An apparatus and method for sealably joining cables to pressure-balanced submersible junction boxes. The apparatus maintains a balanced pressure within the termination chamber; it is field installable, testable, and repairable. The termination chamber is not oil-filled; instead, it is substantially filled with a solid particulate fill material. An apparatus and method for sealably containing the cable's bitter end within the termination chamber are further provided. The apparatus includes a cable termination assembly having a chamber with a first end including a load bearing cable-attachment to sealably join a cable to the chamber, and a second end including an underwater connector. Within the chamber one or more optical and/or electrical conductors from the cable are terminated to respective one or more attachment points of the connector. The apparatus prohibits cable pistoning into the termination chamber.

Subsea junction boxes provide protected enclosures for the components housed within them. Components are joined within such enclosures while they are open. The enclosures are then closed and sealed prior to submersion in order to prohibit the intrusion of seawater. There are two broad existing categories of subsea junction boxes. One category comprises a gas-filled compartment in which various components are joined. The compartment pressure remains substantially at one atmosphere. This category of junction box must have very heavy walls and high-pressure seals to withstand the enormous pressure at great depth. In a second existing category of subsea junction boxes, the enclosure in which various components are joined, hereinafter called the termination chamber, is filled with oil that is pressure-balanced to the ambient sea pressure by a compensator. The walls and seals of these pressure-balanced junction boxes can be much less robust than those of the gas-filled junction boxes because there are no high-pressure differentials between the termination chamber and the exterior environment.
Subsea junction boxes are often used to join two or more subsea cables; or to join one or more cables to underwater connectors, or to other devices; or to join two or more devices without cables. At times they are used as "smart boxes" which join attachment points of a single device, such as an underwater connector or cable, to sensors or other devices within the termination chamber.
When cables are joined to a junction box sometimes the cable-to-junction-box joint is connectorized, meaning that the cable does not actually penetrate the termination chamber, but instead is joined to it by way of a connector which passes through the termination chamber wall. In other common applications, the cable's bitter end itself actually penetrates the termination chamber. An underwater cable is essentially a long, thin pressure vessel in which there are voids, such as the interstices between twisted wire strands or between various other cable elements, which are nominally at one atmosphere pressure even when the cable is submerged to great depths. Prior-art termination chambers are typically filled with dielectric oil after the conductors within the chamber are attached to their respective attachment points. Oil is chosen due to the attributes that it is electrically isolative; it is able to evenly transmit the exterior ambient pressure to the interior portions of the chamber volume; and, it can be easily removed for maintenance and repair of the elements within the chamber. The oil pressure within the chamber is possibly very high depending upon its depth in the water. Therefore there can be a large pressure difference between the oil in the termination chamber and the cable interstices. Oil can undesirably flow into interstitial voids in the cable in case of nicks, pinholes, or other small perforations through the conductor jackets or, as described below, through boot seals.
Boot seals are frequently used to seal cable interfaces from the environment exterior to them. A generic example of a boot seal is shown in FIG. 4. Simple jacketed cable 36 in the example has a single, jacketed conductor 37. A first elastomeric boot-seal sleeve portion 38 is stretched over jacketed cable 36, and a second smaller elastomeric boot-seal sleeve portion 39 stretches over jacketed conductor 37. Pressure applied to the exterior of the FIG. 4 boot seal simply adds to the constrictive pressure of the elastomeric stretch, and enhances the seal between the boot seal and the elements of the cable. Boot seals such as shown in FIG. 4 are one-way seals. That is, they seal against intrusion of the exterior environment into the interface 40 between cable elements 36 and 37. But if there is an overpressure within cable interface 40, such as would occur with pressurized gas, water, or gel within interface 40, the overpressure could blow the boot seal axially away from the interface, or simply unseat sleeve 38 or 39.
Subsea cables are often so large that they cannot be practically transported to a place where they can be terminated in a laboratory-like environment; they must be terminated in the field. Therefore, there is often a need in the offshore industries for cable-to-connector junctions that can be installed, tested, and repaired in the field prior to immersion. Cables for subsea use commonly consist of an exterior jacket which houses a variety of individually jacketed electrical conductors and/or optical fibers within an inner core. The electrical conductors usually consist of stranded wires. In a typical termination process, the cable exterior jacket and core are cut back exposing lengths of the individually jacketed conductors. In the case of a cable carrying optical fibers within tubular conduits, tube-end-seal assemblies such as the example described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,021 to Cairns et al. ("the '021 Patent"), the contents of which are included herein by reference, provide sealed barriers between the chamber volume and the interior portion of the fiber-carrying tubular conduits.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,926 to Cox ("the '926 Patent"), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describes a prior art arrangement. In the '926 Patent, a cable is sealably joined mechanically to a junction box whose termination chamber houses the end of the cable core and the exposed conductors. The chamber is filled with dielectric oil. Boot seals are stretched across the joints between the core and the jackets of the exposed lengths of conductors thereby sealing those interfaces to prevent oil from entering the cable. The exposed conductors go further on within the oil chamber to eventually join to other conductors or to the attachment points of connectors or other devices. All joints between the conductors and attachment points are also sealed by boot seals. As a result, there are usually many seals and exposed, jacketed conductors within the oil-filled chamber. When completely installed, a compensator, such as a flexible portion of the chamber wall, allows the pressure within the oil to closely match that of the outside environment. Under pressure any perforations through the boot seals or conductor jackets will cause the chamber oil to be forced into the cable interstices. The chamber walls will then either collapse or rupture, allowing seawater to enter, and creating a catastrophic failure.
Another failure mode can occur when gel-filled cables are employed. In this mode, as cables are passed over handling devices such as pulleys, the gel can be "milked" toward the oil-filled termination chamber. That can unseat boot seals and result in subsequent failure. Still another failure mode, occurs when a cable is retrieved quickly from great depths. In this case pressurized gas expands within the cable, and seals within the oil-filled chamber can be temporarily or permanently unseated, allowing chamber oil to enter the cable interstices. Failure can also occur when the cable is under axial compression, as can happen during handling. In this case, if not arrested properly, the cable can piston into the oil-filled chamber and destroy the inner works.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,796,821 to Cairns et al. ("the '821 Patent"), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describes another prior art arrangement. Unlike arrangements prior to it, exemplified by the '926 Patent, the '821 Patent termination has separate first and second termination chambers intended, as discussed in the specification of the '821 Patent, to obviate the aforementioned failure modes by providing an impenetrable barrier between a first chamber, and a second chamber which is filled with oil. The individual cable conductors are terminated in the first chamber to sealed penetrators which pass through the impenetrable barrier and onward into the second, oil-filled, chamber. The '821 Patent discloses three basic embodiments: One with a first chamber filled with a cast, solid material, and maintained at one atmosphere pressure; one with a first chamber filled with a cast, solid material, and pressure compensated with grease to the ambient working pressure; and, one with a first chamber filled entirely with grease and compensated to the ambient working pressure. In all three embodiments the second chamber is oil-filled and pressure compensated to the ambient working pressure.
In the first two aforementioned embodiments of the '821 Patent termination, once the conductors are terminated to attachment points on the impenetrable barrier the first chamber is filled with a pourable material which cures to a solid.
In the third aforementioned mentioned '821 Patent embodiment, the first chamber is not filled with solid material, but rather is grease filled; and incorporates a compensator mechanism that balances the pressure within the grease to the ambient working pressure. Therefore, the first chamber in this third embodiment has all of the attributes of the earlier technology comprising only an oil-filled, pressure-balanced termination chamber.
In early art exemplified by the '926 Patent, cable conductors extending outward from the core were exposed in a single oil-filled termination chamber and therein connected to the attachment points of connectors or other devices. All interfaces presenting potential leak paths of the oil into the cable were sealed with boot seals. The terminations were first completed up to the point of filling the chamber with oil. Next a method such as gas leak testing was employed to find any leaks from the chamber into the cable, or between the chamber and the exterior environment. If leaks were found, the termination could be easily dismantled for repair and retesting. Also at the point prior to oil filling, the quality of electrical and/or optical circuits could be tested, and if necessary, repaired. Even after oil filling, if defects were found in the termination, the oil could be drained, and repairs made. That is not the case with the '821 Patent termination. Once the solid filler is installed into the first chamber, that portion can no longer be non-destructively disassembled for repair, nor can it be leak tested against water ingression. The solid filler embodiments of the '821 Patent are, therefore, not completely testable or repairable in the field.
It is known to seal leaks in hydraulic and pneumatic systems by adding a mixture of granular and fiber or ribbon material to the fluid or gas. Some examples are given in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,015,998; 5,755,863; 5,282,895; 4,776,888; and 4,439,561. Such hydraulic and pneumatic systems have relatively large fluid or gas supplies in which stop-leak components are sparsely dispersed. The systems can tolerate a relatively large fluid or gas loss before the dispersed stop-leak components accumulate sufficiently at the leak site to block the leak path. Stop-leak additives are intended to operate in dynamic flow situations wherein the leakage is robust enough to transport the components of the additive quickly to the leak site.
It might be thought that the addition of stop-leak components to a fluid-filled termination chamber would solve the potential leakage problem. That is not so. Fluid leakage from a subsea junction box in nearly all cases would be far from dynamic. Such systems are typically designed to last decades. Due to the sometimes miniscule rate of fluid migration from the chamber, it can take many years to cause a system failure. In addition, a fluid-filled termination chamber has a very limited supply of fluid, sometimes less than a few hundred cubic centimeters, and no means to replenish the fluid. Therefore the amount of leakage occurring prior to accumulating dispersed stop-leak components at the leak site could easily destroy the integrity of the termination.
A subsea termination chamber has two fundamental requirements of a fill material: one, that it will transmit the ambient exterior pressure uniformly within the chamber; and two, that it will not escape. Filling the termination chamber with fluid satisfies the first of these requirements, but can fail the second.

Pressure-balanced subsea junction box and cable termination apparatus and method


An information processing apparatus configured to control an image forming apparatus and a post-processing apparatus configured to execute post-processing on a product output by the image forming apparatus includes a registration unit configured to register a job ticket, a searching unit configured to search for a job ticket that can be used for issuing an instruction to the post-processing apparatus from among the job tickets registered by the registration unit, and an instruction unit configured to issue an instruction to the post-processing apparatus by utilizing the job ticket extracted as a result of the search by the searching unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document processing system configured to execute prepress and press processing by using a printer in combination with a plurality of nearline finishers.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a company engaged in the commercial printing business receives an order of a print product (a magazine, a newspaper, a leaflet, an advertisement, or a photogravure) from a third party (a customer or a client), the company produces the print product desired by the client, delivers the final print product to the client, and receives the corresponding fee from the client. Meanwhile, in the commercial printing industry, a large-size printing apparatus, such as an offset type printing machine, is still used as the mainstream.
Under such circumstances, in the commercial printing industry, various processing and operations are executed before acquiring a final print product. More specifically, processing and operations, such as inputting a document, providing a design and a layout, presenting a comprehensive layout (presenting an output by a printer), proofreading (correcting the layout and adjusting color), proof printing, preparing a block copy, printing, post processing, and shipment.
When a printing machine as described above is used, it is always necessary to prepare a block copy. In this regard, it is difficult and disadvantageous in terms of costs to correct or modify a completely prepared block copy because a thorough proofreading including verification of the layout and the color is essentially required in this case.
As described above, in the commercial printing industry, it is necessary to use a large-size apparatus. In addition, it takes sufficiently long time to completely produce a print product desired by a client. Furthermore, professional knowledge is required to execute the above-described processing and operations. In other words, experience and know-how of a craftsman or a skilled labor is required. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-110535 discusses a method for inputting document data or parts data which constitutes a portion of the document, determining the design and the layout, and executing proof printing.
Meanwhile, with the recent increase in a processing speed and an image quality of an electrophotographic type or inkjet type printing apparatus, a print on demand (POD) printing method has become widely used competing with the commercial printing industry using the above-described method. The POD is intended to execute printing without using a large-size apparatus or a complicated system and to deliver a print product in short delivery time by dividing a job executed by a printing apparatus into relatively small lots.
In particular, the POD maximally utilizes a digital image forming apparatus, such as a digital copying machine or a digital multifunction peripheral (MFP), instead of using the above-described large-size printing apparatus or a highly exclusive printing method. Thus, the POD implements digital printing using electronic data. The POD market that utilizes the POD method has been established and become widespread.
In the above-described POD market, digital processing is more often used than in the conventional commercial printing industry, and management and control utilizing a computer has become prevalent. Thus, scale and a technological level of the computerized POD market has increased and improved to approach those of the conventional printing industry.
Under such circumstances, services such as Print For Pay (PFP) service and Centralized Reproduction Department (CRD) service have been provided in the POD market. Here, the PFP printing service is a service provided to a general customer by a copy shop, a print shop, or a printing company, while the CRD service is a service exclusively provided within a corporation.
Recently, in the POD market, various standards have been developed by different industry organizations in order to implement a centralized support of business operations and an efficient business management. For example, the International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress Organization (CIP4) has set forth the Job Definition Format (JDF) standard. The CIP4 is a cooperative organization aimed at integrating the operation and processing of prepress, press, and postpress.
The JDF has made it easy to centrally manage and automatically execute the print processing beginning from an input of a document by a client to the processing such as prepress, press, and postpress. For example, when a print job is brought into a printer such as a print shop, the print job is managed by a printing system. An operator of the printing system determines what processing is to be executed on the print job in each processing step, such as raster image processor (RIP) processing for generating image data to be printed, print processing for printing an image on a sheet, or binding processing for cutting and binding the printed sheets.
Furthermore, the operator defines content of each processing step by the JDF and transmits the defined processing content to each apparatus that executes processing assigned thereto. After receiving the processing content, each apparatus executes the processing according to the received processing content. Thus, a series of print processing can be centrally managed.
In post-processing for printed sheets, a post-processing apparatus named a finisher, such as a paper folding machine, and a cutting machine, is used. There are three types of such post-processing apparatuses.
One type is a finisher which is directly connected to the printing apparatus. The printed sheets are automatically conveyed into the finisher. The finisher of this type is called an "inline finisher." Another type is a finisher that is not directly connected to the printing apparatus but connected via a network. The finisher of this type is called a "nearline finisher". A nearline finisher requires the operator to convey printed sheets thereto because the printed sheets are not automatically conveyed from the printing apparatus. A yet another type is an "offline finisher" that is not connected to the printing apparatus directly or via the network. Accordingly, the offline finisher itself cannot transmit or receive information to or from the printing apparatus.
In addition to the above-described conventional method, other conventional methods have been discussed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2005-101883 and 2001-142667.
As described above, the JDF, as an industry standard, has made it easy to centrally manage and automatically execute the processing beginning from the input of a document by a client to the processing such as prepress, press, and postpress. However, although the JDF is an industry standard format, the JDF may include a setting attribute expanded uniquely by each vendor.
Therefore, if a printing system includes devices of different vendors, it is difficult to totally control all processing by the JDF due to difference in interfaces among vendors. For example, the vendor of a "prepress application" for executing imposition and print setting on a printer during prepress and press processing, and the vendor of a "nearline finisher" which is not connected to the printing apparatus may be different.
In this case, the prepress application may not have detailed information about the interface of the "nearline finisher". Therefore, it is difficult for the prepress application to issue a correct JDF for giving an instruction to the "nearline finisher". Accordingly, an additional operation may be required to execute printing by using a prepress application and a finisher of different vendors.
More specifically, it is necessary for the operator to issue an appropriate JDF to each of the prepress application and the finisher while reading an operation manual to overcome the difference between the interfaces, which requires great care. Further, the above-described problem prevents the total automation of the processing from the prepress to the press by the JDF.

Information processing apparatus, control method for image forming apparatus and post-processing apparatus, and computer program


The invention relates to a sensor comprising a sensor element (1) for detecting a physical variable, said sensor comprising two electric contact surfaces (2), and comprising a sensor body (3), on one end of which the sensor element (1) and on the other end of which a contact carrier (4) is located, wherein the contact carrier (4) supports at least two insulation displacement contacts (5) suitable for producing an insulation displacement connection (6) to an electric connecting cable (7), wherein each contact surface (2) is connected to an insulation displacement contact (5). The invention also relates to a sensor assembly. The combination of the insulation displacement technology with the sensor makes it possible for the sensor and the cable tree of a motor vehicle, for example, to be contacted in a simple manner.

Sensors may be used to measure temperatures in the automotive industry. Sensors may be integrated into the electronic system of a motor vehicle during the course of production.
Some sensors have a permanently mounted connecting cable located at the sensor. These connecting cables may be woven into a cable tree in the motor vehicle. Some sensors contact cables in a motor vehicle via a plug and receptacle. The plug is mounted on the sensor and the receptacle is mounted in a corresponding cable of the cable tree.


The invention relates to a new and unique light water reactor (LWR) nuclear fuel pellet configuration formed using tri-isotropic (TRISO) fuel particles suspended in a metal, metal alloy, or ceramic matrix. The new TRISO LWR pellet would have the same dimensions as those of the standard uranium oxide pellet allowing its use without any change to the physical configuration of the reactor vessel, core internals or fuel assemblies. TRISO type fuels have a proven capability for retaining fission products within the confinement boundary created by the coating material. This robustness is expected to reduce or eliminate fuel failure risk and cost. Replacing standard pellets with TRISO LWR fuel pellets with the same, or higher, energy density can potentially extend the operating cycles of LWRs, reduce the number of fuel assemblies replaced in each refueling, reduce the quantity of spent fuel discharged from reactors, lower operating costs, and reduce radioactive waste.

This invention relates to combining two well-known and proven technologies in a new and unique way to achieve reduced risk to the public by significantly improving the containment of nuclear fission products from accident events in which fuel integrity is compromised; and, by increasing reactor full power days through increased fuel enrichment. These technologies are tri-isotropic (TRISO) fuel, used in high temperature gas-cooled reactors and zircaloy fuel tubes, used in fuel assemblies for light water reactors.
The invention describes a new and unique light water reactor (LWR) nuclear fuel pellet configuration formed using tri-isotropic (TRISO) fuel particles uniformly distributed in a non-fuel bearing metal, metal alloy or ceramic matrix. This new TRISO LWR fuel pellet would replace the uranium oxide pellet in the LWR fuel tube in the fuel assemblies currently used in nuclear power plants. Use of the TRISO LWR fuel pellet would potentially extend the operating cycles of LWRs, reduce the number of fuel assembles replaced in each refueling, reduce the quantity of spent fuel discharged from each reactor, lower operating costs, reduce radioactive waste and reduce or eliminate fuel failure risk and cost. The TRISO fuel and the LWR cladding provide two separate, very robust, barriers against the release of radioactive material to the public thereby reducing the radiological risk in the event of a reactor accident and enhancing public safety.
The TRISO fuel particle has a long history of use in high temperature gas-cooled reactors applications, but is uniquely used in this invention. The particle is a multilayer sphere having layers of protecting material surrounding a central kernel of enriched uranium. The kernel is typically uranium oxide or uranium carbide, having enrichment in U235 that varies depending on the intended use. The kernel is surrounded by layers of carbon, pyrocarbon and silicon carbide. These layers provide a level of structural integrity that has been demonstrated to contain fission products within the particle, precluding release in normal operations and most accident events. By incorporating the TRISO LWR fuel pellet in the LWR fuel rod, a second, and substantial, barrier is formed to preclude the release of fission product material.
To be used in LWR power plants, the TRISO fuel particles must be held in a metal, metal alloy or ceramic matrix that is non-fuel bearing and that has the same external dimensions as the LWR uranium oxide fuel pellet that it would replace. This allows the TRISO LWR fuel pellets to be substituted for the LWR fuel pellets. Once formed, the TRISO LWR fuel pellets are stacked within the zircaloy fuel rods and the fuel rods are combined into assemblies common to LWR power plants.
Suitable materials for the matrix can include stable, heat conducting materials such as zirconium, aluminum, zinc or nickel, and their alloys, or graphite or other ceramic that is compatible with the TRISO particle.
Use of the same LWR fuel rod and fuel assembly configurations allow use of the new TRISO LWR fuel in operating plants without any change to the physical configuration of the reactor vessel or core internals. Consequently, the use of this invention does not anticipate any changes to the current designs of LWR fuel rods or fuel assemblies. Varying inside diameters of the range of LWR fuel rods in current use are accommodated by conforming the diameter of the TRISO LWR fuel pellet to the inside diameter of the LWR fuel rod.
Numerous references apply to the design, fabrication and use of TRISO fuel microspheres. TRISO fuel has a history dating back to the 1970's when it was first considered for use in advanced design reactors including the high temperature gas cooled reactor. References can also be found for the use of TRISO fuel in pebble bed reactors. This invention uses the same TRISO fuel as an element of the TRISO LWR fuel pellet's unique design, but would not require revision, modification or change to any fabrication strategy, except as it may apply to enrichment.
Similarly, numerous references apply to LWR fuel pellet design, fabrication and use. The intent of this invention is to apply dimensions of existing LWR fuel pellet designs to the new fuel pellet. The new TRISO-LWR pellet is markedly different in all other respects from the existing LWR fuel pellets currently in use.

Tri-isotropic (TRISO) based light water reactor fuel


A manufacturing method of a honeycomb structure forming die includes a linear slit forming step of forming, in a kneaded material discharging surface of a die substrate, a plurality of linear slits which are straight from one end to the other end on the kneaded material discharging surface, a slit sealing material disposing step of disposing a slit sealing material in parts of the plurality of linear slits, and a back hole forming step of forming back holes to introduce a kneaded material, in a kneaded material introducing surface of the die substrate which is present on a side opposite to the kneaded material discharging surface.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a honeycomb structure forming die, and the honeycomb structure forming die. More particularly, the present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a honeycomb structure forming die in which it is possible to manufacture the honeycomb structure forming die excellent in dimensional accuracy at low manufacturing cost and in short time, and it also relates to the honeycomb structure forming die excellent in dimensional accuracy.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been the tendency to worldwide strengthen regulations on removal of particulate matter (soot or the like) or toxic substances included in an exhaust gas emitted from an internal combustion engine, a boiler or the like. Attention is attracted to honeycomb structures as a filter to remove the particulate matter and the toxic substances from the exhaust gas, and a catalyst carrier, and there have been suggested a large variety of exhaust gas purification systems including the honeycomb structure. In the above honeycomb structure, for example, porous partition walls define a plurality of cells which become through channels for fluid, and the exhaust gas is purified by the porous partition walls, a catalyst loaded onto the partition walls, and the like.
The honeycomb structure can be manufactured by, for example, extruding a kneaded material by use of an extruder to which a honeycomb structure forming die is attached. Hereinafter, the honeycomb structure forming die will be referred to simply as "the die" sometimes. In this die, back holes to introduce the kneaded material and slits communicating with the back holes are formed in a die substrate made of a pure metal, an alloy or the like. Hereinafter, "the back hole" will be referred to "an introducing hole" sometimes. The slit has a shape which is complementary to "a cell sectional shape" of a honeycomb formed body of a precursor of the honeycomb structure, and has a width corresponding to a thickness of partition walls of the honeycomb formed body. In many cases, a diameter of the back hole is larger than the width of the slit and the back hole is disposed at a position at which the slits intersect. According to the extrusion using this die, the kneaded material introduced from the back holes move to the slits having the narrower width, and is extruded from the slits and discharged as the honeycomb formed body. Further, when the honeycomb formed body is fired, the honeycomb structure is obtainable.
Here, for the purposes of decrease of an initial pressure loss of the honeycomb structure, decrease of a pressure loss when particulate matter is deposited, improvement of thermal shock resistance, improvement of durability, and the like, a shape of cells formed in the honeycomb structure becomes complicated. Here, the shape of the cells means the shape of the cells in a cross section of the honeycomb structure which is perpendicular to a cell extending direction thereof. Hereinafter, the shape of the cells will be referred to as "the cell shape" sometimes. As described above, the honeycomb structure is often prepared by the extrusion, and as the cell shape of the honeycomb structure becomes complicated, the shape of the slits formed in the die for use in preparing the honeycomb structure also becomes complicated. In general, the die is often made of cemented carbide or the like to decrease wear due to use. For the purpose of processing the slits having a fine width into a desirable shape in the die substrate made of cemented carbide having a high wear resistance, a high processing technology is required, and manufacturing of the die might require much manufacturing cost and long time. In the die, the slits through which the kneaded material is extruded to form the partition walls are formed by grind processing with a grinding wheel or the like, wire discharge processing, or discharge processing using electrodes made of a dischargeable material such as a copper-tungsten alloy or carbon graphite (e.g., Patent Documents 1 to 3).
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2010-131872
[Patent Document 2] JP-A-2011-194537
[Patent Document 3] JP-A-2012-125883

Manufacturing method of honeycomb structure forming die, and honeycomb structure forming die


IC package assemblies including a molding compound in which an IC chip surface is recessed relative to the molding compound. Thickness of the IC chip may be reduced relative to its thickness during the molding process. Another IC chip, heat spreader, etc. may then occupy the resultant recess framed by the molding compound to achieve a fine stacking pitch. In some embodiments, a package-on-package (PoP) assembly includes a center-molded IC chip flip-chip-bonded to a first package substrate. A second substrate to which a second IC chip is flip-chip bonded is then electrically coupled to the first substrate by through-molding vias. Within the PoP assembly, the second IC chip may be disposed back-to-back with the center-molded IC chip so as to occupy the recess framed by the molding compound.

There are many integrated circuits (IC) chip, or die, packaging technologies. Many advanced IC packages minimize package thickness or "z-height" and/or integrate a plurality of chips. In some applications (e.g., mobile devices), package thickness is one of the most important parameters in response to the design trend toward thinner devices. To include more features and/or spare printed circuit board (PCB) area, packaged chips may be stacked (e.g., package-on-package, or "PoP" technology). Such stacked package architectures are generally contrary to reductions in package height, and so techniques to minimize the package z-height that are compatible with package stacking technologies are all the more advantageous.

Integrated circuit package assemblies including a chip recess


A well block for use in a refractory lining in a metallurgical vessel for holding molten metal. The well block is comprised of a body formed of a refractory material. The body has a top surface, a bottom surface, an inner surface defining a bore that extends through the body from the top surface to the bottom surface, and a double-curved outer surface having at least one peak or valley formed thereon.

The present invention relates to refractory components, and more particularly to well blocks and pocket blocks for use in metallurgical vessels for conveying molten metals.
The handling of high-temperature liquids, such as molten steel, requires special materials and techniques. Ladles used for handling molten steel are comprised of an outer metallic shell that is lined with a refractory material. The inner surface of the metallic shell is typically lined with one or more layers of a refractory brick that can withstand extremely high temperatures and harsh, abrasive conditions. A xe2x80x9cwell blockxe2x80x9d is disposed within the refractory lining of the metallurgical vessel. A well block is a refractory component having a bore therethrough to allow molten metal within the vessel to exit therefrom. The well block must be fixedly secured within the refractory lining to prevent the block from separating, i.e., floating, from the refractory lining on the bottom of the vessel during operation. To this end, it has been known to form well blocks having a step at the bottom thereof or to taper the well block from top to bottom to prevent the aforementioned floating or separation. It is also important that the well block be designed to retard penetration of molten metal along the interface between the well block and the refractory lining.
Steel ladles of the type heretofore described have a limited service life, after which the ladle must be relined. Advances in refractory brick technology have increased the service life of the refractory linings to where a brick lining may undergo 80 to 120 xe2x80x9cheats,xe2x80x9d i.e., use, before it is necessary to reline the ladle. However, conventional well blocks cannot withstand the repeated heating cycles of such a level of many ladle bricks now available. In this respect, conventional well blocks are formed by casting a refractory material, or by an air-ramming process. Air-rammed well blocks have a limited service life because it is difficult to obtain a block with good density by this process. A cast well block provides substantially better performance than an air-rammed block, but even a cast well block cannot provide the service life of newer refractory linings. As a result, multiple well block changes are typically required during the life of the refractory lining.
The present invention provides a well block having a service life that exceeds those of cast or rammed well blocks, and provides a well block that is designed to lock into a refractory lining and reduce metal penetration along the block-refractory lining interface.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a well block for use in a refractory lining in a metallurgical vessel for holding molten metal. The well block is comprised of a body formed of a refractory material. The body has a top surface, a bottom surface, an inner surface defining a bore that extends through the body from the top surface to the bottom surface, and a double-curved outer surface having at least one peak or valley formed thereon.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an isopressed well block for use in a refractory lining in a metallurgical vessel for holding molten metal. The well block has a body having a top surface, a bottom surface, an inner surface defining a bore that extends through the body from the top surface to the bottom surface. The refractory material is comprised of 5 to 95% by weight of a material selected from the group consisting of alumina in the form of tabular alumina, white fused alumina, brown fused alumina, bauxite or combinations of those materials, magnesium oxide (MgO), silica (SiO2), zirconium oxide (ZrO2), mullite (3 Al2O3.2 SiO2) and combinations thereof, 1 to 25% by weight carbon, and 0 to 15% of an antioxidant.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a well block for use in a refractory lining in a metallurgical vessel.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a well block as described above that has a service life exceeding conventional, cast or air-rammed well blocks.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a well block as described above that is isopressed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a well block as described above that is less susceptible to separation from the refractory lining during use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a well block as described above that minimizes penetration of molten metal along the refractory block-refractory lining interface.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a well block as described above having a bore diameter that minimizes turbulence and reduces wear from the flow of molten metal therethrough.
These and other objects will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment and invention, taken together with the accompanying drawings.


The invention relates to a dry-running vacuum pump (1) with at least one vertically disposed shaft (2, 3) which is mounted in an upper bearing plate (14) by means of a lubricated rolling bearing (27) situated in an open-topped pot-like component (51); in order to reduce the number of gaps in the area of this bearing (27) it is proposed that with the open-topped pot-like component (51) there be associated an open-bottomed pot-like component (54) fastened to the housing, the wall (55) of which reaches into the pot-like component (51) on the shaft, the rolling bearing's ring (62) that is fixed to the housing being supported on the inside of the said wall.

The invention relates to a dry-running vacuum pump with at least one vertically disposed shaft which is mounted in a top bearing plate by means of a lubricated rolling bearing situated in an open-topped pot-like component.
"Dry-running" vacuum pumps are pumps whose pump chambers contain no lubricant or sealants. Their advantage lies in the fact that they can produce vacuums completely free of hydrocarbons. However, it is impossible to dispense with the lubrication of the bearings of the shafts which bear the pistons rotating in the pump chambers. In dry-running pumps, therefore, it is necessary to assure an effective separation of the bearing chambers from the pump chambers.
A dry-running twin-shaft vacuum pump of the kind described above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 290,662. To achieve separation of the upper bearing chambers from the adjacent pump chambers it is proposed to equip the upper ends of the shafts with an open-topped, pot-like component which traps bearing grease issuing from the bearings. The rolling bearings situated within the pot have a rotating outer ring which is held on the inner wall of the pot-like component. The stationary inner ring rests on a stump affixed to the housing and reaching into the pot-like component. In this system--in comparison with ordinary shaft bearings--there is a separate component between the shaft itself and the bearing ring rotating with the shaft, so that additional seams are present which can impair any correct shaft guidance.
The present invention is addressed to the problem of creating a vacuum pump of the kind described above, in which despite the presence of a pot-like component at the upper end of the shaft any interference with the shaft guidance described above will be avoided.


A filtration device for separating concrements, fragments or other body material from liquids which are processed by means of a lithotripter connected to a suction device equipped with a peristaltic valve and sucked out of body cavities. The device has a functional zone having an inlet zone connected at one end to the lithotripter, and an outlet zone connected to the suction device. There is a collection zone mounted on the functional zone and connected to the other end of the inlet zone. A filter element is disposed between the functional zone and the collection zone, so that body material processed by the lithotripter will be deposited in the collection zone, and the filter element will separate the body fluids collected by the lithotripter from the body material.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a filtration device for separation of concrements, fragments or other body material from liquids, which are processed by means of a lithotriptor, for example, and by means of a suction device are sucked out of body cavities via a suction line.
2. Prior Art
From the prior art, filtration devices are known. They are used to suck into a vessel calculi or fragments of calculi present in body cavities or other body material that must be removed. These fragments are collected outside the body and sent for subsequent examination.
To remove body calculi from body cavities, however, it is necessary to reduce the size of the calculi, especially those which cannot be removed via a natural duct. This reduction in the size of body calculi is undertaken by mechanical compressive and tensile stresses, which in the case of intracorporeal lithotripsy, are applied to the body calculi with the distal end of a lithotripter functioning as a wave guide. In this process, stresses are generated that cause splitting of fragments from the surface of the calculus. The fragments are then deposited in the body cavity.
Some lithotripsy instruments are additionally provided with a suction device on their working parts. This suction device has at its proximal end, a flexible suction tube extending to a suction device, which preferably is disposed in the vicinity of the lithotripsy instrument. The sucked-out liquid is passed together with the calculus fragments through a vessel. In the vessel, the liquid is separated from the fragments by natural sedimentation.
In a particular embodiment of a lithotripsy instrument, a pinch valve is used to control the suction air, the suction line being routed through the pinch valve. The suction function of the suction device can be appropriately controlled, preferably by a foot-pedal control system. Unfortunately, it has been found that, because of the flow of concrements, fragments, calculus debris or other body materials through the suction line, these materials are deposited at the constriction of the suction line formed by the pinch valve. As a result, it becomes impossible to bring the inside walls of the suction line into complete contact with one another in the region of the pinch valve. Therefore, the suction function cannot be properly stopped at any time, or the suction effect is displaced.
A further major disadvantage of the suction device already known from the prior art is that the fragments must be strained manually out of the suction bottles. This is extremely unhygienic and may well falsify the laboratory result. In addition, it is extremely time-consuming, and there is the risk that part of the calculus fragments may be lost.
Certainly so-called roller pumps are known from the prior art. These are provided with a collection vessel, which usually comprises a glass bottle with a capacity of one liter. One disadvantage in this case is the volume, which inevitably makes it more difficult to manipulate the instrument and thus also the suction device. Another is that straining of fragments is also necessary here.
The invention is an improvement over the prior art by preventing potential blockages of the suction line by fragments or other body materials in flow direction upstream from the pinch valve, to ensure that the suction control system can be shut off in a properly functioning manner at any time.
The invention provides a filtration device subdivided into a collection zone and a functional zone, wherein the functional zone can be mounted on the collection zone. The functional zone is divided into an inlet and an outlet zone, wherein the outlet zone is additionally provided with a filter element, and that the filtration device is disposed between a one end of a suck-lithotripter and the peristaltic valve.
One of the main advantages of the invention is that, because the filtration device is already disposed upstream from the valve, the pinch function of the valve remains unaffected and so the function is preserved over the useful life of the instrument, regardless of the number and size of fragments.
The filtration device itself is equipped with a flexible supply tube and a flexible discharge tube. The flexible tube on the supply side has a very long suction line and its inside diameter is adapted to the size of the hand piece to be guided in order to perform a lithotripsy treatment. The flexible supply tube has an inside surface with very little roughness, in order to prevent adhesion of concrements, fragments or other body materials. On the discharge side, there is provided a specially designed flexible tube, whose inside diameter, wall thickness and Shore hardness are adapted for operation with the pinch valve.
Thus, a very flexible and soft tube can be used for a simple manipulation of the hand piece and also on its adaptability, while at the same time, a piece of flexible tube consistent with the functions of the pinch valve can be used on the discharge side.
Preferably, the two flexible tubes have different diameters, to ensure that any mix-up of the two flexible tubes during the attachment process will easily be recognized.
The filtration device itself is constructed in two parts. It has a collection zone and a functional zone. The collection zone preferably has a vessel and the functional zone has a cover with appropriate functional elements. The functional elements include a connecting element for the incoming flexible tube, and a connecting element for the outgoing flexible tube, as well as a filter device, which is preferably mounted in the region of the flexible discharge tube. The connecting element for the incoming flexible tube extends into the collection zone of the filtration device, so that concrements, fragments or other body materials present together with liquid in the collection zone as a result of the suction process are retained by the strainer, while the liquid is delivered through the flexible discharge tube in the direction of the suction pump.
The filtration device itself is made of plastic, and so it can be used as a sterile, disposable article. For this purpose the filtration device will be placed in an appropriate sterile package.
To ensure that fragments or other body material cannot be lost during transfer by pouring into another vessel or similar operation, the functional zone is separated from the collection zone, and the collection zone is closed by means of a transportation cover.
In this way, a faulty analysis of the calculi due to ingress of extraneous germs, as is unavoidable in the case of reusable vessels, is prevented by using a sterile disposable product. The flexible tubes can also be made disposable and provided pre-assembled on the filtration unit. To ensure that the suction pump cannot be operated incorrectly due to lack of attention, whereby a pressurization process instead of a suction process may be initiated, a lift check valve must be disposed in the outgoing flexible tube. Thereby damage caused by lack of attention or mistake on the part of the patient can be prevented.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawing which discloses two embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood, however, that the drawing is designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.

Filtration device for separation of concretions, fragments or other body material from liquids


A system and method for generating a message integrity code, MIC, for a MAC protocol data unit in a wireless local area network, WLAN, operating according to the IEEE 802.11 standard. A MAC service data unit, MSDU, sequence control sequence number, SN, input to the MIC algorithm is suppressed, e.g. set to all zeros, when calculating the MIC. Only the fragment number, FN, portion of the sequence control is included in calculation of the MIC. The MIC may therefore be calculated before an actual SN has been determined. All MPDUs include sequential packet numbers, PNs. A station receiving MPDUs checks the PNs of MPDUs having the same SN, and rejects messages which do not have a proper sequential set of PNs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to communication systems. More particularly, the invention generally relates to wireless local area networks (WLAN) and more particularly still to a simplified method for CCMP mode encryption in a WLAN operating under the IEEE 802.11 standard.
2. Background Information
Initially, computers were most often used in a standalone manner. It is now commonplace for computers and other types of electronic devices to communicate with each other over networks. The ability for computers to communicate with one another has lead to the creation of small networks comprising two or three computers as well as vast networks comprising hundreds or even thousands of computers. Networks can be set up to provide a wide assortment of capabilities. For example, networked computers can be established to permit each computer to share a centralized mass storage device or printer. Further, networks enable electronic mail and numerous other types of services. Traditionally, networks have been established in a wired configuration in which each entity on the network has a direct physical electrical connection to the network. More recently, advances in wireless technology have made it possible for network devices to communicate with other devices via radio frequency (RF) or other types of wireless media.
Wireless networks are defined in various standards. The IEEE 802.11 standard, for example, permits a wireless local area network (WLAN) to be set up in a business or residence. In one form, the WLAN is a basic service set in which two or more stations communicate directly with each other, e.g. by radio frequency signals. In a more common configuration, one or more "access points" are set up at predetermined locations and are connected via cables to servers and other types of network equipment. Each access point also has a wireless radio capability to permit wireless communications with nearby wireless-enabled stations such as desktop computers, notebooks, handheld devices, and the like. Each access point has a certain range and a wireless-enabled device must be within that range for effective communications to occur. Through the access points, the wireless-enabled devices gain access to the network for data and file transfers, email, etc. The access points and wireless enabled stations have transmitters and receivers to perform the wireless communications.
Wireless transmission of data creates a number of challenges. It presents the opportunity for unauthorized reception of data transmitted from legitimate network stations and unauthorized transmission of data to legitimate network stations. For example, in a fragmentation attack an unauthorized station may receive one or more authentic data transmissions, possibly modify portions or reorder the fragments and then retransmit them. Serious damage can occur if an authorized station receives such unauthorized transmissions and performs various acts based on them. Such events may occur accidentally or intentionally. The IEEE 802.11i standard has been established to provide systems for controlling access to WLANs and providing security for transmitted data.

Simplified CCMP mode for a wireless local area network


A cutter device for removing the spine from packets of sheet materials to be enveloped by a mailing machine, including means for redirecting the packets across said cutter device while the packets remain superimposed with other sheet materials to be inserted into the same envelope while being moved along a support surface by a conveyor mechanism, and after cutting being recombined with said other sheet materials prior to being enveloped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to machines for collating individual sheets of paper from a plurality of stacks to form packets which are inserted into envelopes for mailing, and more particularly to a cutter device for use in combination with said collating machines for trimming or removing the folded edge or spine of a plurality of sheet materials provided in booklet form in one or more supply stations, which sheets are collated with the individual sheets from other supply stations, and more particularly still to a cutter device that be positioned for use with any supply station in a row of such stations, and whereby only those sheets needing to be cut or trimmed are passed through the cutter device.
2. Description of Related Art
Numerous mechanical devices for automating the process of stuffing or inserting sheet materials such as mail, flyers and advertising sheets into envelopes are known and available in the prior art. Where a plurality of sheets is to be inserted into a single envelope, stacks of each of the individual sheets are normally placed in pockets at picking or supply stations spaced apart along a support railing including a continuous conveyor belt or track. Pairs of upstanding separator bars or fingers are provided on the track, dividing the track into a plurality of sheet material receiving sections each for collecting piles of the individual sheets from each supply stations to be enveloped, enabling the coordinated sheet collection and collating process to be continuous. A first sheet from the stack of such first sheets in the first supply station is removed from the stack by a grasping mechanism which places the sheet in a track receiving section situated directly in front of the first supply station. A pair of guide angles is provided on either side of the track to further support the sheets on the track. The sorting machine is then operated to move the track so the first sheet is pushed or moved from a position adjacent the first supply station to a position adjacent a second supply station, where a sheet from the second supply station is placed on top of the first sheet by a grasping mechanism. At the same time, another sheet from the first station is placed on the track in the receiving section adjacent the initial pile. This process continues until sheets from each station or pocket have been placed on top of the pile of previously dispensed materials, forming the stack of sheet material to be enveloped. In parallel with the movement of sheet material along the track, typically there is another station filled with envelopes, whereby an envelope is pulled from the envelope station and moved parallel to the movement of each stack or pile of sheet material. The flap of the envelope is opened and is moved to an insert station, where the stack of sheet material is pushed into the envelope. The envelope then is moved from the insert station, and the envelope flap is sealed and closed.
A shortcoming of such mechanical mailing machines is that there are physical limitations, at least in practical terms, in the number of individual supply stations that can be arranged side by side in a row along the length of a conveyor system, thus limiting the number of individual sheets that can be added to a packet. One solution is to place folded packets containing a plurality of different advertising sheets joined along a common margin or seem in one or more of the supply stations. However, prior to the packets being inserted into an envelope, the folded edges or spines of the packets are preferably removed by cutting or trimming, separating the folded material into individual sheets. In addition, to prevent damage to the individual sheets picked at the other stations, only the folded packets should be passed through the cutting device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,727 issued to Szewczyk et al. addresses this problem by providing a cutter device for use with an inserter machine which is designed to cut or trim the backbone of such packets to disassemble the packets into individual sheets. However, a significant shortcoming of the Szewczyk et al. cutter device is that it can only be used with supply stations which are positioned upstream from supply stations containing individual sheets, in order to prevent the individual sheets from also being passed through the cutter device or chopper and becoming stuck or damaged. Thus, in the Szewczyk et al. cutter device can only be used with the first supply station in a line, and while the ability to load a supply station with folded packets enables a greater number of advertising sheets to be collated for insertion into an envelope, the operator's ability to position the supply station containing folded packets along the conveyor means is limited. Such prior art enveloping process while comprising an improvement in the art is nevertheless still inflexible, and the operator's ability to arranged the stacked sheets in a desired order, or to change the order of on the fly, remains limited. In today's fast paced society, where advertising campaigns are continually implemented and revised, and orders are placed up to the last minute, maximum flexibility in processing such orders is critical. For example, a certain advertiser might be willing to pay an increased fee for their advertisement to be positioned as the first sheet in the stack of inserts. However, if the folded packets have already been formed, in prior art collating arrangements it would not be possible to change the order since the folded packets must be in the first supply station.
While the prior art mailing machines and associated cutter devices available in the prior art are useful for their own particular purposes, the present inventors have recognized the need for a cutter device having more flexible use parameters, whereby the cutter device can be used to cut off the folded edge or spine of folded packets of sheet material to separate the folded packets into individual sheets with any supply or picking station situated in a row of such stations coordinated with a mailing machine conveyor track, without cutting any individual sheets dispensed from supply stations upstream from said cutter device. In such invention, only the folded packets are passed through the cutter device, while individual sheets or previously cut packets bypass such cutter. Thus, using the present inventors cutting device and system, supply stations containing folded packets having a bound edge can be intermixed with supply stations containing individual sheets, without having to worry that the individual sheets will be damaged by the cutter. In addition, the inventors have surprisingly conceived of a unique cutting wheel or blade design that minimizes tearing of the packets during such high speed cutting processes.

Cutter device for use with mailing machine


A fifth wheel comprising a coupling plate and an anti-theft protection device, the anti-theft protection device being configured such that it is integrally connected to the coupling plate and can be electrically actuated and the anti-theft protection device being arranged such that it is not discernible from the outside.

The invention relates to a fifth wheel comprising a coupling plate and an anti-theft protection device.
In automobile construction, fifth wheels are used to connect a truck tractor to a trailer to form a truck-tractor combination. The fifth wheel consists of a coupling plate on the tractor and a kingpin on the trailer. In the coupling plate there is made a receiving opening for receiving the kingpin. In the coupled-up state, the kingpin is detachably secured in the receiving opening by a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism is locked for increased safety in traffic and the locking is monitored with displays in the vehicle cab. In recent years, laden truck-tractor combinations and those which are parked in the coupled-up state have increasingly been stolen. The mechanical locking is forcefully broken open, the coupling is decoupled and the trailer is illegally hauled away with a third-party tractor.
From DE 19516101 A1, an anti-theft protection device for a coupled-up semitrailer is known. The anti-theft protection device consists of a ram, which acts counter to a spring force in a tubular body upon the locking mechanism beneath the coupling plate and can be closed off with a cylinder lock and actuated manually. The cylinder lock can be viewed from the outside and the location of the anti-theft protection device is discernible.
The object of the invention is to define a fifth wheel having an anti-theft protection device which is automatically lockable and which can be destroyed only with a relatively high time expenditure.

Fifth wheel with anti-theft protection device


The invention relates to a method for optical measurement of objects, in particular teeth, with a projector, with beam path diverging from a projector central point, imaging on the object a pattern of different ranges of brightness, which pattern is imaged on the sensor surface of a camera, arranged in a certain disposition in space at a parallax angle to the projector, with a beam path converging in the direction of a camera central point, and is split up into image points, the light intensities of which are measured and stored, and from the light intensities of the image points the phase position of the latter is determined and stored. For the purpose of error-free measurement it is proposed that the position in space of the projector central point, of the camera central point and also of sensor elements of the sensor surface be calculated and stored, the pattern in the plane of projection be split up into image points, the position in space of the latter be calculated and stored, image points of equal phase position be correlated with each other and the position in space of straight lines through image points of equal phase position and the projector and camera central point and also the space coordinates of the points of intersection of these straight lines be calculated. The storage, correlation and calculation occur in a computer.

Such a method and the corresponding apparatus having a measuring probe containing the projector and the camera are known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,149 and are described there with the aid of an exemplary embodiment on the basis of the projection of the pattern by means of parallel light beams (telecentric projection). Mentioned briefly, moreover, as an alternative, is the projection with the aid of diverging light beams (central projection).
Both the telecentric and the central projection are represented here in FIGS. 1 and 2.
As FIG. 1 shows, in the case of this known method a stripe pattern M.sub.P located in the plane of projection PE of the projector and with sinusoidal brightness distribution transverse to the stripe direction is projected by means of the parallel light beams L at the angle of incidence .alpha. onto the object to be measured, represented by the object plane OE, and also onto a reference plane RE and the respective images M.sub.OE and M.sub.RE are taken up by the camera, that is, imaged on the sensor surface SF thereof. The difference between the phase positions determined from the two takes for each camera-side image point BP.sub.K or the path difference .DELTA.x between the sinusoidal waves of the two patterns M.sub.OE and M.sub.RE is, in accordance with the equation tg.alpha.=.DELTA.x/.DELTA.z, a direct measure of the distance .DELTA.z between the reference plane RE and the object-side image point BP.sub.O imaged on the object or on the corresponding object surface point. Since the angle of incidence .alpha. is the same for all projected light beams, the range of validity of this equation extends to all object surface points encountered by the projected light bees.
In view of the telecentric projection, the projector used requires an optical system, the diameter of which is at least equal to the diagonals of the surface on the object to be illuminated. The result of this, for the measurement of teeth in the patient's mouth, is undesirably large dimensions and, consequently, insufficient ease of handling of the measuring probe.
In contrast therewith, the measuring probe or the projector with the optical system formed for the central projection is of considerably smaller dimensions and is thus better suited for the measurement of teeth in the patient's mouth. The diverging beam course of this optical system is disadvantageous though in so far as it excludes the use of the above-mentioned relationship between phase difference and the distance .DELTA.z. The stripe pattern M.sub.RE or M.sub.OE respectively projected onto the reference plane RE or the object plane OE is namely distorted, as shown in FIG. 2, in comparison with the stripe pattern M.sub.PE located in the plane of projection PE in accordance with the different angles of incidence .alpha.,.beta. of the individual light beams L. In other words, the camera no longer observes a displacement of the reference plane by .DELTA.z, as in the case of telecentric projection, as the sole displacement of the phase position of the stripe pattern, but as a mixture of phase displacement and different change of the wavelength. Thus the distance values .DELTA.z determined, in the same way as the contour image of the object derived from them, contain different error contents corresponding to the different distortions of the wavelength.

Method and apparatus for optical measurement of objects


Nikkomycin compounds have been found to be orally or parenterally effective as anti-fungals in animals. They may be used alone or, preferably, in combination with azole antimycotics for a snyergistic anti-fungal effect.

Prior Art
The invention is related to antimycotic compositions comprising fungicidally effective amounts of a nikkomycin and an azole antimycotic, the preparation of such compositions and to methods of treating infections of fungi by administering therapeutically effective amounts of such compositions.
Compounds inhibitory to the synthesis of fungal cell wall material (synthase inhibitors) have been reported recently to have demonstrable effects against fungi of agricultural importance (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,315,922 and 4,158,608; see also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,585,761 and 4,552,954 for descriptions of the preparation and purification of such compounds). The agents mentioned in the cited patents, nikkomycins, together with similar agents known as polyoxins, are known to act by interfering with the synthesis of chitin in the cell walls of fungi. Because fungi of medical importance to humans also have varying amounts of chitin in their cell walls, experiments have been conducted to determine if the chitin synthase inhibitors are capable of inhibiting the growth of such fungi (Hector and Pappagianis, J. Bacteriol. 154:488-498, 1983, and Hector and Braun, Antimicrobial Agents Chemother, 29:389-394, (1986). In earlier work, certain fungi such as Candida albicans were reported to be insensitive to chitin systhase inhibitors (see Naider et al, Antimicrobial Agents Chemother, 24:787-796, 1983. Subsequently, C. albicans was found to be more sensitive to nikkomycins than polyoxins (see Yadan et al, J. Bacteriol. 160:884-888, 1984) but the concentrations necessary for killing that yeast would (for toxicity reasons) preclude there use as chemotherapeutic agents for yeast infections (see Hector and Braun, Antimicrobial Agents Chemother., 29:389-394, 1986).
Quite surprisingly, it was now found that nikkomycin compounds in combination with antimycotically active azoles are efficacious in treating fungal infections.
As shown in synergy studies the achieved antifungal effect is a synergistic effect based on combining the nikkomycins with the azoles.
Accordingly the invention is related to an antimycotic composition comprising a fungicidally effective amount of a nikkomycin and an azole.

Antimycotic compositions of nikkomycin compounds and azole antimycotica


An implantable medical device system and associated method for use in guiding an acute decompensated heart failure therapy set an optimal fluid status measurement level. A physiological sensor signal sensed by an implantable medical device is used to compute the fluid status measurement. A target rate of change of the fluid status measurement is computed for guiding the therapy.

Implantable medical devices are available for monitoring physiological signals for use in diagnosing and managing cardiac disease. For example, implantable hemodynamic monitors can monitor heart rhythm, blood pressure and thoracic fluid status for tracking the status of heart failure patients. In the early stages of heart failure, compensatory mechanisms occur in response to the heart's inability to pump a sufficient amount of blood. One compensatory response is an increase in filling pressure of the heart. The increased filling pressure increases the volume of blood in the heart, allowing the heart to more efficiently eject a larger volume of blood on each heart beat. Increased filling pressure and other compensatory mechanisms can initially occur without overt heart failure symptoms.
The mechanisms that initially compensate for insufficient cardiac output, however, lead to heart failure decompensation as the heart continues to weaken. The weakened heart can no longer pump effectively causing increased filling pressure to lead to chest congestion (thoracic edema) and heart dilation, which further compromises the heart's pumping function. The patient begins the "vicious cycle" of heart failure which generally leads to hospitalization.
Typically, therapy for a patient hospitalized for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) includes early introduction of intravenous infusion of diuretics or vasodilators to clear fluid retained by the patient. This therapy can be highly effective in reducing ADHF symptoms rapidly, but overdiuresis can occur if the intravenous infusion of drugs is delivered too long or at too high of a dosage. Since there is a lag in time between reaching an optimal fluid volume status and the alleviation of symptoms, determining the optimal parameters for controlling the intravenous infusion therapy remains a challenge to clinicians. Overdiuresis may require fluid to be administered to the patient to increase the patient's fluid volume status. Removing and adding fluid can pose additional burden on the kidneys, which may already be compromised due to renal insufficiency in the heart failure patient. At other times, the fluid removed may not be sufficient to achieve a desired result. A need remains, therefore, for apparatus and methods for guiding ADHF therapy.

Methods for guiding heart failure decompensation therapy


A reciprocal device for exercise machines includes a base having a plurality of positioning rods and stop members on a top surface thereof and each positioning rod has a spring mounted thereto. A movable member has a plurality of sockets which are mounted to the springs and the positioning rods. A cover is mounted to the movable member. The base and the movable member each have a sensing rod and the two sensing rods are located in alignment with each other so that when the movable member is stepped downward, the two sensing rods contact and send a signal to allow the exercise machine to process a function.

The present invention relates to a reciprocal device that has two sensing rods on two parts which are moved relative to each other, the two sensing rods contact with each other when one part is moved toward the other.
A conventional stepping exercise machine or climbing exerciser has two pedals that are pivotably connected to the base of the exercise machine and moved up and down by the user. The pedals can be bounced back and the user steps them down to exercise the muscle of legs. The resistance of the pedals is provided by hydraulic cylinders. An inherent shortcoming of the conventional exercise machine is that the hydraulic cylinders are heavy and expensive. The hydraulic cylinders need to be maintained frequently to ensure no leakage is found. Besides, a space between the pedals and the top surface of the base could be a dangerous space because children could insert their hands or legs in the space and are injured by the down movement of the pedals.
The present invention intends to provide a reciprocal device for an exercise machine and springs are connected between the two parts of the device. Two sensing rods are connected to the two parts and contact with each other to send a signal to perform a pre-set function.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reciprocal device for exercise machines and the device comprises a base having a plurality of positioning rods and stop members on a top surface thereof and each positioning rod has a spring mounted thereto. The base has a first sensing rod extending from the top surface thereof. A movable member has a plurality of sockets which are mounted to the springs and the positioning rods. A second sensing rod extends from the underside of the movable member. The first sensing rod and the second sensing rod are located in alignment with each other. A cover is mounted to the movable member.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a reciprocal device that uses springs or resilient members to let the movable members be operated reciprocatingly.
The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

Reciprocal device having sensing feature


Methods are disclosed of forming and removing a reacted layer on a surface of a recess to provide mechanisms for improving thickness uniformity of a semiconductor material formed in the recess. The improved thickness uniformity in turn improves the uniformity of device performance.

When a semiconductor device, such as a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), is scaled down through various technology nodes, high k dielectric material and metal are adopted to form a gate stack. In addition, strained structures utilizing epitaxial silicon germanium (SiGe) may be used to enhance carrier mobility. However, current techniques to form these strained structures have not been satisfactory in all respects.

Reacted layer for improving thickness uniformity of strained structures

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


An image generation apparatus includes: an extracting section to extract characteristic information of a hair region in a face image; an image specifying section to specify a hairstyle image on the basis of the characteristic information extracted by the extracting section; and a first generating section to generate a portrait image of a face in the face image by using the hairstyle image specified by the image specifying section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image generation apparatus, an image generation method, and a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a portrait creating apparatus which creates a portrait by using characteristic points of facial parts such as eyes, nose, mouth, ears, face outline, etc. has been known (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-145625).
In addition, a game apparatus which creates a character image by combining part objects previously prepared for respective regions (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-61896).
In the meantime, it is believed that a hairstyle has a significant impact on a portrait as compared with the eyes, nose, mouth, etc., and drastically changes the impression of the portrait.
For a system which automatically generates a portrait, considering variousness of hairstyles, a method for utilizing a color of hairs has been proposed. However, there is a possibility that extraction of a hair region from an image cannot be performed properly when the color of hairs is not a plain color.

Image generation apparatus, image generation method, and recording medium


A novel MOS or CMOS based active sensor array for producing electronic images from electron-hole producing light. Each pixel of the array includes a layered photodiode for converting the electron-hole producing light into electrical charges and MOS and/or CMOS pixel circuits located under the layered photodiodes for collecting the charges. The present invention also provides additional MOS or CMOS circuits in and/or on the same crystalline substrate for converting the collected charges into images and manipulating image data. The layered photodiode of each pixel is fabricated as continuous layers of charge generating material on top of the MOS and/or CMOS pixel circuits so that extremely small pixels are possible with almost 100 percent packing factors. In a preferred embodiment the sensor is a 0.3 mega pixel (3.2 mmxc3x972.4 mm, 640xc3x97480) array of 5 micron square pixels which is compatible with a lens of {fraction (1/4.5)} inch optical format. In a preferred embodiment the sensor along with focusing optics is incorporated into a cellular phone camera or a camera attachment the cellular phone to permit transmission of visual images along with the voice communication.

Electronic image sensors are typically comprised of pixel arrays of a large number of very small light detectors, together called xe2x80x9cpixel arraysxe2x80x9d. These sensors typically generate electronic signals that have amplitudes that are proportional to the intensity of the light received by each of the detectors in the array. Electronic cameras comprise imaging components to produce an optical image of a scene onto the pixel array. The electronic image sensors convert the optical image into a set of electronic signals. These electronic cameras typically include components for conditioning and processing the electronic signals to allow images to be converted into a digital format so that the images can be processed by a digital processor and/or transmitted digitally. Various types of semiconductor devices can be used for acquiring the image. These include charge couple devices (CCDs), photodiode arrays and charge injection devices. The most popular electronic image sensors utilize arrays of CCD detectors for converting light into electrical signals. These detectors have been available for many years and the CCD technology is mature and well developed. One big drawback with CCD""s is that the technique for producing CCD""s is incompatible with other integrated circuit technology such as MOS and CMOS technology, so that processing circuits and the CCD arrays must be produced on chips separate from the CCD""s.
Another currently available type of image sensors is based on metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) technology or complementary metal oxide semi-conductor (CMOS) technology. These sensors are commonly referred to as CMOS sensors. CMOS sensors have multiple transistors within each pixel. The most common CMOS sensors has photo-sensing circuitry and active circuitry designed in each pixel cell. They are called active pixel sensors (APS""s). The active circuitry consists of multiple transistors that are inter-connected by metal lines; as a result, this area is opaque to visible light and cannot be used for photo-sensing. Thus, each pixel cell typically comprises photosensitive and non-photosensitive circuitry. In addition to circuitry associated with each pixel cell, CMOS sensors have other digital and analog signal processing circuitry, such as sample-and-hold amplifiers, analog-to-digital converters and digital signal processing logic circuitry, all integrated as a monolithic device. Both pixel arrays and other digital and analog circuitry are fabricated using the same basic process sequence.
Small cameras which utilize CCD arrays to convert an optical image to an electronic image have been commercially available for many years. Also, attempts have been made to produce small visible light cameras using CMOS sensors on the same chip with processing circuits. One such attempt is described in recently issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,486,503.
Small cameras using CCD sensors consume large amounts of energy (as compared to cameras with CMOS sensors) and require high rail-to-rail voltage swings to operate CCD. This can pose problems for today""s mobile appliances, such as Cellular Phone and Personal Digital Assistant. On the other hand, small cameras using CMOS sensors may provide a solution for energy consumption; but the traditional CMOS-based small cameras suffer low light sensing performance, which is intrinsic to the nature of CMOS APS sensors caused by shallow junction depth in the silicon substrate and its active transistor circuitry taking away the real estate preciously needed for photo-sensing.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,528,043 5,886,353, 5998,794 and 6,163,030 are examples of prior art patents utilizing CMOS circuits for imaging which have been licensed to Applicants"" employer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,043 describes an X-ray detector utilizing a CMOS sensor array with readout circuits on a single chip. In that example image processing is handled by a separate processor (see FIG. 4 which is FIG. 1 in the ""353 patent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,886,353 describes a generic pixel architecture using a hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer structure, either p-i-n or p-n or other derivatives, in conjunction with CMOS circuits to for the pixel arrays. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,998,794 and 6,163,030 describe various ways of making electrical contact to the underlying CMOS circuits in a pixel. All of the above US patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Combining CMOS and MOS sensors with external processors can result in complexity and increase production costs. A need exists for improved camera technology which can provide cameras with cost, quality and size improvements over prior art cameras.
The present invention provides a novel MOS or CMOS based active sensor array for producing electronic images from electron-hole producing light. Each pixel of the array includes a layered photodiode for converting the electron-hole producing light into electrical charges and MOS and/or CMOS pixel circuits located under the layered photodiodes for collecting the charges. The present invention also provides additional MOS or CMOS circuits in and/or on the same crystalline substrate for converting the collected charges into images. The layered photodiode of each pixel is fabricated as continuous layers of charge generating material on top of the MOS and/or CMOS pixel circuits so that extremely small pixels are possible with almost 100 percent packing factors. In a preferred embodiment the sensor is a 0.3 mega pixel (3.2 mmxc3x972.4 mm, 640xc3x97480) array of 5 micron square pixels which is compatible with a lens of {fraction (1/4.5)} inch optical format. In a preferred embodiment the sensor along with focusing optics is incorporated into a cellular phone camera or a camera attachment the cellular phone to permit transmission of visual images along with the voice communication. In preferred embodiments all of the camera circuits are incorporated on or in a single crystalline substrate along with the sensor pixel circuits. The result is an extremely low cost camera at high volume production which can be made extremely small (e.g., smaller than the human eye). High volume production costs for the above 0.3 mega-pixel camera are projected to be less than $10 per camera.


Embodiment of the invention improve the productivity of a magnetic disk drive that controls the flying height of a magnetic head by use of a heater. According to an embodiment, in a method for manufacturing a magnetic disk drive that writes/reads information to/from a magnetic disk medium by use of a magnetic head including a heater adapted to control the flying height, the read and write performance of the magnetic head is tested; a heating condition used at the time of heating by the heater is determined on the basis of the test results; and a control parameter that specifies the amount of heating by the heater in the determined heating condition is determined.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a magnetic disk drive in which a magnetic head is heated by a heater to control the flying height from a magnetic disk medium to the magnetic head so that write performance and read performance are improved.
In recent years, magnetic disk drives such as hard disks have achieved widespread use not only for computer equipment but also for home electric appliances such as hard disk recorders. Each of such magnetic disk drives comprises a magnetic disk medium and a magnetic head. The magnetic head magnetizes the magnetic disk medium while flying above it, and also reads a magnetized state of the magnetic disk medium, thus writing and reading information thereto and therefrom. Here, for example, when information is written, with the decrease in clearance between the magnetic disk medium and the magnetic head, the expansion of a magnetic field formed by the magnetic head can be further decreased. As a result, the area magnetized on the magnetic disk medium becomes smaller. In other words, in order to increase the recording density of the magnetic disk drive, it is necessary to decrease the clearance between the magnetic disk medium and the magnetic head, i.e., the flying height of the magnetic head.
Conventional approaches for decreasing the flying height of the magnetic head include a technology in which a heater formed of a thin film resistor is placed in proximity to a magnetic head device so as to heat a magnetic head to cause thermal expansion, thereby allowing the magnetic head to get closer to a magnetic disk medium. In this case, the flying height of the magnetic head changes in response to a situation in which a magnetic disk is used (e.g., the use environmental temperature, a zone of the magnetic disk medium that is a target to be written/read, and operation modes such as write and read). Therefore, it is necessary to control the amount of heating by the heater in response to the use situation.
As a specific example, there is disclosed a magnetic disk drive capable of controlling the amount of heating by a heater. In this magnetic disk drive, a control table for associating a use situation with control parameters such as the amount of heating by the heater is stored beforehand. When the magnetic disk drive is used, the control table is referred to so that the amount of heating by the heater is determined in response to the use situation. See, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-79126 (patent document 1).

Magnetic disk drive with heater to control flying height and manufacturing method thereof

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


This invention provides aromatic diimines which have imino hydrocarbylidene groups with at least two carbon atoms, and aromatic secondary diamines which have amino hydrocarbyl groups with at least two carbon atoms. Both the aromatic diimines and the aromatic secondary diamines either are in the form of one phenyl ring, or are in the form of two phenyl rings connected by an alkylene bridge; each position ortho to an imino group or an amino group bears a hydrocarbyl group. When in the form of one phenyl ring, there are two imino groups on the ring or two amino groups on the ring; the imino groups or amino groups are meta or para relative to each other. When in the form of two phenyl rings connected by an alkylene bridge, there is either one imino group or one amino group on each phenyl ring. Also provided are processes for forming diimines and secondary diamines.

There are many polyfunctional compounds, including diols and aromatic diamines, which are indicated to be useful as chain extenders in the preparation of polyurethane, polyurea, and polyurethane-urea polymers and/or as curing agents for epoxy resins. None of these compounds has a reactivity such as to make it universally ideal, and many fail to provide satisfactory properties in the products made by their use. Thus, there is still a need to find new compounds capable of serving as chain extenders or curing agents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,616 teaches the use of certain N,N′-dialkylphenylenediamines as chain extenders in preparing polyurethanes and polyureas. In this connection, also see for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,363, which teaches the use of secondary aliphatic diamines as part of a resin binder, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,218,480 B1, which discloses use of aromatic diamines as hardeners for polyurethanes. Secondary aromatic diamines have also been used as anti-degradants for rubber; see U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,868.
Imines are often formed from combination of a primary amine and an aldehyde or ketone. Such imines can be used as flavors (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,710) or fragrances (see EP 1067116).
To date, it has not been found possible to obtain aromatic diimines having groups with two or more carbon atoms from aromatic primary diamines where the two amino groups are either on one phenyl ring, or one amino group is on each of two phenyl rings, where the two phenyl rings are connected via an alkylene bridge, and in which each position ortho (immediately adjacent) to each amino group bears a hydrocarbyl substituent. Attempts to prepare diimines via reaction of such primary diamines with acetaldehyde or acetone in the presence or absence of catalysts have not worked; see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,041,668 and 5,008,453. It had been indicated that the presence of an aryl group on the nitrogen or carbon of an imine group stabilized the imine; however, it has been reported that at least some of the compounds previously believed to be stable aromatic imines had been misidentified and were really polymers formed from unstable imines. In this connection, see Distefano et al., J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. II, 1985, pp. 1623-1627.
It would be desirable to have routes to such diimines, and to have routes to aromatic secondary diamines that can be obtained from such diimines. There is a growing need for chain extenders with slower cure rates, so it would be a further advantage if these aromatic secondary diamines exhibited slower curing rates than those of presently available chain extenders.