This invention relates to a method and apparatus for thermally developing a photosensitive element. The thermal development method includes heating the photosensitive element to a temperature sufficient to cause a portion of a composition layer in the element to liquefy, soften, or melt, contacting the heated photosensitive element with a development medium to absorb the liquefied portion at a contact location, and removing the development medium from the photosensitive element with a remover at a location away from the contact location.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a method and apparatus for thermally developing a photosensitive element, and particularly to a method and apparatus that removes a development medium from the photosensitive element at a location away from where the development medium is contacted to the photosensitive element.
2. Description of Related Art
Flexographic printing plates are well known for use in printing surfaces which range from soft and easy to deform to relatively hard, such as packaging materials, e.g., cardboard, plastic films, aluminum foils, etc. Flexographic printing plates can be prepared from photosensitive elements containing photopolymerizable compositions, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,323,637 and 4,427,759. The photopolymerizable compositions generally comprise an elastomeric binder, at least one monomer and a photoinitiator. Photosensitive elements generally have a photopolymerizable layer interposed between a support and a coversheet or multilayer cover element. Upon imagewise exposure to actinic radiation, photopolymerization of the photo-polymerizable layer occurs in the exposed areas, thereby curing and rendering insoluble the exposed areas of the layer. Conventionally, the element is treated with a suitable solution, e.g., solvent or aqueous-based washout, to remove the unexposed areas of the photopolymerizable layer leaving a printing relief which can be used for flexographic printing. However, developing systems that treat the element with a solution are time consuming since drying for an extended period (0.5 to 24 hours) is necessary to remove absorbed developer solution.
As an alternative to solution development, a "dry" thermal development process may be used which removes the unexposed areas without the subsequent time-consuming drying step. In a thermal development process, the photosensitive layer, which has been imagewise exposed to actinic radiation, is contacted with an absorbent material at a temperature sufficient to cause the composition in the unexposed portions of the photosensitive layer to soften or melt and flow into an absorbent material. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,060,023 (Burg et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,103 (Cohen et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,556 (Martens); U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,072 (Martens); U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,859 (Martens); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,697 (Peterson et al.). The exposed portions of the photosensitive layer remain hard, that is do not soften or melt, at the softening temperature for the unexposed portions. The absorbent material collects the softened un-irradiated material and then is separated/removed from the photosensitive layer. The cycle of heating and contacting the photosensitive layer may need to be repeated several times in order to sufficiently remove the flowable composition from the unirradiated areas and form a relief structure suitable for printing. After such processing, there remains a raised relief structure of irradiated, hardened composition that represents the irradiated image.
Processors for thermal development of flexographic printing elements are known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,697 describes an automated process and apparatus for handling an irradiated printing element and accomplishing repeated heating and pressing to remove the unirradiated composition from the element. WO 2001/18604 also describes a method and apparatus for thermal processing a photosensitive element. In both thermal processing apparatuses the absorbent material is a continuous sheet of a web, typically a non-woven, which is pulled from a supply roll and passed over a hot roll to heat the web. The hot roll is urged toward a drum carrying the photosensitive element, thereby pressing the heated web against an exterior surface of the photosensitive element. Heat is transferred by conduction from the hot roll, through the absorbent web, to the photosensitive element upon contact so the temperature of the composition layer is raised sufficiently to enable the unirradiated portions of the composition layer to liquefy and be absorbed into the absorbent web. As the drum and hot roll rotate in contact together, the web is pressed against the photosensitive element to absorb the liquefied unirradiated composition and is then pulled away from the element, thereby separating the absorbed composition from the photosensitive element. WO 2001/18604 indicates that due to heat transfer characteristics of the photosensitive element it is necessary to separate the web from the element immediately after absorption. This is accomplished by pulling the web away from the element just after the nip in a direction of about 90 degrees from the direction of travel of the element as the web continues its wrap about the hot roll. The web is transported away from the hot roll and rewound on to a take-up roll. Several cycles of passing the photosensitive element past the hot roll are repeated to progressively remove the unirradiated composition from the element.
A problem arises in these thermal development processors in that the removal of the absorbent web from the still warm photosensitive element can induce defects in the resulting relief element. In actual operation of the thermal processors as described above, the web separates from the photosensitive element at any location in a substantially triangular-shaped region after the nip. The substantially triangular-shaped region is located adjacent the hot roll and drum and has a first vertex after the nip, along the surface of the drum to a second vertex located about where the photosensitive element is in its lowest position on the drum, and along a take-up side of the hot roll to a third vertex which extends into a space below and beyond the hot roll. This substantially triangular-shaped region is approximately (10 inch) by (3-6 inch) by (6-10 inch) ((25.4 cm) by (7.6-15.2 cm) by (15.2-25.4 cm)) in cross-section. The location at which the web separates from the element can uncontrollably vary in the described triangular-shaped region, and also along the width of the element, depending upon several factors, such as, the relief image being formed, the thickness of the plate, the thermal development conditions including pressure, temperature, cycle, web speed, nip geometry, and flux of heat, etc. The separating web, which is under velocity control in commercial thermal processors, can cause the element to pass through the nip faster than expected, i.e., slip through the nip. As such, the photosensitive element can lift off the drum or sag and separate from the drum surface after the nip into the described region as the web is being pulled away from the photosensitive element. Although the drum includes a tacky surface to hold the plate to the drum, the degree of tack at times can be insufficient to prevent the element from slipping through the nip. Uncontrolled separation of the web and the lifting or sagging of the photosensitive element while the element is still hot, bends the element and induces strains in the structure of the element which creates a defect, called waves, in the resulting relief element. The non-uniform strains imparted in the element while the support is at a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature result in deformations that remain after the element has cooled or returned to room temperature. The deformations are waves of localized distortions resulting in a non-planar topography of the photosensitive element. Because of the uncontrolled nature of the web separation in thermal development of the prior art, waves of distortions can form in different locations in each element processed.
Relief printing forms having waves result in poor print performance. In multicolor printing, when one or more of the relief printing forms have waves the printed image has poor registration. Even in single color printing, waves in the relief printing form may print an image that is not an accurate reproduction of its original, so called image infidelity, by printing straight lines as curves for example. Further, the relief printing form having waves may incompletely print the image due to intermittent contact of the inked surface of the printing form to the printed substrate.

Method and apparatus for thermal development with development medium remover


A knife blade with a back, and a cutting edge with a shoulder, characterised in that the knife blade has a blade profile perpendicular to the blade edge that, starting at the shoulder and moving towards the back, has the following thickness, as ground prior to any polishing or subsequent steps, at the position indicated: at the shoulder a thickness of AA; at about 1/16″ from the shoulder a thickness of BB; and at about ⅛″ from the shoulder a thickness of CC; where AA is about 16 to 23 thousandths of an inch (0.41 mm to 0.58 mm); BB is AA plus about 3 thousandths of an inch (0.076 mm); and CC is BB plus about 2 thousandths of an inch. (0.051 mm).

Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification is not an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field.
The profile (vertical cross section) of a knife blade and the way in which this profile varies along the length of the blade determine the performance and longevity of that knife blade. For this reason many different profiles have been used, each with advantages and disadvantages.
FIG. 1 shows, in cross section, a plain carbon steel profile often used prior to the requirement for stainless steel blades in the food processing industry, where the food industry is intended to cover meat, poultry, fish, vegetable etc processing. Stainless steel was required for health reasons, plain carbon steel rusts in these environments and can contaminate the food products produced.
FIG. 2 shows, in cross section, a stainless steel blade which has an edge bevel (edge) that is ground to a different, normally, wider angle than the body of the blade. This wider angle is required due to the properties of stainless steel. It is not practical to grind the whole blade to this wider angle as the blade inward of the cutting edge would be thicker than is necessary, which would increase the amount of work required to move the knife through the material being cut.
To further reduce the drag of the blade behind the cutting edge a variety of knife profiles are used, one of these is termed 'hollow ground'. FIG. 3 shows, in cross section, a hollow ground knife. These knives have a section of the blade adjacent to the cutting edge ground out of the blade, most commonly with a small diameter (3″ or 4″) grinding wheel, this leaves a raised shoulder between the inner extremity of the cutting edge and the hollow ground section. This shoulder is intended to provide support for the cutting edge. The hollow ground section runs parallel to the peripheral edge of the cutting edge. The hollow ground section reduces the thickness of the blade close to the cutting edge and thus reduces the amount of force needed to use the knife. Unfortunately, as each side of the blade is hollow ground, it creates a thinner section of the blade above the shoulder, this thin section is a weak point. In some cases, when processing for example beef, this thinner section can collapse under normal use, even with the shoulder present.
As a hollow ground knife wears and is resharpened/reground the cutting edge moves into the hollow ground section removing the supporting shoulder and increasing the likelihood of collapse, it also increases the work required to use the knife. The amount of work needed to use the knife in this state can be reduced by grinding the knife with a replacement hollow ground section and remaking the edge, of course this can only be done so often before the blade requires replacement.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,566,112 H. W. Barnard discloses a knife blade with two parallel adjacent hollow ground sections aimed at providing the advantages of a hollow ground blade during the lifetime of the knife. This type of blade requires two hollow ground sections, each with different radii, are produced in the blade and does not overcome the potential weak sections of blade created by the hollow grind itself. This type of knife blade will also potentially collapse unless carefully manufactured, and maintained. Though with the two hollow ground sections it is uncertain what would happen as the knife was reground/resharpened to maintain the edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,698 describes what it calls a 'concave grind' which is similar to a hollow grind but uses a larger radius grinding wheel. One difference over the prior art is that the concave grind does not follow the cutting edge, it runs in a substantially straight line along the length of the blade (Col 2. lines 35 to 41), it does not follow the edge, this provides a blade with the properties of a flat wedge knife and a hollow ground knife. This 'concave grind' is said to avoid the problems associated with a hollow ground knife or very thin knives that tend to break. The concave grind is intended to provide the thin blade cutting properties with the strength and rigidity of a thick blade. U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,698 indicates that the profile essentially follows the surface of a 30″ grinding wheel, using the 8″ Cooks knife example and calculating the thickness of a blade made this way the blade, as ground, would be 15 thou (0.38 mm) at the edge, 17 thou (0.43 mm) at 1/16″, 19 thou (0.49 mm) at ⅛″, 24 thou (0.61 mm) at ¼″, 29 thou (0.74 mm) at ⅜″ about 40 thou (1 mm) at ½″ and 80 thou (2 mm) at 1.25″, and table 1 gives 15 thou at the edge, 40 thou at the midpoint (about ½″ up) and 80 thou at the back (though this may just be the blank thickness). For succinctness we use the standard shortened form of thousandths of an inch, thou, for thickness measurements (where 1 thousandths of an inch is 0.0254 mm). U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,698 specifically has an object of cutting through the entire thickness of crisp vegetables, and to accomplish this objective the inventor has created a blade with the side faces slightly concave over their entire width. This concave grind is said to give the cutting characteristics of a thin blade with the strength and rigidity of a thick blade which is desirable and overcomes the problems with very thin blades for kitchen use. Certain types of knives, for example boning and filleting knives depend on the flexibility of the tip to manoeuvre around bones, with the profile described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,698 running straight along the length of the blade the back needs to be ground to achieve this. With an as ground thickness of 15 thou the finished blade edge thickness will be less than this, this is unlikely to be suitable for some applications.
When a knife blade is blunt, or has been damaged it may need to be reground to reset the cutting edge, this is risky process as around 50% of knife wear comes from incorrect aftermarket grinding.


In some embodiments, reformat logic comprises a plurality of registers and translation logic that accesses the registers. The translation logic receives a memory access targeting an application data structure that has a different format than accesses permitted to be provided to a device, which may be a display. The translation logic reformats the request to a format compatible with the device based on values stored in the registers.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to reformat logic that permits a device buffer to be accessed through a high level programming language.
2. Background Information
Many types of devices require device drivers for the operation of the device. Such devices may include displays and keyboards. A device driver is executable software that provides a programming interface between a high level programming language and the device. A device driver typically requires a portion of memory to be allocated for its use in providing data to or receiving data from the device it controls.
With regard to at least some high level languages (e.g., Java), such languages typically require a "call" to a device driver that may be written in a "native" language such as C. The high level application generally uses a data structure to provide data to, or receive data from, a corresponding data structure in the device driver memory. The two data structures may not be directly compatible and thus, a mapping between the two may be needed. Mapping a data structure from a high level language to the data structure in the device driver memory can be computationally intensive. Additionally, the calls that permit the context change between the high level application and the device driver undesirably introduce latency.

Reformat logic to translate between a virtual address and a compressed physical address


A light emitting device includes a backplane, an array of light emitting diodes attached to a front side of the backplane, a transparent conductive layer contacting front side surfaces of the light emitting diodes, an optical bonding layer located over a front side surface of the transparent conductive layer, a transparent cover plate located over a front side surface of the optical bonding layer, and a black matrix layer including an array of openings therethrough, and located between the optical bonding layer and the transparent cover plate.

Light emitting devices such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) are used in electronic displays, such as backlights in liquid crystal displays located in laptops or televisions, LED billboards, microdisplays, and LED televisions. A microLED refers to a light emitting diode having lateral dimensions that do not exceed 1 mm. A microLED has a typical lateral dimension in a range from 1 microns to 150 microns. An array of microLEDs can form an individual pixel element. A direct view display device can include an array of pixel elements, each of which includes several microLEDs which emit light having a different emission spectrum.

Light emitting diode array containing a black matrix and an optical bonding layer and method of making the same


A computer-implemented method for efficient sequential logging on caching-enabled storage devices may include 1) identifying a storage device with a cache, 2) allocating space on the storage device for a sequential log, 3) calculating a target size for the sequential log based at least in part on an input/output load directed to the sequential log, and then 4) restricting the sequential log to a portion of the allocated space corresponding to the target size. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Some applications may output data to a log for a variety of purposes, such as safely performing transactions with minimal latency, error logging, etc. In many cases, this log may take the form of a sequential log.
Sequential logs may exhibit a write-many, read-few input/output pattern, with logging activity beginning at the start of an allocated space and continuing sequentially until the log reaches the end of the allocated space and wraps around to the beginning again. Unfortunately, this format may result in several inefficiencies when the sequential log is maintained on a storage device with a cache front end. For example, the disk space allocated for the log may never get pinned to the cache since the writes to the log may occur sequentially over a large space. This may result in reads fetching data from the disk rather than the cache. Additionally or alternatively, sequential writes to the log may trigger frequent cache flushes, potentially impacting write performance to the log. Furthermore, the storage device may perform various unnecessary cache operations without regard to the context in which the sequential log operates. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies a need for efficient sequential logging on caching-enabled storage devices.

Systems and methods for efficient sequential logging on caching-enabled storage devices


Magnetic brake components are formed of a conductive loaded resin-based material. The conductive loaded resin-based material comprises micron conductive powder(s), conductive fiber(s), or a combination of conductive powder and conductive fibers in a base resin host. The percentage by weight of the conductive powder(s), conductive fiber(s), or a combination thereof is between about 20% and 50% of the weight of the conductive loaded resin-based material. The micron conductive powders are formed from non-metals, such as carbon, graphite, that may also be metallic plated, or the like, or from metals such as stainless steel, nickel, copper, silver, that may also be metallic plated, or the like, or from a combination of non-metal, plated, or in combination with, metal powders. The micron conductor fibers preferably are of nickel plated carbon fiber, stainless steel fiber, copper fiber, silver fiber, aluminum fiber, or the like.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to magnetic brakes and, more particularly, to magnetic brake components molded of conductive loaded resin-based materials comprising micron conductive powders, micron conductive fibers, or a combination thereof, substantially homogenized within a base resin when molded. This manufacturing process yields a conductive part or material usable within the EMF or electronic spectrum(s).
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic braking devices are useful in a variety of applications where smooth and automatic decelerations are desired. Amusement park rides, mass transportation, manufacturing conveyors, and computer controlled machining are just a few examples of applications for magnetic brakes. When a conductor moves through a magnetic field, an Eddy current can be induced in that conductor. The direction of the Eddy current flow will then generate a secondary magnetic field such that an opposing electromotive force (EMF) is generated. This EMF will oppose the movement of the conductor through the magnetic field. This braking technique allows a moving object to be slowed by a passive force, such as a permanent magnet, and by the very inertia of the object's movement. Magnetic braking devices are inherently reliable, quiet, and smooth. Typically, these devices are formed using a permanent magnet, or an array of permanent magnets, and using a conductive fin. It is a primary object of the present invention to provide components for a magnetic brake device.
Several prior art inventions relate to magnetic braking devices. U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,611 B1 to Pribonic teaches an eddy current braking system. A conductive fin for the magnetic brake further comprises a friction layer to provide a mechanical braking capability. U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,350 to Spieldiener et al teaches a magnetic braking system for an amusement park ride. The conductor rail comprises a carrier structure with conductive coatings of differing conductivities to thereby optimize the magnetic braking performance. U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,108 B2 to Grupp et al describes a magnetic track brake and an eddy current brake. U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,695 to Brassard describes an electrical rotary machine having a magnet comprising a ferromagnetic material dispersed in a non-magnetic matrix, such as a resin.

Low cost magnetic brakes and motion control devices manufactured from conductive loaded resin-based materials


A pattern printing apparatus comprising an ink output section including a nozzle that drops ink and a heating section that heats a preheating target region; a driving section that moves the substrate relative to the ink output section; and a control section that controls the driving section. The control section causes the substrate to move relative to the ink output section such that the preheating target region is positioned in a progression path of the drawing target region and causes a pattern formed by the ink to be drawn, and when switching an extension direction of the pattern being drawn, the control section causes the preheating target region to move to an end portion of the pattern drawn before the switching and causing the preheating target region to be heated.

1. TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a pattern printing apparatus, a pattern printing method, and a test apparatus.
2. Related Art
A conventional pattern drawing apparatus using an inkjet technique is known that applies ink including a conductive substance to a substrate and draws a pattern on the substrate, such as shown in Patent Document 1, for example. Furthermore, a test apparatus for testing a device under test is known, which tests a test package formed by mounting a device under test on a substrate having a wiring pattern drawn thereon, such as shown in Patent Documents 2 and 3, for example.    Patent Document 1: International Publication No. 2009/072603    Patent Document 2: International Publication No. 2010/109739    Patent Document 3: International Publication No. 2010/109740
It is sometimes preferable that the wiring pattern drawn on the substrate on which the device under test is mounted have a wire width and wire pitch no greater than tens of micrometers and include wires that can bend in a complicated manner. However, it is difficult to form such a wiring pattern using the inkjet-type pattern drawing apparatus.

Pattern printing apparatus, pattern printing method, and test apparatus


A multi-pole switch comprising a conducting substrate; at least three field electrodes mounted above, and electrically isolated from, each other and from said conducting substrate; a conductive cantilever element having a first end portion secured to said conducting substrate, an opposite second free end portion positioned in spaced relation to said field electrodes and operable in response to an electrostatic or electrodynamic charge established between said cantilever element and said field electrodes to deflect in a direction towards said field electrodes; and a plurality of contact electrode poles mounted above, and electrically isolated from, said conducting substrate below the top of said cantilever element second free end portion and above said field electrodes and positioned to contact said cantilever element as said cantilever element is deflected in a direction defined by the net field applied by said field electrodes.

It is known in the art to use cantilevers with electrostatic forces to close an electrical contact. Buck (in U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,591), Frasier (in U.S. Pat. No. 6,548,841), and Yao (in U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,976), for example, all disclose an RF switch that is operated through the application of electrostatic forces. However, these all utilize cantilevered beams that are parallel to a substrate, thereby taking up significant real estate on the chip. Furthermore, these beams can deflect in one direction only. Brandes (in U.S. Pat. No. 6,445,006) discloses a switch with two positions, where the cantilever moves in a line from its rest position forward to touch one contact or back to touch another contact. By these constructions, the cantilever is limited in the number of contacts that it can make. The present invention enables a multi-pole switch that can make selective contact with more than two electrodes, and therefore enables more complex electrical switching operations to be carried out.
It is also known in the art to produce carbon nanotubes that can stand vertically from a substrate. The nanotubes grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition techniques, described by Ren (U.S. Pat. No. 6,863,942) are freestanding, and can be considered as vertically oriented cantilever beams. I, David Carnahan, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,950,296, described the actuation of these nanotubes using electrostatic and electrodynamic forces to create a multi-element tweezer/grasping device. AC voltages with phase shifts were imposed on the various nanotubes in the device, with the goal of making the nanotubes come together to grasp objects. As described in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,950,296, this invention described sequential contact of individual electrical contacts only through phase lag between multiple cantilever elements.
To increase the utility of a switch, it is the goal of this invention to provide multiple directions of deflection for a cantilever, and more than two contact electrodes for a given cantilever, thus creating a novel multi-pole switch.

Multi-pole switch structure, method of making same, and method of operating same


A coil unit includes a coil including a coil wire, a magnetic substance for receiving magnetic force lines generated by the coil, a first substrate, and a temperature detection element disposed on the first substrate.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a coil unit suitable for contactless power transmission and an electronic apparatus or the like using the coil unit.
2. Related Art
There is known contactless power transmission that uses electromagnetic induction to transmit power without using a metal contact. As applications of contactless power transmission, charging of a cell phone, charging of a home appliance (e.g., a handset), and the like have been proposed.
A related-art examples of contactless power transmission is JP-A-2006-60909. In JP-A-2006-60909, a resonant capacitor connected to the output of a power transmission driver and a primary coil constitute a series resonant circuit and a power transmission unit (primary) provides power to a power reception unit (secondary).
In recent years, cell phones are required to be downsized further. For this reason, a coil unit for transmitting power must also be further downsized, particularly, in the thickness dimension.
For example, if a foreign object such as a metal piece intrudes into the gap between the primary coil and secondary coil during contactless power transmission, the foreign object generates an eddy current thereby causing heating.

Coil unit and electronic apparatus using the same


Device in the nature of a wrench or the like in which reciprocatory rotary motion is converted to continuous rotation in one direction.

In the design and operation of tools and machinery, there are many situations where it is desirable to convert reciprocatory rotary motion to continuous rotary motion in one direction. A typical example is in the case of a socket wrench in which situation the operator moves the actuating handle back and forth in an arc of around 30.degree.. In the conventional socket wrench, the force and torque is transmitted in one direction when the handle is moved in that direction but on the return stroke no torque is applied. This can lead to a number of problems, not the least of which is that, in the case of turning a bolt, the drag on the return stroke may cause the bolt to unscrew by almost the amount that it has been tightened on the first stroke. Therefore, it becomes necessary to hold the bolt with the fingers during the non-torquing direction of the handle motion; in many instances, this is not only awkward, but also dangerous. In some situations, also, the returning of the handle during the torquing stroke causes an impact of the socket on the bolt, particularly when there is a loose fit between the bolt head and the socket. This can not only cause damage to the bolt head, but also, in the long run, causes deformation and damage to the socket. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a torque device in which reciprocatory rotary motion is converted to continuous rotation in one direction.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a socket wrench in which swinging motion of the handle produces continuous rotation of the socket in a desired direction.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a socket wrench in which continuous torquing pressure is produced on the output socket during both swinging motions of the handle.
It is another object of the instant invention to provide a torque wrench which is simple in construction, which can be manufactured inexpensively, and which is capable of a long life of useful service with a minimum of maintenance.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.


Oxygen or an oxygen-rich gas is used in the production of terephthalic acid in a reaction system that mitigates the flammability hazards associated therewith. Lower reactant and solvent consumption is achieved, with lower production of unwanted by-products, lower gas handling costs and lower environmental impact concerns than with conventional air based terephthalic acid production.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the production of terephthalic acid. More particularly, it relates to an enhanced process for the production of said terephthalic acid.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a typical air or enriched air based process for producing terephthalic acid, liquid p-xylene is fed to a stirred tank reactor, with a monobasic aliphatic acid, typically acetic acid being used as a solvent. The ratio of solvent to reactant is typically one to ten weights of solvent per volume of reactant (1:1 to 10:1). The reaction is catalyzed with a heavy metal or mixture of heavy metals, most commonly cobalt and manganese in the form of acetate salts. In addition, bromine, in the form of bromic acid, is commonly used as an initiator. The reactor is maintained at an operating temperature of between 170.degree. C. and 225.degree. C. The operating pressure is generally between 100 and 300 psig. Compressed air or enriched air, typically having between 21% and 28% oxygen, is sparged into the bottom of the reactor. Oxygen from the air is dissolved into the liquid phase and reacts with the p-xylene to produce the desired terephthalic product. Intermediate oxidation products and by-products are also formed in quantities that depend on the reaction conditions employed. At a residence time of one hour, the conversion of p-xylene is typically about 99%, with the yield to desired terephthatic product being greater than 96%.
The most important intermediate oxidation product in the production of terephthalic acid (TPA) is 4-carboxybenzaldehyde (4CBA), which is one oxidation step removed from terephthalic acid. The presence of 4CBA in the TPA product is undesirable. It acts as a chain terminator in subsequent polymerization reactions which convert TPA to its most important end products, i.e., polyester fibers and polyethylene terephthalate resins. For a given residence time, the conversion of 4CBA to TPA has been observed to increase with temperature. Hence, the concentration of 4CBA in the TPA product decreases with increased operating temperature, so that TPA product quality increases at higher operating temperatures.
Raw material losses to undesirable by-products, on the other hand, also increase with temperature. The acidic acid solvent and, to a lesser extent, p-xylene, react to produce carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methyl bromide and methyl acetate, all of which are environmentally sensitive materials. Since a high reaction temperature must be maintained to make product terephthalic acid that meets applicable quality standards, the loss of acetic acid and the commensurate production of byproduct gases is usually a significant factor in the economics of the overall operation.
In such known operations, feed air must be compressed to a pressure somewhat above the reactor operating pressure before it is blown into the reactor through a pipe or other submerged sparger. As the air bubbles are dispersed in the reactor and are circulated through the body of liquid reactant and solvent by an agitator device, the oxygen concentration in the air bubbles decreases as the oxygen dissolves and reacts with the TPA. The residual air bubbles disengage from the liquid phase and collect in a gas space at the top of the reactor to form a continuous gas phase. This waste gas must be vented in order to provide space for fresh air feed, while maintaining adequate gas hold-up in the reactor to promote the desired oxygen transfer from the air to the liquid phase.
To avoid the possibility of fire or explosion, the oxygen concentration in the gas space at the top of the reactor must be maintained below the flammable limit. For practical operating purposes, the oxygen concentration must be maintained at less than 8-9% by volume. More typically, the oxygen concentration in the gas space is maintained below 5% by volume to provide a safe margin below the flammable limit. Thus, in a well stirred tank reactor, the average concentration of oxygen in the circulating air bubbles must be below 5% in order to insure that the average concentration of oxygen in the gas that collects in the headspace of the reactor is nonflammable.
The oxygen concentration in the gas space is a function of the rate at which air or enriched air is fed into the reactor and the rate of consumption of oxygen from the air by reaction with p-xylene. The rate of reaction and, therefore, the TPA production rate per unit of reactor volume, increases with temperature, pressure, oxygen concentration in the gas phase, p-xylene concentration, promoter concentration and catalyst concentration. Since the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the liquid phase and, hence, the reaction rate of oxygen, is proportional to the oxygen concentration in the gas phase, for a given set of reaction conditions, the 5% oxygen restriction in the headspace effectively limits the oxygen reaction rate.
As air bubbles circulate within the reactor, acetic acid, water, volatile organic chemicals (VOC's) and byproduct gases such as CO.sub.2, CO, methyl bromide and methyl acetate evaporate into the bubbles and collect in the continuous gas phase which is vented from the reactor. The total amount of volatile species which leave the reactor with the vent gas is proportional to total gas throughput, which is proportional to the air feed rate. The amount of byproduct gases which leave the reactor with the vent gas depends on their rate of formation.
The federal, state and local air quality standards which apply to a particular production facility determine the degree to which these species must be removed from the vent gas before it is released to the atmosphere. Acetic acid is a valuable solvent in the process so it is usually condensed and recycled to the reactor. Residual organic compounds are usually stripped from the vent gas which produces a liquid waste stream from the stripper bottoms. Some vent gas treatment systems may also include CO.sub.x and methyl bromide abatement systems to meet air quality standards. Since the total amount of material which must be removed from the vent gas is proportional to the air feed rate, the size of the vent gas treatment equipment and the amount of waste which is generated in the process is similarly proportional to the air feed rate.
Clearly, air or said enriched air, typically 21% to 28% oxygen, based TPA plant design requires optimization of temperature, pressure, catalyst loading, air feed rate, reactor volume, and vent gas treatment equipment. For example, increasing temperature increases productivity per unit reactor volume and improves product purity, but it also leads to yield and solvent losses, and byproduct gas formation due to over oxidation.
In the air based terephthalic acid production process as described above, a relatively high operating temperature is required in order to complete the oxidation of 4CBA to TPA, and thereby produce said TPA that meets applicable product quality standards. The high temperature required for product purity also results in significant reaction of acetic acid, and to a lesser extent of product p-xylene, to unwanted by-products, such as CO.sub.2, CO, methyl bromide and methyl acetate, is noted above. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, there is a significant operating cost penalty associated with providing makeup acetic acid to the process, and with loss of p-xylene reactant and the related disposal of waste material. There is also a significant environmental impact associated with the formation of CO.sub.x, methyl bromide, methyl acetate and other emissions.
In addition, in the air based process, there is a substantial capital and operating cost penalty associated with the compression of the nitrogen in the feed air stream. The nitrogen is inert and does not contribute to the efficiency of the reaction process. In addition, there is a significant capital and operating cost penalty associated with treating the vent gas. These costs are proportioned to the amount of nitrogen that is introduced into the reactor vessel in the air feed thereto.
It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide an improved process for the production of terephthalic acid.
It is another object of the invention to provide a terephthalic acid production process reducing the amount of byproduct and waste gas generation.
With those and other objects in mind, the invention is hereinafter described in detail, the novel features thereof being particularly pointed out in the appended claims.


A method for forming monotungsten carbide, comprising heating a solid, non-elemental tungsten-containing material in a flowing atmosphere containing molecular hydrogen and molecular methane for a time sufficient to convert substantially all of the tungsten-containing material to monotungsten carbide, The heating brings the temperature of the tungsten-containing material to a first elevated temperature of from about 520 to about 550.degree. C. and, subsequently, at a rate of from about 3 to about 10.degree. C. per minute, the heating brings the temperature from the first elevated temperature to a second elevated temperature of about 800 to about 900.degree. C. Thereafter the temperature is held at the second elevated temperature for at least about 15 minutes. At least about 50 weight percent of the monotungsten carbide formed is formed while holding the temperature at the second elevated temperature.

Tungsten carbide is a ceramic material having good chemical stability and corrosion resistance. It has been said to be the strongest of all structural materials, having high hardness, wear resistance and temperature resistance. Tungsten carbide powders are used to form cemented carbides, dies and cutting tools, wear resistant parts, cermets and electrical resistors, and are used as abrasives in liquids. Cemented tungsten carbides are mixtures of about 80 to 95 percent by weight tungsten carbide and about 5 to 20 percent by weight cobalt or other ductile metal as a binder phase. Cemented tungsten carbides are useful for forming tools and as abrasives for machining and grinding metals, rock, molded products, porcelain and glass. Cemented tungsten carbides are also useful in gages, blast nozzles, knives and drill bits.
Articles can be manufactured from tungsten carbide powder in a variety of ways. The most common ways of forming articles from tungsten carbide are hot pressing, cold pressing followed by sintering, and slip-casting (paste molding) followed by sintering. The method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,261 (Buljan et al.) is a recent example involving presintering followed by hot isostatic pressing.
The properties ultimately possessed by such articles are dependent to a great extent upon the grain size of the tungsten carbide employed and the conditions of sintering. Certain tungsten carbides of fine grain or particle sizes (known as micrograin tungsten carbides) from 0.05 to 0.2 micrometers in diameter are especially useful for certain purposes, such as end milling and circuit board drilling applications.
Particularly with micrograin materials, it is preferred to employ particles having a controlled morphology, a narrow size distribution, a well-defined stoichiometry and relatively high purity. While there are a variety of processes known for preparing tungsten carbide powders, many of them achieve particle sizes well above micrograin size. Micrograin tungsten carbide is not readily prepared from larger tungsten carbide particles, because the same hardness for which tungsten carbide is valued also impairs or prevents the mechanical reduction of large tungsten carbide particles to a smaller size by conventional methods such as grinding or milling. For example, it has been known to form small particles of other metal carbides by the single-step carbothermal reduction of a finely divided mixture of the metal oxide with carbon at a high temperature under a protective atmosphere, in which the resulting lumps of metal carbide are broken up by jaw crusher and then finely milled into powders of appropriate size. The hardness of tungsten carbide makes such a method unsuitable for the production of micrograin tungsten carbide. Accordingly, it would be very desirable to directly manufacture tungsten carbide particles having a small initial size, rather than to create an intermediate tungsten carbide which must then be reduced in size.
Is is known that some metal carbides cart be produced by the carbothermal reduction of a metal oxide with solid carbon under a reducing atmosphere, for example, under a hydrogen atmosphere. However, the direct carbothermal reduction of tungsten trioxide (or another solid, tungsten-containing material) with carbon in a molecular hydrogen atmosphere has not conventionally been viewed as possible. For example, it is noted in Funtai Oyobi Funmatsuyakin, v. 22(1), pp. 12-16 (1975) (Chemical Abstracts 88(24):175199r) that the reduction of tungsten trioxide by hydrogen occurs preferentially over the reduction of tungsten trioxide by carbon when a mixture of tungsten trioxide and carbon is heated in an atmosphere of molecular hydrogen. The final reduction step, the reduction of tungsten monoxide to tungsten metal by molecular hydrogen, produces water which reacts with the carbon that is present. The quantity of water affects the carbon content of the tungsten carbide ultimately produced. It is the belief of the present Applicants that the partial pressure of water is an important factor in the material transport for growth of tungsten crystal particles which are subsequently converted to tungsten carbide, and that the most significant reaction is that of water vapor with tungsten trioxide directly, yielding relatively volatile ortho- tungstic acid.
A variety of other processes have also been employed to make fine tungsten carbide powders. While they have each enjoyed relative success, they have also individually been subject to a variety of drawbacks. In general, the prior processes have been relatively expensive in requiring substantial capital investment in gas composition control systems and particle collection systems, while yielding products having large variations in particle size and relatively low yields. While these drawbacks are particularly evident with gas-phase methods (entailing the reaction of at least two gaseous reactants heated in a furnace, or heated by RF induction or plasma) they are also present in other methods.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,808 (Bohm et al.) is directed to a method for forming tungsten carbide by directing a mixture of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide over tungsten oxide, while heating it in a heated reactor at a heating rate and gas flow rate such that the reduction of the tungsten oxide occurs more slowly than the diffusion of the carbon into the tungsten. Funtai Oyobi Funmatsuyakin, v. 26(2), pp. 72-77 (1979) (Chemical Abstracts 91(10):77333x) discloses a process for the direct production of tungsten carbide from tungsten oxide, entailing heating a granulated mixture of tungsten oxide and carbon powder in a rotary carburization furnace having graphite furnace elements. The powder was continuously fed into the furnace at a temperature of 1150.degree. to 1650.degree. C. It was asserted that the carbon content of the carburized product could be controlled by controlling the ratio of the partial pressure of the carbon dioxide to the partial pressure of the carbon monoxide formed during the reaction. Each of these references possesses the disadvantage that the partial pressures of carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide gas must be controlled throughout them.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,090 (Miyake et al.) discloses a two-step process for the production of tungsten (or a mixed metal) carbide, in which reduction of tungsten oxide to tungsten takes place in the presence of carbon black in an inert gas at 1000.degree. to 1600.degree. C., while carburization of the tungsten thereafter takes place in a hydrogen atmosphere at 1400.degree. to 2000.degree. C. The first step yields a mixed carbide of tungsten, ditungsten carbide and tungsten carbide. (The reference discloses a comparative example in which tungsten oxide and carbon black are carbonized in a hydrogen atmosphere at 1400.degree., 1600.degree. or 1800.degree. C. but which yields an unsatisfactory product.) This process is disadvantageous in requiring the isolation of an intermediate and requiring two different heating atmospheres at high temperatures.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,526 (Auborn et al.) is directed to a method for producing fine particle size tungsten or tungsten carbide which entails a first step of reducing tungsten oxide in hydrogen under conditions which avoid the formation of tungsten oxide whiskers, the resulting powder then being subject to carburization in a methane atmosphere. This process is disadvantageous in requiring two different atmospheres.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,697 (Hara et al.) discloses a method for synthesizing tungsten carbide from tungsten oxide by heating tungsten oxide to greater than 800.degree. C. in the presence of reducing and carbonizing gases, either sequentially or at the same time. When both reducing and carbonizing gases are employed at the same time, the gases are placed in a plasma condition. Fine tungsten carbide particle sizes on the order of 0.1 micrometers are obtained from the rapid cooling (10,000.degree. C. per second or faster) of the tungsten oxide from a plasma state prior to carbonizing. The disclosed process is disadvantageous in requiring plasma-condition treatment of the reactant material at some time during the process. The disclosed process also fails to obtain micrograin tungsten carbide in particularly useful sizes, below 0.3 micrometers, and especially below 0.1 micrometers. Moreover, like other plasma methods, the reference requires close control of the large thermal and reactant concentration gradients within the plasma reaction zone. Plasma methods entail the use of a large volume of gas through the reaction zone, and require large collection systems such as filters or electrostatic precipitators. Low yields and large variations in particle size are encountered as well, due to the temperature gradients.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,206, to Boudart, et al. discloses a method for making high specific surface area carbides by thermal reduction of oxides in the presence of a source of carbon with relatively slow progressive temperature increases prior to completion of the reaction, followed by quenching. Tungsten carbide is listed as one of the carbides that may be formed by Boudart, et al's method, although no process temperatures are recited in the patent for making tungsten carbide.
Boudart, et al. compare the results of their method of carburizing an oxide to form a carbide to results of carburizing a different reactant, i.e., the elemental metal, to form a carbide. Specifically, Boudart, et al. teach that the carbide product formed by their method has a substantially higher specific surface area than is obtained when the elemental metal is contacted with a carbon source at a fixed temperature and the reaction allowed to go to completion.
The carbide product formed in Boudart, et al. is said to have a specific surface area of at least 40 m.sup.2 /g and generally have a particle size in the range of about 1 to 15 nanometers, which is useful when used as a catalyst. However, tungsten carbide having such a high surface area and small particle size is not desirable in many processes or applications.
Firstly, tungsten carbide having a particle size of 1 to 15 nm is so highly reactive that it is pyrophoric. Being pyrophoric renders the material hazardous, in that it must be guarded against spontaneous burning or exploding.
Secondly, it is a fact that the oxide content of tungsten carbide is proportional to the particles' surface area. Tungsten carbide prepared by the method of Boudart, et al., that is, having a specific surface areas of at least 40 m.sup.2 /g, is difficultly, if not impossibly, used for making wear-resistant articles, as the parts made by such powders would be too weak due to the high oxide content.
The tungsten oxide used in the Boudart, et al. process is said to generally have a specific surface area from 0.1 to 10 m.sup.2 /g. Tungsten oxide having this particle size is not the most widely available tungsten oxide.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to convert tungsten trioxide or another solid, non-elemental tungsten-containing material to monotungsten carbide directly with a substantially single reaction atmosphere of substantially consistent composition.
It is a further object of the present invention to produce micrograin monotungsten carbide of good purity and relatively uniform particle size without requiring an appreciable investment in atmospheric controls or particle collection systems.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of producing micrograin monotungsten carbide at a relatively low reaction temperature.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a relatively inexpensive method of producing monotungsten carbide which is simpler than prior methods, yet which obviates the need for isolation or cooling of an intermediate product; for the addition of carbon to an intermediate product; for control over the ratio of the partial pressures of carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide in the treatment atmosphere; and for changing the proportions of the atmosphere during treatment.
It is also an object of the present invention to form tungsten carbide having a particle size from about 50 to about 200 nanometers, which is excellent for manufacturing wear-resistant articles (e.g. cutting tools and end mills) and is non-pyrophoric and, therefore, safe to use.
It is also an object of the present invention to employ widely available tungsten oxide particles having a surface area of 0.01 to 0.09 m.sup.2 /g.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of making tungsten carbide capable of being used in a continuous mode, thereby making the manufacturing of tungsten carbide commercially viable.

Low temperature method for synthesizing micrograin tungsten carbide


A horizontal mixer for mixing bulk material, such as agricultural material, is provided. The horizontal mixer includes a mixing container for accommodating bulk agricultural material to be mixed. The mixing container includes side walls connected at their bottom edges by a trough; a front wall spanning a front side of the container; a rear wall spanning a rear side of the container; and an exit door through which mixed agricultural material can exit. Further, one or more bottom augers situated longitudinally in the trough, wherein at least one of the one or more bottom augers is a ribbon auger; and one or more top augers situated longitudinally in the mixing container stacked above the one or more bottom ribbon augers. The trough has a shape to accommodate the one or more bottom ribbon augers.

Horizontal mixers are typically used to mix bulk material such as agricultural material including feed and bedding. Conventional mixers typically include one or more augers positioned horizontally and operate at about 5-12 rpm to mix the bulk material.
Generally, a significant amount of horsepower is required to rotate the augers as the load to be mixed can be very large and can range for example from 2,000 to 40,000 pounds. Further, the amount of time required to sufficiently mix the material can be significant and can be frustrating for the user as it can take up to 8-10 minutes to sufficiently mix a load.
A need therefore exists for a horizontal mixer that decreases either mixing times, power requirements or both while maintaining or possibly improving mix quality or overcoming other downfalls associated with conventional mixers as appreciated in the industry.


A display panel and a method for fabricating the same are provided. The display panel includes: a base substrate; a first thin film transistor on one side of the base substrate, the first thin film transistor comprising: a first active layer, a first protection layer, a second protection layer, a first source and a first drain; wherein the first protection layer and the second protection layer are on one side of the first active layer away from the base substrate, and are separated from each other; the first protection layer and the second protection layer are configured to protect the first active layer from being etched during forming of a via-hole corresponding to the first source and/or a via-hole corresponding to the first drain.

In recent years, the Low Temperature Poly-Silicon (LTPS) semiconductor and the metal oxide semiconductor have been widely favored in the industry of displays, and have their respective advantages and are equivalently competitive. The LTPS semiconductor has a high mobility, and can be charged rapidly, and the metal oxide semiconductor has low leakage current. If there is an LTPS plus Oxide (LTPO) product with the advantages of these two materials, then a user experience of the display product will be greatly improved. However, LTPS and metal oxide fabrication processes are greatly different from each other, that is, the processes are less compatible with each other, so that it is difficult to guarantee their stability; and a LTPS plus Oxide process is so complicated that a large number of masks are necessary, thus resulting in a high cost of the product. Accordingly it is highly desirable to reduce the number of masks while guaranteeing the stability of the LTPS plus Oxide process.

Display panel and method for fabricating the same


Provided are a steel sheet having a tensile strength of 950 MPa or more and good toughness and a method for manufacturing the same.

In recent years, from the viewpoint of global environmental protection, improvements in automotive fuel efficiency have been directed in the whole automotive industry for the purpose of regulating CO2 emissions. Automotive weight reduction by the gauge reduction of parts used is most effective in improving the fuel efficiency of automobiles. Therefore, in recent years, the consumption of high-strength steel sheets for automotive parts has been increasing.
On the other hand, the toughness of steel sheets tends to deteriorate with an increase in strength. Therefore, steel sheets having toughness in addition to high strength are demanded. A steel sheet which does not meet these characteristics cannot be applied to automotive parts or the like because defects such as cracks occur in the formation of automotive members or the post-forming crashworthiness decreases significantly. The development of a steel sheet combining high strength and toughness is essential to lighten automotive parts and the like. Various techniques have been proposed for high-strength cold-rolled steel sheets and galvanized steel sheets.
For example, Patent Literature 1 describes that the following sheet is obtained by controlling the IQ distribution obtained by EBSD: a high-strength steel sheet which is excellent in low-temperature toughness; which meets C: 0.10% to 0.5%, Si: 1.0% to 3.0%, Mn: 1.5% to 3%, Al: 0.005% to 1.0%, P: more than 0% to 0.1%, and S: more than 0% to 0.05% on a mass basis, and which contains 10% to 50% polygonal ferrite and 5% or more retained austenite.
Patent Literature 2 describes that a high-strength galvanized steel sheet excellent in crashworthiness and bending workability is obtained in such a manner that C: 0.05% to 0.15%, Si: 0.01% to 1.00%, Mn: 1.5% to 4.0% P: 0.100% or less, S: 0.02% or less, Al: 0.01% to 0.50%, Cr: 0.010% to 2.000%, Nb: 0.005% to 0.100%, Ti: 0.005% to 0.100%, and B: 0.0005% to 0.0050% are contained on a mass basis such that Si, Mn, Cr, and B are contained within a regulated range; a metallographic structure which contains ferrite: 10% or less, bainitic ferrite: 2% to 30%, and martensite: 60% to 98% on an area fraction basis and which has a retained austenite percentage of less than 2% as determined by X-ray diffractometry is formed; the percentage of massive martensite adjacent to bainite only in the whole structure is set to 10% or less; and the difference in hardness between a position 100 μm apart from a surface in a thickness direction and a position 20 μm apart therefrom is regulated.

Steel sheet and method for manufacturing the same

Abstract: The steel sheet has a specific composition and a metallographic structure containing: a ferrite area fraction of 30% or less (including 0%), a tempered martensite area fraction of 70% or more (including 100%), and a retained austenite area fraction of 4.5% or less (including 0%), wherein the average aspect ratio of an iron based carbide, precipitated in tempered martensite grains, having a grain size in the largest 10% is 3.5 or more.


A method of dynamically communicating a parameter during runtime may include providing a script to a command-line scripting module that uses the parameter, where the parameter is to be provided during runtime by a user and the script is configured to generate an exception including an identifier associated with the parameter. The method may also include generating byte code based on the script, executing the byte code on a virtual machine until the exception is generated, passing the exception to the command-line scripting module, causing, by the command-line scripting module, receiving a parameter value from the user through an input device, passing the parameter value to the virtual machine, and continuing execution of the byte code on the virtual machine.

Managing large businesses may involve storing, aggregating, and analyzing large amounts of data. Many organizations use Enterprise Software Systems to manage almost every form of business data. For example, Enterprise Software Systems can provide business-oriented tools such as online shopping and online payment processing, interactive product catalogs, automated billing systems, security, enterprise content management, IT service management, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, business intelligence, project management, collaboration, human resource management, manufacturing, enterprise application integration, and Enterprise forms automation.
Enterprise Software Systems can be used in particular cases to provide and govern access to data, web services, and other online applications using an access manager. An access manager can provide strong authentication-agnostic security to protect vital business assets. An access manager can also analyze authentication and transaction data for abnormalities and anomalies in real-time to prevent fraud. Some security related tasks may be executed periodically, and may include numerous subtasks. Therefore, in relation to an access manager, scripts may be developed by security administrators for use in performing repetitive and operation intensive tasks. One challenge in using scripts can relate to maintaining the security of information used in the scripts within the Enterprise Software System. Therefore, improvements are needed in the art.

Dynamic communication between script and execution layers


A domain configuration system and method operable in an Ethernet OAM network having multiple levels of OAM domains. A port of a first end bridge of the network is configured as a first MEP node belonging to a predetermined OAM domain having a particular level. GARP or CC frames are transmitted from the first MEP node in a forward attribute registration process towards the remaining bridges of the network. A port of a second end bridge of the network is configured as a second MEP node of the predetermined OAM domain. In a backward attribute registration process, GARP or CC frames are transmitted from the second MEP node towards the remaining bridges of the network. Responsive to the frame flow, ports in bridges disposed between the first and second end bridges are automatically configured as MIP nodes having the particular level.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to Ethernet OAM networks. More particularly, and not by way of any limitation, the present invention is directed to a system and method for configuring OAM domains in an Ethernet OAM network having multiple levels.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to adapt the well known Ethernet technology in a carrier-grade service environment, various standards are being developed that aim to provide advanced operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) capabilities (also referred to as Ethernet Connectivity and Fault Management or Ethernet CFM) across the entire network from one end to the other end. Since the end-to-end service network environment is typically comprised of a patchwork of diverse component networks (e.g., metro access networks and core networks using a variety of technologies) that may belong to different organizations, network operators and service providers, the Ethernet OAM plane is envisioned as a hierarchically layered domain space wherein specific OAM domains are defined corresponding to the constituent network infrastructure and provisioning. In particular, two standards, IEEE 802.1ag and ITU-T (Question 3, Study Group 13), incorporated by reference herein, that are specifically concerned with end-to-end Ethernet OAM define a customer-level domain at the highest level of hierarchy, which comprises one or more provider domains (occupying an intermediate level), each of which in turn includes one or more operator domains disposed at a lower hierarchical level. By way of standardization, the OAM domain space may be partitioned into up to a number of levels, e.g., 8 levels, each domain corresponding to a particular level, wherein a domain is defined in terms of what are referred to as flow points. In the context of the IEEE 802 specification suite, the flow points are new entities contained in Media Access Control (MAC) "interfaces" and "ports" as defined in related standards documentation. A flow point at the edge of an OAM domain is called a "Maintenance End Point" or MEP. A flow point inside a domain and visible to a MEP is called a "Maintenance Intermediate Point" or MIP. Whereas MEP nodes are used by system administrators to initiate and monitor OAM activity (by issuing appropriate OAM frames), MIP nodes passively receive and respond to OAM flows initiated by MEP nodes. An OAM domain having one or more MIP nodes is bounded by two or more MEP nodes, wherein a "Maintenance Entity" (ME) is defined to include a set of MIP nodes disposed between one MEP node and another MEP node. Thus it is possible to have more than one ME in a particular OAM domain.
In order that OAM frame flows are appropriately filtered so that they are processed only by the intended domain's nodes, the MEP/MIP population of an Ethernet OAM network needs to be properly configured. In accordance with the current standards, absolute OAM level encoding uses an integer value to indicate a specific domain level. Moreover, each MIP node at a given layer must be manually configured with its domain level in order to support proper OAM operation. Manual configuration can however be time-consuming as well as error-prone, particularly in a network with many levels and a large number of MIP nodes. If the MIP nodes are misconfigured for any reason with the wrong domain level, or if a MEP node is malfunctioning, security violations are possible due to leakage of OAM frames between domains.

Domain configuration in an ethernet OAM network having multiple levels


Tooling for use in forming articles and a method for making same wherein the tooling includes a mold. The mold has a mold surface having an interior and an exterior. A plurality of metallic strands are positioned adjacent to the interior of the mold surface. The mold further includes at least one metallic heat transfer tube for containing a fluid cooling agent. One or more heat transfer rods can also be positioned in the mold. A layer of a plastic material is placed adjacent the interior of the mold surface. The plastic material surrounds the metallic strands and the metallic heat transfer tubes and rods. When heat is produced on the mold during a molding operation, the heat is transferred through the metallic strands and the heat exchange tubes and rods. The heat is dissipated by the cooling affect caused by the cooling fluid in the tubes. The method of the present invention includes the steps of: (a) applying a first layer of a plastic material on a form mold to form a mold surface, the mold surface having an interior and an exterior; (b) placing a plurality of metallic strands near the interior of the mold surface after curing the first layer; (c) positioning at least one metallic heat transfer tube in communication with the metallic strands; (d) applying additional plastic material to cover the metallic strands and the heat transfer tubes; and (e) releasing the mold from the form mold. Preferably the mold halves are received and supported by metal bases.

The present invention is directed to tooling for use in forming articles. More specifically, the invention is directed to a plastic or polymer composite mold that incorporates metallic strands, metallic heat transfer rods and metallic tubes that contain a fluid cooling agent. The metallic components of the mold allow for the efficient transfer of heat away from the mold surface. The invention is also directed to a method for making such a mold.
Prior art plastic or polymer composite molds do not include effective means to transfer heat away from the mold surface during a molding operation. These prior art molds had a relatively short production life and were only capable of producing a small number of parts. Often, these prior art molds were used for making a limited number of prototypes.
The present invention relates to an improved plastic or polymer composite mold which incorporates metallic components, usually made of copper, that act as heat transfer mechanisms to draw heat away from the mold surface. This extends production life of the mold thereby enabling the plastic tooling to used for limited production runs.


This snap ring has outer and inner fingers which extend slightly from the ring. Thereby it becomes possible to embrace the ends of the fingers by a plier from the outside to press the ends of the fingers towards each other and thereby to widen the inner diameter of the snap ring in a limited extent for moving the ring over a respective bar. The inner face of the ring may be circular or of angular configuration. An accessory shows especially suitable pliers for the use of handling the snap ring.. The fingers extend normal to the imaginary medial plane of the ring, the outer face forms partially by a radius around an eccentric axis of the medial plane while the inner face of the ring may form by a radius around a concentric axis of the medial plane and the roots of the fingers should be bigger in radial direction than the length of the eccentricity between the concentric axis of the inner face and the eccentric axis of the outer face to give the snap ring the strength to hold itself against axial deplacement on a metallic bar or pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to snap rings or spanning rings which are to be set onto a respective bar.
2. Description of the Prior Art
From the British patent No. 1,560,606 a fastening ring is known in which one finger extends through a slot between two fingers with the fingers extending radially away from the otherwise circular ring. By thrusting the fingers together the inner diameter of the ring will widen whereby the ring can be moved over a hose. By letting the fingers return to their original location under the inner stresses of the ring, the ring will fasten itself on the hose and the hose will thereby be kept on a pipe or another body.
A snap ring assembly formed by a plurality of single snap rings is disclosed in my earlier application, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,775. The assembly of the mentioned earlier snap ring assembly is simple in so far as the single rings can be easily stamped from sheets. However to assemble the single rings to an assembly requires drilling, setting tools, rivets or other means.
Common standardized snap rings of the prior art require annular grooves in shafts whereinto the snap rings are to be inserted. The insertion into a groove prevents axial delocation if a need arises to replace the snap ring in axial direction on the shaft.
The ring of the mentioned british patent is radially week and not able to fasten itself on a metallic bar strong enough to withstand axial thrust onto the axial end of the ring.
The snap ring assembly of my mentioned earlier patent requires pins in bores. These pins work satisfactory for a one time setting of the ring onto the respective shaft. For such applications, however, at which at different times different axial locations of the snap ring relative to the axis of the shaft are requird, the pins of the snap ring assembly weeken and prevent a many times axial re-setting of the ring assembly.
The former art thereby fails to provide a snap ring with the capability to fix itself strongly onto a shaft and to be able to carry an axially directed load without displacing itself on the shaft.


An automatic dispensing apparatus system and method for dispensing predetermined objects is disclosed. More particularly, the invention is an automatic bottled water dispensing apparatus system and method having a housing which houses various sizes of bottled water and a conveyor system for transporting the bottled water to a dispensing member for a customer. The dispensing apparatus system also includes a return machine for returning empty bottles, a plurality of selection members, a payment member and an inventory monitoring member.

Many people purchase bottled water for home and office use. As such, bottled water is a desired commodity which people want to have available at any time such as water is available from a tap. However, large quantities of bottled water may not be readily available at any desired time because, for example, a grocery store or a bottled water dispensing company may be closed for the day, weekend, holiday, etc. Accordingly, there is a desire to have large quantities of bottled water readily available on demand.
Various types of dispensing apparatus are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,956 B1 discloses an apparatus for the automated retailing of refreshments to a vehicle occupant as the vehicle passes through an automated retail product dispensing station. A vehicle occupant places a retail product order through an automated interface and drives within reach of an automated retail product dispenser and the retail product is dispensed by a mechanism that places it within reach of the vehicle driver.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,568 discloses a drive-up vending machine that allows automated selection of the product and payment. The machine is for smaller size products.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,647,026 discloses an automatic drive-in store. A motorist drives into the store and may order retail objects from the vehicle automatically and have the objects delivered through a delivery system of conveyors to the automobile.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,974 discloses a timed cycle single-stop shopping facility. It includes the ability to purchase gas and while purchasing gas automatically selecting objects and having them delivered to a loading station adjacent to the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,727 discloses an automated delivery system. It includes a specific means of inventorying the products and delivering the products to the customer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,136 discloses a quick stop mass retail system for ordering and purchasing articles from a remote location for pick-up at an article pick-up area at an automated store. The system includes a system for communicating a customer's purchase order; a host computer adapted for receiving the purchase order; processing the order and storing the customer's purchase order in a database; a system for retrieving the article ordered from a storage location in response to the customer order, and a system for delivering the article to a pick-up area.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,281 discloses a system for article selection and purchase in a retail establishment and having the articles then delivered to a customer vehicle check-out area.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,200 B1 discloses a cashless vending machine.
Japanese Publication No. 05120521A generally discloses in the Abstract an unmanned shop system whereby goods are ordered automatically and delivered by a conveyor to a dispenser.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,143,247; 5,791,512 and 5,271,703 disclose various apparatus for conveying goods to a dispenser.
These devices and methods have various shortcomings which, along with other shortcomings, are addressed by the present invention.


An apparatus for and method of aborting the remainder of a microinstruction if a branch by that microinstruction or a subsequent microinstruction renders the results of said microinstruction to be invalid. Within an instruction processor having the capability for pipelined operation, the sensitivity of an operation of a microinstruction to the branch condition may be indicated by one or more abort bits. If an abort bit is set and the corresponding branch condition occurs, the remainder of the microinstruction is aborted. By thus indicating the sensitivity to a branch, the microinstruction can proceed under full pipeline operation until such time as a branch condition actually occurs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to general purpose digital data processing systems and more particularly relates to such systems which employ pipelined execution of program instructions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In most general purpose, stored program, digital computers, software is developed under the assumption that program instructions are executed in their entirety in a sequential fashion. This frees the software developer from the need to account for potential non-sequential operation of the hardware. However, most large scale modern machines are designed to take advantage of the overlapping of various functions. In its simplest form, such overlapping permits instruction processing of the N+1st instruction to be performed during operand processing of the Nth instruction. U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,225 issued to Ellis, Jr. et al. shows a rudimentary overlapped machine. To free the software developer from concerns about non-sequentiality, Ellis Jr. et al. store the machine state during the complete execution of the Nth instruction. U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,376 issued to Ooi provides a technique for resource allocation in an overlapped environment.
A more general form of overlapping is termed a pipelined environment. In implementing such a machine, the designer dedicates certain hardware resources to the various repetitive tasks. The performance advantage in this dedication comes from employing these dedicated hardware elements simultaneously. Typically, this means that instruction decode, operand fetch, and arithmetic operations each have separate and dedicated hardware resources. Even though the Nth instruction is processed by each of these hardware resources sequentially, each separate hardware resource is deployed on a different instruction simultaneously. The N+1st instruction may be processed by the instruction fetch and decode hardware, while the Nth instruction is being processed by the operand fetch hardware and while the N-1st instruction is being processed by the arithmetic hardware. U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,904 issued to Daberkow, et al. describes a pipelined architecture.
The problems associated with sequentiality experienced by software developers are magnified when considering microcode controlled machines operating in a pipelined mode. The performance advantages of the pipelined architecture can be readily dissipated by timing problems within the machine. U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,160 issued to Brown III discusses a number of pipeline based problems including conditional branching of microcode. The Brown III system accommodates pipeline exceptions by extending performance time for one or more clock cycles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,823 issued to Liu seeks to minimize the impact of branching on performance by prefetching of predicted data.
Other approaches to the problem include "de-piping". That is simply forcing serial performance of all functions until the pipeline exception is accommodated. U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,196 issued to Hayashi et al. suggests this approach for certain types of pipeline problems.
Another way to provide protection for microcode branching is by using non-staged control. In this approach, each microcode instruction becomes a family of instructions which provide for the various permutations and combinations associated with the branch conditions. Each member of this instruction family controls all stages for a single clock cycle rather than only one stage per cycle for a number of clock cycles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,754 issued to Boreland suggests such an approach. Non-staged design tends to cause additional complexity in microcode design. Boreland approaches this problem by providing additional read only memory to store the combinations. U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,679 issued to Kida et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,109 issued to Horst et al. show that read only memory space can be saved by slowing the pipeline during conditional branching.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,107 issued to Duxbury et al. operates the pipeline until a dependency is found using a look-ahead technique. The dependency is resolved by aborting the second (i.e. dependent) instruction to preserve sequentiality resulting in a performance penalty.

Apparatus for and method of conditionally aborting an instruction within a pipelined architecture


A beverage can with top and bottom heat barrier ends for protecting the user from scalding when consuming a beverage heated by induction heating.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to beverage containers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a metal beverage container that is suitable for heating by induction heating and dispensing from a vending machine having an insulating label and snap-on ends that serve as a barrier to the heat radiating from the liquid and the container, thereby protecting the user from being scalded.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical conventional vending machines serving beverages in containers or cans have columns for storing beverage containers and chutes for delivering cans to an exit area of the machine. Vending machine beverages, including coffees, teas and hot chocolate, for example, that are to be served hot are advantageously stored at room temperature or below to preserve the flavor of such beverages. Such beverages must be heated prior to dispensing. The heating can be accomplished in a suitable manner in the vending machine. The heating may be done by induction or magnetic heating upon an order given by the purchaser by making a selection of a beverage and payment.
A need exists for a metal beverage container that is suitable for induction heating and for dispensing by a vending machine the resulting hot beverage. A need also exists for a beverage container that protects the purchaser from scalding his fingers and/or lips. In addition, a need exists for a container that reduces or prevents spillage of the hot beverage.

Induction heatable container with protective end caps


An improved system and method for controlling the brightness of indicator lights used on portable information handling systems. Various embodiments of the invention optimize the output of the indicator lights in accordance with detected ambient light levels. The brightness of the indicator lights can be adjusted automatically in accordance with a fixed response curve or manually by user inputs. In some embodiments, the brightness is adjusted in accordance with user-designated preferences that are stored in a brightness preference table and correlated with detected ambient light levels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system displays, and more particularly to a system and method for controlling indicator lights in portable information handling systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems configured as portable units have grown in popularity among users over the past several years. Portable information handling systems generally integrate in a single housing a display, internal power source and processing components, such as the CPU and hard disk drive, so that a user can carry the portable system from place to place while the system is operating. As processing components have decreased in size and increased in performance, portable information handling systems are often able to pack processing capabilities into a relatively small housing that are comparable to the capabilities available from desktop systems. One important consideration to achieving portability is reducing the power consumption of the components within the system so that the internal power will support operations for a long enough time period. Generally, the most practical display solution for portable systems both in terms of size and power consumption are liquid crystal display (LCD) panels. LCD panels have a backlight, such as cool cathode florescent light (CCFL) that illuminates the display through a panel of pixels. An image is generated by altering the light-absorbing characteristics of the pixels so that backlight passing through a pixel has a desired color.
In addition to the CCFL, most portable information handling systems comprise a plurality of indicator lights that consume battery power. For example, some portable information handling systems have up to 48 configurable LED indictor lights. Each LED consumes up to 100 mW of power at maximum brightness, resulting in a possible power consumption of 4.8 W when all LEDs are active. This level of power consumption can result in a significant drain on the battery. Furthermore, a large number of active indicator lights can be distracting in a dim environment.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a system and method to control the brightness and power consumption of indicator lights on portable information handling systems both to optimize power consumption and to enhance the aesthetic appearance of the indicator lights.

Control of indicator lights in portable information handling system using ambient light sensors


The present disclosure provides a control system for a machine having a transmission. The control system includes an open gate shift pattern having a plurality of defined positions disposed within an outer perimeter. Each of the defined positions corresponds to one of a plurality of forward and reverse ranges of the transmission. A control lever is movably disposed within the shift pattern. A first set of defined positions is aligned in the shift pattern corresponding to the plurality of forward ranges and a second set of defined positions is aligned in the shift pattern corresponding to the plurality of reverse ranges. The control lever is moveable in a single movement to any of the plurality of defined positions for selecting between a forward range and reverse range.

Work machines, such as a motor grader, can be used in construction and maintenance for creating a flat surface. When paving a road, a motor grader can be used to prepare a base foundation to create a wide flat surface for asphalt to be placed on. A motor grader can include two or more axles, with an engine and cab disposed above the axles at the rear end of the vehicle and another axle disposed at the front end of the vehicle. A blade is attached to the vehicle between the front axle and rear axle.
An experienced machine operator can learn to operate the machine based on a learned "feel" of the machine. In addition, either during operation or at idle, the operator can often anticipate what range the machine is operating in based on an angle at which a shift lever or control is disposed and the speed at which the machine is moving. However, during operation, the operator may be required to accurately and simultaneously control several different control operations of the machine to maintain a desired level of productivity. For example, an operator may use one hand to maneuver a plurality of control knobs, levers, buttons, etc. to maneuver the blade mounted to the grader. However, if the operator desires to shift the grader into a different range or direction, the shift controls are often located on a different control console. In this instance, the operator has to remove his or her hand from the blade controls, reach with his or her hand to the shift controls, make the desired shift, and then return his or her hand to the blade controls to continue the grading operation.
In some instances, it may take a significant amount of time to make the desired shift using the shift controls. In doing so, the operator is at least briefly not controlling the blade, and in other instances the operator may have to discontinue the grading operation before shifting the machine into the desired range. In any event, productivity can be undesirably affected.
A need therefore exists to provide a shift pattern that allows the operator to make a single movement of a shift control to adjust the direction and speed of the machine.


A blackbody radiometric reference comprising a source plate or a target plate, metallic nanoparticles or other high emissivity coating disposed on the plate, and an intermediate coating such as paint. The plate may comprise copper, aluminum or composites thereof. Apparatus capable of functioning as a radiometric or thermometric reference. A pre-heater or weakly-coupled area may be disposed around or adjacent a highly thermally uniform area. A groove or perforations extending into a front surface of the source plate defining a weakly-coupled edge portion surrounding a thermally-controlled, optically-active area, and connected by bridges or structures thereto. An external probe may be located near the source plate for measuring ambient temperature, for compensating for ambient temperature or for radiative load on the blackbody.

A black body (or blackbody) is an idealized physical body that absorbs all incident electromagnetic radiation, regardless of frequency or angle of incidence. A black body in thermal equilibrium (that is, at a constant temperature) emits electromagnetic radiation called black-body radiation. The radiation is emitted according to Planck's law, meaning that it has a spectrum that is determined by the temperature alone, not by the body's shape or composition. A black body in thermal equilibrium has two notable properties:                It is an ideal emitter: it emits as much or more energy at every frequency than any other body at the same temperature.        It is a diffuse emitter: the energy is radiated isotropically, independent of direction.
An approximate realization of a black surface is a hole in the wall of a large enclosure. Any light entering the hole is reflected indefinitely or absorbed inside and is unlikely to re-emerge, making the hole a nearly perfect absorber. The radiation confined in such an enclosure may or may not be in thermal equilibrium, depending upon the nature of the walls and the other contents of the enclosure.
Real materials emit energy at a fraction—called the emissivity—of black-body energy levels. By definition, a black body in thermal equilibrium has an emissivity of ϵ=1.0. A source with lower emissivity independent of frequency often is referred to as a gray body. Construction of black bodies with emissivity as close to one (1) as possible remains a topic of current interest. A white body is one with a rough surface that reflects all incident rays completely and uniformly in all directions.
In astronomy, the radiation from stars and planets is sometimes characterized in terms of an effective temperature, the temperature of a black body that would emit the same total flux of electromagnetic energy.
Extended Area Blackbodies
Extended area blackbodies are commonly used for testing infrared cameras and other thermal detection devices. Blackbodies are used as thermal sources to provide a desired radiance or apparent temperature to a device under test or to illuminate a target with a known radiance or apparent temperature or to provide a desired temperature difference between the features in a target.
For an ideal blackbody with an emissivity of one (1), the only parameter required to calculate the radiance of the source is the temperature of the blackbody. For a system with non-unity emissivity, other factors must be considered in order to produce a desired radiance, including the emissivity and the radiance of the environment onto the surface of the source. Another factor to be considered is that the temperature of the surface of the source is needed, but the temperature may not be measured on the blackbody surface. Also, for extended area blackbodies, the temperature is typically measured in only one place, therefore the uniformity of the surface temperature must also be considered. An ideal blackbody would have a unity emissivity, and the same temperature across the entire surface as that of the point where the temperature is measured.
Extended area blackbodies are commonly used for testing infrared cameras and other thermal detection devices that have a field of view and require large uniform scenes or targets with a large extent. Cavity blackbodies or point sources rely mainly on their geometry (spherical, conical, reverse cone, tube) to create emissivity close to 1.0. These type of blackbodies are limited in size, are slow and do not have the uniformity and precise control required to test imaging systems. Extended area blackbodies provide the size and performance needed, but lack any geometric properties that enhance emissivity and rely on surface coatings to achieve high emissivity.