An abnormality detection method of an encoder includes an output step, a control step, an information acquisition step, and an abnormality determination step. The abnormality determination step compares command position information with detection position information of a motor calculated based on an output signal, and determines that the encoder is abnormal in a case where a difference between the command position information and the detection position information of the motor is equal to or more than a predetermined value.

In the related art, an abnormality detection technique related to a failure of an encoder used for detecting a rotational position of a motor that drives an output shaft of an operation device such as a robot is known.
PTL 1 discloses a technique in which a first encoder that detects rotation of an input shaft of a motor and a second encoder that detects rotation of an output shaft of the motor are provided and determination is made that the encoder is abnormal in a case where position measurement values detected by the first encoder and the second encoder have a certain difference or more.
PTL 2 discloses a servo system having a safety unit for monitoring that a motor is normally controlled. The safety unit according to PTL 2 generates a stop signal to a servo driver in a case where a command value or a feedback value received from the servo driver that controls the motor is abnormal.

Method and device for detecting abnormality of encoder, and robot control system

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


Apparatus and method for indexing sheets cut from a web including a production line having an unwind at one end and a backstop at the other end, a printer and a rotary knife between the ends, the relation of the knife speed to the web speed being changed cyclically to develop longer and shorter sheets.

This invention relates to apparatus and method for indexing sheets and, more particularly, to the indexing of multi-page reports where separator sheets protrude outwardly between adjacent copies of the stacked reports.
It is known to index zig-zag folded forms as, for example, seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,992. There, the trailing panel of one set and the leading panel of an adjacent set were of different lengths so that the longer of the two would protrude to serve as a visual separator. The zig-zag forms were less preferable than individual sheets because they required special binders and also if separated into individual sheets subsequently required a bursting step which very often left ragged edges where the perforation bonds had occurred.
It is also known to indicate the presence of a flawed sheet by having the same protrude as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,375,744. Still further, it is known to index or tab sheets via a guillotine cutter so as to provide different lengths as stack separators. In such a case, the sheet advance is intermittent which is speed limiting. Also the stationary knife operation creates problems in subsequent sheet handling.
According to the instant invention, sheets are provided in set or report form, i.e., a predetermined number of sheets or pages per set or report and which are separated by longer and shorter sheets than those in the set or report. This is all done continuously by means of cyclically varying the speed relationship between the web and the rotary cutter associated with the printer which sets down the report information.


A roofing shingle has an upper surface, a lower surface, and a sealant material applied along the lower surface. A pressure relief channel is formed along the lower surface of the roofing shingle, with a release strip applied over the pressure relief channel. When the roofing shingle is paired with another roofing shingle in a stack, the sealant material of the roofing shingle is arranged in registration with the release strip and pressure relief channel of the other roofing shingle.

In some examples, roofing shingles can include a sealant applied (e.g., in a strip, in discrete segments, etc.) to a lower surface of the roofing shingle for securing a portion of the roofing shingle to a previously-applied roofing shingle and/or to a portion of a roof deck. However, the sealant can become compressed when the roofing shingles are arranged in a stack for packaging, storage, shipping, etc. due to the weight of the shingles in the stack. A need therefore exists for roofing shingles and systems and methods of forming roofing shingles configured to reduce the compression of a sealant applied to the roofing shingles when the roofing shingles are packaged in stacks; and other related and unrelated problems in the art.

Roofing shingles with sealant pressure relief channel


A touch input tool for interacting with a capacitive touchscreen display. The touch input tool includes a plurality of spaced apart conductive touchscreen touch elements arranged to simultaneously operatively engage a screen of the touchscreen display at a corresponding plurality of discrete respective touch locations.

Electronic devices often have touchscreen displays to enable user interaction with the device. Users can input information through simple or multi-touch gestures by touching the touchscreen display with an input device such as a pen-style stylus or with one or more fingers. The large size and advanced hardware specifications of touchscreen displays has enabled touchscreen devices to become important tools for productivity.
A common way for a user to interact with a touchscreen display is to through touch gestures using fingers or the end (tip) of a pen-style stylus. By way of example, gestures and their corresponding descriptions that can be recognized by the Microsoft Surface™ operating system based on finger-based touch events include: "Tap: Press and then release"; "Slide or Push: Move a displayed object under finger with a sliding or pushing action: "Flick: Press, slide quickly, and then release"; "Touch-and-turn: Slide finger on the content around a point of the content"; "Spin: Twist quickly to rotate the object"; "Pull apart Stretch: Pull fingers apart on two hands"; "Push together Shrink: Bring fingers together on two hands"; "Twist: Twist the object with two or more fingers, like turning a knob or paper"; "Pinch: Bring two fingers together on one hand"; "Squeeze: Bring three or more fingers together on one hand"; "Spread: Pull fingers apart on one hand" and "Pin turn: Pin the object in place with one finger while the other finger drags the object around the pinned point".
As evidenced from the above list, other than basic tap and drag gestures that can be performed using a stylus tip, most touchscreen interactions require finger based gestures, with the result that users who want to use a stylus often have to switch to finger gestures to take advantage of advanced touch screen capability.
Pen-type styluses have been widely used as touch input tools on electronic devices with touchscreen displays. A stylus typically has a shaft and a tip. Most of the research related to styluses has been either focused on the accuracy of handwriting, or methods of interactions with touchscreen displays via the pen tip.
Some touch input tools have been developed that enable non-tip portions of a stylus to be used to provide user inputs. One existing touch input tool has a bendable stylus that employs embedded sensors to measure the extent and angle of flexion of its shaft via fiber optic sensing. Another existing touch input tool interacts with electric field sensors embedded around a screen bezel for proximity detection such that placement of the stylus on the screen is detected by the electric field sensors, triggering a smart menu display.
The aforementioned devices provide limited input functionality, are costly, and need computational resources in the form of custom hardware drivers. Accordingly, there is a need for a tool shaft touchscreen interaction solution that is one or more of: cost efficient to manufacture and implement, usable with existing touchscreen drivers, and allows a tool shaft to be used for a range of different tool shaft input gestures.


This invention relates to certain poly(1,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate) copolyesters which are useful for the preparation of clear and tough thick wall molded parts, produced at good cycle times. The copolyesters can be molded into desired shapes such as cosmetic jars, fragrance caps, tool handles, and toothbrushes. These molded articles can have thick or thin walls and may be molded in a two shot molding process. The copolyesters also have good flow and reduced cycle times.

Various polymeric materials have been widely used over the past 70 years for molding various jars, caps, tool handles, toothbrushes and other consumer products. In many of these applications the molded part must be clear, tough, impact resistant, as well as having a pleasing appearance. In order to obtain a clear part it is desirable that the polymer have a slow crystallization rate. The occurrence of crystallinity results in the formation of haze in the part. A slower crystallization rate also reduces the chance for orientation induced crystallization in the gate area. Thus, there is the potential for improved gate appearance. In addition it is desirable to use a polymeric material with good flow (low melt viscosity) to insure the ease of completely filling the part. Furthermore, it is desirable to be able to make the parts with a short cycle time in the injection molding process to maximize the efficiency with which parts can be made. One of the main factors controlling the cycle time of a polymeric material is the time it takes to cool below its glass transition temperature during the injection molding process. Thus a glass transition temperature near the injection molding process temperature is desirable to obtain a reduced cycle time.
Polyester materials such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(1,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene Terephthalate) (PCT) have many desirable properties for molded parts but these polymers crystallize readily which results in the formation of hazy parts especially in the case of thick walled parts or during a two shot molding process.
It is possible to reduce the rate of crystallization by incorporation of additional monomers into these polyesters. However, it is important to choose the composition of these copolyesters such that not only is the crystallization rate decreased but all of the other desirable features (like cooling efficiency, flow ability, resin toughness) of a molding composition discussed above are obtained.
The present invention describes copolyesters which have a very slow crystallization rate while also giving all of the other desired attributes discussed above.

Polyester compositions for molding clear parts


A contact switch structure has a touch piece, a movable contact disposed on the touch piece, a fixed contact disposed opposite the movable contact, and a guide unit that is provided in a side region with respect to an operating range of the movable touch piece to control an air flow. The movable contact is opened and closed with respect to the fixed contact by operating the movable touch piece.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a contact switch structure and an electromagnetic relay provided with the contact switch structure.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, there is well known an electromagnetic relay, in which an excitation coil disposed around a fixed iron core is excited or demagnetized to attract or separate an armature to and from the fixed iron core, a movable touch piece attached to the armature is operated to open and close a movable contact provided in the movable touch piece with respect to a fixed contact disposed in an opposite position (for example, see Japanese Utility Model Publication Laid-Open No. 3-88246).
In the electromagnetic relay, in forming components such as the armature and the excitation coil, flash and burrs are generated or micro chips adheres to the components, and the flash, burrs and micro chips may remain as floating fine particles (diameter of about 20 μm). When the fine particle adheres to a surface of the contact, a contact resistance of the contact may be increased, or faulty electrical continuity may be generated in some cases. Therefore, after the flash and burrs are removed from each component or the component is cleaned, the further cleaning is also performed after assembly to prevent the generation of the fine particle, thereby enhancing contact reliability of the contact.
However, the generation of the fine particle cannot completely be prevented by the cleaning. Therefore, when the contact is opened from a closed state, air flows between the contacts from the surroundings, and possibly the flying fine particle adheres to the surface of the contact.
There is also proposed a method for increasing the number of poles of the contact (the contact is switched in multi-pole-to-multi-pole manner) in order to enhance the contact reliability of the contact. However, unfortunately an occupied space of the contact switch mechanism is increased, thus causing enlargement of the device.

Contact switch structure and electromagnetic relay


Disclosed is a wedge shaped actuator device configured to provide separation of spring supported electrical contacts in an electrical switch. The wedge is configured with dual contour sides to maximize transfer of energy from a drive solenoid to the contact carrying springs. Portions of the wedge are relieved to allow for uninhibited movement of the wedge over side surfaces of the contact carrying springs to avoid digging in of any rough materials from the side edges of the spring as may be occasioned due to stamping techniques used to form the springs.

Various metrology devices have been made available over the years incorporating many useful features. Many recent advances have included various forms of automated meter reading (AMR) meters and associated networks that provide metrology devices capable of tracking, storing, and reporting data on many aspects of meter operation and power consumption or generation.
In several of the presently provided devices, a single residential electricity meter may also be configured to collect and transmit data relevant to other utility usage in a residential environment, including natural gas and water usage in addition to electrical usage. Such electricity meters are sometimes also referred to as revenue meters, watt-hour meters, and/or utility meters.
More recently there has been identified a desire to more conveniently control service connections at a residential location. In many instances, for example, when electrical or other utility service is initially provided at a residence, such provision required a technician to visit the location to physically install the meter. Likewise, discontinuation of the service required yet another visit to the location to remove the meter. In certain instances, such as apartment locations, such required site-location visits could involve many man-hours over the course of a year.
To address these time consuming efforts, metrology devices have developed to the point where switches have been associated with the meter either as external separate entities or as self contained devices positioned within the meter housing. In spite of these improvements, however, there remains a desire to more fully integrate the measurement function and circuit interruption functions, both of which are required to respond to residential as well as business energy supply issues. Further, there is a desire to provide switch actuation devices that require minimal operating energy and are highly reliable.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,362,232 (Holle et al.) discloses an arrangement for use in an electrical utility meter that includes a metering unit, a service disconnect circuit, and a housing assembly. The service disconnect circuit includes a self-contained switch mounted within the base portion of the metering unit. Another example of a service disconnect circuit can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,130,722 (Soni), which concerns an adapter apparatus containing a disconnect switch. The adapter device is configured for placement between the meter and the meter socket so that neither the meter nor the socket has to be modified to accommodate the adapter.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,906,637 (Martin), 6,104,586 (Robinson), 5,952,739 (Grass et al.), and 4,240,030 (Bateman et al.) and US Patent Application Publication US 2005/0174256 (Berg) all disclose variations on co-located switches within meter housing or adapter type devices designed for placement between an existing meter and a meter socket.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,265,652 (Ying), 6,441,332 (Crawford et al.), 5,821,481 (Neubauer), 6,080,949 (Weber et al.), 4,621,303 (Rowe), 4,562,323 (Belbel et al.) 4,550,232 (Lemmer), and 3,842,228 (Green) all disclose various insulative devices used to mechanically separate switch contacts.
While various implementations of metrology devices have been developed, and while various combinations of metrology devices and service controlling switch mechanisms have been proposed, no design has emerged that generally encompasses all of the desired characteristics as hereafter presented in accordance with the subject technology.

Actuator/wedge improvements to embedded meter switch


Composite films for use in printed wiring boards are comprised of an insulating layer and a copper foil laminated thereover, the insulating layer being made up predominantly of a selected epoxy resin and a selected acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber, whereby voidlessness, thickness uniformity and insulation adjustment are enhanced. Also disclosed is a method of producing a printed wiring board using the film by a subtractive process.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to printed wiring boards and more particularly to copper-clad insulating films for use in the wiring boards and also to a method of producing such board using such film by a subtractive process.
2. Prior Art
Printed wiring boards of a multi-layered type are known which are constructed with a plurality of electrically conductive circuits laminated by an insulating layer. These wiring boards have been applied to mechanized fabrication of electronic equipment and further to various other sectors of industry.
In general, the above wiring board is assembled by mounting copper patterns on two opposite surfaces of a dielectric base or substrate to thereby form a printed circuit board and subsequently laminating a copper foil over the circuit board on both sides with layers of a glass epoxy prepreg interposed. The prepreg is derived by impregnating an epoxy resin into fibrous glass. The copper foil is etched to provide printed circuitry. The circuit board is fabricated usually by a subtractive process from a copper-clad laminate commonly accepted in the industry.
Such known mode of assembly, however, is effected necessarily under elevated temperature and pressure conditions, say at 170.degree. C. and at 40 kg/cm.sup.2, so as to remove air entrained in the prepreg. This leaves the problem that the resulting laminate product will involve residual strains resulting from the heat and pressure while in lamination, the strains leading to pattern failure in the printed circuitry.


A method for performance monitoring in a computing system is described. In some embodiments, an addressable memory stores data and instructions for performing context switch sampling. A processor includes hardware event counters, and is coupled with the addressable memory to access said instructions and in response to said instructions, the processor counts occurrences of a first hardware event in a first hardware event counter and counts occurrences of a second hardware event in a second hardware event counter. After a specified number of occurrences of the first hardware event have been counted, the second hardware event counter is sampled and hardware event counters are reset. In some embodiments the processor counts occurrences of segment register load events in the first hardware event counter and then records the sampled second hardware event counter value with a process identifier value and/or a thread identifier value.

In multitasking, multiprocessing and/or multithreading systems, monitoring performance metrics may be complicated. Techniques that have been used in the past such as time-based sampling or event-based sampling employ a consistent regular grid of measurement to outline and characterize the behavior of applications whose activity may at times be anything but regular.
Previous attempts to monitor activity within the context of a particular process may have required specially instrumented versions of the operating system. These techniques may also have the side effect of monitoring the special instrumentation as well as the desired performance metrics in the context of the particular process of interest. Thus results of previous techniques may have been contaminated by activity from other processes, threads or operating system instrumentation.
To date, more efficient performance monitoring in multitasking, multiprocessing and/or multithreading systems to avoid contamination by events captured from other processes and/or threads have not been fully explored.


An electric brake apparatus generates an appropriate brake force without unnecessarily consuming electric power. The electric brake apparatus has a brake actuator generating a brake force. The brake actuator uses a brake motor system including a brake motor as a power source. A motor current provided to the brake motor is generated under a normal control so as to generate a brake force required for a vehicle. The motor current generated under the normal control is reduced when the brake motor is overheated or when the vehicle is stopped for a long time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electric brake apparatus and, more particularly, to an electric brake apparatus which generates a brake force by using a brake motor as a power source.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application No.5-22234, an electric brake apparatus is known. The above-mentioned conventional apparatus includes a disc brake. The disc brake comprises an electrically-driven caliper including a brake motor and a disc rotor rotating with a wheel. The brake motor generates a force to hold the disc rotor by externally provided electric power. Thus, according to the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, a brake force can be generated electrically by appropriately controlling the brake motor.
A driver operating a vehicle may maintain a brake pedal being pressed for a long time when the vehicle is stopped. In this case, according to the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, a large amount of motor current may continuously flow to the brake motor. Additionally, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, a large amount of motor current may also continuously flow to the brake motor when a short circuit occurs in an electric circuit, for example due to a collision of the vehicle.
When a vehicle is stopped or after a collision of a vehicle occurs, there is no need to generate a large brake force in the vehicle. In this respect, the above-mentioned conventional apparatus has a problem in that an unnecessarily large amount of electric power is consumed under such a condition.

Electric brake apparatus for controlling a current provided to a brake motor


A discharge lamp driving device includes: a direct-current power supply section (a power supply section) that controls a current of power to be supplied to a discharge lamp from input power, and outputs the current; a voltage detecting section that detects a lamp voltage (a drive voltage) of the discharge lamp; and a control section that controls a modulation factor of a lamp current (a drive current) on which amplitude modulation has been performed, the lamp current (the drive current) which is supplied to the discharge lamp from the direct-current power supply section (the power supply section), in accordance with the detected lamp voltage (drive voltage) of the discharge lamp.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to discharge lamp driving devices, projectors, and methods for driving a discharge lamp.
2. Related Art
In the past, a projector that projects a picture onto a screen has had the technique of controlling the color balance or the brightness by driving a discharge lamp used in a light source of the projector by performing amplitude modulation on a drive current (hereinafter also referred to as a lamp current) of the discharge lamp. For example, there is a projector that performs time division on a white light emitted from the light source by using a color wheel including R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color filters, modulates the lights obtained by the time division into picture signals of these colors, and projects a picture. In such a projector, a method by which the color balance is controlled by driving the discharge lamp so that the lamp current thereof is increased during the interval that a light is passing through a predetermined color filter is proposed (for example, JP-A-2007-121971).
Moreover, projectors that project a three-dimensional (hereinafter also referred to as 3D) picture include a time-division 3D projector that alternately projects a picture for a right eye and a picture for a left eye by time division. The time-division 3D projector has shutter glasses that alternately open and close a liquid crystal shutter for a left eye and a liquid crystal shutter for a right eye in synchronization with the picture for a left eye and the picture for a right eye which are projected. The user can view 3D pictures by viewing the projected pictures through the shutter glasses. In this case, as a result of a picture in one frame being divided into two pictures: a picture for a left eye and a picture for a right eye by time division, the brightness of the picture for a left eye which is projected and the brightness of the picture for a right eye which is projected are reduced to half, and the picture that reaches the left eye and the picture that reaches the right eye become dark. Furthermore, when switching between the picture for a left eye and the picture for a right eye is performed, since a period in which the switching is performed includes a period in which control to close the liquid crystal shutter for a left eye and the liquid crystal shutter for a right eye at the same time is performed, the pictures that reach the eyes become even darker. To solve this problem, there is a method by which amplitude modulation is performed on the lamp current in such a way that the lamp current is increased in a period in which one of the liquid crystal shutter for a left eye and the liquid crystal shutter for a right eye is opened and the lamp current is decreased in a period in which both of the liquid crystal shutters are closed. By this method, it is possible to make the pictures that reach the eyes bright without increasing the average power of drive power (hereinafter also referred to as lamp power) of the discharge lamp.
However, since a drive voltage (hereinafter also referred to as a lamp voltage) of the discharge lamp has initial variations and a temporal change, even when the discharge lamp is driven in such a way that the average power which is supplied to the discharge lamp becomes constant, the lamp current increases when the lamp voltage decreases. Therefore, when the discharge lamp driving device performs amplitude modulation on the lamp current of the discharge lamp, even when the average current of the lamp current is less than or equal to the rated current, the lamp current may exceed the rated current in a period in which the lamp current is increased. In this case, heat generation in the discharge lamp driving device becomes a problem, and solving this problem undesirably necessitates an increase in the cost of the parts used in the discharge lamp driving device or an increase in the sizes of the parts.

Discharge lamp driving device, projector, and method for driving a discharge lamp


A power factor corrector circuit and a method of operating the power factor corrector circuit can include a power factor corrector, wherein two or more input variables can be defined for the power factor corrector including a peak current and an input current. A processor can select corresponding variables in the power factor corrector with respect to the two or more input variables defined for the power factor corrector, and the corresponding variables can include a peak current and an input current. The corresponding variables in the power factor corrector can adapt to the two or more input variables to allow the power factor corrector to operate in a conduction mode.

General electric alternating current (AC) power ("mains power" or "mains electricity" or simply "mains") may need to be converted into direct current (DC) power for use by various electronic consumer devices. A power management system can convert AC power from a main power source into DC power using components that experience low losses in power dissipation, such as, for example, inductors, diodes, capacitors, transformers and other switches (e.g., junction gate field-effect transistors, metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors, etc.). Losses in the main source may be decreased by focusing on the harmonics of the current drawn from the main source and the phase relationship between the mains voltage and the current drawn from the main source. The efficiency of the mains power source can be measured by a power factor. The power factor of an AC to DC electric power system can be defined as the ratio of the real power drawn from the main source compared to the product of the root means square (rms) voltage Vrms and the rms current Irms.
A power factor corrector (PFC), which may include a bridge rectifier, a switch-mode power supply (SMPS), and control circuits, can be used to help maximize the power factor in power management systems and can also be used for power management in personal computers, adapters, lighting, and so on. The power factor can therefore be a significant parameter in evaluating a PFC's overall performance.
A PFC circuit can be used in applications such as power converters to control the phase of the input current and help maximize power in power management systems. A PFC circuit, which can also referred to simply as a "PFC", may be needed for an SMPS having power levels above, for example, 75 watts. For a power level above approximately 300 watts, a CCM (Continuous-Conduction Mode) operation becomes attractive because this can allow for the use of small EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) filters.
Some PFC circuits can use fixed frequency in CCM applications. Close to the main zero-crossing, CCM cannot be maintained, and a changeover from a BCM (Boundary Conduction Mode) to a DCM (Discontinuous Conduction Mode) may occur in association with a rising frequency. Unfortunately, this feature can result in a lower efficiency close to the main zero-crossing.
For optimum efficiency, it may be advantageous to use CCM at higher power levels around the peak voltage of the main power supply and then use DCM in other situations.
Some DCM applications may employ a topology involving Ton (Timer On) control for the PFC switch. Ton control can offer the advantage for BCM of automatically correcting the mains current shape for a high power factor. This is because di/dt=Vmains/Lind, wherein Lind is the main inductor value and Vmains represents the mains voltage. Thus, with a fixed Ton, the primary peak current can be proportional to the momentary mains voltage. For CCM, the primary current can depend on the current at the end of the previous switching cycle and the switch conduction interval Ton. Therefore, on time control in the manner used in DCM cannot be employed in CCM operations.
Some CCM operational techniques use a method referred to as "average current control". This approach can be based on the fact that the duty cycle of the secondary stroke equals Vin/Vout where Vin represents the input voltage of the PFC and Vout represents the output voltage. FIG. 1 depicts a waveform diagram 100 illustrating the concept of average current control CCM. The waveforms shown in FIG. 1 demonstrate that when the duty cycle becomes smaller than the equilibrium value, the duration of the secondary stroke may also become smaller. This situation offers less reduction for the inductor current and therefore can result in an increase in the current as compared to the current at the start of the switching cycle (e.g., see curve 102 in FIG. 1).
When the duty cycle is higher than the equilibrium, an increase in the reduction of the inductor current can occur, and therefore a decrease in the current can also occur as compared to the current at the start of the switching cycle (e.g., see curve 106 in FIG. 1). A signal indicative of the duty signal can be generated by a ramp signal 108 (ramp for PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)) and a control signal 110. The ramp signal 108 and control signal 110 can be subject to a comparison operation by a comparator, which can generate the signal indicative of the duty cycle. This means that equilibrium can occur when the control signal 110 is proportional to Vin/Vout. As the output voltage 'Vout' may be normally regulated to a fixed value, the result can be that the control signal may be proportional to Vin. By making the control signal 110 proportional to the sensed current, the system can generate an input current proportional to the momentary mains voltage, which can fulfill the power factor requirement.
FIG. 2 depicts a schematic diagram of a PFC circuit 130 that applies the average current control principle. The circuit 130 shown in FIG. 2 can include a pair of diodes 132, 124 and another pair of diodes 136, 138. The diodes 134 and 138 can connect to ground 140. An inductor 144 can connect to diodes 132 and 138, and can also connect to ground 140.
The circuit 130 can further include an oscillator 146 that can connect to the negative input of an amplifier 148 that provides PWM waveforms that can be supplied to a transistor 150. The inductor 144 can also connect to the transistor 140 and a diode 152. An output capacitor 154 can connect to the output of the diode 152 and ground 141. The output capacitor 154 can be located between a ground output ("Out Gnd") and the output of the diode 152.
The circuit 130 can further include a resistor 158 ("Rop") that can be coupled to a shunt resistor 156 ("Rshunt"), ground 140 and the diodes 138 and 134. The shunt resistor 156 can be further connected to a resistor 160, which in turn can be coupled to a capacitor 164 and a current amplifier 162. The capacitor 164 can be further coupled to a capacitor 166 and a resistor 168, which can also be tied to the output of the current amplifier 162. The capacitor 166 and the resistor 168 can be connected in parallel with one another and can further connect to the positive input of the amplifier 148 along with the output of the current amplifier 162. That is, the current amplifier output ("Vca") can connect to the positive input of the amplifier 148.
FIG. 3 depicts a schematic diagram of a control circuit 180 that utilizes a multiplier approach. The circuit 180 generally includes an AC voltage source 182 that can be offset by a diode 184. The AC voltage source 182 can supply a voltage VAC to a resistor 186 ("RIAC") and an inductor 212. The resistor 186 can be coupled to a multiplier 188 that in turn can connect to a resistor 190 and the positive input of an amplifier 192 whose output can connect to a latch 194. The latch 194 in turn can be coupled to a gate driver logic component 200 that in turn can connect to a transistor 219.
A resistor 198 can further connect to the transistor 214 and ground 196. The transistor 214 can be further coupled to the inductor 212 and a diode 216. A capacitor 218 can connect to the diode 216 and to the resistor 198 (and also to ground 196). The capacitor 218 can also be implemented in parallel with a load 220. A resistor 210 can connect to the capacitor 218 and the diode 216 and also to a resistor 208 and the negative input of an error amplifier 202 that can output a voltage VEA. The resistor 208 can also be coupled to ground 206. A reference voltage 204 ("VREF") can connect to the positive input of the error amplifier 202. The output from the error amplifier 202 in turn can be coupled to the multiplier 188.
In the configuration of circuit 180, the control voltage VEA that can be output from the error amplifier 202 can set the desired power level so that the PFC output voltage may be equal to the desired level while delivering power to the load 220. The multiplier 188 can then multiply the control output signal with the mains voltage shape so as to provide a desired current level, which can be then compared with a sensed current level and used to reset the latch 194 in order to define a primary current peak level. The switching cycle can be started by a Zcd (zero current detection) signal in order maintain the system in a BCM.
For a system in BCM operation, the input current as drawn from the mains can be proportional to the primary peak current and also proportional to the "on time" of the PFC switch. This makes it easy to render a satisfactory power factor. When the system goes to DCM, the average current may be lower for the same primary peak current, because of the ringing interval that arises after the end of the secondary stroke where no current may be drawn from the mains. Some configurations may use a PFC where this effect can be compensated by an additional adaption of the primary peak current based on a ratio: Tper/(Ton+Tsec).
FIG. 4 depicts a group of equations 230 that can define factors for a PFC circuit. Providing for a high power factor means that the input current drawn by the PFC may be proportional to the momentary mains voltage. Ideally, this can be represented by defining a factor k2 according to the equations 230 shown in FIG. 4. That is:Iin=k2·VmainsPin=Vmains·IinPin=Vmains·(k2·Vmains)Pin=Vmains2·k2
Thus, the momentary input current may equal the momentary mains voltage times a factor k2. This means that the momentary input power may be proportional to the square of the momentary input voltage.
FIG. 5 depicts a graph 240 and a graph 250, which demonstrate the relationship between momentary current voltage and power for a PFC circuit according to the equations 230 shown in FIG. 4. Graph 240 and curve 242 plot data indicative of Vmains(t) with respect to time t based on the equation Pin (t,K2):=Vmains(t)2·k2 wherein k2b:=0.002. Graph 250 depicts a curve 252 and a curve 254 respectively for Pin(t,k2b) and Pin(T,k2Aa) wherein k2a=1×10−3 and k2b=2×10−3.
FIG. 6 depicts a graph 260 depicting average power over a mains half cycle for a PFC circuit. A curve 262 and a curve 264 in graph 260 demonstrate that for the average power over a mains half cycle, the average value of the power is half of the peak value of the square of a sine wave:
      Pin_av              (                        k                                                              2                ,        Vmainspeak            )        =                              Vmainspeak          2                2            ·      k                              2
Thus, fixing k2 may mean that the power level can be proportional to the square of the mains voltage amplitude. Accordingly, the gain of the closed loop can be proportional to the square of the mains voltage amplitude. In some cases, it may be desirable to have a fixed gain of the total control loop. A constant gain may prevent a 0 db loop gain frequency for closed loop shifts. In this manner, an optimum dynamic response may be possible for universal mains voltage while maintaining optimum stability for the loop.
K2 therefore can include a mains voltage that may be compensated by 1/Vmains{circumflex over ( )}2, which can allow the gain from the control to output power to be compensated for the mains voltage amplitude.
In a practical PFC application, it may not be easy to define behavior according to this desired factor K2. DCM controllers, for example, can may on time control with BCM or fixed frequency DCM. In BCM, the factor K2 may be more or less defined as a fixed on time, which can cause a peak current, 'Ipeak', to be proportional to the momentary mains voltage, and thus in BCM, the input current may be proportional to 'Ipeak/2', which may also be proportional to the mains voltage. In DCM with fixed frequency, the average current may be no longer 'Ipeak/2' because of the changing ratio between the primary+secondary stroke and a period of time.
With conventional techniques and circuits such as discussed above, it may be possible to configure a CCM PFC circuit or a DCM PFC circuit. To date, DCM and CCM have not been combined in a manner that allows a PFC circuit to operate for DCM and CCM within a main half cycle. In addition, the loop gain and dynamic behavior are different in CCM and DCM in PFC circuits, which can make it more complex to define the closed loop and obtain a dynamic performance. Another problem with PFC circuits relates to potential instabilities (e.g., short long cycles) that can occur in CCM for a duty cycle greater than 50%. In addition, the operating frequency in BCM can lead to large frequencies during part of the mains half cycle.
Accordingly, there is a long-felt need for AC/DC power converters employed in power management systems to address the foregoing problems.

Power factor corrector circuit with discontinuous and continuous conduction modes based on desired peak and input currents


A solar concentrator assembly can include mirror assemblies that are connected to pivotable frames with locating connections. The locating connections can be in the form of cam devices or tool-less connections formed by snap fitting devices as well as tool-less cam devices.

Solar concentrators are different from unconcentrated solar panels in a number of ways, including challenges regarding weight distribution. Solar concentrator arrays are frequently mounted to, and have their position adjusted at, a central post or pier. Such concentrator arrays typically have a support structure with a lateral member, such as a crossbeam or strut. The lateral member is typically coupled directly to the post, usually by a positioning mechanism. In turn, several concentrator elements are coupled to the lateral member, and are supported by it.
As a consequence of the components' position above the lateral member, the center of gravity of the concentrator array is above the post, and, consequently, above the positioning mechanism. To maintain maximum performance of concentrator systems, the concentrators, typically in the form of trough-shaped mirrors configured to focus sunlight into a band-shaped focal plane, are driven to track the sun.
In some systems, efficiency can drop if the mirrors are misaligned by as little as 0.1°. Thus, high performance of such systems is more likely to be achieved if the components of the concentrator arrays are manufactured to precise tolerances. On the other hand, high precision components and complex, time consuming assembly procedures can adversely affect the economic feasibility of such systems.

Locating connectors and methods for mounting solar hardware


Embodiments of this disclosure provide an object recognition method and apparatus and a single step object recognition neural network, in which by replacing a part of convolutional layers in a conventional single shot multibox detector (SSD) network with dilate convolution, limitation on a size of an input image may be reduced; by increasing connection paths, accuracy of object recognition may be improved; and by connecting the convolutional layers by using residual structures, a convergence effect may be ensured, and accuracy of object recognition may be improved.

Object recognition is one of the most important research directions in the field of machine vision. Nowadays, engineering requires both high precision and real-time capabilities, which makes neural network object recognition technology mainstream. Deep learning of conventional object recognition methods may be divided into two parts. One is a candidate region extraction method, such as a faster region convolutional neural network (faster R-CCN) and a region-fully convolutional network (R-FCN). And the other is a single step method, such as single shot multibox detector (SSD) and You Only Look Once (YOLO).
The former method complicates extraction of a region of interest (ROI), resulting in slower speed. The latter method is a real-time object detection algorithm, and as it omits an ROI pool and reduces an amount of computation, some of them may be 30 fps faster than GPU-assisted speeds.
It should be noted that the above description of the background is merely provided for clear and complete explanation of this disclosure and for easy understanding by those skilled in the art. And it should not be understood that the above technical solution is known to those skilled in the art as it is described in the background of this disclosure.

Object recognition method and apparatus and single step object recognition neural network


3-Amino chroman and 2-amino tetralin derivatives and compositions containing such compounds are disclosed. Such compounds are useful for modulating activity of a 5-HT1A receptor (agonizing or antagonizing) in a patient. These compounds are further useful for inhibiting binding to a serotonin receptor. Methods of using the 3-amino chroman and 2-amino tetralin compounds and compositions containing such compounds in the treatment of serotonin disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are also disclosed.

Major depressive disorder affects an estimated 340 million people worldwide. Depression is the most frequently diagnosed psychiatric disorder and, according to the World Health Organization, is the fourth greatest public health problem. If left untreated, the effects of depression can be devastating, robbing people of the energy or motivation to perform everyday activities and, in some cases, leading to suicide. Symptoms of the disorder include feelings of sadness or emptiness, lack of interest or pleasure in nearly all activities, and feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt. In addition to the personal costs of depression, the disorder also has been estimated to result in more than $40 billion in annual costs in the United States alone, due to premature death, lost productivity, and absenteeism.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have had significant success in treating depression and related illnesses and have become among the most prescribed drugs since the 1980s. Some of the most widely known SSRIs are fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, fluvoxamine and citalopram. Although they have a favorable side effect profile compared to tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), they have their own particular set of side effects due to the non-selective stimulation of serotonergic sites. They typically have a slow onset of action, often taking several weeks to produce their full therapeutic effect. Furthermore, they have generally been found to be effective in less than two-thirds of patients.
SSRIs are believed to work by blocking the neuronal reuptake of serotonin, increasing the concentration of serotonin in the synaptic space, and thus increasing the activation of postsynaptic serotonin receptors. Although a single dose of a SSRI can inhibit the neuronal serotonin transporter, and thus would be expected to increase synaptic serotonin, clinical improvement has generally been observed only after long-term treatment. It has been suggested that the delay in onset of antidepressant action of the SSRIs is the result of an increase in serotonin levels in the vicinity of the serotonergic cell bodies. This excess serotonin is believed to activate somatodendritic autoreceptors, i.e., 5-HT1A receptors, reduce cell firing activity and, in turn, decrease serotonin release in major forebrain areas. This negative feedback limits the increment of synaptic serotonin that can be induced by antidepressants acutely. Over time, the somatodendritic autoreceptors become desensitized, allowing the full effect of the SSRIs to be expressed in the forebrain. This time period has been found to correspond to the latency for the onset of antidepressant activity [Perez, V., et al., The Lancet, 1997, 349: 1594-1597].
In contrast to the SSRIs, a 5-HT1A agonist or partial agonist acts directly on postsynaptic serotonin receptors to increase serotonergic neurotransmission during the latency period for the SSRI effect. Accordingly, the 5-HT1A partial agonists, buspirone and gepirone [Feiger, A., Psychopharmacol. Bull., 1996, 32(4): 659-665; Wilcox, C., Psychopharmacol. Bull., 1996, 32(93): 335-342], and the 5-HT1A agonist, flesinoxan [Grof, P., International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 1993, 8(3): 167-172], have shown efficacy in clinical trials for the treatment of depression. Furthermore, such agents are believed to stimulate the somatodendritic autoreceptors, thus hastening their desensitization and decreasing the SSRI latency period. An agent with a dual mechanism of antidepressant action would be expected to have greater efficacy and thus reduce the number of patients refractory to treatment. Indeed, buspirone augmentation to standard SSRI therapy has been shown to produce marked clinical improvement in patients initially unresponsive to standard antidepressant therapy [Dimitriou, E., J. Clinical Psychopharmacol., 1998, 18(6): 465-469].
There is still an unfilled need for a single agent with a dual mechanism of antidepressant action, i.e., one that not only inhibits or blocks serotonin reuptake (to increase levels of serotonin in the synapse) but also antagonizes the 5-HT1A receptors (to reduce the latency period). The present invention is directed to these, as well as other important ends.

Compounds useful as serotonin inhibitors and 5-HT


A pressure roller for a fixing device is manufactured by extruding silicone rubber on a shaft, foaming the extruded silicone rubber, subjecting the foamed silicone rubber to primary and secondary heat treatments, polishing the heat-treated silicone rubber, and then disposing the polished silicone rubber in a resin tube. In accordance with one embodiment, the pressure roller includes a shaft, a first silicone rubber layer formed on the shaft so as to surround the shaft, a resin tube formed on the first silicone rubber layer so as to surround the shaft, the resin tube having extensions at opposite ends thereof, each extension extending beyond the opposite ends of the first silicone rubber layer, and second silicone rubber layers formed at respective opposite ends of the first silicone rubber layer between the extensions of the resin tube and the shaft. The second silicone rubber layers serve to couple the first silicone rubber layer to the resin tube. In accordance with another embodiment, the pressure roller includes a shaft, a silicone rubber layer extruded on the shaft using an extruder so as to surround the shaft, and foamed so as to have a number of pores, and a resin tube bonded to the silicone rubber layer while surrounding the silicone rubber layer by use of adhesive.

This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 from my application PRESSURE ROLLER FOR FIXING DEVICE AND A MANUFACTURING METHOD OF THE SAME filed with the Korean Industrial Property Office on Feb. 20, 2001 and there duly assigned Serial No. 8505/2001.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a pressure roller for a fixing device in a printer and a method for manufacturing the pressure roller. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pressure roller used for a fixing device and configured to achieve an improved elastic strain, and a method for manufacturing the pressure roller.
2. Related Art
Generally, a printer includes a photosensitive medium, a light scanning device, a developing device, and a fixing device. A latent image is formed on the photosensitive medium by the light scanning device, and is then developed into a toner image by the developing device. The toner image is then transferred to a sheet. The fixing device serves to firmly fix the toner image to the sheet. Typically, such a fixing device includes a transfer roller arranged to rotate while contacting the photosensitive medium, and a pressure roller arranged to rotate while contacting the transfer roller. The transfer roller is internally or externally provided with a heater which serves to maintain the transfer roller at a high temperature in order to obtain an improved transfer of the toner image from the photosensitive medium to the sheet. The pressure roller, which rotates while contacting the transfer roller at a desired pressure, is made of a material exhibiting a thermal stability and a resistance against compression.
Exemplars of recent efforts include the FIXING APPARATUS OF Ota et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,266,509; THE IMAGE HEATING APPARATUS of Kitamura et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,131 and; FIXING APPARATUS of Haneda et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,805.
The pressure roller typically includes a shaft and a resin tube. A silicone rubber layer is interposed between the resin tube and the shaft.
In order to manufacture a pressure roller having the above mentioned configuration, the resin tube is fitted in a mold having the shape of a pipe with a circular cross section. The shaft is then concentrically arranged in the resin tube in a fixed state. That is, the shaft is supported by the mold so that it is maintained in a fixed state. The shaft has an outer diameter which is less than the inner diameter of the resin tube by a desired amount.
Under a condition in which the shaft is maintained in a fixed state in the resin tube, liquid-phase silicone rubber is injected between the inner surface of the resin tube and the outer surface of the shaft. As moisture contained in the liquid-phase silicone rubber is vaporized, a porous silicone rubber layer is formed. In order to allow the silicone rubber layer to come into tight contact with the resin tube, the entire inner surface of the resin tube is subjected to an etching treatment. An adhesive is also coated on the etched inner surface of the resin tube.
After completion of the formation of the silicone rubber layer, the molded product is removed from the mold. Thus, manufacture of the pressure roller is completed.
The silicone rubber layer interposed between the inner surface of the resin tube and the outer surface of the shaft should have a porous structure which is formed by vaporization. To this end, a low temperature vulcanizing (LTV) silicone rubber is used as the material of the silicone rubber layer in order to achieve formation of pores in a temperature range not causing deformation of the resin tube. However, such LTV silicone rubber is expensive as compared to high temperature vulcanizing (HTV) silicone rubber which is foamed at a high temperature of about 120xc2x0 C. to form pores.
Furthermore, the pressure roller described above has a high manufacturing cost because the entire inner surface of the resin tube must be subjected to an etching treatment in order to allow the silicone rubber layer to come into tight contact with the resin tube.
In addition, the pressure roller should exhibit an elastic strain sufficient to reduce the pressure of the pressure roller against the transfer roller while allowing the pressure roller to have a contact surface with superior flatness. However, the silicone rubber layer described above exhibits a high degree of hardness. As a result, there is a disadvantage in that it is necessary to increase the pressure to be applied to the transfer roller.
The present invention has been developed in view of the above mentioned problems, and an object of invention is to provide an improved pressure roller and method of manufacturing such a pressure roller for a fixing device.
It is also an object to provide a pressure roller for a fixing device and a method of manufacturing such a pressure roller which uses HTV silicone rubber exhibiting a foamability at a high temperature, thereby reducing manufacturing cost while exhibiting a desired elastic strain at a low pressure.
In accordance with one aspect, the present invention provides a pressure roller for a fixing device, that may be constructed with a shaft; a first silicone rubber layer formed on the shaft as an axially elongate cylindrical layer so as to surround the shaft and the first silicone rubber layer; a resin tube formed on the first silicone rubber layer so as to surround the shaft, the resin tube having extensions at opposite ends thereof, each extension extending beyond an opposite end of the first silicone rubber layer; and second silicone rubber layers, each formed at a respective axially opposite end of the first silicone rubber layer between the extensions of the resin tube and the shaft, the second silicone rubber layers serving to couple the first silicone rubber layer to the resin tube.
In accordance with another aspect, the present invention provides a pressure roller for a fixing device, that may be constructed with a shaft; a silicone rubber layer extruded on the shaft as an axially elongate cylindrical layer using an extruder so as to surround the shaft, and foamed so as; to have a number of pores; and a resin tube bonded by adhesive to the silicone rubber layer while surrounding the silicone rubber layer.
In accordance with another aspect, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a pressure roller for a fixing device by forming a silicone rubber layer by extruding silicone rubber on a shaft with an extruder, and curing the extruded silicone rubber to foam the silicone rubber, thereby forming a silicone rubber layer having a number of pores. A resin tube forms a cylindrical sheath that surrounds and encases the silicone rubber layer. The resin tube is bonded to the silicone rubber layer with an adhesive while surrounding the silicone rubber layer.

Method for manufacturing a pressure roller


A system and method for generating random coverage masks for rendering images with transparent objects. The system uses shuffle tables for addresses of a pixel to index into a transparency table and to obtain a transparency mask, which is then ANDed with a coverage mask to obtain a new coverage mask.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer graphics, and more specifically relates to pixel sample manipulation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a computer graphics display application, an image is generated by a display system and displayed on a screen. The image is composed by an array of individual picture-cells (xe2x80x9cpixelsxe2x80x9d). Pixels are the dots of color that define the image. Each of the pixels is defined by characteristics such as color and intensity. Traditionally, pixels are organized into a two-dimensional array or grid defined by raster lines. Each line is drawn by scan displaying the individual pixels along the line.
In practice, rather than defining the characteristics of each pixel, display systems define an image from a collection of primitive graphic shapes such as polygons. The polygons are numerically represented in terms of size, color, location and other characteristics, and the most common polygons used in rendering graphic images are triangles. To accomplish an image, the polygon representations are processed by an image generator producing pixel data signals through a process called polygon rendering. In effect, polygon rendering involves sampling a polygon to calculate how the polygon influences the pixels.
Display systems typically generate each pixel data signal by sampling several locations within the pixel of the polygon. This sampling technique is used to reduce undesirable visual artifacts in the displayed image. These visual artifacts, commonly referred to as aliasing, often appear as jagged lines at the polygon boundaries.
Some reduction of artifacts can be achieved with xe2x80x9cpolygon smoothing.xe2x80x9d Polygon smoothing is achieved by computing a coverage value for each pixel a polygon touches. The coverage value is proportional to the amount of the pixel covered by the polygon. The coverage value is used to modify alpha, which is used to blend to color of the polygon with contents of the frame buffer. In this technique, each fragment generated by rendering a triangle or other primitive is sampled at a higher rate. The total number of samples lit by the fragment modulates the intensity of the color for the fragment. However, this technique requires that the triangles in the scene be sorted by depth. The sorting is computational intensive.
The visual artifacts can also be reduced by a technique known as multisampling. Multisampling does not require sorting. Each pixel will have all its samples stored in the frame buffer. The standard Z buffering algorithm is applied to each sample.
Multisampling increases the sample rate for a given display resolution. The sample rate is arbitrary, but is usually 2, 4, 8 or 16 samples per pixel. The higher the sample rate, the less visual artifacts appear in the final image.
Cables are an example of objects that produce visual artifacts. If a cable is in the distance, then its width will be less than one pixel on the display. Without multisampling, the cable will appear as a dotted line, with each pixel that the cable passes through appearing as a dot. As the viewpoint of the cable changes, the dots will appear to move like raindrops.
With multisampling, the cable will light a small portion of every pixel it passes through. The intensity of each pixel will be proportional to the size of the cable. This reduces or eliminates the dotted line effect.
Multisampling is also useful to render transparent objects. Many scenes contain transparent objects such as windows. These objects affect the color of a pixel, but allow objects behind them to be visible. Opaque objects in front of a transparent object occlude the transparent object. If pixels are sampled at 16 samples per pixel, then a transparent object that transmits {fraction (15/16)}th of all the light passing through it can be rendered by discarding 15 of the 16 samples taken while rendering it. In other words, a transparent object transmitting {fraction (15/16)}th of all the light passing through it can be rendered by discarding 15 of the 16 samples. The transparent object is rendered by changing color for only one sample. However, picking the same sample in every pixel to keep may introduce visual artifacts that multisampling is supposed to remove.
Therefore, it is desirous to have a system and method for selecting samples of a pixel to prevent introduction of visual artifacts when multisampling is used to improve quality of rendered images. Accordingly, it is to the provision of such a system and method that the primary invention is primarily directed.
The present invention provides a system and method for drawing pictures involving transparent objects without need for time-consuming sorting of coverage triangles. The system and method represent an advantage because it eliminates computing intensive sorting.
Normally to draw a transparent object, one must draw objects behind the transparent object first, which means one must sort the triangles to determine what objects are behind the transparent object, then draw the transparent object and modify the color of the objects behind the transparent object Modification of color is thus based on the transparency of the object. After drawing the transparent object, one then draws objects in front of the transparent object, and this means more sorting of the triangles to determine what objects are in front of the transparent object.
The system and method eliminate triangle sorting, which is computationally intensive. When drawing a transparent object, the system uses X and Y addresses of a pixel to index into a shuffle table, and then using the output of the shuffle table to retrieve a transparency mask from a transparency table. The transparency mask is then ANDed with a coverage mask to generate a new coverage mask. The new coverage mask is then used to determine which samples to be dropped and which samples to be painted with the color of the transparent object. Because of X and Y addresses changes for each pixel, the transparency mask retrieved changes for each pixel, and thus creates a random coverage mask.
The present invention therefore represents an advantage in selecting samples of a pixel by preventing the introduction of visual artifacts when multisampling is used to improve quality of rendered images. The invention prevents unwanted visual artifacts through using a random pattern of kept or discarded samples between adjacent pixels. The present invention also allows finer levels of transparency through providing discreet levels of transparency over a specific region.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after review of the hereinafter set forth Brief Description of the Drawings, Detailed Description of the Invention, and the Claims.

Multisample dithering with shuffle tables


An electrical socket includes a socket body, a central terminal pin, and a curved spring terminal piece. The socket body includes a bottom surface with a dovetail groove, which has a rear end retaining portion that is adapted to receive an engaging end portion of a hollow plug fittingly therein, and a protrusion adapted to engage an annular groove in the plug. The central terminal pin is adapted to be inserted into the plug for electrical connection therewith. The spring terminal piece has a movable portion that is adapted to engage the groove in the plug so as to press the plug against the protrusion such that the plug is clamped between the protrusion and the terminal pin, thereby forming electrical connection with the plug when the plug is inserted into the socket body.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrical socket, more particularly to an electrical socket that is used for recharging electronic equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a conventional electrical socket 1 is adapted to be mounted on a circuit board (not shown), and is used for receiving a hollow plug 2 of an electronic equipment that is to be recharged. The plug 2 includes an engaging end portion 20 having an outer surface formed with an annular groove 21. The conventional electrical socket 1 includes a socket body 11, a central terminal pin 12 fixed within the socket body 11, a first terminal 13 connected fixedly to a lateral side of the socket body 11 and connected electrically to the central terminal pin 12, a second terminal 14 inserted into the socket body 11, and a spring terminal piece 15 adjacent to the second terminal 14.
The socket body 11 includes a wall unit 111 that defines a plug hole 112 for receiving the plug 2 of the electronic equipment therein, and a receiving recess portion 113 that is in communication with the plug hole 112. The plug hole 112 has a diameter, which is much larger than that of the engaging end portion 20 of the plug 2, and has an open end 1121 and a closed end 1122 opposite to the open end 1121. The first and second terminals 13, 14 are isolated electrically from each other. The spring terminal piece 15 includes a positioning portion 151 positioned on the socket body 11, a limiting portion 152 abutting releasably against the second terminal 14, and a curved movable portion 153 interconnecting the positioning and limiting portions 151, 152 and extending into the plug hole 112.
Before the plug 2 of the electronic equipment is inserted into the plug hole 112 in the socket 1, the limiting portion 152 of the spring terminal piece 15 is in electrical contact with the second terminal 14. In actual practice, the spring terminal piece 15 and the second terminal 14 are connected electrically to a light source (not shown), such as a light emitting diode, so that on/off operation of the light source is controlled by electrical connection and disconnection of the spring terminal piece 15 and the second terminal 14.
Referring to FIG. 3, when the plug 2 is inserted into the plug hole 112, it is sleeved directly on the central terminal pin 12 so as to connect electrically with the first terminal 13, thereby permitting recharging of the electronic equipment. The movable portion 153 of the spring terminal piece 15 is pressed downwardly by the plug 2 at this moment so as to move the limiting portion 152 of the spring terminal piece 15 away from the second terminal 14 so that the light source is turned off. When the engaging end portion 20 of the plug 2 is disposed at the closed end 1122 of the plug hole 112, the movable portion 153 of the spring terminal piece 15 engages the groove 21 in the engaging end portion 20 of the plug 2, thereby preventing removal of the plug 2 from the central terminal pin 12. At this moment, the electronic equipment can be recharged.
However, in actual practice, the spring terminal piece 15 of the conventional electrical socket 1 easily experiences fatigue due to frequent plugging and removal of the plug 2 with respect to the electrical socket 1, such that the plug 2 is likely to loosen undesirably from the electrical socket 1. Furthermore, the service life of the conventional electrical socket 1 is shortened.
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical socket that is capable of overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art.
According to the present invention, an electrical socket is adapted for receiving a hollow plug of an electronic equipment therein so as to permit recharging of the electronic equipment. The plug includes an engaging end portion that has an outer surface formed with an annular groove. The socket comprises a socket body made of an insulating material, a central terminal pin, and a curved spring terminal piece. The socket body includes a front surface, a bottom surface, and a protrusion. The bottom surface has a dovetail groove, which is adapted to receive the hollow plug therein and which has an open end that is formed in the front surface of the socket body, and a closed end opposite to the open end of the dovetail groove. The dovetail groove is defined by an inner wall surface, and has a rear end retaining portion that is proximate to the closed end of the dovetail groove and that is adapted to receive the engaging end portion of the plug fittingly therein. The protrusion protrudes from the inner wall surface, and is adapted to engage the annular groove in the plug when the plug is inserted into the socket body. The central terminal pin is fixed within the socket body, extends along the center of the dovetail groove, and is adapted to be inserted into the plug so as connect electrically therewith, thereby permitting recharging of the electronic equipment. The curved spring terminal piece is disposed in the socket body, and has an end fastened to the socket body, and a movable portion that is adapted to engage the groove in the plug so as to be adapted to press the plug against the protrusion such that the plug is clamped between the protrusion and the terminal pin.

Electrical socket with a protrusion and a spring terminal piece for clamping a plug therebetween


For a multi-modal emission tomography system, an improved control system increases the likelihood of optimal image quality, satisfaction of physician goals, and/or avoids repetition in scanning and the corresponding increase in dose burden. The control system is divided into two or more arrangements. One arrangement receives goal information and outputs reconstruction settings and generic scan settings to satisfy the goal information. Another arrangement converts the generic scan settings to emission tomography system-specific scan settings, which are used to detect emissions. The separation of the arrangements allows independent operation so that different system-specific conversions may be used for different systems. Another possible arrangement performs a quality check on the detected emissions, allowing feedback for altering the system-specific scan settings to possibly avoid scan repetition and/or allowing feedforward for reconstruction to optimize the reconstruction settings based on the acquired data to be reconstructed.

The present embodiments relate to emission tomography or other nuclear medical imaging. Example tomography imaging modalities include single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET). A radioactive substance is administered to a patient. An imaging scanner detects the γ-radiation emitted from the patient. The detected emissions are tomographically reconstructed to generate an image object of locations of the emissions in a patient.
Different scans and reconstructions are available, depending on various factors related to the goals of the physician, capabilities of the scanner, and characteristics of the patient. With the advancements in acquisition and reconstruction technology in multi-modal emission tomography, the number of parameters to be adjusted has grown. While multi-modal emission tomography may result in better or more useful information, the added modality scan results in even more settings to be controlled. Manual setup, expert setup, or standardized setup of reconstruction and scanning are typically used, but may not be optimum for the goals, capabilities, and characteristics. It is time consuming and difficult to optimize for each examination. In clinical set up, one tries to set up standardized scan and reconstruction protocols and significant adaptations are discouraged. If adaptation is required, an expert user may be consulted, yet even that user may not have all the information and know-how to optimally set up the examination (e.g., protocols). This circumstance exists for each application and patient. The result is sub-optimal image quality, repeated scans, and/or higher dose burden to the patient just to sub-optimally satisfy the goals.

Multi-modal emission tomography quality based on patient and application


A network system that comprises a plurality of communication apparatuses, each of the communication apparatuses being capable of performing a VLAN setting by using a VLAN number set for a connection port, that sets a VLAN number for each of the communication apparatuses, and that performs communication among cars of a train, wherein in a case where a specific type of packet that disables a VLAN setting is a packet of a multicast address, when a distribution target apparatus is connected to a communication apparatus that has received the specific type of packet, the communication apparatus transfers the specific type of packet to the distribution target apparatus and, irrespective of a VLAN number set for another communication apparatus, regards a VLAN different from a VLAN of the communication apparatus as a same network and transfers the specific type of packet to the another communication apparatus.

Communication using VLANs (Virtual Local Area Networks) has been performed. In a system that shares a network, the VLANs can divide and use the network. For example, in a system in which a plurality of communication apparatuses (hubs) are connected, by performing VLAN settings on the connection ports of the communication apparatuses (the hubs), one network in physical arrangement can be logically operated as a plurality of networks. Such a technology is disclosed in Patent Literatures 1 to 3.

Network system and communication apparatus for performing communication among networks having different VLAN settings


A product cover for the end of wire (1) of spacer meshes, and a processes and a systems for cover placement on ends of said wires (1), The wire ends of transverse wires are formed in a manner resulting in indentations and protrusions on their surfaces, so that the placement of a cover induces flow of its plastic material and creates a stable joining. Covers are serially guided inside a guide so that one of them is guided to a rotor. This rotor is then rotated to line up with the wire and a plunger for placement of the cover. Then, by the action of the plunger, this cover is pushed until fitted on the end of the wire.

The wire reinforcement is typically placed within wooden or metallic forms so as to be spaced at particular distances from the surfaces of the reinforced concrete. For this purpose, there exist spacing meshes which typically comprise small diameter wires that are bent in particular forms so as to be placeable as spacers. Such spacers are situated with their ends on the wooden or metallic form, and thus, after the hardening of the concrete, their ends remain in contact with the environment at the hardened cement's surface. At such locations of contact with the environment, the spacer steel corrodes. As a result of the corrosion progressing to the interior of the reinforced concrete, the steel expands and crumbles the concrete.
In previous attempt to avoid the onset of metal corrosion, the ends of the spacer wires were dipped into resins or plastic, typically in liquid form at high temperature, and were subsequently cooled by air flow that may include forced air. This technique is disadvantageous with respect to complexities of the liquid phase of the cover material, as well as with respect to the time for cooling and solidification of the cover material.
Another technique is the placement of prefabricated plastic covers on the wire ends by mechanisms. According to such state-of-art practices, a significant number of covers fall during handling of the spacer meshes, during transfer, during placement, and during casting of the cement; and thus, the possibility for corrosion remains.

Products, systems, and methods for placement of covers on metallic spacers of concrete reinforcement


An inductor structure implemented within a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) can include a coil of conductive material that includes a center terminal located at a midpoint of a length of the coil. The coil can be symmetrical with respect to a centerline bisecting the center terminal. The coil can include a first differential terminal and a second differential terminal each located at an end of the coil and opposite the center terminal. The inductor structure can include an isolation ring surrounding the coil. In some cases, the inductor structure can include a return line of conductive material positioned on the center line.

The frequency of signals associated with integrated circuits (ICs), whether generated within the IC or exchanged with devices external to the IC, has steadily increased over time. As IC signals reach radio frequency (RF) ranges exceeding a gigahertz, it becomes viable to implement inductor structures within ICs. Implementing an inductor structure within an IC, as opposed to using an external inductor device, typically reduces the manufacturing and implementation costs of the system requiring the inductor. IC inductors can be implemented within a variety of RF circuits such as, for example, low noise amplifiers (LNAs), voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs), input or output matching structures, power amplifiers, and the like. Many of these RF circuits, such as certain VCO architectures, can be implemented as differential circuits that rely on circuit and/or device symmetry to provide maximum circuit performance.
Although IC inductors are advantageous in many respects, IC inductors introduce various non-idealities not present with external or discrete inductors. For example, an IC inductor is typically surrounded by other semiconductor devices that can generate noise. As IC devices reside over a common substrate material that is conductive, signals and noise generated by an IC device can be coupled into an IC inductor built over the common substrate material. Although IC inductors are typically built within one or more metal interconnect layers that reside farthest from the substrate layer, finite parasitic capacitances exist between the substrate layer and the metal interconnect layer(s). These parasitic capacitances can couple signals between the IC inductor and the substrate layer. Further, eddy currents induced within the substrate layer by an IC inductor can generate losses that reduce the quality factor, or so called "Q," of the IC inductor.
Other non-idealities relate to the ability of interconnect lines routed in the vicinity of the IC inductor, particularly large ground and power supply lines, to couple signals both capacitively and inductively to the inductor. In addition, inductive coupling resulting from neighboring metal lines can alter the inductive value and self resonance of an IC inductor.
Each of the non-idealities described can interfere with the implementation of an IC inductor as a consistent and reproducible element whose parameters are independent of the IC environment within which the IC inductor resides.

Symmetrical center tap inductor structure


Novel applications of electroactive polymer materials, particularly of ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC). Such applications include manipulators with combined electromechanical and electroactive actuators. Applications are particularly suitable in low gravity environment.

The robotic applications developed and exploited until today almost exclusively use electromechanical actuators. Even though the technology of electromechanical devices is very well established and has thorough theoretical background, control methods and reliable applications demonstrated during several decades, it is reaching its limits. Such devices comprise rigid links to connect rotating joints, gears and bearings and are, therefore, unavoidably complex, rigid and noisy. At the current state, reducing the size and energy consumption of such devices is extremely challenging task.
An alternative approach is to use shape-changing materials, such as electroactive polymers (EAP), to actuate robotic devices.
Electroactive properties of ionic polymers are caused by mobility or diffusion of ions. EAP materials of this group include carbon nanotubes, conductive polymers, ionic polymer gels and ionic polymer metal composites. Ionic polymers bend when electric stimulation is applied. They produce large displacement when stimulated and operate at low voltages. Because of the dynamic processes inside the materials they do not keep the strain but relax after a while to the initial configuration. Therefore the applications of such materials are usually inspired by aquatic animals, e.g., mimicking motion of a caudal fin, pectoral fins, a mollusk or a tadpole.
FIG. 1 depicts IPMC material sheet in a bent configuration with the opposite driving voltage polarity (A and C) and an initial configuration with no electric stimulus applied (B). Ionic polymer materials are made of a highly porous ion fluorinated polymer, like Nafion®, Flemion®, Teflon® and their modifications, filled with ionic conductive liquid. During material fabrication the proton connected to the terminal group (the chemical unit in the end of a polymer chain), is replaced with a metal ionic cat-ion (Na+, Li+). These cat-ions will dissociate in water, so that terminal groups will have a negative charge and at the same time there will be an excess of free cat-ions in the material (see FIG. 2, to the left). A sheet from this kind of material is then covered with a metal coating, usually platinum or gold.
Since water molecules are dipoles, they orient themselves in electromagnetic field and get attached to the free metal cat-ions. An applied electric field causes an electric current and the cat-ions start to move to one side of the material causing expansion of the material on that side and contraction on the other side (FIG. 2, in the middle).
The bent conformation is an imbalanced situation. Water starts to diffuse in the opposite direction and the polymer sheet relaxes after some time (FIG. 2, to the right). These materials do not keep their position under direct current. At the same time, their action length is remarkable and they operate at low voltage (1.2-7V). The actuator performance of IPMCs depends on their morphology, as well as on other parameters such as membrane thickness, electrodes surface conductivity, solvent type and anion doping. These parameters can be tuned during the manufacturing process. IPMC is therefore an engineering material that can be customized to application requirements.
In addition to actuation properties, IPMC materials can also work as sensors. If the IPMC material is mechanically bent, a voltage is generated between the surface electrodes due to the non-uniform concentration of ions in the membrane. The effect is observed when the sheet is in motion, i.e., the sensor works as an accelerometer. For that reason, IPMC sensors have been investigated as vibration sensors for active noise damping.
However, the signal of the sensor is very week (1 mV-2 mV) while the actuator is at the same time driven with 2 V-4 V input signals. The equivalent circuit in FIG. 3 shows that the IPMC material is essentially an infinite lossy transmission line. Therefore, the signals, traveling back and forth along the material are considerably distorted and delayed. It is difficult to distinguish the sensor signal from the distorted and delayed driving signal.
An alternative way, described in PCT/EE2007/000005 (authors M. Kruusmaa, A. Punning, A. Aabloo), is to use the change of the surface resistance to measure the bending of the actuator. The resistance of the metal surface electrodes of the IPMC sheet (shown as Ra and Rb in FIG. 3) changes during bending and the change of the resistance is highly correlated to the bending curvature. The change of the surface resistance is not caused by the electroactive properties of the IPMC sheet (like in the case of vibration sensors) but by the properties of the metal surface electrode. The resistance of a thin metal coating increases or decreases if the metal layer is compressed or stretched out. This effect can be used to determine the position of the IPMC sheet and a design has been is proposed that permits the IPMC sheet to be used as a self-sensing actuator. The output signal of such a sensor is at least an order of magnitude stronger (10 mV-20 mV) than of the conventional vibration sensor with a very good signal to noise ratio. The sensor signal is at least an order of magnitude stronger and is not distorted by the dynamics of the transmission line. Unlike the conventional vibration sensor this self-sensing actuator gives accurate information about the configuration of the sheet also when the sheet is not in motion. Therefore it can be used as a position sensor but also as an accelerometer if the sensor data is sampled over time.
Compared to electromechanical devices, EAPs have several complimentary advantages. They are lightweight, soft and flexible, easy to miniaturize, and permit distributed actuation and sensing. The behavior of the EAP materials in electric field somewhat resembles the performance of biological muscles, therefore EAP materials are considered suitable for biomimetic devices. Although compared to electromechanical devices, EAPs have low output force or small strain (depending on the material used), high energy consumption and lack of well-established control methods, they are a promising alternative to overcome the drawbacks of bulky, noisy, rigid electromechanical devices.
Short link comprising IPMC material acts similarly to a rotational joint as described in Estonian patent application No EE200700028, filed on 7 Jun. 2007, inventors Kruusmaa et al, applicant Tartu University.
Thus, there is a need for new robotic applications with actuators, based on shape changing materials like ionic polymer metal composite materials.


Methods and systems are directed to allocating costs of storage arrays to logical disks. A fully loaded cost of storage of a storage area network (“SAN”) is calculated based on capital and operational expenditures of the SAN. Data is stored in the SAN in logical groups partitioned into logical disks. The unit rates of the logical groups are calculated from the capacities and utilization of the storage arrays that form the SAN. The unit rate of a logical disk is the unit rate the logical group to which the logical disk belongs. The storage cost of each logical disk is calculated from the unit rate of the logical disk and the utilized capacity of the logical disk. Methods also calculate cost of unallocated capacities of the logical disks, storage arrays, and the SAN, in order to evaluate efficient use of the SAN storage resources.

In recent years, enterprises have shifted much of their computing needs from enterprise owned and operated computer systems to cloud computing providers. Cloud computing providers charge enterprises to store and run their applications in a cloud-computing facility and allow enterprises to purchase other computing services in much the same way utility customers purchase a service from a public utility. A typical cloud-computing facility is composed of numerous racks of servers, switches, routers, and mass data-storage devices interconnected by local-area networks, wide-area networks, and wireless communications that may be consolidated into a single data center or distributed geographically over a number of data centers. Enterprises typically run their applications in a cloud-computing facility as virtual machines ("VMs") that are consolidated into a virtual data center ("VDC") also called a software defined data center ("SDDC"). A VDC recreates the architecture and functionality of a physical data center for running an enterprise's applications.
VDCs store data in storage arrays. Although a typical storage array consists of storage processors, processor enclosures, arrays of tens to hundreds of drives and drive enclosures, depending on the vendor offering storage, the architecture and components of the storage arrays varies widely. The network infrastructure connecting the storage arrays is typically composed of fiber cable, fiber cable over Ethernet, or plain Ethernet and corresponding adapters depending on performance requirements. Storage arrays are typically divided into two categories—Storage Area Network ("SAN") and Network Attached Storage ("NAS"). The difference between a SAN and a NAS is that a SAN is composed of a network of storage arrays, while a NAS is a storage device connected to a network. End users don't save files directly to SANs. Instead, SANs store blocks of data in a network of physical data-storage devices (e.g., tape drives, solid state drives and hard disk drives) for access by the applications running on servers. In contrast, end users can save files directly to a NAS. The hardware architecture, array components and the way storage units are made available by storage systems and consumed by VMs and physical servers are different for the SAN and NAS. For example, a SAN provides logical disks ("LDs") and NAS provides shared volumes to host systems. An LD is a virtual data-storage device that provides an area of usable storage capacity on one or more physical data-storage devices.
However, monitoring all aspects of storage costs for a VDC and fairly allocating this cost to LDs is often challenging for IT managers for the following reasons: 1) It is often challenging to keep track of all storage arrays and their individual components that are used for data storage. 2) Calculation of total cost of ownership of storage is often complicated by the various drive types (e.g. solid state drive and hard disk drives) and component specification (e.g. disk array with 15 slots). 3) Fair allocation of the total storage cost to LDs may be further complicated when the LDs are exposed to external hosts and identify unallocated cost or wastage of storage. In addition, depending on the physical data-storage array architecture, the number of layers between the physical data-storage devices and LDs varies to a great extent. IT managers seek methods and systems to calculate storage costs of logical disks that take into consideration all aspects that attribute to storage expense in a physical data center.

Methods and systems to allocate physical data-storage costs to logical disks


The invention relates to the field of data packet management, and more specifically to the field of managing of data packets in such a manner that power consumption is reduced, such reduction being especially beneficial for portable device applications. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of handling and manipulating data wherein padding and unpadding operations for a packet of data are performed at the transmission/reception of a packet from a network, and data handling is minimized within the portable device. According to another embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of encryption for packet data absent the padding data.

Currently, there exists a standard for transmitting datagrams over Ethernet networks. The basic unit of data transmission over an Ethernet network is a frame wherein the Ethernet frame defines the data layout at the OSI Layer 2 link level. Ethernet has a minimum packet size because the transmission of a packet at the source node without hearing a collision is assumed to be an acknowledgement of the transmission and no collisions are assumed until the source has heard the end of packet transmission.
The length of an Ethernet frame is typically no less than 64 bytes or 512 bits and no more than 1518 bytes. The 64 bytes consist of two 6-byte addresses, 2-bytes of type, 4-bytes CRC, and 46 bytes of data. The exception to the minimum length is the Gigabit Ethernet standard where the minimum packet size is increased to 512 bytes.
A runt packet is then considered as a packet that is smaller than the minimum Ethernet frame size of 64 bytes excluding the preamble. This minimum size is tied to the maximum propagation time of an Ethernet network segment (51.2 microseconds) and it takes approximately 51.2 microseconds to transmit 64 bytes of data. Therefore, every node on the segment is aware that another node is transmitting before the transmission is complete, providing for more accurate collision detection. Typically, if the host has less than 46 bytes of data to send, the host pads bytes to make the data into 46 bytes.
This operation is typically done at the processor or microcontroller in communication with the Ethernet controller.
Furthermore, in some cases, other padding is done to ensure security of the packet over the network. For example, this padding is done to conceal the actual length of the payload or the header.
In wireless communication, it is desired to transmit as few bytes as possible and, therefore, padding is typically undesirable. That said, it must be employed, where necessary, to meet a standard, such as the Ethernet standard. This results in padding and unpadding operations that are wasteful of processing time and, for portable devices, battery power.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for inserting/removal padding from packets


A base unit includes a stator and a base member including a first recess portion, a second recess portion, and at least one through-hole. The first recess portion is arranged on an upper surface of the base member to surround the hole portion and depressed toward the lower surface thereof. The second recess portion is arranged radially outward of the first recess portion and depressed toward a lower surface thereof. The through-hole is arranged inside the first recess portion to extend through the base member. The second recess portion includes a protrusion portion and a third recess portion. The protrusion portion protrudes from the lower surface of the base member toward the upper surface of the base member. The third recess portion is depressed from the lower surface of the base member toward the upper surface of the base member and positioned at the opposite side from the protrusion portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a base unit for use in a motor and a disk drive apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a disk drive apparatus such as a hard disk drive apparatus or the like is equipped with a spindle motor for rotating a disk. The disk drive apparatus includes a disk, a housing, a stator, a FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit), and so forth. The housing includes a cover member, a base member, and so forth.
In recent years, the disk drive apparatus is required to become smaller in height and size. Particularly, in order to further reduce the height of a 2.5 inch disk drive apparatus of 7 mm thickness which is used in small-size disk drive apparatuses, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of a housing or a motor arranged within the housing. In general, the motor includes a rotor hub, a coil, a stator core, a wiring substrate, a base member, etc. When assembling the motor, these components are arranged to axially overlap with one another. For the sake of reducing the thickness of the motor, these components need to be made thin. However, if an attempt is made to reduce the overall height of the motor by reducing the turn number of the coils or the lamination number of the stator core, the magnetic fluxes generated in the stator during the operation of the motor are reduced such that the torque constant is reduced. It is therefore impossible to obtain the torque required in rotating the disk attached to the rotor hub.
In order to reduce the height of the motor, it is therefore necessary to reduce the thickness of the base member, among the components of the motor, which occupies a large proportion in the axial dimension of the motor. However, if the base member is merely made thin, the rigidity of the base member is reduced to a great extent. As a result, if a shock or force is applied from the outside to the base member, it is likely that the base member is broken and that the disk arranged within the housing is damaged.
Accordingly, a demand has existed for a structure capable of obtaining the rigidity of the base member while reducing the overall height of the motor.

Base unit, motor and disk drive apparatus