A super finishing is carried out after grinding, so that surface roughness of a ball rolling groove of a screw shaft is made 0.12 xcexcm or less in an average roughness (Ra). Separators 7 having ball holding surfaces shaped in concave surface are disposed between balls respectively.

The present invention relates to a ball screw.
The ball screw is directed to a linear guide apparatus composed of a screw shaft, a nut and balls. Helical grooves are defined in an outer peripheral surface of the screw shaft and in an inner peripheral surface of the nut, and these helical grooves form a raceway of balls. When balls roll in the raceway, the nut linearly moves with respect to the screw shaft. That is, the helical grooves of the screw shaft and the nut form the ball rolling grooves. In addition, the nut is provided at the outside with a circulating path.
Ball screws as mentioned above have been demanded to reduce vibrations and noises. For example, Japanese patent examined publication No. Hei. 7-9259, Japanese utility model examined publication No. Hei. 6-47159 and Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2,582,068 describe ball screws devised to reduce vibrations and noises caused in the circulating path. Japanese patent unexamined publication No. Hei. 11-51049 describes a ball screw having a retainer of a special structure for smoothly receiving balls between the ball rolling groove and the circulating path.
As a device for reducing vibrations and noises caused in the ball rolling groove, Japanese patent unexamined publication No. Hei. 11-315835 describes a technology. This publication sets forth that separators having ball holding surfaces are arranged between balls and balls to cancel contacting of balls one another.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent No. 2,881,855 describes grinding the ball rolling groove in the ball screw, followed by a super finishing.
However, these prior arts still have rooms for further improving the reduction of vibrations and noises of the ball screw.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a ball screw more effectively reducing vibrations and noises than conventional ball screws.
The above object can be achieved by a ball screw comprising:
a screw shaft having a first helical ball rolling groove in an outer periphery thereof;
a nut having a second helical ball rolling groove in an inner periphery thereof; and
a plurality of balls arranged in a helical raceway defined by the first and second helical ball rolling grooves,
wherein at least one of the first and second helical ball rolling grooves has a surface with a surface roughness of 0.12 xcexcm or less in average roughness (Ra) along a helical direction of the helical raceway.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the first helical ball rolling grooves may have the surface with a surface roughness of 0.12 xcexcm or less in average roughness (Ra) along a helical direction of the helical raceway.
In addition, in an embodiment of the present invention, the second helical ball rolling grooves may have the surface with a surface roughness of 0.12 xcexcm or less in average roughness (Ra) along a helical direction of the helical raceway.
Further, in an embodiment of the present invention, both of the first and second helical ball rolling grooves may have the surface with a surface roughness of 0.12 xcexcm or less in average roughness (Ra) along a helical direction of the helical raceway.
Furthermore, in an embodiment of the present invention, the ball screw may further comprises:
a retainer rotatably supporting the balls between the screw shaft and the nut, wherein the retainer may comprise a plurality of separators interposed between adjacent balls, each of the separators having concave surfaces on both sides thereof.
Moreover, in an embodiment of the present invention, the ball screw may further comprises:
a retainer rotatably supporting the balls between the screw shaft and the nut,
wherein the retainer may comprise a plurality of pockets for rotatably holding the balls respectively, each of pockets having concave surfaces between which each of said balls is interposed.
In a preferable embodiment of the present invention, each of the balls may have an outer diameter of 3.969 mm or less.
Further, in the preferable embodiment of the present invention, each of the balls may have an outer diameter in the range from 2.000 mm to 3,969 mm with both inclusive.
As the finishing methods for making the surface roughness of the ball rolling groove 0.12 xcexcm or less in the average roughness (Ra), there are a super finish grinding, a horning finish, a lapping finish, polishing finish or buffing finish.
Moreover, in a preferable embodiment of the present invention, the ball screw may further comprise a retainer rotatably supporting the balls between the screw shaft and the nut,


A electric storage device and a controller are disposed efficiently without obstructing ventilation, with a vehicle size equivalent to that of a normal shovel. A hybrid construction machine includes a device case which internally accommodates an electric storage device and a controller, and the device case is provided in a space above an upper frame, in a front portion of the upper frame and on the opposite side of two vertical plates from the cabin, and constitutes up-and-down steps which are formed in a rearward-ascending step shape so as to be able to be ascended and descended.

The background art is described below by taking a shovel as an example.
As shown in FIG. 6, the shovel includes: a lower propelling body 1 of a crawler type, an upper slewing body 2 provided on the lower propelling body 1 so as to be able to slew about a vertical axis with respect to the ground surface; a work attachment 9 which is installed on a front portion of this upper slewing body 2 by means of a boom foot pin 13; and a control valve 28 (see FIG. 9) which controls driving of the work attachment 9. The work attachment 9 includes a boom 3, an arm 4, a bucket 5, and hydraulic cylinders (namely, a boom cylinder, an arm cylinder and a bucket cylinder) 6, 7, 8 which operate the boom, arm and bucket, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the upper slewing body 2 includes an upper frame 10 forming a base platform, and a left and right pair of vertical plates 11, 12 which are provided in an intermediate portion of the upper frame 10 in the left/right direction. The vertical plates 11, 12 are disposed at an interval apart in the left/right direction, and are also provided through substantially the whole length of the upper frame 10 in the front/rear direction.
As shown in FIG. 8, the front portions of each of the vertical plates 11, 12 project upwards in a shape of mountain. The boom foot pin 13 is provided at the front portions of the vertical plates 11, 12, so as to pass horizontally through the vertical plates 11, 12 in the left/right direction. The base end portion of the boom 3 is installed rotatably with respect to the vertical plates 11, 12 by means of the boom foot pin 13. Consequently, the boom 3 (the whole of the work attachment 9) can be raised and lowered about the boom foot pin 13.
As shown in FIG. 7, an engine compartment 15 of which the upper surface is opened and closed by a maintenance bonnet 14 is provided in a rear portion of the upper frame 10. An engine 16, which is a motive power source, and peripheral equipment of the engine (a radiator 17, a cooling fan 18, a hydraulic pump 19, etc.) are disposed in this engine compartment 15.
On the other hand, a cabin 20 is disposed in the space above the upper frame 10, to one side in left/right direction with respect to both vertical plates 11, 12, and to the forward side of the engine compartment 15 (in general, the cabin 20 is disposed to the left-hand side of the vertical plates 11, 12, hereinafter this case is described), and furthermore, a fuel tank 21 and a hydraulic oil tank 22 are arranged in a front/rear direction, to the other side in left/right direction with respect to both vertical plates 11, 12. Moreover, up-and-down steps 23 which enable a worker carrying out maintenance tasks to ascend to and descend from the bonnet 14 (and the devices inside the engine compartment 15) are provided in the space above the upper frame 10, to the forward side of the fuel tank 21 (the right front portion of the upper frame 10). The up-and-down steps 23 are formed in the shape of rearward-ascending steps having a hollow center.
In this specification "front/rear" and "left/right" indicates directions from the perspective of an operator seated in the cabin 20.
Furthermore, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show views with the work attachment 9 removed.
FIG. 9 shows a block composition of a drive system and a control system when the shovel is constituted as a hybrid system.
The hybrid shovel has hybrid devices, in addition to the basic composition of the shovel described above. More specifically, the hybrid devices includes: a motor-generator 24 which is capable of operating as an electric generator and an electric motor, a slewing electric motor 25 which is a slewing drive source, a electric storage device 26, such as a secondary cell, a controller 27 which controls these elements, and a mechatronic controller 35 which controls the control valve 28 in coordination with the controller 27.
The motor-generator 24 is driven by the engine 16. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the motor-generator 24 is arranged with respect to the hydraulic pump 19 and connected to the engine 16.
The hydraulic actuator 29 shown in FIG. 9 includes the hydraulic cylinders 6 to 8 described above and left/right propelling hydraulic motors (not illustrated). This hydraulic actuator 29 is driven by supplying hydraulic oil discharged from the hydraulic pump 19, via the control valve 28. A control valve 28 is provided respectively for each actuator, but in FIG. 9, the control valves 28 are depicted as a set of a plurality of control valves.
The slewing electric motor 25 is provided so as to face a slewing bearing 30 shown in FIG. 6 (see FIG. 7), and causes the upper slewing body 2 to slew by driving a slewing gear (not illustrated).
The electric storage device 26 is respectively connected to the motor-generator 24 and the slewing electric motor 25 by a plurality of electric power cables 31 which are indicated by the bold lines in FIG. 9.
The controller 27 executes the various control required in the hybrid shovel. More specifically, the controller 27 controls switching of the motor-generator 24 between operation as an electric generator and operation as an electric motor, as well as controlling the electric power generated by the motor-generator 24, the current supplied to the motor-generator 24, the torque of the motor-generator 24, charging and discharging of the electric storage device 26 in accordance with excessive shortfall in the generator output of the motor-generator 24, and driving/halting of the slewing electric motor 25, and the like.
Furthermore, the controller 27 includes an inverter 33 and a hybrid controller 34 connected to the inverter 33. The inverter 33 is respectively connected to the motor-generator 24 and the slewing electric motor 25 by signal cables 32, which are represented by dotted lines in the drawings.
The electric storage device 26 is connected directly to the hybrid controller 34.
The mechatronic controller 35 controls the control valves 28 in coordination with the hybrid controller 34, and in accordance with operation of an operation lever (not illustrated), or the like.
In this hybrid shovel, if the power required of the hydraulic pump 19 is great, then the engine output is supplemented by operating the motor-generator 24 as an electric motor by the charged electric power of the electric storage device 26. On the other hand, if the power required of the hydraulic pump 19 is small, then the electric power generated by the motor-generator 24 is accumulated in the electric storage device 26. Consequently, an energy-saving operation which is an essential feature of the hybrid system is performed.
Conventionally, among the hybrid devices which are mounted in a hybrid type shovel of this kind, the electric storage device 26 and the controller 27 (inverter 33, hybrid controller 34) are often arranged in the engine compartment 15 (see Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example). Alternatively, the electric storage device 26 and the controller 27 may be arranged in a distributed fashion in a plurality of locations on the upper frame using the free space.
However, due to strong demand for size reduction in shovels, there is no spare margin for free space in shovels. Consequently, arranging the hybrid devices in addition to the basic constituent elements of the shovel with a vehicle size that is equivalent to a normal shovel is extremely difficult, regardless of whether a concentrated arrangement or a distributed arrangement is adopted.
Furthermore, if the electric storage device 26 and the controller 27 are arranged forcibly in concentrated fashion in the engine compartment 15, then this obstructs the flow of air to the radiator 17, and/or gives rise to massive generation of heat by the electric storage device 26 and the controller 27. On the other hand, if the electric storage device 26 and the controller 27 are arranged in distributed fashion, then this presents an impediment in that it makes assembly and maintenance of the machinery more troublesome.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-107230
Patent Document 2: WO 2008/015798

KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.


A feeder mechanism for use with an applicator die in which a supply of terminals is fed to the die in the form of a plurality of interconnected terminals and the die functions to crimpingly apply a terminal to an end of each of a plurality of leads successively fed to the die and sever the terminals from the terminal strip. The feeder mechanism comprises a wheel mounted such that the periphery of the wheel moves proximate the applicator die and a plurality of lead receiving assemblies are positioned at circumferentially spaced intervals around the periphery of the wheel so that the wheel may be incrementally rotated to bring successive lead receiving assemblies into proximity to the applicator die so as to allow a terminal to be crimpingly secured to the lead brought to the applicator die by each successive assembly. Each assembly includes a clamp controlled by a lever so that an operator positioned at the entry side of the applicator die may place a lead in a nest defined by the assembly and clamp the lead in the nest whereafter the lead may be incrementally advanced to the applicator die for coaction with a terminal delivered to the die. As the crimped lead is moved away from the applicator die by incremental rotation of the wheel, a release bar engages the lever to move the clamp to a released position to allow the lead with the crimped terminal thereon to fall by gravity into a suitable collection bin.

This invention relates to applicator dies and more particularly to an applicator die for use with a press to form a crimping machine for crimpingly securing terminals to the ends of leads.
Modern industry requires vast quantities of electrical leads with terminals crimpingly secured to the ends of the lead and many forms of applicator dies have been devised to perform the required crimping operation. Typically, the terminals to be crimped to the ends of the lead are provided in the form of a terminal strip comprising a plurality of serially arranged, interconnected terminals. The leads are fed individually to the die, and the die functions to crimpingly apply a terminal to the end of each lead and sever the terminal from the terminal strip in a manner to produce a continuous series of leads each having a terminal crimpingly secured to the end of the lead.
The leads may be delivered to the die manually by an operator positioned at the die and feeding the leads individually to the die for each successive crimping operation; the leads may be delivered in a fully automated process whereby each lead is fed automatically to the die in timed relationship to a terminal strip arriving at the die; or the leads may be fed to the die by some manner of semiautomatic mechanism. Whereas fully automatic feed of the leads to the die is generally preferable, the mechanisms required to provide such a fully automatic feed are extremely complioated and expensive and it is often not economically feasible to design and provide a fully automatic feed mechanism for each particular job operation to be performed by the applicator die. Specifically, relatively low volume runs for the applicator die do not justify the design and provision of a fully automatic mechanism and yet it is desirable to automate the delivery of the leads to the die to some extent to minimize operator error and operator tedium.


The present invention provides restrictive-flow flow measurement devices, valve improvements and signal control devices and processes that control the flow of liquids, including control processes for single-liquid calibration.

The present invention relates to the field of flow measurement and specifically the sensing of flow in aggressive, ultra-pure chemicals such as those typically used in semiconductor manufacturing. The present invention allows for the determination of a fluid flow rate based on differential pressure caused by a flow restriction. The pressure signals are processed by a DSP based electronic circuit, quantified by a microprocessor, and communicated to the end-user via a PC based graphical user interface or other display. The differential pressure sensor is highly accurate owing to the dimensions of the flow restriction and pressure sensor cavities, and permits pressure measurement in the restriction region in order to generate a large differential pressure. This maximized pressure differential increases the sensitivity and accuracy of the final flow rate measurement. Also, the dimensions of these critical regions reduce the overall pressure loss due to the measurement, a further enhancement over existing designs and of substantial benefit when measuring aggressive, high-purity fluids at relatively low flow rates.
During the manufacture of semiconductors, many different fluids must be precisely and accurately dispensed and deposited on the substrate being treated, such as deionized water, photoresist, spin on dielectrics, polyimides, developer and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurries, to name a few. For example, in conventional apparatus for such applications, wafers to be processed are positioned beneath a suitable nozzle that then dispenses a predetermined amount of liquid or slurry to coat or treat the wafer. The predetermined amount is premised on pump cycles, tubing diameters and other characteristics of the fluid containment environment, not on the absolute amount or mass of fluid deposited on the wafer. Typically the wafer is then rotated to disperse the deposited liquid evenly over the entire surface of the wafer. It is readily apparent that the rate of dispensing and the amount of liquid dispensed are critical in this process.
When fluid flow is stopped through the nozzle, such as between wafer treatments, the potential exists for droplets of liquid from the nozzle to form and fall onto the wafer positioned below the nozzle. This can destroy the pattern being formed on the wafer, requiring that the wafer be discarded or reprocessed. In order to avoid the formation of deleterious droplets on the nozzle, external suckback or stop/suckback valves are commonly used. The latter such valves are typically a dual pneumatically controlled valve pair, with one valve stopping the flow of liquid to the nozzle, and the other drawing the liquid back from the dispense end or outlet port of the nozzle. This not only helps prevent droplet formation and dripping at the port, but also helps prevent drying of the exposed surface of the liquid, which can lead to clogging of the nozzle, and reduces fluid contamination at the outlet.
The coating of larger wafers (e.g., 300 mm in diameter and larger) is also problematic, as turbulence issues arise. The rotational speed of the wafer is conventionally used to spread the coating fluid from the center of the wafer where it is applied, radially outwardly to the edge of the wafer. However, this approach creates turbulent air flow over the wafer and can result in uneven or nonuniform coatings. Reducing the spin speed with larger wafers reduces the turbulence at the surface of the wafer, but can introduce new problems. With the reduced speed, the fluid moves across the wafer more slowly, and thus spreading the fluid to the wafer edge before the fluid begins to setup or dry becomes an issue.
Pumps conventionally have been used to dispense liquids in semiconductor manufacturing operations. However, the pumps suitable for such applications are expensive and require frequent replacement due to excessive wear.
It therefore would be desirable to provide a valve system that results in precise, reproducible dispensing of fluid without the foregoing disadvantages. Such a valve system should not be affected by changes in fluid temperature or effects of upstream fluid pressure. In addition, the present invention has broader applications to any fluid control device, especially where precise control of fluid flow is desired or required.

Fluid flow measuring and proportional fluid flow control device


Disclosed are a system configured for detecting cosmic ray muon (CRM) flux along a variety of trajectories through a subterranean test region, collecting the muon detection data and processing the data to form a three-dimensional density distribution image corresponding to the test region. The system may be used for identifying concentrations of high (or low) density mineral deposits or other geological structures or formations well below the earth's (or ocean floor) surface. The system may be utilized for imaging geological materials and structures of higher and/or lower density in a test region having a depth of several kilometers or more.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the identification, measurement and imaging of geological structures through the detection and analysis of high energy cosmic ray muons ("CRM") and, more specifically, the positioning of detectors for effective imaging of structures well below the surface of the earth.
2. Background Art
High energy CRM produced in the atmosphere impinge on the earth's surface and penetrate deep below the surface. The flux and angular distribution of these particles at the surface is well known and their flux and angular distributions at various depths below the surface has been studied for standard geological situations. The penetration depth into the earth of any single particle of given energy at the surface will depend on the amount and composition of the material it encounters along its trajectory.
In this invention, a general system is described in which the measurement of the flux and the angular distribution of CRM below the surface may be used to locate non-uniform density regions beneath the earth's surface as an aid to exploration for minerals or other deposits or structures.
Measurements of the flux of CRM along well defined directions near the earth's surface have been employed to uncover evidence of undiscovered cavities in pyramids, L. W. Alvarez et al., Science 167 (1970) 832 ("Alvarez"), and low density regions in volcanoes, K. Nagamine et al., NIM A356 (1995) 358 ("Nagamine") and H. Tanaka, et al., NIM A507 (2003) 657 ("Tanaka"), the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated, in their entirety, by reference. Because the intensity of CRMs along a particular direction between a massive object and a detector is directly related to the total amount and composition of the material (X) through which the CRM has passed before reaching the detector, by observing the CRMs passing through the same object at one or more angles, a density image of the object such as a volcano may be formed.
The techniques described by Alvarez, Nagamine and Tanaka are similar in some respects to those employed in medical and industrial imaging such as computed tomography (CT), as described in, for example, in K. Klingenbeck-Regn et al., "Subsecond multi-slice computed tomography: basics and applications," Eur. J. Radiol. 31 (1999), 110-124 ("Klingenbeck-Regn"), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated, in its entirety, by reference. These techniques use the differential absorption of particles (x-rays in the case of CT) along various lines of sight are used to construct image "slices" reflecting variations within the internal structure of the patient or object under study.
The measurement techniques utilized by Alvarez, Nagamine and Tanaka employed position and angle measuring CRM detector systems positioned near the surface of the earth to obtain crude images of objects above the detectors for the detection of low density regions within the objects, e.g., pyramids and volcanoes, under study. The distributions of CRM which penetrated the object as determined by the intensities n(θ) at various and angles (θ), were analyzed to produce crude density image projections since there is a unique relationship between n(θ) and the amount of material X(θ) along the direction measured.
Thus, regions of lower density could be revealed by measuring n(θ) for a given angle θ to determine X(θ). In the cases described by Nagamine and Tanaka, nearly horizontal CRM passing through the volcano were compared to those passing through the atmosphere to locate regions of low density in a known direction. In the case described by Alvarez, nearly vertical CRM were used to survey the structure of the pyramid above the detectors.

Advanced Applied Physics Solutions, Inc.


Provided is a method of estimating a load carrying capacity of a bridge. The load carrying capacity estimation method includes the steps of: estimating a mode coefficient of the bridge using an acceleration signal obtained from an accelerometer that is installed in the bridge; updating an analysis model of the bridge using the estimated mode coefficient; and estimating a rating factor of the bridge by applying a dead load and a design live load to the updated analysis model.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of estimating a load carrying capacity of a bridge, and more particularly, to a method of estimating a load carrying capacity of a bridge by measuring acceleration by oscillation of the bridge.
2. Related Art
There is a method of estimating a load carrying capacity of a bridge as a method of judging whether or not repair, reinforcement or replacement of a bridge is needed.
A load carrying capacity of a bridge is expressed as a multiplication of a design live load Pr, a rating factor RF, a deflection correction coefficient Kδ (or a stress correction coefficient Kε), an impact correction coefficient Ki, a traffic load correction coefficient Kt and a pavement illumination correction coefficient Kr, and is expressed as the following equation (1).P=Pr×RF×Kδ(or Kε)×Ki×Kt×Kr  (1)
Here, Pr is a given design live load, RF is a value that is obtained through an analysis of a finite element analysis model of a bridge, and Kt and Kr are values that are experimental or empirically determined.
Meanwhile, Kδ (or Kε) and Ki are estimated through a loading test that uses a truck. Here, Kδ (or Kε) are estimated through a static loading test, and Ki is estimated through a dynamic loading test.
As described above, the conventional method of estimating a load carrying capacity accompanies a loading test in order to determined Ki, to accordingly require a traffic load that passes a bridge to be intercepted wholly or partially. Therefore, according to the conventional load carrying capacity estimation method, there are problems that induce a traffic congestion to thus cause a lot of discomforts and economic damages.
In addition, there is a problem that it is hard to calculate a load carrying capacity of a bridge through the conventional load carrying capacity estimation method in the case of an important bridge of a heavy traffic load where a lot of vehicles pass a bridge.
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 of estimating load carrying capacity of bridge

Expressway & Transportation Research Institute, Korea Expressway Corporation


A chip package structure includes a circuit substrate, a chip, an adhesive layer, conductive wires, and a molding compound. The circuit substrate has a first, a second surface, a slot, and a solder mask layer disposed on the first surface. The solder mask layer has a first and a second opening located at two sides of a longitude direction of the slot. The chip is disposed on the first surface and covers at least a portion of the slot. The adhesive layer is disposed between the chip and the circuit substrate and located at two sides of each of the slot, the first opening, and the second opening. The conductive wires connect the chip and the second surface through the slot. The molding compound covers the chip, the adhesive layer, and the conductive wires and the molding compound is further filling into the slot, the first and the second opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to a chip package structure.
2. Description of Related Art
In a semiconductor industry, integrated circuits (IC) are produced mainly through three stages, namely, IC design, IC process, and IC package.
During the fabricating of the ICs, chips are formed by the steps of wafer manufacturing, IC formation, and wafer sawing. The wafer has an active surface which generally refers to a surface of the wafer on which a plurality of active devices is formed. After the IC within the wafer is finished, a plurality of bonding pads is further formed on the active surface of the wafer, such that the chip finally formed after wafer sawing may be externally electrically connected to a carrier through the bonding pads. The carrier is, for example, a lead frame or a package substrate. The chip may be connected to the carrier by wire bonding process or flip chip bonding process, such that the bonding pads of the chip are electrically connected to contacts of the carrier, thus forming a chip package structure.
FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of a conventional chip package structure, and FIG. 1B is a top view of some components of the conventional chip package structure in FIG. 1A. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, for the convenience of illustration, the chip 120 is not shown but is indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 1B. Furthermore, only partial area of a circuit substrate 110 is shown in FIG. 1B.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B together, the conventional chip package structure 100 includes a circuit substrate 110, a chip 120, an adhesive layer 130, a plurality of conductive wires 140, a molding compound 150, and a plurality of solder balls 160. The circuit substrate 110 has a first surface 110a, a second surface 110b, and a slot 112, and the chip 120 is disposed on the first surface 110a and covers at least a portion of the slot 112. Furthermore, the adhesive layer 130 is disposed between the chip 120 and circuit substrate 110, and located at both sides of the slot 112. The chip 120 is fixed to the circuit substrate 110 through the adhesive layer 130. The conductive wires 140 connect the chip 120 and the second surface 110b of the circuit substrate 110 through the slot 112. The molding compound 150 covers the chip 120, the adhesive layer 130, the conductive wires 140, and a portion of the circuit substrate 110, and the molding compound 150 is further filling into the slot 112. The solder balls 160 are disposed on the second surface 110b of the chip 130.
Since the materials of the adhesive layer 130 and molding compound 150 are different in properties, when the conventional chip package structure 100 is subjected to a reliability test, the region A in FIG. 1B may be damaged more possibly than other regions.
FIG. 2 is a top view of some components of another conventional chip package structure. Referring to FIG. 2, for the convenience of illustration, the chip 120, and the chip 120 is not shown but is indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 2. Furthermore, only partial area of the circuit substrate 110 is shown in FIG. 2.
Referring to FIG. 2, in order to reduce the probability that the region A in FIG. 1B may be damaged, in the conventional chip package structure (as shown in FIG. 1A), the adhesive layer 130a exposes the circuit substrate 110 in region A, so that the molding compound 150 may be filled in the region A. However, in order to allow the molding compound 150 to flow into the region A easily, the thickness of the adhesive layer 130a must be increased to extend the distance between the chip 120 and the circuit substrate 110. In other words, the chip package structure has a high cost of material.


A laser-diode-pumped solid-state laser includes a solid-state laser rod which is doped with a rare-earth material such as neodium and has a wavelength converting function and a semiconductor laser which pumps the solid-state laser rod. Opposite end faces of the solid-state laser rod are formed into resonator mirrors, and a wavelength-converted wave such as a second harmonic of the laser beam oscillated by the solid-state laser rod or a sum frequency wave of a laser beam oscillated by the solid-state laser rod and a semiconductor laser beam emitted by a semiconductor laser is extracted.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a laser-diode-pumped solid-state laser comprising a solid-state laser rod pumped by a semiconductor laser (laser diode), and more particularly to a laser-diode-pumped solid-state laser in which the solid-state laser rod per se functions as an optical wavelength converter for converting a laser beam which is oscillated by the solid-state laser rod into a second harmonic or converting a laser beam which is oscillated by the solid-state laser rod and another laser beam into a wavelength-converted wave such as a sum frequency wave of the laser beams.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As disclosed, for instance, in SPIE, Vol. 1104, page 100, March 1989, there have been known Nd:COANP, Nd:PNP and the like as solid-state laser rods which are doped with a rare-earth element such as Nd (neodium) and have an optical wavelength-converting function. As such solid-state laser rods, Nd:LiNbO.sub.3, NYAB (Nd.sub.x Y.sub.1-x Al.sub.3 (BO.sub.3).sub.4 wherein x stands for 0.04 to 0.08) and the like are further known as disclosed in the same magazine, page 132, and these rods are referred to as "Self-Frequency-Doubling Crystal".
As the laser-diode-pumped solid-state laser in which such a solid-state laser rod is employed, there have been known those in which a NYAB crystal is employed as the solid-state laser rod and a second harmonic of the laser beam which is oscillated by the solid-state laser rod is extracted, as disclosed in SPIE, Vol. 1104, page 132, March, 1989 or LASER KENKYU, Vol. 17, No. 12, page, 48 (1989). Further, in J. Opt. Soc. Am Vol. 3, page 140 (1986), it is suggested to excite Nd:MgO:LiNbO.sub.3 by a dye laser having a wavelength of 0.60 .mu.m and to obtain a second harmonic of the laser beam oscillated by the solid-state laser rod.
Further, as disclosed, for instance, in SPIE, Vol. 1104, page 13, March, 1989, it is suggested to provide a single crystal of KTP which converts the wavelength of a laser beam oscillated by a solid-state laser in a Nd-doped YAG solid-state laser rod and a resonator, thereby obtaining a sum frequency wave of the laser beam oscillated by the solid-state laser and the pumping laser beam.
However, in conventional solid-state lasers having such a wavelength converting function, optical elements such as a nonlinear optical crystal, a solid-state laser rod, an output mirror, and an etalon or wave plate which converts the laser beam oscillated by the solid-state laser rod into a single-longitudinal-mode laser beam to stabilize the power of the wavelength-converted wave are discretely disposed and are discretely processed, lapped and coated. Accordingly, the laser beam oscillated by the solid-state laser rod is scattered at the processed surfaces and the coatings, reflected at the coatings and absorbed by the coatings, which together with the absorption in the parts results in an internal loss in the resonator as large as not less than several percents. The internal loss increases as the number of the parts increases. The internal loss reduces the power of the oscillated laser beam in the resonator and lowers wavelength conversion efficiency.
Due to the large internal loss, a high-output-power array laser is conventionally employed as the pumping light source in order to compensate for the large internal loss in the resonator and increase the power of the oscillated laser beam in the resonator, thereby improving the wavelength conversion efficiency. However, since the spectral line width of the conventional array laser is as large as several nanometers, the efficiency at which the laser beam is oscillated by the solid-state laser is low and the energy utilization efficiency is low.
Especially, since the etalon and the wave plate which are provided in the resonator in order to stabilize the power of the wavelength-converted wave much increase the internal loss, conventionally, a high-output-power array laser or broad area laser must be employed. On the other hand, when the etalon and the wave plate are eliminated, there arises a problem that the power of the wavelength-converted wave becomes unstable due to confliction between the longitudinal modes of the laser beam oscillated by the nonlinear optical element when the second harmonic of the oscillated laser beam is to be extracted.


According to one embodiment, a communication apparatus comprises a measuring section adapted to transfer and record one or more files stored in a storage region in the recording device registered via the communication section and network, measure recording time from the start to the end of recording, and then, transfer the recorded file, thereby measuring transfer time from the start to the end of transfer. The communication apparatus further comprises a control section which divides capacity of the file by the recording time.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a communication apparatus such as a television apparatus having a network function, and more particularly, to a communication apparatus and a communication method for carrying out tracking reproduction, in other words "playback," while recording a picture signal in a recording apparatus over a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As well known, in recent years, digitization of a television broadcast has been promoted. For example, in Japan, there has been started a terrestrial digital broadcast as well as satellite digital broadcasts such as a broadcasting satellite (BS) digital broadcast and a 110-degree communication satellite (CS) digital broadcast.
In such a digital broadcast receiver which receives a digital television broadcast, it becomes possible to digitally record a received program and to reproduce a recorded program by connecting a digital recording device having a large capacity such as, a hard disk drive (HDD).
Such a digital broadcast receiver can handle picture or voice information as a digital signal, and thus, has a function of displaying, for example, digital data acquired by a digital camera as a number of photos recorded in a memory card. In Japan Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-299008, a technique is disclosed for easily selecting and displaying a user's desired image file from a number of photos recorded in a memory card.
However, this technique is unable to stably transmit and record picture or voice signals, which are digital signals from a built-in tuner in and in a hard disk recorder which exists over a network via, for example, the network. In particular, it is impossible to know at what speed communications can be carried out when picture and voice signals or the like are transmitted to each recording device which exists over a network are transmitted from the communication apparatus side such as a television apparatus which provides picture and voice information and in what picture recording mode, tracking reproduction can be carried out as a result of the transmission.

Communication apparatus and communication method


A wastewater purifying apparatus using a back overflowed sludge includes a water tank having an inflow port for accepting wastewater and an outlet for discharging purified water, and a first barrier for dividing the water tank into a steady-flow region and a turbulent-flow region according to flow type, the first barrier submerged in the wastewater when it is filled in the water tank to a predetermined water level to allow sludge in the turbulent-flow region to flow backward the steady-flow region without extra device of settling and return.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for purifying wastewater, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for purifying wastewater using a back overflowed sludge, which is constructed in a manner that a barrier is set in an SBR water tank to divide the water tank into a turbulent-flow region and a steady-flow region, and sludge passes over the barrier to overflow from the turbulent-flow region to the steady-flow region, to thereby effectively removing nitrogen and phosphorus contained in wastewater inflowing into the water tank, and reducing the energy and cost of treatment. Moreover, if barriers are inserted in forepart of typical SBR, it can be obtained some effect of the present invention. Consequently, the present invention""s principle that sludge in turbulent flow region is flowed backward into steady-flow region by mixer and aerator in reactor can be easily applied to various wastewater treatment reactors.
2. Background of the Related Art
When microorganisms grow rapidly, generally, nitrogen and phosphorus are essential nutriments for activating and propagating microorganisms. In a case where the nutriments such as nitrogen and phosphorus are excessively contained in waste water, however, self-nutritive substances including the hydrophytes propagate rapidly and bring about eutrophication that further make worse the quality of sewage and/or wastewater. Accordingly, biological wastewater treatment process including A2O process, a modified phostrip method, UCT method, VIP method, DNR process, and SBR process were proposed in order to effectively eliminate the nitrogen and phosphorus excessively contained in wastewater.
In general, nitrogen exists in wastewater in the form of organic nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen. The organic nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen are removed from waste water through nitrification by which the organic nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen are biologically oxidized in an aerobic condition to be changed into NO2 and NO3 and denitrification by which NO2 and NO3 reduced to nitrogen gas in an anoxic state. The biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal is explained below in more detail.
Nitrification:
The nitrification includes a process (1) in which microorganisms hydrolyze organic nitrogen to change it into NH+4-N and this NH+4-N is oxidized to NOxe2x88x922 by nitrosomonas, and a process (2) in which the NO2 is oxidized to NOxe2x88x923 by nitrobactor. The nitrification is represented by the following chemical reaction formulas (1) and (2).
NH4+N+1.50O2xe2x86x92NO2xe2x88x92+H2O+2H+ (Nitrosomonas)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
NO2xe2x88x92N+1.50O2xe2x86x92NO3xe2x88x92 (Nitrobactor)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(2)
Accordingly, the entire chemical reaction formula of the nitrification can be represented by the following formula (3).
NH4+N+2O2xe2x86x92NO3xe2x88x92+H2O+2H+xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(3)
Therefore, the ammonia contained in wastewater is eliminated therefrom through the aforementioned nitrification.
Denitrification:
The dentrification is the dissimilatory reduction of NO3 or NO2 to N2 gas. In other words, NOxe2x88x923 or NO2 is the electron accepter used in energy generation. The denitrification is represented by the following chemical reaction formula (two-step process) (4). The first step is conversion of nitrite. This stage is followed by production of nitric oxide, nitrous oxide and nitrogen gas. The last three compounds are gaseous product that can be released to the atmosphere.
NO3xe2x88x92xe2x86x92NO2xe2x88x92xe2x86x92NO xe2x86x92N2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(4)
Phosphorous removal:
Under certain aerobic condition, more phosphorous may be taken by microorganism in phosphate state. The phosphorus being in the phosphate state is released from the microorganisms under the anaerobic state. When the microorganisms take up more phosphorous under aerobic condition than is needed, they go to the bottom of a water tank because the large amount of phosphate is stored in their cells. Here, the microorganisms that sank down in the water tank become sludge. Accordingly, when the sludge containing the excess phosphorous, accumulated on the bottom of the water tank is eliminated; the phosphorus contained in wastewater is removed therfrom. Under the anaerobic conditon, certain heterophobic bacterics take up simple organic molecular produced by hydrolysis and fermentation. Because no electron acceptor are available, they sequester the electrons and carbon in insoluble intracellular solid, such as (ploy-hydroxy butyric acid). To do this phospherization, the cell requires an activated chemical form, that is, acetyl concenzyme a (HSCoA). Formation of HSCoA is energy consume step, and energy come from hydrolyzing of Ploy-P, which these microorganism also contain and use as an energy-store material. The hydrolysis of Poly-P in microorganism releases phosphate to environment under anaerobic condition.
Accordingly, the phosphorus contained in wastewater can be easily eliminated therefrom by allowing the microorganisms to excessively take the phosphorus during anaerobic condition. To make the microorganisms take excessive amount of phosphorus, it is required to allow the microorganisms to release lots of phosphate, first of all.
When an electron acceptor NO3, for example, exists in the reactor, during process for phosphate release the microorganisms do not release phosphorus effectively. In this case, the environment of reactor is changed from aerobic condition to anaerobic condition so as to eliminate the phosphorus.
To remove organisms, nitrogen and phosphorus contained in wastewater, a conventional purifying apparatus like A2O process includes multi-stage anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic reaction tanks and a settling basin. However, the conventional purifying apparatus (A2O) has problems that its installation cost is high and installation region is large.
To solve the above stated problems, SBR process was developed to operate organic compound, N and P removal process, settling and drawing process in one reactor. However, SBR cannot effectively eliminate the nitrogen and phosphorous because it uses one reactor due to biological mechanism. Therefore, improved SBR in which sludge is returned to the front of SBR reactor like A2O process are being developed and applied to overcome disadvantage of conventional SBR. But, its structure and device is complex and it is difficult to operate process as compared with conventional SBR because improved SBR require pump and pipe for sludge return. Furthermore, it takes a large amount of cost to maintain and manage the apparatus.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for purifying wastewater that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for purifying wastewater using back overflowed sludge, in which sludge flows backward over barriers set inside a water tank to purify wastewater contained in the water tank.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for purifying wastewater using back overflowed sludge, in which sludge flows backward over barriers set inside a water tank according to a turbulent flow formed when wastewater and sludge contained in the water tank are mixed by aeroactor or mixer, thereby purifying the wastewater.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for purifying wastewater using back overflowed sludge, in which a barrier is set inside an water tank to divide the water tank into a turbulent-flow region and a steady-flow region according to flow type, and sludge flows backward over the barrier from the turbuient-flow region to the steady-flow region to maintain high MLSS in steady-flow region, thereby further improving condition for nitrogen and phosphorous removal.
To accomplish the objects of the present invention, there is provided a wastewater purifying apparatus using back overflowed sludge, comprising a water tank having an inflow port for accepting wastewater and an outlet port for discharging purified water, and a first barrier for dividing the water tank into a steady-flow region and a turbulent-flow region according to flow type, the first barrier submerged in the wastewater when it is filled in the water tank to a predetermined water level to allow sludge in the turbulent-flow region to flow backward into the steady-flow region.
To accomplish the objects of the invention, there is also provided a wastewater purifying apparatus using back overflowed sludge, comprising a water tank having an inflow port for accepting wastewater and a outlet for discharging purified wastewater; a first barrier for dividing the water tank into a working reaction tank and a main reaction tank according to nitrogen and phosphorous removal mechanism, the working reaction tank including a steady-flow region accepting the wastewater through the inflow port, the main reaction tank forming a turbulent-flow region and drawing purified water through the outlet, the first barrier submerged in the wastewater filled in the water tank; and a second barrier for dividing the working reaction tank into an anaerobic region and a buffering region (anaerobic/anoxic region), the anaerobic region accepting the influent, the buffering region (anaerobic/anoxic region) accepting sludge back flowed over the first barrier from the main reaction tank.
To accomplish the objects of the invention, there is provided a wastewater purifying method using back overflowed sludge, comprising a microorganism selection process of adsorbing organisms by maintaining a high F/M ratio using organisms contained in influent; an anaerobic process of forming an anaerobic condition to release phosphorus; a sludge transferring process of allowing sludge in anaerobic region to flow under second barrier from an anaerobic region into a main reaction tank via an anaerobic/anoxic region with influent waste water; an aerobic process of oxidizing organic nitrogen and NH+4 to NOxe2x88x922 and NOxe2x88x923 using an aerator of the main reaction tank, excessively taking in phosphorous into the cell, and generating turbulent flow by rising bubble; an anoxic process of denitrifying the nitrate generated during the aerobic process to remove the nitrogen; a sludge returning process of allowing sludge raised by turbulent flow to flow backward during the aerobic and anoxic process and a mixing process of mix uniformly sludge and influent in water tank and generating turbulent flow; a first settling process of settling the sludge in the anaerobic/anoxic region; a concentration process of concentrating the settled sludge by force of gravity; a returning/transferring process of transferring the concentrated sludge in buffering region into the anaerobic region; a second settling process of settling the mixed sludge in the main reaction tank; and a drawing process of decanting the cleared wastewater without disturbing the settled sludge.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Apparatus and method for purifying wastewater using back overflowed sludge


A sound processing system comprises a waveform distributor for distributing an input sound waveform, offset devices for executing an offset process for each of the waveforms received from the waveform distribution device, and a multiplication and addition device for multiplying the offset waveforms by predetermined coefficients and then adding the multiplied waveforms. Since the distributed waveforms are offset by the independent offset devices, highly varied sound can be produced by changing the coefficients of the offset devices and the multiplication and addition device, and also by changing these coefficients as time elapses.

This invention relates to a sound processing system for processing a sound waveform received from a sound source.
A conventional sound processing system processes an input sound waveform employing, for example, a digital signal processor. FIG. 7 illustrates a typical digital signal processor 141 which includes a multiplier 141a, an adder 141b, and two buffers 141c and 141d. The digital signal processor 141 processes a received digital signal and outputs the digital signal processed in a desired manner. The process of the digital signal processor 141 proceeds rapidly utilizing a pipelining process, in which the execution of a command and the fetch of the next command occur synchronously and generally simultaneously.
An example of such a digital signal processor employed for processing sound waveforms is illustrated in FIG. 8 wherein it is generally indicated as 151. The digital signal processor 151 includes a memory 157a, a multiplier 153, an offset circuit 155, and a memory 157d. The offset circuit 155 is provided with multipliers 159, 161, 163, 165 and 167, and adders 169, 171 and 173, The exemplary offset circuit 155 thus executes an offset process for an input sound waveform, establishing the multiplication coefficients of the six multipliers 153, 159, 161, 163, 165 and 167 appropriately.
FIG. 9 shows an example of the offset process performed by the offset circuit 155, showing waveforms obtained at each process step. A triangular waveform A is input, and is shifted upward in a predetermined range by operating the multipliers 153, 159 and the adder 169. The waveform A thus overflows in a dynamic range L, obtaining a waveform B. The waveform B is then shifted downward in a predetermined range employing the multipliers 161, 163 and the adder 171, resulting in a waveform C. Finally, the waveform C is shifted upward in a predetermined range by the multipliers 165, 167 and the adder 173. The resulting final waveform is shown as a waveform D. The process for obtaining the waveform D from the waveform A is defined as the offset process hereinafter.
The prior art sound processing system, however, can perform only limited patterns of the offset process for an input sound waveform since the combination of the multiplication coefficients of the multipliers is limited. Thus, in the conventional system the final waveform is produced by only a limited process, such as simple linear signal processing.


A system and method for packing agricultural produce including functionality for:

The present invention relates to methodologies and systems for packaging, storing and transporting agricultural produce generally.
There are known various techniques and systems for packaging, storing and transporting agricultural produce. The following US patents are believed to represent the state of the art: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,421,138; 4,535,586; 4,981,007; 4,899,517. The known conventional techniques have significant limitations and disadvantages.
The present invention seeks to provide improved methodologies and systems for packaging, storing and transporting agricultural produce, which result in significant efficiencies and cost savings, without sacrificing product quality.
In the present specification and claims, the following terms are used: xe2x80x9cbagxe2x80x9d which relates to a container for agricultural produce in which a xe2x80x9cModified Atmospherexe2x80x9d condition is established by controlling the amounts and relationships of the appropriate gas components, which are required for extending the storage and shelf life of the agricultural product, for example agricultural produce, flowers and bulbs. xe2x80x9cvaporxe2x80x9d relates to liquids in the form of a gas or a gas with free floating water droplets, as for example, in condensation. xe2x80x9ccartonxe2x80x9d relates to containers or boxes constructed from materials such as plastic, wood or metal, for storing agricultural products. xe2x80x9cadhesivexe2x80x9d relates to a sealing element for a venting closure system, by using such devices as a latch, cap-locking system or an adhesive sticker.
There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for packing agricultural produce including the steps of:
providing a container having at least one communications aperture formed in a wall thereof;
providing at least one flexible controlled permeability bag within the container;
providing at least one bag aperture in the at least one flexible controlled permeability bag in general registration with the at least one communications aperture;
sealing the produce inside the at least one flexible controlled permeability bag within the container, while leaving the at least one bag aperture and the at least one communications aperture open;
providing atmosphere treatment within the at least one bag via the at least one bag aperture and the at least one communications aperture; and
sealing at least one of the at least one bag aperture and the at least one communications aperture.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system for packing agricultural produce including:
at least one container having at least one communications aperture formed in a wall thereof;
at least one flexible controlled permeability bag within the container, the at least one bag having an aperture in general registration with the at least one communications aperture and being adapted for containing the produce inside the at least one flexible controlled permeability bag within the container, while leaving the at least one bag aperture and the at least one communications aperture open;
treatment functionality, operative for providing atmosphere treatment within the at least one bag via the at least one bag aperture and the at least one communications aperture; and
sealing functionality for sealing at least one of the at least one bag aperture and the at least one communications aperture.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the atmosphere treatment includes vacuum cooling.
Additionally or alternatively, the atmosphere treatment includes at least one of fumigation or other gas treatment, such as ripening treatment.
Preferably, the at least one communications aperture formed in a wall thereof is formed in a sealing layer adhered to a wall of the carton.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the flexible controlled vapor and gas selective permeability bag includes a gas impermeable bag, preferably a gas permeable bag having selected permeability characteristics adapted to a given type of produce.
Preferably, the methodology of providing at least one bag aperture in the flexible controlled permeability bag in general registration with the at least one communications aperture includes:
inserting the bag into the container;
at least partially filling the bag with the produce;
adhering the bag to the container adjacent the at least one communications aperture; and
aperturing the bag generally in registration with the at least one communications aperture.
Where the at least one communications aperture formed in a wall thereof is formed in a sealing layer adhered to a wall of the carton, the functionality of providing at least one bag aperture in the flexible controlled permeability bag in general registration with the at least one communications aperture includes:
inserting the bag into the container;
at least partially filling the bag with the produce;
adhering the bag to the container adjacent the at least one communications aperture; and
aperturing the bag and the sealing layer in a single operation.
Preferably, the sealing at least one of the at least one bag aperture and the at least one communications aperture includes attaching an adhesive sticker or a cap over the at least one communications aperture from the outside of the container.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a box suitable for packing agricultural produce and including at least one sealable localized atmosphere communication aperture formed in a wall thereof.
Preferably, the carton also includes a plurality of ventilation apertures formed in at least one wall thereof.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the carton also includes a gas impervious layer arranged for sealing engagement with the at least one sealable localized atmosphere communication aperture.
Preferably, the box includes an interiorly disposed bag, which is preferably a modified atmosphere bag.
Preferably, the sealing layer is an adhesive-coated plastic sticker and the bag is adhered to the adhesive-coated plastic sticker. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bag and the adhesive-coated plastic sticker are both apertured adjacent the sealable localized atmosphere communication aperture, thereby to provide a fluid communication pathway between the interior of the bag and the exterior of the carton. A further gas impervious sealing layer may be employed for subsequently sealingly engaging the adhesive-coated plastic sticker, thereby sealing the interior of the bag from the exterior of the carton.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for loading a refrigerated container having a refrigeration unit producing a flow of forced air and a flow of return air under negative pressure in order to provide maximum loading and cooling efficiency, the method including:
loading palletized ventilated cartons having ventilating apertures formed in walls thereof into a refrigerated shipping container in a manner such that there is defined a central plenum between rows of loaded pallets; and
selectively blocking air passages inside the container such that the forced air flow is directed principally through the plenum and through interstices between ones of the ventilated containers and thus generally horizontally through the ventilating apertures.
There is additionally provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a loaded refrigerated container having a refrigeration unit producing a flow of forced air and a flow of return air under negative pressure in order to provide maximum loading and cooling efficiency, the loaded container also including:
palletized ventilated cartons having ventilating apertures formed in walls thereof positioned in the refrigerated shipping container in a manner such that there is defined a central plenum between rows of loaded pallets and wherein
air passages inside the container are selectively blocked, such that the forced air flow is directed principally through the plenum, through interstices between ones of the ventilated containers and thus generally horizontally through the ventilating apertures.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a forced air flow from the refrigeration unit is supplied along channels formed in a floor of the container and extending parallel to a longitudinal axis thereof; at least a portion of the forced air output rises through spaces between adjacent floor elements in the floor of the shipping container, except where physically blocked and relatively unimpeded from a channel underlying the plenum; and at least a portion of the forced air output rises relatively unimpeded from open ends of the channels at a back end of the container into back plenum defined rearwardly of the rows of pallets

System for packaging, storing and transporting agricultural produce


The present invention providing a system and installation method of wireless vehicle detection based on earth magnetic induction a signal collection module, a signal conditioning module, a MCU control module, a wireless communication module, a battery module and a signal receiver module includes. When the system is installed, firstly, a cylindrical cavity is cut in the road lane along the driveway; secondly, the adhesive is smeared on the interior of the cylindrical cavity; thirdly, a vehicle detection shell is provided, which includes a signal collection module, a signal conditioning module, a MCU control module, a wireless communication module, and a battery module inside; the whole lower part of the vehicle detection shell is inserted into the cylindrical cavity, then the adhesive is filled between the vehicle detection shell and the interior of the cylindrical cavity, which makes the lower portion of the vehicle detection shell firmly cemented in the cylindrical cavity; finally, a signal receiver module and an external processing module is provided, the external processing module is connected to the signal collection module for analyzing and processing the signals received from the signal collection module. The present invention owns many advantages including: the small volume, sensitive detection performance, the fast installation and the easy maintenance.

Vehicle detection technology is focusing on detecting and acquiring traffic information about the vehicles on the road, and the main information includes: the traffic volume, the direction, the speed of the vehicles, the location and the type of vehicle. At present, the induction coil is used in the widespread detection method about vehicle detection technology, which is commonly known as a "ground inductance coil". The circular induction coil is embedded in the subsurface of the roads, and the circular induction coil generates a magnetic field when it is energized. While there is a vehicle passing, which cutting through the magnetic field generated by the circular induction coil, so that causing the changes in electromagnetic induction and then implementing the detection of the presence of the vehicles.
The China Patent by Gu (CN 2258299Y) discloses a vehicle detection device, including an outer annular coil which is shallowly buried under the road surface and served as a sensor coil, a vehicle detection device body, a vehicle detection circuit, as well as transmission cables which connecting the vehicle detection circuit and outer annular coil. An oscillator, which is connected to the outer annular coil, wherein one of its output terminals is connected to a voltage comparator and another terminal is connected to a first driver. The voltage comparator transfer the oscillator signal into the pulse signal, and oscillation frequency is calculated by the trigger, the counter and the micro computer. This patent provides corresponding anti-interference means against various environment interferences to avoid the dead lock. However, this type of vehicle detection device disadvantaged in:
1. Long construction duration and traffic affect because of blocking the road.
2. Destroying the surface of the road and impact the appearance of the road.
3. The high rate of damage, which is caused by the coil fracture due to the road oscillation.
4. Difficulty in maintenance, including the difficulty in finding the damaged point and long construction duration of the maintenance.
The SHIMIZU's patent (U.S. Pub. No. US2009/0278710A1) discloses a moving vehicle system and method of detecting position of moving vehicle, a detection head has an array including a plurality of coils. Magnetic marks are arranged in a travel route at a pitch equal to the array length. By interaction between the magnetic marks and the coils, a position of a moving vehicle is determined based on the magnetic marks.
The Lohberg's patent (US 2004/0100251A1) discloses active magnetic field sensor, use thereof, method and device, The present invention relates to an active magnetic field sensor, in particular a wheel bearing sensor unit, comprising at least one magnetic sensor element for converting a temporally periodic magnetic field into a temporally periodic electric sensor signal at signal outputs and an electronic signal-evaluating circuit, the said magnetic field sensor being electrically fed by way of a sensor interface, wherein an active electric processing of periodic signals of the magnetic sensor element is performed in two or more separate signal channels of the evaluating circuit respectively associated with the sensor signals. The present invention further discloses a motor vehicle influencing device and a method preventing a vehicle from rolling on an inclined plane.
Therefore, although there are many vehicle detection devices used for detecting traffic situation, such as the above disclosed, the installation of the vehicle detections are still difficult, and the construction duration is long, and it needs to destroy the roads and affecting the surface appearance. Further more, the coil which is used in most vehicle detection devices is easy to be destroyed because of the road vibration, and it is difficult to find where the broken point is, and it costs a long time to repair as well.

Wireless earth magnetic induction detection system for vehicle and its installation method

Shanghai Super Electronics Technology Co. Ltd


Methods, systems, and computer storage mediums including a computer program product for managing data in a computing network are provided. One method includes registering a plurality of buffers with a work queue in a server and assigning ownership to each of the plurality of buffers to a different working thread in a plurality of working threads. The method further includes continuously polling, by a polling thread, the work queue to determine when work requests are received by the work queue, upon receipt of each work request, determining which buffer among the plurality of buffers each work request is associated, and performing each work request on each respective associated buffer by a working thread among the plurality of working threads that owns each respective associated buffer. One system includes a processor for performing the above method and one computer storage medium includes computer code for performing the above method.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to data storage, and more particularly to, lock-free processing of stateless protocols over Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA).
Description of the Related Art
In high-speed networking and in high-performance computing environments, remote direct memory access (RDMA) is expected to become increasingly invaluable. For example, data centers and server farms will rely on remote direct memory access to coordinate computing devices connected by networks running packet protocols, such as transmission control protocol (TCP). In computing, remote direct memory access is a direct memory access from the user application memory of one data processing system into the user application memory of another data processing system without involving either data processing system's operating system. As a result, remote direct memory access supports zero-copy networking by enabling a network input/output adapter to transfer data directly to or from user application memory, eliminating the need to copy data between user application memory and the data buffers in the operating system. Such transfers require little to no work to be done by central processing units (CPUs), caches, or context switches, and transfers may continue in parallel with other system operations. When an application performs a remote direct memory access Read or Write request, the application data is delivered directly to the network, reducing latency and enabling faster data transfer. This permits high-throughput, low-latency networking, which is especially useful in parallel computer clusters.

Lock-free processing of stateless protocols over RDMA

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A vibration control assembly for an aircraft including a housing operatively coupled to the aircraft. Also included is a cage disposed within an interior region of the housing, the cage rotatable within the housing about a first axis. Further included is a gyroscope wheel disposed within the cage and rotatable about a second axis other than the first axis, wherein a controllable moment is imposed on the aircraft upon rotation of the gyroscope wheel to counter vibratory moments produced by the vehicle.

The embodiments herein generally relate to aircrafts and, more particularly, to a vibration control assembly for an aircraft and methods of controlling aircraft vibration with one or more gyroscope assemblies.
All helicopter rotors produce undesirable vibratory hub moments that cause unwanted fuselage vibration. The largest moments are in the pitching and rolling moment directions. These moments produce an elliptical shape as time progresses. More generally, there are three moments which produce an ellipsoidal shape. Typically, active vibration control techniques use linear vibratory force actuators placed some distance apart in order to create a countering or anti-vibration moment. This approach undesirably adds significant weight because the linear actuators rely upon linearly oscillating a parasitic mass to generate load. However, the amplitudes of mass oscillation are limited due to space or other constraints, resulting in heavy designs that are deemed inefficient based on the moment produced relative to the weight. The reduction in payload capability of the aircraft is not desirably offset by the benefits associated with the counter-moment effects.

Vibration control assembly for an aircraft and method of controlling aircraft vibration


A prism light guide luminaire has opaque and light emitting surface portions which together form a selected cross-sectional configuration. The opaque surface portion has a light reflecting characteristic. The light emitting surface portion is prism light guide material which confines, within the luminaire, light rays which strike the material at angles falling within the material's acceptance angular range. Within the luminaire, a light scattering area having a predefined shape and location redirects light into angles falling outside the material's acceptance angular range. The luminaire's cross-sectional configuration, the opaque surface portion's light reflecting characteristic, and the shape and location of the light scattering area are selected such that (i) light redirected by the light scattering area which does not pass directly from the scattering area to the light emitting surface portion and escape through that portion is substantially efficiently reflected by the prismatic material directly back onto the scattering area; and, (ii) all paths along which light may pass directly from the scattering area to the light emitting surface portion define a solid angle less than 2.pi..

The basic prism light guide luminaire concept was first described by Whitehead in U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,579 issued Oct. 7, 1986 and was based on his prism light guide concept as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,220. Since then many refinements to the prism light guide luminaire concept have been introduced, all of which are based on the principle that a prism light guide luminaire conducts light efficiently through a hollow air space by means of total internal reflection at the external surfaces of the guide, while allowing a pre-determined amount of light to escape at pre-determined points on the surface of the guide.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,716 (Whitehead) describes how one may cause a prism light guide luminaire to emit light at a pre-determined rate which varies as a function of position on the surface of the guide. Briefly, light rays falling within the guide's acceptance angle encounter an internal diffusely reflecting surface which redirects a substantial portion of incident light into directions which cannot be confined within the guide by total internal reflection. Such redirected light rays are accordingly able to escape from the guide.
All such prior art prism light guide luminaires are encumbered by the fact that the light they emit is substantially diffuse. This limits the application of prior art prism light guide luminaires to situations in which diffuse light output is desirable, such as the many situations in which one might otherwise use fluorescent lamps. However, there are some situations in which it is preferable for a light source to emit somewhat collimated light. Examples include high bay lighting where it is important that light be efficiently directed downwardly from a high altitude location onto an illuminated surface; and, external sign illumination where light must be efficiently directed upwardly, through a restricted range of angles, onto the sign. It is an object of this invention to provide a prism light guide luminaire capable of efficiently emitting directed light in a manner which is practical to manufacture.
Prior art attempts to achieve directional light output from prism light guide luminaires have met with only limited success. One example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,665 (Whitehead) in which carefully oriented partially reflective, partially transmissive elements are mounted within the guide to reflect a pre-determined portion of the light passing through the guide into directions which the guide is unable to confine by total internal reflection, thus allowing such light to escape from the guide. Moreover, the direction of the reflected light is such that the natural refraction effect of the prismatic material used to form the guide further directs the escaping light into a pre-determined direction.
Alternate approaches are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,984,144 and 4,989,125 (Cobb, Jr. et al). Portions of the prism light guide wall are removed and replaced with prismatic films which allow light to escape and which re-direct the escaping light into specific desired directions.
The prior art solutions aforesaid are subject to two fundamental problems. First, they require complex manufacturing and design techniques. It takes considerable effort to properly position and retain elements of the sort described by Whitehead in U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,665. Similarly, considerable effort is required to segment prism light guide wall material in accordance with the inventions of Cobb, Jr. et al. Moreover, these prior art approaches cannot collimate the escaping light to a degree which is substantially greater than the degree of collimation of the light within the prism light guide itself (typically .+-.30.degree.). Fundamental thermodynamic limitations should allow substantially greater collimation of the emitted light, since the guide's light emitting area is usually much larger than the area through which light enters the light guide from the light source.

Prism light guide luminaire with efficient directional output

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


A structural alternative to retro doping to reduce transistor leakage is provided by providing a liner in a trench, undercutting a conduction channel region in an active semiconductor layer, etching a side, corner and/or bottom of the conduction channel where the undercut exposes semiconductor material in the active layer and replacing the removed portion of the conduction channel with insulator. This shaping of the conduction channel increases the distance to adjacent circuit elements which, if charged, could otherwise induce a voltage and cause a change in back-channel threshold in regions of the conduction channel and narrows and reduces cross-sectional area of the channel where the conduction in the channel is not well-controlled; both of which effects significantly reduce leakage of the transistor.

Demands for increased performance, functionality and economy of manufacture of semiconductor integrated circuits have driven the decrease of minimum lithographic feature size and increase of integration density to extreme levels to the point that millions of discrete devices may be formed on a single chip and spaced from each other by distances measured in hundreds or even tens of nanometers. However, as devices such as transistors and capacitors are scaled to smaller sizes, performance may be degraded significantly and highly sophisticated designs for transistors, capacitors and the like have been developed to maintain and even enhance performance of individual devices formed at sizes at the limits of or even exceeding lithographic resolution.
Further, as integration density has been increased (which, among other beneficial effects, reduces signal propagation time and noise susceptibility) some undesired effects have been discovered. Specifically, when transistors have been scaled to smaller sizes, the so-called on/off ratio of channel resistance has been decreased both by reduction of conduction channel cross-section increasing resistance when a transistor is in the "on" state and by leakage in the "off" state due to reduced ability to control conduction from the transistor gate at low voltages necessary to answer heat dissipation design constraints. It has also been recently discovered that, at extremely high integration densities, difficulty in increasing "off" state resistance of transistors and limiting transistor leakage has been encountered even with extremely sophisticated and difficult to manufacture transistor designs with limited manufacturing yield.
These difficulties are particularly critical in high capacity dynamic memories (or high density dynamic memories of lesser capacity which are desirably integrated on the same chip with extensive logic or digital processing circuitry) where data may be stored as a few hundred or fewer individual electrons. In such an application where the storage mechanism is necessarily highly ephemeral, leakage of a relatively few electrons can change data states of a stored bit and relatively high refresh rates are required to prevent data corruption. High refresh rates, in turn, consume significant time as well as power and increase worst case memory access time; severely compromising potential performance. Further, even with the provision of redundant circuitry for a chip design, improper formation of a relatively small number of elements on the chip (where the number of such elements is greatly increased to provide desired increase of integration density and memory capacity) can result in a chip which cannot be made fully functional.

Reduced corner leakage in SOI structure and method

International Business Machines Corporation


One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates flow control to support pipelined accesses to a cache memory. When an access to the cache memory generates a miss, the system increments a number of outstanding misses that are currently in process for a set in the cache to which the miss is directed. If the number of outstanding misses is greater than or equal to a threshold value, the system stalls generation of subsequent accesses to the cache memory until the number of outstanding misses for each set in the cache memory falls below the threshold value. Upon receiving a cache line from a memory subsystem in response to an outstanding miss, the system identifies a set that the outstanding miss is directed to. The system then installs the cache line in an entry associated with the set. The system also decrements a number of outstanding misses that are currently in process for the set. If the number of outstanding misses falls below the threshold value as a result of decrementing, and if no other set has a number of outstanding misses that is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the system removes the stall condition so that subsequent accesses can be generated for the cache memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the design of cache memories in computer systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for facilitating flow control in order to support pipelined accesses to and from a cache memory.
2. Related Art
As microprocessor clock speeds continue to increase at an exponential rate, it is becoming increasingly harder to provide sufficient data transfer rates between functional units on a microprocessor chip. For example, data transfers between a Level Two (L2) cache and a Level One (L1 cache) can potentially require a large number of processor clock cycles. Moreover, the processor will be severely underutilized if it has to wait a large number of clock cycles to complete each access to L2 cache. Hence, in order to keep the processor busy, it is necessary to pipeline data transfers between L2 cache and the processor.
However, pipelining introduces problems. In a pipelined architecture, a number of accesses from the processor to the L2 cache can potentially be in flight at any given time. Furthermore, service times for accesses to the L2 cache are unpredictable because each access can potentially cause a cache miss if the desired data item is not present in L2 cache. Hence, what is needed is a mechanism for halting subsequent accesses to the L2 cache, as well as a mechanism for queuing in flight transactions in case preceding accesses generate time-consuming cache misses.
Additionally, there are limitations on the number of outstanding cache misses that can be pending at any given time. Caches are typically designed with a set-associative architecture that uses a number of address bits from a request to determine a xe2x80x9csetxe2x80x9d to which the request is directed. A set-associative cache stores a number of entries for each set, and these entries are typically referred to as xe2x80x9cwaysxe2x80x9d. For example, a four-way set-associative cache contains four entries for each set. This means that a four-way set associative cache essentially provides a small four-entry cache for each set.
Note that it is desirable not to allow more than four outstanding miss operations to be pending on any given set in a four-way set-associative cache. For example, if a system allows five outstanding misses, the five misses could potentially return at about the same time, and there would only be room to accommodate four of them. In this case, one of the returned cache lines would immediately be kicked out of the cache. Dealing with this problem can greatly complicate the design of a cache. Hence, what is needed is a mechanism for halting subsequent accesses to the L2 cache when a given set has too many pending miss operations.
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates flow control to support pipelined accesses to a cache memory. When an access to the cache memory generates a miss, the system increments a number of outstanding misses that are currently in process for a set in the cache to which the miss is directed. If the number of outstanding misses is greater than or equal to a threshold value, the system stalls generation of subsequent accesses to the cache memory until the number of outstanding misses for each set in the cache memory falls below the threshold value. Upon receiving a cache line from a memory subsystem in response to an outstanding miss, the system identifies a set that the outstanding miss is directed to. The system then installs the cache line in an entry associated with the set. The system also decrements a number of outstanding misses that are currently in process for the set. If the number of outstanding misses falls below the threshold value as a result of decrementing, and if no other set has a number of outstanding misses that is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the system removes the stall condition so that subsequent accesses can be generated for the cache memory.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the system determines whether to remove the stall condition by examining a state machine. This state machine keeps track of a number of outstanding misses that cause sets in the cache memory to meet or exceed the threshold value.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the system additionally replays the access that caused the cache line to be retrieved.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the system increments the number of outstanding misses that are currently in process for the set by setting a prior miss bit that is associated with an entry for a specific set and way in the cache memory. This prior miss bit indicates that an outstanding miss is in process and will eventually fill the entry for the specific set and way. In a variation on this embodiment, the prior miss bit is stored along with a tag for the specific set and way, so that a tag lookup returns the prior miss bit.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the cache memory is a Level Two (L2) cache and the access is received from a Level One (L1) cache.
In one embodiment of the present invention, receiving the access involves receiving the access from a queue located at the L2 cache, wherein the queue contains accesses generated by the L1 cache. In this embodiment, the system uses credit-based flow control to limit sending of accesses from the L1 cache into the queue, so that the queue does not overflow.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the L2 cache receives accesses from a plurality of L1 caches.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the threshold value is less than a number of entries in the cache memory associated with each set. This effectively reserves one or more additional entries for each set to accommodate in-flight accesses that have been generated but not received at the cache memory.
FIG. 1 illustrates a multiprocessor system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates in more detail the multiprocessor system illustrated in FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates the structure of an L2 bank in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 illustrates status bits and a tag associated with an L2 cache entry in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary pattern of pending miss operations in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 illustrates a state diagram for pending miss operations in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating processing of a cache access in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating processing of a cache line return in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Method and apparatus for facilitating flow control during accesses to cache memory