representing an error in the control signal, particularly, as a function of (i) a time rate of change of the controlled variable signal and (ii) a difference between the controlled variable signal and a predetermined setpoint. A summation element sums that error signal with a time-delayed integral signal to generate a summation signal. That summation signal, in turn, is filtered by the aforementioned adaptive noise filter to generate a manipulated variable signal, which is selectively applied to the process by an output section. A feedback element processes the manipulated variable signal to generate the time-delayed integral signal, referred to above. That processing includes time-delaying the manipulated variable signal an mount substantially equal to the deadtime of the process, .tau..sub.d, and passing that time-delayed manipulated variable signal through a first-order lag of time constant I to generate the time-delayed integral signal.

The invention relates to process control and, more particularly, to improved deadtime process control apparatus and methods.
"Process control" refers to the control of the operational parameters of a process by monitoring one or more of its characteristics over time. It is used to ensure that the quality and efficiency of a process do not vary substantially during a single run or over the course of several runs. Process control has application in both the manufacturing and service sectors.
A process control unit, or "controller," typically operates by monitoring and comparing a process characteristic, the controlled variable, with a desired "setpoint" level to determine whether the process is operating within acceptable bounds. As the controlled variable begins to deviate, the controller manipulates one of the process inputs, the manipulated variable, to bring the process back to the desired level of activity.
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a process controller can oversee a process in which fluid flows at a constant rate from a continuously refilled tank. The controller monitors the liquid level in the tank and, when necessary to prevent the tank from running dry or overflowing, adjusts an inlet valve to increase or restrict the inflow.
Among the controllers developed by the art are those in which the manipulated variable signal is generated as a predetermined mathematical function of the controlled variable. One such controller, illustrated in FIG. 2a, is the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. There, the manipulated variable is generated as a function of the "error," that is, the difference between the controlled variable and the setpoint: ##EQU1## where, m is the manipulated variable;
e is the error; PA1 P, I and D are constants PA1 .tau..sub.f is the filter time constant; PA1 .tau..sub.d is the process deadtime; PA1 .sigma..sub.m is the noise level in the controlled variable signal; and PA1 .sigma..sub.set is predetermined noise level.
In addition, the art has developed model-based controllers which model, mathematically, the operation of the process. One such controller is the deadtime controller, which relies on a model of the process deadtime and lag to determine values for the manipulated variable.
Deadtime is the time it takes a change in the manipulated variable to be reflected by a change in the controlled variable. For example, in a paper making process, deadtime is the time it takes for a change in the bleaching agent added to the initial slurry to be detected by a photo sensor that measures the whiteness of the final product web.
Lag is the time, after the deadtime period, that it takes the controlled variable to move approximately 63% of its final value, following a step change in the manipulated variable.
A deadtime controller of the type referred to above is shown in FIG. 2b. It is constructed by adding a "deadtime element," i.e., a time delay, into the integral feedback loop of a PID controller. This controller is referred to by the mnemonic "PID.tau..sub.d."
Prior art PID.tau..sub.d controllers have not proven entirely satisfactory when utilized to control deadtime-dominant processes, that is, processes whose output characteristics are primarily determined by deadtime (as opposed to lag).
It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide improved methods and apparatus for process control. More particularly, an object is to provide improved PID.tau..sub.d deadtime controllers.
Still another object is to provide a deadtime controller capable of accurately and efficiently controlling deadtime dominant processes.
These and other objects are evident in the description which follows.

Method and apparatus for adaptive deadtime process control


A vehicle motive power transmission apparatus includes: a planetary gear device; an oil pump for sucking oil present in an apparatus case; a one-way clutch that transmits normal-direction rotation output of the planetary gear device to the oil pump, but does not transmit reverse-direction rotation output of the planetary gear device to the oil pump; an oil tank which is provided in the apparatus case, and which is provided with a first introduction portion that receives oil that is splashed upward as a gear in the apparatus case rotates in a normal direction, and a second introduction portion that receives oil that is splashed upward as the gear rotates in a reverse direction; and an oil passageway that supplies the planetary gear device with oil present in the oil tank or oil sucked by the oil pump.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a motive power transmission apparatus for a vehicle which transmits rotation power that is generated by a motive power source to an output side via a planetary gear device. In particular, the invention relates to a technology of supplying oil to such a planetary gear device.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been motive power transmission apparatuses for vehicles which transmit rotation power generated by, for example, an electric motor, to wheels via a planetary gear device (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-195320 (JP-A-2007-195320)).
Regarding a related-art technology according to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-195320 (JP-A-2007-195320), the abstract in the publication states "A geared motor 10G, obtained by disposing an electric motor 10 behind a speed reducing gear mechanism 11, is used as an in-wheel motor disposed at the lower part of a vehicle spring. The output shaft 10b of the electric motor 10 is made hollow to form an oil inlet path 15z, and a motor case 10a is housed in a cylindrical housing 10H to form a stator cooling path 10s. The stator cooling path 10s and the interior of the speed reducing gear mechanism 11 are made to communicate with each other through an oil passage 15s. Gear oil fed from an oil supplying device 30 provided in the vehicle body through a pipe 15a is discharged from the oil inlet path 15z into the speed reducing gear mechanism 11 to lubricate the gear of the speed reducing gear mechanism 11. Thereafter, the gear oil is guided from the oil passage 15s to the stator cooling path 10s to cool a stator coil 10c."
In short, in this related-art technology, oil is supplied from the oil supplying device 30 to gears of the speed reducing gear mechanism 11, and to a stator coil 10c of the electric motor 10.
By the way, this related-art publication does not minutely describe actions of the oil supplying device 30, which, in fact, are not understandable. Since the abstract of the publication describes that the oil supplying device 30 is provided at the vehicle body side, it is considered that the oil pump 31 is probably not driven by the electric motor 10 or the speed reducing gear mechanism 11, but is driven by a control system of the vehicle body side, or the like. Therefore, in this related-art technology, it is necessary to monitor the state of the speed reducing gear mechanism 11 or the electric motor 10 of the in-wheel motor system, and to control the oil pump 31 so that it is driven according to the state thereof. Therefore, the control in the related-art technology is not easy to perform, and makes a complicated apparatus configuration.
On another hand, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-180477 (JP-A-2004-180477), its abstract states "The drive unit for the rear wheel of a hybrid vehicle comprises an oil catch tank 71 for storing oil splashed by the driven gear 39 of a differential gear from an oil sump 69 formed at the bottom part of a casing body 11, a slinger chamber 61 being supplied with oil from the oil catch tank 71, and a slinger 65 disposed in the slinger chamber 61 and driven by means of a motor 15 through gears 68 and 67. In order to cool the motor 15, oil is supplied gravitationally from the oil catch tank 71 to the oil passage 31a in a main shaft 31 communicating with the interior of the motor shaft and oil splashed by the slinger 65 from the slinger chamber 61 is also supplied."
In short, in this related-art technology, the oil splashed by the slinger 65 and the oil in the oil catch tank 71 are supplied to the motor 15 to cool it.
In the related-art technology of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-180477 (JP-A-2004-180477), the rotation direction of the driven gear 39 and the relative positional relationship between the driven gear 39 and the oil catch tank 71 are specifically determined so that the oil splashed by the driven gear 39 can be caused to enter the oil catch tank 71 when the driven gear 39 is rotating in the normal direction. Therefore, when the driven gear 39 is rotated in the reverse direction, it is impossible to cause oil to enter the oil catch tank 71.
Besides, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-180477 (JP-A-2004-180477), oil is caused to flow into an inlet opening of the oil passageway 31a when the slinger 65 rotates in the normal direction. Hence, when the slinger 65 is rotated in the reverse direction by the motor 15, oil is caused to flow to a side away from the inlet opening of the oil passageway 31a, and therefore it is impossible to introduce oil into the oil passageway 31a.
Thus, it can be said that in the related-art technology of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-180477 (JP-A-2004-180477), oil can be supplied to the motor 15 to cool the motor 15 only when vehicle forward travel power is output, and that oil cannot be supplied to the motor 15 when vehicle backward travel power is output.


A controller includes a housing and at least one key provided for protruding and retreating movement on the housing. The key includes: a body formed in a transversely elongated configuration elongated in a first direction; and a first stem positioned on one end side of the body in the first direction and extending along a third direction which is substantially perpendicular to the first direction and a second direction which is a protruding direction of the key from the housing. The housing includes: a biasing member for biasing the key in the second direction; and a first restricting portion positioned on the second direction side with respect to the first stem for engaging with the first stem biased by the biasing member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a controller and a portable electronic apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
A controller connected to a game machine of the stationary type, a PC (Personal Computer) and so forth is known. Further, a personal digital assistant wherein a terminal equipment for processing predetermined information and a controller are integrated is known. Such controllers as mentioned above have a plurality of keys disposed thereon for being operated for inputting. However, since a controller is frequently grasped by both hands of a user when it is used, the number and arrangement of keys for inputting are inevitably restricted. On a front face of such a controller as described above, a direction key which is depressed by the thumb of the left hand is frequently disposed on the left side while a plurality of independent keys which are depressed by the thumb of the right hand are disposed on the right side.
In recent years, a large number of applications for games for which complicated inputting operations are required have been developed, and it is demanded to increase keys to be disposed on a controller. In order to satisfy such a demand as just described, a portable electronic apparatus is known wherein a pair of keys are disposed on an upper face when a controller is grasped (refer to, for example, Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0247550: hereinafter referred to as Document 1).
The portable electronic apparatus disclosed in Document 1 has a front face and a rear face and a side face which connects the front and rear faces to each other. The portable electronic apparatus includes keys disposed at the opposite left and right ends of the side face, that is, the upper face, which is positioned on the upper side when the apparatus is grasped, such that they are operated for inputting principally by the left and right forefingers. Each of the keys is configured such that it engages at one end thereof with a receiving portion extending along the upper surface of a housing while it engages at the other end thereof with another receiving portion formed on a side face of a housing positioned in the proximity of the key.
More particularly, locking means for engaging with the receiving portion on the upper surface side of the housing is provided at the one end of the key. The locking means engages with the receiving portion to restrict the key from being let off upwardly and serves as a fulcrum when the key is pivoted by being depressed at the other end side thereof. Meanwhile, different locking means for engaging with the receiving portion on the side surface side of the housing is provided at the other end of the key. The latter locking means similarly restricts letting off of the key and serves as a fulcrum when the key is pivoted by being depressed at the one end thereof.
Such a key as described above is configured such that, at whichever position of the one end side, the other end side and a central portion the key is depressed, it can electrically connect a conducing member disposed below the key and a switch contact to each other.
However, since the size of the hands of a user who grasps the controller varies much depending upon the age, sex and so forth, a controller is demanded on which an inputting operation can be carried out readily and with certainty without depending upon the position of the hands, particularly of the fingers, when the controller is grasped. Also a demand for reduction of the thickness and size of the housing is increasing in order to improve the portability and so forth. However, if the size of the housing is reduced, then the depression position of the keys varies depending upon the manner in which the user holds the controller, the size of the hands or fingers of the user and like factors. Therefore, it is demanded to provide a configuration which allows detection of an inputting operation of a key by causing the key to be protruded and retracted appropriately at whichever position the key is depressed.

Controller and portable electronic apparatus


A computer video display acceleration system and method is disclosed for increasing the speed with which modifications can be made to video memory. This system and method uses a video buffer section in system memory with high priority access by a central processing unit which can use the buffer space to make changes rapidly in the stored video information. Once the changes are completed, the data stored in the buffer is written as a block of data to video memory without requiring additional video memory read cycles.

Traditional personal computer system architectures are structured around a Central Processing Unit (CPU) that communicates across a parallel bus to numerous peripherals and subsystems. The CPU commonly displays data on a video screen by writing the data over the main system bus to a dedicated block of Random Access Memory (RAM) which serves as video or display memory. A Cathode Ray Tube Controller (CRTC), acting essentially as a second CPU or display processor, periodically reads the data from video memory and presents it to a video display along a separate video bus. Substantial delays are introduced by this periodic cycle as the CRTC sequentially reads the memory locations of video memory and presents the stored data to refresh the display. During this refresh, the CRTC has access priority over the video memory, thereby excluding access by the CPU. Video data which is ready to be transmitted from the CPU must wait until the CRTC momentarily relinquishes control before such data can be written to video memory. Access to the video memory must be reestablished for each byte of data transmitted thereto. The consequence of this contention for access to the video memory is that presentation of data for video display is limited in conventional systems by the frequency with which the CPU is able to gain control of the video RAM between refresh cycles, and is therefore largely independent of processor speed.
Additionally, conventional systems commonly require the CPU to perform a read-modify-write sequence for each new byte that is sent to update the video display. This three step sequence is required to allow the CPU to add or subtract video data from the data that is stored for each display pixel, or picture element, without disturbing the stored data for other pixels. To accomplish this task, the CPU must read the byte of pixel data from video memory and analyze it before executing a subsequent write step. One consequence of the read-modify-write sequence is that every change in the data to be displayed requires two accesses to the video memory. The first access is to read the video memory and the second access is to write into the video memory. This double access requirement in conventional systems thus introduces substantial delays into the processing of video displays. Such delays in processing the video display can be easily observed in cursor movement on the video display, for example, when an input pointing device such as a "mouse" is moved. As a specific example, the computer program "Windows 3.0," supplied by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., demonstrates a significant delay between rapid mouse movements and the resulting cursor response when the program is run on a conventional personal computer system. Another example of such delays can be observed when a command is given to fill a displayed block image with a solid color. Although the CPU rapidly calculates the coordinates of pixels to be altered, each coordinate must be transmitted to video memory one byte at a time. Between each byte transfer the CPU must wait to regain access to the video RAM. The resulting delay is evidenced by the relatively slow scanning motion that is observed on the display as the block image is filled with the solid color.

Video accelerator and method using system RAM


A servo writer includes a writing head that writes a servo signal on a long magnetic tape that is traveling and at least two first guide rollers that guide the travel of the magnetic tape, in which the at least two first guide rollers on which a spiral groove is provided have a circumferential surface that has contact with the traveling magnetic tape, tensile forces act on the magnetic tape from the at least two first guide rollers in a width direction of the traveling magnetic tape, and the tensile forces that act on the magnetic tape from the at least two first guide rollers cancel each other.

In recent years, in a magnetic tape used as a data storage for a computer, a data track width and an interval between adjacent data tracks are extremely narrow in order to improve data recording density. If the data track width and the interval between the adjacent data tracks are narrowed in this way, it is difficult to trace the data track by a recording/reproducing element of a magnetic head.
Therefore, a technology has been proposed that performs servo control on a position of the recording/reproducing element of the magnetic tape in the width direction of the magnetic tape by writing a servo signal on a magnetic tape in advance and reading the servo signal by the magnetic head.
Patent Document 1 proposes a servo writer that includes a guide roller for guiding a traveling magnetic tape and in which a concave groove is formed around an axis of a roller body on a circumferential surface of the roller body of the guide roller. Furthermore, Patent Document 1 describes that the following effects can be obtained. That is, in the servo writer, since the traveling magnetic tape is moved to one side on the circumferential surface of the roller body, an edge of the magnetic tape slides on the flange of the roller body, and a traveling position of the magnetic tape is regulated. With this structure, it is possible to stably travel the magnetic tape.

Servo writer and servo signal writing method