A method for recovery of salts comprises providing (210) of an initial aqueous solution comprising ions of Na, K, Cl and optionally Ca or a material which when brought in contact with water forms an initial aqueous solution comprising ions of Na, K, Cl and optionally Ca. The start material is treated (230) into an enriched aqueous solution having a concentration of CaCl2 of at least 15% by weight. The treatment (230) comprises at least one of reduction of water content and addition of Ca. The treatment (230) generates a solid mix of Na Cl and KCl. The solid mix of NaCl and KCl is separated (235) from the enriched aqueous solution, giving a depleted aqueous solution comprising ions of Ca and Cl as main dissolved substances. An arrangement for recovery of salts is also disclosed.

Combustion of fuels such as wood, coal, etc. and incineration of wastes such as municipal wastes, industrial wastes, etc. is a common practice to reduce the amounts of waste and to recover its energy content. Incineration results in production of by-products such as ashes (bottom ash and fly ash) and by-products from gas cleaning operations.
Air pollution control (APC) by-products originate from the treatment of the gas and particles coming out from the incineration chamber. Examples for treatment operations for air pollution control include electrostatic filters for separation of particulate impurities often called fly ash, dry scrubbers for separation of gaseous impurities such as hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, sulphur dioxide, etc. e.g. by reaction with lime, wet scrubbers for removal of gaseous impurities by scrubbing in an aqueous solution such as an acid, neutral solution or base, and treatment of aqueous effluents generated from scrubbing operations and condensation operations by various wastewater treatment technologies.
Air pollution control (APC) by-products are materials composed of primarily inorganic compounds. The major components are generally Ca, Si, Cl, K, Na, Al, Zn, and Pb. APC by-produces contain also other elements such as iron, phosphorus and a range of heavy metals such as Ti, Cd, Ni, Cr, Cu, B, etc.
APC by-products have generally a very high content of water-soluble chloride salts which makes disposal of APC by-products difficult and costly. In Sweden, waste material for disposal is generally classified according to four categories regarding its water-soluble chloride content as measured by standard leaching tests: inert waste (<800 mg Cl per kg dry matter), non-hazardous waste (800-15 000 mg Cl per kg dry matter), hazardous waste (15 000-25 000 mg Cl per kg dry matter), and material exceeding the criteria for hazardous waste (>25 000 mg Cl per kg dry matter).
In general, the content of water soluble chlorides in APC by-products is in the order of 50 000 to 200 000 mg Cl per kg dry matter, thus exceeding the criteria for hazardous waste disposal. Since disposal is prohibited, one common practice is to export the APC by-products and dispose it in special old mines.
The problems of disposing APC by-products have led to the development of methods to wash APC by-products from their soluble chloride content to enable disposal of the washed material as non-hazardous waste. The relatively high content of zinc in APC by-products has also led to development of methods of combining washing of APC by-products to reduce chloride content with zinc recovery. Such processes are based on washing of APC by-products with an acid to dissolve their zinc content followed by recovery of zinc by precipitation as hydroxides or recovery of zinc in elemental form by using a combination of solvent extraction and electroplating on cathodes.
Washing of APC by-products with water or acid results in a wastewater containing a mixture of chloride salts together with other impurities such as heavy metals, etc. The wastewater has often to be treated for removal of impurities such as heavy metals, sulfate, ammonia, etc. before being discharged into a recipient.
Chloride is a water-soluble anion which is not precipitated during zinc recovery as zinc hydroxide, and not extracted by solvents used for zinc extraction for production of elemental zinc by electroplating. Chloride is also not removed from solution by chemical treatment in wastewater treatment plants. The effluent from washing of APC by-products is thus saline and in many cases exceeds the limits for being discharged to a municipal wastewater treatment plant due to corrosion aspects and toxic effect on bacteria in the biological treatment plant. The common practice is to discharge such effluent directly into the sea.
However, in many cases landfills or incinerators are located far from the sea in locations in which there are strict limits regarding discharge of chlorides to a recipient. In these locations it is not possible to wash or recover zinc from APC by-products without taking care of the soluble chloride salts since it is prohibited to discharge the saline effluent.
It is known in the art to treat problematic effluents with so called zero liquid discharge systems (ZLD). In these systems a saline effluent is treated usually by vacuum evaporation to reduce the amount of generated waste and to recover a purified condensate which can be used as potable water or being discharged to a recipient.
Wash-water from treatment of APC by-products can be treated with a ZLD system instead of treatment in a wastewater treatment plant with subsequent discharge of saline effluent. In this way discharge of a saline effluent can be avoided. Use of ZLD system for treating saline effluents such as wastewater from flue gas cleaning operations is becoming more and more common. ZLD systems are also used for treatment of saline effluents not originating in incineration operations. Examples include, wastewater from shale gas fracking operation, RO desalination concentrates, ion exchange softeners concentrate, landfill leachate, mine waters, etc.
A main disadvantage of zero liquid discharge systems is production of a by-product salt mixture. The by-product salts of ZLD systems are usually hygroscopic in nature, i.e. it's a moist paste of a water-soluble salt mixture with no end use. Such by-products cannot be disposed in a landfill as hazardous waste due to risk for leaching of water-soluble salts. The by-product waste must usually be disposed at special locations e.g. in salt mines.
Potassium is a resource which is mainly used as a raw material for production of fertilizers. Today potassium is extracted from limited rock deposits of minerals such as syvine (KCl), kainite (KCl.MgSO4.3H2O), carnallite (KCl.MgCl.6H2O) usually together with kainitite (NaCl) by conventional mining or by solution mining, i.e. dissolving the rock with a solution that can be pumped from the mine to the processing plant. Potassium is also recovered from salt lakes usually by natural evaporation forming crystallization of a mixture of carnallite and kainitite which is thereafter processed for separation and recovery of potassium chloride. Potassium resources are limited and the major part of the currently known world's reserves are located in only two countries Canada and Russia. Therefore, there is a general environmental interest in recovering potassium salts from wastes such as from APC by-products in order to increase the life time of non-renewable limited rock deposits.
In general, there is a strong interest in society to convert wastes into products thus to minimize the need for mining natural resources. Such approaches contribute to reduce the negative environmental effects associated with mining of natural resources. Furthermore, there is a general environmental interest to convert wastes into products in order to minimize disposal of wastes with associated negative environmental impact and to obtain other benefits such as reduction of energy use due to recycling, etc.
The saline leach solution from washing of APC by-products typically comprises of a mixture between calcium, sodium, and potassium chloride salts. However, the relative amounts of the different salts differ from time to time and from plant to plant. Especially if APC by-products originating from several incinerators are to be washed in a single central plant.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,482 discloses treatment of fly ash/APC residues including lead salt recovery. The fly ash/APC residues have a high content of CaCl2, which is of interest for recovery. In a first stage, fly ash/APC residues are washed followed by a phase separation to obtain a first calcium enriched filter and a filtrate. In a second step, the filtrate is processed for metal recovery by pH adjustment. In a third stage, the remaining brine is concentrated by evaporation to recover a concentrated and purified calcium chloride brine. Precipitated mixture of KCl and NaCl is removed as a side product and dumped as disposal or used as road salt. The main goal of the process is to recover CaCl2, which unfortunately leave the disposal of the NaCl and KCl mix essentially unaddressed. The use of a mix of NaCl and KCl as road salt is furthermore not optimal, since the KCl content mainly contributes to fertigation of the environment but is not very efficient for reduction of the water melting point. The focus on recovery of CaCl2 also results in that the process is only operable on initial materials having a high CaCl2 content.
In the publication "Recovery of soluble chloride salts from the wastewater generated during the washing process of municipal solid wastes incineration fly ash" by H. Tang et al in Environmental Technology, 2014, vol. 35, No. 22, pp 2863-2869, recovery of chloride salts from municipal waste incineration fly ash is discussed. A method to separate the three salts is suggested. The wash solution is evaporated in three different evaporators to obtain three different fractions of crystallized salts. In a first fraction, almost pure NaCl is obtained. In a second fraction, a mix between NaCl and KCl is obtained. After dissolving this fraction into water, ethanol is added, resulting in precipitation of pure KCl. A third fraction comprises the remaining NaCl together with some KCl and CaCl2, leaving a solution of only KCl and CaCl2. The third fraction is returned to the start solution, while the KCl and CaCl2 in the solution are separated by addition of ethanol, precipitating KCl and leaving the CaCl2 in the final solution. The process is complex and high in capital costs due to the need for three evaporators. If the ethanol is to be reused, distillation steps have to be performed, making the process complex and energy-consuming.
In the published Japanese application JP 2011-14846A, recovery of KCl from municipal waste incineration fly ash is disclosed. During the washing of the ash the CaCl2 is caused to precipitate into the remaining ash by addition of carbon dioxide, forming CaCO3. The KCl is separated at a low temperature <20° C. A main disadvantage of this process is requirement for a large amount of carbon dioxide. Furthermore, since conversion of CaCl2 to CaCO3 requires balancing the released Cl anion with a cation, large amount of base such as NaOH is usually required in order for the process to obtain reasonable yield of CaCl2 conversion. In addition, CaCl2 is not recovered in the process, instead it is transformed into CaCO3 in the fly ash increasing the amounts required to be disposed and associated costs considerably.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,839,360 discloses a method for reducing the concentration of alkali metal salts in calcium chloride brines by forming a double salt between KCl and CaCl2. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,279,897 and 3,212,863 disclose a method for precipitating KCl from salt mixtures by addition of ammonia. U.S. Pat. No. 3,359,079 discloses a method for precipitation of potassium halides from mixed brines using organic solvents. Use of ammonia or organic solvents for recovery of potassium chloride requires complex distillation systems and usually also several evaporators which makes the process complex and energy consuming.
There is a need for a method that can enable to separate and recover chloride salts form APC by-products, ZLD by-products and saline effluents in form of commercial products (with possibility for different levels of purity) for sale. Such an approach will solve one of the disposal problems of APC by-products independent on the location for operation. Furthermore, the costly disposal of ZLD by-products will be omitted.
In Sweden it is common to use sodium chloride for deicing of roads. The use of road salt in Sweden is about 300 000 tons per annum. It is common to spread sodium chloride as a 23% by weight solution. Spreading sodium chloride in a liquid form has the advantage of fast reaction compared to spreading solid sodium chloride, this since solid sodium chloride needs to absorb heat from the environment in order to dissolve into a solution which can act as a deicer.
Getting the road to dry up as quickly as possible is important in connection with deicing. The risk of re-freezing minimizes when the road surface becomes dry. The number of road salt spreading operations become fewer which enables saving on both fuel and chemicals. Use of sodium chloride as a road salt is generally known to cause the road to dry up fast. In contrast, by using calcium chloride as a road salt, the roads does not dry as fast since calcium chloride is an hydroscopic salt which keeps moisture in the roadway. Therefore, use of pure calcium chloride as a road salt for deicing purposes has a significant disadvantage compared to use of sodium chloride.
Using pure sodium chloride as a road salt has also disadvantages. The main disadvantage of pure sodium chloride is that its effect decreases when the temperature drops down to the range of about −5 to −7° C., and has no effect at all below −9° C. In contrast, calcium chloride is effective down to −20° C. (Theoretically, under ideal conditions down to −40° C.).
There is a need for a simple process for separating and recovering CaCl2, NaCl and KCl in essentially pure forms from their mixtures. There is also a need for a process enabling separation of three salts without a need for distillation of organic solvents or multiple evaporation steps. There is further a need for a robust salt recovery process that can handle the large variability in the ratios of the salts in the feed over time since composition and ratios of elements in wastes vary very much over time and total amounts are much smaller in comparison to mineral reserves or salt lakes. There is an additional need for a salt recovery process from washing APC by-products to enable operation in locations in which discharge of saline effluents is prohibited. There is a need for a process that can enable processing saline effluents without generation of problematic by-product wastes. There is a need for a process that can enable to reduce chloride content in APC by-products to enable disposal in landfill and at the same time minimize the weight of material being disposed. There is also a need for a process that can enable to recover potassium from APC/ZLD by-products in a pure form suitable for use as a raw material for e.g. fertilizers. There is an additional need for a process that can enable to recover sodium chloride from APC/ZLD by-products in a pure form suitable for use as road salt or a raw material for e.g. chlor-alkali industry. There is further a need for a process that can enable to recover calcium chloride from fly ash APC/ZLD by-products in a pure form suitable for use as e.g. deicing or dust control material or as a raw material for industrial processes. There is a general need for processes that enable to convert wastes into products.

Method and arrangement for recovery of salt


A system includes an interface and a processor. The interface is configured to receive a table indication of a data table and to receive a transaction indication to perform a transaction. The processor is configured to determine a current position N in a transaction log; determine a current state of the metadata; determine a read set associated with a transaction; attempt to write an update to the transaction log associated with a next position N+1; in response to a transaction determination that a simultaneous transaction associated with the next position N+1 already exists, determine a set of updated files; and in response to a determination that there is not an overlap between the read set associated with the current transaction and the set of updated files associated with the simultaneous transaction, attempt to write the update to the transaction to the transaction log associated with a further position N+2.

Big data storage systems typically comprise large file repositories with minimal filesystem structure. For example, a big data storage system can comprise a key/value repository wherein a user can store a value associated with a key and retrieve the value using the key. In order to keep track of the data as changes are made, metadata is maintained to track files as they are written, updated, deleted, etc. For very large data stores (e.g., petabytes, exabytes, etc.), the metadata can easily become unwieldy, creating a problem wherein the speed of performing transactions on the big data storage becomes limited by the time required to query and/or update the metadata.

Update and query of a large collection of files that represent a single dataset stored on a blob store


A method of assembling an electrical connector (1) comprises the steps of: preparing a dielectric housing (2) defining a plurality of insertion slots therein; preparing a conductive contact strip (3a) comprising a plurality of contacts (3) and a carrier (3b) connecting with the contacts; preloading the contact strip into the housing; inserting a spacer (5) into the dielectric housing to position the contact strip, the spacer being inserted between an inner side surfaces (210) of the housing and mating portions (31) of the contacts; pulling the contact strip downwardly via a tool (4) gripping slots (35) defined in opposite sides of end portions (36) of the contacts; removing the spacer from the dielectric housing; severing the carrier and end portions of the contact strip; and bending mounting portions (34) of the contacts in an alternating manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector and a method of assembling the same. A copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/269,137 filed on Oct. 10, 2002, entitled xe2x80x9cBOARD-TO-BOARD ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAMExe2x80x9d, and invented by Wei Hua Pan differently while with the same assignee as the instant application, discloses a related design.
2. Description of Related Art
Connectors generally have a large number of conductive contacts aligned in a dielectric housing thereof. Such connector must be designed to fulfill requirements of proper alignment, engagement and coplanarity of the contacts assembled in the housing. One way to assemble contacts of conventional connectors is to assemble the contacts from the top of the housing and pressed thereinto. However, achieving reliability of all the contacts assembled in the housing is difficult for connectors because the pressing force acting on the contacts is large and the contacts often change shape. Another way to retain the contacts in the housing is insert molding as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,748. The connector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,748 comprises a housing comprising a first housing member and a second housing member, two sets of contacts insert molded in opposite sides of the housing, and a shield covering the housing. The method of manufacturing the connector comprises the steps of: 1) insert molding a pair of contact carriers to opposite sides of the first housing member; 2) insert molding the first housing member having the two contact carriers to the second housing member; 3) severing carrier plates from the two contact carriers; and 4) assembling the shield to the housing. Such a method is reliable to retain the contacts in position. However, the manufacture cost is relatively high and the manufacture process is relatively complex.
Hence, an improved electrical connector is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a contact strip for an electrical connector which can be easily and reliably assembled in a housing of the electrical connector.
Another object of the present invention is providing a method of assembling an electrical connector at a low cost and with high efficiency.
To achieve the above objects, a method of assembling an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention comprises the steps of: 1) preparing a dielectric housing defining a plurality of insertion slots therein; 2) preparing a conductive contact strip comprising a plurality of contacts and a carrier connecting with the contacts, each contact comprising a mating portion adapted for electrically contacting a mating contact of a complementary connector, a head portion extending upwardly from the mating portion for being received in a corresponding insertion slot, a retention portion having a plurality of barbs for being secured in the housing, a mounting portion extending downwardly from the retention portion adapted for soldering to a printed circuit board, and an end portion extending downwardly from the mounting portion and defining a pair of slots in opposite respective sides thereof; 3) preloading the contact strip into the dielectric housing until the barbs of the retention portions of the contacts engage inner inclined surfaces of the insertion slots, the mounting portions of the contacts extending beyond the bottom of the housing; 4) inserting a spacer into the dielectric housing to position the contact strip, the spacer being inserted between and engaging with an inner side surface of the housing and the mating portions of the contact strip, the head portions of the contacts being rotatable beyond the top of the insertion slots; 5) pulling the contact strip downwardly via a tool, the pair of slots defined in opposite sides of the mounting portion of each contact being gripped by the tool to downwardly pull the contact strip; 6) removing the spacer from the dielectric housing; 7) severing the carrier and the end portions of the contacts; and 8) bending the mounting portions of the contacts in an alternating manner so that the mounting portions align in two rows.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Electrical connector and method of assembling the same


This invention is directed to a wireless apparatus to carry out transmission and reception by either a digital communication system or an analog communication system and, in particular, provides a technical method to change over a signal system for a transmission electric wave. Concretely, when a carrier is received, a switch (PTT) is pushed in the case of response. In this case, if a default set transmission signal system is different from a reception signal system of a received audio signal, it is possible to modulate the audio signal after the transmission signal system is changed over to the same signal system as the reception signal system. Thus, a wireless apparatus is provided for making it possible to promptly change over a signal system of a transmission electric wave without doing troublesome operations.

Currently, wireless apparatuses are widely used mainly for business use in various scenes, such as, event preparation, security operations, and construction sites. In case of using wireless apparatuses for business use, approximately one to two hundreds wireless apparatuses are sometimes used in one scene. The use of wireless apparatuses in such a scene has a great advantage of allowing concurrent communication with a plurality of people. In addition, wireless apparatuses are characterized by ease of user operations for carrying out transmission and reception, resulting in prompt communication.
Wireless apparatuses communicate with each other by modulating a signal mainly according to a modulation system referred to as an analog modulation or a digital modulation, and then carrying out transmission and reception of an electric wave.
An analog modulation includes a Frequency Modulation (FM) system. By the FM system, the frequency of a carrier, an electric wave to be modulated, is changed to transmit the electric wave. Wireless communication by the FM system is used in, for example, FM radio broadcasting, amateur radio, and business radio.
A digital modulation includes a Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) system. By the FSK system, an electric wave is transmitted with the frequency of a carrier being set low when the digital data to be transmitted is zero, and being set high when the data is one. In this way, by the FSK system, two types of digital data are tailored to respective frequencies to transmit information. The FSK system includes a 4-FSK system which modulates four digital data, 00, 01, 10, and 11, into respective different frequencies. The 4-FSK system is widely used.
As described above, the modulation system used for communication depends on the type, the model, or the like of a wireless apparatus, and may not be the same. Generally, an old-modeled wireless apparatus often uses an analog modulation system, and a new-modeled wireless apparatus often uses a digital modulation system. In this case, the old-modeled and the new-modeled apparatuses cannot communicate with each other. For this reason, to a group having one hundred old-modeled wireless apparatuses, for example, ten new-modeled wireless apparatuses cannot be introduced. When a new-modeled wireless apparatus is introduced, all of the old-modeled wireless apparatuses are required to replace with new-modeled wireless apparatuses at once, which is not preferable in terms of cost.
To address the problem, Patent Document 1 discloses an invention of an apparatus which can reproduce a voice received even in an electric wave transmitted by either an analog modulation system or a digital modulation system. With this apparatus, even in a group having both new-modeled and old-modeled wireless apparatuses, a newly introduced new-modeled wireless apparatus can receive an electric wave transmitted by an old-modeled wireless apparatus and reproduce it.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-158725


A cutting insert for machining a workpiece. The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b). As stated in 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading “Abstract of the Disclosure.” The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.

1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a cutting insert having a bearing surface and a rake face at a distance therefrom and at least one flank arranged at a positive clearance angle, said rake face and flank forming an encircling round or polygonal cutting edge, and having at least one cutting edge point at a maximum distance from a plane in which the bearing surface lies, and having at least one cutting edge point at a minimum distance from the same plane.
2. Background Information
Background information is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily admit that subsequently mentioned information and publications are prior art.
The cutting inserts described above include the "positive cutting inserts" which in plan view can be circular, essentially triangular, quadrilateral, possibly square, rhombic or rectangular. The cutting edge is formed by the adjoining rake face and one or more flanks. In the simplest case, the rake face is of planar design, i.e. the rake angle is zero degrees.
Some types of cutting inserts have a sloping side which adjoins the cutting edge on the rake face, thereby forming a positive rake angle. Some types of cutting edges have a wavelike design, adjoining which are rake face sections of wavelike design. Finally, cutting edge rounding or the arrangement of a bevel at a positive or negative angle may be utilized in order to essentially restrict or minimize chipping of a cutting edge.
To machine some surfaces, such as the running surfaces of railroad wheels, cutting inserts may be used which have a circular cutting edge of constant height and a constant positive clearance angle. The frustoconical cutting inserts are used for facing the running surfaces. After wear of the actively used cutting edge, the cutting inserts can be arranged such as to be shifted in the tool carrier by a rotation angle of ninety degrees or one hundred twenty degrees depending on the original cutting depth, after which a new unused cutting edge region can be utilized.
Indexable inserts of the type described, having a circular cutting edge of constant height, disadvantageously tend to vibrate, or "chatter," during the machining operation. Due to these uncontrolled vibratory movements during the machining, irregularities (chatter marks) are produced on the surface of the machined workpiece. Apart from this poor surface quality of the machined workpiece, the service life of such indexable inserts proves to be relatively short.
Also known in principle are indexable inserts of the type mentioned at the beginning in which the cutting edge or one of the cutting edges has a maxima and cutting edges, in each case sloping therefrom on both sides, down to a cutting edge minimum. However, unlike in the case of negative cutting inserts having a clearance angle of zero degrees, lowering of the cutting edge in regions acts on the existing flank in such a way that the original cutting edge shape is changed.
Some tools have a toolholder having at least one recess for accommodating and for fastening a cutting insert of the type described above. Depending on the machining operation selected, effective rake angles can also be set via the arrangement of the cutting insert in the toolholder, which rake angles can be varied within limits in the axial and radial directions by tilting the cutting insert.

Cutting insert for machining a workpiece

Kennametal Widia Produktions GmbH & Co. KG


Described is a new method and apparatus for measuring the thickness of a thin conductive coating deposited on a moving elongated dielectric body. Of special use is an application of a carbon coating on an optical fiber. The thickness of the conductive coating is measured by establishing an electromagnetic field in a resonator including an elongated unshielded helix and a pair of coupling loops. The helix is suspended between the coupling loops out of contact with either one of them. An electromagnetic energy is coupled into one loop as an input signal from a source of electromagnetic energy and coupled out from the other loop as an output signal. The difference between the magnitude of energy of an empty helix or of a helix with an uncoated body, and the helix with a coated body, is used for controlling the coating process. The inner diameter of the helix is large relative to the diameter of the elongated body being at least five times the diameter of the fiber and the spacing between the coils of the helix being equal to the cross-sectional dimension of the rod, wire or tubing making up the coil. The general principles stated herein can be applied over a wide range of radio frequencies, typically from about 100 MHz to 100 GHz, and can be applied to a wide range of coating configurations by appropriately selecting a frequency range and equipment that is compatible with the selected frequency range.

An optical fiber, after it is drawn from a preform, is coated typically with at least one polymeric coating. These coatings significantly enhance the mechanical and optical properties of the fiber. However, polymeric coatings are generally permeable to environmental elements, such as water and hydrogen, which are deleterious to the fiber. The interaction of water with the surface of a silica fiber produces surface modifications which can reduce the strength of the fiber. Also, over a period of time, hydrogen can diffuse into an optical fiber and increase the optical loss in a signal carried by that optical fiber.
In order to prevent deleterious environmental elements from interacting with the fiber, a coating which acts as an impenetrable hermetic barrier to the environment is applied between the fiber and the polymeric coating. One such coating is a carbon coating applied to the outer surface of a silica cladding of the fiber. By inducing decomposition of a suitable carbon containing organic precursor gas, e.g., acetylene, a thin carbon film is formed on the surface of the fiber, for example, as described by F. V. DiMarcello et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,541 issued Mar. 19, 1991, which is incorporated herein by reference. For optimum results, the carbon coating must be applied in a particular thickness within close tolerances. If the coating is too thin, e.g., thinner than 200 .ANG., it does not sufficiently limit the penetration of the undesirable environmental elements. On the other hand, if it is too thick, e.g., greater than 2000 .ANG., fiber strength can be reduced by microcracks which can form in the carbon coating when the fiber is under high tensile force.
An example of a dynamic manufacturing method to measure and control the thickness of a hermetic coating being applied to an unjacketed optical fiber is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,130, issued to R. M. Atkins et al. on May 7, 1991, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,781 issued to R. M. Atkins et al. on Oct. 15, 1991, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. This manufacturing method includes the steps of depositing a hermetic coating, e.g. carbon, on a moving optical fiber being drawn from a heated preform, and measuring contactlessly the thickness of the coating deposited on the optical fiber.
In FIG. 3 is shown a schematic representation of an exemplary prior art equipment for drawing an optical fiber, 20, from a preform, 24, coating fiber 20 first with a hermetic carbon coating and then with a polymer jacket, and finally winding the jacketed fiber on a take-up reel, 49. Fiber 20 is drawn from an end of preform 24 which is heated in a furnace, 25, to its melting or softening temperature. The fiber is drawn at a controlled steady temperature and velocity for producing fibers with uniform diameter. The drawn fiber 20 moves through a diameter gauge, 26, which produces a signal representing the diameter of the fiber. This signal is forwarded from gauge 26 via a lead, 27, to a detection, analysis and feedback processor, 28. The processor converts such a measurement signal into an analogous control signal which is used via a lead, 29, for adjusting the temperature of furnace 25, and via a lead, 54, to a capstan drive control, 55, for adjusting the drawing speed, as needed. A certain minimum fiber temperature is needed for deposition of a carbon coating on the surface of the fiber. Therefore, fiber 20, drawn from preform 24, moves through an optional heater, 30, for supplementing the residual heat in fiber 20, as needed, and through thermometer or pyrometer 31, for monitoring the temperature of the fiber 20 prior to a carbon-coating stage. A signal representing the temperature measured by thermometer 31 is applied via a lead, 32, to processor 28 which produces a control signal on a lead, 33, for controlling the temperature of heater 30.
Thereafter, fiber 20 enters a variable length, or telescoping, carbon-coating chamber 34, wherein a mixture of acetylene precursor gas together with chlorine and an inert gas, such as nitrogen, argon, or helium, is applied to the hot surface of moving fiber 20 for inducing decomposition of the acetylene precursor gas and deposition of a carbon coating uniformly on the periphery of the fiber. Signal indicative of the fiber temperature within chamber 34 is sent via lead 60 to processor 28 which may, if needed, send a signal via lead 33 to heater 30 for changing the temperature, or via lead 58 for changing the length of the chamber 34, or both. Signal indicative of the gas pressure in chamber 34 is transmitted via a lead, 62, to processor 28 which may send a control signal for changing the pressure via lead 56 to pressure regulator, 57. An indication of the concentration of the acetylene gas is forwarded from chamber 34 via a lead, 63, to processor 28. A control signal for changing the mixture of gases is transmitted from processor 28 via a lead, 64, to gas supply valves 65, 66 and 67. The gases are mixed in a manifold, 68, and delivered through pressure regulator 57 and supply line 40 to gas chamber 34. The gases exit gas chamber 34 by way of an exhaust fitting, 45.
The carbon coated fiber, upon exiting carbon-coating chamber 34, moves through a radio frequency resonator 35. The thickness of the carbon coating on the surface of the moving optical fiber 20 is measured in resonator 35 without physically contacting the unjacketed fiber.
Upon exiting from resonator 35, carbon coated fiber 20 moves on through a fiber jacketing stage. This stage includes one or more vessels, 46, filled with ultraviolet light curable liquid materials, and a set of lamps, 47, applying ultraviolet light for curing the liquid material on the fiber. The jacketed fiber is wound about a capstan drive, 48, and then onto reel 49 for storage. Signals indicative of the speed of capstan 48 and jacketed fiber 20 are sent to processor 28 via a lead, 61.
The carbon-coating thickness measurements, as disclosed in the above-mentioned Atkins et al. patents, are conducted utilizing resonator 35 which may have various configurations. In each of these variants the resonator includes a solid wall outside chamber, a radio frequency electromagnetic field is established within the resonator and the coated fiber passes through the resonator disturbing the field. The electromagnetic field is established in resonator 35 by an input signal from a source of radio frequency oscillations, 41. As the carbon-coated insulator is moved through the energized electromagnetic field, interaction of the conductive coating with the electromagnetic field or a component thereof induces transmission loss from input to output. An output signal is extracted from the electromagnetic field at a point where the output signal can be detected. The effective radio frequency conductance of the carbon coating is then determined from changes in the output signal with respect to a predetermined standard. Thickness of the coating is determined from the conductance data. From the thickness determination, signals are generated for dynamically controlling the coating process to maintain a desired thickness tolerance.
In FIG. 4 is shown a schematic representation of one version of prior art resonator 35 for operation in the radio frequency range. The resonator includes a cylindrical metal chamber, 36, and a conductive helical coil, 37, within the chamber. The coil is affixed at one end, 38, to chamber 36 and otherwise is separated from the walls of the chamber. An input signal, produced by fixed or swept frequency signal generator 41, is coupled into the resonator via coaxial line 42 by an input coupling loop 43. Input loop 43 is positioned inside of the resonator to energize a resonant electromagnetic field in response to the applied input signal. The frequency at which the helix is operable may be adjusted by means of a capacitor (not shown) connected between coaxial line 42 and coil 37. Power levels of the input signal typically can be in the range of from a fraction of a milliwatt to about 100 milliwatts. By energizing coil 37 with a radio frequency input signal, an electromagnetic field is established within and along coil 37. The introduction of a coated dielectric (a carbon coated optical fiber) into the resonator axially of coil 37 modifies both the resonance frequency and output power. As the carbon coated fiber 20 moves through the electromagnetic field, it absorbs power from it. Presence of coil 37 in chamber 36 tends to increase the electromagnetic field along the axis of the chamber, which coincides with the direction of movement of fiber 20 through the chamber. Power is extracted from the resonator by way of an output coupling loop, 50, positioned so that it interacts with the appropriate field where the field strength is sufficient to produce a useful output signal. The output signal extracted from the resonator is transmitted via coaxial line 52 to processor 28. The transmission response is related to conductance of the carbon coating. Processor 28 determines the thickness of the conductive carbon coating and, if needed, develops a signal for controlling the carbon deposition process.
A variant of a prior art resonator for measuring the thickness of a coating on an optical fiber is described by J. Y. Boniort et al. "New Characterization Techniques for Hermetic Carbon Coated Fibers", ECOC-100C 91, Paris, France. Shown in FIG. 5 is a resonator 70 having a thin elongated helical coil, 71, with a small central aperture held between two metallic end plates, 73 and 74, within a metallic outer cylinder, 72, providing an electromagnetic shield. The coil is connected at both ends to the metallic end plates. Input and output terminals, 75 and 76, respectively, are located at opposite ends of the coil. A radio frequency signal, is provided to input terminal 75 via line 77. The output signal is extracted from the resonator via output terminal 76, and could be sent via coaxial line 78 to a processor, such as processor 28 shown in FIG. 3. In the Boniort et al. system most of the electromagnetic energy is contained outside of the helix, that is between the helix and the outer cylinder. In this arrangement the oscillator signal source is not locked to the resonant transmission peak of the helix but is simply swept through the resonator. This makes a closed loop control system difficult to implement.
The measuring arrangements described by Atkins et al. and by Boniort et al. present certain other problems. One of the problems is that the resonator is opaque so that the fiber cannot be viewed. Furthermore, the opening through which the fiber passes is very small, e.g., 0.1-0.3 cm in diameter and typically only 0.1 cm. This makes fiber insertion difficult. The small size of the opening also increases the possibility of the fiber touching the walls of the opening during the manufacturing. Should the unprotected fiber rub against the walls of the opening, the fiber can be damaged or even break. Considering the diameter of the carbon-coated fiber and the fact that a length of the optical fiber between the preform and the jacketing stage is subject to oscillations transverse to the movement of the fiber along its longitudinal axis, such contact is quite likely.

Large aperture device for controlling thickness of conductive coatings on optical fibers


A wireless communication system in which each receiver is configured synchronize to a received waveform using only its local received signal without requiring any information about other receivers in the system. The local receiver is configured to remove frequency and/or phase error based on information encoded in the received waveform. In some examples, the local receiver uses channel probe information embedded in the received waveform to provide channel estimates for each communication channel over which the signals are received and, based on the estimates, adjusts the received signals for phase shift and amplitude scaling caused by the channel. Signal acquisition (in time and frequency), as well as partial demodulation (for channel estimation), is done independently for each channel. Signals from each channel are combined using a maximal ratio combiner.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to communications systems and, more particularly, to digital receivers used in digital communication systems.
2. Background
Communication systems use diversity transmission/combining techniques, i.e., transmitting and/or receiving the same signal over multiple propagation channels, to combat environmental effects such as multipath, fading, etc. If the same signal is transmitted by two transmitters or received by two receivers, it can be assumed that the noise in each channel is independent (i.e., there is no correlation between the noise in one channel and the noise in the other channel), whereas there is correlation between the two signals. This information can be used to combine the signals from each channel to achieve an improved overall signal-to-noise ratio.
Maximal ratio combining is a diversity combining technique used in receivers to provide improved sensitivity and diversity gain. Signals from each channel are weighted according to their signal-to-noise ratios, using their RMS (root mean squared) signal levels and noise variances, and added together. More specifically, the gain of each channel is made proportional to the RMS signal level and inversely proportional to the mean square noise level in that channel. Existing implementations that employ maximal ratio combining require either that the receiver(s) be in a single physical location or that the receiver(s) be in a known physical location(s) in order to support the signal processing to combine the signals. The known location information is used to synchronize and combine the incoming signals in order to get maximum diversity gain.

Distributed maximal ratio combining receiver architecture


A method and apparatus for remotely and automatically mounting volumes over a network. The invention uses an interface, such as a web browser, to authenticate a client on a server. The server supplies volume mounting parameters specific to the authenticated client via a plug-in installed on the client. The plug-in then interacts, in one embodiment of the invention, with file system software on the client and automatically mounts the volume(s) in accordance with the supplied parameters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to software for computer systems and networking. More specifically, the present invention relates to the accessibility of remote storage devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Disk drives, logical or physical partitions of disk drives and even file servers are all often referred to loosely as "volumes". Computer operating systems typically have commands and procedures for "mounting" disk drives (such as floppy drives, hard drives and CD (Compact Disc) drives) to make them available to the user. On a local machine such mounting can be done once during the installation of the drive and thereafter will be accessible upon any system startup instance. Drives may also be "hot-swapped" so that they are recognized by the operating system and made available to the user instantly upon interfacing with the computer's hardware.
Over a local area network (LAN), client machines can connect to volumes hosted by servers over the LAN depending on their authentication and permissions. To connect or mount such networked volumes, one common requirement is that the client be authenticated by the server. Once so authenticated, the user must search or browse for hosted volumes, and then connect to the desired volumes often using yet another authentication procedure. For instance, on Appleshare™, a product of Apple Computers, Inc., the client user browses the network and finds first the desired server. Then, the user clicks on the server icon and is usually required (where guest access is not enabled on the server) to again enter a username and password. Once authenticated, the user must browse and select from available volume(s). Thereafter, the selected volume(s) is(are) available on the operating system desktop of the client machine appearing as any local drive would.
One issue with typical volume mounting is the time expended. Another is that of repeating the same process the next time the same volume needs to be mounted. Any of the parameters, such as a network location, name or alias, that uniquely identify a given volume may have changed or may not be remembered by the user and must be found again. Also, there are often additional steps needed for clients that remotely "dial-in" to a given network, and then attempt to locate network resources.
There is thus a need for automating the volume mounting process.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A system and method for converting (dry reforming) natural gas (methane) and carbon dioxide via reformer catalyst in a dry reformer into syngas including carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and discharging the syngas to a Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reactor. Supplemental hydrogen is generated via water electrolysis and added to the syngas in route to the FT reactor to increase the molar ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide in the syngas. The syngas may be converted via FT catalyst in the FT reactor into FT waxes.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities. Carbon dioxide may be generated in various industrial and chemical plant facilities. At such facilities, the utilization of CO2 as a feedstock may reduce CO2 emissions at the facility and therefore decrease the CO2 footprint of the facility. The conversion of the greenhouse gas CO2 into value-added products may be beneficial.


The device (1) includes a housing (2) in which an electric motor (5) is secured, the shaft (6) of this motor being coupled to a rotary control member (11) having on one surface a cam profile (11c) cooperating with a coordinated profile (20d) of a controlled member (20) which may move in translation in the housing (2) such that when the motor (5) is actuated, the rotation of the rotary control member (11) is adapted to cause the controlled member (20) to move in translation into a first position remote from the control member (11) or to enable this controlled member (20) to move in translation into a second position close to the control member (11). The housing (2) further bears a first and a second electrical switch (31, 32) connected to the motor (5) and comprising respective fixed contacts (31b, 32b) and a single common moving contact member (33), made from an electrically conducting material, with which two integral feeler members (33a, 33b; 50, 51) are associated and cooperate directly with associated cam profiles of the rotary control member (11).

The present invention relates to an actuator device, in particular for the actuation of fluid valves, for instance boiler or refrigeration plant valves.
An actuator device of this type is known, for instance, from British Patent 2 316 152 in the name of the same Applicant.
The actuator device known from this document comprises two electric switches provided with respective moving contact members controlled by respective feeler members which cooperate with a radial cam profile of a rotary control member. Respective helical recall springs are also associated with each of the feeler members.
This known device is therefore rather complex in structural terms and in terms of its embodiment.

Electromechanical actuator device, in particular for the actuation of fluid valves


A device includes a converged input/output controller that includes a physical target storage media controller, a physical network interface controller and a gateway between the storage media controller and the network interface controller, wherein gateway provides a direct connection for storage traffic and network traffic between the storage media controller and the network interface controller.

The proliferation of scale-out applications has led to very significant challenges for enterprises that use such applications. Enterprises typically choose between solutions like virtual machines (involving software components like hypervisors and premium hardware components) and so-called "bare metal" solutions (typically involving use of an operating system like Linux™ and commodity hardware. At large scale, virtual machine solutions typically have poor input-output (IO) performance, inadequate memory, inconsistent performance, and high infrastructure cost. Bare metal solutions typically have static resource allocation (making changes in resources difficult and resulting in inefficient use of the hardware), challenges in planning capacity, inconsistent performance, and operational complexity. In both cases, inconsistent performance characterizes the existing solutions. A need exists for solutions that provide high performance in multi-tenant deployments, that can handle dynamic resource allocation, and that can use commodity hardware with a high degree of utilization.
FIG. 1 depicts the general architecture of a computing system 102, such as a server, functions and modules of which may be involved in certain embodiments disclosed herein. Storage functions (such as access to local storage devices on the server 102, such as media 104 (e.g., rotating media or flash) and network functions such as forwarding have traditionally been performed separately in either software stacks or hardware devices (e.g., involving a network interface controller 118 or a storage controller 112, for network functions or storage functions, respectively). Within an operating system stack 108 (which may include an operating system and a hypervisor in some embodiments including all the software stacks associated with storage and networking functions for the computing system), the software storage stack typically includes modules enabling use of various protocols that can be used in storage, such as the small computer system interface (SCSI) protocol, the serial ATA (SATA) protocol, the non-volatile memory express (NVMe) protocol (a protocol for accessing disk-attached storage (DAS), like solid-state drives (SSDs), through the PCI Express (PCIe) bus 110 of a typical computing system 102) or the like. The PCIe bus 110 may provide an interconnection between a CPU 106 (with processor(s) and memory) and various 10 cards. The storage stack also may include volume managers, etc. Operations within the storage software stack may also include data protection, such as mirroring or RAID, backup, snapshots, deduplication, compression and encryption. Some of the storage functions may be offloaded into a storage controller 112. The software network stack includes modules, functions and the like for enabling use of various networking protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), the domain name system protocol (DNS), the address resolution protocol (ARP), forwarding protocols, and the like. Some of the network functions may be offloaded into a network interface controller 118 (or NIC) or the network fabric switch, such as via an ethernet connection 120, in turn leading to a network (with various switches, routers and the like). In virtualized environments, a NIC 118 may be virtualized into several virtual NICs as specified by SR-IOV under the PCI Express standard. Although not specified by the PCI Express standard and not as common, storage controllers can also be virtualized in a similar manner. This approach allows virtual entities, such as virtual machines, access to their own private resource.
Referring to FIG. 2, one major problem with hypervisors is with the complexity of IO operations. For example, in order to deal with an operation involving data across two different computers (computer system 1 and computer system 2 in FIG. 2), data must be copied repeatedly, over and over, as it moves among the different software stacks involved in local storage devices 104, storage controllers 112, the CPUs 106, network interface controller 118 and the hypervisor/operating systems 108 of the computers, resulting in large numbers of inefficient data copies for each IO operation whenever an activity is undertaken that involves moving data from one computer to another, changing the configuration of storage, or the like. The route 124 is one of many examples of the complex routes that data may take from one computer to another, moving up and down the software stacks of the two computers. Data that is sought by computing system 2 may be initially located in a local storage device 104, such as a disk, of computing system 1, then pulled by a storage controller card 112 (involving an IO operation and copying), send over the PCIe bus 110 (another IO operation) to the CPU 108 where it is handled by a hypervisor or other software component of the OS stack 108 of computing system 1. Next, the data may be delivered (another IO operation) through the network controller 118 and over the network 122 (another set of IO operations) to computing system 2. The route continues on computing system 2, where data may travel through the network controller 118 and to the CPU 106 of computing system 2 (involve additional IO operations), then sent over the PCIe bus 110 to the local storage controller 112 for storage, then back to the hypervisor/OS stack 108 for actual use. These operations may occur across a multiplicity of pairs of computing systems, with each exchange involving this kind of proliferation of IO operations (and many other routes are possible, each involving significant numbers of operations). Many such complex data replication and transport activities among computing systems are required in scaleout situations, which are increasingly adopted by enterprises. For example, when implementing a scaleout application like MongoDB™, customers must repeatedly run real time queries during rebalancing operations, and perform large scale data loading. Such activities involve very large numbers of IO operations, which result in poor performance in hypervisor solutions. Users of those applications also frequently re-shard (change the shards on which data is deployed), resulting in big problems for bare metal solutions that have static storage resource allocations, as migration of data from one location to another also involves many copying and transport operations, with large numbers of IO operations. As the amount of data used in scaleout applications grows rapidly, and the connectedness among disparate systems increases (such as in cloud deployments involving many machines), these problems grow exponentially. A need exists for storage and networking solutions that reduce the number and complexity of IO operations and otherwise improve the performance and scaleability of scaleout applications without requiring expensive, premium hardware.
Referring still to FIG. 2, for many applications and use cases, data (and in turn, storage) needs to be accessed across the network between computing systems 102. Three high-level steps of this operation include the transfer of data from the storage media of one computing system out of a box, movement across the network 122, and the transfer of data into a second box (second computing system 102) to the storage media 104 of that second computing system 102. First, out of the box transfer, may involve intervention from the storage controller 112, the storage stack in the OS 108, the network stack in the OS 108, and the network interface controller 118. Many traversals and copying across internal busses (PCIe 110 and memory) as well as CPU 106 processing cycles are spent. This not only degrades performance (creating latency and throughput issues) of the operation, but also adversely affects other applications that run on the CPU. Second, once the data leaves the box, 102 and moves onto the network 122, it is treated like any other network traffic and needs to be forwarded/routed to its destination. Policies are executed and decisions are made. In environments where a large amount of traffic is moving, congestion can occur in the network 122, causing degradation in performance as well as problems with availability (e.g., dropped packets, lost connections, and unpredictable latencies). Networks have mechanisms and algorithms to avoid spreading of congestion, such as pause functions, backward congestion notification (BCN), explicit congestion notification (ECN), etc. However, these are reactive methods; that is, they detect formation of congestion points and push back on the source to reduce congestion, potentially resulting in delays and performance impacts. Third, once the data arrives at its "destination" computing system 102, it needs to be processed, which involves intervention from the network interface controller 118, the network stack in the OS 108, the storage stack in the OS 108, and the storage controller 112. As with out of the box operations noted above, many traversals and copying across internal busses as well as CPU 106 processing cycles are spent. Further, the final destination of the data may well reside in still a different box. This can be the result of a need for more data protection (e.g., mirroring or across-box RAID) or the need for de-duplication. If so, then the entire sequence of out-of-the box, across the network, and into the box data transfer needs to be repeated again. As described, limitations of this approach include degradation in raw performance, unpredictable performance, impact on other tenants or operations, availability and reliability, and inefficient use of resources. A need exists for data transfer systems that avoid the complexity and performance impacts of the current approaches.
As an alternative to hypervisors (which provide a separate operating system for each virtual machine that they manage), technologies such as Linux™ containers have been developed (which enable a single operating system to manage multiple application containers). Also, tools such as Dockers have been developed, which provide provisioning for packaging applications with libraries. Among many other innovations described throughout this disclosure, an opportunity exists for leveraging the capabilities of these emerging technologies to provide improved methods and systems for scaleout applications.

Methods and systems for converged networking and storage


A photonic crystal, a light conversion device, a display panel, and a pair of glasses are provided. The photonic crystal of the embodiment of the present disclosure includes first dielectric layers and second dielectric layers having different refractive indexes, and the first dielectric layers and the second dielectric layers are alternately stacked. A thickness and a refractive index of each of the first dielectric layers and a thickness and a refractive index of each of the second dielectric layers are configured such that the photonic crystal blocks blue light with a wavelength of 420 nm to 470 nm incident into the photonic crystal from passing through the photonic crystal.

With advancement of electronic technology, digital devices such as computers, liquid crystal display televisions, and smart phone portable game consoles with liquid crystal display panels have entered daily lives of people. When viewing a light conversion device including a liquid crystal display panel for a long time, blue light of light emitted from the liquid crystal display panel may adversely affect the human eyes, especially that short-wave blue light with a wavelength of 420 nm to 470 nm may increase amount of toxins in a macular region of the human eyes, causing macular degeneration in the eyes, which seriously threatens eyes health.

Photonic crystal, display panel, light conversion device and glasses

BEIJING BOE DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

BEIJING BOE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD.


The present disclosure provides a metal clad laminate, a preparation method thereof, and a method for preparing a flexible circuit board by using the same. The metal clad laminate of the present disclosure includes a first metal foil, a first polyimide layer directly disposed on the first metal foil, a second metal foil, and a second polyimide layer directly disposed on the second metal foil, the first polyimide layer being in contact with the second polyimide layer. The metal clad laminate of the present disclosure is equivalent to a double-sided flexible copper clad laminate (FCCL) in structure, is superior to a single-sided FCCL in terms of mechanical performance in reducing warpage, and has the advantage of being useful for circuit fabrication simultaneously on both sides thereof.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a metal clad laminate useful for a flexible printed circuit board, and a preparation method thereof. The present disclosure further relates to a method for preparing a flexible printed circuit board by using the metal clad laminate.
2. Description of the Related Art
A flexible printed circuit (FPC) board, due to its flexibility and bendability, enables three-dimensional wiring through adaptation to the size and shape of the product, and also is characteristically light and thin, making it one of the essential components in various high-tech devices such as cameras, video cameras, displays, disk drives, printers, mobile phones and other such devices.
A flexible metal clad laminate, for example, flexible copper clad laminate (FCCL), is an upstream material for a flexible printed circuit board. The existing FCCLs may be divided, in light of their structures, into three-layer FCCLs (3L FCCLs) with adhesive and two-layer FCCLs (2L FCCLs) without adhesive. The 3L FCCL is mainly formed by adhering a copper foil onto a polyimide layer by using an epoxy or acrylate resin adhesive as an intermediate layer. The 2L FCCL is made by a special process, contains no low heat-resistant adhesives such as epoxy or acrylate resins, and is thus more reliable. Moreover, 2L FCCL is better suited to development of thinner products, and thus is gradually replacing 3L FCCL in practice.
The FCCLs may be divided, in light of the circuit configuration requirements of the products (e.g., printed circuit boards), into single-sided and double-sided FCCLs. Single-sided FCCL is the most fundamental FCCL. It has a copper foil layer useful for circuit formulation clad only on one side thereof. Single-sided FCCL has the advantages of easy fabrication process, low cost, and good flexibility. Double-sided FCCL has a copper foil layer clad on both upper and lower sides. Accordingly, circuits may be formed on both sides of the double-sided FCCL, and may electrically connect to each other by a via hole. Therefore, double-sided FCCL can achieve a higher integration, is beneficial to controlling electrical resistance, and is useful for circuit fabrication simultaneously on both sides, so as to save time, but may suffer from potential poor flexibility due to greater thickness.
Single-sided FCCL has advantages such as being light, thin, and highly flexible. Double-sided FCCL has advantages such as good mechanical performance, electrical characteristics (e.g. low dielectric constant), and capacity for forming circuits on both sides. However, it is usually difficult for researchers in the art of FCCLs to pursue good operability while maintaining the above advantages at the same time. Therefore, there is still a need in the art for a FCCL that is light, thin and highly flexible, has good electrical characteristics, and requires less time and expense on subsequent processing.

Metal clad laminate, preparation method thereof, and method for preparing flexible circuit board by using the same


The present invention relates the methods, compositions and devices for priming of plant seed, preferably seed of crop plants, and seeds obtained with the methods, compositions and devices, wherein the metabolic activity necessary for germination of the seed is not controlled by water but rather by the partial oxygen pressure and/or partial carbon dioxide pressure. In the methods of the invention, the partial oxygen or carbon dioxide pressure may be measured by oxygen/carbon dioxide sensitive fluorescent dye. The invention further relates to processes for producing a primed seed lot of a plant species and to a container comprising primed seed under an atmosphere with a partial oxygen pressure that is below the critical oxygen pressure.

Modern crop production systems require a high degree of precision in crop establishment and seed quality is an important factor therein. Seed quality is a complex trait that is determined by interactions between multiple genetic factors and environmental conditions. Modern approaches to improve seed quality therefore combine classical genetics, plant molecular biology and a variety of seed technologies to enhance physiological quality, vigor and synchronicity to establish uniform high quality crops in the field under diverse environmental conditions.
The commercial need for optimum seed germination performance has led to the development of processes known in the art for zygotic seeds as "seed priming." Seed priming may be a hydration treatment that allows controlled imbibition and induction of the pregerminative metabolism ("activation"), but whereby radicle emergence is prevented. The hydration treatment is stopped before desiccation tolerance is lost. The seeds can be dried back for storage, distribution and planting. Priming enhances germination speed and synchronicity of the seeds and increases seed vigor (short or no "activation" time). Furthermore a wider temperature range for germination, release of dormancy and faster emergence of uniform seedlings is achieved by seed priming. This leads to better crop stands and higher yields.
Four techniques are currently used commercially to accomplish seed priming. These are osmopriming, hydropriming, matrixpriming and pregermination. Osmopriming (osmoconditioning) is the standard priming technique. Seeds are incubated in well aerated solutions with a low water potential, and afterwards washed and dried. The low water potential of the solutions can be achieved by adding osmotiea like mannitol, polyethyleneglycol (PEG) or salts like KCl or KNO3. Hydropriming (drum priming) is achieved by continuous or successive addition of a limited amount of water to the seeds. A drum is used for this purpose and the water can also be applied by humid air. Matrixpriming (matrixconditioning) is the incubation of seeds in the presence of a solid, insoluble matrix (vermiculite, diatomaceous earth, cross-linked highly water-absorbent polymers) with a limited amount of water. This method confers a slow imbibition. Finally, the technique of pregerminated seeds is only possible with a few species. In contrast to classical priming, seeds are allowed to perform radicle protrusion. This is followed by sorting for specific stages, a treatment that reinduces dessication tolerance, and drying. The use of pregerminated seeds results in rapid and uniform seedling development upon imbibition. During the priming of seeds (bio-)chemical compounds may be added as well such as plant hormones (e.g. gibberellins, ethylene), seed dormancy breaking compounds, fungicides etc.
Several technical and logistical difficulties have been encountered with the prior art seed priming techniques. For example, osmotic solutions require continuous aeration and in general, a large volume of priming solution is required per quantity of seeds. Immersion in liquid restricts oxygen absorption and in particular relatively high concentrations of PEG in solution render them viscous and reduce oxygen solubility and diffusion rates. Moreover, priming of large quantities of seed requires large quantities of osmotic (e.g. PEG) solution and this can cause disposal problems, particularly if fungicides have been added. Reductions in percentage seedling emergence have been reported with the use of inorganic salts. Furthermore, matrixpriming has been reported to present difficulties in separating the primed seed from the matrix (e.g. vermiculite). Also reductions in storability of primed seeds as compared to untreated dry seeds has been reported. The methods for priming seed available in the art thus far have in common that they all rely on regulating the level of hydration of the seed, i.e. the water potential, for controlling the priming of the seed. An important problem common to these water-controlled methods is to stop the priming process in the right moment, which depends on the species and the seed batch.
It is an object of the present invention to address the above problems by providing methods, compositions and devices wherein not water but rather partial oxygen pressure is used to control priming of seed.


A server enclosure includes an enclosure body, and a cover panel located between the first side panel and the second side panel. The enclosure body includes a bottom panel, a first side panel, a second side panel extending from the bottom panel. The first side panel includes a side panel body and a mounting protrusion extending from the side panel body. The cover panel includes a connecting plate, a first cover plate pivotally mounted to the connecting plate, and a mounting element movably mounted to the first cover plate. The mounting element defines a cutout receiving the mounting protrusion. The first cover plate rotates about an axis. The mounting element moves along a first direction from a first position to a second position to enable the mounting protrusion to engage with the cutout.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to server enclosures, and more particularly to a server enclosure with a cover panel.
2. Description of Related Art
A traditional server includes an enclosure and electronic components stored in the enclosure. The enclosure includes a cover panel. The typical cover panel must be completely disassembled when electronic components are replaced, which is inconvenient and time consuming.


In a personal computer which displays a plurality of images and which includes a body of the personal computer, a primary display panel provided on a front side of the body, and a secondary display panel provided adjacently to the primary display panel, the secondary display panel is slid to be contained into the primary display panel or outer sides of the primary display panel by the use of rack and pinion mechanism. The secondary display panel is rotatable towards both upper or lower side and left or right side with respect to the primary display panel by a hinge mechanism.

This invention relates to a personal computer having a plurality of display panels, and more particularly to a display apparatus or a display unit having a plurality of display panels.
It is a recent trend that a plurality of images are displayed simultaneously on a display panel of a personal computer. Nowadays, a personal computer having a plurality of display panels is proposed so that utility of a user of a personal computer is improved. An example of such a personal computer having a plurality of display panels is disclosed, as a first prior art, in unexamined Japanese Patent Publication Hei01-234927, namely 234927/1989. In the example disclosed therein, a plurality of monitors and connectors are provided in a personal computer with those monitors and connectors being separated with each other. Another example of such a personal computer having a plurality of display panels is disclosed, as a second prior art, in unexamined Japanese Patent Publication Hei04-246721, namely 246721/1992. In also the another example disclosed therein, another display monitors are added to an original display monitor with the original and the another display monitors being separated with each other. Still another example of a television and a personal computer each having a plurality of display panels are disclosed, as a third prior art, in unexamined Japanese Patent Publication Hei09-200648, namely 200648/1997. In also the still another example disclosed therein, a plurality of video display panels each consisting of a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal are combined to a personal computer. However, video display panels, floppy disk drives, connectors, or the like are located in a plurality of directions, respectively.
However, when a plurality of display apparatus are used in a personal computer, a large space is inconveniently required for location of such a plurality of display apparatus.
In the above-mentioned first, second and third prior arts, in order to see a plurality of images by a personal computer, a plurality of images are displayed in divided areas of a single display panel, respectively. Otherwise, a plurality of images are displayed in a single display panel with the images being overlapped on each other and a desirable image is seen by setting the desirable image in the forefront. However, when a plurality of images are displayed in divided areas of a single display panel, it is inevitably caused to occur that each image is too small to be seen comfortably. As a result, an efficiency of a job by the use of the personal computer becomes worse. On the other hand, when a plurality of images are displayed in a single display panel with the images being overlapped on each other, it is, of course, impossible to see a plurality of images simultaneously.

Compact personal computer having a plurality of display panels


A filter element having a central axis includes a first endplate having a first central aperture, a second endplate having a second central aperture, a filter material positioned between the first endplate and the second endplate and having an axial passageway extending therebetween and along the central axis, the axial passageway axially aligned with the first central aperture and the second central aperture. The filter element includes a plurality of fingers attached to the first endplate and positioned circumferentially about the central axis and extending parallel therewith, each finger having a lip that extends from a surface of its respective finger for axial engagement with a respective nodule, of a plurality of nodules, of a filter head.

Fluid filters can be found in any motor vehicle that includes an internal combustion engine, and they serve for filtering out different contaminants from the fluids, such as fuel, oil, lubrication.
Particulates, for instance, can be introduced into the fuel stream in a variety of ways, such as dirt or rust while filling the tank, or from the fuel itself if from an unfiltered source. Particulates can be abrasive and can cause rapid wear and failure of engine components, such as the fuel pump and injectors. Filters often therefore typically include a particulate filter element (i.e., paper), which allows passage of the fuel while capturing the particulate matter.
For example, fluid filters are typically changed at regular intervals during the life of the engine as routine maintenance. However, routine changing of filters can inadvertently damage the engine if not installed properly. Some filter designs include insertion devices to aid in the insertion of filters into a housing. For instance, fluid filters may include an axially protruding pin that is used to close a run-off channel. The pin fits snugly within the channel and typically includes an O-ring or other sealing element to prevent drainage during engine use. The filter may be installed by positioning the filter within its housing, and the pin is then guided via a circumferential or helical ramp, on which the pin slides, until the pin finds the channel. The pin plugs the channel during operation of the filter, but when changing the filter, fluid access to the channel occurs when the pin is removed from the channel (i.e., by pulling out the filter from its cavity). Thus, installation of such a filter includes proper alignment of the pin with the channel. In some known designs the pin is visually aligned with the channel. However, it may be difficult to see or "feel" such alignment, and if a proper technique is not developed, the pin or filter may be damaged during installation.
Known designs include placement of a filter within an enclosure, or housing, which may include the afore-described channel and its corresponding pin. Typically, the filter is placed within the housing and is engaged in such a fashion that passageways for the flow of oil, both contaminated and then filtered, are formed or aligned with one another via, for instance, a ramp as described. When in operation, oil thereby is caused to flow into the filter where it passes through filter elements and then passes from back through the housing and to the engine as filtered oil.
Typically, installation includes a holding mechanism such as a housing cover that passes over a top of the filter to hold the filter while it is installed into the housing. The housing cover may include threads that engage with the housing, so that installation of the filter includes first inserting the filter into the cover, inserting the filter (via the cover) so that the pin engages with the ramp during rotation and, when the pin engages the hole, rotation of the filter ceases while the filter cover is screwed into the housing to seal off a cavity in which the filter is positioned. This operation often includes a mechanism that allows for relative rotation between the filter and the cover, allowing for the cover to be screwed in while the filter remains stationary.
In some designs, however, pins are not desired or necessary for operation of, and during removal (and maintenance of) the filter. As such, the need to rotationally engage the filter with its base and within the housing may be reduced. In so doing, however, the known apparatus and method may not suffice to both locate and contain the filter within its housing, or for when it engages with the passageways through which the oil passes into and out of the filter.
In addition, in some designs the filter may be unknowingly installed upside-down and the housing fitted over the filter. In such an arrangement, while the components may fit together and the cover or housing installed, the mechanic or installer may do so unwittingly.
In other instances, the filter may be installed forcibly, with the mechanic or installer finding that resistance to installation may be overcome by adding additional force to either the filter or the housing, which can force the components together and cause damage. Damage may be imparted to the filter, the housing, and/or the engine itself. Thus, although the mechanic may realize the error, it may be too late and the damage has already occurred.
As such, there is a need to for an improved design and method of installing a fuel filter.


An electronic component with leads each having a bonding portion is disclosed. Each bonding portion is formed with a through hole or a notch to provide for satisfactory soldering and reduce the possibility of defective soldering.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electric component such as an IC component mounted on a printed circuit board of surface-mounting system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The surface-mounting system, unlike a conventional insertion system, in which leads of electric components are inserted through through holes formed in a printed circuit board, is one, in which leads of electric components are electrically connected by soldering them to a connection land pattern formed on a printed circuit board, and which has been extensively utilized with automatization of mounting of electric components.
FIGS. 8 and 9 are perspective views showing prior art IC components used in the surface-mounting system.
In the Figures, reference numeral 1 designates an IC package, from the opposite sides of which a plurality of leads 2 are led out toward a printed circuit board (not shown). Each lead 2 has an outwardly (FIG. 8) or inwardly (FIG. 9) horizontally bent end portion, which constitutes a bonding portion 2a to be soldered to a corresponding connection land 3 formed on a printed circuit board.
The IC component having the above construction is set on a printed circuit board with the bonding portions 2a of the leads 2 registered to lands 3 which have been printed using a cream solder, and it is then mounted on the printed circuit board with soldering of the bonding portions 2a to the lands 3 with the solder fused in a re-flow furnace utilizing infrared rays.
In the prior art electric component the bonding portion 2a is formed by merely bending the lead 2 as described before. However, the control of the solder film thickness at the time of the cream solder printing is considerably difficult, and if insufficient solder film thickness results from insufficient amount of solder, it frequently leads to defective or unsatisfactory soldering, i.e., failure of perfect connection between the solder and lead.


A storage device including a transistor portion including a transistor, a plurality of interlayer insulating films provided above the transistor portion, a plurality of first conductive layers provided respectively between the plurality of interlayer insulating films, and a second conductive layer extending through the plurality of interlayer insulating films and the plurality of first conductive layers, the second conductive layer having one end electrically connected to the transistor portion, and a part that extends beyond a portion of the transistor portion.

As a large-capacity nonvolatile memory, a two-terminal resistance change type memory can be implemented in place of a floating gate type NAND flash memory. With this type of memory, low voltage/low current operation, high speed switching, miniaturization and high integration of memory cells are possible.
In a large-capacity memory array, a large number of metal wirings called bit lines and word lines are arranged in a crossing manner, and a memory cell is formed at the intersection of each bit line and each word line. Writing to one memory cell is performed by applying voltage to the bit line BL and the word line WL connected to the memory cell.


A method and apparatus for reworking an antenna aperture. A plurality of antenna cells comprise walls and antenna elements on the walls. Replacement antenna cells are placed adjacent to the plurality of antenna cells. The replacement antenna cells comprise a replacement wall and a replacement antenna element on the replacement wall. A conductive splice is attached to the replacement antenna element and to a one of the antenna elements on a one of the walls.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for reworking antenna array structures and structures made of composite materials. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to methods for reworking antenna array structures to restore both radio frequency and structural performance of the antenna array and to antenna arrays that have been reworked using such methods.
2. Background
A phased array antenna includes a plurality of individual antenna elements. Phase shifters are used to adjust the signals transmitted by the individual antenna elements to produce a focused antenna beam that is steerable in a desired direction. Therefore, using a phased array antenna, the direction of a radio frequency signal transmitted from the antenna may be steered or scanned without physically moving the antenna. In a similar manner, the phased array antenna may be steered without physically moving the antenna so that the main beam of the antenna is in a desired direction for receiving a radio frequency signal. Steering a phased array antenna for transmitting and receiving a radio frequency signal in a desired direction enables directed communication in which a radio frequency signal is electronically focused in the desired direction.
Phased array antennas are used for a variety of applications. For example, without limitation, phased array antennas may be used for radar systems, communications systems, or other applications. Phased array antennas may be mounted for use on a variety of mobile platforms. For example, without limitation, phased array antennas may be mounted on aircraft, spacecraft, marine vehicles, and even land vehicles for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic signals.
Antenna array structures may be formed by a plurality of antenna elements assembled into a grid-like arrangement. Traditional antenna array structures are formed by mounting the individual antenna elements on a support structure made of aluminum or other metal components. One limitation of such traditional antenna array structures is the weight that is associated with components of the antenna that are not directly necessary for transmitting or receiving signals, such as aluminum or other metallic components on which the antenna elements are supported.
In one preferred form, an antenna aperture for a phased array antenna may comprise a core structure with walls formed from composite materials. Individual antenna elements may be supported on the composite walls to form the antenna aperture. Composite materials may be tough, light-weight materials, created by combining two or more dissimilar components. For example, a composite material may include fibers and resins. The fibers and resins may be combined and cured to form a composite material. In an antenna aperture formed of composite materials, there is no need for aluminum blocks or other metal components for supporting the antenna elements which would add significant weight to the overall antenna aperture. An antenna aperture formed of composite materials is especially well-suited for use with mobile platforms such as manned and unmanned aircraft, spacecraft, and other high-speed mobile platforms, where light weight, high structural strength and rigidity are particularly desirable. This type of antenna aperture also may form a structurally rigid, light weight composite structure that is suitable for use as a load bearing portion of a mobile platform.
Inconsistencies in the antenna aperture of a phased array antenna may affect the performance of the antenna in undesired ways. Such inconsistencies may be caused, for example, by debris or other objects striking the antenna aperture when the antenna aperture is mounted and in use on a mobile platform. In other cases, inconsistencies in an antenna aperture may occur during manufacturing, transportation, or storage of the antenna aperture.
One response to inconsistencies in an antenna aperture may be to replace the entire antenna aperture. However, an antenna aperture may be relatively expensive. Therefore, it may be desirable to rework an antenna aperture with inconsistencies to remove the inconsistencies and restore the performance of the antenna aperture. However, methods for reworking traditional antenna apertures with antenna elements mounted on a support structure made of metal components may not be able to be used to rework antenna apertures formed of composite materials.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.


A data conversion system and method are provided. Specifically, under the present invention, a collection of data records is received from a first application. The data records include data fields for storing data entries, with at least one of the data fields including multiple data entries. Each data entry is tagged with a corresponding data header (meta data) and individually arranged, along with a corresponding record identifier, into a separate row of a table. This eliminates any multiple value data fields so that the data can be more accurately manipulated and reported by a second application.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a data conversion system and method. More particular, the present invention relates to a system and method in which data entries from a collection of data records are organized into a table for generation of a report and/or transferring data between different software systems, data systems, etc.
2. Background Art
As the use of computer technology becomes more prevalent, companies are increasingly seeking high technology solutions to track job performance. Specifically, a company may undertake numerous projects that require several tasks to be completed. In many instances, such projects are performed by numerous individuals with each individual being assigned one or more tasks in the project. For example, company "A" might desire to have a computer server set up in the human resources department. This project could be assigned to the information technology (IT) department (or an outside provider), which would assign any necessary tasks for completing the project to certain individuals. Thus, individual "A" might be responsible for setting up the hardware, individual "B" might be responsible for setting up the software, and individual "C" might be responsible for networking the server. In such a case, it would be valuable to track and report the status of the assigned tasks. However, since a company could be performing numerous projects simultaneously, and each project could involve numerous individuals, accurate tracking and reporting of this information is difficult. Specifically, in many instances, the data is initially collected and organized using a first (software) application. The data may then be transferred to a second (software) application that generates any desired reports. However, the format of the data as organized by the first application may be incompatible or foreign to the second application. For example, the first application may organize the data so that multiple data entries appear in the same data field (i.e., a multiple value data field). However, the second application might not be able to interpret/handle multiple value fields. Thus, there exists a danger that reports generated by the second application are inaccurate.
Heretofore, attempts have been made at developing computerized solutions to track and report project data. Such attempts, however, fail to provide a way to accurately convert data from a format of a first application (i.e., first format) to a format of a second application (i.e., second format). For example, no such attempt provides a way for multiple value fields generated by a first application to be converted to single value fields for use by a second application. Moreover, no such attempt creates a relationship between data entries and data headers so that common occurrences can be readily identified.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a data converting system and method. Specifically, a need exists for a system and method whereby data can be converted from a first format to a second format. A further need exists for a multiple value data field, as used by a first application, to be converted to a single value data field for use by a second application.

International Business Machines Corporation