The color coding system is for use with a storage bin for fastener parts and tools that assists in identifying and matching the cooperating sizes of fastener parts and tools by using color code markings on the various sizes for tools and fastener parts. The color coding system can readily communicate visually to a user the size of a selected fastener part, the sizes of cooperating fastener parts and the sizes of the cooperating tools for each of the selected fastener parts.

The present invention is directed to a color coding system for readily identifying and matching fastener parts and tools according to size. The storage bins have compartments that are labeled by color to readily identify and match the size of the fastener parts to the compartments in which the parts are to be held and to match fastener parts to tools. The present invention further includes a portable sizing gauge that uses color coding to quickly identify the sizes of fastener parts and matching tools when working in the field.
Typically, fastener parts which include bolts, nuts and various types of washers are distinguished by fractional diameter sizes such as ¼-inch, 5/16-inch, ⅜-inch, 7/16-inch or in metric sizes such as 4 mm, 6 mm, 7 mm, etc. These parts are often sold and stored separately, requiring that the user match the fastener parts together when assembling the fastener. By trial and error, a user can eventually find the correct fit for the fastener parts such as locating the proper nut or washer for a particular size of bolt. However, he or she must try various sizes of parts until the proper fit is found. This method of trial and error can be both frustrating and time consuming.
Even when the containers for the fastener parts are marked with the sizes of the parts held therein, such markings can be difficult to read, thereby making it cumbersome to match together same sized fastener parts.
Therefore, there is a need for a coding system that enables a user to readily locate the proper size of any given fastener part in order to quickly match the fitted parts.
In the field, fastener parts are generally stored separately according to size and shape. When assembling a fastener, it is necessary to match the separate parts according to size. Consequently, there is a need for quickly identifying the sizes of the fastener parts in order to complete a job in a shorter amount of time.
In addition, tools are often required to assemble the fastener parts. When assembling the fastener parts, readily locating the proper size of tool for engaging the selected fastener parts is desirable.
A user needs to be able to quickly identify and match the sizes of the various fastener parts that fit together to form the fastener. Therefore, there is a need for a system of readily identifying and maintaining fastener parts and tools according to their sizes. On the job site or in a store, fastener parts are often held in various types of storage bins, so there is a need for an identification system that can be retrofitted to different types of existing storage bins that hold fastener parts.
There is also the need for an identification system to readily identify the sizes of tools and fastener parts in order to quickly match cooperating fastener parts to each other and select the correctly sized wrench or socket. Since fastener parts are often assembled in the field, a system that is portable for easy transport and that can be used on the job site is desirable.
When working in the field, low lighting situations can be common, making it difficult for a worker to find the correctly fitting fastener parts and to find the proper tool that fits the selected fastener part. In addition, some workers may not be proficient enough in a given language to read the sizing standards typically used to label fastener parts and tools. Therefore, there is a need for a system that can not only communicate nonverbally the sizes of fastener parts and tools, but also can operate in low light situations in order to easily match the cooperating fastener parts and tools together.
For decades, nuts, bolts and other fastener parts have been stored in pigeonhole type storage bins in factories, auto parts stores, machine shops, hardware stores and workshops throughout the world. When a mechanic has a bolt and needs a flat washer and nut to fit with the bolt, he or she typically uses trial and error methods to find a fit. With trial and error one merely guesses the fit and continues to try fitting the different fastener parts together until the proper sized part is found.
Most types of cooperating fasteners are fitted together using a tool such as a wrench or socket. Wrenches and sockets have standard sizes designed to fit standard sized fastener parts. The differently sized parts each have a tool sized to fit. Typically, the proper fitting tool for a fastener part is found by trial and error. There is a need for an identification system that can readily match the proper size of tool with the cooperating fastener part size in order to reduce frustration and increase work efficiency.
Most hardware stores have storage bins in which the fastener parts are stored according to size, shape and various other factors such as price or function. In self service stores or in the field, one must match the sizes of multiple cooperating fastener parts. Again, trial and error are typically used to match together all of the cooperating parts of a fastener. This can be frustrating, time consuming and exceedingly difficult in low lighting situations and/or inclement weather.
Some retailers have self service bins for displaying fastener parts, whereby each bin holds fastener parts that are the same size. Each bin is typically labeled to indicate the size of the parts held therein. These labels typically display a picture of the bolt, nut or washer, a barcode and a number to indicate the size. A user can eventually locate the desired fastener parts using the label on the bin as a guide, but locating the proper tool can pose another challenge. He or she must know the particular size of the cooperating tool. When the size of the tool is unknown, the user must once again resort to trial and error to find the proper tool that fits the fastener.
It can be cumbersome to have to match the correct size of fastener parts to each other by using trial and error methods. By quickly finding the correctly sized fastener part, the time required for completing a job can be reduced. In retail stores, quick location of a product such as fastener parts can lead to satisfied customers and increased sales.
On the job, choosing the properly sized tool to fit a fastener can also be time consuming if the user has to make guesses to determine which tool will fit the given fastener part. In situations where the workman cannot read the label description, it can be difficult to quickly match the same sized fastener parts and tools. These prior art labels, having only a written description of the fastener part or tool, fail to help the user to quickly identify the properly sized item that is needed.
In the prior art, storage bins are usually labeled with the sizes being indicated for various fastener parts, including washers, nuts and bolts. As an example, bolts are generally labeled with the diameter and the length of the bolt. The label might also include a picture of the bolt, nut or washer, as well as a bar code for that fastener part size. Alternatively, bolt gauges for measuring length comprising a ruler and a plurality of apertures for measuring diameter are used in the prior art to identify the size of bolts.
However, these storage bins and bolt gauges do not have color code markings to indicate sizes when matching tools and fastener parts, making it difficult to accomplish such a task.
In addition, searching for a tool, such as a wrench, to fit a bolt can require a lot of guess work. Trial and error is generally the method used for finding the correctly sized wrench to fit a bolt or nut.
Searching by trial and error for the properly fitted tool and fastener part can be time consuming and frustrating for the mechanic, thereby increasing operating costs in a repair shop. In a retail business, the resultant frustration to the customer can result in loss of sales. It can also increase the need for assistance to the customer by sales persons, thereby requiring more employees in the store.
With a color coding system, the storage bin holding the fastener parts and the tools have highly visible color code markings to identify the sizes. Consequently, a mechanic or workman can readily identify the cooperating fastener parts for which he or she is searching, thereby saving time and frustration. In addition to finding the properly sized fastener parts, the coding system of the present invention also facilitates locating the properly sized tool to use with a given fastener. The color coded system and sizing gauge can be used in various venues, including retail businesses, warehouses, storage facilities and job sites.
With color code markings on the compartments of the storage bin indicating a particular size of fastener part and the tool sized for the part, one can easily locate the desired cooperating parts and tools, thereby saving time for mechanics, construction personnel, carpenters and other workers.
The color coding system readily communicates the size of the fastener parts held in the compartment of the storage bin and the size of the tool to use with the respective fastener parts. This eliminates the need for haphazard searching for cooperating sizes of fastener parts and tools, thereby making it quicker and easier for mechanics, repairmen and other users to identify the proper sizes of fastener parts, as well as the properly sized tool for fitting a selected fastener.
The color coding system of the present invention nonverbally communicates to a user the sizes of fastener parts, the sizes of tools and which size of each matches the other. The color code markings of the system are preferably highly visible to enhance the system's use in low light conditions.

Color coding system for sizing fastener parts, tools and storage bins


A flotation device (10) adapted to be worn by a person, said device (10) including at least one inflatable member (23) adapted to be inflated by gas generated by solid to gas generation means (21) and having means (30) to effect such inflation. The flotation device (10) also having a body (25) substantially encompassing at least one inflatable member (23) and the gas generation means (21) as well as release means for substantially releasing any inflatable members from the flotation device (10) while retaining the inflatable members (23) in connection with the flotation device (10).

Personal flotation devices are well known and for many applications, such as boating, are legislatively required to be worn by a boat user or carried aboard for use when necessary.
The types of flotation devices available include life jackets and vests as well as a wide range of inflatable clothing and potentially include items such as life rafts. Many approved life jackets are manufactured from buoyant foam type materials and are cumbersome to wear making many people reluctant to wear them.
An alternative flotation device is an inflatable life jacket however people such as those who fish from rocks or swimmers or surfers, who may well run the risk of drowning are unlikely to wear such devices. In particular, swimmers do not want the obstruction and drag of wearing such a device.
A difficulty which is associated with inflatable buoyancy devices is that a relatively bulky gas cylinder and valve mechanism is required to provide a given volume of gas, the gas customarily being Carbon Dioxide which is stored as a high pressure liquid in the cylinder. In addition many people who are not legislatively required to wear such garments for their particular water sport would not do so owing to the appearance of such garments.
It is known for children to wear inflatable devices on their bodies when learning to swim under supervision however these are usually not of a kind that could be deployed by an adult in an emergency.


A system is provided for recommending guidance instructions to a user. The system includes a memory having computer readable instructions and a processor for executing the computer readable instructions. The computer readable instructions control the processor to perform operations of monitoring an ongoing task comprising at least one act performed by a user, generating image data depicting the ongoing task, and displaying the ongoing task based on the image data. The system analyzes the ongoing task and generates an augmented image. The augmented image is overlaid on the image data so that the augmented image is displayed simultaneously with the ongoing task to direct the user to progress the ongoing task.

The invention relates generally to artificial intelligence (AI) computing systems and, more specifically, AI recommendation of guidance instructions to a user.
Voice response systems are becoming very popular. Typically, voice response systems monitor ambient audio for voice commands from users. The voice commands direct the voice response systems to execute specific actions and to provide auditory responses to the user. In some cases, the actions taken by the voice response system and the responses provided to the user can be inaccurate based on the user's intended context because the AI used by the voice response system misunderstood the words that made up the voice command.

Self-learning artificial intelligence voice response based on user behavior during interaction

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


This patent application relates to foreign-key detection. One implementation obtains a set of data tables. This implementation automatically determines foreign-key relationships of columns from separate tables of the set.

A set of data tables often includes foreign-key relationships between individual data tables. Foreign-key relationships are an important class of relationships in the set. Foreign-key relationships are used to represent a many-to-one relationship and are useful to capture hierarchies of the data. For instance, data relating to sales can be organized by region, such as Region->Sales or by time, such as Year->Month->Date->Sales. Common examples of foreign-key relationships are star schemas and snowflake schemas. In a star schema there is a fact table that contains details (e.g. sales transactions) and is connected to other dimension tables (e.g. Customer, Country, Year, Store) via foreign-key relationships. A snowflake schema is similar to a star schema except that the dimension tables could be organized in hierarchies.
In certain cases, the foreign-key (FK) relationships among tables may not be declared or known a priori. In other instances, foreign-key relationships may be lost when data is moved, such as when the data is exported from one format and input into another format. In such cases, either the user has to manually identify the foreign-key relationships or the user has to accept diminished data analysis relative to the data.


The present disclosure provides an electrolyte additive. The electrolyte additive comprises: maleimide derivative, bis-maleimide derivative, or combinations there of The structural formulas of maleimide derivative and bis-maleimide derivative respectively are:

As the developments of electric vehicles and potable electronic devices such as mobile phones, digital cameras, and laptops, the market for lithium ion batteries with high efficiency and high energy density increasingly grow. Lithium ion battery has the highest voltage and highest energy density in commercial batteries, and has good prospects for development. However, as more and more lithium ion batteries are used in electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, wireless power tools, and military, the voltage and energy density of the lithium ion battery have higher requirements.
A lithium ion battery is composed by electrodes, separator, and electrolyte. The stability of the electrolyte is an important component in lithium ion batteries, to ensure the stable performance of the lithium ion battery. The electrochemical window of a conventional electrolyte used in the lithium ion battery only reaches about 4.5V, that is, a charging voltage higher than 4.5V causes an oxidation decomposition of the electrolyte, making the electrolyte difficult to use at higher voltages.
In prior art, there are numerous studies on adding additives in the electrolyte to improve the functions and performances. However, the conventional additives are for improving the cycling performances at high voltages and capacity retentions of the lithium ion batteries. It has not been found a report to expand the electrochemical window of the electrolyte by adding the additives.

Electrolyte additive, electrolyte and lithium ion battery using the same

Abstract: wherein, R1, R2 are selected from hydrogen atom and halogen atoms, R3 is selected from silicon containing group, nitrogen containing group, fluorine containing group, phosphorus containing group, and a repeating ethoxy group. The present disclosure also provides an electrolyte liquid and a lithium ion battery using the electrolyte additive.

Jiangsu Huadong Institute of Li-ion Battery Co. Ltd.


In an embodiment of methods and apparatus for a control surface restraint and release system comprises a restraint apparatus detachably coupled to the control surface, a guidance rail slidably engaging the restraint apparatus, and a stopping mechanism coupled to the guidance rail and configured to stop a movement of the restraint apparatus.

Various missiles and other launchable systems may be stowed and/or transported in enclosures, such as canisters or boxes. Often times, the enclosure with the stowed missile is mounted on a launcher. While enclosures for missiles are necessary, contacts and/or collisions between the missile and the enclosure may damage the missile and/or the enclosure. To prevent damage to parts of the missile, such as a control fin, the enclosure may comprise a certain amount of space for clearance between the enclosure and the missile. Additionally, inadvertent missile rotation within the enclosure may result in mis-positioning of the missile and/or potential damage to the missile when the missile is launched from the enclosure.

Methods and apparatus for a control surface restraint and release system


An apparatus for preparing a machining liquid of an electroerosion machine comprises a filter, to which is supplied concentrate flow from a concentrate tank and from which is drained a permeate flow. In order to obtain a high machining liquid quality the filter is constituted by a membrane filter, which is backflushed with a backflushing frequency, which is a function of a parameter of the electroerosion process.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for the preparation of a working, processing or machining liquid for a spark erosion or electroerosion machine.
Electroerosion machines typically have a working container filled with a machining or processing liquid into which is immersed a workpiece to be machined by electroerosion. In the case of wire cutting or wire eroding machines, the machining liquid consists of deionized water, whereas it consists of hydrocarbons for countersinking machines. As a result of the erosive removal of particles from the workpiece, the cleanness of the machining liquid is reduced, so that its electrical conductivity changes.
In order to maintain a desired quality of the electroerosion operation, it is necessary to clean or purify the machining liquid, so as to maintain its electrical characteristics and cleanness within predetermined ranges.
The prior art has generally made use of conventional filters for the preparation of the machining liquid; those filters have, however, a comparatively large pore diameter. In the case of the large pore sizes of such conventional filters, the filtering action is not sufficient to maintain the machining liquid of an electroerosion machine within a desired quality range for a period of several days. However, the filter walls become clogged on reducing the pore diameter of the conventional filters for increasing the filtration quality.
It is generally known in the filter technology field to use membrane filters, which have extremely small pore-cross-sections compared with the pore sizes of conventional filters of other types. However, membrane filters have been considered unsuitable for the coarse filtering of the concentrate in electroerosion technology because of the fear of a rapid clogging of the membrane filter due to the high solids proportion in the concentrate.
Therefore membrane filters have only been used for extremely specialized purposes in the preparation of the machining liquid for electroerosion machines but never for cleaning or preparing the concentrate. For example, JP-OS 62-24917 discloses an apparatus for the preparation of the machining liquid of an electroerosion machine, in which use is made of a membrane filter. The known apparatus comprises a container for the machining liquid, which is subdivided into two areas by a cellophane membrane. The first area is connected by means of a pump, downstream of which a convention filter is connected to the working zone of the electroerosion machine which, by means of a further pump, can again be discharged into said first area of the container. The second container area is connected by still another pump to an ion exchanger. The ion concentration in the second container area is well below the ion concentration in the first container area, so that it is possible to operate the ion exchanger with a favorable, low ion density for its operating behavior. In this known apparatus for the preparation of the machining liquid, a conventional filter is consequently used for filtering the concentrate, whereas a member filter is used only for the adjustable reduction of the ion density for a circulation of an ion exchanger.
It has been known in the field of filter technology using membrane filters to carry out a periodic backflushing of the membranes, so that a dirt cake which has accumulated during operation of the membrane can be washed away. In known membrane filtration plants, a time control has been used for this purpose to control a brief backflushing process at the end of a predetermined filtration time. However, in such a filtration plant, the backflushing time intervals can only be set in an economic manner, if the dirt cake builds up on the membrane wall at a substantially invariable speed on the basis of a forecastable, constant filter cake production.

Apparatus for the preparation of machining liquid for an electroerosion machine


A mechanism for moving a table means lengthwise and crosswise of the table has two mutually orthogonal pairs of table carried parallel guide faces adapted to be mounted on the table, a support base, two pairs of guide members having two mutually orthogonal pairs of parallel guide faces in spaced opposed relation to corresponding pairs of said table carried guide faces, the guide members being movably mounted on the support base for movement in a direction for moving parallel guide faces of the respective pairs in a direction perpendicular to the length of the guide faces, two pairs of parallel straight motion guide bearing mechanisms mounted between opposed pairs of guide faces for lengthwise movably supporting the table on the guide members, and a driving device engaged with at least one guide member of each pair of guide members for moving the one guide member in a direction to move the guide face thereof in the perpendicular direction. Alternatively, the table can be supported on a support bearing structure and guide bearings used between the guide faces.

In a conventional X-Y travelling table, a pair of monoaxial moving mechanisms, each of which is composed of a pair of straight motion guide bearings and one feed screw mechanism to provide movement in one direction, are mounted in combination with their moving directions kept orthogonal to cause a table to move lengthwise and crosswise.
Such a structure has various problems, such as that the height from the support base to the table is sufficiently great to make the mechanism relatively unstable and to cause it to occupy a large space, that the number of parts is large, that many man hours are required for assembling, that it is relatively difficult to assembly with accuracy, and so on.

Mechanism for moving a table in orthogonal directions


A robot off-line simulation apparatus that allows a person to know an optimum placement for a robot, an operation margin index, etc. before going to an actual working site. Provisional robot placing positions are selected using data about a given sequence of task points (operation path), etc. The conditions for selection are (i) that solution to the inverse kinematics should be found regarding the entire sequence of task points, (ii) that the robot should not interfere with a peripheral device, and (iii) that regarding all the axes of the robot, the operation margin index should satisfy a criterion value. Simulation is performed according to operation programs under the condition that the robot is placed at each of the provisional placing positions, where data about cycle time, duty, energy value, change in acceleration/speed, etc. is collected. Using the collected data, evaluation of operation is performed regarding each of the provisional placing positions, and those provisional placing positions which allow good operation are identified as placing positions ensuring the robot operation. Further, using an evaluation function in which each aspect is given a weighting, the placing positions ensuring the robot operation are reduced to optimum placing positions ensuring the robot operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a robot off-line simulation apparatus for performing simulation of operation of a robot, more specifically a robot off-line simulation apparatus having a function of obtaining an optimum placement for a robot.
2. Description of Related Art
A robot off-line simulation apparatus for performing off-line simulation of operation of a robot is known to the public. When simulation of operation of a robot is performed with this apparatus, generally the three-dimensional models of a robot, a workpiece, a peripheral device, etc. are placed and displayed -on a screen simultaneously. Obviously, the result of the simulation varies to a large degree depending on where the robot is placed on the screen (more precisely, in a space represented by the robot off-line simulation apparatus). If the robot is placed at an inappropriate position, it causes problems such that a task point or a part of an operation path for the robot proves to be in a region where the robot cannot operate, or that the robot interferes with a peripheral device when the robot is made to operate on an intended sequence of task points or an intended operation path.
Hence, conventionally, an operator obtains a robot placing position that satisfies the conditions that the robot should be able to operate at all the task points or over the entire operation path, and that the robot should not interfere with the peripheral device, through a trial-and-error process of placing the robot on the screen over and over. However, even when a robot system is built on the basis of a robot placing position determined to satisfy the conditions as mentioned above, it is not rare that problems occur such that the determined placing position is not optimal, so that the cycle time and duty of the robot exceed stipulated values. Problems like these are dealt with by reviewing and changing the placing positions for the robot, the workpiece and the peripheral device.
Further, even when a robot placing position thought to produce good results is determined in the simulation system in the conventional manner described above, problems occur such that when the real robot is placed at the determined placing position on an actual working site, it turns out that the robot cannot operate at the determined placing position on the actual working site although on the screen, it appears to be able to operate. Hence, the robot placement needs to be changed on the working site, which is very inefficient. This comes from the fact that it is actually very difficult to make the on-screen positional relationship between the robot and the peripheral device perfectly correspond to the real positional relationship between them. Generally, it is inevitable that the former differs from the latter to some degree. It is to be noted that Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-166806 refers to the related art.
As mentioned above, there are following problems: Even if a robot placing position thought to ensure that the robot will be able to operate at all the task points or over the entire operation path and that the robot will not interfere with the peripheral device is obtained on the robot off-line programming system, it is not sufficient. How it will be on the actual working site needs to be considered. Even if the robot can be placed at a certain position on the screen, it does not mean that the robot can be placed at that position on the actual working site, because there is discrepancy between a placement on the screen and a placement on the actual working site, so that the operating range of the robot on the screen is different from that on the actual working site. Further, the robot placement needs to be reviewed and changed when it causes trouble in the robot operation. As a result, unexpected time and cost is required to build the robot system.
Conventionally, there is no way to check whether the off-line determined robot placing position is optimal or not. Hence, it is after the system is actually built that it turns out that the cycle time and the duty of the robot exceed the stipulated values. Thus, the placing positions for the robot, the workpiece and the peripheral device often need to be reviewed and changed, and hence, unexpected time and cost is required to build the robot system.
Further, with the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, the problems due to the discrepancy between a placement on the screen and a placement on the actual working site cannot be solved, so that there is a high possibility that the placement needs to be changed on the actual working site.


A disclosed laser diode driving device drives laser diodes with driving currents obtained by adding switch currents to corresponding bias currents and includes a common switch current generating circuit configured to generate a common switch current according to an input signal; switch current generating circuits provided for the corresponding laser diodes and configured to generate the switch currents based on the common switch current and input signals; switches configured to control the output of the switch currents to the corresponding laser diodes according to input signals; bias current generating circuits configured to generate the bias currents and output the generated bias currents to the corresponding laser diodes; and a control unit configured to detect the light intensities of the respective laser diodes and to control the common switch current generating circuit, the switch current generating circuits, and the switches to adjust the light intensities of the respective laser diodes.

In a laser recording device that forms an image according to image signals by scanning a recording medium with laser beams from laser diodes, light intensity control is performed to regulate the laser output of the laser diodes.
When a threshold current Ith is a current at which a laser diode suddenly starts to emit light and a light-emission current Iη is a current that is greater than the threshold current Ith and required to obtain a desired laser output, the threshold current Ith and the light-emission current Iη vary depending on the laser diode because of variations in manufacturing processes. Still, the light intensity of a laser diode linearly increases as the light-emission current Iη increases. In other words, the light-emission current and the light intensity of a laser diode are proportional.
Normally, in a laser diode driving device, an operating current Iop (bias current Ibi+switch current Isw), which consists of a bias current Ibi to be constantly supplied to the laser diode and a switch current Isw to be supplied according to a modulation signal based on image information, is controlled based on detected actual laser outputs to stably obtain a desired laser output.
In light intensity control in such a laser diode driving device, the response characteristics of a laser diode to an input pulse signal during image formation can be improved by making the bias current Ibi smaller than and as close as possible to the threshold current Ith. Therefore, the bias current Ibi is normally set at a value slightly smaller than the threshold current Ith.
There are several known technologies for detecting the threshold current Ith for each laser diode and setting the bias current Ibi based on the detected threshold current Ith.
For example, patent document 1 discloses a technology for detecting the threshold current Ith using multiple reference voltages and a sample-and-hold circuit and setting the bias current Ibi based on the detected threshold current Ith. However, with the disclosed technology using a sample-and-hold circuit that holds an analog voltage in a capacitor, the bias current Ibi may fluctuate because of a leakage current during a holding period. Particularly, when the holding period becomes long, the fluctuation caused by the leakage current becomes larger.
As another example, patent document 2 discloses a technology where the light intensity of a laser diode is detected with an A/D converter and the bias current Ibi and the switch current Isw are set by D/A converters. Using D/A converters to set the bias current Ibi and the switch current Isw makes it possible to eliminate the above mentioned problem caused by a leakage current in a sample-and-hold circuit. However, although it depends on the setting accuracy of light intensity, D/A converters with a resolution of 10 bits or greater are necessary for the above purpose. Such high-resolution D/A converters increase the chip size and costs of a semiconductor integrated circuit used for a laser diode driving device.
Meanwhile, in the field of laser printers and digital copiers that use laser diodes as light sources, there is a growing demand for high-resolution and high-speed devices. To increase the resolution and printing speed of a device using only one laser beam, it is necessary to increase the modulating speed that is a speed of turning on and off a laser diode according to input image data. However, there is a limit to this approach of increasing the modulating speed. Therefore, to further increase the resolution and printing speed of a device, it is necessary to increase the number of laser beams. Assuming that the modulating speed and the printing speed are the same as those when one laser beam is used, using four laser beams makes it possible to double the resolution in the main- and sub-scanning directions (lengthwise and crosswise). When the resolution is the same, using four laser beams makes it possible to increase the printing speed by four times.
Semiconductor lasers used as light sources are roughly divided into two types: an edge-emitting laser that emits a laser beam in a direction parallel to the active layer and a surface-emitting laser that emits a laser beam in a direction perpendicular to the active layer. Edge-emitting lasers that emit one, two, or four laser beams are popularly used for printers and copiers. When eight laser beams are necessary, for example, eight single-beam lasers each emitting one laser beam, four multi-beam lasers each emitting two laser beams, or two multi-beam lasers each emitting four laser beams may be used. The price of a laser increases as the number of emitting beams increases. The positional relationships between optical axes of laser beams of a multi-beam laser are stable. On the other hand, when single-beam lasers are used to provide multiple laser beams, it is necessary to adjust the positional relationships between optical axes of the laser beams by adjusting the positions of the single-beam lasers in an apparatus. Therefore, using a multi-beam laser makes it easier to adjust positional relationships between optical axes of laser beams.
Also, because of structural limitations, it is technically difficult to increase the number of laser beams of an edge-emitting laser. Meanwhile, the number of laser beams of a surface-emitting laser can be comparatively easily increased. Therefore, a surface-emitting laser is preferable to increase the speed and resolution of a device by increasing the number of laser beams. For the above reasons, developments of devices such as laser printers and digital copiers using surface-emitting lasers capable of emitting a large number of laser beams as light sources have been very active these past years to meet the demand for high-speed, high-resolution devices. For example, a surface-emitting laser may be configured to emit 30 to 40 laser beams.
Generally, an edge-emitting laser includes an internal light-receiving element. Therefore, for example, when two multi-beam lasers each including one light-receiving element and emitting four laser beams are used to provide eight laser beams, one fourth of a light-intensity adjustment period can be used for adjusting the intensity of each laser beam. Meanwhile, a surface-emitting laser, because of its structure, cannot include an internal light-receiving element and therefore has to use an external light-receiving element. Also, because the axes of laser beams are close to each other in a surface-emitting laser, it is difficult to separately detect multiple laser beams with different light-receiving elements at once. For these reasons, for example, when a surface-emitting laser is capable of emitting 40 laser beams, only one fortieth of a light-intensity adjustment period can be used for adjusting the intensity of each laser beam.
During one scanning period (for scanning one line), time usable for adjusting light intensity is very limited. For example, when a light-intensity control device capable of adjusting the intensities of four laser beams during one scanning period is used to adjust 40 laser beams of a surface-emitting laser, the intensities of the 40 laser beams can be adjusted only once during 10 scanning periods. This is particularly a problem when a sample-and-hold circuit is used to generate a bias current. With a sample-and-hold circuit, a detected sample value must be held in a capacitor while the light intensity of the corresponding laser beam cannot be adjusted. For example, the holding period required when the light intensity can be adjusted only once during 10 scanning periods is ten times longer than that required when the intensity adjustment can be performed once in each scanning period. In such a case, the fluctuation in the generated bias current caused by a leakage current becomes too large to be ignored.
FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary circuit configuration of a related art laser diode driving device. Below, the number of bits required for a D/A converter for setting a light-emission current is described with reference to FIG. 13.
In FIG. 13, a bias current control circuit controls a bias current that is smaller than a threshold current and a switch current control circuit controls a switch current that is proportional to the light intensity. Also, it is assumed that the light intensity is controlled within a setting range and the light-emission current is adjusted within a setting range between 1.25 mA and 5 mA. For example, to set the light intensity in units of 0.5% or smaller (with a resolution of 0.5% or smaller), it is necessary to be able to set the light-emission current in units of 0.5% or smaller (with a resolution of 0.5% or smaller).
Based on the above assumptions, when the maximum output current of a D/A converter is 5 mA, a setting scale of at least 200 steps (a resolution of 0.5% or 6.25 μA) is necessary to output the minimum output current of 1.25 mA. When a setting scale has 250 steps (a resolution of 0.4% or 5 μA) per 1.25 mA, 1000 steps (5 mA/5 μA) are necessary per 5 mA. Thus, in this case, a D/A converter with a resolution of 10 bits is necessary to set a light-emission current.
Meanwhile, as the number of bits of a D/A converter increases, higher output accuracy is required. Also, when the number of bits of a D/A converter increases by one, the area of the D/A converter on a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) becomes two times larger. For example, to drive a multi-beam laser capable of emitting 40 beams, it is necessary to provide 40 D/A converters with a 10-bit resolution on the same IC. Accordingly, such a configuration increases the chip size and costs of a semiconductor integrated circuit.
[Patent document 1] Japanese Patent No. 3687621
[Patent document 2] Japanese Patent No. 3365094
As described above, there is a trend to increase the number of laser beams to improve the speed and resolution of a device. However, increasing the number of beams increases the period of time during which the light intensity of a laser beam cannot be adjusted. Therefore, if an analog sample-and-hold circuit is used to adjust light intensity, the bias current may fluctuate because of a leakage current during a holding period. Meanwhile, with a method using D/A converters, which generate predetermined currents based on a constant current and digital data, the above problem can be prevented. However, this method requires a laser beam driving circuit, which is equivalent to that used to drive a single-beam laser, for each of the laser beams of a multi-beam laser and therefore increases the chip size and costs of a semiconductor integrated circuit used for a laser diode driving device.

Laser diode driving device and image forming apparatus including the same


The invention relates to fins for watercraft such as surfboards, surf-skis, sailboards, kayaks, canoes, skiffs, water-skis, and also "soft" plastic watercraft such as polyethylene boards. These fins have an apertured, basal flange; each fin being affixable, in a variety of positions, to the underside of the watercraft via fixing means extending through the apertures in the flange and into the fabric of the watercraft.

The sport of riding a board on the crest of a wave as it approaches the shore is old. European seafarers of the 18th century reported having seen this feat performed in the "Sandwich Islands".
In course of time, knowledge of this new, exciting sport spread from Hawaii to California, from whence it was introduced into such other countries as Australia, South Africa and so forth.
The traditional surfboards were heavy, curvilinear wooden artifacts, from 12 to 20 feet in length, and only the strongest surfers could readily handle them.
Subsequently, more modern surfboards began to be made from plastic, polyurethane foam, and fiberglass, with the fin set into what is termed a "fin-box" let into the underside or fixed insitu with fiberglass. While a fin-box admittedly provides a fin, set therein, with good resistance to laterally-applied force, the original object of the insert fin-box was apparently to allow for ease of transport, inasmuch as boards with the fins removed could be safely stacked one on top of the other. Damage of fins in transit was a major problem.
With a single fin, even moderately difficult conditions are enough to cause the "spin-out" which is so frustrating and even dangerous to the rider; this phenomenon to be caused by insufficient lateral adhesion between fin and water, and so attempts were made to counteract it by increasing the depth and lateral area of the base of the fin. The result was excessive drag and loss of maneuverability owing to the "keel effect" of the enlarged fin, which led to even poorer performance.
Variations of the finned board have been tried out (boardriders being notoriously prone to experiment) for example, laterally-spaced paired fins (the so-called "twin-fin board"). This produced a surfboard which was slightly more maneuverable and capable of "tighter" turns under ideal conditions but which tended to "spin-out" in big waves. It should here be noted that what in a conventional marine hull is called the chine is, in surfing parlance, termed the "rail". When a turn is made on a surfboard it is canted sideways and this action, with the keel effect of the fin keying in to the moving water, allows the turns to be made. A board having laterally paired fins will, when canted hard enough onto one of its rails, permit a quite tight turn, but is physically more difficult to cant over because the water funnels between the two fins and tends to keep the board wholly in the water, making turns difficult to accomplish.
Laterally-spaced, equally-sized triple fins have some advantages over and above paired fins inasmuch that such a board requires somewhat less "rail" to make a turn, but suffers from the fact that the two outer fins tend to over-react to such an extent that fine control may be compromised.
As a modification of the triple fin format, an arrangement involving a large centre-line fin flanked by two smaller, offset fins has been tried out but with limited success. Tandem fins have also been investigated and even five fin arrangements are not unknown. More significantly, recent experimentation has led to multi-fin arrangements in which the outer fins are angled with respect to the longitudinal centre-line of the board so that the leading edges of a laterally-spaced pair of fins are closer together than their trailing edges.
Coupled with the increasing proliferation of multi-fin boards is the trend for boards to be made shorter --as short as 5 feet--and also to be lighter. Such a combination results in tail-heavy boards, unbalanced by the sheer weight to their fin-boxes, if the box system is utilized.


A molding system for molding a micro pattern structure includes a mold; a mold insert 6 having a micro pattern, the mold insert 6 being fixed to the mold; and a micro heating element 30 having a micro heater 32 between the mold and the mold insert 6, the micro heater 32 being formed in an integrated manner by using a MEMS process; wherein the amount of Joule's heat produced by the micro heater 32 is controlled by controlling the amount of electricity applied to the micro heater 32 so as to control a temperature of the mold insert 6. A method for fabricating the mold insert 6 for molding the micro pattern structure, the mold insert 6 being heated by a micro heater 32, includes the steps of: coating a photoresist on a back side of either the mold insert 6 or a plate 40 fixed onto the mold insert 6; patterning the photoresist by removing a part of the photoresist corresponding to the micro heater 32 using a lithography process; coating a material for forming the micro heater 32; and removing the residual photoresist.

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2002-0088039, filed on Dec. 31, 2002 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and PCT/KR2003/002939, filed Dec. 31, 2003, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a molding system having a micro heating element and a method for fabricating a mold insert used therein. More particularly, the present invention relates to the molding system for molding a micro pattern structure having the micro heating element which includes a micro heater formed in an integrated manner by using a MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) process, and the method for fabricating the mold insert for molding the micro pattern structure used therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Now, an injection molding, an injection compression molding, a compression molding and a hot embossing molding are being used for forming a high-performance plastic product having a micro pattern such as an optical disc substrate, a light guide plate, a micro lens array and a diffraction optical device.
The injection molding is a method in which a hot molten resin is injected into a mold and then is cooled. The injection compression molding is a method in which a cavity in the mold is set to be larger than a desired size and then is compressed to the desired size in the middle of a following injection. The injection compression molding has advantages that it can decrease an injection pressure to be applied to the resin and enhance a transcribability for a micro pattern.
The compression molding and the hot embossing molding are methods in which a plastic material of a powder, film, or block type is compressed with a mold heated to a predetermined temperature.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional molding system for the injection molding or injection compression molding and FIG. 2 is illustrates another conventional molding system for the compression molding or a hot embossing molding.
A mold insert 6 having a micro/nano pattern 8 on it is fixed onto a front side of a mold. (Here, the front side of the mold is a side facing a molding material and a back side of the mold is an opposite side thereto.) The mold includes a stationary part 2 and a moving part 4.
In the injection molding or injection compression molding, a cooling channel 10 is formed in the mold. Instead, a heating plate can be fixed onto the outer surface of the mold. The mold is heated to a desired temperature with a hot fluid heated to a predetermined temperature, and then a molten resin is injected into a cavity 12 through a sprue 14.
In the compression molding or hot embossing molding, a heater 16 is fixed onto the backside of the mold. The heater 16 heats the whole of the mold.
However, in the above molding systems, a quick heating and cooling is difficult and thus there are many problems. For example, in the injection molding or injection compression molding, as soon as a resin with high temperature is injected into the cavity of the mold and contacts with the mold, a solidified layer is created due to the temperature difference between the resin and the mold.
FIGS. 3A and 3B show that flow resistance increases and transcribability deteriorates in case of a center gate type (FIG. 3A) and a side gate type mold (FIG. 3B) due to growth of the solidified layer in the process of molding plastics using the conventional injection molding method or injection compression molding method.
Once the solidified layer is created, fluidity deteriorates and in result, it is difficult to completely transfer the micro/nano pattern. In addition, low fluidity makes the pressure applied onto the resein and the residual stress increase, which deteriorates mechanical and optical performance of products.
If a length of the cavity is large in comparison with a thickness thereof, these problems become worse and a more serious defect is caused. For example, in connection with an optical disc substrate, now it is technically possible to manufacture a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) substrate with a diameter of 120 mm and a thickness of 0.6 mm satisfying diverse property requirements. However, if the size is smaller, that is, if the thickness is smaller than 0.6 mm, a complete filling during the injection molding is difficult due to the solidified layer. Even if a complete filling is attained, properties of the substrate become worse due to the residual stress. These problems are not only for the optical disc substrate but also for other high-performance plastic goods with a micro pattern.
In the compression molding and hot embossing molding, a conventional molding system has a disadvantage that because the whole of the mold has to be heated/cooled, a heating/cooling time is long and effectiveness of heating/cooling is low.
To solve these problems, heating means in contact with a front side or a back side of a mold insert which heats the mold insert are suggested. These heating means are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,276,656, 5,569,474, and 5,176,839.
FIG. 4 illustrates another conventional molding system as disclosed in the 656' patent.
A heater 147 is in the vicinity adjacent to the periphery of a cavity 110 and in thermal contact with a back side of a mold insert 132. Reference numerals 114, 120 and 124 represent boosters. Reference numerals 112, 122 represent fluid passages. Reference numerals 118, 128 and 140 represent a moving part, a stationary part, and an entrance, respectively.
Compared with the molding system in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, molding systems in which the mold contacts with the front or back side of the mold insert have a advantage that the mold insert can be quickly heated and thus a response speed is very fast. Therefore, it is possible to improve transcribability and mechanical and optical properties of products. However, these molding systems have disadvantages below.
In the molding systems as disclosed in the 474' patent and the 839' patent, the heater is formed on a front side of a mold insert. This deteriorates transcribability for a micro pattern on the mold insert. Therefore, these molding systems are not suitable to form a micro pattern structure.
In the injection molding, injection compression molding, compression molding, and hot embossing molding, temperature is an important parameter. We can improve the quality of the products by detecting the temperature and using it in the molding process. In the molding system as disclosed in the 656' patent, the 474' patent and the 839' patent, the heater is conventionally attached or coated onto the mold insert. The above patents do not refer to a temperature sensor. However, if a temperature sensor has to be used as a component part of the molding system, it will be fixed onto the mold insert. That is, the temperature sensor as well as the heater is fixed onto the mold insert by a conventional way.
This conventional way requires much processing time and effort. Furthermore, it is very difficult to form a micro heater and a micro sensor at an exact position by the conventional way. Especially, if the plurality of the micro heaters and the plurality of the micro temperature sensors have to be formed, it is almost impossible to form them at exact positions by the conventional way.
More importantly, the temperature controllability is still bad in these molding systems. We know from a theory, experience or experiment that the temperature is not uniform throughout a molding material in the middle of the molding process. This non-uniformity of local temperatures means that the solidification of the molding material proceeds at different speeds. The different solidification speeds cause the residual stress to be produced inside of the products. In result, a deformation of the products is caused and optical properties of the products deteriorate.
These problems have a very serious effect on the molding process for a structure with a micro pattern on it, such as an optical disc substrate, a light guide plate, a micro lens array and a diffraction optical device, because a defect, even if very slight, has a very serious effect on the micro pattern structure in proportion to its precision.
Therefore, in the injection molding, injection compression molding, compression molding and hot embossing molding, especially for forming the micro pattern structure, a local temperature control is required.

Molding system having a micro heating element for molding a micro pattern structure

Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, Yonsei University


A method and structure for an electrode device, whereby a second electrode is deposited on a first electrode such that there is an increase in the capacitive coupling between the pair of conductive electrodes. The electrodes are self-aligning such that the patterning manufacturing process is insensitive to variations in the positional placement of the pattern on the substrate. Moreover, a single lithographic masking layer is used for forming the pair of electrodes, which are electrically isolated. Finally, the first electrode is offset from the second electrode by a chemical surface modification of the first electrode, and an anisotropic deposition of the second electrode which is shadowed by the first electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an interdigitated electrode structure, and more particularly to a new structure for a pair of electrodes using conductive polymers, and a method for producing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An interdigitated electrode structure is used in applications where it is desirable to form a large perimeter surface area for interaction between the electrodes. Applications using this type of structure may include capacitors, sensors, and detectors. In a conventional interdigitated structure, the proximity of the electrodes is limited by a minimum lithographic feature, and hence the capacitance, or electric field intensity between the electrodes is constrained by the lithographic process.
Electronically conducting polymers, particularly derivatives of polypyrrole and polyaniline, in which the conducting form of the polymers is soluble in appropriate organic solvents, have been used in many electronic applications. These polymers can be applied onto silicon wafers by spin-on or silk screening techniques. For example, conducting polypyrrole has been proposed as an ingredient to make passive elements such as resistors, capacitors and inductors in multichip modules or printed wiring boards, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,755, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
Moreover, polypyrrole and polythiophene derivatives have been used in solid state electrochromic devices. The polypyrrole conducting polymer can be made to be photosensitive by adding appropriate silver salts and photoinitator additives, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,402, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. It has been discovered that under optimized conditions, the conductivity value for poly (3-methylthiophene) is 5.7 xcexa9xe2x88x921 cmxe2x88x921. Electrical conductivity can be further increased by incorporating metal particles such as nanoparticles of silver or copper in the polymer formulation. Thus, there is a need for an improved interdigitated electrode structure, which is capable of providing higher capacitance or electric field intensity between electrodes on electrical components of printed circuit boards and multichip modules, etc.
In view of the foregoing and other problems, disadvantages, and drawbacks of the conventional interdigitated electrode structure the present invention has been devised, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a structure and method for an improved interdigitated electrode structure. It is a further object of the present invention to increase the capacitive coupling between a pair of conductive electrodes on a substrate. The capacitive coupling will be a function of the distance between the pair of electrodes, and will increase as the electrodes are brought into close proximity.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a structure for a pair of electrodes which are self-aligned to each other. The self-aligned formation of the pair of electrodes means that the patterning manufacturing process will be insensitive to variations in the positional placement of the pattern on the substrate. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for forming the pair of electrodes using a single lithographic masking layer where the material modification of one of the electrodes causes an overhanging region to be formed on a first electrode which is used in the formation of the second electrode.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a structure which consists of a pair of electrodes which are electrically isolated, yet closer in proximity than the minimum resolvable lithographic feature size of the imaging system used to pattern the electrodes. The proximity of the electrodes is determined by the chemical surface modification, and the physical deposition of the second electrode, and not by the lithographic resolution as is the case in a conventional structure.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a structure and method for the use of a conductive polymer for one or both electrode elements in a structure where the offset between the pair of electrodes is provided by a chemical surface modification (xe2x80x9cswellingxe2x80x9d) of the first electrode, and an anisotropic deposition of the second electrode which is shadowed by the first electrode.
In order to attain the objects suggested above, there is provided, according to one aspect of the invention a method of producing an electrode device, which comprises the steps of first depositing a conductive polymer material on a substrate. Then, patterning a mask on top of the conductive polymer. Third, forming spaced regions on top of the substrate. Next, the mask is removed from the conductive polymer. After which, the conductive polymer is expanded such that an upper part of the conductive polymer upwardly slopes from the lower part of the conductive polymer material. Then, a second conductive material is deposited on top of the first conductive polymer material, and in the spaced regions, which are located on the substrate. Finally, several electrical connections are placed on the device.
The benefits of this invention are several. For example, the present invention provides for a self-aligned pair of electrodes, which can be easily fabricated. Furthermore, the present invention provides for a single lithographic masking level, and for sub-lithographic features. Additionally, the structure of the present invention provides for the sub-lithographic proximity of the upper and lower electrodes.

Structure and method for shadow mask electrode

International Business Machines Corporation


A shroud to contain contaminants removed from a conveyor chain during cleaning with pressurized air. The shroud is substantially enclosed except for chain ingress and egress openings and a contaminant discharge opening. The shroud includes a top hinged to a bottom. The top supports the air nozzles and the bottom defines the discharge opening.

The present invention relates to equipment for lubricating and cleaning chain conveyors and more particularly to such equipment using compressed air.
Chain conveyors commonly are used in a wide variety of industries, such as paint lines, bottling/canning lines, and can manufacturing. To increase the life of a chain conveyor, it is necessary to intermittently lubricate and to clean the chain. Unfortunately, any excess lubricant will collect on the chain. The excess lubricant slings off during travel, contaminating the conveyed articles and/or their contents. In addition, dirt will collect on the chain conveyor, bonding with the excess lubricant.
It is known in the art to use pressurized air to blow excess lubricant and contaminants off the chain of the conveyor. An example of this technique is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,712, issued Dec. 23, 1986 to Hoseley and entitled, "Automatic Chain Lubricating System." However, the pressurized air blows the oil and contaminants in all directions, thus creating a mess.


A two-stage filtration system is coupled with an oven, such as a solder reflow oven, to remove a vapor stream from the oven and to remove organic compounds that have volatilized from a solder flux and other contaminants from the vapor stream. The filtration system includes a first stage for trapping larger particles and a second stage including a packed bed of wettable media, such as steel balls, for trapping smaller particles and serving as a nucleation site for condensed organic compounds. The first stage can be a centrifugal self-cleaning element in the form of a mesh strainer coupled with a rotary motor for spinning the mesh strainer.

In the fabrication of circuit boards, electronic components are often surface mounted to a bare board via process known as xe2x80x9creflow soldering.xe2x80x9d In a typical reflow soldering process, a pattern of solder paste is deposited onto the circuit board, and the leads of one or more electronic components are inserted into the deposited solder paste. The circuit board is then passed through an oven where the solder paste is reflowed (i.e., melted) in heating zones and then cooled in a cooling zone to electrically and mechanically couple the leads of the electronic component to the circuit board. The term, xe2x80x9ccircuit board,xe2x80x9d as used herein, includes any type of substrate assembly of electronic components.
Solder paste typically includes not only solder, but also flux to promote solder wetting and to provide good solder joints. Other additives can also be included. After the solder paste is deposited on the circuit board, the circuit board is passed on a conveyor through a plurality of heating zones of a reflow soldering machine. As the solder paste melts, volatile organic compounds (referred to as xe2x80x9cVOC""sxe2x80x9d) in the flux and other additives are vaporized and tend to condense in the reflow machine. In many of the reflow furnaces, soldering is now performed in an inert atmosphere using primarily nitrogen to reduce oxidation on solder surfaces.
The heating zones are separated into a number of different zones, including preheat zones, soak zones and spike zones. In the preheat zones and the soak zones the products are heated and the volatile components in the flux vaporize in the surrounding gas atmosphere. The spike zones are hotter than the preheat and soak zones, and it is in the spike zones that the solder melts. A reflow soldering machine may have many heating zones, and these heating zones can be varied depending on the products to be soldered. Different products require different heat profiles, and a soldering machine should be flexible so that, for example, a machine with ten heating zones may have one preheat zone followed by seven soak zones and two spike zones for one type of circuit board, and for a different type of board may have three preheat zones, six soak zones and one spike zone. One or more cooling zones follow the heating zones; in the cooling zones, the solder solidifies on the solder areas of the board.
If volatilized compounds pass from the heating zones into the cooling zones, those compounds typically will condense in the cooling zones; and the condensate can impair cooling functions and may present processing problems. The most common problem occurs with no-clean, enhanced-print-performance solder pastes. These pastes utilize viscosity modifiers to achieve superior printing performance. Problems arise when the viscosity-modification components condense in the cooling zones. By nature, these residues are a viscous liquid and can build up and drip onto the soldered product from the cooling zone surfaces, such as heat exchangers, etc.
Known methods for removing these volatilized organic compounds typically employ heat exchangers that cool a hot gas stream removed from a process chamber and thereby condense organic compounds in the gas stream on a surface of the heat exchanger. The condensate can then be removed with a condensate filter before the gas stream is returned to the process chamber.
In accordance with methods and apparatus disclosed, herein, volatilized organic compounds and other contaminants (e.g., particulates) released in a soldering operation can be removed using a two-stage filtration system including a first stage that traps larger particles in a vapor stream and a second stage including a packed bed of wettable media that traps smaller particles and serves as a nucleation site for condensed organic compounds in the vapor stream.
The two-stage filtration system is particularly useful when coupled with a reflow oven wherein a circuit board is passed through a heated reflow chamber to reflow (i.e., melt) solder paste on the circuit board, thereby volatilizing organic compounds from the flux or other additives in the solder paste. At least a portion of the volatilized organic compounds pass from the reflow chamber through a first stage and then to a second stage of the filtration system.
The first stage is designed to trap larger particles in the vapor stream from the reflow chamber. The second stage includes a packed bed of wettable media designed to trap smaller particles and to serve as a nucleation site for volatilized organic compounds.
In one embodiment, the first stage includes a mesh strainer. The mesh strainer or other filtering element can be employed as a centrifugal self-cleaning element by, for example, coupling the filtering element to a rotary motor that spins the filtering element to centrifugally expel the filtered contaminants from its surface.
Embodiments of the invention can offer some or all of the following advantages. First, the filtration system can yield high collection efficiency, thereby reducing excessive build-up of contaminants within the oven and consequent potential for damage to oven components and/or to the circuit board assemblies passing therethrough if, for example, the condensed flux was to drop onto the assemblies. Second, the filtration system can effectively remove particulate and volatilized contaminants without employing an active-cooling mechanism, such as a heat exchanger; consequently, the filtration system can conserve energy relative to known systems and can minimize facilities requirements (e.g., exhaust, chilled water, compressed gas, etc.). Third, a centrifugal self-cleaning element can be used in the first stage of the filtration system to easily clean the first stage without any additional mechanical or human intervention and with little disruption to the filtration process. Fourth, unlike systems relying solely upon condensation, systems described herein also remove solid particulates entrained in the vapor stream. Fifth, temperatures can remain high in the system because active cooling is not needed, thereby allowing collected contaminants to retain a low viscosity and to drip into easily disposable drain jars. Sixth, the overall simplicity and effectiveness of the system reduces maintenance costs and lost production due to machine downtime.


The present invention relates to a process for making up the skin, including the step that consists in forming, on a deposit of a foundation composition applied to the skin, a discontinuous deposit of islets of corrective composition and/or a deposit of corrective composition including visible substances that give it an inhomogeneous appearance, said corrective composition having optical properties that locally modify the appearance of the makeup so as to create a pattern reproducing the appearance of skin relief and/or colour heterogeneities.

The skin is not a smooth surface of uniform colour, and has reliefs and microreliefs such as pores, fine lines, wrinkles, spots, scars and dry zones, which form a somewhat bumpy surface.
Furthermore, its colour varies on various scales, with blemishes or dyschromias, the differences in colour being sometimes relatively small.
Quite often, this surface, with its irregularities, forms a whole surface that is pleasant to look at, but the irregularities are such that sometimes the surface is judged to be unattractive.
This may stem from a few extra reliefs, or from dyschromias greater than those usually observed. For example, when the pores are slightly more enlarged than in the average case, this tends to render the surface unattractive. Likewise when the dyschromias are broad and/or contrasting.
This may also stem from the fact that the irregularities are poorly distributed. For example, freckles are quite attractive. However, an uneven or asymmetric distribution may make the whole surface rather unattractive.
The irregularities may also be of unequal sizes.
Sometimes, a single irregularity may make the whole of the surface unattractive. For example, a coloured blemish on one cheek may detract from the beauty of the face.
The application of a foundation is the most effective approach for beautifying uneven skin by making it possible to hide blemishes and dyschromias, to reduce the visibility of small reliefs such as pores and wrinkles, and to conceal spots and traces of acne.
However, the presence of a foundation may cause the natural appearance of the skin to be lost, in particular when the product used gives high coverage.
Foundations contain covering particles that provide a colour. Thus, the manufacturers offer these products in various colour variants, giving the user the possibility of finding the product that corresponds to her the best, in particular to chose a shade close to that of her skin.
Another difficulty linked to the use of a foundation is that, by applying the product, all of the irregularities are concealed, namely those that are a nuisance, but also others that it would be nice to keep, which can impart an artificial appearance to the skin.
Formulators have tried to resolve this problem by producing compositions with lower coverage. The transparency of these compositions minimizes the artificial appearance of the skin. However, the user is only partly satisfied with the concealing result.
It is difficult to depart from this logic of compromise between concealing and transparency.
One possibility would be to apply the product only to the imperfection, but this potential solution is very limited in the current state, as it applies only to people who have only small imperfections to cover. Furthermore, it is necessary for these imperfections to be small in number, it being understood that it is tedious to apply the product to a multitude of small zones.
Finally, if the product is only applied to one zone, demarcation problems are created. Obtaining natural or invisible joins requires a lot of mastery. Thus, this solution is not really realistic and therefore most people apply the product to the whole of the face.
The solution proposed by FR 2 933 582 is also known, which is directed towards capturing a grain of skin and reproducing it subsequently on keratin materials. However, the use of the device described in the said document may be relatively expensive.
There is a need to obtain, in a simple manner, a makeup effect that makes it possible to obtain concealing of imperfections while giving the made-up skin a predefined appearance, especially a natural appearance.
The invention aims to meet this need.


In a rotary type storage apparatus and a control method thereof, a plurality of concentric or spiral information tracks are set and also each of the plural information tracks is subdivided into a plurality of sectors along a circumferential direction, which constitute a plurality of information recording planes. Also, in this apparatus and method, there are provided a plurality of read/write heads employed at each of the information recording planes and accessible to the information tracks, and also a head drive mechanism for positioning these plural read/write heads to the information tracks. At least one of the plural information recording planes corresponds to such a recording plane where a substitution information track has been set, on which a substitution sector corresponding to a failed sector present at another information recording plane is recorded.

The present invention relates to a rotary type storage apparatus and a control technique thereof, and more specifically, to a rotary type storage apparatus and a control method thereof effectively applied to a rotary type storage apparatus or the like, for transferring data on a plurality of information tracks between a high order apparatus and the storage apparatus.
In conventional well known magnetic disk storage apparatuses and optical disk apparatuses used as external storage apparatuses for computer systems, a pair of data read/write heads (for instance, magnetic heads and optical heads) are selected so as to perform a data transfer operation for each information track.
More recently, performance of central processing units (CPU) of high order apparatuses and channel apparatuses for controlling data transmission and reception with respect to external apparatuses has rapidly improved, especially data processing speed. In connection therewith, performance (in particular, data transferring speed) of the external storage apparatuses such as the magnetic disk storage apparatus and the optical disk apparatus needs to be similarly improved.
Accordingly, a method has been proposed in, for instance, a magnetic disk storage apparatus that a plurality of magnetic heads commonly driven by a single access mechanism are simultaneously driven to transfer data on a plurality of information tracks at the same time. Furthermore, there is FBA (Fixed Block Architecture) type magnetic disk storage apparatus in which the recording unit of the data on the information track is selected to be a fixed length. In such external storage apparatuses, high speed data transfer operations containing the substitution (replacement) process for defects made on the recording medium are required.
Under such circumstances, in such a sort of rotary type information storage apparatus, generally speaking, the following substitution processing method has been employed. That is, the substitution sector regions corresponding to several sectors are reserved at the rear ends of the respective information tracks. In case that there is a recording medium defect at a certain sector of a certain track, the substitution sector of this sector is allocated to the above-described sector region on the same information track. When the regions containing the failed (defect) sector are read out, useless rotation waiting time is required for accessing the substitution sector into which the content of this failed sector has been stored. Accordingly, there is such a problem that input/output response time is considerably increased.
As a consequence, another conventional substitution processing method has been proposed that no useless rotation waiting time is required to read out the regions containing the failed sector. For instance, as described in JP-A-62-6243169, within the subsequent information track in the same cylinder of the information track belonging to the failed sector, the sector positioned at the same position as the failed sector in a circumferential direction of the recording medium is allocated as the substitution sector, and also when the failed sector belongs to the final track, the sector present in the head track at the position subsequent to the position of the above described failed sector is substituted as the substitute sector.
In FIG. 1, there is shown one example of the FBA type magnetic disk storage apparatus to which the above-described substitution processing method has been applied.
FIG. 1 represents a track format, and formats of 4 tracks (t.sub.0, t.sub.1, t.sub.2, t.sub.3) are identical to each other. It should be noted that although FIG. 1 shows a 4-track arrangement for the sake of convenience, the track arrangement is not limited thereto, generally speaking. Each of the tracks starts from an index signal 202, and is subdivided into (N+1) pieces of sectors 203 (0, 1, 2, ---, N). A single block 204 (B.sub.00, B.sub.01, B.sub.02,---, B.sub.ON, B.sub.10, B.sub.11, ---, B.sub.3N) is allocated to each of the sectors, and then both the data transfer operation between the high order apparatus and the storage medium, and the data read/write operation on the magnetic disk are carried out in units of this block. Also, one magnetic head is employed with each of these tracks, and four blocks (for instance, B.sub.00, B.sub.10, B.sub.20, B.sub.30) on the same sectors along the circumferential direction may be simultaneously read and written. It should be noted that each of the blocks is constructed of an ID part 205 on which the physical address (for example, track number, sector number) of this block has been recorded, and also a data part 206 on which the actual user data are recorded.
In general, since the data on the same sectors of the plural tracks along the circumferential direction are parallel-transferred one by one, the theoretical block transfer sequence is set to B.sub.00, B.sub.10, B.sub.20, B.sub.30, B.sub.01, B.sub.11, ---, B.sub.2N, B.sub.3N. Furthermore, four blocks (for instance, B.sub.00, B.sub.10, B.sub.20, B.sub.30) of the tracks "t.sub.O " to "t.sub.3 " at the same sector position (e.g., sector "0") are simultaneously read out, and the read blocks are once read into the data buffer in the magnetic disk storage apparatus. Then, while 4 blocks (for example, B.sub.01, B.sub.11, B.sub.21, B.sub.31) at the next sector position (e.g., sector 1) are read out and read into another data buffer, the previous 4 blocks (B.sub.00, B.sub.10, B.sub.20, B.sub.30) stored in the above-described data buffer are transferred to the high order apparatus. The above-described block processing operation is subsequently repeated. The order of the blocks transferred to the high order apparatus is determined, as previously stated, in the order of the tracks B.sub.00, B.sub.10, B.sub.20, B.sub.30, B.sub.01, B.sub.11, ---.
In general, according to the above-described method, if the data transfer capability of the high order apparatus (namely, channel apparatus) is "n" times higher than that of a single magnetic disk when the track number is "n", it is possible to transfer data consisting of "n" sectors while the magnetic head is advanced by 1 sector. Then, the effective data transfer velocity of the magnetic disk storage apparatus becomes "n" times higher than the data transfer speed achieved when the data are transferred trackwise.
Subsequently, in the conventional storage apparatus shown in FIG. 1, consideration is given to the defect produced in the recording medium, since when, for example, the block B.sub.20 of the sector "0" at the track "t.sub.2 " becomes a failed sector, the data (2) to be written into this block B.sub.20 have been recorded on the block B.sub.30 at the same sector of the subsequent track "t.sub.3 ", the data (2) may be read out therefrom without any useless rotation waiting time. When the block B.sub.31 of the sector 1 in the final track "t.sub.3 " becomes a failed sector, as the data (6) to be written into this block B.sub.31 have been recorded on the block B.sub.02 of the next sector in the track "t.sub.0 ", this data (6) may be read out, while waiting for 1 sector rotation time.
On the other hand, there is an optical disk as an information storage medium having a large memory capacity at lower recording cost, suitable for recording/reproducing a large quantity of data such as image information and document information. Since the present reliability of the data writing operation for such an optical disk is not sufficient, it is therefore required to maintain the reliability of the recorded data by simultaneously performing the readout check by the DRAW (Direct Read After Write) operation when the data are written into the optical disk. However, to allocate the substitution sector corresponding to the sector which has been judged as the failed sector by this DRAW operation, at least one sector just after this failed sector needs to be used. In accordance with the conventional technique as described in the above JP-A--62-243169, the substitution sector must be allocated at the same sector of the next track with respect to the failed sector, whereby it may be understood that the substitution process effected by the DRAW operation cannot be realized. As a result, if the above-described DRAW operation is applied to the above-described conventional techniques, the data cannot be written at the same time, and thus the readout check by the DRAW operation must be performed while sequentially writing the data while waiting for the respective disk rotations in unit of 1 sector in the order of the track. Then, there is a problem that the data writing velocity is considerably lowered.
Very recently, in the magnetic disk storage apparatus and optical disk storage apparatus, a data plane servo system has been widely utilized as the positioning method of the read/write head. In the conventional magnetic disk storage apparatus, the track on at least a certain plane of the disk is used as the servo track, and in connection with the positioning operations of a pair of read/write heads to this servo track, other read/write heads are positioned to the track on other disk plane. In accordance with the above-described data plane servo system, the information (for instance, address information such as track numbers and sector number) required for the positioning operation has been previously written on the respective tracks, so that the positioning operations may be separately performed in unit of each head. As a consequence, there are advantages that the distance between the adjoining tracks may be made very short and the memory capacity may be increased. In the above-described data plane servo type magnetic disk storage apparatus or optical disk storage apparatus, if the head drive mechanism capable of separately driving a plurality of tracks is employed, a plurality of tracks may be accessed in a parallel mode without mutual relationships. In this case, since the operations of the respective heads are not in synchronism with each other, the above-described substitution processing method as disclosed in the above-described Japanese patent KOKAI disclosure for the failed sector cannot be employed. Also, there is another problem in the access time to the common substitution sector region (namely to which a specific track on the disk plane has been allocated) when the substitution sectors consisting of several sectors are completely used in accordance with such a conventional method that several sectors are employed at the rear end of each track.

Rotary type storage apparatus and control method thereof


An apparatus for performing a substitution for a broadcast content, includes: a substitute content engine configured to detect a break in a broadcast content and to show substitute content in response to the break in a broadcast content; and a processor configured to execute the substitute content engine. An apparatus for substituting broadcast content displayed on a screen, including: a customer premise equipment capable to receive broadcast content; the customer premise equipment including a viewing engine capable to permit the display of substitute content in response to a break in the broadcast content.

Conventionally, personal video recorders (PVRs) enable a viewer to record television programming content and then to view the recorded television programming content at a later time. Further, PVRs may enable a viewer to record specified programming content on a regular basis and to delete the recorded programming content after a pre-specified amount of time. For example, a viewer may program a PVR to record a daily news show (such as the 5 o'clock news) on a daily basis and then to automatically delete the recorded news show after one day since the news content would be stale.
In order to view the recorded programming content, a viewer typically proceeds through multiple steps, which may include loading a user interface (UI) for display, selecting a "view pre-recorded programming content" option from a menu in the UI, and then selecting a pre-recorded programming content from a list of several pre-recorded programming content.
PVRs also enable a viewer to pause "live" programming content (and/or buffered programming content) and to skip commercials and/or other portions of live television programming content (or buffered programming content). For example, a viewer can skip commercials when viewing programming content on a television coupled to a PVR by pressing a "skip" button of the PVR remote control device.
Thus, advertisers are concerned that the ability of viewers to skip commercials when viewing programming content with PVRs will lead to losses in revenue. Additionally, a viewer, while watching live TV may channel surf and lose the buffered portion of the content shown in the original channel.
Accordingly, there is need for a new programming content substitution system and method that will overcome the deficiencies mentioned above.

System and apparatus for displaying substitute content


A method, system, and medium for recommending an optimal withdrawal amount, for a given period, from a retiree's portfolio accounts comprised of relatively risky and relatively safe financial assets used to finance retirement. The user supplies information about the retiree's personal characteristics, including age, gender, and health status. Details of the retiree's financial situation are also supplied, including the retiree's total liquid wealth, the current value of relatively risky and relatively safe assets, and any after-tax pension and other annuity income. Risk (standard deviation of return), return (expected rate of return based on a lognormal or other random distribution), or other measurable differentiating characteristics are retrieved for a portfolio comprised of relatively risky assets. A valuation rate is also retrieved. Based on these inputs, an actuarial discount rate is computed, an optimal wealth depletion time is located, and the optimal withdrawal amount is computed and displayed to the user.

The global population is ageing and the elderly are living longer than ever before. The National Vital Statics Report, published by the National Center for Health Statistics, indicates that global human life expectancy increased from 59.7 years in 1930 to approximately 78.3 years by 2011. The increase can be attributed to improvements in infectious disease control, public health initiatives and medical innovations. Furthermore, the size of the elderly population, both in absolute and relative terms, has been steadily increasing. The United States Census Bureau, in a 2010 census brief titled "Age and Sex Composition: 2010" (issued in May 2011), reported that there were 40.2 million people aged 65 and older in the United States in 2010, representing roughly 13% of the U.S. population. To add some perspective, the elderly population increased 15.1% from 2000 to 2010. The median age in the U.S. has increased from 29.5 years in 1960 to 37.2 in 2010.
From a retirement planning perspective, increased longevity poses a number of challenges for those approaching retirement. Beyond the anxiety that surrounds the question of how much will be needed to finance retirement needs, retirees must also figure out how much to periodically withdraw from their investment portfolios to finance their retirement in the presence of longevity risk. More simply, preparing for retirement requires planning for two phases: saving and spending. Whereas there are an abundance of tools and algorithms aimed at helping people determine how much to save for retirement, there are very few that help people manage spending during retirement, while also taking into account the various risks people face and their attitudes and preferences with respect to those risks. The greatest risk, in the context of retirement, is known as longevity risk.
Longevity risk embodies more than the risk of living longer than anticipated; it is more accurately described as the risk created by the uncertainty inherent in trying to forecast one's expected lifetime or longevity. A casual glance at the obituaries section reveals that some people remain alive well into their late 90s and even live to become centenarians, whereas others die a few years after reaching retirement age, and some even earlier. Further complicating the situation is the fact that the standard deviation (dispersion) around the average life expectancy has increased over time. For example, using data from the mortality database of the University of California, Berkeley, and the Max Planck institute for Demographic Research, a 65-year old male in the year 1933 was expected to live up to his 77th birthday. The standard deviation of remaining life was 7.2 years. In 2007, a 65-year old male was expected to live up to his 82nd birthday; the standard deviation of remaining life was 8.5 years. The increase in both the expected age at death and the standard deviation of remaining life support the conclusion that longevity risk has increased over time. The figures displayed in Appendix A provide a graphical display of the expected age at death and the standard deviation of remaining life for males and females of varying ages from 1933 to 2007.
Oddly enough, despite the presence of longevity risk, the common approach in making retirement spending recommendations is to advise that a retiree deplete a fixed percentage of their retirement nest egg each year. This "fixed rate" approach makes a number of arguably unrealistic assumptions, the most critical being that the retiree will live for a pre-determined period of time. Thus, for example, the popular 4% rule that recommends a retiree withdraw $4 adjusted for inflation each year for every $100 in the retirement portfolio, is meant to sustain a constant standard of living from that portfolio for 30 years of retirement. This approach ignores the issue of longevity risk since, in assuming the retiree lives for 30 years, it fails to account for the term structure of mortality—the probability of survival in any given year given one's age, gender, and health status. More importantly, it does not account for the reality that people possess different attitudes towards risk, which is a key component of our unique methodology. A retiree who is longevity risk averse may decide to reduce spending early-on in retirement, whereas a retiree with a higher risk tolerance might opt for higher spending today thereby running the risk that they will live longer than anticipated and deplete their resources during retirement. More simply, fixed percentage spending rules, such as the 4% rule, are not able to account for different attitudes towards risk. Equally problematic is the assumption that retiree's do not have preferences regarding longevity risk, which is completely inconsistent with a century of research in basic economics.
In contrast to the fixed spending approach, which we believe is incomplete and misleading, financial economists advise that retirees spend in a manner that is consistent with so-called utility function maximization or some other function that allows for a tradeoff between risk and return. In particular, the utility maximizing level of spending is a function of the retiree's time and risk preferences as well as projections of future economic, financial and market conditions. It is well established in the financial economics literature—see for example Robert Merton (1990)—that the resulting optimal spending strategy, assuming constant relative risk aversion (CRRA), requires that the retiree invest in a constant risk portfolio and spend in proportion to the total value of his/her retirement assets. Since the retiree's wealth is dependent on market factors, spending rates are not constant. In other words, most financial economists appreciate that spending and the corresponding withdrawals from the portfolio should change in response to market conditions, the actual (optimal) withdrawal pattern involves some relatively complicated mathematics, and is computationally cumbersome. In particular, it involves the computation of a so-called optimal wealth depletion time (WDT), which is explained in the section describing the illustrated embodiments. One of our main innovations has been to overcome the computational difficulties in a commercially viable manner.
While optimal retirement spending during retirement is discussed quite extensively in the academic literature, there is a noticeable absence of commercially available tools that retirees can use to determine the amount they should withdraw from their retirement portfolios, consistent with a rational tradeoff between risk and potential return. Furthermore, there are no commercially available tools that capture the impact of longevity risk aversion on optimal portfolio withdrawals, while also adjusting the optimal withdrawal amount to reflect the retiree's other pension or life annuity income. Our methodology for solving the optimal withdrawal amounts from various portfolios during retirement fills these commercial gaps and should help millions of retirees better manage the risks inherent in retirement income planning.
Another distinguishing feature of our methodology is the way it manages wealth drawdowns and, eventually, depletions over time. Whereas practitioners attempt to minimize the chance of the retiree's wealth being depleted prior to death, or some fixed time horizon, our methodology does not attempt to arbitrarily extend the so-called optimal wealth depletion time (WDT). In fact, in certain cases, where the retiree receives substantial pension or other annuity income, it is conceivable that the optimal spending trajectory results in an optimal wealth depletion time (WDT) that is prior to the date of death. In other words, depending on a retiree's level of longevity risk aversion and annuity income, it may be advisable for the retiree to deplete his or her portfolio accounts prior to death and live entirely off of pension annuity income. While the optimal wealth depletion time is obviously a personal preference, and highly dependent on one's attitude towards creating a legacy and financial bequest, this approach and methodology is lacking in the existing methodologies.

Optimal portfolio withdrawal during retirement in the presence of longevity risk


The invention relates to a sensor structure and a method. The sensor structure includes a first sensor having a sensing element sensitive to humidity of the environment. In accordance with the invention the sensor structure also includes s second sensor having a sensing element sensitive to humidity, the second sensor comprising a catalytic permeable layer positioned on the second sensor such that it is between the sensing element of the second sensor and the environment.

In the prior art humidity as such has been measured by capacitive humidity sensors, where the dielectric of the humidity sensor has been sensitive to humidity. By heating also other substances like ammonia have been measured.
Contents of substances like H2O2 (Hydrogen peroxide), ETO (Ethylene Oxide), and O3 (Ozone) have been measured by electrochemical cells or by IR-optical devices. These devices are very complicated or short-lived and thus also expensive.
Thus, there exists a need for improved sensor and method for measuring content of catalytically degradable substances.

Dual gas sensor structure and measurement method