A cartridge case of an information recording medium includes a case main body where a guide part is disposed on an inner surface of a top plate, a tape reel that includes a hub in the shape of a bottomed-cylinder and is rotatably enclosed inside the case main body, and a locking member that is guided in a state where rotation is restricted by the guide part, is enclosed within the case main body so as to be capable of moving in a direction toward and away from a base plate of the hub, and restricts rotation of the tape reel. The guide part includes a cylindrical first convex part disposed on the inner surface and a plate-like second convex part disposed on the inner surface. The locking member includes a main part, a cylindrical third convex part that is disposed on the main part and engages the first convex part, and a plate-like fourth convex part that is disposed on the main part and contacts the second convex part to restrict rotation of the locking member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cartridge case including a tape reel with a hub in the shape of a bottomed cylinder and a locking member that prevents rotation of the tape reel, and to an information recording medium equipped with the cartridge case.
2. Description of the Related Art
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-100148, the present applicant has disclosed a single reel-type tape cartridge as one example of this type of information recording medium. This tape cartridge is constructed by enclosing a single tape reel inside a main case so that the tape reel is rotatable. The tape reel, around which a tape is wound, has a hub in the shape of a bottomed cylinder, with engaging teeth being formed on an inner surface of the base plate of the hub. A brake lock that is energized by a brake spring and restricts rotation of the tape reel is also enclosed inside the main case. The brake lock is constructed so that teeth that engage the engaging teeth of the hub are formed on the lower surface of the brake lock and a guided protrusion that engages a positioning part provided on the inner surface of the upper case that constructs the main case is formed on an upper part of the brake lock. Here, as shown in FIG. 15, the positioning part of the main case (the upper case) is composed of four column-like guide protrusions 101. Also, as shown in FIG. 16, the guided protrusion of the brake lock is constructed so as to be shaped like a cross when viewed from above, with four guide channels 102 that are oblong when viewed from above and engage the respective guide protrusions 101 being formed in the shape of a cross. When this tape cartridge is not in use, as shown in FIG. 17, the brake lock is moved toward the base plate of the hub while being guided in a state where the guide protrusions 101 that respectively engage the guide channels 102 restrict rotation of the brake lock, so that the teeth of the brake lock and the engaging teeth of the hub engage one another. Accordingly, the tape reel is locked by the brake lock and the guide protrusions 101 in a state where rotation is prohibited. On the other hand, during use of the tape cartridge, by pressing up the brake lock with a brake releasing plate disposed between the base plate of the hub and the brake lock, the locking is released and rotation of the tape reel becomes possible.
By investigating the tape cartridge described above, the present inventors discovered the following problem to be solved. That is, with the above tape cartridge, by causing the guide protrusions 101 of the main case to engage the respective guide channels 102 of the brake lock, rotation of the brake lock is restricted and the brake lock is guided toward the base plate of the hub. That is, to make it possible for the brake lock to move smoothly, the dimensions of the guide protrusions 101 and the guide channels 102 are set so that a predetermined clearance is maintained between the guide protrusions 101 and the guide channels 102 when in engagement. However, as shown in FIGS. 15 to 17, since the shapes of the guide protrusions 101 and the guide channels 102 are complex, when a plurality of similar molds are used or when a multiple cavity mold is used to injection mold the main case and the brake lock, the dimensions of the guide protrusions 101 and the guide channels 102 fluctuate between individual molds or individual cavities. Accordingly, there can be fluctuations in the respective clearances between the guide protrusions 101 and the guide channels 102.
Also, as shown in FIG. 17, since the tape cartridge uses a construction where the four column-shaped guide protrusions 101 engage the four oblong guide channels 102 when viewed from above, by rotating the brake lock by 90° to change the orientation with respect to the main case when the guide protrusions 101 and the guide channels 102 are brought into engagement, it is possible to have any of the guide protrusions 101 engage any of the guide channels 102. This means that when there are fluctuations in the dimensions of the respective guide protrusions 101 and the respective guide channels 102, the clearances between the guide protrusions 101 and the respective guide channels 102 can fluctuate even more depending on the orientation of the brake lock with respect to the main case when the guide protrusions 101 and the guide channels 102 are brought into engagement. Accordingly, the brake lock can become slightly inclined with respect to the inner surface of the main case (upper case) due to such fluctuations in the clearance. Also, due to its construction, the tape cartridge has a characteristic whereby even if the respective clearances between the guide protrusions 101 and the guide channels 102 are all identical, the brake lock will be slightly more inclined with respect to the inner surface of the main case in directions (for example, the direction shown by the arrow C in FIG. 17) at an angle of 45°, for example, to the lengthwise directions of the guide channels 102 (i.e., the directions shown by the arrows A and B in FIG. 17) than in the lengthwise directions of the guide channels 102. Accordingly, with this tape cartridge, due to this characteristic and the brake lock becoming inclined due to the fluctuations in clearance described above, there is the risk of the hub contacting the brake lock and producing abnormal noise.
Also, due to the fluctuations in the clearance described above, when the tape reel is rotating in a state where the brake releasing plate presses up the brake lock, there are cases when there is misalignment between the central axis of the brake releasing plate that rotates together with the tape reel and the central axis of the brake lock. When such misalignment occurs, the brake lock vibrates due to a force that moves the brake lock toward the outer periphery and a force whereby a brake spring attempts to restore the brake lock to its original position, resulting in the risk of abnormal noise.

Cartridge case and information recording medium


A wafer probe card has an adapter module and a probe module detachably mounted together. The adapter module has a holding member and an interposer mounted within the holding plate. The probe module has a frame assembly and a space transformer and a probe assembly mounted within the frame assembly. A fixing plate is mounted on the holding member of the adapter module to constitute an electrical connection among the interposer, space transformer and probe assembly. When any element of the wafer probe card is faulty, the adapter module or the probe module is detached and the faulty element is replaced. The adapter module or the probe module with the replaced element is then reassembled. Alternatively, the adapter module or the probe module can be replaced on a modular basis. Accordingly, it is not necessary that all components be detached entirely, thereby improving the operational speed and efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an IC testing device and more particularly, to a probe card for wafer level testing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wafer testers are applied to test wafer yield, employ probes to contact die pads of a tested wafer, and send out testing signals to perform a functional test of the wafer to screen out defective wafers.
With reference to FIG. 10, a conventional probe card of a wafer tester has a wiring board 50, a holding member 51, an interposer 52, a space transformer 53, a probe head 54 and two leaf springs 55. The holding member 51 is mounted on a bottom of the wiring board 50 and has an opening 510 facing downwardly. The interposer 52 is stacked on a top of the space transformer 53, and the interposer 52 and the space transformer 53 are mounted inside the holding member 51. The wiring board 50, the interposer 52 and the space transformer 53 respectively have connection terminals formed thereon coming into electrical connection with one another. The probe head 54 is mounted in the opening 510 of the holding member 51 by abutting against the leaf springs 55. The probe head 54 has a plurality of probes formed thereon to bring into electrical contact with the connection terminals of the space transformer 53. The holding member 51 and the leaf springs 55 are fastened on the wiring board 50 by multiple bolts 56.
When the wafer tester is operated, the probes on the probe head 54 contact a wafer to be tested. The wafer tester transmits test signals to the tested wafer through a microprocessor, and the test signals are transmitted to the tested wafer through the wiring board 50, the interposer 52, the space transformer 53 and the probe head 54. Responding signals generated by the probe head 54 are sent back to the microprocessor for the microprocessor to perform a function analysis. A wafer test can thus be conducted.
When any one of the interposer 52, the space transformer 53 and the probe head is damaged and needs to be replaced, as the holding member 51 and the leaf springs 55 are fastened on the wiring board 50 by the bolts 56, the bolts 56 must be unscrewed first. Then, the holding member 51, the interposer 52, the space transformer 53, the probe head 54 and the leaf springs 55 can be disassembled, and the damaged component can be replaced by a functioning counterpart. However, since the holding member 51, the interposer 52, the space transformer 53, the probe head 54 and the leaf springs 55 are already detached, there is no way to tell which component is damaged. In order to do the troubleshooting, an operation personnel must test all the components one by one, replace the damaged component and reassemble all the components on the wiring board 50. Hence, a single faulty component can cause a lot of inconvenience in maintenance.
Moreover, when the space transformer 53 is mounted on the interposer 52, the connection terminals between the interposer 52 and the space transformer 53 need to be calibrated to ensure that the electrical connections among connection terminals of the interposer 52, the space transformer 53 and the probe head 54 function as intended. Additionally, when the probe head 54 is mounted on the space transformer 53, the electrical connection among the connection terminals of the probe head 54 and the space transformer 53 needs to be calibrated once again. The calibration procedures are complicated and tedious and also cause operational inconvenience.


Multicasting and telephony call signaling are combined to perform multicast call signaling. Several IP endpoints in a packetized network subscribe to a multicast group. A telephony call setup request is then sent on a multicast address to each of the subscribing endpoints in the telephony multicast group. When an originating endpoint transmits a telephony call setup request using the multicast address, the network replicates and transmits the telephony call setup request to each of the subscribing endpoints belonging to the telephony multicast group associated with that multicast address. When the setup request reaches the subscribing endpoints, each endpoint sends an alert signal using the multicast address to indicate the presence of a telephony device at that endpoint. Telephony devices at each of the subscribing endpoints can then begin notifying a user of the incoming call. When a response to the telephony call setup request is initiated by one of the telephony devices, a connect signal is transmitted from a responding endpoint using multicast address. A connection is then established between the originating endpoint and the responding endpoint. The multicast address or a point to point connection can be used to carry the voice and/or video data in addition to the signaling data once the connection is established.

This invention relates generally to call signaling and, more specifically, however, to using multicast call signaling in a packet network.
Conducting voice communications over a packet network is desirable because companies typically use 50% or less of available network bandwidth. Therefore, putting company voice traffic on the same packet network used to transmit data can save long distance charges and allow for greater communication options. Sending voice data on IP networks is therefore extremely desirable when there is a guaranteed bandwidth.
Call signaling techniques in packet networks traditionally route signaling data serially, or sequentially, such that a response is sought from only one endpoint at a time. If a first endpoint fails to respond to the request, then the request is sent to a second endpoint. If no response is obtained from the second endpoint the request is sent to a third endpoint, and so on. A conventional telephony call forwarding technique is used to connect with a user at any one of multiple locations-such as attempting to contact someone whether they are at the office by an office phone, at home by a home phone, or away from home and the office by a cell phone or a pagerxe2x80x94operates as follows. First, the telephony system attempts to reach the desired party at the office by signaling (calling) the office phone. If no response is obtained at the office, the system calls the home phone. If no response is received from the home phone, then the cell phone is signaled. Finally, the pager is contacted if no response was obtained from any of the previous devices. When a response is finally obtained, either from a live-person contact, from an answering machine, or from any other type of coverage device (i.e., voice mail), the signaling sequence stops and no further devices are signaled.
Unfortunately, not only does this system consume a great deal of time trying to track down the desired party, it also breaks down when there is an answering machine or voice messaging device at one of the endpoints. When the answering machine or voice mail system establishes a connection with the caller, the call forwarding process stops and the desired contact must be obtained by calling each phone number manually.
Another problem related to sequential call signaling involves conference calling. Conference calls generally require that each party be contacted separately. Specifically, one party is typically called and put on hold while the next party is contacted. This process continues until all of the desired parties are finally contacted. Again, this method is time consuming and burdensome. Scalability is also a significant problem because all of the work done in contacting the desired parties is done at the initiating endpoint.
The existing audio transport protocol used in IP networks H.323 is derived from traditional telephone networks and is not highly scalable in packet networks or even Local Area Network (LAN) environments. Telephony based protocols are also complex and bulky and require centralized control. Thus, these traditional audio transport protocols are not easily implemented in low cost devices such as cable modems, phones, and pagers because of the intensive processing requirements.
Therefore, a need remains for a scalable and easily implemented packet-based call signaling system that contacts multiple communications devices at the same time. The industry would also benefit from a call signaling system that allows multiple parties to be contacted for participation in a conference call, without the need to separately call each desired party.
One object of the present invention is to provide a call signaling system that allows multiple endpoints to receive a call setup request.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of call signaling that allows multiple parties to be contacted without having to independently call each party.
A further object of this invention is to provide a scalable system for call signaling multiple endpoints.
The present invention is a call signaling system that takes advantage of multicasting technology. The invention sends signaling data in packets having multicast addresses so that multiple endpoints are contacted while sending only one setup signal.
By using a multicast address for telephony signaling, telephone calls can be sent to several telephony devices (i.e. an office phone, a cell phone, a home phone, a pager, etc.), all at the same time. A live-person contact can therefore be sought in several locations simultaneously, eliminating the prior art need for contacting each location sequentially or independently. Furthermore, the invention allows conference calls to be accomplished faster because each of the desired parties can be contacted at the same time, eliminating the need for sequential, independent phone calls to each party.
To achieve these desired results, the invention synthesizes multicasting with call signaling to perform multicast call signaling. Several network endpoints subscribe to and thereby become members of a telephony multicast group. The subscribing endpoints then send call signaling packets (call setup requests) using a multicast address to each of the other members of the multicast group. Each of the subscribing endpoints is notified of a signaling state for each of the other members of that group. Therefore, when one member becomes active (i.e., transmits a call setup request), each of the other members becomes aware of this and can activate devices that notify a user. Of course, the multicast group can also still be used to carry the voice and/or video data in addition to the signaling data.
The invention is more scalable than prior art systems other than the transmission of the telephony call setup request from the originating endpoint, the network and the receiving endpoints do most of the call processing. This approach allows for more distributed processing and accordingly allows for more powerful and scalable implementations.

Method and apparatus for multicast call signaling in packet network


A method and personal banking machine is described by which two items such as cash and statement can be issued simultaneously through one and the same gate. The optimum point in time is determined and adaptively controlled by which the front edge of statement touches the bundle of bank notes during issuing movement of the bank notes. Then both, bank notes and statement, are moved together to their respective end positions. The method and the machine starts the statement transport after a certain monitored delay time (DELTA-STATEMENT). By calculating out of the time difference between the point in time at which the bank notes reach the end position and the statement reaches its end position, a new time delay (DELTA-STATEMENT) is calculated for the next combined cash and statement issue operation. The method provides for the simultaneous issuance of bank notes and a statement through a common exit gate.

European Patent Specification No. 0 036 266 B1 describes a bank note dispensing machine with a delivery device for the receipt for the bank notes dispensed. Bank notes are transported from a first source to a delivery conveyor by a first transport means. The printed receipt, documenting the delivery of the dispensed bank notes, is transported from the printer through a second transport path and delivered then to the back of the already stacked bundle of bank notes on the very same conveyor. If both, bank notes and receipt are collected on the conveyor, both are transported through an exit slot of the machine. There the consumer can grasp the bank notes together with the printed receipt.
In this known bank note dispensing machine the bank notes and the receipt exit the machine through one and the same slot simultaneously. Nevertheless they are bundled inside the machine in such a way, that the collection of money and receipt has to be performed outside of a safe. A safe very often is required for keeping the money, and after the money has been collected in the correct and needed amount then this bundle of bank notes is exited through a slot from the safe. Such a delivery method of the money out of a safeguarded area is not possible with the delivery systems of the present invention, particularly the IBM 4731.
In the UK Patent Application No. GB 2 141 407 A, a cash dispensing machine is described in which one or more bank note stores and one receipt store are provided in a stack. The lower most, or in other words the transport path in the upstream position, is provided for the receipt store. During issuing the bank notes from the different stores to the exit gate, a receipt is printed and, after the last issued bank note, delivered into the very same transport path to exit the same gate. A simultaneous exiting of receipt and bank notes at the slot or the exit gate of the banking terminal is not possible with this machine.
The IBM 4731 Personal Banking Machine provides the possibility to issue bank notes, to issue statements and to issue statements together with bank notes. The bank notes are kept in cartridges within a safe and within the safe arranged in the bundle to be issued to the consumer. Only if the bundle contains the correct number of bank notes are they provided on a conveyor to be issued through a slot within the safe. A printer is provided to print the receipt, to print one or more statements, to collect them and to issue them together with the bundle of bank notes simultaneously through one issue gate. There the consumer grasps the bundle of bank notes together with the statement. The bundle of bank notes is transported to the gate by the so-called front drive forming a first transport means. The statement or several statements also collected in a bundle are provided by a printer and collected at a statement issuing position. They are exited to the gate by a second transport means. Both transport means coincide at the issue gate in a certain angle of less than 90.degree.. For more details reference is made to the IBM 4731 Personal Banking Machine General Information Manual Form Number GA 19-5346-1, especially chapter 2 as well as to IBM 4731 Personal Banking Machine Operators Guide Form Number GA 19-5357-1, chapter 2. Those manuals are incorporated here by references.
As already stated in the IBM 4731 Personal Banking Machine, statement or statements and bundle of bank notes are issued through a common gate or issuing slot and offered to the consumer. Statement and bundle of bank notes come together at the issue gate on transports from different independent units. So the statement is transported from the printer with a relatively low velocity of for example 70 mm/s. At the same time the bundle of bank notes is transported through the front drive, a pair of belts clamp the bundle in between them, and transport the bundle of bank notes with a relatively high velocity of about 300 mm/s to the issuing slot.
The bundle of bank notes with the statement or the statements, are brought together and because of the different velocities of the items, the following problems are caused:
The fast moving bundle of bank notes pulls the statement too far. As a result, a predictable end position of the statement is not possible. This predictable end position of the statement is an absolute must. If the consumer forgets to take the statement or to take the bundle of bank notes after the elapse of a certain amount of time the statement and the bundle of bank notes will be retracted and deposited in different bins. The non-taking is sensed by the machine. If the statement is pulled too far out of the issuing gate by the moving bundle of bank notes the machine senses that the statement has been taken by the consumer. In reality the statement might still be within the gate. This leads to difficulties and malfunction of the machine.
There are different factors contributing to this problem. Those are that the velocity of the bundle of bank notes is essentially higher than that of the statement. Furthermore, the bundle of bank note and statement are not issued parallel to each other through the slot of the exit gate but they come together under a certain angle. Also, the slot of the exit gate is relatively narrow which means that the statement is pulled out of the slot of the exit gate by the bundle of bank notes beyond that which is desired. And, there is a relatively high coefficient of friction between the bank note and the statement, and furthermore, the statement is not kept within the printer or its delivering transport, but joined with the moving bank notes at a different velocity.
To avoid the bank note pulling out of the statement through the slot of the exit gate all of these factors would have to be improved. This would imply a redesign, and change of the construction, both imposing considerable cost and time efforts.
One possible solution probably would be to delay the transport of the statement to the slot of the issuing gate so that it is issued through the slot after the bundle of bank notes already has been issued. But in reality, it is impossible to push the thin statement or the thinner bundle of statements through the slot later, since the slot is very narrow and the bundle of bank notes fans out and thus gets thicker outside of the issuing gate, thus the slot is clogged up. Such a method of operating would lead to a blocking and jamming of the issue gate.

Method for controlling two interrelated transport means and machine thus controlled, especially a personal banking machine

International Business Machines Corporation


In a fluid pressure apparatus, a packing includes an annular seal member made of an elastic material, and support rings made of a low-friction material, which are mounted on an outer circumference of the seal member. The seal member includes, on an outer circumference thereof, a sealing projection that contacts an inner surface of the slide hole. The support rings are disposed on both sides of the sealing projection, and protrude beyond the seal member in the axial direction. Outer circumferential surfaces of the support rings always contact the inner circumferential surface of the slide hole. When a transverse load does not act on a piston as a partitioning member, the inner circumferential surfaces of the support rings do not contact the outer circumference of the piston. When a transverse load acts on the piston, the inner circumferential surfaces of the support rings contact the outer circumference of the piston.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid pressure apparatus of a fluid pressure cylinder or a fluid changeover valve or the like, and more specifically, concerns a fluid pressure apparatus in which an improved packing is installed to a partitioning member comprising a piston or a spool or the like, which moves in the interior of a slide hole defined in a housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fluid pressure cylinder generally includes a piston that moves in an axial direction along the interior of a slide hole formed in a housing. A packing (o-ring) made of an elastic rubber material is installed on the outer circumference of the piston, such that through the packing, sealing is effected between the inner circumference of the slide hole and the outer circumference of the piston (For example, see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 09-072310 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-120602).
Further, in such conventional techniques, together with the packing, a wear ring is provided on the piston, the wear ring being made from a material (e.g., a synthetic resin) having a hardness greater than that of the packing and which is superior in terms of slidability. In the case that a transverse load acts on the piston in a direction tending to cause misalignment between the axis of the slide hole and the axis of the piston (i.e., in a direction perpendicular to the piston axis), misalignment of the piston axis is suppressed by the wear ring, and excessive deformation of the packing due to pressing of the inner surface of the slide hole against the packing is prevented. Also, the outer circumference of the piston is prevented by the wear ring from coming into contact with the inner circumference of the slide hole.


The present invention provides a digital to analog converter circuit comprising a digital to analog converter portion for accepting digital inputs indicative of a signal level and for producing an analog output indicative of a difference in signal level between one digital input and a previous digital input. An integrator is coupled to the digital to analog converter portion for integrating the analog output thereby producing a substantially smooth waveform. The digital to analog converter portion may comprise a plurality of current source type digital to analog converters having a common output terminal and the integrator may comprise an integrating capacitor. In such an embodiment the output from the common output terminal is indicative of a signal level difference determined by at least two of the digital inputs.

In recent years, various digital apparatuses such as compact disk players and digital audio tape recorders have been rapidly developed as commercial products. With this trend, techniques for converting digital signals into analog signals have become indispensable. DACs (digital to analog converters) are used for such conversion.
Where a digital amount is converted into an analog amount by a DAC, the analog voltage or current delivered from the DAC in response to the input assumes a "staircase" waveform which varies in a stepwise fashion.
For example, when a sinusoidal wave is produced, using the above-described DAC, digital codes of normally 8 to 16 bits which indicate displacements of the sinusoidal wave are applied to the DAC in response to every clock applied for conversion. The output waveform is a staircase wave S as shown in FIG. 1. The duration of each step of this staircase wave S is determined by the clocks described above.
As the ratio of the frequency of the clocks to the frequency of the desired sinusoidal waveform increases, the staircase wave S approximates more closely the actual sinusoidal wave F. However, the waveform S still maintains the staircase condition and, therefore, unwanted spurious signals are produced at and around the clock frequency and its harmonic frequencies.
Accordingly, it has been the common practice to connect a smoothing filter, or an analog filter, with the output of the DAC to smooth the staircase wave S, whereby the output waveform is made to approximate the sinusoidal waveform F. Where a desired output waveform is obtained, a filter having a sharp cut-off characteristic may be needed. However, it is not always practical to realize a filter having a sharp-cut-off characteristic. The prior art filter meeting these sharp cut-off requirements cannot always satisfy the phase and the gain characteristics of the passband. Additionally, the number of components is increased further to accommodate a sharp cut-off frequency.
Furthermore, where the frequency of the output sinusoidal wave is varied, filters having different cutoff frequencies are needed.


A sealing strip holder for manipulating and transporting a sealing strip preform in an at least partially automated production process, the sealing strip preform preferably having limp properties. To make the manufacturing process faster and less expensive the sealing strip holder comprises at least one clamping jaw which interlockingly and/or frictionally engages at least one surface portion of the sealing strip preform.

Seals, in particular flexible profile seals, for avoiding undesirable transfers of substances between two spaces, are known in a multiplicity of different embodiments. Flexible seals generally have a low modulus of elasticity and low rigidity under extension, and therefore large deformations are possible even as a result of being subjected to a small force and torque stress.
Profile seals of this type are used, for example, in vehicle manufacturing, in particular, in the region of vehicle doors, wherein the profile seals are intended to have a high degree of flexibility and dimensional stability.
Due to the multiplicity of different embodiments of a vehicle door, profile seals of this type have to be adapted by corresponding processing operations, for which sometimes special processing and conveying techniques are required.
For the processing and conveying of profile seals of this type, the latter are customarily provided with what is referred to as an integrated carrier which has to be brought in a complicated manner into the profile seal to be processed in each case in order to fasten the profile or the profile seal to the vehicle.

Stefan Pfaff Werkzeug-Und Formenbau Gmbh & Co KG


The present invention relates to a harmonic compensation circuit for compensating at least the third harmonic in the input current (Imains) drawn by an LED light source (1) from a mains voltage supply (2), comprising: a signal input (21, 22) for receiving a first input signal proportional to the input voltage (Vin) of said LED light source (1) and a second input signal (Vsh) proportional to the LED current (ILED) of said LED light source (1), a signal output (25) for outputting a compensation current (Icomp), a processing unit (24a, 24b) for comparing said second input signal (Vsh) to a reference signal (VRb, VR7) and for generating said compensation current (Icomp) based on said comparison, the sum of said compensation current (Icomp) and said LED current (ILED) being proportional to the input voltage (Vin) of said LED light source (1) and said compensation current (Icomp) being provided for minimizing at least the third harmonic in the input current (Imains) drawn by said LED light source (1) from said mains voltage supply (2).

Especially in retrofit-type of applications, i.e. new products that can directly replace old incandescent lamps, halogen lamps or others, having the same geometric dimensions and fittings (e.g. E14, E27) and using the already existing infrastructure in homes and buildings, driver efficiency and cost are crucial for making LED (Light Emitting Diode)-based light sources a success. For this reason, the idea of connecting strings of LEDs directly to the AC mains voltage, only ballasted by a series resistor, has come up. The efficiency of such a driver is about 80%, which is not very high, but still gives an unmatched form factor and performance to price ratio.
A major drawback of this approach is that the current that is drawn from the AC mains voltage suffers from a rather large third harmonic component. At present this is not an issue because the standard that limits this current does not apply to light sources with nominal input power levels of less than 25 W. In the near future (i.e. in the coming 1-3 years), however, this boundary will be lowered to 5 W and extended to cover also solid state light sources, thereby effectively limiting the overall light output of an ACLED solution.

Harmonic compensation circuit and method for an LED light unit


A free-standing and adjustable tri-fold mirror preferably includes a tri-fold mirror having first, second and third reflective surfaces, a mounting bracket statically attached to a rear side of the tri-fold mirror, a swivel device pivotally mated to the mounting bracket, a stand attached to the swivel device and extending away from the tri-fold mirror, and a base member attached to a bottom end of the stand. Advantageously, the tri-fold mirror is freely pivotal along an x-axis and a y-axis while the stand remains stationary and further while the tri-fold mirror is freely adjusted between folded and unfolded positions respectively.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to mirrors and, more particularly, to a foldable mirror for providing users with an easy and convenient means of displaying the back and sides of customers' heads and backs while still being able to free user's hands for working.
2. Prior Art
For many Americans a trip to the barber or hair salon, tattoo parlor, oral surgeon, plastic surgeon, makeup artist or photographer is part of their monthly routine. The experience is pleasant enough with the stylist or barber making small talk and conversing with the client while cutting or styling their hair or applying makeup for example. When finished, the stylist will use a hand mirror to reflect the back of the client's head so the client can inspect and approve the new look or workmanship. Often times this process can be difficult as the client must instruct the stylist or even plastic surgeon to move the mirror at certain angles so as to get a glimpse of their entire head.
This process can also be tedious for the person who must decipher the client's instructions which may be reversed because of the angle at which the client is looking. For example, tattoo parlors still use a hand mirror to bounce off a stationary mirror, making it awkward to view sides, back and necks. The hospital is so hard to get up and down, but people always want to see them self. Imagine the wheelchair bound and people who are unable to move up and down to the bathroom mirror. The oral and plastic surgeons still use the hand mirror although vanity is all the rage, and people invest thousands of dollars to have cosmetic surgery. The hand mirror is therefore archaic and requires the user to hold thus making it difficult to make the necessary maneuvers to rectify a certain corrective action desired by the client.
Accordingly, a need remains for an apparatus in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a foldable mirror that is convenient and easy to use, lightweight yet durable in design, versatile in its applications, and designed for displaying the back and sides of customers' heads and backs to customers while still being able to free user's hands for working.


A strip or roll of thermal transfer type recording sheet (1a) has a base film (1a) on one side of which a hot melt ink layer (1b) is formed for recording on paper or other surface by thermal transfer. An end mark or marks to be detected optionally for warning the user of the fact that the recording roll is being used up is/are formed adjacent one end of the strip by gravure printing with use of a light-reflective ink. The ink mark or marks produced by gravure printing are of such constant thickness, and with the bounding edges so sharply defined, that they permit positive detection by an optical sensor.. For the production of the end marks by gravure printing, a web of base film with the hot melt ink layer formed on one side thereof, with a width several times greater than that of each strip of recording sheet to be manufactured, is fed through a printing unit of a gravure printing section. A set of end marks printed by the printing unit on the web in juxtaposition in its transverse direction are dried immediately, with the drying effect exerted only on the end marks. Then, while being still fed continuously, the web is slit at a slitting section into the required narrower strips of recording sheet each bearing one of the end marks. The separate strips of recording sheet are subsequently wound into rolls.

The facsimile recorder has been known and used extensively which employs a roll of thermal transfer type recording sheet, known as a donor roll, through which the subject copy is thermally transferred to paper. Some facsimile recorders on the market are further equipped to detect the fact that the roll is being used up, and to visually or audibly forewarn the user of the end of the, roll.
In order to make possible the automatic detection of the fact that the recording sheet is coming near to its end, it has been practiced to provide an end mark having a reflective surface on the sheet, in a position spaced a prescribed distance from its end anchored to the roll shaft. The end mark may be formed either directly on one side of the base film of the recording sheet or on the hot melt ink layer on the other side of the base film. The end mark is optically detected by a sensor comprising a source of infrared radiation and a photodetector responsive to such radiation. Flexography and brushing represent two typical conventional measures for creating such end marks.
Such conventional methods of forming end marks are objectionable for several reasons. First, for flexographic production of end marks, the printing ink of reflective material is pressed against the recording sheet by a rubber-made relief plate. The recording sheet is so thin, however, that the relief plate tends to wrinkle the sheet when pressed against the same via the reflective material. At the same time, moreover, the reflective ink easily oozes out from between the recording sheet and the plate, thereby forming undesired bulges beyond the due boundaries of the end marks. Such bulges not only blur the bounding edges of the end marks but also make their thickness uneven.
Additional disadvantages of flexography arise from the fact that before printing, the reflective ink on the rubber plate is in the form of a film overlying the protuberant parts of the relief plate. The ink film tends to develope unevenness on its transfer from the plate to the recording sheet, and it is difficult to control the amount of the ink so transferred and, therefore, the thickness of the end mark so printed. The composition of the ink is also subject to the restriction that it should contain no such solvent as will attack the rubber plate. This restriction imposes additional limitations on the choice of resins to be contained in the ink as a binder. Accordingly, the desired dispersion characteristics of the pigment or powdered metal contained in the ink are not easy to realize, with a consequent decrease in the quality of the printings. It is a still further weakness of flexography that the rubber plates are susceptible to deformation and poor in durability.
The production of end marks by brushing is also objectionable because of the poor quality of the markings so produced. What is worse, this conventional method is very time-consuming and not suitable for mechanized production of the recording sheets on a large scale.
For the reasons set forth in the foregoing, the end marks produced in accordance with the prior art, either by flexography or by brushing, have often been of uneven thickness and have not been defined clearly enough. Such defective end marks have often invited misdetection by infrared sensors, with the result that no warning is generated at the required time before the roll of recording sheet is used up.
Known apparatuses for the manufacture of rolls of recording sheets with end marks thereon have also had difficulties in connection with the application of end marks. Heretofore, the end marks have been formed off-line in longitudinally spaced groups on a continuous web of base film with a hot melt ink layer thereon. The web has a width several times greater than that of each strip of recording sheet to be produced; and each group of end marks are arranged side by side in the transverse direction of the web. Then, by a separate apparatus, the web has been slit longitudinally into the required narrower strips of recording each bearing an end mark thereon.
An objection to this conventional method of manufacture is that if the end-marked web wrinkles or developes other defects while being slit, one roll length of the web has to be discarded Another weakness is the inefficiency of production due to the fact that the application of end marks to the web and the slitting of the end-marked web require separate machines totally disconnected from each other.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a roll or strip of thermal transfer type recording sheet having an end mark so formed as to assure infallible detection by an optical sensor in order to warn the user of the approaching end of the strip.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for efficient manufacture of such a roll or strip of recording sheet having the end mark.


Individual electrodes each substantially shaped like a parallelogram are arranged on a piezoelectric sheet in an actuator unit. A land portion is electrically connected to one of acute-angled portions of each individual electrode. Each land portion is disposed between other two adjacent individual electrodes. A C-shaped groove portion is formed around each land portion so as to pierce the piezoelectric sheet along the outer shape of the land portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inkjet head for ejecting ink onto a recording medium to perform printing.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet head is used in an inkjet printer or the like so that pulse-like pressure is selectively applied to each of pressure chambers supplied with ink from an ink tank to thereby eject ink from a nozzle connected to the selected pressure chamber. An actuator unit which is a laminate of piezoelectric sheets made of piezoelectric ceramics may be used as means for applying pressure to each pressure chamber selectively.
As an example of this type inkjet head, there is known an inkjet head including an actuator unit which has a laminate of continuous planar piezoelectric sheets laid over pressure chambers so that at least one of the piezoelectric sheets is put between a common electrode disposed so as to be common to all the pressure chambers and kept at ground potential and a large number of individual electrodes (i.e. drive electrodes) disposed in positions opposite to the pressure chambers respectively (Please see JP-A-4-341852 (FIG. 1) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,159). The portion of the piezoelectric sheet sandwiched between the common electrode and the individual electrodes and polarized in a direction of lamination shrinks and expands in the direction of lamination by a so-called longitudinal piezoelectric effect when an external electric field is applied in a direction of polarization of the piezoelectric sheet in the condition that individual electrodes located on opposite sides of the sandwiched portion are set so as to be different in electric potential from the common electrode. In this case, the portion of the piezoelectric sheet sandwiched between the common electrode and the individual electrodes serves as an active layer capable of being deformed by the piezoelectric effect when an external electric field is applied. As a result, the volume of a corresponding pressure chamber is changed so that ink can be ejected from a nozzle connected to the pressure chamber toward a recording medium.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A brushless motor is disclosed, in which an armature core is secured to a frame through vibration isolating members by a clamping member having an interval regulator regulating so that the vibration isolating members are held within a regulated thickness determined by the interval regulator.

A brushless motor having the construction disclosed e.g. in Japanese Utility Model Laying-Open Publication No. 59-161383 is known as a prior art brushless motor which is shown in FIG. 7 of this application.
In this motor, the center hole 43a of a core 43 is fitted to a step portion 42d of a rotor holder 42 and the core and the rotor holder 42 are secured to each other by means of screws 44.
However, according to this prior art technique, since the core 43 is directly in contact with the rotor holder 42 and a frame 41, it gave rise to a problem that vibration noise due to switching of a coil, etc. are transmitted from the core 43 to the exterior through the rotor holder 42 which produces extraordinary vibration.
In order to remove this problem, the applicants of this application have studied motors having constructions indicated in FIGS. 5 and 6.
In FIG. 5, reference numeral 8 indicates a flange-forming frame having a sleeve 9 (bearing holder) at its central portion. A shaft 21 is supported rotatably by this sleeve 9 on the inner side thereof through upper and lower bearings 22 and 23. A supporter 10 is secured to the shaft 21 at its upper end by inserting it with pressure in the shaft hole of the supporter. An upside down laid cup-shaped rotor case 32 is secured to this supporter 10. A ring-shaped rotor magnet 33 is secured to this rotor case 32 on the inner surface thereof. On the frame 8 stated above a rubber plate 31 serving as a vibration isolator is laid down by using a sleeve 9 as a guide. An armature core 1 consisting of a plurality of magnetic plates superposed on each other is laid down similarly by using the sleeve 9 as a guide. A driving coil 30 is wound around the armature core 1. Screws 27 traverse the armature core 1 and the rubber plate 31 described above. The armature core 1 is fixed between the head portions 28 of the screws 27 and the frame 8 through the rubber plate 31 by screwing the screw into the frame 8. The rubber plate 31 has also a noise reducing function. The outer peripheral surface of the armature core 1 is opposite to the inner surface of the rotor magnet 33 with a predetermined interval, comprising in this way an outer rotor type brushless motor. A bottom plate 26 is secured to the bottom surface of the frame 8 and disposed so as to be opposite to the free end surface of the rotor case 32.
According to the structure described above, drive noise and vibrations are prevented from being transmitted to the exterior, because the rubber plate 31 absorbs the drive noise stated above such as switching noise of the coil 30, control noise, etc. as well as the vibrations.
FIG. 6 shows another example of the brushless motors which the applicants of this application have studied. This example differs from that indicated in FIG. 5 only in that apart from the rubber plate 31 stated above serving as a vibration isolator, another rubber plate 35 serving as a vibration isolator is disposed also between the upper surface of the armature core 1 and the head portions of the screws 27 and the armature core 1 is fixed on the frame 8 through this rubber plate 35 by means of the screws 27, and the other construction is identical to that of the example indicated in FIG. 5.
In the case indicated in FIG. 6 also, the rubber plate 31 and the other rubber plate 35 prevent drive noise such as switching noise, control noise, etc. as well as vibrations from being transmitted to the exterior.
In the brushless motors indicated in FIGS. 5 and 6, as described above, the compressive force of the rubber plates 31, 35 serving as vibration isolators varies, depending on the clamping torque of the screws 27 and therefore they have a problematical point that the noise preventing and vibration isolating effect fluctuates, depending on the clamping torque of the screws 27. There is another problem in that if the compressive force of the vibration isolators is reduced in order to increase the vibration isolating effect, the clamping torque by means of the clamping members is apt to be insufficient and if the clamping torque by means of the clamping members is insufficient, the screws 27 are loosened.

Kabushiki Kaisha Sankyo Seiki Seisakusho


A centrifugal separator (10) for an engine includes a rotor (30) mounted within a housing (12, 14) for rotation on hollow spindle (42) to the end of which oil is supplied at high pressure to enter the rotor. To prevent the rotor from flying from the base and oil spraying if the cover (14) is removed without shutting off the oil supply via optional valve (80), a rotor restraint (90) is provided in the form of a ring (91) which surrounds and overlies a flange of the rotor. The ring may be complete or discontinuous and may also include an interlock to prevent attachment of the cover and/or supply of oil if the ring is not in place.

This invention relates to centrifugal separators for separating solid contaminants from a liquid supplied thereto at elevated pressure and in particular relates to operating and maintaining such a centrifugal separator with respect to a machine in which said liquid is contained and flows.
United Kingdom patent specification no. GB-A-2311239 describes a self-powered centrifugal separator, that is, one having a separation rotor which is rotated by the pressure of the liquid supplied to and cleaned thereby, having such a separator rotor contained in a housing defined by separable base and cover parts and discusses the potential problems of inadvertent removal of the cover from the base. The patent specification proposes the inclusion of valve means to divert the elevated pressure supply within the separator to permit such removal without interrupting the supply per se and, also, the provision of a mechanical interlock between a manually operated handle of the valve means and the housing cover which impedes said removal until the valve means is operated to divert the liquid supply from the separation rotor.
As discussed therein, it is a feature of that and other designs of centrifugal separator that the liquid is supplied at elevated pressure to the separation rotor through an axle on which the rotor is mounted for rotation and which axle is disposed between the base and usually also the cover.
The supply is often arranged to exert an axial force on the rotor to overcome gravity so that the cover not only defines a housing to contain liquid discharged from the rotor but also serves to constrain/retain the rotor axially when supplied with liquid and subjected to such axial force.
It has been found that inadvertent removal of the cover without shutting off the elevated pressure supply to the rotor risks having the rotor itself being lifted from the base by the applied pressure and detached, and indeed launched as a projectile, as well as uncontrolled discharge of the liquid.
Whereas the construction of centrifugal separator described in the aforementioned patent specification, that is, the separator rotor being mounted on an elongate stationary spindle fixed to the base, makes it possible for the supply pressure per se to lift the rotor completely clear of the spindle the instant that the cover is separated from the base, it will be appreciated that there are many other configurations of axle means for mounting such separation rotor between base and cover which may be more susceptible to such detachment of the rotor by supply pressure. Particularly susceptible is the type of rotor mounting arrangement in which the rotor is located and mounted with respect to each of the base and cover parts by relatively short stub-axle engagement and in which, if the cover is inadvertently removed, there is little to keep the rotor, particularly if spinning, from instantaneously detaching completely from the base.
In some centrifugal separator designs, it may not be possible to provide a valve arrangement in the separator itself to interrupt the liquid supply to the rotor or rotor mounting means, not only increasing the risk of inadvertent removal of the cover but also making it more difficult to provide a physical interlock against cover removal. Furthermore, even when such a valve for interrupting the liquid supply to the rotor mounting means is provided within the separator, it may be inappropriate to arrange for a manual interlock which prevents removal of the cover, or impracticable because of the necessity to manually overcome the interlock each time the valve means is operated, and even when it is intended to remove the cover.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved centrifugal separator with an arrangement for hindering unintentional ejection of the separator rotor.
Another object of the invention is to provide a centrifugal separator with a simple and unobtrusive means of guarding against inadvertent cover removal.
According to the present invention a centrifugal separator of solid contaminants from a liquid supplied thereto at elevated pressure comprises a housing having a base part and a cover part releasably secured with respect to each other and containing a separation rotor, the separation rotor being contained between the base and cover being mounted with respect thereto by spindle means, rotatable about an axis extending between the base and cover and displaceable along the axis limited by said base and cover, the centrifugal separator being characterized by rotor restraining means comprising a restraining surface forming part of, or carried by, the rotor extending radially and circumferentially of the rotor and facing away from the base, and abutment means carried by the base, having an abutment surface overlying the restraining surface at or beyond said limit of axial displacement of the rotor from the base permitted by the cover, operable to prevent further axial displacement of the rotor away from the base in the absence of limitation by the cover.

Centrifugal separator with an arrangement for hindering inadvertent cover removal


An air conditioner is provided that self-disposes of salts that accumulate in increasing concentration inside the air conditioner cooler. Such salts result from continuous evaporation of water that cools air passing through water evaporation mats located within the cooler. The air conditioner includes a separate basin for drawing salty water from the cooler reservoir. Drawn water is evaporated from the basin to concentrate the salt for disposal. The evaporation basin is designed so that the evaporation rate therein is substantially equal to a predetermined ideal quantity of salt water to be disposed of in order to maintain the highest efficiency in performance of the cooler. As such, the evaporative air conditioner system does not consume a larger quantity of water than that consumed by ordinary coolers that require regular cleaning and maintenance.

In the case of a one half horsepower capacity cooler, the water consumption exceeds 15 liters per hour. In such water evaporative cooling systems, large quantities of salts may accumulate due to the evaporation of water all through the working hours of the cooler. The cooling efficiency of the cooler declines due to the increased concentration of salts which form solid salt crystals that spread and multiply from inside to outside the cooler. The accumulated salt plugs air openings and damages the water evaporation mat (which is typically made of straw). This necessitates frequent changing of the water evaporation mats. The salts also contribute to rapid corrosion of the cooler frame and its metallic parts and generates offensive odors.
In order to avoid the harmful effect of the salts and in order to maintain the air conditioner cooler capacity, the cooling water must be changed regularly based upon the cooler's hours of operation, typically every month. This is accomplished by decanting salty water from the cooler reservoir and refilling same with fresh water from a flow control spigot. Typically, ordinary tap water is used. It is difficult to remember to do this job in the recommended time interval. Also it is difficult to perform this task when the cooler is mounted in a high location such as a facade or upper surface of a building.
Therefore, most of the air conditioner salty water might not be changed until it looses its cooling capability and damages the evaporation mat. Once this occurs, a thorough cleaning must be carried out together with replacement of the mat and other maintenance which is necessitated by the salt's harmful effect on the cooler frame and metallic parts.
These draw backs are unfortunate because evaporate air conditioners consume less electric power than other types of air conditioners. The need for frequent maintenance and cleaning due to salt build up in evaporative air conditioner systems has been a limiting factor in the commercial acceptance.


A high speed valve has a conductive flyer plate responsive to eddy currents induced by an adjacent coil. The eddy currents generate a repulsive force which opens the valve, and a low-mass flyer plate and spring combined with a resonant plate and spring combination provide a fast opening and closing time for the valve. A nozzle structure directs a supersonic flow of gas into a rectangular array of high-density gas suitable for interaction with a laser beam transverse to the rectangular array of jets for the production of wakefield interaction, leading to very high-energy electrons from the gas jet.

Electromagnetically controlled solenoidal valves are commonly used to control the passage of gasses and liquids from a pressurized region into a chamber. Because of the large mechanical masses associated with the solenoid plunger related structures, these prior art devices are slow, often on the range of several milliseconds to open or close. Numerous emerging fields require an electrically controlled gas valve with faster response time.
In flash x-ray machines, a supersonic shell or cylinder of gas is compressed by high currents to form a dense, hot plasma pinch, which radiates the desired x-rays in a short pulse.
In laser-wakefield acceleration (LWFA) devices, it is possible to provide electron accelerators with unprecedented electric field gradients. In this application, supersonic and highly collimated gas jets and gas-filled capillary discharge waveguides are two primary targets of choice for LWFA. Present gas jets have lengths of only 2-4 mm at densities of 1-4×1019 cm−3, sufficient for self-trapping and electron acceleration to energies up to approximately 150 MeV. While 3 cm capillary structures have been used to accelerate beams up to 1 GeV, when using gas jets, a well collimated beam that is ≧10 mm in length, <500 μm in width and with the ability to tailor the gas density profile to optimize the LWFA process is required.
In other accelerators, it is sometimes desirable to inject a metered pulse of gas into a beam-line or test cell. One difficulty in the prior art is the requirement for precise control of the mass injected so that only the region of interest is filled with gas, while the rest of the accelerator structure can remain at high vacuum. For this application, the gas burst must be fast enough so that a high vacuum event may occur before the injected gas reaches the high vacuum region to perturb it.
To provide an example of the time scales involved, consider a typical supersonic gas velocity of 500 m/s. Gas will propagate a distance of 0.5 m in 1 millisecond. Hence, to ensure that the region beyond 0.5 m is unperturbed by the injected gas, the entire gas burst should be completed in less than 1 millisecond. A high-speed gas valve is desired where the valve opens in approximately 100 microseconds and is fully closed in approximately 500 microseconds.

Resonant supersonic gas valve and nozzle


Disclosed is a magneto-optical recording element comprising a dielectric layer and an amorphous perpendicular magnetization film on a substrate, wherein the perpendicular magnetization film is a perpendicular magnetization film comprising at least Gd element as the rare earth metal element and Fe metal as the transition metal component, in which the Fe sub-lattice moments are dominant, the dielectric layer is a dielectric layer composed of amorphous silicon nitride, the magnetization Ms of the perpendicular magnetization film is set within a range represented by the following formula (1): EQU 20 emu/cc.ltoreq.Ms.ltoreq.70 emu/cc (1). and the product of the magnetization Ms and the coercive force Hc is set within a range represented by the following formula (2): EQU 100 emu.multidot.KOe/cc.ltoreq.Ms.multidot.Hc.ltoreq.500 emu.multidot.KOe/cc(2). This magneto-optical recording material is suitable for the magnetic field modulation recording method, and even if overwriting is carried out in the recording method, the element shows excellent characteristics and high performances.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magneto-optical recording element. More particularly, the present invention relates to a magneto-optical recording element which is suitable for the magnetic field modulation recording method and makes overwriting possible.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Magneto-optical recording using an amorphous metal alloy comprising a rare earth metal element and a transition metal element has been vigorously studied. According to this recording method, convergent laser beams are projected on a recording medium to effect local heating and writing of bits and the bits are read out by utilizing the magnetic-optical effect. Furthermore, the recorded bits can be erased and new bits can be written again.
In the case where rewriting is performed according to the light power modulation method, recording and erasure should be separately carried out, and hence, a magneto-optical disk should be turned at least two times. Accordingly, real-time rewriting is impossible.
Use of the magnetic field modulation recording method for rewriting instead of this light power modulation recording method has been proposed. According to this method, overwriting is possible, but it is necessary to use a magnetic head capable of high-speed switching under application of a large bias magnetic field. Since this magnetic head has a large driving current and a large reactance, fabrication of this magnetic head is difficult.
In this magnetic field modulation recording method, a magnetic material in which recording can be performed by a small external magnetic field is desired, and recently, a TbFeCo magnetic alloy in which the rare earth element-sub-lattice moments are dominant at room temperature and which has the compensation temperature between the Curie temperature and room temperature has been proposed as the material satisfying this desire. It is reported that if this magnetic alloy is used, recording is possible at about .+-. 200 Oe.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,142, we proposed use of a perpendicular magnetization film composed of an alloy having a composition represented by the formula (Gd.sub.y Dy.sub.1-y).sub.x Fe.sub.1-x in which .times. is a number of from 0.15 to 0.35 and y is a number of from 0.30 to 0.95. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,742 teaches that a deposition layer of a composition comprising Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 and a refractive indeximproving agent such as Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 or Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 is used as the dielectric layer of a magneto-optical recording element.
However, a relative large bias magnetic field is necessary for the known magneto-optical recording elements, and development of an element capable of recording at a magnetic field intensity lower than .+-. 200 Oe, especially lower than .+-. 150 Oe, is desired.


A kit containing a splitter and drill guide for installing the splitter behind a circular saw blade to prevent contact between the cut work piece and the upwardly moving rear portion of the saw blade. The splitter includes a plurality of pegs that are installed into splitter location holes drilled into the saw work surface or a zero clearance insert. The holes are positioned using the drill guide that is indexed from the side of an actual kerf rather than from a side of the saw blade. In this manner, variations in kerf width resulting from variations in blade width and vibration of the saw blade are accommodated. Splitters having incremental amounts of offset between the centerline of the pegs and the planar surface of the splitter may be selected to provide a desired degree of interference and resulting force between the splitter and the work piece.

It is known to position a splitter device behind the circular saw blade of a table saw to maintain separation of the cut material by virtue of its location in the kerf. The term behind is used herein to mean downstream of the saw blade in the direction of movement of a work piece past the blade. Splitters generally consist of a thin piece of metal supported in the plane of the saw blade. A splitter functions to prevent the cut portion of the material from rubbing against the upwardly moving rear portion of the saw blade, which could result in dangerous kickback of the work piece and/or charring of the work piece surface. Various types and arrangements of splitters are well known in the art. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 482,507 which issued on Sep. 13, 1892.
Modern table saws are often provided with a combination splitter, anti-kickback pawl and guard. Certain table saw operations require the removal of such combination devices due to physical interferences, such as the guard interfering with narrow ripping, the guard and the anti-kickback pawls obstructing tenon cutting when the board is vertically oriented, and the anti-kickback pawls causing binding on certain type of cross cutting. The removal and reinstallation of such devices is often troublesome and time consuming, such as with combination devices shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,625,604 and 6,405,624. Many table saw owners permanently remove their splitter combination devices to avoid such inconvenience.
FIG. 1 is a top view illustration of a prior art splitter being used on a table saw. A saw blade 10 extends through a saw slot in a work surface 12 upon which a work piece 14 is supported. As the work piece 14 is urged past the saw blade 10, a saw cut or kerf 16 is created that separates the off-cut piece 18 from the keeper piece 20. Straight line movement of the work piece 14 past the saw blade 10 is ensured by keeping an alignment edge 22 of the work piece 14 against a rip fence 24, which is, in turn, securely supported to extend above the work surface 12 in a plane parallel to the saw blade 10. Splitter 26 is supported in a position behind the saw blade 10 and extends above the work surface 12 within the kerf 16.
Proper alignment of the splitter 26 relative to the saw blade 10 is known to be important for proper functioning of the splitter 26. A splitter on a circular table saw is generally thinner than the saw blade and the kerf it creates. If the splitter 26 is directly centered behind the saw blade 10, a small gap will exist between the splitter 26 and the off-cut piece 18 as well as between the splitter 26 and the keeper piece 20. Such gaps reduce the effectiveness of the splitter by allowing the respective portions of the work piece to move toward the saw blade 10. Often, such a splitter 26 is aligned and installed to be flush with the side of the saw blade 10 facing the rip fence 24 to deny the keeper piece 20 from contacting the saw blade 10. However, precise alignment of a splitter relative to a saw blade is known to be a difficult task. One known method of alignment is to place a straight edge against the side of the saw blade, then to affix the splitter into position against the straight edge. This method achieves alignment of one side of the splitter with one side of the saw blade; however, it augments the gap remaining between the other side of the splitter and the other side of the saw blade.
Splitters that maintain contact with both the off-cut piece 18 and the keeper piece 20 are also known. U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,388 issued on Apr. 6, 2004, describes a rotatable splitter holder mounted behind a saw blade. The position of a splitter pin extending into the kerf above the holder is controlled by the rotation of the holder. Two pins may be positioned on the holder, one on each opposed side of the axis of rotation, to make contact with both the off-cut piece and the keeper piece. The rotation of such a two-pin holder will change the width between the pins within the kerf, thereby accommodating various widths of saw blades. U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,934 issued on Mar. 2, 1971, describes a splitter that includes a plurality of resilient contacts that project toward the opposed sides of the kerf to make contact with both the off-cut piece and the keeper piece. If such dual-contact splitters are not precisely centered behind the saw blade, excessive contact pressure may be exerted against one side of the kerf, while inadequate or no pressure may be exerted against the opposed side.

Splitter for circular table saw and method of installation


A one-way clutch is proposed which is low in surface pressures and durable. It includes an inner ring having a cylindrical outer surface, and an outer ring having a cylindrical inner surface defining a wedge-shaped space in cooperation with the cylindrical outer surface of the inner ring. A ring-shaped wedge member is disposed in the wedge-shaped space. The wedge member is formed with a cylindrical outer surface and a cylindrical inner surface having a center of curvature that is radially offset from the center of curvature of the cylindrical outer surface of the wedge member. A resilient member is provided between the inner ring and the wedge member to bias the wedge member in a direction to be wedged into the narrow portion of the wedge-shaped space. When the inner ring is rotated in one direction, the wedge member will be brought into wedging engagement with the cylindrical surfaces of the inner and outer rings. Torque is thus transferred from the inner ring to the outer ring.

This invention relates to a one-way clutch, i.e. a clutch that transmits only torque in one direction from its input member to its output member.
There are a variety of one-way clutches, including those having a large torque capacity, which are used in automobiles, power tools, etc., and those having a smaller torque capacity, which are used e.g. in office machines such as copiers and PC's, and cameras.
Among such conventional one-way clutches, those of the type as disclosed in JP patent 2904660 are by far the most popular, irrespective of their torque capacity. This type of one-way clutch comprises inner and outer rings, and a plurality of engaging elements disposed between the inner and outer rings and retained by a retainer, also disposed between the inner and outer rings. Resilient members bias the engaging elements in one circumferential direction to keep the engaging elements in engagement with both of the inner and outer rings when the inner and outer rings rotate relative to each other in one direction. The engaging elements are typically rollers or sprags.
JP patent publication 5-332409 discloses another type of one-way clutch, which comprises a cylindrical member having a cylindrical inner surface, a shaft inserted in the cylindrical member and having a plurality of cam surfaces on its outer periphery, opposite the cylindrical inner surface of the cylindrical member, and friction members having inner and outer arcuate surfaces and each received in a wedge-shaped space defined between the cylindrical inner surface of the cylindrical member and one of the cam surfaces. Each friction member is biased toward the narrower end of the wedge-shaped space by a resilient member so that when the shaft and the cylindrical member rotate relative to each other in one direction, the inner and outer arcuate surfaces thereof are pressed hard against the cylindrical inner surface of the cylindrical member and the cam surface.
The first-mentioned one-way clutch has a problem in that the surface pressure is high when the engaging elements engage the inner and outer rings because the engaging elements are brought into line contact with the inner and outer rings. Thus, when high torque is transmitted between the inner and outer rings, the contact surfaces tend to suffer impressions, peeling and/or cracks. This shortens the life of the clutch.
One way to prevent this problem would be to increase the number of engaging elements used and/or increase their size. But this solution necessarily results in increased size, weight and cost of the entire clutch. Thus, this solution is not always practical or advantageous.
The second-mentioned one-way clutch is free of this problem because the inner and outer arcuate surfaces of the friction members are brought into surface contact, instead of line contact, with the cylindrical inner surface of the cylindrical member and a cam surface. But this clutch has a problem in that the shaft and the cylindrical member cannot be reliably locked together due to a slip that may develop between the inner and outer arcuate surfaces of the friction members and the inner cylindrical surface of the cylindrical member and the cam surfaces. Also, because the inner and outer arcuate surfaces of the friction members have three-dimensional shapes, their dimensions have to be measured using a three-coordinate measuring machine, which is extremely troublesome.
An object of the invention is to provide a one-way clutch which is durable, compact in size, light in weight, less costly, and easy in quality control, by reducing surface pressures when engaged.


A method for caching data in a storage medium implementing tiered data structures may include storing a first portion of critical data at the instruction of a storage control module. The first portion of critical data may be separated into data having different priority levels based upon at least one data utilization characteristic associated with a file system implemented by the storage control module. The method may also include storing a second portion of data at the instruction of the storage control module. The second storage medium may have at least one performance, reliability, or security characteristic different from the first storage medium.

A storage system may utilize a cache to perform several functions. These functions may include retaining frequently accessed data for reuse, storing data that has been speculatively pre-fetched, and optimizing writes to media by buffering written data. One challenge a storage system may have is selecting which data to cache. Additionally, if the storage system needs to recycle cache space, the storage system must select which cache data to remove from the cache.
One technique a storage system may utilize is to employ a Least Recently Used (LRU) tracking list to decide which cache blocks should remain in the cache, and which cache blocks should be recovered when additional cache space is needed. Thus, when cache space is needed, the least recently used cache blocks are recycled and freed for reuse by the storage system.

Managing a storage cache utilizing externally assigned cache priority tags


An imaging device may include first and second optical channels, where each of the first and second optical channels include a discrete optical imaging pathway. The first and second optical channels may be aimed at different angles relative to each other, and each may be directed towards corresponding partially overlapping zones of an object for imaging. Each of the optical channels may include an illuminating source configured to be turned on or off, where illumination from the illuminating sources follow respective illumination paths to the object. Each of the optical channels may additionally include lenses shared by both the respective optical imaging pathways and the respective illumination paths, and each may include an image sensor. The imaging device may also include a computing device configured to turn on the illuminating source of the first optical channel while capturing an image using the image sensor of the second optical channel.

Ocular imaging is commonly used both to screen for diseases and to document findings discovered during clinical examination of the eye. Specifically, documentation and analysis of retinal imaging may be relevant to comprehensive eye examinations and full evaluations of current conditions, treatment, and/or early prevention of various eye conditions and diseases.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

Composite image with cross-channel illumination


Aspect methods and systems enable interaction with projected user interface through user input gestures performed on a mobile device. The mobile device may project the user interface image on an external surface, such as from a pico projector, and detect user input gestures performed by users. The mobile device may interpret the detected user input gestures, and change the projected user interface image in response to the interpreted user input gestures. User input gestures may be in the form of touch gestures performed on a touchscreen of the mobile device and/or in the form of hand gestures performed by turning, rotating and/or hoping the mobile device.

Wireless communication technologies have seen explosive growth over the past few years. This growth has been fueled by wireless services providing freedom of movement to the mobile public, and cutting the tether to hardwired communication systems. As a result of ever-increasing capabilities of mobile device applications, the popularity of mobile devices is expected to continue to grow. As mobile devices become more powerful and perform more functions, there is increasing demand for larger and more interactive display screens to support the increasing functionality of these devices. At the same time, users demand ever lighter and more portable mobile devices.

Interacting with a projected user interface using orientation sensors


A fuel injection system is provided. The fuel injection system can have a fuel injector having a check valve with a plurality of fuel output ports, and a fuel injector body with an outer surface and an inner surface. The fuel injector body defines an inner volume to accommodate bi-directional movement of the check valve. The fuel injector body includes at least a first row of injection ports and a second row of injection ports extending from the inner surface to the outer surface. The check valve is bi-directionally controllable in the inner volume, during a single cycle, to output from the fuel injector body any one of a plurality of predefined pulse injection patterns.

A fuel injector is used in an internal combustion engine, such as a compression ignition engine, to deliver or inject pressurized combustible fuel to a combustion chamber of the engine. Typically, fuel injectors include a fuel injector body and a valve, sometimes called a check, a check valve, a needle, or a needle valve, which can be movably disposed in the fuel injector body. The valve and fuel injector body may form a converging space at a discharging end of the fuel injector body, generally referred to as nozzle. In a closed position, the needle valve seals against the nozzle to prevent pressurized injection of combustible fuel from the nozzle of the fuel injector body. Conversely, in an open position, the valve can be lifted to inject the pressurized combustible fuel from the nozzle.
For some fuel injectors where the valve lifts to start injection and closes to stop injection, undesirable pulse injection control may result, for instance, with respect to pulse shape, duration and interval. Also, for some fuel injectors residual fuel in a volume between the valve and nozzle can create inconsistencies in the volume of fuel output by the nozzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,702, hereinafter referred to as '702 patent, describes a fuel injector, for instance, with reference to FIGS. 13-16, whereby a valve needle may be lifted from a state where fuel injection does not occur through either first outlet openings or second outlet openings to a second fuel injecting position where fuel injection occurs through only the second outlet openings. According to the '702 patent, from the second fuel injecting position the valve needle may be either returned to the state where fuel injection does not occur through either first outlet openings or second outlet openings or further lifted to a first fuel injecting position where fuel injection occurs through only the first outlet openings.

Fuel injector for pulsed injections and system and method thereof


The present invention relates to a method and system for providing a load with conditional fault instruction that includes an associated conditional operator, which enables load operations to be advanced above program branches by the compiler without causing unwarranted fault conditions. Specifically, the load instruction can be executed out of normal program order to enable information to be retrieved from memory before the information is needed, to permit the retrieved information to begin to be used before the conditional operator can be evaluated. Likewise, a dynamically scheduled processor can advance components of the instruction and further improve performance without having faults effect the normal program flow. The load instruction can stop the use of the information and replace the information with a predetermined, generally deterministic, value if the conditional operator indicates a faulty load operation.

The present invention relates to processor architectures and instruction sets, and in particular, to processor architectures with instruction sets that provide load with conditional fault instructions.
In modern processors, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), execution of instructions occurs, in general, in the following sequential order: the CPU reads an instruction, the CPU decodes the instruction, and, then, the CPU executes the instruction. In older CPUs the clock speed of the processor was generally slow enough that the reading, decoding and executing of each instruction could occur in a single clock cycle. However, modern microprocessors have improved performance by going to shorter clock cycles (that is, higher frequencies). These shorter clock cycles tend to make instructions require multiple smaller sub-actions which can fit into the cycle time. Executing many such sub-actions in parallel, as in a pipelined and/or superscalar processor, can improve performance even further. For example, to execute the decoding portion of a simple multiplication instruction involves several steps, including: obtaining a first operand from the instruction, moving the first operand to an appropriate storage location, obtaining a second operand, multiplying the first and second operands, and storing the result in a result storage location. Included in these instruction steps are load operations, which can access the memory to obtain the operand(s) from a source memory location or register and then either store the operand(s) or the result of the multiplication operation into a destination register or registers, depending on the implementation. Unfortunately, the cycle time of microprocessor technology has decreased much more rapidly than that of off-die memory technology, hence load instructions/operations are experiencing long latency periods, which adversely affect processor efficiency and performance.
Therefore, what is needed is a method for providing early, that is, out-of-order, execution of load operations, as specified in an instruction, to obtain the necessary data before the data is needed for the execution of the instruction without causing unwarranted fault conditions.

Method for encoding an instruction set with a load with conditional fault instruction


Embodiments for contextual variable scaling relate to selection of objects. For example, such objects may include text, audio, visual, and/or physical objects. In one or more examples, such objects may be selected for variable scaling. For example, variable scaling of such selected objects may be based at least in part on a beginning attribute value and/or an ending attribute value.

This disclosure relates to computer digital publishing.
Computer generated text may be defined in part by attributes such as type face and size. These attributes may be static. Each attribute may have an associated value. For prior computing platforms, a user may select a region of desired text and manually apply changes to selected attributes. A familiar example is where a user selects a region of text currently rendered at 10 points and changes this to 12 points. In so doing all of the text in the selected region may share a common size attribute value, that of 12 points for this example. Alternatively, a user may more variedly affect a region of text by applying a style. A character style, by way of example, perhaps referred to as "Normal," may be defined with a character size set to 12 points. If the "Normal" style is applied to a region of text, the entire region of text may be rendered with this constant and uniform character size. A paragraph style may also be applied to a region of text and affect multiple attributes nearly simultaneously. A selected paragraph style may be defined to affect the font, size, interline spacing, and/or margins of a selected paragraph for instance. A style may then be used, re-used, and/or referenced and applied to a region of text. A potential drawback for prior style formatting is that the value of an attribute is constant for a given style.
Computer objects may be similarly constrained. Prior systems may accommodate a box filled with text as an object. Applying an effect such as squeezing one end of the object while expanding the other end works only upon the object. The textual content of the box object may be treated as an image. Changes may be applied to the object and not to the contents of the object, here the text. For this example, the attributes of the image are altered but not those of the underlying text. Similarly, varying the size or rotation attributes of objects may require individual attention to the separate objects.
Previous systems and methods may not accommodate scenarios where the user may want to vary the value of an attribute across a region. For prior systems, a user may only do this by manually selecting each and every individual text character or object and applying the user-intended attribute value. Because these attributes may be overrides to the individual attributes and may be specific to a particular text character or object in a particular location, they cannot be re-used. Accordingly, the user modified formatting can not be copied and re-applied to a different region of text characters or objects. Such manual variation may be time consuming and typically does not provide sufficient control or even a professional look to a project.


A reproduction device includes an information reading unit that reads sensitivity information from a storage unit of a headphone device which has a speaker reproducing an electric signal of an audible signal as a sound and the storage unit storing the sensitivity information for the speaker, an adjustment unit that adjusts an output level of the electric signal supplied to the headphone device, and a control unit that reads the sensitivity information from the storage unit via the information reading unit, and controls the adjustment unit such that the electric signal lies in an allowable maximal output level based on the sensitivity information.

The present disclosure relates to a reproduction device which delivers the maximum performance of a headphone device, keeps a sound pressure limitation, and supplies sound signals to the headphone device, and to a reproduction method.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-232205, a technique is disclosed in which a reproduction sound pressure is not limited, but information for identifying a type of headphone device is maintained in a headphone device side so as to appropriately cancel noises in various types of headphone devices.
At present, regarding sound reproduction in a headphone device, the reproduction sound pressure is limited to a predetermined sound pressure due to hearing loss countermeasures. This regulates a maximal output voltage of an amplifier unit of the reproduction device main body and a maximal sensitivity of the headphone device (a maximal sound pressure which is obtained by performing a predetermined operation for a value obtained by measuring a headphone output when a predetermined signal is input to a headphone driver, using a so-called noise meter (which can measure a sound pressure level weighted with the frequency of the characteristic A)).
In other words, the maximal value of each of the amplifier output voltage and the headphone device sensitivity is defined, and adjustment is performed so as not to exceed the maximal value. That is to say, an amplifier with a characteristic of the "regulated maximal output amplifier output" and a headphone device with a characteristic of the "regulated maximal headphone sensitivity" are combined, and the output sound pressure is made to be within a predetermined sound pressure.
For example, in the headphone device, a resistor is connected in series to a speaker input unit thereof, thereby limiting the sound pressure.
Therefore, even if there are plural kinds of headphone devices and reproduction devices such as media players, respectively, there is no case where the headphone output sound pressure does not exceed the regulated sound pressure in any combination.

Reproduction device and reproduction method