A semiconductor device and a method for forming the semiconductor device are provided. The method includes providing a substrate; forming a fin on the substrate, where the substrate includes a fin dense region and a fin sparse region; forming a gate structure across the fin over the substrate; forming a source-drain doped layer in the fin on both sides of the gate structure; forming a dielectric layer over the substrate, where the dielectric layer covers a top of the gate structure; and forming a first through-hole in the dielectric layer on a side of the gate structure in the fin sparse region, where a bottom of the first through-hole exposes a top sidewall of the gate structure.

With rapid development of semiconductor manufacturing technology, semiconductor devices have been developing towards higher component density and higher degree of integration. As the most basic semiconductor devices, transistors are currently being widely used. In order to adapt to a smaller critical dimension, a channel length of a traditional planar metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) is also increasingly smaller. However, as a channel length of a device keeps shrinking, the channel control capability of a gate structure deteriorates, and there is increasing difficulty in pinching the channel off by a gate voltage, resulting in a higher risk of subthreshold leakage, that is, the so-called short-channel effect (SCE). Consequently, the device performance of the semiconductor device may be degraded.
To overcome the short-channel effect of the device and to suppress the leakage current, a fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) has been proposed in the existing technology. The FinFET is a common multi-gate device. A structure of the FinFET includes a fin and an isolation structure on a surface of a semiconductor substrate. The isolation structure covers a portion of the sidewall of the fin, and a surface of the isolation structure is lower than a top of the fin. The FinFET also includes a gate structure on the surface of the isolation structure and on the top and sidewall surfaces of the fin. Further, the FinFET includes a source region and a drain region in the fin on both sides of the gate structure.
However, as the size of the semiconductor device shrinks and device density increases, the process difficulty of forming the FinFET increases, and the device performance of the formed FinFET is unstable. The disclosed methods and device structures are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems.

Semiconductor device and fabrication method thereof

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Beijing) Corporation


Disclosed are various embodiments for a search query prediction service. User accounts are organized into various groupings. Candidate search queries are determined for the groups into which a user account is included. A predicted search query is selected from the candidate search queries and communicated to the client before an input of a portion of a search query by a user of the client.

Users may access content by submitting a search query, even when such content is otherwise accessible. For example, a user may have access to selections of media content such as a queue, playlist, media library, or other selection. When accessing a media distribution service, a user may input a search query to access desired content instead of accessing the same content from these selections. Inputting the search query may require more effort on input on the part of the user when compared to accessing a selection of content.


An apparatus for cancellation of a transient voltage spike, includes: a first photodiode for detecting a photon in an optical signal input from an outside, a second photodiode for detecting the photon in the optical signal input from the outside, and a differential amplifier for canceling the same signal component in a first output signal of the first photodiode and a second output signal output from the second photodiode, and to amplify a voltage difference between the first output signal and the second output signal. The transient voltage spike cancellation apparatus cancel a transient voltage spike occurring in an avalanche photodiode operating in a gated Geiger mode, using the differential amplifier.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for cancellation of a transient voltage spike. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for cancellation of a transient voltage spike occurring in a single photon detector.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In a quantum cryptography communication system, a receiver may detect a single photon using an avalanche photodiode.
Since an intensity of light corresponding to a single photon level is applied in the receiver, it is difficult for the receiver to detect an optical signal using the avalanche photodiode. Accordingly, the receiver may operate the avalanche photodiode in a gated Geiger mode and detect an optical signal corresponding to a single photon. Here, when a voltage pulse is applied to an inverse-bias of the avalanche photodiode around a breakdown voltage, it is possible to obtain an infinite instant gain.
On the other hand, when a gating pulse and a direct current (DC) voltage corresponding to a breakdown voltage are applied to a negative electrode of the avalanche photodiode, a voltage signal component may be combined with a positive electrode due to a parasitic capacitance component of the avalanche photodiode.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Method and apparatus for cancellation of transient voltage spike

Electronic and Telcommunications Research Institute


Disclosed herein are methods of producing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells using substrates, such as artificial antigen presenting cells, containing on a surface a a heparin binding domain (HBD), anti-CD3 single chain antibodies, anti-CD28 single chain antibodies (scFv), and optionally anti-41BBL antibodies. Anti-CD3 and Anti-CD28 scFvs bind and activate expanding T cells ex vivo, while the Heparin Binding Domain binds the viral vector, thereby bringing the T cells into close proximity with virus for effective gene transfer. This is a less costly, renewable, modifiable, and efficacious alternative to coated beads and RetroNectin® for gene transfer.

Adoptive T cell immunotherapy offers a promising strategy for specifically targeting and eliminating cancerous cells. T cells can be engineered ex vivo to express chimeric antigen receptors specific for tumor antigens (CAR T cells). The expansion and function of adoptively transferred CAR T cells can be potentiated by the lymphodepletive and tumoricidal effects of standard of care chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Production of CAR T cells currently involves isolation and activation of T cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 paramagnetic beads. The T cells are added to culture containers pre-treated with RetroNectin® and incubated with viral particles for gene transfer. The cells, beads and virus are incubated and the gene-modified cells are expanded. The beads and RetroNectin® are expensive and are limited in supply. Furthermore, the paramagnetic beads are also limited in their ability to be conjugated with more antibodies to activate and/or co-stimulate immune cells due to their small size.

Artificial antigen presenting cells for genetic engineering of immune cells

H. LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC.


Systems, methods, and devices that generate and display a holographic image(s) of a 3-D real or synthetic object scene are presented. A holographic generator component (HGC) partitions a 3-D object scene into a horizontal stack of regularly spaced vertical sub-planes that are each contributed to a respective sub-line. The HGC converts the sequence of sub-lines into a collection of diffraction patterns, which are summed up and interfered with a reference beam to generate the complete hologram, which can be or can approximate a Fresnel hologram. A multi-rate filter is employed to facilitate converting sub-lines to diffraction patterns more quickly. The multi-rate filtering can be realized using convolution in the spatial domain, realized in the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform, and/or realized in the frequency domain using a graphic processing unit.

With the advancement of computers, digital holography (DH) has become an important area of interest that has gained much popularity. Research findings derived from this technology enable holograms to be generated with numerical means, wherein the holograms can be displayed using holographic devices, such as a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) display. Holograms generated in this manner are in the form of numerical data that can be recorded, transmitted, and processed using digital techniques. On top of that, the availability of high capacity digital storage and wide-band communication technologies also has lead to the emergence of real-time video holography, casting light on the future of 3-D television systems.
At present, development in DH has reached a reasonable degree of maturity, but at the same time, the heavy computation involved also imposes a major bottleneck in practical applications. Although some analytic methods have been proposed recently to overcome the problem, the shortening in the computation time has not been significant. For other methods that are based on a fast central processing unit (CPU) or Graphic Processing Unit (GPU), the hardware involved is complicated, expensive, and requires a substantial power supply.
One part of DH is computer generated holography (CGH), which is a method for digitally generating holographic interference patterns, wherein a holographic image can be generated, for example, by digitally computing a holographic interference pattern and printing it onto a mask or film for subsequent illumination by suitable coherent light source or using a holographic 3-D display (a display which operates on the basis of interference of coherent light) to present the holographic image without the need of having to fabricate a "hardcopy" of the holographic interference pattern each time. One of the major problems in CGH is the high computation cost involved in the calculation of the fringe patterns.
Recently, this particular CGH problem has been addressed by imposing the horizontal parallax only (HPO) constraint whereby the process can be simplified to the computation of one-dimension sub-lines each representing a scan plane of the object scene. Subsequently the sub-lines can be expanded to the two-dimensional (2-D) hologram through multiplication with a reference signal. Furthermore, a hardware solution is available with which sub-lines can be generated in a computationally free manner with high throughput of approximately 100 megapixels per second. Apart from decreasing the computation loading, the sub-lines can be treated as intermediate data, which can be compressed by down-sampling the number of sub-lines.
Despite these desirable features, the method is only suitable for the generation of white light (rainbow) holograms, not Fresnel holograms, and the resolution of the reconstructed image is inferior to the classical Fresnel hologram. Another drawback to such conventional hologram generation is that, if the hologram is illuminated with a monochrome beam, the viewing angle is narrow along the vertical direction. Still another drawback to such conventional hologram generation is that the scan planes are separated by a certain distance so that each holo-line will include an adequate number of rows in the hologram to support the diffraction along the vertical direction. As a result, the resolution of the scene image will be lowered, and further it may be necessary to further decrease the number of scan planes to lower the data rate (if the sub-lines are distributed through certain channels) and computation load, thereby resulting in even more degradation in the visual quality of the reconstructed holographic images.
Today, there is no way of quickly and efficiently generating Fresnel holograms having desirable visual quality and resolution, for example, to enable real-time generation and presentation of Fresnel holograms. Also, today, there is no way of maintaining a desirable viewing angle for the hologram along the vertical direction.
The above-described deficiencies of today's holographic techniques are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systems and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.


A roller skate includes a boot, a connection frame fastened to the outsole of the boot, an expandable frame fitted with the connection frame, a wheel frame fastened to the connection frame and provided with a plurality of wheels and a brake shoe, and an elastic member located in the connection frame by the expandable frame. The elastic member serves as a shock absorber of the roller skate.

Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The present invention relates generally to a roller skate, and more particularly to a roller skate which is provided with a shock-absorbing device to mitigate the transmission of shock wave from the roller skate to the head of a person who glides on a hardwood floor, sidewalk, and the like.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional roller skate comprises a boot 10, a sole plate 11, and a plurality of wheels 12 which are pivotally fastened to the sole plate 11. The sole plate 11 is fastened to the outsole of the boot 10. When a person wears the conventional roller skates to glide on a hard surface, the shock wave is easily transmitted to the boot 10 from the wheels 12. This is due to the fact that the conventional roller skate is devoid of a shock-absorbing device. The shock wave is often transmitted to the head of a wearer of the conventional roller skate. In other words, the wearer of the conventional roller skate can feel the mechanical friction between the wheels 12 and the surface on which the wheels 12 glide. As a result, it is rather uncomfortable for a person to wear the conventional roller skate to glide on a hard surface.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a roller skate with a shock-absorbing device, so as to make the roller skating a comfortable and pleasant sport.
In keeping with the principle of the present invention, the foregoing objective of the present invention is attained by a roller skate comprising a boot, a wheel frame, a connection frame located between the boot and the wheel frame, an expandable frame fitted around the connection frame, and an elastic member disposed in the connection frame to serve as a shock-absorbing device to prevent the transmission of shock wave from the wheels to the boot.

Roller skate provided with means to absorb shock

Sir Nan Village, Sun Kang Hsiang, Taichung Hsien


A single wireless system that implements both baseband and non-baseband applications can be provided in a way that securely prevents inadvertent or deliberate alteration of protected code. For example, the possibility exists that with a common system and common storage that baseband processing code may be overwritten by non-baseband applications. By providing an address comparison register that recognizes particular addresses and ensures that those code accesses are routed only to the specific dedicated areas of storage appropriate to either base or non-baseband applications, inadvertent or deliverable overwriting can be reduced or eliminated.

This invention relates generally to wireless devices and particularly to such devices that handle both wireless and non-wireless applications.
Wireless transceivers may be utilized for cellular telephone communications as well as network communications in networks of processor-based systems. Wireless systems generally include a baseband processing module that executes wireless applications. In addition, a conventional processing function may be utilized which executes applications that are not directly related to the wireless communications.
A problem arises in wireless systems because one application may overwrite instructions that are important for another application. For example, conventional non-baseband applications may overwrite critical baseband code and vice versa. Such overwriting may be the result of inadvertent coding errors or deliberate action by an intruder.
As a result, awkward accommodations must be implemented to facilitate the uneasy marriage between processors related to conventional applications and processors related to wireless applications. In some cases, special software may be utilized. In other cases, completely independent systems may be provided with very limited inter-subsystem communications. As still another alternative, separate storage may be utilized for the separate subsystems. All of these approaches may have the effect of reducing performance and increasing costs in some cases.
Thus, there is a need for a way to handle the disparate needs of the separate processing functions in a single wireless device.

Increasing code separation between applications


Presenting a user interface in a computing system, where device-specific information is added to data defined generically with respect to a particular device or presentation technology. The generic definition can be provided via template representing data and functionality of a user interaction, which is presented to a user in a specific way on a specific user interface. A class can be derived in the user interface from the template and instantiated with data in accordance with particulars of a data type. Data can be presented via instructions representing basic presentation patterns defining how data is to be presented on a user interface. Identifications of the instructions are matched to instructions to generate instructions specific to a presentation environment.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to communicating content from data sources (e.g., management system with databases) to different frontend devices, like portable devices (e.g., notebooks, portable digital assistants PDA, mobile/cell phones), and stationary devices (e.g., desktop computers).
There are many different devices on the market, with relatively large screens (desktop or laptop computer) or small screens (PDA, phone), with different input modules (e.g., keyboard, touch-screen), with different operating systems (e.g., Windows, Linux, or device specific systems), and so on. The devices have their own way for applications or data to appear to the users in a "native" fashion or environment. For example, devices have their own branding to present data on a screen, to receive input from the user, different technology to process and render data, and so on. The interaction between the human user and the device lets the users work, purchase goods, extract information, educate or entertain themselves, and so on. Such activities are more efficient the more the users operate the device in a familiar or "native" environment.
In the state of the art today, data that is sent to the frontend device needs to be processed before sending, and is processed specifically to each frontend device. In an alternative, an application can be implemented at least partly in the frontend device so that device-specific processing is performed there. Both approaches require effort, for example, to provide device specific rules, to train a community of developers for each device according to the rules, to implement one and the same application in variants for each device, and so on. Thus, the different frontend devices and technologies cause repeating effort for development.
If pre-processing follows rules that had been originally designed for other devices, presentation and interaction may be distorted. For example, data presentation may appear strange and the user may stop looking at the data, or even worse, may choose to work, purchase and so on elsewhere.
There is an ongoing need for technology that pre-processes data independent from the devices so that the devices can present data and let the user interact with them as much as possible in a native fashion, consistently across platforms (devices and technologies).

Method and system for providing a user interface in a computer


Disclosed is a method and device to increase the cooling load that can be provided by a refrigerant-based thermal energy storage and cooling system with an improved arrangement of heat exchangers. This load increase is accomplished by circulating cold water surrounding a block of ice, used as the thermal energy storage medium, through a secondary heat exchanger where it condenses refrigerant vapor returning from a load. The refrigerant is then circulated through a primary heat exchanger within the block of ice where it is further cooled and condensed. This system is known as an internal/external melt system because the thermal energy, stored in the form of ice, is melted internally by a primary heat exchanger and externally by circulating cold water from the periphery of the block through a secondary heat exchanger.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems providing stored thermal energy in the form of ice, and more specifically to ice storage cooling and refrigeration systems.
2. Description of the Background
With the increasing demands on peak demand power consumption, ice storage has been utilized to shift air conditioning power loads to off-peak times and rates. A need exists not only for load shifting from peak to off-peak periods, but also for increases in air conditioning unit capacity and efficiency. Current air conditioning units having energy storage systems have had limited success due to several deficiencies including reliance on water chillers that are practical only in large commercial buildings and have difficulty achieving high-efficiency. In order to commercialize advantages of thermal energy storage in large and small commercial buildings, thermal energy storage systems must have minimal manufacturing costs, maintain maximum efficiency under varying operating conditions, emanate simplicity in the refrigerant management design, and maintain flexibility in multiple refrigeration or air conditioning applications.
Systems for providing thermal stored energy have been previously contemplated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,064, U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,916, both issued to Harry Fischer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,225 issued to Fischer et al, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/967,114 filled Oct. 15, 2004 by Narayanamurthy et al. All of these patents utilize ice storage to shift air conditioning loads from peak to off-peak electric rates to provide economic justification and are hereby incorporated by reference herein for all they teach and disclose.

Refrigerant-based thermal energy storage and cooling system with enhanced heat exchange capability


A pair of hollow elongated leg sections are disposed in one or more of the nozzle vane cavities of a nozzle stage of a gas turbine. Each leg section has an outer wall portion with apertures for impingement-cooling of nozzle wall portions in registration with the outer wall portions. The leg sections may be installed into the cavity separately and support rods support and maintain the leg sections in spaced relation, whereby the designed impingement gap between the outer wall portions of the leg sections and the nozzle wall portions is achieved. The support rods are secured to the inner wall portions of the leg sections by welding or brazing.

The present invention relates to a gas turbine having a closed-circuit cooling system for one or more nozzle stages and, more particularly, to a gas turbine having inserts for impingement-cooling of the nozzle vane walls and which inserts are sectional to facilitate installation into the nozzle vane cavities.
In advanced gas turbines, nozzle stages are often provided with a closed-circuit cooling system for cooling the nozzle vanes exposed to the hot gas path. For example, each nozzle vane may include a plurality of cavities extending between the outer and inner nozzle bands. Impingement-cooling inserts are provided in one or more cavities and a cooling medium such as steam is passed into the insert and through apertures in the side walls of the insert for impingement-cooling the adjacent wall portions of the nozzle vane. An example of a closed-circuit steam-cooled nozzle for a gas turbine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,708, of common assignee herewith, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Typically, the nozzle insert is a unitary body provided by an insert supplier and nominally sized for reception within the cavity of the nozzle vane. It will be appreciated that the insert is constructed and arranged so that when it is inserted into the vane cavity, an impingement gap is defined between the interior wall of the nozzle and the wall of the insert. However, because of manufacturing tolerances involved with the nozzle cavity and the insert per se, as well as the need to be able to dispose the insert endwise into the nozzle cavity, variations from the designed impingement gap along the length of the insert and nozzle vane wall frequently occur. A variation in the impingement gap can, in turn, cause a significant change in the heat transfer between the nozzle vane walls and the cooling medium. For example, it has been found that a 0.010 inch variation in the gap from a nominal dimension can result in an approximate 13% reduction in heat transfer coefficient. Also, this percentage increases exponentially with further impingement gap variation. Further, installation of a unitary insert into the nozzle vane cavity is somewhat difficult, oftentimes requiring a custom fit. There is also a potential for low-cycle fatigue as a result of the variation in heat transfer coefficient caused by the varying impingement gap.
To facilitate design, manufacture and installation of an airfoil impingement insert in steam cooled nozzles, a divided insert is proposed, that may be made in two halves so as to facilitate manufacture and installation. Impingement inserts are typically made of an alloy, such as Inco 625 and have thin wall sections. When an insert is made as a divided structure, with two leg sections, there is a need for a separator structure to maintain the spacing of the individual sections for achieving and maintaining a target impingement gap and for mechanical support. Thus, the invention provides a support and separator bar or rod to provide the support and distance separation required to meet life and operational needs.
A split insert which resulted from a parallel development is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,759, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In that adaptation, spreader plates are secured to the inner wall portions of the insert sections to maintain the insert sections spaced from one another. In contrast to the spreader plates of the ""759 split insert, the present invention provides an insert having two leg sections with support bars or rods to maintain the insert sections spaced from one another. The rod-type support has the significant advantages of reduced area, greater strength, and easy and secure attachment.
Thus, the invention is embodied in an insert for a cavity of a nozzle vane of a gas turbine for impingement-cooling of the walls of the vane, comprising: a pair of elongated hollow leg sections disposable in side-by-side relation to one another within the cavity, said leg sections having a plurality of apertures through oppositely directed outer walls thereof, inner wall portions of the leg sections being spaced from one another; and at least one support rod extending between said inner wall portions of said leg sections for maintaining said inner wall portions of said leg sections spaced from one another.
The invention is also embodied in an insert disposed in a cavity of a nozzle vane of a gas turbine for impingement-cooling walls of the vane, wherein the assembly comprises: a pair of elongated hollow insert leg sections disposable in side-by-side relation to one another within the cavity, said leg sections having a plurality of apertures through oppositely directed outer walls thereof, inner wall portions of the leg sections being spaced from one another; and at least one support rod disposed to extend between said leg sections for maintaining said inner wall portions of said leg sections spaced from one another, first end portions of said leg sections having inner wall surfaces disposed for engagement with one another to facilitate securement of said leg sections to one another. The invention may also be embodied in a method of installing a cooling medium insert into a cavity of a nozzle vane for a gas turbine wherein the insert includes a pair of elongated hollow leg sections, each having an outer wall portion with a plurality of apertures therethrough, comprising: (a) inserting the leg sections into the vane cavity for disposition therein in side-by-side relation to one another, with the outer wall portions thereof in opposed facing relation to side wall portions of said vane; and (b) subsequent to step (a), and while the leg sections remain in the vane cavity, inserting a support rod to extend between spaced inner wall portions of said leg sections to support and maintain said leg sections in spaced relation.

Divided insert for steam cooled nozzles and method for supporting and separating divided insert


The tuning fork piezoelectric resonator (1) according to the invention comprises a base part (4) from which protrudes first and second parallel vibrating arms (2, 3) carrying a set of excitation electrodes (5, 6) to make them vibrate, the set of excitation electrodes being formed by conductive deposits and comprising central electrodes (6a, 6b) on opposite main surfaces (9a, 9b) and lateral electrodes (5a, 5b) covering lateral surfaces (10a, 10b) of each vibrating arm, the central electrodes of the first arm and the lateral electrodes of the second arm being connected to a first pole of an excitation source and the lateral electrodes of the first arm and the central electrodes of the second arm being connected to a second pole of the excitation source, wherein on each vibrating arm, the conductive deposits forming the central electrodes and lateral electrodes are made for the ones with an oxidizable metal and for the others with an unoxidizable metal or conversely.

Such a resonator of small dimensions is disclosed in the prior art document U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,232, which is incorporated herewith by way of reference. This document discloses a tuning fork resonator formed by a base and two vibrating arms protruding from the base. Each arm carries metallization which forms central electrodes on the opposite main surfaces and lateral electrodes along the edges of each arm. The central electrodes of one arm are connected to the lateral electrodes of the other arm and to one pole of the supply. The other central and lateral electrodes are similarly connected to the other pole of the supply. Electrodes are subjected to electric fields to make the arms vibrate.
The central and lateral electrodes are arranged with a fixed spacing there between so that these do not short-circuited one another. Nevertheless, this spacing is chosen as thin as possible in order to have better crystal impedance for the resonator. As a result, if even a small amount of dust falls between the central and lateral electrodes or if some gas is present in the vicinity of the electrodes, a short-circuit is likely to occur, and the vibration of the vibrating arms may then malfunction.
Some existing solutions of the prior art consist in providing a short-circuit prevention section formed between the central and lateral electrodes of each vibrating arm and arranged in the form of an insulating film that may be either located between the central and lateral electrodes or arranged to cover both the central and lateral electrodes. However, although these prior solutions effectively prevent short-circuits between central and lateral electrodes, they further present several drawbacks, and in particular, they require to readapt the whole design of the resonator in order to keep the same characteristics such as resistance and crystal impedance of the resonator. This required design adaptations renders the making process more expensive which is not desirable for such mass produced item.

Piezoelectric resonator with short-circuits preventing means


An excavation bucket assembly (10) is mounted to a tractor. A soil gathering trenching blade (48) is supported by an upwardly extending rear wall (18) and is movable down through a soil receiving opening (32) to scoop soil from beneath the ground wall (16) of the bucket, with the opening (32) being placed rearwardly of the front edge (30) of the ground wall, providing adequate space in the soil collection chamber (28) for receiving the excavated soil.

Excavation buckets are mounted to heavy power equipment for removing earth and the like from a construction area. Hydraulic powered arms of the tractor manipulate the excavation bucket to lift, lower, and tilt the bucket as the bucket is advanced with the tractor.
For example, excavation buckets may be mounted to the front or to the rear of a tractor and moved with the tractor to skim along the surface of the earth and to scoop and gather and move surface soil, and to level the remaining ground surface in preparation for construction of roads, buildings, etc. Tractors with excavation buckets are often employed in excavation operations such as digging large areas and trenching operations which usually require a relatively wide and large bucket that can efficiently clear a large volume of material and transport the cleared material to another site. However, there are times when it would be desirable for excavation buckets to excavate narrow trenches or other small shapes in the ground that are narrower than the width of the excavation bucket. Because the buckets are usually too wide for the smaller width excavations, other equipment or manual labor must be used for the smaller jobs.
Thus, this invention is directed to an improved excavation bucket assembly that has the large excavation bucket that is modified for an attachment that is capable of excavating soil and other surface matter in a space narrower than the width of the bucket.


An electric discharge machining device that performs processing by applying a voltage pulse to space between the processing electrode and the workpiece and suitably switching the polarity of the voltage pulse attains both desired processing accuracy and desired controllability. The electric discharge machining device is provided with the first to fourth switching elements. The controlling unit that controls these switching elements, when setting a period time in which the first switching element is turned on, a period of time in which the fourth switching element is in an on-state in the same period, and, when setting a period time in which the second switching element is turned on, a period of time in which the third switching element is in an on-state in the same period so that a desired voltage pulse is applied to the space between the processing electrode and the workpiece.

An electric discharge machining device is a device that processes a workpiece by generating arc discharge between a processing electrode and the workpiece. The electric discharge machining device requires a power supply (discharge processing power supply) for generating the arc discharge, and various structures have been suggested for the processing power supply.
Examples include an electric discharge power supply that is provided with a first power supply unit for generating a voltage pulse to make the processing electrode (hereinafter, "electrode") positive with respect to a workpiece and a second power supply unit for generating a voltage pulse to make the electrode negative with respect to the workpiece, and alternately drives these two power supply units to apply positive and negative discharge pulses to space between the electrode and the workpiece (for example, see Patent Document 1, FIG. 35).
The structures of the power supply units are briefly explained. The first power supply unit includes a capacitor Cq that accumulates electrical charge therein, a DC power source Vs that recharges the capacitor Cq, a charge resistor Rs arranged on the charging path, a switching element Su that feeds the electrical charge accumulated in the capacitor Cq into the space and thereby generates a pulse of discharge voltage, a backflow prevention diode D2 connected in series to the switching element Su, a switching element S1 connected in parallel to the space to short this space, and a backflow prevention diode D1 connected in series to the switching element S1. The second power supply unit includes a capacitor Cr that accumulates electrical charge therein, a DC power source Vt that recharges the capacitor Cr, a charge resistor Rr arranged on the charging path, a switching element Sv that feeds the charge accumulated in the capacitor Cr to the space and thereby generates a pulse of discharge voltage, a backflow prevention diode D4 connected in series to the switching element Sv, a switching element St connected in parallel to the space to short this space, and a backflow prevention diode D3 connected in series to the switching element St.
Furthermore, the discharge machining power supply device described in Patent Document 1 executes the following operations. First, the capacitor Cq is charged by the power supply Vs of the first power supply unit by way of the charge resistor Rs, and the energy charged in the capacitor Cq is supplied to the space between the workpiece and the electrode (hereinafter, "the inter-electrode space", considering the workpiece as an electrode), when the switching element Su is turned on. Here, even if the voltage generated between the electrode and the workpiece (hereinafter, "inter-electrode voltage") increases and leads to discharging, only a limited amount of energy is supplied. Furthermore, the voltage charged in the capacitor Cr by the power supply Vt (reverse voltage with respect to the voltage charged in the capacitor Cq) is applied to the inter-electrode space so that the discharge current quickly disappears. In other words, in the electric discharge machining device described in Patent Document 1, the first power supply unit applies a voltage to perform discharge processing, and then the second power supply unit applies a voltage to prevent discharging from recurring. Thus, a current that tends to flow when discharge processing is not taking place can be blocked, which improves the surface roughness.
In the above control, when discharging does not occur, the charge remains between the electrodes. The inter-electrode state therefore needs to be reset before the next voltage pulse is applied. For this reason, control has to be performed by turning the switching element S1 and the switching element Sv on at the same timing to reset the inter-electrode state even when there is no discharging between the electrodes.
In other words, this discharge machining power supply device performs control to develop a voltage shifted from the capacitor Cq (Cr) between the electrodes in each voltage pulse application cycle, regardless of whether there is discharging, and to reset the shifted voltage in each cycle. The device also performs control after the inter-electrode voltage is reset to raise back the inter-electrode voltage by turning the switching element Su (St) on and applying the voltage developed from the capacitor Cq (Cr).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-205426

Electric discharge machining device that applies a voltage pulse between a processing electrode and a workpiece


A connector includes an insulating body and a terminal assembly. Where the terminal assembly includes a plurality of conductive terminals that are disposed side by side in the insulating body; a front end of each of the plurality of conductive terminals protrudes to form a first contact point and a second contact point, which are along a docking direction of the connector spaced apart on a same side of the each of the plurality of conductive terminals in sequence; and after the connector is docked with a docking connector, both the first contact point and the corresponding second contact point abut on a same docking terminal of the docking connector.

In a high-speed connector, a front end of a conductive terminal of the connector is generally bent downward, and is formed with a contact point to abut on a docking terminal of a docking connector, so as to connect the two connectors. After the two connectors are completely docked, a distance between the contact point of the conductive terminal and a docking edge of the docking terminal that is abutted on the contact point of the conductive terminal is stub, which has a crucial impact on signal integrity (SI) performance of the connector. In a design process, the stub is shortened as much as possible to improve the SI performance of the connector.
However, a length of the stub of the connector in the related art is relatively large, resulting in poor SI performance of the connector.


A mailing machine is disclosed which includes an apparatus for scanning the surface contour of mail pieces as they move along a feed path prior to being engaged by the printing device of a postage meter to determine whether the surface contour of the mail piece in the area where printing is to take place is suitable for printing and for actuating an instrumentality intended to prevent printing of the postage indicia in that area if the printing surface is not suitable for receiving a good quality print. There is an electro-optical information generating means which is operated by a scanning means, and a controller means receives and interprets information from the electro-optical means to determine whether the information exceeds threshold limits for the information stored in a memory in the controller means, in which case the controller means produces an output signal to an actuator which initiates appropriate action intended to prevent printing of the postage indicia on the mail piece in the area where the surface is not acceptable for printing.

The present invention relates generally to the field of mailing machines, and more particularly to a mailing machine which includes an apparatus for sensing thickness variations in the surface contour of pieces of mail to avoid printing postage indicia on mail pieces in areas on the mail pieces having surface contours unacceptable for printing.
Mailing machines have long been well known and have been developed over time to a high level of technical sophistication and complexity of features of operation. For these reasons, mailing machines have become very attractive to low, medium and high volume mailers, and technological advancements are constantly underway to further enhance the advantages and desirability of these machines. One of the advantageous features of operation is that modern day mailing machines can handle mail pieces having variable thickness, ranging from air mail thickness up to about a quarter of an inch, without having to make any mechanical adjustments to any the operating components of the mailing machine. This is a significant advantage of mailing machines from the economic standpoint in that relatively inexpensive, low volume mailing machines would not be provided with such adjustment mechanism in order to maintain a low cost, and the provision of such mechanism in a high speed, high volume mailing machine would inevitably have a deleterious effect on the speed of operation if the machine had to make mechanical adjustments to accommodate mail pieces of varying thickness.
One problem which arises in the operation of mailing machines is that of printing a postage indicia on a mail piece that does not have a smooth surface in the area in which it is desired to print a postage indicia. As is generally known, the principal function of a mailing machine is to print a postage indicia on a piece of mail in lieu of affixing a postage stamp. The mailing machine includes a base having a feed deck for supporting a mail piece, and in more sophisticated machines, a feeding mechanism for automatically and sequentially feeding successive mail pieces along the feed deck. The mailing machine also includes a postage meter including a printing device for printing the postage indicia on the mail piece, either while it is stationary or is being fed along the feed deck.
The U.S. Postal Service has promulgated regulations regarding the printing of postage indicia on mail pieces, the essence of which, so far as the present invention is concerned, is that the printed indicia must conform to a minimum standard of quality. Basically, the Postal Service regulations require that the postage indicia be printed in the upper right hand corner of an envelope if at all possible, that the imprint be readily legible, free from all forms of smudges or blurred print, and that there be no spurious markings adjacent to the indicia imprint.
The problem that arises is that it is virtually impossible to print a postage indicia on a mail piece which meets these requirements unless the surface of the mail piece on which the indicia is to be printed is relatively smooth and flat. This problem is characteristic of all forms of printing devices normally utilized in postage meters. The majority of postage meters utilize a metal or rubber die having the image of the postage indicia embossed thereon; the die is coated with ink and is pressed onto the surface of the mail piece to transfer the ink from the die to the mail piece. However, other printing processes can be utilized, such as dot matrix, thermal, ink jet and laser, but they all require a relatively flat and smooth surface on which to print the postage indicia.
The problem typically arises when mail pieces are improperly prepared for mailing. For example, if the mailer folds a large number of pieces of paper and inserts them into an envelope, the abrupt edge of the thick packet of folded paper forms a void within the envelope adjacent the edge, and if this edge is in the area when the postage indicia is to be printed, the printing die, or other printing element depending on the process used, will not be properly supported on the surface of the mail piece, which results in blank areas in the postage indicia imprint. Another problem frequently encountered is that of objects, such as staples or paper clips, being placed in envelopes which create bumps or other irregularities on the surface of the mail piece, resulting in a surface contour of sufficient irregularity that it is impossible to obtain an acceptable postage indicia imprint. As a practical matter, the only solution to these and other similar problems is simply to avoid printing on a mail piece in surface areas having this degree of surface irregularity.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus that can be incorporated into a typical mailing machine that has the capability of scanning the surface contour of a mail piece in the area in which a postage indicia is to be printed to determine whether the surface contour is suitable for printing, and which actuates an instrumentality intended to prevent the printing from taking place in that area if the surface contour is determined to exceed a minimum acceptable level of surface contour irregularity.

Apparatus for sensing mail piece surface contour


An isolation amplifier includes an input circuit at high voltage potential with an input for a measurement signal to be transmitted, an input circuit configuration providing a coupling section signal representing the measurement signal, and a high-voltage-side control unit for driving the input circuit, a galvanically isolating coupling section for the potential-free transmission of the coupling section signal to an output circuit at low-voltage potential with an output circuit configuration for generating an output signal from the transmitted coupling section signal, an output for the output signal and at least one low-voltage-side control unit for generating control signals, input elements for inputting control commands and/or parameters into the high-voltage-side control unit, a low-voltage-side arrangement of all the input elements provided for the parameterization of the high-voltage-side control unit, exclusively in a low-voltage circuit, and a galvanically isolating control channel for transmitting the parameters for driving the input circuit.

In relation to the background of the invention it should be noted that isolation amplifiers are used, among other things, for the acquisition and conditioning of analog measurement signals with dangerous potentials with regard to currents induced on contact with the human body, and in particular of measurement signals with high-voltage potential. Isolation amplifiers therefore convert the measurement signal, possibly via conversion into auxiliary variables, in a galvanically isolated manner into output signals representing the measurement signal in analog or digital form, wherein the output signals are usually at close to earth potential and are harmless if touched.
In the following descriptions, the term "high voltage" or "high-voltage potential" comprises all voltages and potentials that are dangerous when touched, the term "low voltage" or "low-voltage potential" covers all voltages and potentials that are not dangerous when touched. In the following descriptions therefore, the term "high-voltage isolation amplifier" covers all isolation amplifiers which are suitable for the measurement signal transmission and for the conversion of measurement signals that are dangerous when touched into output signals that are harmless when touched.
In order to enable a galvanic isolation between the high-voltage and low-voltage side, an end-to-end isolation barrier is required, which is implemented in known ways by potential-isolating coupling sections for transmitting a signal representing the measurement signal and, if appropriate, auxiliary variables and electrical energy.
Isolation amplifiers according to the prior art are often designed according to the structure shown in FIG. 3. Three different types of electrical switching circuits can be distinguished, namely an input circuit 1, an output circuit 2 and a primary current supply circuit 41, which are isolated from each other by galvanically isolating coupling sections 3, 42, 43. Each circuit 1, 2, 41 has at least one terminal in the form of the input 6, the output 15 and the primary current supply terminal 44, which is generally conductively connected to the associated electrical circuit. The potentials at which the circuits 1, 2, 41 lie are determined by the potentials of the external signal circuits or external power circuits connected to the associated terminals 6, 15 and 44. The terminals 6, 15 and 44 are also referred to as ports, and therefore FIG. 3 specifies an isolation amplifier with three galvanically separated ports. In detail, the structure shows an input circuit 1 with at least the input 6 for measurement signals with input circuit potential, wherein in the input circuit 1, a coupling section signal representing the measurement signal is generated and this coupling section signal is transmitted via a galvanically isolating coupling section 3 to the output circuit 2 at output circuit potential. In the output circuit 2, the coupling section signal is converted back into a signal which represents the measurement signal, and which can be output via the at least one output 15. The electrical energy required for the operation of all electronic elements in the input circuit 1, output circuit 2 and the coupling section 3 is extracted from the at least one primary power supply terminal 44. The primary power supply terminal 44, which is at primary power circuit potential, delivers the electrical energy to a primary power supply circuit 41, which contains suitable electronic means to deliver electrical energy via the galvanically isolating coupling sections 42 and 43, in each case matching the secondary power supply circuits 45 and 46 of the input and output circuit 1 and 2.
In accordance with the prior art, isolation amplifier structures are known in which the number of coupling sections is reduced. For example, this can be carried out by dispensing with a galvanic isolation between the primary power supply circuit 41 and output circuit 2. The coupling section 43 is then omitted and a direct galvanically conducting connection exists between these circuits instead. Such an isolation amplifier then has only two ports that are galvanically separated from each other.
Another possibility for reducing coupling sections is obtained as follows: the coupling section 42 can be omitted if via a suitable coupling section 3, for example a transformer, both electrical energy from the output circuit 2 to the input circuit 1 as well as a coupling section signal representing the measurement signal are transmitted via the same coupling section 3 from the input 1 to the output circuit 2, represented for example by the electrical current amplitude. The elimination of the coupling section 42 in this case does not reduce the number of ports that are galvanically isolated from each other.
In addition to the coupling sections mentioned, an end-to-end isolation barrier is implemented in general by an encapsulation which is as complete as possible, for example by means of an isolation amplifier housing suitable for this purpose and/or possibly by potting an entire isolation amplifier, or at least by potting all circuit sections that are galvanically connected to the high-voltage potential. Potting is used in particular when the measurement signals have particularly high voltages or potentials. In addition to a potting, other forms of insulation coatings are also possible, such as suitable paints, resins or molding-technology coatings and encapsulation methods.
A potential-isolating coupling section can work by inductive, capacitive, optical, electro-mechanical or electromagnetic coupling or a combination of these, depending on the type of coupling section chosen. Electromechanical coupling sections also include, for example, those which use the piezoelectric effect. The signal to be transmitted, or else the electrical energy to be transmitted, over the coupling section is converted into a signal which is designated generally in the following as a coupling section signal.
The coupling section signal thus includes the term "signal", regardless of whether it is a signal which represents, for example, a measurement signal and/or a signal for transmission of electric energy. The coupling section signal is suitable for transmission over the respective type of galvanically isolating coupling section and, if applicable, for being converted back into such a signal, with which the desired further processing is possible. The conversion of a measurement signal into a coupling section signal and, if applicable, the back conversion of the coupling section signal into a subsequently processable signal representing the measurement signal, can be carried out e.g. by a modulator and demodulator. It goes without saying that for coupling sections which are (also) intended for the transmission of electrical energy, transformers in particular are preferably used. In contrast, commercially available so-called optocouplers are rather unsuitable for the transmission of electrical energy. Accordingly, the electrical energy of a primary power supply circuit can be converted into a suitable signal using well-known power supply topologies and then transmitted in a galvanically isolated manner, for example, with a coupling section implemented as a transformer and then, for example, by means of a rectifier circuit converted into a DC signal for supplying power to the input circuit and the output circuit.
The following explanations of possible coupling section signals, which are also able to represent measurement signals, apply regardless of the temporal waveform and the polarity of an input signal (measurement signal) present at the input of the isolation amplifier. A coupling section signal can be an alternating signal, which is particularly suitable for capacitive and inductive coupling sections. But it can also be an analog-based DC signal (DC voltage or DC current), which can be transmitted, for example, with optical coupling sections. An alternating signal can be an alternating voltage or an alternating current or else a pulsed DC voltage or a pulsed direct current.
Alternating signals can use analog forms of representation and/or contain digital encodings, they can be pulse-, pulse-width-, frequency-, phase-, amplitude- and digitally modulated signals or combinations thereof, wherein other modulation types are possible.
In the case of so-called single-range devices, high-voltage-side elements for device conditioning, such as for setting the gain, offset and frequency bandwidth are calibrated prior to encapsulation, for example, encapsulation by potting. A change in the operation or a subsequent calibration of a fully encapsulated device is then no longer possible without weakening the isolation or, in some cases, even without damage to the isolation. A weakening of the isolation may be simply opening a lid covering the input elements, or the removal of a cover or a suitable housing part of a correspondingly shaped housing for covering such input elements. This is particularly the case for multi-range devices in accordance with the prior art. Input elements can be both operating elements as well as a calibration/configuration/programming interface or any other interface for influencing isolation amplifier functions or isolation amplifier parameters.
To enable a high-voltage-side adjustability and operability of the isolation amplifier, regions of the input circuit can be excluded from encapsulation, e.g. in order to keep mechanically operated controls free of potting compound.
This is the case, for example, in the high-voltage VariTrans® P 42000 belonging to the applicant, which represents the closest prior art                see www.knick-international.com/de/products/proline/high-voltagetransducers/varitrans-p-42000/index.html#-.
In this prior art an input circuit is provided at high-voltage potential with an input for a measurement signal to be transmitted, an input circuit for providing a coupling section signal representing the measurement signal, and an input circuit-side control unit for controlling the input circuit. The measurement signal is transmitted as a coupling section signal in a potential-isolating manner via a galvanically isolating coupling section to an output circuit at low-voltage potential. The latter has an output circuit for generating an output signal representing the measurement signal from the transmitted coupling section signal, an output for the output signal and a low-voltage-side unit for driving the output circuit.
This known multi-range device measures and converts measurement voltages up to 3600 V DC, wherein its isolation is designed for working voltages in AC/DC up to this level. The measuring ranges of the device are selected using a rotary coding switch, which is located electrically on the high-voltage side of the isolation amplifier. Therefore, special design measures are necessary, such as an extension of the plastic shaft of the rotary coding switch, so that the control knob of the rotary coding switch is safe to the touch in the interests of protection against dangerous shock currents. A calibration of such an isolation amplifier at high input voltages is very time-consuming due to the configuration and calibration interface being arranged on the input side. This places high demands on the insulation of test and calibration devices.
Generally speaking therefore, it is apparent that due to the incomplete encapsulation of an isolation amplifier according to the prior art described above, the isolation of the high-voltage input side is weakened. In contrast, it is also apparent that by the transmission of signals representing the measurement signal and, if applicable, auxiliary parameters from the input-circuit side to the output-circuit page and, if applicable, electrical energy within the device via galvanically isolating coupling sections and an arrangement of input elements within an electrical circuit with close to earth potential, for example in the output circuit, no weakening of the high-voltage isolation results. It should be noted here that for the contact protection of a user it is particularly relevant that input elements within a circuit are at such a potential, in general a near-earth potential, which on contact does not cause dangerous shock currents, in other words at a low-voltage potential. A circuit suitable for the arrangement of input elements for an isolation amplifier according to FIG. 3, therefore, cannot only be the output circuit 2 but also the primary power supply circuit 41, provided that the primary power supply connector 44 only has suitable, in general near-earth potentials, in other words only low-voltage potential.

KNICK ELEKTRONISCHE MESSGERÄTE GMBH & CO. KG


A pneumatic tire includes: a plurality of shoulder blocks that are provided in a side portion, defined by a shoulder main groove extending in a tire circumferential direction and a shoulder lateral groove extending in a tire width direction, and disposed side by side in the tire circumferential direction; a rib that is provided in the side portion, and extends in the tire circumferential direction along the shoulder blocks; and a projection that is provided in the side portion, and extends from the rib toward the shoulder blocks.

A pneumatic tire which is conventionally known includes turbulent flow generating projections extending on a tire surface from an inner circumferential side toward an outer circumferential side, and spaced from each other in a tire circumferential direction (see Japanese Patent No. 5374362).
This conventional pneumatic tire only includes the turbulent flow generating projections in a side portion to achieve cooling performance. Reduction of vertical deflection of the tire has not been described.


This invention is directed to a disposable diaper using a pressure-resistant absorbent resin manifesting a ratio of water absorption capacity under pressure of 30 g/g or more to artificial urine under a load of 50 g/cm.sup.2, and a pressure-resistant absorption ratio of 0.6 or more, wherein the pressure resistant absorption ratio is defined as the ratio of the ratio of water absorption capacity under high pressure to artificial urine under a load of 100 g/cm.sup.2 to a ratio of water absorption capacity under pressure to artificial urine under a load of 50 g/cm.sup.2.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disposable diaper excelling in resistance to pressure and an absorbent resin excelling in resistance to pressure. Further, this invention relates to an absorbent resin preeminently excelling in affinity for aqueous liquids and exhibiting prominently improved speed of absorption and ratio of water absorption capacity under no pressure and under pressure as compared with the conventional equivalents and a method for the production thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, absorbent resins capable of absorbing some ten to some hundred times their own weights of water have been developed and have been found utility in various applications requiring absorption and retention of water such as in the field of hygienic materials including sanitary goods and disposable diapers, the field of agriculture and horticulture, the field of foodstuffs requiring retention of freshness, and the field of industrial products requiring protection against dew formation and refrigeration.
The absorbent resins of this class have been known in various types such as, for example, a hydrolyzed starch-acrylonitrile graft polymer, neutralized starch-acrylic acid graft polymer, saponified vinyl acetate-acrylic ester copolymer, hydrolyzed acrylonitrile copolymer or the product of cross-linkage thereof, hydrolyzed acrylamide copolymer or the product of cross-linkage thereof, self-cross-linking polyacrylic acid salts, and partially neutralizing cross-linked polyacrylic acid salts.
The absorbent resin has the necessary quality thereof varied by the kind of use. As the characteristics which are required by an absorbent resin intended for such hygienic materials as disposable diaper, for example, high ratio of water absorption capacity, high speed of absorption, large capacity for permeation, etc. to be manifested to an aqueous liquid under pressure may be cited. EP 443627, for example, discloses an absorbent structure which uses an absorbent resin excelling in ratio of water absorption capacity and speed of absorption under pressure in a concentration of not less than 60 wt %. The properties of ratio of water absorption capacity and speed of absorption do not always exhibit a positive correlation. Particularly, the ratio of water absorption capacity and the speed of absorption under pressure betray antinomy. It is, therefore, difficult to have these two properties simultaneously improved.
Addition to surface area, for example, has been tried with a view to enabling an absorbent resin to acquire a heightened speed of absorption. Attempts have been made to decrease the particle diameter of the absorbent resin or fabricate the absorbent resin in the form of granules or scales. Generally when the absorbent resin is given a decreased particle diameter with a view to adding to surface area, however, the absorbent resin conversely suffers a decrease in the ratio of water absorption capacity under pressure or under no pressure because the decrease of particle diameter degrades the physical strengths of resin and contracts the gaps between the particles of resin swelled with absorbed water.
A technique is known which cross-links molecular chains near the surface of an absorbent resin and increases the cross-link density in the surface layer of the resin with a view to enabling the polymer, when swelled with absorbed water, to secure gaps for transfer of liquid between the particles thereof and consequently prevent the absorbent resin from decreasing the ratio of water absorption capacity even on exposure to pressure. Incidentally, the largeness of surface area and the ratio of water absorption capacity under pressure generally contradict each other such that the surface layer of resin is cross-linked uniformly based on difficulty of uniformity mixing of the resin and a cross-linking agent when the particles of resin have an increased surface area. Most of the improvements achieved to date with a view to heightening the ratio of water absorption capacity of an absorbent resin under pressure and increasing the speed of absorption thereof as well have stemmed from combinations of the two methods (increase of surface area and cross-linkage near surface) mentioned above. Regretfully, however, these improvements are incapable of yielding satisfactory results owing to the technical limit imposed by the fact that the two properties contradict each other as mentioned above.
As a means for breaking through this technical limit by enlarging the surface area without decreasing the particle diameter, the concept of obtaining a porous polymer by using a foaming agent and so on and the technique for giving a cross-linking treatment to the proximity of the surface of the polymer have been proposed in recent years. As concrete examples of this approach, a method which comprises polymerizing a 70 mol % neutralized aqueous sodium polyacrylate solution in the presence of a cross-linking agent and a carbonate as a foaming agent and cross-linking the proximity of the surface of the produced polymer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,420 and JP-A-07-185331), a method which comprises polymerizing a 70 mol % neutralized aqueous potassium polyacrylate or aqueous ammonium salt solution in the presence of a cross-linking agent and a carbonate salt as a foaming agent and a cross-linking the proximity of the surface of the produced polymer (WO 9502002, U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,316 and EP 707603), a method which comprises polymerizing a partially neutralized aqueous sodium acrylate solution in the presence of a solid foaming agent in a dispersed state and giving a cross-linking treatment to the proximity of the surface of the produced polymer (EP 744435), and besides a method using foaming agents a method which comprises obtaining a sodium acrylate polymer with a porous surface by the reverse-phase suspension polymerization performed in the presence of a specific surfactant and giving a cross-linking treatment to the proximity of the surface of the polymer (EP 0695762) may be cited.
Indeed, these methods which give a cross-linking treatment to the proximity of the surface of a porous polymer using a foaming agent have improved the ratio of water absorption capacity and the speed of absorption under pressure. In spite of the improvements, however, these methods still suffer degradation of the affinity of the surface of the polymer, typically porous in texture, for water because the porous polymer, on being subjected to the cross-linking treatment given to the proximity of the surface thereof, does not permit each control of the cross-link density owing to the polymer constitution itself the absorbent resin when the density of cross link in the surface is increased for the purpose of heightening the ratio of water absorption capacity under pressure. In spite of deliberate use of the porous polymer, therefore, there are problems of ultimate degradation of the speed of absorption.
It has been heretofore known to use such absorbent resin as exhibits a high ratio of water absorption capacity under pressure under load for disposable diapers. The loads proposed to date for use in the determination of a ratio of water absorption capacity, a factor typically representing physical properties fit for actual use of a relevant absorbent resin in diapers include 10 g/cm.sup.2 (JP-A-60-135432), 0.3 psi (about 20 g/cm.sup.2, EP 0339461), 50 g/cm.sup.2 (JP-A-63-99861), 63000 dynes/cm.sup.2 (about 50 g/cm.sup.2, WO 9511932, U.S. Pat. No. 5,684,106),60 g/cm.sup.2 (EP 707603), total of minimum 0.01 --maximum of 0.7 psi (total of about 0.7 g/cm.sup.2 --maximum of 63 g/cm.sup.2, U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,542), and 0.6 through 1 psi (about 43 g/cm.sup.2 through about 71 g/cm.sup.2, JP-A-08-510484, U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,377), for example. The absorbent resins which reflect these specific loads have been disclosed there. Among these conventional absorbent resins, those which exhibit the highest ratios of water absorption capacity under pressure are the absorbent resin manifesting a ratio of 25.9 g/g under a load of 1 psi (about 71 g/cm.sup.2) (Test Run 6e of JP-A- 09-501975, WO 9505856) and the absorbent resin manifesting a ratio of 8 ml/g under a load of 1.7 psi (about 121 g/cm.sup.2) (Table B of EP 0339461). While these absorbent resins manifest ratios of water absorption exceeding 30 g/g under relatively low pressure, these ratios of water absorption capacity under load notably fall generally as the load increases (U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,542, EP 0707603, U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,377, and Table B of EP 0339461). When the load increases from 0.3 psi to 0.6 psi, for example, the ratio of water absorption capacity under pressure in most cases falls notably to not more than one half. The resins under a load of 100 g/cm.sup.2 (about 1.4 psi) manifested a capacity for absorption of not more than 10 g/g, or not more than 20 g/g at most, even when the surface area of resin was increased for getting preeminently speed of absorption. Regretfully, the conventional techniques have not fully satisfied the needs of the market for an absorbent resin manifesting high ratio of water absorption capacity under pressure and fair speed of absorption under still higher pressure, i.e. conditions necessary for a disposable diaper of high performance. Thus, an absorbent resin which satisfactorily reconciles the two factors, i.e. ratio of water absorption capacity and speed of absorption, remains yet to be completed.
In the case of a disposable diaper, since a baby wearing one incessantly moves about and, therefore, exerts unsteady load thereon, there are times when even an absorbent resin manifesting a due ratio of water absorption capacity under high pressure fails to exhibit a stable capacity for absorption to pressure. Simply because an absorbent resin manifests a due ratio of water absorption capacity under a load of 10 to some tens of g/cm.sup.2 which is estimated from the standard body weight (about 10 kg) of a baby, when incorporated in an actual diaper, is suspected that the absorbent resin fails to bring about a fully satisfactory result in disposable diapers. When the ratio of water absorption capacity under pressure which has been determined by simply varying the load (10--some tens of g/cm.sup.2) as practiced heretofore is relied on to rate or screen a given absorbent resin, it does not serve as a reliable index for the performance of the absorbent resin such as in disposable diapers. For the purpose of final evaluation of an absorbent resin intended for use in a diaper, the determination of the absorbent resin for such physical properties as ratio of water absorption capacity under pressure is not satisfactory. As things now stand, it is after all necessary to spend cost, time, and labor copiously to manufacture diapers and subject them to a test by monitors.

Pressure-resistant absorbent resin, disposable diaper using the resin, and absorbent resin, and method for production thereof


A multi-stage, superheated steam generator for crude oil recovery comprises a plurality of radially spaced-apart first stage electric heating tanks that peripherally surround an inner, second stage electric steam tank. The steam tanks are secured within casing by a slack accommodating mounting comprising a downwardly projecting stub received within a rigid, tubular expansion sockets secured beneath each steam tank. A plurality of serpentine, electric resistive heating elements abut each steam tank. The elements have loop portions proximate the bottoms of each steam tank and vertical portions abutting each tank periphery. First stage tanks output steam to a manifold system that outputs to the second stage heater.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to high temperature steam generators for use in recovering crude oil of low specific gravity. More particularly, the present invention relates to enhanced steam generators using multiple heating stages to produce superheated steam.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of steam heaters and associated steam injection techniques have been proposed for recovering heavy crude oil deposits. It is well know in the art to inject high temperature steam within wells to decrease the viscosity of heavy crude oils, facilitating subsequent pumping and recovery. Injected steam warms the well bore, heating the piping, the casings and the environment. A recognized difficulty in the art relates to the generation of superheated steam at proper temperatures and volume. Injected steam must not only be of sufficient temperature and pressure to properly liquefy targeted crude oil within the well, but a sufficient volume of such steam is required during the injection process for success. In general, large volume demands mitigate against the successful operational maintenance of the requisite pressure and temperature of the applied steam.
Previously it has been known in the art to provide a steam heater with an internal tank positioned coaxially disposed within an outer shroud. It is known to use electric heating elements surrounded by lead disposed between the tank and the electrodes. As the lead melts from the heating elements, heat is transferred by the molten metal disposed about the steam vessel. This basic construction is shown in Mexican patent No. 97201, issued November 1968. However, with the latter device, steam output temperatures vary widely. Liquid levels within the input tank would vary constantly, resulting in irregular vaporization. Temperature fluctuation between Four Hundred to Sixteen Hundred Degrees F. were experienced, resulting in the inadvertent stopping of crude oil pumps in response to build-up of improperly heated steam.
Multiple stage steam generators for enhancing crude oil recovery are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,116 issued to Turner on Oct. 4, 1983 discloses a superheated steam generator with dual heating stages. The first stage comprises a plurality of radially spaced-apart heaters that surround an encircled, second stage heater. A primary manifold system supplies water to each of the first stage heaters via elongated tubes extending longitudinally interiorly of the first stage heater tanks. A rigid, tubular sheath coaxially surrounds and protects each of the last mentioned tubes, and defines a steam output passageway between the sheath and the mouth of each first stage tank. Steam from the first stage tanks is transmitted to the second stage tank by a plurality of conduits extending from first stage tanks to a central manifold feeding an encircled second stage tank.
Experiments have continued over the years with apparatus constructed in accordance with prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,116 mentioned above. As the price of crude oil increases, more and more efforts have been undertaken to recover deposits from domestic wells. However, one common weakness in prior devices has been the inability to reliably and virtually continuously generate and deliver a high volume of pressurized, superheated steam at temperature approximating 1200 degrees F. One problem has been experienced with the electrodes used to heat internal vaporization tanks, and with other critical components. Wide temperature variations are encountered in use. Prior to energization, for example, the component temperature is that of the environment, i.e., ambient temperature. After heating commences, a temperature rise in excess of 1000 degrees F. occurs. Because of the resultant expansion of the metal components, and the various different coefficients of expansion that characterize parts of different substances, extreme stresses occur, as part dimensions increase and pressure and temperature rises.
The stress problem has caused heater tank failure in the past, necessitating frequent time consuming and expensive field repairs. For example, because of the traditional mounting techniques used for high temperature tanks, that are bathed within liquid lead during operation, tank cracking and deformation have been unavoidably frequent. These problems have been aggravated by the prior art configuration of internal electrodes used for heating the critical tanks. The proposed solution in part utilizes a new electrode configuration, combined with a flexible tank mounting configuration.
Furthermore, to reach operating temperatures approximating 1200 degrees F., the water and steam injection pathways must be carefully controlled, and energy must be conserved. While various prior art steam injection heaters have utilized piping arrangements establishing fluid flow in thermal, heat exchange relation, an adequate high temperature, superheated steam injection system must employ manifolding that is designed to conserve energy by minimizing fluid-blocking back-pressures, that are characteristic of prior art designs. Further, the entire fluid flow path must be capable of non-destructively, mechanically adapting in response to heat-induced expansions and later down-time contractions. The latter factor is particularly important with the flexible, slack-accommodating mounting of the heater tanks proposed by the instant invention, and with the chosen electrode configuration, the use of which has been enabled by said heater tank mounting arrangement.

Super heated steam generator with slack accommodating heating tanks


A method for processing or manufacturing a meat product is disclosed. Frozen meat is provided into a meat grinder having a grinder plate having a first surface and a second surface defining apertures of different sizes and shapes extending between the first surface and the second surface. The meat is urged through the apertures by a coolant and chopped or broken into frozen pieces by a blade rotating a spaced distance from the second surface of the plate. The frozen pieces are then provided into and conveyed by an auger conveyor as more coolant is provided into the conveyor to further cool the meat pieces. The meat pieces are then sifted to more optimally obtain desired pieces sizes or range of sizes and/or sublimate the coolant.

The processing of ground meat is well known. Ground meat is typically processed by blending different ratios of lean meat and fat together into a meat blend. The meat blend is then ground, comminuted, or reduced in size, and extruded using meat extrusion devices. However, known methods of ground meat production produce a finished product that is not as desirable as it could be to consumers.
For example, ground meat in grocery stores is typically sold refrigerated. However, the majority of refrigerated ground meat is later frozen by consumers for inventory. Additionally, when purchasing larger quantities (such as at club stores or when on sale), consumers often portion or repack ground meat before freezing into one-pound portions into bags or plastic wrap. Portioning and repacking the meat is laborious, messy and exposes the meat to pathogens and the like. Whether repacked at home or left in known trays, the resultant frozen "brick" of ground meat is time-consuming and difficult to thaw and cook. Time may be spent thawing the product on a counter or in a microwave, or the consumer may attempt to thaw and cook the entire brick in a pan, resulting in unevenly cooked edges, raw centers and continuous efforts to chip, portion or otherwise piece the meat into manageable sizes. The thaw step is especially challenging and time consuming, given that most ground meat masses are one to two inches thick.
In addition, when a consumer purchases ground meat and goes to cook that meat, they typically have to take that meat out of the package and handle it in order to prepare it. If the meat is intended to be cooked in a skillet, e.g., for tacos, sloppy joes, or any other meal where the meat is cooked to a pieced state, the user must typically handle and break up the meat from its original compacted state. The unfortunate result is that consumers have to deal with physically handling meat, portioning it to desired amounts, and potentially making a mess.
In an effort to provide a meat product without such drawbacks and challenges, some manufacturers, such as Jimmy Dean Foods, are known to have offered precooked (not raw), frozen, pieced sausage, soy or beef products. However, these products had limited consumer use because they were precooked. In addition, the product was sold in opaque pouches that did not allow for visual inspection by consumers. Such pouches were confusing for consumers as such packaging conceals whether the product inside is cooked or raw.
In other efforts to provide an alternative meat product, a flash frozen meat product was distributed for some time under the Chatel Farms brand. However, the Chatel Farms brand product had a long, uniform noodle or strand shape that was inferior-looking for consumer acceptability. In product optimization research, consumers found the Chatel Farms brand strand unappealing to look at and eat, as it was too uniform and manufactured-looking. The manufacturing process also gave the meat product a pinkish gray color, rather than the red or pink coloration consumers identify with a product that is uncooked and fresh. Additionally, the product was marketed as not needing browning, an important step for consumer acceptability and pathogen kill. The product was also sold in an opaque pouch with no ability to view or inspect the meat for understanding, acceptability or spoilage.
A product similar to the Chatel Farms brand product has been found in Europe. But, the product has the look of "erasers" or tubes of meat that are unappealing to view, cook and eat. In addition, the product is also again packaged in a pouch.
Some of the disadvantages and drawbacks of known meat products were noted in U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 2007/0071878, in the name of Swift & Company, entitled "The Process for Making Frozen Ground Meat Pieces and Product Made Thereby" ("Swift"). Swift also disclosed other possible or potential processes for a more appealing frozen ground meat product. However, most if not all of the processes disclosed therein do not work or are otherwise unsatisfactory. For example, Swift disclosed freezing the meat after extrusion, and while the meat is blended inside of a known type of blender during processing. However, in actuality, it is extremely difficult to control the process of freezing in the blender as smaller pieces tend to freeze before larger pieces and the process eventually results in a frozen paste of meat. In addition, Swift disclosed passing the meat through a typical grinder at a temperature of about 25 deg F. to about 40 deg F. As it turns out, however, typical grinders are not designed to work well at these low temperatures, and they often freeze up or break. At the same time, typical grinding at these temperatures, which can be below freezing, results in undesirable "eraser" or tubular shapes that are longer than they are wide and tend to look "manufactured" or processed.
In addition, Swift discloses the use of an improved extruder design having holes of various sizes and configurations and paddles spaced apart at different angular intervals to cause the meat to be pushed out to different sizes as it is cut off. However, in practice, this process does not work as the pressure during extrusion causes the meat to spray and splatter rather than keep its shape.
Swift also discloses creating regularly shaped meat product by freezing a large portion of meat and then shattering it. However, in practice, the shattered product remains in undesirable flat shape and appearance, even after cooking.
As evidenced by Swift, there is a need for a finished frozen ground meat product but a number of lacking methods for making such product.
The packaging of ground meat is also well known. The most common form of packaging for uncooked meat in the U.S. (such as ground beef, ground turkey, etc.) is typically a rigid plastic or foam tray, which holds the food or meat product, and is wrapped and/or sealed with a plastic film. The plastic film is typically transparent to allow prospective consumers to see the food in the packaging. When the food and packaging is displayed in a typical refrigerated merchandiser (e.g., a meat and deli merchandiser or bunker), the packaging is displayed tray down with the plastic film facing up so prospective consumers can see through the plastic film and view the product in the packaging.
However, such packaging does not work well for displaying the food and packaging in a frozen merchandiser such as an upright or vertical display, a freezer display ease with or without doors, or a freezer merchandising case. For example, freezers typically have horizontal shelving and, because typical meat trays are not designed to stand on an edge or side, typical meat packaging is provided on the shelving in a stacked configuration with the plastic film side up similar to how it is provided in a typical bunker merchandiser. Such stacking can make it difficult for consumers to see labels or information on the plastic film, or the food inside the packaging, without physically removing the packaging from the frozen merchandiser.
To make it easier for consumers to view the food product in such merchandisers, some retailers will use spring-loaded pusher trays. Such pusher trays help keep food packaging standing on its edge or side to position the packaging to make it easier for consumers to view the packaged product without removing it from the freezer case. However, such pusher trays are typically an unwanted expense and hassle (e.g., a stocking and maintenance hassle) for retailers.

Raw, frozen ground beef (and/or other meat), method for making same, and packaging for displaying same


A storage system and method for frame trimming to optimize network bandwidth are provided. In one embodiment, a controller of the storage system is configured to receive a request from a host for a video stream stored in the memory, wherein the request comprises an instruction to reduce a frame rate of the video stream due to bandwidth consumption on a network connecting the host and a playback system being more than a threshold; retrieve the video stream from the memory of the storage system; remove frames from the video stream to reduce the frame rate of the video stream per the instructions from the host; and send the reduced-frame-rate video stream to the host. Other embodiments are provided.

In some environments, a playback system is connected to a host over a network. When the playback system wants to play video data, the playback system sends a request over the network to the host. The host retrieves the video data from a memory in a storage system and then sends the video data over the network to the playback system. If bandwidth consumption on the network is high, the video data may need to be buffered on the host until more bandwidth becomes available.

Storage system and method for frame trimming to optimize network bandwidth


An apparatus measures an electromagnetic signal (e.g., light) propagation time delay that varies with system speed relative to its propagation medium. A one-way light propagation time measurement in the medium between two fixed points moving relative to the medium is used. The delay is compared with light propagating in a constant reference path that is independent of motion. A two-way system is also used, as well as increasing sensitivity through a light zigzag and fiber optic coil delay. The apparatus is a compact and extremely sensitive speedometer.

It is self evident that all measured motions require a reference. Although, according to Einstein (1905), there is no preferred reference frame, that is, no propagation medium or "ether" required for comparing (measuring) motion of objects or electromagnetic waves (light). Einstein claimed that only relative motion between systems was important, not motion relative to a propagation medium, without specifying any alternative transmission mechanism in place of the medium (inferring that light does not require a propagation medium). This claim is in direct conflict with the basic electromagnetic (EM) wave theory developed by Maxwell (1865) who established EM wave propagation, predicting the transmission of light based on a since-measured propagation medium. Further, an ether-less Universe is not supported by Lorentz's (1899) motional transform, which is also shown to be based on Maxwell's propagation medium. Techniques concerning measuring motion in space relative to such a medium, however, have been discouraged or believed not possible. Logically (according to these beliefs), if there is no propagation medium, and space is empty, then it should be impossible to measure motion in space.
The Michelson and Morley Experiment (MMX) (1887) designed to measure the Earth's motion with respect to the propagation medium, was an insensitive method of measuring motion. Even if there were relative motion with respect to the medium, at Earth orbital speeds of 30 km/s (or Mach number M=v/c=10−4, where v is the system velocity and c is the speed of light), only a small fraction of an interference fringe (2π radians) would have been measured, and at Earth's rotation speed of 480 m/s (M≈1.5×10−6) nothing would have been detected. Because the MMX failed to detect the relative motion of the Earth through any propagation medium, this negative result was interpreted as evidence against the existence of a propagation medium. Even if the system had been sensitive enough to detect relative motion, no motion would have been detected, as shown below, because the propagation medium moves with the Earth.
To establish motion with respect to the medium at practical speeds on Earth, as well as at higher speeds in outer space, a more sensitive measurement system would have been required. The MMX was insensitive because it was based on a second order velocity term (M2) as explained below. The MMX relied on the difference in the propagation times in each direction in a round trip propagation measurement, where the propagation differences in each direction tended to cancel one another. One of the main reasons why the propagation medium is not readily detectable is that there is no existing dedicated measurement system sensitive enough to detect linear motion relative to the medium.
It is shown that Sagnac (1913) demonstrated rotary motion relative to the propagation medium. Sagnac split a beam of light into two beams traveling in opposite directions using a beam splitter. The beam splitter is used to measure the propagation delay in and against the direction of rotating mirrors, relative to the propagation medium. Sagnac reflected light, around a loop relative to the Earth's surface, using a rotating square of four mirrors. FIG. 1 shows Sagnac's mirror system 10 including a rotating frame 20a and 20b, mirrors 31-34 (mirror 31 being a half-silvered mirror), a radius 42, a side length l 44, and an angular velocity 46. A light source 50 projects a beam of light which is split by mirror 31; both beams travel in opposite directions and end at a detector 55. One light beam propagates in the medium against the mirror motion, counter-clockwise. The other light beam propagates in the medium with the direction of mirror motion, clockwise, through the half-silvered mirror. The mirror system 10 must have caused the shift in interference fringes as a consequence of the different distances that light traveled in the propagation medium (stationary on the Earth's surface) due to the rotation of the mirror system relative to the propagation medium. If there had been no medium, or if the medium rotated with the mirrors, there would have been no effect, no relative motion, and no Propagation Time Asymmetry (PTA).
In system 10, light passes around the mirrors having a peripheral distance d (d=41) in a propagation time t=±d/c (depending on the light direction), where c is the speed of light at the Earth's surface. If the mirror system rotates with an angular velocity v then the incremental distance traveled in time t (by the spinning mirrors) is Δd=vt=±vd/c. The incremental prediction equation for the propagation time asymmetry (PTA) is shown below in Equation (1).Δt=Δd/c=vd/c2=Mt, where M=v/c<<1  (1)
The incremental time Δt between the light beams was measured through interference fringe movement in an interferometer at the detector. By measuring Δt and knowing d and c, the angular velocity of the spinning mirrors at the Earth's surface can be calculated exactly according to Equation (1) and Maxwell's EM wave theory, providing the medium is at rest on the Earth's surface. Although Sagnac demonstrated that his result confirmed the existence of Maxwell's stationary propagation medium, others maintained that the Sagnac effect was consistent with special relativity and that the medium did not exist. This is not possible; unless Maxwell's wave theory, based on a propagation medium, is shown to be in error, which is not the case, as it has been reliably used for over 150 years. Also, any relativistic effects at these mirror speeds are negligible compared to Sagnac's classical PTA effect.
Recent patents for measuring motion in space are, for example, those of Wang et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,813,006 and 7,586,587). In the first patent they proposed to measure motion by measuring the time difference of light passing through two different media. In the second they proposed to measure motion using two beams of interfering light. The resulting interference pattern (standing wave) is used to calculate the system speed. But these patents do not identify any mechanism by which the propagation occurs, i.e., whether it is relative to the Earth's surface, to a vacuum medium or to some other unknown process. A non-preferred reference is not an option in electromagnetic theory; it is not a solution of Maxwell's EM wave equation, it is non-causal (non predictable). If the Earth's surface is assumed to be the reference then the motion will be defined relative to the propagation medium stationary on the Earth's surface. Therefore, it is recognized that improved and consistent techniques for measuring speed in outer space as well as on Earth are desirable.

Propagation medium velocity measurement system