A method includes receiving an access feature request for utilization of a feature in a computing system, determining a system requestor associated with the access feature request, determining an achievement associated with the feature, accessing a plurality of first document types associated with the system requestor, determining that a document of the plurality of first document types reflects successful completion of the achievement, and providing a system access to the feature based on a determination that the document reflects successful completion of the achievement.

The access to and use of data and associated logic by an organization presents challenges. Certain data, when erroneously modified, can cause processing logic to behave in an undesirable way. When this occurs, debugging or other operations may need to be performed to determine the source of the error, the impact of the error, and correct the error.
For example, a large amount of data and logic may be used to determine which pharmacies can process and fill the prescriptions and prescription orders, and how the prescriptions and prescription orders are processed and filled by the pharmacies. This data and logic can be extensive and complex due to the vast amount of pharmacies and other providers, as well as the arrangements for which pharmacies and other providers are permitted to process and fill prescriptions and prescription orders for many different purchasers having a large amount of different insurance plans.

Systems and methods for data access control

Express Scripts Strategic Development, Inc.


A roller bearing for supporting pipes subject to thermal expansion which includes a mounting defined by a base plate having opposite side walls bent into generally converging relationship to each other in a direction away from the base plate, a pillow block supported from the base plate, a roller between each side wall and the pillow block, a bearing pin rotatably supporting each roller, and each bearing pin being in spanning relationship between the pillow block and an associated one of the side walls.

This invention relates to a roller bearing for supporting pipes, conduits and the like which are subject to thermal expansion. The invention is specifically directed to a double cylindrical roller bearing or a double conical roller bearing including a mounting for supporting the roller bearings or rollers at axially opposite ends thereof and having means for anchoring the mounting to an associated supporting surface.
Rollers bearings are customarily conventionally formed as a single roller bearing or a double roller bearing. In order to support the roller or rollers, housings or mountings are often provided in the form of opposite generally parallel side walls connected together by a bight or front wall. In such cases the various walls are welded to each other to thereby provide a closed box-like housing. This same construction is used for double roller bearings in which the side walls terminate in sloped edges so that the roller may be supported with its axis in an inclined position. In this case the front walls are welded at the inside of the housing between the side walls in an inclined position. All such bearing housings require high strength and are, therefore, formed of heavy metallic material having a high dead weight and limited space.

Roller bearing for supporting pipes, conduits and the like


A system and method for diagnosing the state of a fuel cell stack are provided. The method includes simultaneously applying currents having respective first and second frequencies to a fuel cell stack and computing Fourier transforms of output currents and voltages from the fuel cell stack based on the applied currents. A real part of a first frequency impedance and an imaginary part of a second frequency impedance are calculated using amplitudes and phases of currents and voltages having the first frequency and the second frequency among the computed output currents and voltages. Further, a state of the fuel cell stack is determined by magnitude of the calculated real part of the first frequency impedance and by magnitude of the calculated imaginary part of the second frequency impedance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to a system and method for diagnosing the state of a fuel cell stack and for controlling a fuel cell system and, more particularly, to a method for diagnosing the state of a fuel cell stack and for controlling a fuel cell system, by which the water content of a fuel cell stack, such as dried-out/flooded states (e.g., water drainage), is determined, using the magnitude of impedance of a multi-frequency current applied to the fuel cell stack.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fuel cell vehicle includes a fuel cell stack, used as a power source, in which multiple fuel cells are combined, a fuel supply system that provides hydrogen to the fuel cell stack, an air supply system that provides oxygen as an oxidant necessary for an electrochemical reaction, and a water and heat management system that adjusts the temperature of the fuel cell stack. The fuel supply system decompresses compressed hydrogen stored in a hydrogen tank and provides the decompressed hydrogen to the fuel electrode (anode) of the stack, and an air supply system provides air suctioned from exterior by an air blower to the air electrode (cathode) of the stack.
When hydrogen and oxygen are provided to the fuel electrode and the air electrode, respectively, hydrogen is divided into a proton and an electron by a catalyst at the fuel electrode, and the proton travels to the air electrode through an electrolyte membrane while the electron is drawn from the anode to the cathode through an external circuit, thus generating electric power. Once reaching the air electrode, the proton is reunited with the electron and reacts with oxygen to create water, thus also generating electric power. In other words, a combination of the electrochemical oxidation of hydrogen at a fuel electrode and the electrochemical reduction of oxygen at an air electrode induces electrons to continuously move from the anode to the cathode, with the concomitant generation of electric power and heat. Additionally, the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen with oxygen generates water vapor or liquid phase water.
An emission device is provided as a drain during the generation of electric power in the fuel cell stack, i.e., the by-products, such as water vapor, water, and heat, and unreacted reactants, such as hydrogen and oxygen. Gas such as water vapor, hydrogen and oxygen is discharged to the atmosphere through a ventilation hood. Components for operating a fuel cell, including an air blower, a hydrogen recirculation blower, a water pump, and the like, are connected to a main bus to facilitate the operation of a fuel cell. The main bus may also be connected with various relays for facilitating power interruption and connection, and a diode for preventing a back current to the fuel cell.
Dry air provided by an air blower is humidified using a humidifier and is provided to the air electrode of a fuel cell stack while exhaust gas from the air electrode is delivered in a humidified state via the water generated within to the humidifier, and is used to humidify the dry air provided by an air blower. When a fuel cell stack is in a dried-out or flooded state, the fuel cell stack decreases in output power and the time required to recover the output power to a proper level increases. In addition, continuation of a dried-out or flooded state may result in a decrease in the durability and lifespan of the fuel cell stack. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately diagnose the state of a fuel cell stack, including dry-out or flooding (e.g., a water drainage state), and to ensure a rapid recovery of the fuel cell stack by performing recovery operations of the stack according to the diagnosed state.
A related art discloses a method for diagnosing the water content of a fuel cell stack by measuring an alternating current (AC) impedance of the fuel cell. In other words, when a current impedance is substantially constant, a fuel cell may be diagnosed as being normal. Further, when the fuel cell exhibits significant variation in current impedance, a flooding of the fuel cell may be determined. A gradually increasing current impedance may indicate that fuel cell is in a dried-out state. This disclosed method requires substantial amount of time to detect flooding since the method determines flooding by determining a variation of an impedance value; however, this requires measuring two or more impedance values over time and computing a variation of the impedance values. Additionally problematic is that measuring an impedance frequency range of several hundred Hz may result in a decrease in precision of measurement.
Another related art discloses a method for preventing a fuel cell stack from drying out by determining the relative humidity of the fuel cell stack using a relative humidity map based on measurement data regarding respective temperatures of a blower outlet, a humidifier inlet, and a coolant outlet, and by reducing an air flow and increasing a driving pressure when the relative humidity is determined to increase. This method is, however, problematic in that because humidity inside a fuel cell stack is highly susceptible to various factors, including the temperature and humidity of air suctioned into the fuel cell stack, the temperature and humidity in an air outlet, the temperature and humidity of provided hydrogen, the amount of product water of the fuel cell stack, and the temperature of the fuel cell stack itself. Estimating the relative humidity from data regarding respective temperatures of the air blower outlet, the humidifier inlet, and the coolant outlet has a reduced degree of accuracy.
Furthermore, another related art discloses a method of recovering a water balance in a fuel cell stack. When a dry-out situation occurs in the fuel cell stack in which the water balance in a fuel cell is less than a predetermined value, the fuel cell stack is recovered by restricting the output of the fuel cell through sequential processes of reduction of an air stoichiometric ratio, reduction of fuel electrode pressure, increase of an fuel electrode circulation volume, and increase of air pressure in that order. However, the sequential processes suffer from the disadvantage of requiring a substantial amount of time to recover a fuel cell stack in a dried-out state.

System and method for diagnosing state of fuel cell stack and controlling fuel cell system


A voice assistant system is disclosed which directs the voice Prompts delivered to a first user of a voice assistant to also be communicated wirelessly to the voice assistant of a second user so that the second user can hear the voice Prompts as delivered to the first user.

Speech or voice technology, in the form of speech recognition, is used in a variety of different environments to facilitate the completion of work or various tasks. Such voice-enabled work environments, for example, include voice-directed work environments and voice-assisted work environments.
In a typical voice-enabled work environment, the worker wears a mobile computer having voice or speech capabilities. The mobile computer is worn on the body of a user or otherwise carried, such as around the waist, and a headset device connects to the mobile computer, such as with a cable or possibly in a wireless fashion. In another embodiment, the mobile computer might be implemented directly in the headset. The headset includes one or more speakers for playing voice instructions or prompts and other audio that are generated or synthesized by the mobile computer to direct or assist the work of the user and to confirm the spoken words of the user. The headset also has a microphone for capturing the speech of the user, such as speech commands and other audio, to process the commands spoken by the user and to allow the entry of data and other system feedback using the user's speech and speech recognition.
One example of such a voice-enabled work environment is generally referred to as voice-directed work, as the user takes specific direction from the central system and their mobile computer like they might take direction from a manager or supervisor or from reading a work order or to-do list. One such voice-directed work system, for example, is provided in the Talkman® system that is available from Vocollect, Inc. also of Pittsburgh, Pa. The mobile and/or wearable computers allow the users that wear or use them to maintain mobility at a worksite, while providing the users with the necessary directions or instructions and the desirable computing and data-processing functions. Such mobile computers often provide a wireless communication link to a larger, more centralized computer system that directs the work activities of a user within the system and processes any user speech inputs, such as collected data, in order to facilitate the work. An overall integrated system may utilize a central system that runs a variety of programs, such as a program for directing a plurality of mobile computers and their users in their day-to-day tasks. The users perform manual tasks and enter data according to voice instructions and information they receive from the central system, via the mobile computers. Through the headset and speech recognition and text-to-speech capabilities of the mobile computer, workers are able to receive voice instructions or questions about their tasks, to receive information about their tasks, to ask and answer questions, to report the progress of their tasks, and to report various working conditions, for example.
Another example of a voice-enabled work environment is referred to as voice-assisted work. Such a work environment is involved in situations where flexibility is required and specific task direction is not necessary. In a voice-assisted work environment, users engage in a selective speech-dialog with the system when they need to. The voice-assisted work system is designed to accommodate various prompts, instructions, and information as selectively directed by the user and their voiced commands, rather than issuing continuous instructions in a set order as with a voice-directed work system. One such voice-assisted system is provided by the AccuNurse® system available from the assignee of this application, Vocollect Healthcare Systems, Inc. (VHS) of Pittsburgh, Pa.
One of the main challenges in a voice-enabled system centers around the training of new users. The voice user interface (VUI) that is part of the voice-enabled system requires a user to know what to say and when to say it. The problem that the trainer or coach or other supervisor faces is that it is very difficult to tell a user what to do with respect to the interface when the trainer or coach cannot hear what the user is hearing or where they are in an ongoing speech dialog. The same problem surfaces with regard to ongoing training/coaching of existing users as well as when new users join the organization and need to learn how to use the system or a new feature is implemented in an existing system.
To overcome this challenge, hardware solutions have been used. For example a trainer or coach might connect a separate piece of hardware, such as a small loudspeaker, to the mobile device or personalized headset that the user is using in order to be able to hear what the user is hearing. These hardware solutions, although they successfully accomplish the task, are cumbersome to use and require direct (and obtrusive) interaction with the user being helped, trained, or coached.
A need still therefore exists for a voice-enabled system in which a trainer or coach can more effectively coach another user. There is also a need for a coach or trainer to know the voice prompts as delivered to the user being coached or know where in the speech dialog the user is so that better training may be facilitated without the need for additional intrusive coaching-specific hardware on a user's computer or other inconveniences to the user.

Training/coaching system for a voice-enabled work environment


An actuator having two or more interconnected movement components, wherein the movement components are designed as linear actuators with substantially coaxial longitudinal axes or longitudinal axes that are parallel to each other and that are interconnected in longitudinal direction such that their linear movements are superimposed on one another, and such that at least one of the linear actuators can be stopped at one or several predetermined positions.

Such actuators may, for example, be used as regulating drives for moving high-lift components of wings of modern commercial aircraft or transport aircraft. The term "movement component" also refers to a servomotor or actuator that forms a component of the actuator according to the invention and for this reason is referred to as a "movement component". An actuator created from the combination of two or more movement components would combine the advantages inherent in the individual movement components and in this way would make it possible to provide an improved regulating drive. Advantages include, for example, the regulating speed, regulating precision, size of the regulating distance, extent of regulating torque and the like.
Such actuators, which have been formed by a combination of two movement components, are for example known from GB 850 639. In said patent application a so-called "dual actuator" is disclosed, which comprises a combination of a hydraulic actuator and a spindle drive. These two drive variants act kinematically parallel to each other so that when the spindle drive is actuated, a rotation of a drive-element and driven element on an axis of rotation is caused, while at the same time a linear movement of the piston-cylinder arrangement along its longitudinal axis takes place.
While this dual actuator combines two different movement components, they can however not be used for a common linear movement that would be helpful to the application, mentioned as an example, on high-lift components of an aircraft. Furthermore, the advantages provided by the various movement components cannot be used together, for example in order to render the longitudinal movement of the hydraulic actuator more precise. Therefore it would also not be possible to use the shown dual actuator for the movement, mentioned as an example, of high-lift components of an aircraft, in which movement the advantages of high regulating speed and high regulating accuracy are required, either together or separately, in a single movement direction.


A slider of a magnetic hard disk drive has one or more electric lapping guides in immediate proximity to the read/write stack of the slider. The lapping guides remain part of the slider during its operation. In the preferred embodiment, two essentially identical lapping guides are symmetrically placed on a slider back. One write head terminal is utilized to conductively access the two lapping guides on one side such that only one additional terminal has to be placed on the slider back together with corresponding leads. The placement of lapping guides on the slider back face provides for an economic lapping of individual sliders with increased precision and reliability regardless of any lapping plane skew.

The present invention relates to sliders used in hard disk drives. In particular, the present invention relates to sliders having integrated lapping guides.
A slider is a precisely fabricated part that has to carry magnetic sensors for performing reading and writing operations while flying above rotating disks of a hard disk drive. The ever-increasing data storage densities in hard disk drives require precisely fabricated sliders with well-defined magnetic sensor stripe height and the air-bearing surface possessing flatness and surface finish values in the order of nanometers. Such a level of stripe height control as well as slider flatness and surface finish is crucial for the slider to support a reliable and lasting performance of a hard disk drive.
An important fabrication step in the manufacturing of air bearing surfaces is a lapping process during which the air-bearing surface receives its final flatness and surface finish. During the lapping process material is removed from the tool-cut surface. Lapping guides are utilized to control the amount of removed material so that the magnetic sensor has the precise stripe height at the end of lapping process.
The lapping guide is specifically configured to provide enhanced process information about the lapping process. It is commonly deposited as a thin-film stripe so that there exists a well-defined relationship between the lapping guide height and the magnetic sensor stripe height. A lapping guide is shortened as material is being removed from the air-bearing surface. The lapping guide height, EH, is monitored via its resistance value, R, since they are inversely proportional to each other:
EH=K/R.
The proportional constant, K, is proportional to the electric resistivity of the lapping guide, the width of the lapping guide, and inversely to the thickness of the lapping guide.
The lapping of the air-bearing surface is commonly performed on the so-called row level at which a number of sliders are arranged in a linear array to compose one work piece. Lapping on the row level allows simultaneous lapping of a number of sliders within a single work piece. The lapping guides used in the prior arts are deposited in the kerf regions between sliders and are to be removed after the lapping process. They are not present in the finished slider bodies.
The even removal of material from each individual slider contained in a work piece is hampered by various factors. Such factors include, for example, internal tension and elastic deformation of the work piece resulting from any mounting, cutting, or lapping induced stress or dimensional tolerances among individual work pieces cut from a wafer. To compensate for these factors and to achieve accurate stripe height control, lapping guides need to be placed in proximity to the magnetic sensors. This patent introduces electric lapping guides that are integrated in each individual slider such that the lapping guide and the magnetic sensor are as close as possible. Such an integrated lapping guide has an additional benefit of increasing the wafer utilization efficiency. Furthermore, each slider body may include more than one lapping guide to cancel any adverse effects on stripe-height variations caused by tolerance in the wafer cutting process or the slider lapping process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,890 to Hao et al., for example, shows a method for wiring a number of lapping guides adjacently placed on a number of sliders contained in a work piece.
The work piece is identified as a bar in the patent. The invention addresses the problem of area consumption resulting from the use of lapping guides on the work piece. The area consumption of the lapping guides, peripheral terminals and connecting traces limits the number of sliders that can be fabricated on any given wafer. Hao et al. introduce a wiring configuration that allows to independently recognize the resistance change of individual lapping guides with fewer traces and terminals.
Hao et al. make apparent the dilemma of the commonly used fabrication techniques where an increasing number of lapping guides has to be provided relative to the number of sliders embedded in an work piece in order to meet the increasing demands for lapping accuracy.
Hence, there exists a primary need for providing lapping guides in close proximity to the most critical lapping areas of a slider. On the other hand, there exists also a secondary need for fabrication of closely spaced sliders on a wafer in order to utilize the limited wafer area most efficiently. In view of what is known to those skilled in the art, fulfilling to the primary need may only be accomplished by neglecting the secondary need and vice versa. The present invention allows to comply with the primary need and the secondary need at the same time, as will become apparent from the summary and detailed description below.
The present invention introduces a slider having one or more integrated lapping guides and a method for lapping individual sliders. In accordance with the invention, sliders can be fabricated in close spacing on a wafer. Furthermore, one or more lapping guides can be placed in close proximity to the most critical lapping area around the read/write stack of the slider. The lapping guide(s) can be built into each slider to compensate for the tolerance in slider geometric variations during processing.
The lapping guide(s) is/are deposited as thin film(s) on the back face of the slider. The slider back is a face perpendicular to the lapped surface. The main functional features for reading and writing of data are fabricated from a number of deposited layers on the slider back face, as is well known in the art.
Sliders are commonly designed in a symmetrical fashion with the read/write stack being placed in the center of the back face. In order to provide high acceleration and deceleration of an operational slider, it is desirable to keep the slider mass and therefore the slider size small. It is merely noted that it serves the purpose of an optimally operating hard disk drive to keep the slider back face small even though additional features may be placed on it. Additional features that are necessary to utilize lapping guides on the slider back are conductive leads and terminals to conductively access the lapping guides.
In order to place and operate lapping guides on the tightly dimensioned slider back, the present invention utilizes slider features fabricated for transmitting signals during operational use of the read or write head. Such features are a terminal and leads conductively connected on one side of the write head.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, two lapping guides are placed in a symmetric fashion lateral to the read/write stack. Wired in parallel, the two lapping guides share two common terminals. One of these two terminals can be a terminal provided for accessing the write head and only one additional terminal with corresponding leads needs to be provided on the sparsely available area on or around a slider back. As a result, a total resistance of two parallelly-connected lapping guides can be measured between the two terminals. The reciprocal value of this total resistance, R_Total, corresponds to the sum of the reciprocal resistances of each of the two individual lapping guides:
1/Rxe2x80x94Total=1/R1+1/R2.
Lapping of work pieces containing a number of air-bearing surfaces is commonly performed in the industry. The present invention allows for lapping of the individual slider rather than a simultaneous lapping of a number of sliders contained in a work piece. Accordingly, the sliders are cut into individual pieces before the lapping is performed. The symmetric arrangement of the lapping guides relative to the read and write elements provides for a precise observation of the removed material height within the most critical lapping area including and surrounding the read and write elements.
In the preferred embodiment two essentially identical lapping guides are connected in parallel electrically. Any mis-alignment of the air-bearing surface due to either slider cutting or non-uniform lapping will cause opposite effects on the reciprocals of resistance value and will not alter the sum of the reciprocals. As a consequence, the end-point accuracy during the lapping of the relevant areas of the air-bearing surface may be provided regardless eventual skew of the lapping plane relative to the slider. This is, because the conductive bridging of the two symmetrically placed lapping guides compensates for any variations in material remaining from one lapping guide relative to the other. Variations of material remaining occur, where the lapping is unevenly performed due to a skew of the dedicated lapping area of the slider relative to a lapping plane defined by the lapping apparatus as is well known to those skilled in the art. The placement of lapping guides on the slider back face provides for an economic lapping with increased precision and reliability regardless of any lapping plane skew or clamping imprecision due to the relatively small size of individual sliders.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


Example methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture (e.g., physical storage media) to facilitate time-spaced messaging for network communications are disclosed. An example method may include receiving a plurality of messages at a message rate. The method may further include determining a number of the plurality of messages a network device is unable to process. The method may further include determining, based on the number, a miss rate associated with the plurality of messages. The method may further include determining whether the miss rate exceeds a threshold miss rate and, if the miss rate is determined to exceed the threshold miss rate, determining a time delay based on the miss rate and message rate, and applying the first time delay to at least one message received subsequent to the plurality of messages.

Bursts of traffic (e.g., also referred to as bursty traffic or bursty messaging) may occur from time to time in a network and adversely impact the network's provided service. Bursts of traffic may occur when a large number of messages arrives at a sender (e.g., to be processed and sent out) or a receiver (e.g., to be received and processed) and may cause messages to be left unprocessed, message drops, interruption of currently processed messages, etc. In general, bursts of traffic are associated with higher message rates compared to a message rate expected during normal traffic of the network. A message may refer to a frame, a packet, a segment, or generally any protocol data unit (PDU) of an appropriate format for communicating data from the sender to the receiver. On the sender-side, message processing may include generating messages of one or more appropriate formats and transmitting the messages. On the receiver-side, message processing may include analyzing content of received messages and performing actions based on the content.

Time-spaced messaging for facilitating network communications


A method and apparatus for increasing the useful life of cleaning members within an image forming apparatus by side shifting a cleaning member laterally in relation to a photoreceptor. In various exemplary embodiments, the cleaning apparatus includes a cleaning member mounted on a shaft, and side shifting member that moves the shaft along its axis to move the cleaning member laterally. In various exemplary embodiments, the cleaning apparatus moves the cleaning member laterally in a continuous sweeping motion. In various exemplary embodiments, the cleaning apparatus moves the cleaning member laterally in incremental steps.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates a cleaning apparatus of an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In current toner image forming apparatus, toner is used to produce an image on a copy sheet. After a copy has been made, any excess toner that remains on a photoreceptor drum or belt must be removed to prepare the photoreceptor drum or belt for the next copy. This is accomplished in part, by using one or more cleaning brushes mounted in the image forming apparatus. The cleaning brushes are removed and replaced periodically when excessive use causes the cleaning brushes to lose efficiency in removing toner from the photoreceptor drum or belt.

Side shifting cleaning apparatus and method


Disclosed are methods of forming different shapes in different regions of a specific layer. In the methods, a first mask layer and an etch process are used to form first shapes in a first region. Subsequently, a second mask layer and additional etch process(es) are used to form second shapes in a second region. However, before the second shapes are formed, a sacrificial layer of a degradable material is deposited onto the first mask layer and within openings in the specific layer surrounding the first shapes, thereby protecting the first shapes during formation of the second shapes. After the second shapes are formed, the material of the sacrificial layer is degraded (e.g., oxidized, volatilized, burned-off, etc.) so as to selectively remove that material from surfaces of the first mask layer and the specific layer without impacting the profiles of either the first shapes or the second shapes.

Oftentimes, during integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing, different regions of the same layer are patterned differently and, particularly, patterned with shapes having different widths and/or different pitches. For example, different regions of a polycrystalline semiconductor layer (e.g., a polysilicon or other suitable polycrystalline semiconductor layer) may be patterned with relatively thick gate structures having a first pitch for long channel field effect transistors (FETs), with relatively thin gate structures having a second pitch for short channel FETs, etc. Similarly, different regions of a monocrystalline semiconductor layer (e.g., a silicon layer or other suitable monocrystalline semiconductor layer) may be patterned with relatively thick semiconductor fins having a first pitch for tri-gate FETs, with relatively thin semiconductor fins having a second pitch for dual-gate FETs (also referred to herein as fin-type FETs or finFETs), with planar semiconductor bodies for planar FETs, etc. It should be understood that these examples are not intended to be limiting and, during IC manufacturing, different regions of other material layers (e.g., dielectric layers, metal layers, etc.) may also be patterned differently. In any case, currently used techniques for forming different patterns of shapes in different regions of the same layer, respectively, can result in the patterned shapes in at least one of the different regions having profiles that are less than optimal.

Methods for forming different shapes in different regions of the same layer


A snap ring for fishing implements is provided. The snap ring includes a hook-like body having an opening on a portion thereof, a rotary shaft coupled on one side to a portion of the body such that the rotary shaft is rotatable around the opening, a hollow guide into which the rotary shaft is fitted and slides along, and a guide spring provided between the rotary shaft and the guide to elastically support the guide against the rotary shaft.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a snap ring for fishing implements. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a snap ring for fishing implements, in which a guide spring is mounted inside a guide, thereby facilitating its connection and disconnection in closing/opening modes and upon reception of an external impact, preventing a main latch from automatically disengaging from a body; an end of a rotary shaft, which is opposite to an end, into which a push button and a button spring are inserted, is closed, and one end of the body, to which a second roller shaft and a first roller shaft, respectively mounted on upper and lower portions of the body, are fastened, is also closed so as to secure strength, thereby even upon collision with a slipway, preventing it from being damaged; the upper and lower spaces of the body are sufficiently provided to receive something therein, thereby preventing a wire from getting jammed in the spaces; thrust bushings are mounted on opposite ends of a first roller, thereby even after a prolonged use, preventing the opposite ends of the first roller from being worn out; and an oil outlet is formed in the first roller shaft, thereby reducing a friction force applied between components.
2. Description of the Related Art
In fishing, fishing vessels use a very large fishing net in the sea. The very large fishing net has a great dimension in length and width, and is connected to a fishing vessel using a wire (see FIG. 5).
When the fishing net is thrown in the sea from the fishing vessel, or otherwise the thrown fishing net is drawn to the fishing vessel, a wire connected to the fishing vessel is used. Here, the fishing net is connected to the wire such that it is able to slide along the wire. In order to connect the fishing net to the wire, a hook-like part is required, which is generally called a snap ring.
In throwing or drawing in the fishing net in or from the sea, an operation should be carried out from the fishing vessel to wind or unwind the wire. Here, the fishing net is moved between the fishing vessel and the sea through a slipway. When the fishing net is cast in the sea, or drawn in to the fishing vessel, through the slipway, the snap ring connecting the wire and the fishing net collides with the slipway with a great quantity of impact.
A conventional snap ring is configured so that a main latch is hinge-coupled to a ring-shaped body, and has problems in that when the snap ring is operated to close or open, a great amount of force is needed, and when receiving an external shock in a closed state, it is easily opened. For example, when the snap ring collides with the slipway, the main latch automatically disengages from the body, frequently causing the fishing net to be disconnected from the wire.
Moreover, other problems arise in that when the snap ring collides with the slipway, the upper and lower portions of the body are subject to damage, in that the dimension of the upper and lower spaces of the body is so small that the wire is jammed in the spaces, and in that in order to lock the main latch, a great amount of force has to be applied in a downward direction from the body.


There is described a mobile device and method for commissioning air intake control of an environmental control system. A communication component receives multiple air measurements from an air flow sensor, in which the air flow sensor is positioned in a duct compartment of the environmental control system. The processor generates multiple air flow tables based on the multiple air measurements, multiple fan speeds associated with the environmental control system, and multiple damper positions associated with the environmental control system. The communication component transmits the multiple air flow tables to an air intake controller of the environmental control system.

An environmental control system of a building manages heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) components to manage environmental conditions within the building. The system may include an economizer may allow fresh air external to the building to circulate through the HVAC components and cool the environmental conditions of the building in an efficient manner. Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a prior art air-side economizer 100 published by the U.S. Department of Energy as a representative Energy Star product. The HVAC components of the conventional economizer 100 include heating and/or cooling coils 102, 104 that modify, if necessary, the temperature of return air 106 to generate supply air 108 for the building. The economizer includes an outside air damper 110 controlled by an outside motorized actuator 112 via an outside linkage 114 to manage the amount of outside air 116 entering the system and a return air damper 118 controlled by a return motorized actuator 120 via a return linkage 122 to manage the amount of return air 106 continuing through the system. A logic controller 124 of the economizer controls the outside and return motorized actuators 112, 120 based on an outside temperature sensor 126 to manage the mixed air 128, i.e., mixture of outside air and return air, circulated through the system.
Although economizers have the potential to save substantial energy for maintenance of buildings, many existing economizers fail to provide significant cost savings. At least part of the problem may be attributed to the difficulty in configuring an economizer before installation at an intended environmental control system, such as a factory where the economizer is manufactured. Factory commissioning is possible, but the accuracy of the economizer may be compromised due to the varying possible configurations of the HVAC components and lack of customization and testing capabilities during an actual installation. Specialized components and services, such as dampers modulated by carbon dioxide sensors and professional technicians creating air balancing reports, may help to improve the accuracy of the economizer on-site but require more space and significant cost. Also, a multi-speed fan of the environmental control system may require the commissioning procedure to perform multiple iterations (at least one per fan speed) which adds further costs when implementing these specialized components and services.

System and method for commissioning fresh air intake control


Computer-implemented systems and methods are provided for generating a data model. A variable predictiveness determination is performed on the population of candidate variables. A plurality of variables from the population of candidate variables are selected as a selected set based on the variable predictiveness values. A plurality derived variables are generated based on variables in the rejected set without consideration of any variables in the selected set. One or more derived variables are selected as based on derived variable predictiveness values of the derived variables, and the selected set and the one or more selected derived variables are stored as the model input variables for the data model.

A statistical model is a set of mathematical equations which describe the behavior of an object of study in terms of random variables and their associated probability distributions. For example, in order to forecast and manage business risk, a set of variables is identified that describe the state of the world and are forecasted into the future. To help with these processes, data mining may be used to track large numbers of candidate variables (e.g., hundred, thousands, or more). In selecting which variables from the candidate set should be used in generating a data model, a balance is sought between selecting a small enough number of variables so that the model is interpretable to a user and avoiding the loss of significant amounts of information in the data contained in rejected variables.

Computer-implemented systems and methods for constructing a reduced input space utilizing the rejected variable space


Systems and methods for reducing variability in the output impedance of an integrated switch-mode power amplifier (PA) split the output impedance between passive resistor, which may be on-chip, and a MOSFET switch of the amplifier. The PA may have a single-ended configuration or a differential configuration having two single-ended structures operating with opposite phases. In one implementation, the size of the MOSFET switch is larger than that of the MOSFET switch implemented in a conventional PA, but the size is still acceptable to operate the PA at a desired frequency. In addition, a calibration approach may be utilized to ensure that the MOSFET switch has a controlled and calibrated ON resistance, thereby providing stable output power levels of the PA and ensuring consistency and repeatability in NMR measurements.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a well-known analytic technique that has been used in a number of fields, such as spectroscopy, bio-sensing and medical imaging. In general, an NMR device includes transceiver circuits to transmit signals to a test sample and receive echo signals therefrom. For example, with reference to FIG. 1, the basic components a conventional NMR system 100 include an NMR coil 102 surrounding a sample 104 being analyzed, a magnet 106 for generating a static magnetic field B0 across the sample 104 and the coil 102, a duplexer 108 coupled to the NMR coil 102, and a controller 110 for controlling operation of the various components. Typically, the duplexer 108 includes a transmitter (Tx) portion for delivering RF signals to the NMR coil 102 and a receiver (Rx) portion for receiving echo signals from the sample 104 vis the NMR coil 102.
NMR coil 102 and transceiver 108 are commonly known as an "NMR probe," which operates with large electromagnets or superconducting permanent magnets in conventional NMR systems. The NMR probe is typically included in an environment having a 50Ω impedance because of a long interconnection required between the probe and NMR instrument.
The RF signals delivered by the duplexer 108 originate with an RF frequency source 115 and a pulse sequence generator 117. A modulator circuit 120 modulates the RF signal from the RF frequency source 115 in accordance with the pulse sequence supplied by the pulse sequence generator 117. The modulated RF signal is amplified by a power amplifier 122.
During NMR measurements, the modulated RF signal having a Larmor frequency ω0 is delivered to the coil 102 via the duplexer 108; the coil 102 generates an RF magnetic field B1 (which is typically orthogonal to the static magnetic field B0) that resonantly excites nuclei spins within the sample 104. After a time duration, Δt, the RF excitation signal is stopped and the controller 110 causes the duplexer 108 to receive the echo signals from the sample 104. Upon stopping the RF excitation, the nuclear spins within the sample 104 precess around the B0-axis at the Larmor frequency ω0. The nuclear spins slowly lose phase coherence via spin-spin interactions, which manifest themselves in a macroscopic average as an exponential relaxation or damping signal in the precession of the net magnetic moment. This NMR signal relaxation can be detected by the coil 102. Because the spin-spin interactions are peculiar to the material of the sample 104 being tested, the characteristic time, commonly referred to as T2, of the relaxation signal is material specific.
The duplexer 108 directs the received echo signals, representing the signal output of the NMR probe, to an amplification block including a pre-amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier 125) and a programmable gain amplifier 127. The signal is ultimately converted to digital form by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 130 for processing. But the frequency of the "raw" NMR signal received by the pre-amplifier 125 is too high for the ADC 130, and is therefore "down-converted" through comparison with the signal supplied by the RF frequency source 115. A mixer 135 combines the amplified NMR signal, which oscillates at the Larmor frequency, with the reference signal from the RF frequency source to generate a new signal that oscillates at a lower "relative Larmor frequency." Following filtering by a low-pass filter 137, the signal varies slowly enough to be handled by the ADC 130 but nonetheless retains the essential frequency characteristics of the received echo signals.
Thus, by measuring the Larmor frequency ω0 described above (e.g., for spectroscopy) and characteristic time T2 (e.g., for relaxometry), NMR techniques can be used as an analytic tool in a number of fields, including but not limited to chemical composition analysis, medical imaging, and bio-sensing.
Significant efforts have been devoted to miniaturizing traditional NMR systems. For example, the entire NMR electronics, including the power amplifier (PA) 122, may be integrated on a single semiconductor device. The numerous advantages of miniaturization include low cost, portability, and the fact that a micro-coil tightly surrounding a small sample increases the signal quality. In addition, reducing the size of the magnet 106 allows use of a much smaller power to excite (or polarize) the sample 104 than in a conventional system.
FIG. 2 depicts a traditional class-D PA 200 implemented in a miniaturized NMR system; the input signal Vs to the PA 200 is typically a square-wave signal having low and high amplitudes between the ground (VSSPA) and the PA source voltage (VDDPA). The input signal is used to close and open switches 202, 204 in an alternating fashion for connecting an output load 206 to either VDDPA or VSSPA. The power transferred to the load 206 depends on the output impedance of the amplifier 200, the input signal amplitude Vs, and the load impedance RL. In a single-ended PA as depicted in FIG. 2, the delivered power can be represented as:
      P    L    =            1      2                                                                            Vs                                      2                                          R            L                                                (                                          R                Out                            +                              R                L                                      )                    2                    .
The traditional class-D PA typically delivers a power ranging from watts to kilowatts, but it has a somewhat limited bandwidth (usually much less than 1 MHz). In addition, because the output impedance of the traditional class-D amplifier is fixed, the available power setting is also fixed for the fixed power-supply voltage VDDPA. In other words, the power and output impedance of the amplifier are not separable. Because of this constraint, it is difficult to adjust the power available from the amplifier in order to optimize the excitation parameters (such as magnetization flipping angles and NMR excitation pulse spacing) of an NMR measurement.
Recent developments in class-D amplifier technology have been exploited to generate excitation signals suitable for NMR measurements, particularly in low-field time-domain NMR relaxometry. A number of difficulties, however, exist. For example, in order to make NMR measurements, the PA requires a wide bandwidth (e.g., between 10 MHz and 60 MHz). In addition, impedance matching is important (but harder to achieve in NMR applications compared to classic audio or power applications) for optimizing the power delivery (as shown by the equation above), and PA power levels have to be maintained with accuracy and consistency for repeatable NMR measurements.
Various strategies to address these difficulties have been proposed, generally involving the use of discrete components for the PA and assuming the ON resistance of the switches 202, 204 to be negligible. This allows the output impedance of the PA to be set by an external precision resistor. When integrating the PA and other NMR electronics on a single semiconductor device—resulting in an integrated "switch-mode" power amplifier—the switch devices 202, 204 are typically implemented using MOSFETs whose gates are controlled by an input RF signal having a square wave form with an amplitude of VDDPA VSSPA.
In a typical NMR application, the PA drives a 50Ω load impedance. This means that for the case of a differential class-D PA, each PA driver has an output impedance of 25Ω for an optimal, reflection-free power delivery to the load. The ON resistance of the MOS device, however, varies with manufacturing processes, supply voltage and temperature. In addition, the highly nonlinear behavior for large voltages across the device makes it extremely challenging to implement a basic MOSFET switch having a constant ON resistance of 25Ω.
Accordingly, there is a need for an approach that reduces the variability of the output impedance of an integrated switch-mode power amplifier in order to maintain consistent power levels repeatably during NMR measurements.

Output impedance calibration of integrated switched-mode power amplifiers