A pair of collar sections 30a, 30b are formed on both ends in the axial direction of the outer ring 29 for the one-way clutch 10 to protrude radially inwards. The inner diameter D30 of the collar sections 30a, 30b is greater than the outer diameter D33 of the axially oppoite ends of the clutch retainer 16 of the one way clutch 10. The diameter (d16) of the inscribed circle on the inner peripheral surface on both ends in the axial direction of the one-way clutch 10 is less than the outer diameter (D19) of both ends in the axial direction of the inner bearing races 19 of the support bearing 9 provided on the both side of the one-way clutch 10 (d16 less than D19). The inner bearing races 19 are fitted onto and fixed by the outer peripheral surface at the opposite end portions in the axial direction of the sleeve 8.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch.
2. Description of the Related Art
A pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch is fastened to the end of the rotating shaft of an alternator in the generator of an automobile, for example, to drive the alternator by running an endless belt between the drive pulley attached to the end of the engine crankshaft and the pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch.
The construction of the alternator, which generates the power required for the automobile using as the drive source the engine for running the automobile, is disclosed for example in Japanese Patent Publication No. Toku Kai Hei 7-139550. FIG. 3 shows the alternator 1 disclosed in this publication. This alternator 1 comprises a housing 2, and rotating shaft 3 on the inside of the housing 2. The rotating shaft 3 is supported by a pair of rolling bearings 4 such that it rotates freely. There is a rotor 5 and commutator 6 in the middle of the rotating shaft 3. Also, a pulley 7 is fixed to one end (right end in FIG. 3) of the rotating shaft 3 on the section that protrudes to the outside of the housing 2. When installed in an engine, an endless belt is extended around this pulley 7 and the engine crankshaft drives the rotating shaft 3.
Conventionally, a pulley 7 was simply fixed to the rotating shaft 3. However, recently, various kinds of one-way clutch built-in pulleys for alternators have been proposed, wherein when the running speed of the endless belt is constant or increasing, power is freely transmitted from the endless belt to the rotating shaft, and when the running speed of the endless belt is decreasing, the relative rotation between the pulley and the rotating shaft is free, and these pulleys are being used in some applications. For example, a one-way clutch built-in pulley for an alternator as described above has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Publications Nos. Toku Kai Sho 56-101353, Toku Kai Hei 8-226462, Toku Kai Hei 9-229097, Toku Kai Hei 11-22753, Toku Kai Hei 11-159599, Toku Ko Hei 7-72585, and French patent FR2726059A1 etc. Also, this kind of pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch for an alternator is actually being used in some applications.
FIG. 4 shows the pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch for an alternator that is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Toku Kai Hei 11-22753. This pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch for an alternator has a sleeve 8 that can be fitted over the tip end of the rotating shaft 3 (see FIG. 3) of the alternator 1. In addition, there is a pulley 7 located around this sleeve 8 such that it is concentric with the sleeve 8. There is a pair of support bearings 9 and the one-way clutch 10 located between the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve 8 and the inner peripheral surface of the pulley 7.
The support bearings 9 support radial loads that are applied to the pulley 7, while at the same time make it possible for free relative rotation between the sleeve 8 and pulley 7.
The one-way clutch 10 transmits rotation power from the pulley 7 to the sleeve 8 only when the pulley 7 rotates in a specified direction with respect to the sleeve 8.
The one-way clutch 10 has an inner ring 11 for the one-way clutch that is fitted onto and fixed around the middle section in the axial direction of the sleeve 8. There is a plurality of depressions 12, called ramp sections, are formed at uniform intervals all the way around in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring 11 for the one-way clutch. This outer peripheral surface functions as a cam surface 13. In contrast to this, there is an outer ring 14 that is fitted into and fixed around the inner peripheral surface of pulley 7. The middle section in the axial direction of this outer ring 14 functions as the outer ring for the aforementioned one-way clutch 10. Therefore, the inner peripheral surface of the middle section in the axial direction of the outer ring 14 is simply a cylindrical surface generally along its entire length in the axial direction. The one-way clutch 10 comprises the middle section in the axial direction of the outer ring 14, the inner ring 11 for the one-way clutch and a plurality of rollers 15. The plurality of rollers 15 are supported by a clutch retainer 16 such that they rotate freely and can displace a little in the circumferential direction. In addition, there are springs between the column sections of the clutch retainer 16 and the rollers 15. A cylindrical-shaped space is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the cam surface 13 and the inner peripheral surface in the middle section in the axial direction of the outer ring 14. In the cylindrical-shaped space, the springs elastically press against the rollers 15 in the direction of the section where the width in the radial direction becomes narrow.
On the other hand, outer bearing races 18 for the support bearings 9 are fitted around the inner peripheral surfaces of the sections near both ends in the axial direction of the outer ring 14 that is fitted and fixed around the inner peripheral surface of the pulley 7, and inner bearing races 19 for the support bearings 9 are fitted around the outer peripheral surfaces of the sections on both ends in the axial direction of the sleeve 8. Also, a plurality of rolling elements (balls) 22 are located between the outer-ring raceways 20 that are formed around the inner peripheral surfaces of the outer bearing races 18, and the inner-ring raceways 21 that are formed around the outer peripheral surfaces of the inner bearing races 19.
Moreover, an attachment protrusion 17 protruding radially inward is formed part way around in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface of one end (right end in FIG. 4) in the axial direction of the clutch retainer 16. This attachment protrusion 17 is held between the end surface of the inner ring 11 for the one-way clutch and the end surface of the inner bearing race 18 of one of the support bearings (right bearing in FIG. 4).
The reason for using a pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch for an alternator is as follows. There are changes in rotation speed of the engine crankshaft when firing occurs, and in the case of a diesel engine or direct-injection gasoline engine, changes in rotational angular speed of the crankshaft become especially large at low rotational speed such as during idling. As a result, the running speed of the endless belt 23 that extends around the drive pulley that is fastened to the end of the crankshaft also changes small. On the other hand, the rotating shaft 3 of the alternator 1 is rotated and driven by the endless belt 23 by way of the pulley 7, and there is no sudden change due to the inertial mass of the rotating shaft 3 and the rotor 5 and commutator 6 (see FIG. 3) that are fastened to the rotating shaft 3. Therefore, when the pulley 7 is simply fastened to the rotating shaft 3, the number of revolution of the rotating shaft 3 decreases as is when the running speed of the belt drops, so that the generating efficiency of the alternator decreases. At the same time, there is a tendency for rubbing in both directions between the endless belt 23 and the pulley 7 due to the change in the rotational angular speed of the crankshaft.
As a result, stress that repeatedly changes direction acts on the endless belt 23 that it rubs with the pulley 7, and thus slipping occurs easily between this endless belt 23 and pulley 7, or causes the life of the endless belt 23 to be shortened.
Moreover, the drop in the generating efficiency of the alternator 1 described above, and the decrease in life of the endless belt 23 due to friction between the outer peripheral surface of the pulley 7 and the inner peripheral surface of the endless belt 23 are also caused by repeatedly accelerating or decelerating during operation. In other words, during acceleration, the drive force is transmitted from the endless belt 23 to the pulley 7, and during deceleration the endless belt 23 applies a braking force on the pulley 7 that tries to continue rotating due to inertia. Not only does the generation efficiency decrease due to this braking force, but this braking force and the drive force act as an opposite direction friction force on the inner peripheral surface of the endless belt 23, and therefore decreases the life of the endless belt 23.
Particularly, in the case of a vehicle equipped with an exhaust brake, the deceleration that slows the rotation of the crankshaft when acceleration is off becomes large, and the friction force that is applied to the inner peripheral surface of the endless belt 23 due to the braking force becomes large, so as a result there is a large decrease in generating efficiency and life.
Here, a pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch is used as the pulley 7 described above. There is a cylindrical space formed between the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring 11 for the one-way clutch and the inner peripheral surface in the middle section in the axial direction of the outer ring 14. When the running speed of the endless belt 23 is constant or increasing, the rollers 15 of the one-way clutch 10 bite into the section of the cylindrical space where the width in the radial direction becomes narrow, or in other words, they become locked such that rotating power can be freely transmitted from the pulley 7 to the rotating shaft 3. Conversely, when the running speed of the endless belt 23 decreases, the rollers 15 move into the section of the cylindrical space where the width is large such that they can rotate freely, or in other words, they are in the overrun state such that the pulley 7 rotates freely with respect to the rotating shaft 3.
In other words, when the running speed of the endless belt 23 is decreasing, the rotational angular speed of the pulley 7 is slower than the rotational angular speed of the rotating shaft 23, which prevents strong rubbing at the point of contact between the endless belt 23 and the pulley 7. In this way, the generating efficiency of the alternator is maintained, and the direction of the stress acting on the section of contact between the pulley 7 and the endless belt 23 is constant, preventing slipping to occur between the endless belt 23 and pulley 7, and preventing a decrease in the life of the endless belt 23.
Moreover, in the case of the pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch shown in FIG. 4, an attachment protrusion 17 is formed in the circumferential direction around part of the inner peripheral surface on one end in the axial direction of the clutch retainer, and is held between the end surface of the inner ring 11 of the one-way clutch and the end surface (right end in FIG. 4) of the inner bearing race 19 of one of the support bearings 9. Therefore, it is possible to prevent displacement in the axial direction of the clutch retainer 16, and it is possible to cause the clutch retainer 16 to rotate together with the sleeve 8.
In addition, when using the pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch, it is possible to prevent sliding contact with the member (such as the outer bearing race 18) that rotates relative to the clutch retainer 16 due to displacement of the clutch retainer 16 in the axial direction, as well as it is possible to prevent heat that is generated due to this sliding contact. Therefore, it is possible to prevent heat degradation of the grease inside the pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch as well as prevent heat deformation of the clutch retainer 16.
Also, construction of combining a bearing unit together with a one-way clutch, in which the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring for the one-way clutch or the sleeve is a simple cylindrical surface, and in which the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring of the one-way clutch is a cam surface is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Jitu Ko Hei 5-42268 and Japanese Patent Publication Toku Kai Hei No. H7-317808.
In the case of Japanese Patent Publication No. Jitu Ko Hei 5-42268, the protrusion that is formed around the outer peripheral surface on the end in the axial direction of the clutch retainer of the one-way clutch is engaged in a groove section that is formed around the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring for the one-way clutch.
In the case of the construction disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Toku Kai Hei 7-317808, a collar section is formed around the outer peripheral surface on the end in the axial direction of the clutch retainer, and held between the outer ring for the one-way clutch and the support bearing, which is a sliding bearing.
With the construction in either of these publications, it is possible to prevent the clutch retainer from displacing in the axial direction in the same way as in the prior art construction shown in FIG. 3.
In the case of the prior art construction, there is a possibility that the following problems may occur. First, in the case of the construction disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Toku Kai Hei 11-22753 and the construction disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Toku Kai Hei 7-317808 and shown in FIG. 4, it is difficult to handle all of the components of the one-way clutch 10 as one body before the one-way clutch 10 is installed in the pulley apparatus.
For example, in the case of the construction disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Toku Kai Hei 11-22753, neither the outer ring 14 nor the inner ring 11 for the one-way clutch are constructed for preventing the clutch retainer 16 from displacing in the axial direction. Therefore, when handling the one-way clutch 10 separately, it is easy for the clutch retainer 16 and the plurality of rollers 15 that are held by the clutch retainer 16 to come out from the outer ring 14 and the inner ring 11 for the one-way clutch.
Also, in the case of the construction disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Toku Kai Hei 7-317808, the sleeve functions as the inner race of the support bearings or the inner ring of the one-way clutch, so it is not possible to handle the one-way clutch separately. Therefore, in the case of the construction described in these publications, assembly work becomes troublesome.
Moreover, the construction disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Jitu Ko Hei 5-42268 and the construction disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Toku Kai Hei 7-317808 is not suitable for use on the alternator pulley. The reason for this is as follows. In the case of the construction described in these publications, the cam surface is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring of the one-way clutch instead of the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring (or sleeve) of the one-way clutch. The rollers of the one-way clutch are pressed elastically by a plurality of springs toward the section of the cylindrical space between the cam surface and the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring (or sleeve) of the one-way clutch that becomes narrow in the radial direction. Also, when the pulley rotates in a specified direction relative to the sleeve, the rollers are locked, and when the pulley rotates in the opposite direction relative to the sleeve, the rollers are in the overrun state.
However, when the construction disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Jitu Ko Hei 5-42268 or the construction disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Toku Kai Hei 7-317808 is used in the pulley apparatus for driving an auxiliary engine device such as the alternator, the movement of the rollers, due to the centrifugal force acting on the rollers that occurs due to the rotation of crankshaft or alternator rotating shaft, becomes unstable. In other words, the rotational speed of the crankshaft or rotating shaft changes greatly, and so the magnitude of the centrifugal force also changes greatly.
The centrifugal force acting on the rollers in this way presses the rollers against the bottom surfaces of the grooves of the cam surface, and as a result, generates a component force in the direction that causes the rollers to displace along the bottom surface of the grooves. Also, when the rotational speed of the crankshaft or rotating shaft changes in this way, the magnitude of the component force due to the centrifugal force also changes, and the elastic force of the springs required for pressing the rollers is no longer constant.
Therefore, it is not possible to securely obtain a locked state, and during the overrun state, the elastic force applied to each of the rollers becomes too large, and there is a possibility that abnormal heat will be generated due to sliding contact between the rollers and the outer peripheral surface of inner ring of the one-way clutch (or sleeve), or between the rollers and the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring of the one-way clutch.
It is difficult to assemble and use the construction disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Jitu Ko Hei 5-42268 and the construction disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Toku Kai Hei 7-317808 in an auxiliary drive pulley apparatus such as an alternator without the problems described above occurring.
This invention was invented taking the above problems into consideration.
Similar to the prior art construction shown in FIG. 4, the pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch of this invention comprises: a sleeve that can be connected and fixed to the tip end of the rotating shaft; a pulley that is located around this sleeve such that it is concentric with the sleeve; a one-way clutch, which is located in the space between the middle section in the axial direction of the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve and the middle section in the axial direction of the inner peripheral surface of the pulley such that it freely transmits rotating power between the pulley and sleeve only when the pulley rotates in a predetermined direction relative to the sleeve; and a pair of support bearings that are located on both sides in the axial direction of the one-way clutch in the space between the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve and the inner peripheral surface of the pulley such that they support the radial load applied to the pulley and make it possible for the sleeve and pulley to rotate freely with respect to each other.
One feature of the pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch of this invention is that the one-way clutch is a roller clutch comprising: an outer ring for the one-way clutch that is fitted into and fixed around the inner peripheral surface in the middle section in the axial direction of the pulley; an inner ring for the one-way clutch that is fitted onto and fixed around the outer peripheral surface in the middle section in the axial direction of the sleeve; and a plurality of rollers that are held by a clutch retainer between the outer ring and inner ring for the one-way clutch. The support bearings have inner bearing races that are fitted onto and fixed around the outer peripheral surfaces on both end in the axial direction of the sleeve. Also, the diameter of the inscribed circle of the inner peripheral surface on both ends in the axial direction of the clutch retainer is less than the outer diameter of the end surface in the axial direction of the inner bearing race that faces the clutch retainer.
Another feature of the pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch of this invention is that the one-way clutch is a roller clutch comprising: an outer ring for the one-way clutch that is fitted into and fixed around the inner peripheral surface in the middle section in the axial direction of the pulley and has a pair of collar sections that are formed, protruding to the inner-diameter side, on both ends in the axial direction; an inner ring for the one-way clutch that is fitted and fixed around the outer peripheral surface in the middle section in the axial direction of the sleeve, and such that the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring forms a cam surface defined by a plurality of concave grooves that are formed such that the depth in the radial direction becomes larger toward a specified circumferential direction; and a plurality of rollers that are held by a clutch retainer between the outer ring and inner ring for the one-way clutch. Each of the support bearings has an inner bearing race that is fitted onto and fixed around the outer peripheral surfaces closer to both ends in the axial direction of the sleeve.
Also, the inner diameters of the collar sections of the outer ring for the one-way clutch are larger than the outer diameter of the end in the axial direction of the clutch retainer, which is located on the same side as these collars, and the diameter of the inscribed circle on the inner peripheral surface of both ends in the axial direction of the clutch retainer is less than the outer diameter of the end surface in the axial direction of the inner bearing race that faces the clutch retainer.
In the case of the pulley apparatus with built-in one-way clutch of this invention that is constructed as described above, it is possible to regulate the displacement of the clutch retainer of the one-way clutch in the axial direction by the inner bearing races of the support bearings. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the clutch retainer from rubbing against the other components such as the outer ring for the one-way clutch without having to form the clutch retainer into a special shape. Also, it is possible to suppress friction heat that occurs during overrun, so it is possible to prevent heat degradation of the lubrication grease inside the clutch and heat deformation of the components of the clutch.
Furthermore, in the case of this invention, there is a pair of collar sections, protruding to the inner-diameter side, on both ends in the axial direction of the outer ring for the one-way clutch, so before the one-way clutch is installed in the pulley apparatus, the components of the one-way clutch can be handled substantially as one body. Since the one-way clutch can be handled easily, it is possible to improve the ability to install the one-way clutch built-in one-way clutch for an alternator. Also, in the case of this invention, there is a cam surface formed around the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring for the one-way clutch, so during operation, it is possible to stabilize the locked state and overrun state while at the same time suppressing the generation of heat during overrun, even when being used under conditions where the rotational speed changes greatly.

One-way clutch built-in type pulley device


A compact fuel control valve is presented where a hydraulic manifold is used as both a valve bonnet and an actuator seat for the valve actuator. The valve body has a fuel inlet, a fuel outlet and a metering plug opening. A metering plug guide mounted within the metering plug opening and attached to the hydraulic manifold forms a thermal barrier between the valve body and the hydraulic manifold to protect lower temperature components from high temperature gaseous fluids. A valve metering plug is directly coupled to the valve actuator piston. The hydraulic manifold maintains barriers between the hydraulics and the gaseous fuel with redundant seals and leakage paths. An intermediate vent within the hydraulic manifold routed to atmosphere further maintains physical separation of the gas and hydraulic system.

The present invention relates generally to valves, and more particularly relates to hydraulically actuated control valves.
Process control valves are used in many industrial settings for a variety of applications. One application is the control of gas fuel flow to the combustion system of an industrial (or utility) gas turbine wherein the valves used typically require highly linear critical gas flow versus stroke relationship. Typical embodiments of the process control valves used for gas fuel flow control consist of bonnet style valves with a protruding shaft connected to an industrial hydraulic actuator.
Typical designs use industrial standard hardware with a self-contained process valve coupled to a hydraulic cylinder. These designs have two problems. The first problem is that the designs have long lengths of unsupported control surfaces and are massive in terms of size and weight. As a result, the design is susceptible to vibration induced failures. The second problem is that feedback devices, which are used for position control of the valve position, are coupled outside the centerline of the valve/actuator assembly at the end opposite the valve. The long lengths in combination with the temperature differentials from the end to end of the actuator assembly and the off centerline location of the feedback devices leads to degradation of the accuracy of the feedback over all operating conditions.
The invention provides a compact fuel control valve where a hydraulic manifold is used as both a valve bonnet and an actuator seat for the valve actuator. This reduces the number of parts required to maintain functionality while providing adequate structural support of the fuel control valve. The valve body has a fuel inlet, a fuel outlet and a valve metering plug opening. A metering plug guide is mounted within the valve metering plug opening and is attached to the hydraulic manifold, and it forms a thermal barrier between the valve body and the hydraulic manifold to protect lower temperature components from high temperature gaseous fluids. The metering plug guide has an aperture that accepts a valve metering plug that is directly coupled to the actuator piston. The coupling is made within the hydraulic fluid, which provides hydraulic damping of vibrations induced into the coupling.
The hydraulic manifold maintains barriers between the hydraulics and the gaseous fuel. Dual redundant hydraulic seals are between the actuation area and a hydraulic seal leakage path along the metering plug to reduce leakage of hydraulic fluid from the actuation area during operation. Dual redundant gas seals to reduce fuel leakage from the valve body are placed between the valve body and a gas seal leakage path along the metering plug. The hydraulic seal leakage path within the hydraulic manifold is routed into a hydraulic drain connection and the gas seal leakage path is routed to a vent system. An intermediate vent within the hydraulic manifold that is routed to atmosphere further maintains physical separation of the gas and hydraulic system.
These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.

Control valve with integrated electro-hydraulic actuator


A data processing system and method for customizing a user output of a data processing system are disclosed. According to the method, a user preference for an audio or visual user output of a data processing system is determined. In response to determination of a user output having a first audio or visual frequency, the user output is mapped to a second audio or visual frequency in accordance with the user preference to obtain a customized user output. Thereafter, the customized user output is presented by the data processing system. In accordance with one embodiment, the user preference is determined by administering a test of the user's visual or aural acuity.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a method and system for data processing and in particular to a method and system for customizing the output of a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for customizing the output of a data processing system to meet the needs of a visually or aurally-impaired user.
2. Description of the Related Art
The permeation of industrialized nations by computer technology has dramatically expanded the opportunities afforded individuals with physical impairments. For example, through the use of computers, sometimes in conjunction with specialized input devices, speech impairments no longer inhibit the free flow of interpersonal communication. In addition, individuals with physical impairments that curtail physical labor can succeed economically by exploiting the growing demand for computer programmers, operators, designers, and other technical personnel.
The use of computers to facilitate the communication and economic opportunities of individuals with physical impairments has created a market for specialized computer input devices, such as mouth-pieces and modified keypads, that accommodate the needs of impaired individuals. Because consumers of such input devices form a statistically small, specialized market, the specialized input devices tend to be fairly expensive as compared to conventional computer peripheral devices.
Thus, two computer equipment markets have developed--a first that targets individuals with physical impairments that would otherwise inhibit use of computer systems and a second that targets individuals without physical impairments. The present invention includes a recognition that it would be desirable to develop computer systems that can assist individuals with nominal to moderate physical impairments who are to some extent capable, even with difficulty, of utilizing conventional computer systems.

Data processing system and method for customizing data processing system output for sense-impaired users

International Business Machines Corporation


A control for brushless motors having polyphase moving coil armatures, sinusoidal commutation, and integral linear hall effect commutation sensors providing a correction signal such that the sum of the squares of the commutation signals is maintained at a predetermined constant. A sum squared correction means is used to provide an error correction signal feedback to magnetic field sensors or hall effect commutation sensors used to provide a sinusoidal commutation signal for each phase of a three phase moving coil armature such that the sum of the squares of each signal representative of the commutation signal is forced to be a predetermined constant. This has the effect of substantially reducing the motor force or torque variations typically occurring with such brushless electric motors having sinusoidal commutation. The motor force or torque variations are due in part to the hall effect sensor or magnetic field sensor gain and offset errors.

Electric motors are used in many applications for the movement of various mechanical devices. There are many different kinds of electric motors. For example, alternating current synchronous and reduction motors, direct current shunt, series or compound motors.
One type of electric linear motor that is used in precision applications is the brushless motor with permanent magnet stators, polyphase moving coil armatures, sinusoidal commutation, and hall effect commutation sensors. These types of electric linear motors do not have commutation brushes or any other physical contact between the stationary and moving components. Therefore, these motors are preferably used in clean room environments and in the manufacture of semiconductors where a clean environment and precision motion control is required.
While these types of electric motors accomplish the purposes for which they have been intended, there is an ever increasing need to improve the operation and precision control of such electric motors so as to enhance their operation and application to the precision motion control requirements of different manufacturing applications, such as semiconductor manufacturing.

Brushless polyphase reduced force variation motor


A magnetoresistive sensor based on the spin accumulation effect has an in-stack biasing structure with a ferromagnetic biasing layer that is magnetically-coupled orthogonally with the sensor free ferromagnetic layer across a spacer layer. The sensor has an electrically conductive strip with a first tunnel barrier and a free ferromagnetic layer on the front or sensing end of the strip and second tunnel barrier and a fixed ferromagnetic layer on the back end of the strip. A magnetically-coupling spacer layer is formed on the free layer and the ferromagnetic biasing layer is formed on the spacer layer. The magnetically-coupling layer induces direct orthogonal magnetic coupling between the in-plane magnetization directions of the biasing layer and the free layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to magnetoresistive (MR) sensors, such as MR read heads for magnetic recording disk drives, and more particularly to MR sensors based on the spin accumulation effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
One type of conventional MR sensor, often called a "spin-valve" (SV) sensor, has a stack of layers that include two ferromagnetic layers separated by a nonmagnetic spacer layer. One ferromagnetic layer has its magnetization direction fixed, such as by being pinned by exchange coupling with an adjacent antiferromagnetic layer, and the other ferromagnetic layer has its magnetization direction "free" to rotate in the presence of an external magnetic field. With a sense current applied to the sensor, the rotation of the free-layer magnetization relative to the fixed-layer magnetization is detectable as a change in electrical resistance. The SV MR read head used in all current magnetic recording hard disk drives operates with the sense current directed parallel to the planes of the layers in the sensor layer stack, so it is referred to as a current-in-the-plane (CIP) sensor. In a disk drive CIP-SV read sensor or head, the magnetization of the fixed or pinned layer is generally perpendicular to the plane of the disk, and the magnetization of the free layer is generally parallel to the plane of the disk in the absence of an external magnetic field. When exposed to an external magnetic field from the recorded data on the disk, the free-layer magnetization will rotate, causing a change in electrical resistance.
A type of MR read head based on a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) has been proposed. In an MTJ MR read head the nonmagnetic spacer layer between the free and fixed ferromagnetic layers is a nonmagnetic tunnel barrier layer, typically formed of alumina. The MTJ MR read head operates with tunneling current perpendicular to the planes (CPP) of the layers in the sensor stack, and the tunneling current that passes perpendicularly through the layers depends on the relative orientation of the magnetizations in the two ferromagnetic layers.
A type of MR sensor and read head based on "spin accumulation" has been proposed in US 2005/0002128 A1 and US 2004/0257714 A1. This type of sensor is based on the experimental results published by F. J. Jedema et al., "Electrical detection of spin precession in a metallic mesoscopic spin valve", Nature, Vol. 416, April 2002, pp. 713-716. This type of MR sensor has an electrically conductive strip with a first tunnel barrier and a free ferromagnetic layer on the front or sensing end of the strip and second tunnel barrier and a fixed ferromagnetic layer on the back end of the strip. When current is passed from the fixed ferromagnetic layer through the second tunnel barrier into the back end of the strip and the fixed ferromagnetic layer is magnetized in a direction so that the number of spin up electrons in that layer is higher than the number of spin-down electrons, then spin-up electrons accumulate below the second tunnel barrier. However since the strip is nonmagnetic the degree of the spin-accumulation decays exponentially with a characteristic length scale equal to the spin diffusion length of the of the electrons in the strip material. If the front end of the strip is located at a distance about equal to or shorter than the spin diffusion length then the spin accumulation is detected as a voltage across the front end. This voltage depends on the direction of magnetization of the free ferromagnetic layer so that when the free layer is exposed to an external magnetic field the electrical resistance across the first tunnel barrier changes.
For maximum read-head stability and output-linearity without hysteresis in the MR read head based on the spin accumulation effect, the magnetization of the free layer should be maintained in a saturated single domain state in the absence of an external magnetic field. In such a state, the local magnetization everywhere in the free layer, including the ends or side edges, is essentially "longitudinal", i.e., along the length of the free layer and the cross-track direction of the head and parallel to the plane of the magnetic recording medium. The previously-cited references propose longitudinal biasing of the free layer by either ferromagnetic biasing layers located on opposite sides of the free layer or a ferromagnetic biasing layer located in the sensor stack and magnetostatically coupled with the free layer across a nonmagnetic spacer layer. The proposed in-stack biasing approach requires a second antiferromagnetic layer in the sensor to exchange-couple the biasing layer and thus a second annealing step in the presence of an applied field to set the magnetization direction of the biasing layer.
What is needed is an MR sensor based on the spin accumulation effect with improved in-stack biasing of the sensor free ferromagnetic layer.

Magnetoresistive sensor based on spin accumulation effect with free layer stabilized by in-stack orthogonal magnetic coupling

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A new surface impedance model for extraction in lossy two-dimensional (2D) interconnects of rectangular cross-section is presented. The model is derived directly from the volumetric electric field integral equation (EFiE) under the approximation of the unknown volumetric current density as a product of the exponential factor describing the skin-effect and the unknown surface current density on the conductor's periphery. By proper accounting for the coupling between the boundary elements situated on the top and bottom surfaces of conductor with the elements located on the side-walls, the model maintains accuracy from DC to multi-GHz frequencies as well as for conductors with both large and small thickness/width ratios. A generalization of the full-periphery surface impedance model to the three-dimensional electric field integral equation is also described.

Rigorous and efficient electromagnetic modeling of interconnects can be achieved through incorporation of appropriate surface impedance models into the boundary-element discretization techniques such as MoM. To be useful the model must be accurate in the broad range of frequencies spanning from DC to tens of GHz, applicable to the conductor cross-sections with both small and large thickness-to-width ratios, computationally efficient, and also easy to retrofit into existing MoM solvers.
A variety of surface impedance models have been proposed in the past as described in the following documents:    1. J. D. Morsey, et. al., "Finite-Thickness Conductor Models for Full-Wave Analysis of Interconnects With a Fast Integral Equation Method," IEEE Trans. on Advanced Packaging, vol. 27, no. I, pp. 24-33, February 2004.    2. J. Rautio, et al., "Microstrip Conductor Loss Models for Electromagnetic Analysis," IEEE Trans. on Microwave Theory Tech., vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 915-921, March 2003.    3. F. Ling, et. al., "Large-Scale Broad-Band Parasitic Extraction for Fast Layout Verification of 3-D RF and Mixed-Signal On-Chip Structures," IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 264-273, January 2005.    4. A. W. Glisson, "Electromagnetic scattering by arbitrarily shaped surfaces with impedance boundary conditions," Radio Science, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 935-943, November-December 1992,
The above mentioned requirements have not been satisfactorily met thus far by the above noted documents and this consequently motivates the on-going quest for more efficient and accurate models.
Other prior art references relevant to the present invention include the following.    5. C. R. Paul, Analysis of Mulliconduclor Transmission Lines, Ch. 3, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Toronto, CA, 1994.    6. D. DeZutter, et al., "Skin Effect Modeling Based on a Differential Surface Admittance Operator," IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., vol. 53, no. 8, pp. 2526-2538, August. 2005.    7. S. M. Rao, D. R. Wilton, and A. W. Glisson, "Electromagnetic scattering by surfaces of arbitrary shapes," IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., Vol. 30, pp. 409-418, May 1982.    8. K. A. Michalski and D. Zheng, "Electromagnetic scattering and radiation by surfaces of arbitrary shape in layered media, Part I: Theory," IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., Vol. 38, pp. 335-344, March 1990.
Any documents referred to in the accompanying specification are hereby incorporated by reference.

Method and apparatus for broadband modeling of current flow in three-dimensional wires of integrated circuits


A method for preparing a magnetic recording medium comprising a non-magnetic support having coated thereon a magnetic layer of a magnetic coating composition containing ferromagnetic metal particles and a binder, comprising at least (1) a step of mixing and dispersing ferromagnetic metal particles, a binder, and a solvent to prepare magnetic coating composition, (2) a step of adding and mixing lubricating agent therewith and (3) a step of coating the resulting magnetic coating composition on a non-magnetic support.

Magnetic recording media have recently been developed to be used for higher density recording, and attention has shifted from magnetic particles of iron oxide to magnetic metal particles during the development of magnetic particles. As a magnetic recording medium using ferromagnetic metal particles, compact cassette tapes for audio recording has been realized and are now commercially available and widely used (metal cassette tape for metal position use).
Ferromagnetic metal particles enables one to select coercive force from a wide range and have greater magnetic moment than the conventional magnetic particles. Therefore, they can be widely used for various purposes and it seems that ferromagnetic metal particles can be commercially employed in various fields for higher density recording.
However, in preparing magnetic recording media, ferromagnetic metal particles exhibit certain problems due to the large magnetic moment, which is a characteristic feature thereof. That is, since the surface of ferromagntic metal particles is highly active and a large magnetic moment, the ferromagnetic metal particles have poor dispersibility in the binder, and therefore prolonged dispersion treatment has been found necessary, which is industrially disadvantageous. Furthermore, after the dispersion treatment is terminated, the resulting dispersion (a magnetic coating composition) coagulates after it is allowed to stand for a period of time.

Method for preparing a magnetic recording medium


A service crane for a wind turbine is provided. The wind turbine includes a tower and a nacelle mounted to the top of the tower. The service crane is mounted to the nacelle and includes a boom, a hoist rope guided along the boom and a winch capable of reeling in and out the hoist rope for lifting or lowering a load. Furthermore, a nacelle is provided which includes a service crane mounted thereto.

Wind turbines are now frequently being installed as an alternative to conventional power plants that use for example fossil fuels for energy production. Onshore or offshore wind parks may include a number of wind turbines each capable of producing electric power from one to several megawatt. Wind turbines may thus make a substantial contribution to electric power generation. A wind turbine generally comprises a tower on the top of which nacelle is rotatably mounted. A yaw drive may be provided for directing the wind turbine into the wind. It further comprises a rotor including a hub to which one or several rotor blades are mounted, e.g. 3, a generator generating electric energy upon rotation of the rotor and a transformer for transforming the generated electric energy such that it may be fed into the power grid. The wind turbine may of course comprise further components, such as a gear box, inverters, control electronics and the like.
For conversion of wind energy into electrical energy, the moving air rotates the hub via the aerodynamic effect of the rotor blade, the hub turning a rotor of the generator directly or via a gear box. The electrical energy is converted to fit the conditions on the power grid by means of the transformer and a converter unit.
The nacelle of the wind turbine thus comprises several components that may require servicing after a certain period of operation. During service and in the case of a repair, spare parts have to be handled. As most parts are too heavy to be lifted by hand, cranes and lifting devices are used.
For lifting spare parts or tools from the base of the wind turbine tower (e.g. from a base platform, the ground or a vessel/vehicle carrying the parts) up to the nacelle, it is known to mount a crane on top of the nacelle that may perform a lifting operation. Weather conditions, such as strong winds may prevent the operation of such cranes as the load may start to swing. This is a particular problem for offshore wind turbines, where strong winds are often present. By waiting for suitable weather conditions, the servicing of the wind turbine may be delayed, resulting in a prolonged down time of the wind turbine and thus increased expenses or loss of revenue. Also, the crane first has to be brought up to the nacelle and mounted thereto, which is time and labor intensive.
Some nacelles may comprise a platform on which equipment, such as spare parts, may be landed by means of an helicopter (helihoist platform). An external crane may be used for lifting equipment from the helihoist platform into the nacelle.
The equipment, in particular spare parts may need to be positioned inside the nacelle, for which an additional crane is required that transports each part to the location where it is to be mounted. Several cranes and several lifting steps are thus needed.


A method for aligning gesture features of image is disclosed. An input gesture image is captured, and then a closed curve formed by a binary contour image of the gesture image is determined by processing the gesture image. A curvature scale space (CSS) image of the gesture image is drawn based on the closed curve. A convolution operation is performed with respect to the sequence of a coordinate-peak set formed by the CSS image and a predefined function to designate the coordinate with maximal value of integration as a basis point for obtaining a feature parameter of the gesture image. Finally, comparing the feature parameter of the gesture image with each feature parameter of a plurality of reference gesture shapes, thereby determining a gesture shape corresponding to the gesture image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of image recognition and, more particularly, to a method for aligning gesture features of image.
2. Description of Related Art
In the field of gesture recognition, the vision-based static gesture recognition is made possible by recognizing posture or shape of a gesture image. Hence, techniques about extracting and matching gesture features (e.g., posture or shape) of image are critical with respect to image recognition.
Conventionally, curvature scale space (CSS) descriptors are utilized for obtaining a quantitative shape feature description of the object for recognizing gesture features of image, thereby providing a reliable feature description even though the shape of the object being adversely affected by size, rotation angle, and movement.
The conventional method for gesture recognition first captures an input gesture image, and then a closed curve formed by a binary contour image of the gesture image is determined by preprocessing the gesture image. A CSS image of the gesture image is drawn based on the closed curve. Next, a coordinate with a maximal peak in a coordinate-peak set formed by the CSS image is selected as a basis point for alignment. A circular rotation is performed to generate an aligned CSS image according to the basis point for determining feature parameters of the gesture image. Finally, each feature parameter of the plurality of sets of the gesture image is compared with each feature parameter of a plurality of reference gesture shapes represented as a basis point of the maximal peak, thereby determining a gesture shape corresponding to the gesture image.
However, the first several peaks have about equal values while exhibiting significant curvature changes in the CSS image of gesture shape due to rugged shape of static gesture in which peak may occur at each of three recessed portions between fingers except the thumb. Taking the gesture image with five fingers of a hand representing digit "5" as an example, the maximal peak of the CSS image of the gesture image may occur at the recessed portion between the thumb and index finger, or at the recessed portion between the index and middle fingers. The CSS images represent the same gesture shape no matter where the maximal peak occurs, but the image recognizer may determine different results with the influence of different maximal peaks. Furthermore, the image recognizer may also determine incorrect result when the CSS image is interfered by noise resulted in some other greater peaks. Due to the local limitation, the curvature can only record the "local" curved degree without labeling the size of the whole recessing or protruding area according to the whole contour. Thus, the conventional image recognizer is unreliable and cannot directly determine the position of fingers in the image.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for aligning gesture features of image

Industrial Technology Research Institute


An information processing apparatus estimates a position of interest and/or a direction of interest in which a user viewing a video displayed by a display apparatus is potentially interested, the position of interest and the direction of interest being other than a position to which a line of sight of the user is directed, and changes content of the video to be displayed by the display apparatus according to a result of the estimation.

There is a known technique that identifies, in the case of presenting a video to the user, a point of regard of the user (a position to which the line of sight of the user is directed) using a method of detecting the orientation of the user's pupil, for example. Using such a technique, it is possible to identify, for example, which object the user is paying attention to among a plurality of objects appearing in the video.

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program


An image forming apparatus which is connected to a host apparatus, the image forming apparatus including a first memory, a second memory, a universal serial bus (USB) interface to receive a USB control signal or a USB data signal from the host apparatus, and a central processing unit (CPU) operating in a normal mode using the first memory or a power saving mode using the second memory. If the USB data signal is input in the power saving mode, the CPU activates the first memory and converts the power saving mode into the normal mode, and, if the USB control signal is input in the power saving mode, the CPU retains the power saving mode and performs an operation corresponding to the USB control signal using the second memory. Accordingly, the power saving mode is realized effectively.

1. Field
Aspects relate to an image forming apparatus, a system on chip (SoC) unit, and a driving method thereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus and a SoC unit which have a universal serial bus (USB) communication function, and a driving method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A power saving mode refers to a mode in which power supplied to most of the modules is interrupted or minimized in order to minimize power consumption when a system is idle. In order to reduce standby power, a method of interrupting power supplied to a main memory (an external dynamic random access memory (DRAM) in general) or getting a system in a self refresh state and then driving a program in an unused internal memory of a SoC (an internal static random access memory (SRAM) in general) may be used. In general, the SRAM uses a low capacity memory of about 128 KB.
However, if it is necessary to transmit a great amount of data as in a USB driver for a printer or a mass storage device or if the number of supported interfaces increases, a space occupied by stack increases and thus it is difficult to perform all functions of the USB driver in the low capacity SRAM.
Also, since the SRAM is expensive, a high capacity SRAM is ineffective in view of a cost.
If an apparatus used as a USB device interrupts power supplied to the external DRAM in order to enter the power saving mode, the USB driver operating in the external DRAM is also stopped so that the USB device does not communicate with a host device. In particular, in the case of a printer which receives a specific command from a host apparatus through a USB, the printer is not able to perform its original function (a problem that a personal computer recognizes the printer as being disconnected). Therefore, in the related art, the external DRAM is normally operated even in the power saving mode.
However, if power continues to be supplied to the external DRAM, standby power is consumed. On the other hand, if power supplied to the DRAM is interrupted in order to reduce power consumption, the USB driver operating in response to the external DRAM is also stopped so that communication using the USB is impossible. However, in this case, if a program for checking an apparatus status using the USB gets access to the apparatus, it determines that power is turned off and thus there is an inconvenience in using a service. For example, if a personal computer is connected to a printer through a USB and a print monitoring program is installed in the PC, there is a problem that the PC may recognize the printer as being in an abnormal state or being disconnected when the DRAM of the printer is turned off and the USB driver does not operate.

Image forming apparatus, system on chip unit and driving method thereof


Method and apparatus for the nondestructive testing of rock samples as a function of time are disclosed. A rock sample is placed in a sample vessel which simulates in-situ wellbore conditions of pressure, temperature and fluid effects. Ultrasonic signals are transmitted through the sample and the transit time is measured. The measurements are repetitively performed and the time history of the development of strength is recorded in order to determine when the rock sample begins to weaken.

Wellbore stability problems are common in the drilling of oil and gas wells. Wellbore instability is indicated when a wellbore collapses causing pipe sticking, when unstable formations slough cavings into the wellbore, or when a wellbore excessively enlarges. The formations that usually cause wellbore instability are shale and mudstone. A shale is a relatively impermeable formation that contains compacted fine grain sediments and reactive clays. Usually, shale formations are low strength, plastically deformable rocks that are reactive to drilling fluids.
Shale formation evaluation has historically been to identify the types and amounts of clays in the formation, to gauge the degree of dispersion of unstressed cuttings when exposed to mud, and to measure the unstressed swelling of the shale when exposed to fluids. These evaluation techniques fail to consider any rock mechanical properties, and therefore, have not proven to be very effective in predicting wellbore stability or as aides for choosing drilling muds that prevent or delay wellbore destabilization.
The triaxial compression test is the most common test method used to investigate rock mechanical properties. In the triaxial test, a jacketed cylindrical rock sample is axially loaded while a confining pressure is applied. In many cases the testing is made without provision to control rock pore fluid pressure, this is described as undrained tests. When pore fluid pressure is measured and controlled, the test is considered a drained test. Typically, the axial load is compressive and increased while holding the confining pressure constant until the rock sample reaches some maximum axial distortion. Determination of rock mechanical properties using triaxial apparatus in drained and undrained modes is commonplace in mining and excavating activities.
In the conventional triaxial test and in most analyses of rock stresses, the force components of the loading on the rock specimen are resolved into three principal components, .sigma..sub.1, .sigma..sub.2, and .sigma..sub.3, with .sigma..sub.1 .gtoreq..sigma..sub.2 .gtoreq..sigma..sub.3. In the triaxial test, .sigma..sub.1, the greatest principal stress is the axial load and .sigma..sub.2, the intermediate principal stress, equal to .sigma..sub.3, the least principal stress, and applied by confining pressure. The confining pressure is a hydraulic pressure provided by a hydraulic fluid such as oil or water inside the test cell. Most of the testing done to date has been related to determining a maximum axial stress (or .sigma..sub.1) achieved under test conditions. This value is generally considered the compressive strength of the material. Another test method that utilizes more complicated means of applying strains and stresses is called the polyaxial test. Square cross section rectangular rock specimens are loaded axially as in the triaxial test, but, instead of a confining pressure, a system of four flat-jacks or a system of pistons provide lateral restraint. Using apparatus like these, values of intermediate principal stress greater than the least principal stress are possible. Analysis of test results for both the triaxial test and the polyaxial test is simplified by the application of homogeneous stresses to the sample.
The current method for determining well bore stability is to obtain shale samples from downhole cores or surface outcroppings, determine the mechanical properties of the sample with a series of triaxial tests, estimate the downhole stresses and calculate the maximum stress level that allows the wellbore to remain stable. The calculation method used for this will be based on some yield criterion. As described in G. F. Fuh's "Use of Borehole Stability Analysis for Successful Drilling of High-Angle Hole", the most widely used stability criteria is called the Extended Von Mises yield criteria. This mechanical approach to the stabilization of wellbores will probably fail in many situations.
This has proven inadequate because a number of areas where the triaxial tests may be misleading when related to wellbore stability have been identified. They fall into two categories. The first category relates to mechanical factors and their incompatibility with a drilling wellbore. These factors include the geometry of the test, the loading path and strain rate for the test, and the destructive nature of the test. The second category relates to the drilling fluid and the effects of exposure on the rock properties under downhole stress conditions. These factors include the hydration of the clay containing shale when exposed to drilling fluids, osmotic effects that may cause formation strengthening or weakening, cation exchanged phenomena that may alter the strain behavior, and chemical alteration from alkali that can prevent or promote rock failure.
The failure characteristics of many materials can depend on the order and timing of stress application. Field experience and laboratory testing to date indicates that shale is one of these materials that is load path dependent. Post failure properties are even more load path dependent than the failure characteristics with sedimentary rocks. In almost all cases of wellbore instability, the evidence of failure is not immediate, but occurs days, weeks, or even months after the wellbore is drilled and prior to running of casing. This suggests that the failure of the rock occurs after a long period of time under a high stress level. Conventional testing cannot re-create these long periods at high stress levels because the rock fails quickly in a conventional triaxial test under steadily increasing axial stress at high strain rates. Using a constant stress level over a long period of time is not practical as it would effectively keep expensive test equipment occupied for a prolonged period, unacceptably reducing equipment throughput. Also, since most rock weakening occurs with exposure to drilling fluids, conventional equipment (triaxial and polyaxial test cells) would not determine fluid effects.
Both of the test methods discussed to this point, triaxial testing and polyaxial testing, rely on sample failure to determine the ultimate strength of the rock. Changes in the rock with different confining stresses cannot be gauged without the stressing of the rock to a failure point. This sort of testing requires that many samples be tested to explore the rock failure "envelope" for a particular rock sample. With most plastic rocks like the shales, a minimum of two triaxial tests are required to adequately describe the rock failure mechanism. If long term loading effects and the effect of intermediate principal stress are also to be gauged, a long term research project is probably required. Large scale research projects, aside from being costly, are not practical in a field service environment and certainly are not desirable situations for someone trying to drill a troublesome shale.
The destructive nature of these tests poses interesting questions when interpretation of the results is needed. This is particularly true when the results are to be used to gauge the stability of a wellbore. Information from mining and excavation processes indicates that proper support of failed rock can produce a stable excavation, even with the strength of the material exceeded in portions of the rock body. The fact is that shear failure of rock surrounding a wellbore does not imply that wellbore is unstable. Determining if failed rock can support enough of the rock stresses requires a geometry more comparable to the wellbore than the conventional tests.
Hydration of clays that exist within the shale matrix are felt to increase the effective stress on the shale body. These increases in effective stress can reduce the strength of a shale and cause it to fail. The quantification of hydration effects is particularly difficult as the effects are dependent on the previous stress state and current stress state. Exposure of shale to in situ stress levels and drilling fluid is the most applicable method assess hydration effects. One approach used today has been to triaxially stress a shale sample and drill in with a mud.
Related to hydrational stresses, osmotic effects reflect the different salts and salt concentration present in the drilling fluid and shale. When the salt concentration between the mud and the shale is different, and osmotic pressure exists that can cause fluid diffusion from the shale into the mud. This diffusion can help destabilize a wellbore. Primary osmotic effects are not stress related, but secondary osmotic effects from hydrational pressures can be significant.
Clays occur with charge deficiencies within their crystalline structure that encourages the adsorption of cations like sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), and calcium (Ca++). Under the right conditions of temperature, stress, and concentration, the clay's existing adsorbed cations can be displaced by another species of cation. This can cause the clay to change properties and will affect the properties of a shale containing these clays.
The chemistry of a mud can have a profound effect on the fabric of a shale. Alkali in the mud can cause the weakening of the shale or can alter it to form a stronger material. The presence of clay dispersants and deflocculants can cause softening of the wellbore surface. Chemical alteration and shale stability should be determined at downhole conditions. Chemical alteration effects can be much different for shale in an unstressed state compared to effects in a stressed state.
Heretofore, many processes have been utilized in attempting to test shale under conditions of near downhole stress. Polyaxial and triaxial compression tests have been attempted. However, these methods have not been overly successful because they fail to consider rock mechanical properties and the effects to the sample because of conditions of downhole stress and pore pressure with exposure to drilling fluid at in situ temperature and pressure. There is therefore a need for an improved apparatus and method of evaluating rock properties under downhole conditions that is easy and cost effective to conduct.

Method and apparatus for wellbore stability analysis


A bearing dismounting device includes a body, a rod, several clamping arms, a tightening element, and an adjusting element. Each of the clamping arms is pivotally installed around the body. The center of the body has a through hole for the rod to mount therein. One end of the rod has a positioning part, and its other end has an operating part. Each of the clamping arms extends a buckling part. The central position on the outer side of each of the clamping arms has an accommodating part. The tightening element surrounds the accommodating parts of the clamping arms. Both ends of the tightening element have an adjusting element, respectively, for urging against the tightening element, thereby positioning the clamping arms.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a dismounting device and, in particular, to a device that dismount a bearing from an axle.
2. Related Art
Traditionally, one often uses a hammer to hit a bearing in order to dismount it from an axle. However, such a method may easily make the bearing oblique with respect to the axle, making it more difficult to dismount. Moreover, if the bearing is still in good condition and is only dismounted for other purposes, hitting the bearing is likely to cause damages thereon. Apparently, the conventional bearing dismounting method needs to be improved.


The present invention relates to a method and system for performing a finite element simulation. Embodiments of the present invention determine accurate contact simulations. A method according to the principles of the present invention begins by obtaining a first finite element model and a first computer aided design (CAD) model that the first finite element model represents. Next, a finite element simulation is performed using at least the first finite element model and the first CAD model. According to an embodiment of the present invention, performing the finite element simulation comprises determining one or more variations between the first finite element model and the first CAD model.

The invention generally relates to the field of computer programs and systems, and specifically to the field of computer aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE), modeling, and simulation.
A number of systems and programs are offered on the market for the design of parts or assemblies of parts. These so called CAD systems allow a user to construct and manipulate complex three-dimensional models of objects or assemblies of objects. CAD systems thus provide a representation of modeled objects using edges or lines, in certain cases with faces. Lines, edges, faces, or polygons may be represented in various manners, e.g., non-uniform rational basis-splines (NURBS).
These CAD systems manage parts or assemblies of parts of modeled objects, which are mainly specifications of geometry. In particular, CAD files contain specifications, from which geometry is generated. From geometry, a representation is generated. Specifications, geometry, and representations may be stored in a single CAD file or multiple CAD files. CAD systems include graphic tools for representing the modeled objects to the designers; these tools are dedicated to the display of complex objects—the typical size of the file representing an object in a CAD system ranges, but is typically on the megabyte order of magnitude for a part. An assembly may contain thousands of parts, and an assembly file is correspondingly large. A CAD system manages models of objects, which are stored in electronic files.
The advent of CAD and CAE systems allows for a wide range of representation possibilities for objects. One such representation is a finite element analysis (FEA) model. The terms FEA model, finite element (FE) model, finite element mesh, and mesh are used interchangeably throughout this application. A FE model typically represents a CAD model, and thus, may represent one or more parts or an entire assembly. A FE model is a system of points called nodes which are interconnected to make a grid, referred to as a mesh. The FE model may be programmed in such a way that the FE model has the properties of the underlying object or objects that it represents. When a FE model is programmed in such a way, it may be used to perform simulations of the object that it represents. For example, a FE model may be used to represent the interior cavity of a vehicle, the acoustic fluid surrounding a structure, and any number of real-world objects, including medical devices such as stents. When a given FE model represents an object and is programmed accordingly it may be used to simulate the real-world object itself. For example, a FE model representing a stent may be used to simulate the use of the stent in a real-life medical setting.
The usefulness of a finite element simulation however is limited by the accuracy of the simulation itself. For example, a common error in finite element simulations is a penetration, i.e., the simulation generating a result indicating that a surface of a FE model has been breached, or has breached a surface of another FE model, or a false gap between two surfaces that are in contact. While there are existing solutions to compensate for these errors, and enhance the accuracy of the finite element simulation, the existing solutions are inadequate.
Finite element simulations often involve contact between curved surfaces. A successful finite element simulation of the contact between curved surfaces typically relies on good resolution of these interfaces. However, faceted representations of surfaces based on exposed sides of finite elements are often not highly representative of the true geometry. This frequently results in various difficulties in robustly getting a simulation started and often causes significant inaccuracy to solution results of interest.
Two methods exist in the art to handle these errors. One is known as the Isogeometric Finite Element method, in which the finite element formulation is directly based on CAD-type spatial interpolation (NURBS, etc.). Professor Thomas J. R. Hughes has been a lead researcher and proponent of this approach. Some form of this approach has been adopted in LS-Dyna® and perhaps other CAD Systems.
Another known method for handling these errors is through circumferential and spherical smoothing capability. With this capability, the user indicates the approximate cylindrical axis for circumferential smoothing or the approximate spherical center for spherical smoothing. If the CAD geometry is known the process will automatically write the cylindrical axis or spherical center for portions of finite element based surfaces whose associated CAD geometry is precisely axisymmetric or spherical, respectively. This method introduces corrections to penetration/gap distance calculations based on differences between initial CAD and finite-element representations of a given surface.
Disadvantages of the Isogeometric Finite Element method include a high level of connectivity resulting in quite a full population of a stiffness matrix. Also a higher-order of continuity of interpolators can be disadvantageous for some types of deformation modes. Further, the method is non-intuitive (for example control points are not on the true surface).
Drawbacks and limitations of the circumferential/spherical smoothing method include the tediousness of operation for users to specify the cylindrical axes or spherical center in some cases. Further, this method is only applicable to certain surface shapes.

CAD-based initial surface geometry correction


A method of generating a collagen fiber is disclosed. Fibers generated thereby are also disclosed as well as scaffolds comprising such fibers.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to a method of generating collagen fibers.
Collagen is the principal structural protein in the body and constitutes approximately one-third of the total body protein. It comprises most of the organic matter of the skin, tendons, bones and teeth and occurs as fibrous inclusions in most other body structures. Some of the properties of collagen are its high tensile strength; its ion exchanging ability, due in part to the binding of electrolytes, metabolites and drugs; its low antigenicity, due to masking of potential antigenic determinants by the helical structure, and its low extensibility, semipermeability, and solubility. Furthermore collagen is a natural substance for cell adhesion. These properties make this protein suitable for fabrication of bioremodelable research products and medical devices such as implantable prostheses, cell growth substrates, and cellular and acellular tissue constructs.
Naturally, collagen is secreted by cells as a long triple-helical monomer, which polymerizes spontaneously into fibrils and strands, which often have a preferential orientation essential to the function of tissues such as skin, bone and nerve.
The exact structure of the collagen fibril is still unknown, but increasingly detailed models are becoming available, emphasizing the relation between fibril structure and function. Current models hint at a semi-crystalline (liquid crystal like) structure, combining a highly ordered arrangement in the axial direction and a short-range liquid-like order in the lateral direction.
Collagen in its monomeric form is soluble in cold acidic pH (˜pH 2) solutions, and can be precipitated in the form of fibrils by neutralizing the pH, increasing the temperature and/or the ionic strength. Fibrillogenesis is entropy driven—the loss of water molecules from monomer surfaces drives the collagen monomers out of solution and into assemblies with a circular cross-section, so as to minimize surface area.
The fibrils formed in-vitro display D-banding pattern of 67 nm wide cross striations typical of natural collagen fibrils formed in-vivo, but lack altogether the macroscopic order that is the basis of structural tissues. Fibrils precipitated out of bulk solutions form an entangled mesh reminiscent of spaghetti and not the neatly ordered arrays of fibrils observed in nature.
Collagen can be deposited from solution by a variety of processes including casting, lyophilization, electrospinning and other processes well known to one skilled in the art. In most of these procedures, collagen fibers of widely varying diameters and lengths from the micrometer range typical of conventional fibers down to the nanometer range are formed. Owing to their small diameters, electrospun fibers possess very high surface-to-area ratios and are expected to display morphologies and material properties very different from their conventional counterparts occurring in nature.
Numerous attempts to direct or align collagen fibrils for manufacturing of collagen matrices have been performed, employing various methods. Major efforts are aimed at creating 2D (collagen surface) or 3D (collagen scaffold) matrices. Exemplary methods include: alignment by surface templating, chemical patterning, nanolithography, electrochemical fabrication, use of a magnetic field, and by shear flow.
In vitro, collagen displays mesophase (liquid crystalline) properties at concentrations above ˜20 mg/ml (depending on acid concentration of the solvent). At concentrations between ˜20 to 50 mg/ml diffuse nematic phases appear in the bulk isotropic solution, observed as birefringent flakes. When the collagen concentration is increased, precholesteric patterns form—observed as spherulites, bands, or zigzag extinction patterns. Further increase in the concentration leads to formation of cholesteric patterns that become more and more compact until the entire sample displays characteristic fingerprint pattern.
At concentrations above 150 mg/ml, collagen fibrillar aggregates start to appear even in acidic solution, displaying the 67 nm banding typical of collagen fibrils, in a process reminiscent of a cholesteric-to-smectic (N*/SmA) transition.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,057,023 teaches spinning of liquid crystalline silk to generate silk fibers.
U.S. Patent Application No. 20070187862 teaches spinning a solution of liquid crystalline silk, wherein the solution is devoid of organic solvents to generate silk fibers.
U.S. Patent Application No. 20090069893 teaches formation of oriented collagen based materials from mesophase collagen by application of a shear force.
WO2011/064773 teaches generation of fibers from a solution of mesophase collagen.
Yaari et al., TISSUE ENGINEERING: Part A, Volume 19, Numbers 13 and 14, 2013, pages 1502-1505 teaches generation of fibers from a solution of mesophase collagen.
Additional background art includes Yaari et al., ACS Biomaterials Sci. Eng. Pages 349-360, Feb. 15, 2016.


A beaded composite panel is fabricated using composite plies. An opening is formed in each of plies, and each ply is laid up on a bead feature and drawn down over the bead feature in the area of the opening so as to widen the opening into a gap allowing the ply to conform to the contour of the bead feature. Patches are fabricated and placed on the plies overlying over the openings. The laid-up plies are compacted and cured.

1. Field
The disclosed embodiments generally relate to stiffened composite parts, and deal more particularly with a method of fabricating beaded composite panels.
2. Background
Composite parts such as panels may be stiffened to resist bending moments using a variety of techniques. One such technique involves forming integral structural features, referred to as "beads", into the panel during layup. Bead-stiffened panels may be fabricated by laying up prepreg plies on a tool that includes raised bead features on a tool surface that determines the shape into which the panel is formed. The tool may also be used to compact and cure the layup.
Beads of sufficiently effective height may be difficult to form because of the difference in effective length that the fibers in the ply must cover; some fibers extend over the flat areas of the tool while other fibers must extend up and over the bead features. Also ply wrinkling may result in the transition areas between different developed fiber lengths.
One solution to the problem mentioned above involves using larger pieces of prepreg than would otherwise be necessary, which are hand-worked down over the bead features while attempting to smooth out wrinkles and avoid excessive applied tension. Another solution involves sandwiching composite plies between sheets of a carrier material such as aluminum sheet metal which are used to mechanically force the plies down over the beads features while maintaining tension in the sandwich. This technique, however, requires the use of specialized equipment and limits the size of the panel to that of the equipment while requiring more consumable materials that are single use. Moreover, because the forming process is hidden from view until it is completed, problems such as ply wrinkling, deformation or breakage may not be detected until the ply has been formed. Still another method involves using specialized "extra-formable" material forms, however these forms are more costly than standard materials and may not be approved or qualified for use in forming certain types of parts.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of making bead-stiffened composite parts using standard materials and relatively simple tools which may reduce or substantially eliminate wrinkling and/or unacceptable distortion of ply materials during the bead forming process.


A laminated film structure is disclosed comprising multiple ferromagnetic layers achieving improved data recording performance. A non-magnetic spacer layer is disposed between an upper ferromagnetic layer and an antiferromagnetic coupled (AFC) structure. The AFC structure is comprised of a ferromagnetic layer and an antiferromagnetic slave layer. The ferromagnetic layer in the AFC structure, referred to as lower ferromagnetic layer, may contain tantalum to promote chromium segregation at the grain boundaries to achieve magnetic decoupling of the grains with relatively thin boundaries, improving medium signal-to-noise ratio while maintaining good thermal stability of the medium. In some embodiments, the interlayer is a five-element alloy such as a CoCrPtBTa alloy.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to laminated magnetic thin films for magnetic recording and more particularly to magnetic thin films having multiple de-coupled ferromagnetic layers.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical head and disk system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 may include a magnetic transducer 102 supported by a suspension 104 as it flies above the disk 106. The magnetic transducer 102, usually called a "read/write head" or "slider," may include elements that perform the task of writing magnetic transitions (the write head 108) and reading the magnetic transitions (the read head 110). The electrical signals to and from the read and write heads 110, 108 travel along conductive paths (leads) 112 which are attached to or embedded in the suspension 104. The magnetic transducer 102 is positioned over points at varying radial distances from the center of the disk 106 to read and write circular tracks (not shown). The disk 106 is attached to a spindle 114 that is driven by a spindle motor 116 to rotate the disk 106. The disk 106 comprises a substrate 118 on which a laminate 120 having multiple layers is deposited. The laminate 120 typically includes ferromagnetic layers in which the write head 108 records the magnetic transitions in which information is encoded.
Extremely small regions, or bits, on the ferromagnetic layers are selectively magnetized in chosen directions in order to store data on the disk 106. To increase the amount of data that can be stored on the disks 106 the number of bits per unit area, storage density, must be increased.
As the storage density of magnetic recording disks has increased, the product of the remanent magnetization Mr (the magnetic moment per unit volume of ferromagnetic material) and the magnetic layer thickness t has decreased. Similarly, the coercive field or coercivity (Hc) of the magnetic layer has increased. This has led to a decrease in the ratio Mrt/Hc. To achieve the reduction in Mrt, the thickness t of the magnetic layer can be reduced, but only to a limit because the layer will exhibit increasing magnetic decay, which has been attributed to thermal activation of small magnetic grains (the superparamagnetic effect). The thermal stability of a magnetic grain is to a large extent determined by KuV, where Ku is the magnetic anisotropy constant of the layer and V is the volume of the magnetic grain. As the layer thickness is decreased, V decreases. If the layer thickness is too thin, the stored magnetic information will no longer be stable at normal disk drive operating conditions.
One approach to the solution of this problem is to move to a higher anisotropy material (higher Ku). However, the increase in Ku is limited by the point where the coercivity Hc, which is approximately equal to Ku/Mr, becomes too great to be written by a conventional recording head. A similar approach is to reduce the Mr of the magnetic layer for a fixed layer thickness, but this is also limited by the coercivity that can be written. Another solution is to increase the intergranular exchange, so that the effective magnetic volume V of the magnetic grains is increased. However, this approach has been shown to be deleterious to the intrinsic signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the magnetic layer.
It is known that substantially improved SNR can be achieved by the use of a laminated magnetic layer of two (or more) separate magnetic layers that are spaced apart by a nonmagnetic spacer layer. This discovery was made by S. E. Lambert, et al., "Reduction of Media Noise in Thin Film Metal Media by Lamination", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 26, No. 5, September 1990, pp. 2706-2709, and subsequently patented in IBM's U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,288. The reduction in intrinsic media noise by lamination is believed due to a decoupling of the magnetic interaction or exchange coupling between the magnetic layers in the laminate. The use of lamination for noise reduction has been extensively studied to find the favorable spacer layer materials, including Cr, CrV, Mo and Ru, and spacer thicknesses, from 5 to 400 angstrom, that result in the best decoupling of the magnetic layers, and thus the lowest media noise. This work has been reported in papers by E. S. Murdock, et al., "Noise Properties of Multilayered Co-Alloy Magnetic Recording Media", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 26, No. 5, September 1990, pp. 2700-2705; A. Murayama, et al., "Interlayer Exchange Coupling in Co/Cr/Co Double-Layered Recording Films Studied by Spin-Wave Brillouin Scattering", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 27, No. 6, November 1991, pp. 5064-5066; and S. E. Lambert, et al., "Laminated Media Noise for High Density Recording", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 29, No. 1, January 1993, pp. 223-229. U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,796 and the related paper by E. Teng et al., "Flash Chromium Interlayer for High Performance Disks with Superior Noise and Coercivity Squareness", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 29, No. 6, November 1993, pp. 3679-3681, describe a laminated low-noise disk that uses a discontinuous Cr film that is thick enough to reduce the exchange coupling between the two magnetic layers in the laminate but is so thin that the two magnetic layers are not physically separated.
Increased storage density while maintaining good thermal stability may be achieved by two ferromagnetic films antiferromagnetically coupled together across a nonferromagnetic spacer film. Some laminates may include two ferromagnetic films decoupled from one another and a third ferromagnetic film antiferromagnetically coupled to one of the ferromagnetic films. The third film is typically referred to as the antiferromagnetic slave layer. Because the magnetic moments of the two antiferromagnetically-coupled films are oriented antiparallel, the net remnant Mrt of the ferromagnetic layers is reduced by the Mrt of the antiferromagnetic slave layer. This reduction in Mrt is accomplished without a reduction in the thermal stability of the recording medium because the volumes of the grains in the antiferromagnetically-coupled films add constructively. The medium also enables much sharper magnetic transitions to be achieved with reduced demagnetization fields, resulting in a higher linear bit density for the medium.
In view of the foregoing it is clear that laminated magnetic thin films for magnetic recording must have a high signal-to-noise ratio. Accordingly, it would be advancement in the art to provide a laminated magnetic thin film with increased the signal-to-noise ratio compared to currently available media having multiple ferromagnetic layers with or without antiferromagnetically coupled layers.

Laminated antiferromagnetically coupled media with decoupled magnetic layer


A bandpass filter includes three resonators of which adjacent two are electromagnetically coupled to each other, and two coupling paths connected in parallel for forming capacitive coupling between non-adjacent two of the resonators. Each of the two coupling paths includes at least one capacitor and an inductor connected in series. The two coupling paths function to form an attenuation pole at a frequency lower than the passband frequencies in the pass attenuation characteristics of the bandpass filter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a layered bandpass filter including three or more resonators that are provided within a layered structure including a plurality of stacked dielectric layers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently employed communication devices include those for wireless LANs (local area networks), those compatible with Bluetooth® technology, those compatible with WiMAX® (worldwide interoperability for microwave access) technology, and cell phones. While required to be reduced in size and thickness, these wireless communication devices are each required to process signals of systems that are in various different frequency bands. Electronic components used in these wireless communication devices include a bandpass filter which filters transmission and reception signals. Band-pass filters are also required to be reduced in size and thickness. A bandpass filter that is responsive to usable frequency bands of the aforementioned wireless communication devices and can be reduced in size and thickness is disclosed, for example, in each of JP 2006-033614A, JP 2006-054508A, and JP 11-041004A. The bandpass filter is a layered bandpass filter with a plurality of resonators provided within a layered structure including a plurality of stacked dielectric layers. In the layered bandpass filter, two adjacent resonators are electromagnetically coupled to each other. The electromagnetic coupling includes inductive coupling and capacitive coupling.
The layered bandpass filter disclosed in each of JP 2006-033614A and JP 2006-054508A includes three or more resonators, two adjacent ones of which are electromagnetically coupled to each other. In the layered bandpass filter, a coupling path including a capacitor is provided to form capacitive coupling between two resonators not adjacent to each other. In terms of pass attenuation characteristics of a bandpass filter, the provision of such a coupling path allows the formation of an attenuation pole at a frequency lower than the passband frequencies. This provides better attenuation characteristics of the bandpass filter at frequencies lower than those of the passband.
As disclosed in JP 2006-033614A and JP 2006-054508A, if the layered bandpass filter including three or more resonators is provided with the coupling path for forming capacitive coupling between two resonators not adjacent to each other, spurious may occur at a frequency higher than the passband frequencies due to the provision of the coupling path. A possible reason for the occurrence of spurious is as follows. The aforementioned coupling path includes, in addition to the capacitor, a conductive path that is connected in series to the capacitor. The conductive path has inductance, and is therefore considered as an inductor. Accordingly, the coupling path is considered as a series resonant circuit formed by the capacitor and the inductor. The resonant frequency of the series resonant circuit is generally higher than the passband frequencies. As a result, in terms of pass attenuation characteristics of the bandpass filter, a peak of reduction of attenuation (hereinafter referred to as low attenuation's peak) occurs at a frequency higher than the passband frequencies due to the presence of the series resonant circuit. The frequency at which the low attenuation's peak occurs is the resonant frequency of the series resonant circuit. The low attenuation's peak degrades the attenuation characteristics of the bandpass filter at frequencies higher than those of the passband. The low attenuation's peak especially generates spurious of a frequency that is the frequency of the low attenuation's peak, or a frequency close to the frequency of the low attenuation's peak.
The low attenuation's peak occurs noticeably if the layered structure is composed of a plurality of dielectric layers of a high permittivity in order to respond to a need to reduce insertion loss in the passband, in particular.
A bandpass filter used in wireless communication devices is required to reduce insertion loss in the passband, and in some cases, is required to have such a characteristic that attenuation in a specific frequency band within the stopband is equal to or higher than a predetermined level. For example, in the case of a wireless communication device for processing signals of a plurality of systems in various different frequency bands, a bandpass filter used in one of the systems may be required to have such a characteristic that attenuation in a frequency band of a signal of a different one of the systems is equal to or higher than a predetermined level. In this situation, if the frequency at which the aforementioned low attenuation's peak occurs is within the frequency band in which attenuation is required to be equal to or higher than a predetermined level, the bandpass filter may fail to achieve its desirable characteristics.
This may be prevented by reducing at least either the capacitance of the capacitor or the inductance of the inductor in the series resonant circuit to shift the resonant frequency of the series resonant circuit, namely, the frequency at which the low attenuation's peak occurs, to a higher side than the frequency band in which attenuation is required to be equal to or higher than a predetermined level. However, reduction in capacitance or inductance may result in a failure to form an attenuation pole at a frequency lower than the passband frequencies, or may change the frequency or attenuation of the attenuation pole. In either case, the coupling path fails to fulfill its original function.
The bandpass filter disclosed in each of JP 2006-033614A and JP 2006-054508A includes two adjusting electrodes for forming capacitors between the adjusting electrodes and two resonant electrodes not adjacent to each other, and a connecting electrode for electrically connecting the two adjusting electrodes to each other. Each of these publications also discloses the technique of reducing spurious (low attenuation's peak) occurring at a frequency higher than the passband frequencies by reducing electrostatic capacitance generated between the connecting electrode and a resonant electrode that is provided between the two resonant electrodes not adjacent to each other. However, this technique cannot shift the frequency at which the low attenuation's peak occurs to the outside of the frequency band in which attenuation is required to be equal to or higher than a predetermined level.
JP 11-041004A discloses the technique of shifting the position of occurrence of undesired resonance, which occurs at a frequency higher than the passband frequencies due to the presence of a conductor layer for forming capacitive coupling between adjacent resonators, to a still higher frequency. However, this publication does not disclose a coupling path for forming capacitive coupling between two resonators not adjacent to each other, nor any solution to problems relating to the low attenuation's peak generated by the provision of the coupling path.