A process for producing an aromatic polysulfone molding compound improved in mold-release characteristics by adding a predetermined amount of metal soap to aromatic polysulfone resin, wherein pellets composed of an aromatic polysulfone resin and a specific amount of metal soap, and otherwise similar pellets but containing no metal soap are prepared separately by melt-mixing, and these two kinds of pellets are dry-blended together so as to satisfy a predetermined condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing an aromatic polysulfone molding compound improved in mold-release characteristics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Aromatic polysulfone resins are in use as engineering plastics superior in heat resistance, strength, stiffness, creep resistance, and flame retardance for electric and electronic components as well as for office automation equipment parts, automobile parts, etc. Recently, technical progress in the electronic field has been remarkable, electronic components, e.g. relays, switches, connectors, sockets, and coil bobbins, have been miniaturized, made thinner in wall, or sophisticated, and their high dimensional accuracy and high heat resistance have been required.
Aromatic polysulfone resins show low mold shrinkage because they are amorphous. The deterioration of properties such as strengths and modulus of elasticity are less, up to higher temperature, than those of high temperature resistant resins like polyphenylene sulfide and polyetherketone, because the glass transition points of aromatic polysulfone resins are higher than those of said high temperature resistant resins. Hence, aromatic polysulfone resins are materials fitted for electronic components which are required to have high dimensional accuracy and high heat resistance. In particular, the incorporation of a fibrous material such as glass fiber, silica-alumina fiber, or wollastonite into aromatic polysulfone resins further lowers their mold shrinkage and improves their strengths and modulus of elasticity, making them more fitted for electronic components. However, injection molding of aromatic polysulfone resins requires high pressure because of their relatively high melt viscosities and this, jointly with their low mold shrinkage, makes it very difficult to release their molded parts from mold cavities when electronic parts of small sizes and complicate shapes or those having thin-wall portions are injection molded, where sufficient draft cannot be taken. Hence, none of products with high dimensional accuracy can be molded in such cases. This is also quite true in the case of blends of aromatic polysulfone resins with such fibrous fillers as mentioned above.
A known means for solving this problem is to add metal soaps to aromatic polysulfone resins. For example, Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-Open) No. 63-264667 proposes a molding compound produced by melt mixing 100 parts by weight of an aromatic polysulfone resin with 0.02-5 parts by weight of a metal soap. Although superior in mold release characteristics, this molding compound involves a problem in that the addition of metal soap causes considerable deteriorations of mechanical properties, such as tensile strength, flexural strength, and Izod impact strength, of moldings produced.
Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-Open) No. 60-149629 also proposes the method of sticking 200-1000 ppm of a metal soap on the surface of pellets or particles of an aromatic polysulfone resin and subjecting the resulting composition to injection molding. In this case, the metal soap does not adversely affect the performance characteristics of the moldings, since the amount of metal soap is less than that in the molding compound of the former patent application and the soap, having heat history only once, undergoes practically no change such as decomposition. However, this method has a drawback in that at the time of molding, these pellets slip and hence the chargeability of pellets is much worse, thus stable molding being impossible.

Process for producing aromatic polysulfone molding compound improved in mold-release characteristics


In a method, impulse response information indicative of an impulse response is determined based on an impulse introduced into a lightning conductor and characterized by an electromagnetic wave. The impulse response information representing at least a waveform and a travel time determined after the introduction of the impulse based on reflection thereof. Evaluation information is specified based on the determined impulse response information. The impulse response information is analyzed at least with respect to the represented waveform and travel time of the introduced and reflected electromagnetic wave. The evaluation information is indicative of whether or not the lightning conductor is functional. The determined evaluation information is output. Also disclosed are a device for practicing this method, a rotor blade for a wind turbine that includes at least one lightning conductor and a device for practicing the method, and a system with one or more devices for practicing the method.

Wind turbines are equipped with a lightning protection system in the rotor blades. This system has to be inspected in regular intervals due to legal requirements. In accordance with the state of the art, this inspection consists of measuring the resistance of the lightning conductor comprised by a lightning protection system with a measuring device for whose application the measuring device measures between the beginning and the end of the lightning conductor.
The measurement has also to be carried out between different coupling points and the beginning, to the access of which personnel must rope down the respective rotor blade comprising the lightning conductor. This is complex, dangerous and also associated with high costs.
The disadvantage of this method is that it requires a lot of time and personnel, as the measuring device has to be attached to each blade with a rope shaft. The rotor of the wind turbine has to be re-turned for each measurement. In addition, the current measuring method is associated with a considerable risk of falling.
In addition, such resistance measurements have to be carried out every two years.
If a lightning conductor is damaged or defect, this may lead to the energy introduced by a lightning cannot be dissipated via the lightning conductor. Instead, the energy is conducted to nearby components, which can be severely damaged or even completely destroyed.

Checking lightning conductors for wind turbines


A computing device including fastening features. The computing device may include an upper shell comprising an upper boss protruding from the upper shell, the upper boss defining a cavity. The computing device may include a lower shell comprising a lower boss protruding from the lower shell. The computing device may include a threaded insert including an insert portion received at the cavity of the upper boss. The threaded insert may include a flange portion wider than the insert portion, and a lateral movement reduction feature. The computing device may include a fastener received through the lower boss and through the threaded insert to fasten the upper shell and lower shell to each other.

With the proliferation of electronic devices, including computing devices, communication devices, and portable entertainment devices, many computing components have become smaller. Many computing devices are manufactured to be relatively thin and lightweight. In some cases, the more thin and lightweight a computing device becomes, the less sturdy the computing device becomes.
The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and the figures to reference like components and features. Numbers in the 100 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 1; numbers in the 104 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 2; and so on.

Fastening techniques for electronic devices


A diffusion resistant lenticular element comprising a first support having thereon a lenticular array, the element having thereon a protective element comprising a second support having thereon an adhesive layer of an acidic polymer having a Tg less than about 80.degree. C., the adhesive layer of the protective element being on the side of the first support which does not contain the lenticular array, the adhesive layer containing a laser-induced, cationic dye image.. Another embodiment of the invention relates to a process of forming a diffusion resistant lenticular element comprising:. a) contacting at least one dye-donor element comprising a support having thereon a dye layer comprising an image dye in a binder having an infrared-absorbing material associated therewith, the image dye comprising a nonionic dye capable of being converted to a cationic dye by means of an acid, with a lenticular element comprising a first support having thereon a lenticular array on the opposite side thereof; PA1 b) imagewise-heating the dye-donor element by means of a laser; PA1 c) transferring a dye image to the first support of the lenticular element; PA1 d) contacting the dye image with a protective element comprising a second support having thereon an adhesive layer of an acidic polymer having a Tg less than about 80.degree. C., the adhesive layer of the protective element being in contact with the side of the first support which contains the dye image; and PA1 e) heating the element to cause the nonionic dye to convert to a cationic dye which is mordanted in the adhesive layer and to cause the adhesive layer to adhere the protective element to the lenticular element.

Lenticular arrays or overlays are a known means to give images the appearance of depth or motion. A lenticular image is created using a transparent upper layer having narrow parallel lenticules (half cylindrical lenses) on the outer surface and an image containing substrate or lower layer which projects images through the lenticules. The two layers form a lenticular system wherein each image is selectively visible as a function of the angle from which the system is viewed. A depth image is a composite picture made by bringing together into a single composition a number of different parts of a scene viewed from different angles. When the lenticules are vertically oriented, each eye of a viewer will see different elements and the viewer will interpret the net result as depth of field. The viewer may also move his head with respect to the image thereby observing other views with each eye and enhancing the sense of depth. Each lenticule is associated with a plurality of image lines or an image line set and the viewer is supposed to see only one image line (or view slice) of each set with each eye for each lenticule. It is imperative that the line image sets be registered accurately with the lenticules, so that the proper picture is formed when the assembly is viewed.
This process can be used to generate a three-dimensional effect at a proper viewing distance or multiple images by viewing from different angles. When the lenticules are oriented horizontally, each eye receives the same image. In this case, the multiple images upon moving the lenticular can be used to generate the illusion of motion. For whichever orientation the lenticules are oriented, each of the viewed images is generated by lines from an image which has been interlaced substantially at the frequency of the lenticular array, number of lenticules per length and with the desired number of images.
One method of recording of linear images on a lenticular recording material is accomplished with a stereoscopic image recording apparatus (hereunder referred to simply as "a recording apparatus") that relies upon optical exposure (printing). With this recording apparatus, original transmission images are projected from a light source. The light transmitted through the original images passes through the projection lenses of the recording apparatus to be focused on the lenticular recording material via a lenticular sheet. The original images are thereby exposed as linear images.
Another method of image recording uses scanning exposure which requires comparatively simple optics and yet has great flexibility in adapting to various image-processing operations and to alterations in the specifications of the lenticular sheet.
In the article entitled "Development of Motion Image Printer", by H. Akahori et al., IS&T 50th Annual Conference Proceedings, page 305, there is a disclosure of a printer for printing stereoscopic images using a thermal head and thermal dye transfer in registration with the lenticular material. The receiver sheet must be heated to achieve the necessary stability for registration of the images with the lenticular material. The resolution is six images on 100 DPI lenticular material with a 300 DPI thermal head. However, there is a problem with this method in that low resolution images are obtained, since heat transferred from the resistive head "spreads" through the support during printing.
EP 0 596 629A2 and EP 0 659 026A2 disclose a method and apparatus for directly printing on lenticular supports using lasers. This method generates an image in contact with the lenticular material. There is a problem with this method, however, in that the dyes can continue to migrate after transfer, resulting in unacceptable image ghosting (adjacent views bleeding through).
An object of this invention is to generate high resolution lenticular images which are resistant to thermal dye diffusion. It is another object of this invention to generate images efficiently with high abrasion resistance.


Correlating electronic pharmacy data and electronic medical record (EMR) data may include receiving, at a correlation module and from a pharmacy computing network, a query, of a first format, for data corresponding to an EMR of a patient. The correlation module may convert the query into a second format different from the first format, and may send the converted query to another network that has access to the EMR. A response in the second format may be received, and the correlation module may convert the response into the first format and send the converted response to the pharmacy network. The correlation module may be communicatively connected with other computing networks, each corresponding to a different health care organization and each having access to a different set of EMRs. In an embodiment, the first protocol is based on an NCPDP standard, and the second protocol is based on an HL7 protocol.

1. Technical Field
The instant disclosure generally relates to correlating electronic pharmacy data and electronic medical records of patients.
2. Background
Health care costs have been increasing at a fast rate. In an attempt to reform health care, legislation in the United States that includes incentivizing payors and providers to cooperate has been passed. As such, healthcare providers are changing their approaches to providing health care to patients. Coordination of health care across multiple health care providers or health care organizations may not only decrease the cost of health care to payors, but may also improve the quality of health care to patients. Health care organizations may include pharmacy entities or enterprises that fill or provide prescription products and services, hospitals, health care data repositories, managed care organizations, physicians and/or physician groups, and other medical professionals that are licensed to prescribe medical products and medicaments to patients.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and systems of correlating electronic pharmacy data and electronic medical records


A latching module is configured to be attached and fixed to a unit. The unit is designed to be detachably installed in an electronic apparatus along a predetermined direction. The electronic apparatus has an engaged portion. The latching module comprises a base member, an operative member, a locking member, a lock urge member and a release mechanism. The base member is formed with a cam groove. The base member is configured to be fixed to the unit so that the base member is unable to move relative to the unit. The operative member is supported by the base member so as to be projectable outwardly in the predetermined direction from the latching module. The locking member has an engagement portion and a pivot portion. The engagement portion is to be engaged with the engaged portion. The locking member is supported by the base member so that the engagement portion is pivotable on the pivot portion from an engaged position to a released position. The engaged position is a position where the engagement portion is able to be engaged with the engaged portion. The released position is a position where the engagement portion is unable to be engaged with the engaged portion. The lock urge member is arranged to urge the locking member toward the engaged position. The release mechanism is designed to force the locking member to pivot on the pivot portion to the released position upon the projection of the operative member.

This invention relates to a latching module configured to be attached to a unit which is designed to be detachably installed in an electronic apparatus so as to maintain the attached state of the unit to the electronic apparatus.
When an attachable and removable unit like a hard disk drive is attached to an electronic apparatus like a notebook computer, a latching mechanism is usually used to maintain the attached state of the unit to the electronic apparatus. This type of the unit includes an optical disk drive like a CD-ROM drive and a DVD-ROM drive, other device unit to record or store information, a battery unit and so on. For example, the latching mechanism is disclosed in JP-A 2000-82884, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Recently, a latching mechanism which includes a release mechanism to release the latch is known. The latching mechanism has an operative member like a handle and so on. The operative member is linked to the release mechanism. The operative member protrudes from the latching mechanism toward a direction in which the unit is removed from the electronic apparatus. The operative member is pulled so that the unit is removed from the electronic apparatus. The above-mentioned latching mechanisms are roughly divided into two types in view of specific structures. The first type latching mechanism is configured to be incorporated into the electronic apparatus. The second type latching mechanism is configured to be attached to the unit.
As for the first type latching mechanism, the electronic apparatus is required to include a power transmission mechanism internally so as to transmit a power which pulls the operative member to a member which forces the unit to be ejected or removed. As for the second type latching mechanism, the operative member is attached to the unit with the latching mechanism so that a force applied to the operative member is used directly to eject or to remove the unit. Therefore, the electronic apparatus is not required to include the power transmission mechanism. The former electronic apparatus with the first type latching mechanism has a region occupied by the power transmission mechanism. On the other hand, in the latter electronic apparatus corresponding to the second type latching mechanism, this region can be used to place other members and so on. Therefore, the inner space of the latter electronic apparatus may be used more effectively as compared with the inner space of the former electronic apparatus.

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Limited


The embodiments disclosed herein relates to a method and system for authentication of an object by forming a unique ID for the object. An authentication server identifies a unique natural pattern associated with the object to be verified. For the identified pattern, the authentication server assigns a unique ID. The pattern and unique ID are then stored in a database. The unique ID is then pasted on the object. For authentication, an image of the object with unique ID is captured and is sent to the authentication server for authentication. The authentication server first extracts from the received second image the unique ID, which is then used to retrieve from the database the stored pattern corresponding to it. The pattern in the received second image is then compared with the original pattern retrieved from the database. Based on the comparison, the system confirms authenticity of the object.

Authentication methods play an important role in distinguishing genuine objects from counterfeit objects. Objects such as documents, textile items, woodcrafts, automotive parts, consumer products and so on are subject to forgery through replication/duplication. In most of the cases, it is difficult to check whether an object is authentic or not, by means of manual inspection. Counterfeit objects compromise quality and hence, the customer who purchases a counterfeit object is not obtaining the value for her investment. Forging also raises security related issues.
An existing system to prevent forgery of objects such as documents uses digital watermarks to authenticate objects. When a digital watermark is used for authentication purposes, it is made invisible such that it can be read only if the location of the digital watermark is known. Also, the nature of the information embedded should be known. But with the latest forgery techniques, it is possible to effectively duplicate the digital watermark, making the system ineffective.
In another existing technique for preventing forgery, bar codes are associated with the objects for the purpose of authentication. A bar code is an optical machine readable representation of data. The data present in a bar code shows details about the object to which the bar code is attached. Special optical scanners called bar code readers are required to scan bar codes. The problem with the technique of using only bar codes is that the bar codes can be easily reproduced and/or copied which makes the system vulnerable for counterfeiting. Further, the special bar code readers are expensive and require an additional computing device to decode the information.
Another existing system for preventing forgery and duplication of objects uses a combination of nanoparticle spray and bar code. The problem with this method is that a dedicated magnetic reader is required for reading the nanoparticle pattern and an optical reader is required for bar code reading. The use of two readers adds to the overall cost of the system.
In another existing method for preventing object counterfeiting, biometric measurement techniques such as fingerprint and/or iris scanning are used. Biometric scanners are expensive devices and use of such scanners adds to the cost of the system.
Another existing technique used for object authentication uses near field communication (NFC) technique. NFC technique allows simplified transactions and data exchange between two devices in close proximity to each other. Special NFC chips are to be embedded in objects so as to enable communication between them and a reading device. Object identification codes could be stored and read from the NFC chips. The requirement of dedicated NFC chips makes the system expensive.
Another existing technique for prevention of object counterfeiting uses RFID based techniques. An RFID system uses radio waves for the purpose of identification and tracking of object. An RFID tag is formed and is attached to the object to be tracked. A RFID reader could read object identification codes from the tags. RFID tags and readers are expensive and add to the total cost of the system.
Another existing system for authentication is called Laser Surface Authentication (LSA) where the system reads the surface of the object and obtains a unique digital serial code. An issue with this system is that the laser based identification scheme requires dedicated system components which add to the cost of the system.
Another existing system for authentication uses a technology called Physical Unclonable Function (PUF). PUF implements a challenge-response kind of authentication. This technology is more suited for silicon chips. An issue associated with the PUF technology is that it lacks stability, with changes in environmental parameters such temperature, pressure and humidity. The physical properties on which this technology depends also change with aging.

Low cost unique identification generation using combination of patterns and unique code images


A system for and method of partial file hashing is presented. The system and method may generate a hash table file using a hash algorithm on portions of a file before transmitting the file. The receiving system may calculate hash values on one or more portions of a file and compare the values to the values in the hash table file.

When transmitting or storing files, it is advantageous to store or transmit a hash value of the file to verify with high confidence that the received transmitted file and the retrieved stored file are identical to the originally transmitted file and the originally stored file respectively. A hash algorithm calculates a hash value from a file. If the hash value of the file is identical to a hash value of a copy of the file, or a hash value of the original file, then it can be determined with a high degree of confidence that the two files are bit-for-bit copies, or that the original file has not been altered over time. However, calculating the hash value of a large file is expensive in terms of time and processor and/or memory usage.

System for and method of partial file hashing


The invention proposes an axis-invariant multi-axis system dynamics modeling and solving principle, and realizes iterative explicit dynamic modeling of multi-axis systems with tree chains, closed chains, friction and viscous joints and moving pedestals. The established model has elegant chain symbol system with pseudo-code function, which realizes complete parameterization including “topology, coordinate system, polarity, structural parameters, mass inertia, etc.”. The principle can be set to circuit, code, directly or indirectly, partially or fully executed inside a multi-axis robot system. In addition, the present invention also includes analytical verification system constructed on these principles for designing and verifying a multi-axis robot system.

Robotics is currently a very popular research field. This field has been invested a great deal of science and engineering manpower in the past decades and has studied for many years. However, once the number of the axis and degree of freedom are increased to a certain number, according to the existing textbooks and known observations, modeling, calculation and control methods, they often fall into complex out-of-control, even unsolvable problems.
First, the past practices lack generalized capabilities. It often needs to re-research to establish the corresponding kinematics and mechanical model for different robots.
Second, in the past practices used in the modeling process, the symbols and languages used were often inaccurate and incomplete. It leaded to many parameters that were not taken into account in the early stages of modeling. The subsequent entire modeling processes, including programming code written, were necessary to individually consider and solve the parameters and details that were not considered before. For complex systems such as robots with more degrees of freedom, it often means that a large number of bugs are hidden in the entire modeled system. This will affect the efficiency of the entire system development, and this kind of system developed without full consideration often has many stability problems that are difficult to solve.
Moreover, when the past practices encountered a higher complexity, the amount of computation would increase substantially or even be unanswered, and the accuracy of the calculation would be greatly affected. In other words, it has become a major flaw for robots that require immediate computational control to achieve autonomous control.
Therefore, although there are many robot-related theories, there is still lack of a complete and effective desymbol framework and corresponding calculation and control methods, which can comprehensively solve problems relating to modeling, computational structures and rules in the model, forward kinematics, inverse kinematics, and mechanical calculations in the actual development of various robots.

Axis-invariant based multi-axis robot kinematics modeling method


A light duty liquid detergent with desirable cleansing properties to the human skin and dishes comprising a C8-18 ethoxylated alkyl ether sulfate anionic surfactant, a sulfonate anionic surfactant, an alkyl polyglucoside surfactant, an amine oxide, solid particles, a 3-D structuring agent which is a particles suspending system and water.

This invention relates to a light duty liquid cleaning composition which contains solid particles ingredients, a particle suspending system, is mild to the skin and which demonstrates improved sensory attributes when used as a hand soap designed in particular for dishware. Furthermore the exfoliating agents improve grease removal effectiveness.
The present invention relates to light duty liquid detergent compositions with high foaming properties, which contains mixtures of anionic surfactants, amine oxide surfactant, alkyl polyglucoside surfactant, soft abrasive or exfoliating particles and a 3-D structuring agents able to suspend the particles in the product.
The prior art is replete with light duty liquid detergent compositions containing nonionic surfactants in combination with anionic and/or betaine surfactants wherein the nonionic detergent is not the major active surfactant, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,985 wherein an anionic based shampoo contains a minor amount of a fatty acid alkanolamide. U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,398 discloses a betaine-based shampoo containing minor amounts of nonionic surfactants. This patent states that the low foaming properties of nonionic detergents renders its use in shampoo compositions non-preferred. U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,335 also discloses a shampoo containing a betaine surfactant as the major ingredient and minor amounts of a nonionic surfactant and of a fatty acid mono- or di-ethanolamide. U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,204 discloses a shampoo comprising 0.8-20% by weight of an anionic phosphoric acid ester and one additional surfactant which may be either anionic, amphoteric, or nonionic. U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,334 discloses an anionic-amphoteric based shampoo containing a major amount of anionic surfactant and lesser amounts of a betaine and nonionic surfactants.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,129 discloses a liquid cleaning composition based on the alkali metal silicate content and containing five basic ingredients, namely, urea, glycerin, triethanolamine, an anionic detergent and a nonionic detergent. The silicate content determines the amount of anionic and/or nonionic detergent in the liquid cleaning composition. However, the foaming property of these detergent compositions is not discussed therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,515 discloses a heavy duty liquid detergent for laundering fabrics comprising a mixture of substantially equal amounts of anionic and nonionic surfactants, alkanolamines and magnesium salts, and, optionally, zwitterionic surfactants as suds modifiers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,195 discloses an aqueous detergent composition for laundering socks or stockings comprising a specific group of nonionic detergents, namely, an ethylene oxide of a secondary alcohol, a specific group of anionic detergents, namely, a sulfuric ester salt of an ethylene oxide adduct of a secondary alcohol, and an amphoteric surfactant which may be a betaine, wherein either the anionic or nonionic surfactant may be the major ingredient.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,509,306 discloses a light duty liquid detergent with desirable cleansing properties to the human skin and dishes containing a silicone polymer that delivers improved skin feel properties to the hands. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2003/0,044,442 (Mar. 6, 2003) describes a granular composition for use in a personal care product which comprises at least one water-insoluble inorganic material having a particle size of no more than 50 xcexcm and up to 10 percent by weight, with perceived exfoliating skin feel. EP-A-670 712 discloses an exfoliating composition including a particulate exfoliating material with a particle size in the range of 0.03 to 3 mm which is friable and under conditions of use of the composition breaks up into particles having an average size of less than 40 xcexcm.
It has now been found that a light duty liquid detergent can be formulated with a mixture of anionic surfactants, alkyl polyglucoside, alkyl monoalkanol amide surfactant, a particulates-suspending system, solid particulates with a particle size between 50 and 750 xcexcm and water, which has desirable cleaning properties, mildness to the skin and improved sensory attributes to the skin. The addition of the solid particles does not incur a detriment to the skin compatibility properties during dishwashing or during hand washing, and actually improves both sensory attributes on hands when used as a hand soap and the grease removal efficacy on dishes.
An object of this invention is to provide a light duty liquid detergent composition which comprises a sulfate surfactant, a sulfonate anionic surfactant, an alkyl polyglucoside surfactant, solid particulates in the range of 50-750 xcexcm of particle size, a solid particles suspending system and water wherein the composition does not contain an amine, enzyme, propanediol, or an aminopolyphosphate.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Light duty liquid cleaning composition with suspended solid particles


A method of forming a structural member includes hydroforming the blank to form a hydroformed member and finishing the hydroformed member by positioning the wall of the hydroformed member between a die surface and an electromagnetic discharging element having a non-circular cross-section, and actuating the electromagnetic discharging element so that the metallic wall of the hydroformed member presses against the die surface.

The present invention relates to motor vehicle manufacturing. More specifically, the illustrative embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and apparatuses for making hydroformed structural members, that may be used in motor vehicle frame construction.
It is known to construct motor vehicle frames which incorporate one or more hydroformed members. A hydroformed frame component may be further processed or xe2x80x9cfinishedxe2x80x9d after hydroforming to its final configuration. Finishing may be carried out by, for example, laser cutting. However, laser cutting is time consuming and expensive.
The present invention can be embodied in a method of forming a structural member, the method comprising providing a blank having a tubular metallic wall, hydroforming the blank to form a hydroformed member by a method comprising providing a hydroforming die assembly having a hydroforming die cavity defined by hydroforming surfaces, positioning the blank and the hydroforming die assembly such that the blank is within the hydroforming die cavity, and providing a high pressure fluid into an interior of the blank to expand the wall of the blank outwardly into conformity with the hydroforming die surfaces, and applying electromagnetic energy to the hydroformed member by a method comprising, providing a second die with a second die surface, positioning the wall of the hydroformed member between the second die surface and an electromagnetic discharging element having a non-circular cross-section, and actuating the electromagnetic discharging element so that the metallic wall of the hydroformed member presses against the second die surface.
The present invention can also be embodied in a method of forming a structural member, the method comprising providing a tubular member with a longitudinal axis and having a non-circular cross-section transverse to the longitudinal axis being formed by a tubular metallic wall, providing a die having a die surface, positioning the tubular member in the die, providing a tubular electromagnetic discharging element with a longitudinal axis and having a non-circular cross-section transverse to the longitudinal axis, inserting a non-circular electromagnetic discharging element into the tubular member, the non-circular cross-section of the electromagnetic discharging element closely following and corresponding to the non-circular cross-section of the tubular member; and actuating the electromagnetic discharging element so that the wall of the tubular member presses against the die surface.
The present invention may also be embodied in a method of forming a structural member, the method comprising providing a longitudinal axis member having a non-circular cross-section transverse to the longitudinal axis being formed by a tubular metallic wall, forming a hole in the member extending completely through the tubular metallic wall by electromagnetic discharge by a method comprising providing a die with a die surface, the die surface having an opening, positioning the tubular metallic wall between an electromagnetic discharging element and the die surface, and actuating the electromagnetic discharging element so that the tubular metallic wall is forced against the die surface and against the opening to form the hole.
Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the illustrated embodiments, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.

Method and apparatus for forming a structural member


A known first antenna is arranged in a space of a rear window glass above a defogging heater element and constituted by horizontal and vertical conductive strips. In accordance with the present invention, a second antenna is provided which consists of a feed point and a pair of first and second elements connected to the feed point and arranged in a space of the window glass around the heater element. The first element has a vertical conductive strip arranged in an area of the space between the heater element and a lateral edge of the window glass. The first element further has in an area of the space above the first antenna or in a space defined between the upper and lower ends of the first antenna, at least one horizontal conductive strip or a T-shaped or inverted T-shaped conductive strip assembly having a longer horizontal strip portion and a shorter vertical strip portion, or at least two horizontal conductive strips connected at opposite ends by vertical conductive strips to constitute a rectangular loop, or at least two horizontal conductive strips connected at one ends by a vertical conductive strip to constitute a -shape. The second element is arranged in an area of the space under the heater element and consists of a horizontal conductive strip and a vertical conductive strip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a glass antenna installed in or on a window glass of an automobile for receiving a radio frequency signal from a portable radio transmitter for controlling the operation of an automotive equipment such as a keyless entry system for automatically unlocking a vehicle door, a similar control system for a luggage compartment lid, a control system for controlling turning on and off of a passenger compartment lamp, etc.
2. Disclosure Information
A keyless entry system for automatically unlocking a vehicle door by receiving a radio frequency signal of a frequency around 40 MHz, 60 MHz, 250 MHz or 300 MHz emitted from a radio transmitter has lately come to attract considerable attention.
In a keyless entry system disclosed in Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 62-37475, a pick-up consisting of a loop coil built in a vehicle pillar is used as an antenna. A problem of such a prior art antenna is that it is largely influenced by noise. Another problem is that the antenna is embedded in a vehicle body so that its tuning cannot be attained with ease.
A glass antenna consisting of conductive strips formed on a lower marginal portion of a side window glass by screen printing has been proposed for use in such a keyless entry system as disclosed in Japanese Provisional Publication No. 63-43403. A problem of this glass antenna is that opening and closing of the window causes variations of its gain so that during opening of the window the gains in some directions become so small as to cause malfunction of the keyless entry system.
It has further been proposed to install an antenna for a keyless entry system in or on a rear window glass. However, the most part of the rear window glass is used for installation of the heating element for a defogger, and in many cases an upper marginal part above the heater element or the like part is used for installation of an antenna for receiving TV broadcast waves. For this reason, an antenna for a keyless entry system is subjected to severe arrangement restrictions and has been incapable of attaining a sufficiently large gain when simply installed in or on a remaining marginal part of the rear window glass.


Secure communication network user mobility apparatus and methods are disclosed. A mobile user that is locally connected to a first communication network in which a service is provided, but is associated with an independently controlled second secure communication network, may be authenticated for access to the service by the second communication network. This allows seamless user mobility between networks in a partner extranet or other collection of trusted networks based on existing inter-network user mobility relationships. Access control, monitoring, and reporting, for example, and possibly other functions, may also be provided.

Administrators of private communication networks such as corporate enterprise networks do not currently have convenient options for providing temporary network access for "mobile" external users, such as contractors or employees of partner enterprises, that may at times locally connect to their networks. Network access for such mobile users normally requires manually creating local user identities in a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory or analogous user database, for example, and manually granting access to services. Service access may be granted at a policy server or directly at individual application servers.
When a mobile user is no longer on-site, the corresponding local user identity must be deactivated and service access for this identity must be closed. The entire life cycle, from creation to deactivation, for temporary identities is often restricted to be no more than one day.
The manual creation and maintenance of temporary digital identities, as well as the associated service access activation and deactivation, for mobile users of partner corporations tends to be a very inefficient and costly process. It also can open significant security holes in a corporate network if temporary identities are not deactivated and/or service access rights are not removed when a mobile user is no longer on-site.
User mobility might be particularly important to enable the use of services for which information is distributed through a communication network, generally referred to as network services. "Web services" are an example of network services, and represent the next generation of technology being used for automatically exchanging information between different applications over the public Internet and many private networks. Web services provide a framework for building web-based distributed applications, and can provide efficient and effective automated machine-to-machine communications.
From a technology point of view, web services are network accessible functions that can be accessed using standard Internet protocols such as HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), extensible Markup Language (XML), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), etc., over standard interfaces.
The real power of web services technology is in its simplicity. The core technology only addresses the common language and communication issues and does not directly address the onerous task of application integration. Web services can be viewed as a sophisticated machine-to-machine Remote Procedure Call (RPC) technology for interconnecting multiple heterogeneous untrusted systems. Web services take the best of many new technologies by utilizing XML technology for data conversion/transparency and Internet standards such as HTTP and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) for message transport.
One of the primary drivers behind the development and standardization of web services is the ability to facilitate seamless machine-to-machine application-level communications by providing a loose coupling between disparate applications. Such a loose coupling of applications allows applications on different servers to interoperate without requiring a static, inflexible interface between them. Applications using very different technologies can interoperate using standard web services protocols.
There are currently no available products that allow user mobility amongst the sites of a partner extranet or other collection of communication networks, as noted above. Thus, there remains a need for improved user mobility techniques.


Method and apparatus for rotationally casting a plastic tank liner having a molded-in access fitting and for ensuring a uniform thickness of plastic in the wall of the liner and on the fitting. A hollow mold having a mold cavity surface conforming to the surface of the liner is provided. An access fitting is removeably mounted on the mold so that the interior surface of the fitting may be coated with the molding plastic and so that the molded liner and the filling may be removed from the mold as a unit. The mold is rotated about orthogonal axes while the mold is heated to a resin liquifying temperature. Additional heat is supplied to the fitting at a rate proportional to the mass of the fitting so that the temperature of the inside surface of the fitting is increased at a rate substantially corresponding to the inside surface temperature of the mold.

This invention relates generally to pressure vessels having adaptor fittings mounted thereon to provide access to the interior of the vessel. The invention is particularly concerned with the techniques for manufacturing filament- wound plastic pressure vessels which contain corrosive and/or pressurized fluids. Pressure vessels of this type generally include a rotationally cast or blow-molded inner plastic liner which is wound with resin-impregnated glass filaments to provide adequate mechanical and structural properties for the sidewall of the vessel. A typical pressure vessel would comprise a cylindrical sidewall having oblate, ellipsoidal end portions, at least one of which is provided with an axial fitting which, in turn, is adapted to be connected to a closure member or to plumbing connections. According to the prior art, metallic and plastic fittings are associated with plastic liners by fusion or molding techniques, and the sub-assembly of the fitting and the liner are wound with resin-impregnated filaments. Examples of such pressure vessels may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2848133; 3874544; 3508677; 3907149; and 4705468.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,468 granted to LeBreton, there is disclosed a technique for rotationally casting a plastic liner for a pressure vessel having an access fitting molded therein. According to that patent, the apparatus includes a rotational casting arm having a mold supporting surface which is adapted to be rotated about orthogonal axes. A hollow mold having a mold cavity surface conforming to the outside surface of the liner to be molded is removably attached to the mold supporting surface together with a metal access fitting. The metal access fitting has a longitudinal axis aligned with one of the orthogonal axes and has at least a first surface portion extending into the mold cavity. The first surface portion and the surface of the mold cavity are coated with plastic upon molding rotation to form the plastic liner.
It has been found that in practicing the invention set forth in the LeBreton patent, the plastic resin which coats the first surface portion of the fitting tends to be thinner than the remainder of the tank liner since the relatively large mass of the fitting does not attain the same elevated temperature as the relatively thin mold wall sections during the dwell time of the mold in the heating chamber. As a consequence of this molding operation, a relatively thin coating of resin is formed on the interior surface of the fitting which may permit liquid contained in a completed pressure vessel to seep through and contact the fitting itself. Moreover and in most cases, a thin plastic lining on the interior of the fitting tends to delaminate and pull away from the fitting upon cooling. To overcome this tendency, excess molding composition is used to ensure that the coating on the interior of the fitting is of sufficient thickness. While in many cases excess molding composition is not detrimental in an engineering sense, it necessarily adds to the cost and weight of the item. When expensive molding compounds are employed, significant cost increases in the finished product will result.

Method and apparatus for forming rotationally cast tank liner having an end fitting


In a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head having aligned top and bottom pole tip pieces, a sacrificial mask protects the upper pole tip while the exposed non-aligned portions of the gap material and lower pole tip are removed. The sacrificial mask is deposited using a self alignment technique.

Reference to Co-Pending Applications
Reference is hereby made to the following co-pending patent applications filed on even date herewith and assigned to the same assignee "TOP POLE PROFILE FOR POLE TIP TRIMMING" Ser. No. 07/480,250; and filed Feb. 15, 1990 "METHOD FOR TIPS IN A THIN FILM HEAD" Ser. No. 07/480,558, filed Feb. 15, 1990.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to production of thin film magnetic heads. In particular, the invention relates to aligning the upper and lower pole tips in a thin film magnetic head using a sacrificial mask layer in which only the gap material and bottom pole are milled.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Thin film magnetic read/write heads are used for magnetically reading and writing information upon a magnetic storage medium such as a magnetic disk or magnetic tape. It is highly desirable to provide a high density of information storage on the magnetic storage medium.
Increased storage density in a recording system may be achieved by providing an areal density as high as possible for a given recording surface. In the case of rotating disk drives (both floppy and hard disk), the areal density is found by multiplying the number of flux reversals per unit length along the track (linear density in units of flux reversals per inch) by the number of tracks available per unit length in the radial direction (track density in units of tracks per inch).
As track densities have approached and exceeded 2400 tracks per inch, the alignment between the upper and lower pole tips in thin film magnetic read/write heads has become critical. At such a high storage density, design criteria require magnetic transducers in which the bottom pole tip width is very nearly the same as the top pole tip width. Top and bottom poles should also be in close alignment.
A technique which provides better pole alignment begins with a top pole, bottom pole and a gap area separating the top and bottom poles, all fabricated substantially wider than desired A narrower mask layer is then deposited upon the upper pole. The structure is then aligned using a material removal process ("milling") such as ion milling or reactive ion milling in which high energy ions bombard the pole tip region to remove the excess material (top pole, bottom pole and gap material) that extends beyond the edges of the masking layer. The mask layer protects only a portion of the top pole, bottom pole and gap so that the width of the completed pole tips is approximately the same as the width of the mask layer.
The noted alignment technique is both slow and capital intensive. For example, assuming a top pole thickness of 4 microns, a bottom pole thickness of 3 microns and gap thickness of 0.5 microns, and further assuming the gap layer material has a milling rate about one-half the milling rate of the pole tip layers, the total shaping time is about 8 units of time. This is calculated with the formula: milling time=layer thickness.times.milling rate. For this example (4.times.1)+(3.times.1)+(0.5.times.2)=8 units of time.

Self aligned magnetic poles using sacrificial mask


A saddle and equipment cart is provided which consists of a main cabinet body having an open top with a storage compartment for storing various equestrian articles therein. A pair of spaced apart ground wheels are pivotally attached to a lower back end of the main cabinet body, for supporting the cart above the ground. A handle is attached to an upper front end of the main cabinet body for manual operation of the cart. A pair of spaced apart support legs are attached to a lower front end of the main cabinet body in a downward position, to cooperate with the ground wheels in supporting the cart on the ground. A lid is hinged to one side at the open top of the main cabinet body. A saddle bearer on the lid has a dorsal fin to receive and hold an equestrian saddle thereon. A boot valet being a pair of L-shaped rods are mounted to the back end of the main cabinet body, with each rod having a knob to retain each of a pair of riding boots in an inverted position thereon.

The instant invention is the subject matter of Disclosure Document No.: 327,295 filed in the PTO on Mar. 4, 1993, and it is respectfully requested that this document be retained beyond the two-year period so that it may be relied upon as evidence of conception of the invention during the prosecution phase of this application, should the need arise.
The instant invention relates generally to wheeled carriers and more specifically it relates to a saddle and equipment cart.
Numerous wheeled carriers have been provided in prior art that are adapted to haul, store and organize various types of articles. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,930,663 to Scripter; 4,880,248 to Elmer; Des. 243,752 to Kardas and Des. 252,197 to Gale all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.


A handicap accessible doorway includes a frame having side jambs and a low profile sill extending between the bottom portions of the jambs. A flexible fin extends along the length of the sill and projects upwardly therefrom to form a water dam. The flexible fin is sealingly attached at each end to a jamb. During a blowing rainstorm, water is contained by the dam and directed to a contain-and-drain water management system, which directs the water away from the doorway to an exterior weep hole or other drain port. The fin, being flexible, yields to the weight of a footstep or a wheelchair thereby maintaining the handicap accessible designation of the sill and the doorway.

Low profile accessible sills are used to provide easier access to buildings by handicapped individuals in wheelchairs. However, controlling leakage where the door meets an accessible sill has been a problem at least in part because of the one-half inch maximum height limitation for handicap accessible sills. Thus, accessible sills generally have not performed well in blowing rainstorms and typically are assigned a "limited water" (LW) rating for product performance. Previous efforts at water management for low profile sill designs have attempted to create a perfect seal between a frame, sill, and a closed door panel. This is known as "barrier" design and, in theory at least, is sound. However, barrier design often fails to result in a perfect seal when subjected to variations in piece part manufacturing, door assembly at the manufacturing facility, door installation at a building site, and forces of weathering and normal use. As a result, leakage, particularly in blowing rainstorms, is generally inevitable.
Thus, there is a need for a low profile handicap accessible door sill that addresses water leakage problems with prior art accessible sills without relying on a barrier design that rarely meets the design target of a perfect seal and does not form a reliable seal. It is to the provision of such an accessible sill and an accessible doorway incorporating the sill that the present invention is primarily directed.

Accessible sill with flexible dam for water containment and drainage


A transparent desiccant for organic EL and methods for using the transparent desiccant are described, which is a cured product of an organopolysiloxane composition that contains (A) an alkenyl-group-containing organopolysiloxane including a linear organopolysiloxane having at least two alkenyl groups per molecule, (B) chemical formula (I):HaRbSiO(4-a-b)/2  (I)(where R is a C1-10 monovalent hydrocarbon group, a is 0.001-1.0, and b is 0.7-2.1), and (C) a hydrosilylation catalyst. The number of mol Y of silicon-atom-bonded hydrogen atoms (mol) in component (B) satisfies the formula 0.002 (mol)≤(Y-X)≤0.8 (mol) relative to the number of mol X of silicon-atom-bonded alkenyl groups (mol) in component (A). The transparent desiccant for an organic EL is highly transparent, capable of top emission, has low shrinkage growth, suppresses loss of an element light-emitting portion, suppresses the short-circuit phenomenon, and has exceptional defoaming properties in the material curing process.

In organic electroluminescent (abbreviated below as "organic EL") panels, because the panel elements are "self-emissive," i.e., they emit light themselves, the panel does not require a separate light source such as the backlight in a liquid-crystal panel and thus has a low power consumption. Other characteristics of such panels include the ease of achieving a lower profile and a lighter weight. In addition, they reportedly have a higher picture quality than liquid-crystal panels. However, a drawback is that the elements are damaged by the ingress of even a trace amount of moisture into the panel (generating dark spots).
Because organic EL panels must be constructed so as to prevent moisture ingress to a high degree, a structure that hermetically seals the organic EL elements with, for example, a light-transmissive substrate made of glass or the like is generally used. This is a hollow, sealed structure in which a substrate of glass or the like has formed thereon an organic EL element constructed of an anode, an organic layer and a cathode arranged as successive layers and has joined thereto an opposing recessed glass member or the like, and is obtained by filling the interior with dried nitrogen gas or the like and bonding the end with a sealant. Various research aimed at carrying out the removal of moisture that has infiltrated into the organic EL panel during production has been reported, including methods which place a desiccant at the interior and methods which cover the organic EL element with a filler. Regardless of the method, cases in which the desiccant or filler has transparency are more effective because so-called top emission, in which light emitted by the organic EL device is extracted to the exterior from the top face, is possible.
Organic EL elements are formed for the most part by processes such as vapor deposition. However, an electrical short-circuit (shorting) between the cathode and the anode sometimes arises due to the presence of a small particle. When shorting arises, the elements around the particle causing the shorting must be separated with a laser or the like, which gives rise to problems such as partial loss of the emitted light and an increased number of fabrication steps.
Moreover, there is a pursuit of thinness in organic EL panels and, in addition to flat panels, other low-profile panels with a curved shape have attracted attention. Such low-profile panels require as well a tolerance to bending. Hence, not only thinness, but also flexibility is required.
Organic EL panels having a flexible structure that is foldable have also received a lot of attention. Thinness and flexibility are similarly required of the various constituent members, such as the light-transmitting substrate and also the desiccant, filler and the like.
Patent Document 1 discloses art which mixes a metal hydride as a desiccant into silicone rubber and places the mixture in an organic EL structure. The steps in this method are simple because filling the interior of the organic EL panel is not required. However, with a desiccant-containing silicone rubber, not only is it difficult to obtain light transmittance, when the silicone rubber is thinly formed, additional challenges include the presence of bubbles therein.
Patent Document discloses the use, as a transparent desiccant, of a mixture of a Group 2, Group 3 or Group 4 metal alkoxide with a transparent polymer that is inert to the metal alkoxide. In this method, there is a gradual loss of light transmittance as moisture absorption proceeds due to reaction of the metal alkoxide with moisture, and so maintaining the initial light transmittance is difficult. Also, in this method, a short circuit-suppressing effect is difficult to obtain.

Transparent desiccant for organic EL, and method for using same


An inner elongated tubular member having a plurality of arms which extend from one end thereof and a concentric outer sleeve slideable relative to the tubular member for urging each of the arms into engagement with the hub of a needle attached to one end of a medicament cartridge to lock the cartridge and its needle to the tubular member and form a hypodermic needle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for holding a cartridge having a needle attached thereto and for dispensing medicament from the cartridge or drawing blood into the cartridge. When coupled together, the holding device, cartridge and needle form a hypodermic syringe.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One form of hypodermic syringe typically includes a generally cylindrical barrel including a piston rod therein. The rod includes a handle at one end to facilitate reciprocating movement of the rod within the cylindrical barrel. In such a hypodermic syringe a cartridge is provided having a needle attached thereto, the cartridge being inserted into the cylindrical barrel to work in combination with the piston rod to dispense or receive liquid such as medicament or blood, respectively, in response to movement of the piston rod within the barrel. In this form of syringe the piston rod is connected to a plunger in the inserted cartridge, axial movement of the piston rod causing corresponding axial movement of the plunger to dispense the medicament from the cartridge or receive blood within the cartridge depending upon whether such movement is a dispensing movement or aspirating movement. Such hypodermic needles are well known in the art and examples include embodiments described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,524,367 to Smith and 4,744,790 to Jankowski et al.
One problem that occurs during use of such a hypodermic syringe is that of accidental exposure of the user of the syringe to whatever contaminants might be present upon or within the needle or cartridge after use thereof. For example, in those instances where the needle and cartridge are to be removed from the barrel and disposed of, heretofore it has been necessary for the user to grasp the needle to remove the needle and cartridge assembly from the barrel. Such grasping can expose the attendant to any contaminant which is on the exterior surface of the needle and cartridge, particularly if the attendant is not wearing a glove. In addition, not infrequently the attendant might be accidentally punctured by the needle while attempting to remove the needle and cartridge and corresponding contamination of the user will obviously result. Somewhat related to these problems is the not unlikely possibility that the attendant might drop the needle and cartridge assembly while removing the assembly from the barrel structure resulting in undersirable contamination of the area exposed to the needle and cartridge. A similar problem is the possibility that the needle and cartridge assembly might prematurely fall out of the barrel-like holder during the disposal operation. In any event, accidental contamination of a medical attendant or anyone else can present a serious health problem especially if the contaminant is an infectious disease such as hepatitis, AIDS and the like.
In order to prevent undesirable contamination, it is highly desirable to provide a hypodermic syringe wherein a medical attendant can remove a cartridge and needle assembly from an associated holder without grasping or otherwise touching the assembly. Similarly, it is also desirable to provide a hypodermic syringe wherein a medical attendant can remove such an assembly without the assembly prematurely falling out of the holder as a result of the attendant carelessly attempting to grasp the assembly and without the attendant inadvertently dropping the assembly.


A process for depositing a lubricating coating on the silicon oxide protective layer of a magnetic disk, wherein after having cleaned the disk, the sequence for coating the surface of the disk includes the steps of: setting the magnetic disk into rotation; spraying onto the protective layer of the disk, in the direction of rotation, a lubricant containing carrier gases, solvents, and active oxyhydrocarbon monomeric elements that are polymerized and then adsorbed to the protective layer; spraying a solvent on the disk in the direction of rotation; and wiping the disk. The invention is applicable to a variety of disk structures, including magnetooptical disks.

In a magnetooptical disk memory system data is written to a magnetic disk by means of a magnetic write transducer, for example, and read by an optoelectronic device that includes a more or less complicated optical focusing device in cooperation with a photoelectronic transducer and a circuit for amplifying signals provided by the transducer. Given the rapid rate of technological evolution, there is a tendency to use such memory systems because they make it possible to obtain radial densities on the order of several thousand tracks per centimeter, and longitudinal densities on the order of 10,000 information bits per centimeter.
The operation of such systems is based on a magnetooptical effect which involves the interaction of linearly polarized light with the magnetic state of a region of the recording layer of a magnetooptical disk. French Patent 2,514,913, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,544, and filed by Compagnie Internationale pour l'Informatique CII HONEYWELL BULL, provides more complete details on the magnetooptical effect. French Patent Application 87.13738, corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 253,041, filed on Oct. 5, 1987 by Societe BULL S. A., and entitled "Controlled Device for Optical Reading and Magnetic Writing on Data Storage Media," and French Patent Application 87.13739, corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 253,038, filed on Oct. 5, 1987 by Societe BULL S. A., and entitled "Device for Optical Reading and Magnetic Writing on a Data Storage Medium", describe devices for optical reading and magnetic writing of data on a magnetooptical disk, comprising a magnetic transducer for writing the data on the medium, the transducer being mounted on a skate for flying above the medium, and an optoelectronic device, most of which is mounted on the skate. The skate flies above the magnetooptical disk at a distance of several tenths of a micron. Magnetooptical disks are now well known. One such disk is described in French Patent Application 87.18355, corresponding U.S. patent application Ser. No. 291,142, filed on Dec. 30, 1987 by Societe BULL S. A., and entitled "Magnetooptical Recording Medium Resistant to Corrosion in a Humid Atmosphere." A magnetooptical disk of this kind includes a substrate upon which a first dielectric layer (for example, composed of alumina or aluminum nitride) is deposited, upon which a magnetooptical recording layer is then deposited. The recording layer is composed of an alloy including one or more metals in the first transition series (Fe, Co, Cr, Ni, Mn) and one or more metals in the heavy rare earth group, such as terbium, gadolinium, or dysprosium. A second dielectric layer is deposited on the magnetooptical recording layer. This layer is then covered with a layer of an oxide of silicon (either the monoxide or the dioxide), which protects the second dielectric layer and the magnetooptioal recording layer from mechanical impact and corrosion, especially in damp atmospheres.
It is extremely difficult for a skate such as the one described above to fly over a magnetooptical disk of this kind. To overcome this difficulty, it is first necessary to deposit a lubricating layer thereon. Lubricating layers of this kind have been used for a long time to coat classical magnetic disks; this type of disk is written to and read from by means of magnetic recording and reading transducers. They are usually composed of silicone or lubricating layers that contain carbon. Layers of this kind have been found to be unusable for magnetooptical disks coated with silicon oxide because the silicone lubricating layers do not allow a skate to fly close enough to the surface of the disk, and furthermore, layers that contain carbon are not transparent to light and therefore do not allow optical reading of information stored on the magnetooptical disk.
Products for coating metallic items can also be used in conjunction with magnetooptical disks that include a protective layer of silicon oxide to provide protection from oxidation as well as lubrication. This type of coating allows a skate, including a magnetic write transducer and an optoelectronic read device, to fly over the surface of a disk. This type of product is sold in the form of an aerosol bomb. It consists of a complex mixture of a Freon-based carrier gas, a mixture of solvents of the toluene and polychloroethylene type, and monomeric oxyhydrocarbon elements. It will be referred to hereinbelow by the term "lubricant." It is manufactured and sold, for example, by Dow Corning GmbH of Munich, in the Federal Republic of Germany, under the commercial name Molykote (a registered trademark of Dow Corning Corporation), and is one of a class of "metal protectors."


An electrolytic reactor system for producing non-joule heat has a plurality of small cells arranged in an interconnected array, wherein each cell is characterized by having a relatively small cathode separated from a relatively large anode by a small gap, with the cells immersed in an electrolytic bath.

U.S. Patent Office Disclosure Documents No. 437867 (filed May and stamped Jun. 12, 1998), entitled MultiCell Reactors, documents the conception of the invention in the winter of 1997. Different configurations of the invention were documented in U.S. Patent Office Disclosure No. 454163 (filed February and stamped Apr. 15, 1999) entitled Surface-Flux MultiCell Reactors. Since then embodiments of the invention have been demonstrated. Methods for constructing MultiCell is given in Disclosure Document No. 446749 (filed October and stamped Nov. 2, 1998), entitled Metal-Film Patterns Produced by Ink-Jet and Metal-Reduction Processes.
This invention generally relates to reactors, and more particularly to a thermo-electrochemical reactor where stored potential energy is activated by electrical charge.
Batteries and electrolytic cells are two different types of electrochemical reactors. Batteries combine chemicals and convert potential chemical energy to electricity. Whereas, electrolytic cells use electricity to produce metals (e.g., copper and sodium) and gases (e.g., hydrogen and chlorine). Neither batteries nor electrolytic cells have historically produced large quantities of heat. In general, heating results from the joule heating of the electrolyte.
It is therefore the object of this invention to utilize a reactor of MultiCell type construction for the efficient production of non-joule heat.
It is yet another object of this design to reduce the overall resistances within the reactor to reduce nonproductive joule heating and increase fluxes so that more of the voltage drop around the surface of the cathode to encourage efficient heating.
It is yet another object of this design to encourage efficient heating by further increasing the voltage overpotential near the surface of the cathode via inducing a charged-particle boundary layer at the cathode.
It is yet another object of the invention to promote quick charging and production of non-joule heat by using a small cathode size and high fluxes.
It is yet another object of this invention to demonstrate that tungsten, nickel, platinum and other possible electrically conductive materials can work as cathode materials.
It is yet another object of this invention demonstrate that platinum and other possible electrically conductive materials can work as anode materials.
It is yet another object of this invention to supply hydride or hydrogen ion (H+) forming electrolyte to complete the electrical circuit between the anode and cathode.
It is yet another object of this design to utilize a reactor of MultiCell type construction having a small cathode, large anode, small gap, and of arrangement to focus and channel fluxes, etc. that are capable of repetitive replication within a reactor for increased total power output.
It is yet another object of this invention to show that the anode and cathode patterns can be made by etching, plating, and other mechanical methods.
It is yet another object of this invention to show that the anode and cathode patterns can be made by a unique method of printing the patterns with an ink-jet printer apparatus.
It is yet another object of this invention to show that the anode and cathode patterns can be made by yet another unique method of using a metal-compound paint that reduces to the metal via application of heat.
It is yet another object of this invention to show that further metal can be plated on the patterns mentioned above by electroplating methods and selective plating can be accomplished by applying current only to parts of the pattern.
It is yet another object of this invention that the heat will be in the useful form of heated or boiling water-based electrolyte solution and steam.
The present invention will frequently be referred to as a xe2x80x9creactorxe2x80x9d hereafter to distinguish from traditional batteries and electrolytic cells and their designs. The present invention concentrates on cathode generated heat. The desired cathodic processes occur at the surface or in boundry layers at the cathod. In this disclosure, these are referred to as xe2x80x9cdesired cathodicxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cdesired boundry layerxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cnon-joulexe2x80x9d heating processes or reactions.
The present invention discloses various embodiments that provide high electron (exe2x88x92) and hydrogen ion (H+) fluxes and focus these fluxes around the cathode electrode. The high fluxes can quickly produce and maintain a high equilibrium concentration of hydrogen and hydride(s) near the surface of the cathode, which is considered to be important in the production of large quantities of useful heat that will be referred to as xe2x80x9cefficient heatingxe2x80x9d hereafter. The high current (electron flux) and the high hydrogen-ion recombination rate near the surface substantially increase the voltage overpotential and can exponentially increase internal pressures near the surface of the cathode which also encourage efficient heating. The invention configurations presented concentrate fluxes by focusing fluxes through narrow bridgeways, forcing a collection of fluxes to pass through common channels, and/or passing the fluxes through thin layers of electrically conductive material at the surface. The high fluxes allow rapid heat production with essentially no charge-up time (seconds or less).
Desired conditions for efficient heating are considered to be (1) high electron flux, (2) high hydrogen-ion (proton) flux, and (3) high voltage overpotential around the electrode surface to produce high hydrogen recombination pressures that drive the reactions. The present invention does this while reducing less productive, joule-heating (resistance heating) losses in the cell. Joule-heating losses increase exponentially to the formula in Equation 1.
Pjoule heating=V2/Rxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(Equation 1)
Where:
Pjoule heating is joule-heating losses
V is the overall voltage across the cell
The joule-heating losses are exponential and can easily overshadow desired heating processes in the reactor. However, and fortunately, if enough voltage (depending system internal resistances) is applied and the current (electron flux) is high enough, a gaseous or a charged-particle (plasma) boundary layer develops at the electrode""s surface. Formation of the boundary layer is characterized by a blue glow at the electrode and a sharp increase in the overall resistance of the cell (e.g., amperage drops with increased voltage). This resistance via the charged-particle region directs more of the voltage drop around the surface of the cathode, which can increase more of the desired overpotential near the surface of the cathode. The present invention further takes advantage of the phenomena by reducing cell resistance and forcing voltage drop (with the desired fluxes) around the electrode surface, where it is desired. These combinations, in the case of the invention, appear to overcome the joule-heating losses and allows for more efficient heating.
Noting the above-described scenarios, a reactor""s design should be designed for the lowest voltage possible and have most of the voltage drop near the surface of the cathode. This implies making significantly smaller cathodes and larger anodes than used in standard cells and moving the anodes and cathodes closer together. This increases the efficiency, but the total output may decrease because of the smaller cathode. However, putting multiple cells in parallel can offset this. Also, for economical reasons and even greater efficiency, the cells are designed as compact units for mass production much like a printed circuit board.
The present invention, also referred to as MultiCell hereafter, because the unique design of a xe2x80x9csinglexe2x80x9d MultiCell (or a MultiCell unit) takes credit for efficiencies due, in part, to its small size but, again because its unique design, allows repetitive replication of the unit (much like a component on a circuit board or computer chip) to acquire the desired power output. MultiCells have been immersed in an electrolyte bath to produce boiling water. Demonstrations were performed with common electrolytes (e.g., K2CO3) and ordinary water. The inventor has demonstrated MultiCells that produce more useful heat than equivalent applied electrical power.
This invention is directed to a reactor design and a unique way of electrolyzing and heating water containing a conductive salt in solution. The reactor requires a non-conductive housing to hold the solution and allow immersion of the reactor components. The reactor housing and solutions may house a single reactor unit (or referred to a MultiCell unit) or plurality of reactor units to increase total power of the reactor. Each unit consists of a cathode, which is small with little surface area, and its surface is small in comparison to the anode to increase current and proton (hydrogen ion, H+) density at the cathode and reduce overall joule-heating losses in the reactor. Also, the high proton flux helps maintain a high-hydrogen or hydride concentration near the surface of the cathode. FIG. 1 shows a basic MultiCell configuration and its expected electrical current flow patterns. Also, a part of the unique design is a narrow gap between the cathode and anode. This narrow gap reduces losses due to joule heating and concentrates more of the voltage drop near the surface of the cathode where it is desired. Also, the general small size (surface area and thinness) of the unit reduces the paths and length of paths outside the region of the electrodes and concentrates the voltage drop and hydride production around and near the surface of the cathode where it is desired. Circles are shown in FIG. 1 because they produce the simplest design and produce the highest proton flux near the cathode surface. FIG. 2 shows how a plurality reactor units can and have been clustered together to increase power. Note how each reactor unit has its own cathode, but shares common anode area. This arrangement allows for better consolidation and easier construction. Also, notice that the anode is thinner along the outside perimeter of the cluster. This is done so each cathode receives equal voltage and current as demonstrated through experimentation. Included in FIG. 2 is a graph that shows the flux at the cathodes as a function of voltage and number of MultiCell units in a cluster. Notice that the flux is high even at 3 volts and appears to be rather uniformly spread between cathodes.
Two different constructions to deliver power to reactor""s cathodes and anodes are shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. These designs lend themselves to circuit-board or computer-chip type construction.
The design has been applied to other geometries as well. These designs may not allow as high a flux over the entire cathode surface, but allow focusing of fluxes or the passing of fluxes through common bridgeways, and thus, producing hot spots. Also, this design can be easier to construct for experimental development purposes. FIG. 5 through FIG. 7 shows non-circular designs that tend to concentrate fluxes toward the connecting base of the electrode. (Note: this is where most of the test runs have failed due to erosion and is no surprise. Further development should overcome this problem.) Most of the experimental data and detailed description in this patent are of this type design. Notice that in FIG. 6 the fluxes are forced to funnel through pinch points and all the fluxes need to pass through a common region (disc) next to the cathode collector. Further experiments need to be done to determine if these hot spots are beneficial or a hindrance to the overall performance of the reactor.
During operation of the MultiCell, there is a blue glow or discharge around the cathode. This glow does not happen until 50 to 100 volts are applied. The exact voltage depends on configuration, electrolyte concentration etc. While increasing voltage from zero, the current continues to increase until the blue glow appears (FIG. 9). Then the current sharply drops indicating a sharp increase in resistance. The inventor proposes that the electron flux and voltage exert just enough counter-pressure to push the electrolyte solution away from the surface of the electrode when the blue glow starts. This forms a new surface/interface where the hydrogen ions (protons, H+) and electrons (exe2x88x92) merge and interact (FIG. 10). Further increases in voltage result in further increases in the fluxes (current) that pass through the boundary layer. This is beneficial to efficient heating reactions because of increased particle density. More importantly, the inventor also proposes that extra flux is accompanied with extra voltage overpotential (and particularly hydrogen-recombination voltage overpotential) at the interface region. Only moderate increases in the voltage are needed to greatly increase pressures at the interface since the relationship of voltage overpotential to pressure is to the 4th powerxe2x80x94according to Michio Enyo and Tafel theories which have been confirmed by experiment.
Even though the reactions happen near the electrode, more of the reactions do not actually happen in the surface of the electrode. This implies that the material makeup of the electrode and the electrolyte are less important. The solvent itself (water), at the said surface/interface (FIG. 10), supplies xe2x80x9chydridexe2x80x9d and sites where the prescribed pressures form. In summary, the required interactions for potential energy conversion may be more conductive at the charged-particle boundary layer and its surface/interface than at the electrode because of the noticed greater voltage drop at the said boundary layer than the electrode.
This patent application is for the apparatus and methodology, not for any underlying theory. However, the invention and designs presented, herein, were conceived with the desired theory in mind. The theory is only presented to give credence to the concepts behind the invention designs described herein. Better theories may be developed that explain the efficient heating phenomena, but they do not change the results, designs, and claims documented within this Patent Application. The fact is that the MultiCell invention produces more heat than electrical power supplied and this heat comes from the conversion of some form of potential energy within the contents of the reactor housing when electrical current is applied.
It is therefore the object of this invention to utilize a reactor of MultiCell type construction for the efficient production of non-joule heat.
It is yet another object of this design to reduce the overall resistances within the reactor to reduce nonproductive joule heating and increase fluxes so that more of the voltage drop around the surface of the cathode to encourage efficient heating.
It is yet another object of this design to encourage efficient heating by further increasing the voltage overpotential near the surface of the cathode via inducing a charged-particle boundary layer at the cathode.
It is yet another object of the invention to promote quick charging and production of non-joule heat by using a small cathode size and high fluxes.
It is yet another object of this invention to demonstrate that tungsten, nickel, platinum and other possible electrically conductive materials can work as cathode materials.
It is yet another object of this invention demonstrate that platinum and other possible electrically conductive materials can work as anode materials.
It is yet another object of this invention to supply hydride or hydrogen ion (H+) forming electrolyte to complete the electrical circuit between the anode and cathode.
It is yet another object of this design to utilize a reactor of MultiCell type construction having a small cathode, large anode, small gap, and of arrangement to focus and channel fluxes, etc. that are capable of repetitive replication within a reactor for increased total power output.
It is yet another object of this invention to show that the anode and cathode patterns can be made by etching, plating, and other mechanical methods.
It is yet another object of this invention to show that the anode and cathode patterns can be made by a unique method of printing the patterns with an ink-jet printer apparatus.
It is yet another object of this invention to show that the anode and cathode patterns can be made by yet another unique method of using a metal-compound paint that reduces to the metal via application of heat.
It is yet another object of this invention to show that further metal can be plated on the patterns mentioned above by electroplating methods and selective plating can be accomplished by applying current only to parts of the pattern.
It is yet another object of this invention that the heat will be in the useful form of heated or boiling water-based electrolyte solution and steam.


Load shedding schemes for mining data streams. A scoring function is used to rank the importance of stream elements, and those elements with high importance are investigated. In the context of not knowing the exact feature values of a data stream, the use of a Markov model is proposed herein for predicting the feature distribution of a data stream. Based on the predicted feature distribution, one can make classification decisions to maximize the expected benefits. In addition, there is proposed herein the employment of a quality of decision (QoD) metric to measure the level of uncertainty in decisions and to guide load shedding. A load shedding scheme such as presented herein assigns available resources to multiple data streams to maximize the quality of classification decisions. Furthermore, such a load shedding scheme is able to learn and adapt to changing data characteristics in the data streams.

Many new applications process multiple data streams simultaneously. For instance, in a sensor network, data flows from a large number of embedded sensors; and in the stock market, each security corresponds to a stream of quotes and trades. In comparison to these unbounded, high speed incoming data, applications that handle multiple streams are constrained by limited resources (e.g., CPU cycles, bandwidth, and memory).
To solve this problem, much previous work has focused on allocating resources in a best-effort way so that performance degrades gracefully. Naturally, resource allocation can be formulated as an optimization problem. For instance, if the data characteristics from a sensor exhibit a predictable trend, then the precision constraints might be satisfied by transmitting only a fraction of the sensor data to the remote server.
Other approaches assume that a set of Quality-of-Service (QoS) specifications are available. A load shedding scheme derived from these specifications decides when and where to discard data, as well as how much data to discard, so that the system achieves the highest utility under the resource constraints.
However, a need has been recognized in connection with providing a more intelligent load shedding scheme for data mining tasks.

System and method for load shedding in data mining and knowledge discovery from stream data

International Business Machines Corporation


A method, computer readable medium apparatus and system for developing an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (“ASIC”) are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes defining the functionality of a target ASIC device within a target system, as well as synthesizing circuits for the target ASIC device and a programmable logic device concurrently or nearly concurrently, thereby providing a conversion-less ASIC development flow using one or more programmable devices. In a specific embodiment, the conversion-less ASIC development flow requires no subsequent step of modifying a functional description for the target ASIC device from a functional description expressed in terms of the programmable logic device, thereby reducing an amount of time required to produce the target ASIC device.

A traditional design flow for developing ASICs, including standard cell-based ASICs, structured ASICs and other similar types of ASICs, includes a conversion from an FPGA design to an ASIC design. An FPGA-to-ASIC conversion methodology typically employs an FPGA for prototyping purposes. Once the design is proven using the FPGA prototype, the logic of the FPGA serves as a basis for subsequent development of ASIC production devices. The conversion to an ASIC generally requires modifying a functional description for an ASIC device from a functional description expressed in terms of the FPGA. A drawback to this traditional design flow is that the conversion extends time-to-market ("TTM") and increases development costs, among other things. FIG. 1 depicts at least two design flows using conventional FPGA-to-ASIC conversion methodologies.
FIG. 1 illustrates a few conventional ASIC design flows. Design flow 101 begins with a design of programmable logic using FPGA technology 102 for prototyping purposes. After the design is proved, then the design developed for FPGAs is modified during a conversion process 104 to generate a design in a structural ASIC technology 106. Similarly, design flow 103 starts with the design of programmable logic using FPGA technology 102, followed by a conversion process 104 to develop a design in standard cell ASIC technology 108. Both design flows have a drawback of having relatively long design cycles that extends time-to-market.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to minimize at least one of the drawbacks in each of the traditional ASIC design flows using programmable logic.

Method of developing application-specific integrated circuit devices