In the CZ process using a cooling member surrounding a single crystal, the cooling member is permitted to effectively serve to increase a pulling speed. Cracks of the single crystal due to excessive cooling are prevented to occur. A high crystal quality is acquired. In order to realize these objects, the temperature of the inner peripheral surface of the cooling member 6 opposing to the outer peripheral surface of the single crystal 4 is restricted to 500xc2x0 C. or below, even in the lower end, the temperature of which becomes the highest. To achieve this restriction, the thickness T of the cooling member 5 is 10 to 50 mm. The height H of the cooling member 6 is 0.1 to 1.5 times the diameter D of the single crystal 4.

The present invention relates to a crystal growing process used for manufacture of a silicon single crystal or the like utilized as a semiconductor material.
A variety of methods are available for manufacturing silicon single crystals, of which the Czochralski process (the CZ process) is typical. In producing a silicon single crystal by the CZ process, as is well known, a seed is immersed in a silicon melt formed in a quartz crucible. The seed is gradually pulled up to allow a silicon single crystal to grow beneath the seed while rotating the crucible and the seed.
In pulling up a silicon single crystal by means of the CZ process, it is known that the defect distribution etc. in the crystal cross section are governed by the rate of crystal growth, therefore the pulling speed. More specifically, as the pulling speed is increased, a ring-shaped OSF generation zone is moved towards the periphery and is finally excluded to the outside of the effective portion of the crystal. Conversely, a decrease in the pulling speed drifts a ring-shaped OSF generation zone towards the central part of the crystal, and eventually the zone disappears in the central part.
While both the outside and inside of an OSF generation zone are defect generation zones, their kinds of defects are different. In addition, it is known that a significant increase of the pulling speed, as a matter of course, improves productivity while refining the defects. Consequently, a speed-up in the pulling has been pursued as an approach to growing crystals.
Provision of a heat shield is known as a technique for high speed pulling. A heat shield is a cylindrical heat shielding member in a shape of inverted truncated cone that is disposed surrounding the single crystal. The shield is provided to speed up the pulling by shielding the radiation heat primarily from the melt in the crucible and heaters placed outside the crucible to facilitate cooling of the single crystal to be pulled up from the melt.
Furthermore, attention is recently given to a technique where a cylindrical cooling member that is forcibly cooled by water is placed inside the heat shield (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 63-256593, 8-239291, 11-92272 and 11-292684) Installation of a cylindrical cooling member that is forcibly cooled by water inside the heat shield surrounding the single crystal facilitates cooling of the single crystal, particularly the high temperature portion thereof, leading to a further speedup of the pulling.
However, it has turned out that the conventional crystal growing process using a cooling member does not always permit the cooling member to effectively increase the pulling speed and also causes the problems to be described below with regard to the quality of the single crystal and the safety of operation.
A copper-based metal member forcibly cooled by water passage is frequently used as a cooling member from the viewpoint of cooling capacity and cost efficiency for the single crystal. Providing simply such a cooling member does not serve to increase the pulling speed in many cases. When the cooling member does not effectively act for a speedup of the pulling, the diffusion of heavy metals such as Fe and Cu is facilitated leading to contamination of the single crystal starting from its periphery, because the portion of the single crystal with a high temperature of 1300xc2x0 C. or above is elongated and the time in which the single crystal passes through an area of a high temperature of 1300xc2x0 C. or above is increased as well.
Speed up of the pulling requires cooling of the portion of the single crystal with a high temperature of 1300xc2x0 C. or above by a cooling member and its increased cooling capacity causes the risk of rapid cooling of the portion of 1300xc2x0 C. or below also. The rapid cooling of the portion of 1300xc2x0 C. or below also causes rapid deformation of the crystal caused by the cooling in dislocation of the crystal being pulled up. As a result, a residual stress is generated because of the difference of extent of the deformation in the boundary between the non-dislocated and dislocated portions, leading to the likely generation of cracks in cooling of the crystal drawing or after the pulling. When this crack is generated, the cooling member may be broken in some cases, leading to disasters including a steam explosion.
The object of the present invention to provide a crystal growing process that can make the cooling member effectively serve to increase pulling speed and also effectively prevent cracks caused by excessive cooling of the single crystal, in pulling the single crystal by the CZ process using a cooling member.
In order to achieve the above described object, the inventors focused attention on the dimensions of the cooling member and the surface temperature and have investigated in detail the relations between the high speed pulling and these factors. As a result, the following facts have been found.
When the thickness of the cooling member is less than 10 mm, the temperature of the cooling member is extremely increased because of the radiation from the single crystal, which in turn reduces the cooling efficiency for the crystal, leading to the difficulty in the realization of a high speed pulling. On the other hand, when the thickness exceeds 50 mm, not only the cooling efficiency stops increasing, but also the field of the view of a camera used for controlling the crystal diameter is restricted, and the flow of gases such as Ar that is flowed through the furnace is reduced leading to dislocation due to the precipitation of SiO.
When a portion with a temperature exceeding 500xc2x0 C. exists in the inner peripheral surface of the cooling member opposing to the outer peripheral surface of the single crystal to be pulled from the melt, the cooling efficiency for the crystal is dramatically reduced, leading to the unrealization of a high speed pulling.
When the height of the cooling member is less than 0.1 times the diameter of the crystal, the portion of the single crystal with a high temperature of 1300xc2x0 C. or above cannot be cooled efficiently. However, when its height exceeds 1.5 times the diameter of the crystal, the portion with a temperature of 1300xc2x0 C. or below is rapidly cooled, and when a dislocation is formed in the single crystal, cracks are likely to be generated.
When the distance from the lowest end of the cooling member to the melt exceeds 100 mm, the effect of cooling of the portion of the single crystal with a high temperature of 1300xc2x0 C. or above is significantly reduced, thereby making a speedup in the pulling difficult. On the other hand, when the distance is shorter than 10 mm, the risk of contact of the cooling member with the melt is increased. Further, the temperature of the melt close to the cooling member quickly decreases, causing the problem of the pulled crystal being likely to deform due to a decrease in the radial temperature gradient of the melt.
When the emissivity of the inner peripheral surface of the cooling member is less than 0.7, the effect of cooling of the portion of the single crystal with a high temperature of 1300xc2x0 C. or above is reduced, leading to a difficulty in speedup of the pulling.
When the flow rate of the cooling water supplied to the cooling member is less than 1.5 L/min, the temperature of the cooling member is increased, and therefore the crystal cannot be cooled effectively. When the flow rate exceeds 30 L/min, the effect of cooling of the crystal stops increasing, resulting in a waste of the cooling water.
The crystal growing process of the present invention is made in view of the above described findings and permits the cooling member to effectively serve to increase the pulling speed, while effectively preventing cracks caused by excessive cooling of the single crystal, by utilizing a cooling member with a height 1.5 times or less the diameter of the above described single crystal and also by keeping 500xc2x0 C. or below the temperature of the inner peripheral surface of the cooling member opposing to the outer peripheral surface of the single crystal, when crystal growing is carried out by utilizing a furnace equipped with a ring-shaped cooling member disposed surrounding the single crystal grown from a raw material melt by the CZ process.
The lower limit of the height of the cooling member is preferably 0.1 times or more the diameter of the single crystal, from the viewpoint of a speed-up in the pulling. The particularly preferable height is 0.25 to 1.0 times the diameter of the single crystal.
The temperature of the inner peripheral surface of the cooling member is not specified in particular, because the lower it is, the better. The particularly preferable surface temperature is 200xc2x0 C. or below.
For other factors than the height of the cooling member and the temperature of the inner peripheral surface, the thickness of the cooling member is preferably from 10 to 50 mm. Additionally, the flow rate of the cooling water to be supplied to the cooling member is preferably from 1.5 to 30 L/min. In addition, the distance from the lower end of the cooling member to the melt surface is preferably from 10 to 100 mm. Furthermore, the emissivity of the inner peripheral surface of the cooling member is preferably not less than 0.7.
The cooling member is made of a metal material which is forcibly cooled by water passage. The primary component of the metal is preferably copper, which exhibits good heat conduction and is inexpensive. When the cooling member is composed of a copper-based metal, blacking by plating with black Cr metal or oxidation is effective as a method of increasing the emissivity of the inner peripheral surface. In particular, plating with black Cr metal also has the effect of protecting soft copper-based metal to suppress contamination by the crystal of copper.
In general, the pressure of the atmosphere inside the furnace is not more than 13300 Pa, and so heat transfer by the gas can be neglected and the heat removal from the pulled crystal is exclusively by heat radiation. In the crystal growing process of the present invention the height of the cooling member and the surface temperature are specified from this viewpoint, and the distance from the crystal surface to the cooling member is not particularly specified because heat transfer by the gas can be neglected.
It is advisable that the cooling member be combined with a heat shield and placed inside of it. Combination with a heat shield not only facilitates the cooling of the crystal, but also effectively constrains a rise in the temperature of the cooling member itself, thereby increasing the pulling speed.


The present disclosure relates to a laser probe assembly coupled to a laser system through an optical fiber cable. In one example, the laser probe assembly comprises a probe tip coupled to the probe body, the probe tip housing multiple fibers. Each of the multiple fibers comprises a proximal end that couples to the laser system and a distal end that terminates in the probe tip, a single core for transporting a laser beam provided by the laser system, and a cladding surrounding the core. The laser probe assembly also comprises a lens for projecting multiple laser beams provided by the multiple fibers on to a surgical site. Within the probe tip, parts of outer surfaces of portions of any two adjacent fibers of the multiple fibers touch. Also, the multiple fibers are at least substantially centered with respect to the lens.

In a wide variety of medical procedures, laser light is used to assist the procedure and treat patient anatomy. For example, in laser photocoagulation performed during retinal detachment surgery, a laser probe is used to cauterize blood vessels at laser burn spots across the retina. Certain types of laser probes burn multiple spots at a time, which may result in faster and more efficient photocoagulation. For example, a laser probe may be coupled, through an optical fiber cable, to a surgical laser system that splits a single laser beam into multiple laser beams that exhibit a laser spot pattern and delivers the laser beams to an array of individual optical fibers ("fibers") in the optical fiber cable that exhibit a corresponding fiber pattern. At their distal ends, the fibers are coupled to the laser probe and project the laser beam spots with the laser spot pattern onto the retina. Typically, the fibers should be tightly packed together so that the fiber pattern matches the laser spot pattern. Also, in part of a tip of the laser probe, a micro spacer may be used to provide the desired spacing between the laser burn spots by holding the fibers in a fixed geometrical relationship, thereby creating the desired laser spot pattern.
However, the use of a micro spacer when assembling a laser probe, in certain cases, may lead to a time consuming and difficult laser probe manufacturing process. This is because, in such an assembly process, each of the fibers is inserted into a separate corresponding opening or hole in the micro spacer. The fibers may further be bonded to the micro spacer by using an adhesive, which may result in a thermal robustness issue at a high laser power level.
In certain cases, instead of utilizing multiple individual fibers, a multi-core optical fiber (MCF) may be used. To create a MCF, first, holes are typically drilled into a rod, such as a fused silica rod, which may function or be referred to as an outer cladding. Then fused silica cores, that are used to transport laser beams, are consolidated within the drilled holes. In certain cases, dopants, such as fluorine or germanium, are also added to the outer surface of the cores. Dopants are added to create the required refractive index profile to support light guiding properties of the MCF. Finally, the fused silica rod is drawn at an elevated temperature to a desired diameter and length, resulting in the MCF. In an MCF, the holes are drilled with a certain spacing in between the hole in order to create the desired spacing between the laser burn spots. Further, the cores are tightly held together by the outer cladding, ensuring that the laser beams are propagated with the desired laser spot pattern.
However, manufacturing MCFs, in certain cases, does not provide the desired yield. For example, the dopants in an MCF may, in some cases, diffuse from, for example, the cores to the outer cladding. Such a diffusion may materially change the optical properties of the components of the MCF. In addition, dopant gradients can cause dopant diffusion, such that under high temperature gas bubbles may form in the making of MCFs towards interfaces between the cores and the outer cladding. The gas bubbles may reduce the yield of MCFs and weaken the MCF, leading to fragile fibers.

Multi-spot laser probe with multiple single-core fibers


Devices using tactile feedback to deliver silent status information are described. One embodiment includes an electronic device comprising a housing comprising a user contactable region, a tactile element coupled to the user contactable region, and an actuator coupled to the tactile element and capable of outputting a haptic sensation localized to the tactile element.

The present invention relates generally to haptic feedback provided to a user operating electronic devices.
Humans interface with and operate electronic and mechanical devices in a variety of applications, and the need for a more natural, easy-to-use, and informative interface is a constant concern. One such application is interacting with computer-generated environments such as application programs using devices such as mice, trackballs, joysticks, steering wheels, etc. In other applications, the user operates electronic devices in a variety of tasks, from sensing desired objects or information, controlling device functions remotely, etc.
Some devices deliver needed information to the user during their operation. For example, a metal detector can be used to detect hidden metal objects in the ground, in other objects, etc. Typically, when the sensors of the device detect metal, an audible and/or visual cue is provided to the user, such as a beep sound or a blinking light. Other devices similarly provide audible or visual cues to the user to inform the user of the status or operation of the device, such as bar scanners detecting bar code prices on products purchased in a store, remote controls that have remotely turned off an intruder alarm and/or locked or unlocked doors of a vehicle, etc. Some devices, such as pagers and some cellular telephones, may convey cues tactilely, such as through a vibration, in which the entire housing of the pager or cellular telephone is vibrated and the user contacting the housing of the electronic device feels the vibration.
The conventional devices, however, typically do not convey their haptic cues privately, so that only the user of the device is delivered these cues. For example, a bar scanner or metal detector typically delivers a loud beep or other haptic cue which other people in the vicinity besides the user can also hear. Vibration elements within standard pagers and cellular telephones often use inertial masses that shake violently to vibrate the entire device. Unfortunately, most of those mechanisms create residual noise that can be heard by other people in close proximity.
These publicly-sensed cues can be a disadvantage in many situations. For example, a clerk in a store who is using a barcode scanner wants to hear only his or her own barcode scanner, not the barcode scanners of other clerks; otherwise it may be confusing as to whether the clerk's own barcode scanner has detected a barcode. For metal detectors, it may be undesirable to have others be aware that metal has been detected, e.g. in a security checkpoint in an airport where luggage is being scanned for weapons. For remote controls, a person may not want others to hear that he or she has just turned off/on a car alarm or locked/unlocked a car door. Therefore, a more private way of conveying such haptic cues is needed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A holographic center high mounted stop light (CHMSL) employing a linear lamp source comprising a long and narrow cylindrical gas discharge bulb, a non-imaging light concentrator cavity, a plastic light guide and a hologram. The CHMSL is characterized by previously unattainable compactness, weight savings, rear occupant headroom, driver rearward visibility, and electrical efficiency.

The present invention relates to center high mounted stoplights (CHMSL) for vehicles.
Since 1985 every U.S. automobile has been required to include a CHMSL as a safety feature. Typically the CHMSL is mounted behind the rear window, either in the roof or on top of the rear deck. In either case, the unfortunate result is partial obstruction of the driver's view through the rear window. U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,369 describes a holographic CHMSL which addresses this problem, and includes a transparent hologram on or near the rear window and a remotely located lamp which delivers light to the hologram. Two specific types of holographic CHMSLs are the floodlit CHMSL described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,593, and the trapped beam CHMSL described in pending application Ser. No. 87503, both assigned to the assignee of this application. In the floodlit CHMSL the remotely located lamp projects a beam of light through air to a hologram mounted on the rear window. In the trapped beam CHMSL, lamp light from an incandescent halogen bulb is injected into a thin light guide which carries the light and delivers it to a hologram. This design allows for greater headroom for the rear occupant as well as improved rearward visibility for the driver.
While holographic CHMSLs employing halogen bulbs as the light source are advantageous over a conventional CHMSL in terms of reduced size and greater driver rearward visibility, such CHMSLS require considerable electrical power, their size and weight are not as small as that which is ultimately desired, they dissipate more heat from the bulbs than desired, and the complexity of these devices results in additional cost and manufacturing difficulties.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a holographic CHMSL which possesses the advantages of the trapped beam CHMSL but which overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings.

Linear lamp holographic trapped beam center high mounted stoplight


Gypsum panels, sheathing systems, and methods of making and using the same are provided. A gypsum panel includes a gypsum core associated with a first fiberglass mat having a continuous barrier coating, the coating penetrating a portion of the first fiberglass mat opposite the gypsum core, wherein gypsum penetrates a remaining fibrous portion of the first fiberglass mat such that voids in the first fiberglass mat are substantially eliminated. A building sheathing system includes at least two gypsum panels and a seaming component to provide a seam at an interface between the gypsum panels.

Many modern building codes require the use of barriers in construction to protect the building from air and water penetration. For example, building codes in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States now require air barriers to be used in all construction. Moreover, the existing International Building Code/International Residential Code (IBC/IRC) requires the use of a water-resistive air barrier for all new construction. Water-resistive air barriers may be formed from a variety of materials and structures and applied to the surface of construction sheathing materials (e.g., gypsum panels, oriented strand board (OSB) panels).
Traditionally, three types of water-resistive air barriers may be used to meet building codes. First, fabric-type membranes, or "wraps," may be used to cover the surface of building sheathing panels. However, these fabric wraps are typically unable to withstand wind conditions, suffer from drooping, and are difficult to install at heights. Moreover, the standard method of attaching such fabric membranes to sheathing panels is stapling, which compromises the effectiveness of the membrane as an air or water barrier.
Second, a liquid coating water-resistive air-barrier membrane may be applied to sheathing panels. However, these liquid coatings must be applied in the field by qualified contractors, which is time intensive and costly. Moreover, although liquid coatings serve as an effective water barrier, they provide low water vapor permeance, which affects the wall's ability to dry should it get wet during service (e.g., around window penetrations, flashing).
Third, self-adhered, or "peel and stick," water-resistive air-barrier membranes may be applied to sheathing panels. However, these self-adhered membranes are generally not permeable and therefore are not an option in many projects, because the architect or engineer must account for this impermeability in designing the building, to prevent the potential for moisture being trapped inside the wall cavity. Furthermore, self-adhered membranes require the sheathing panels to be dry and often primed prior to application, which significantly slows down the construction process.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide improved external sheathing panels and building sheathing systems having water-resistive and air-barrier properties, as well as methods of making such panels.


A machine tool, which has a tool magazine for storing multiple tools and is for machining a workpiece with a tool held on a main shaft by moving the main shaft relative to the workpiece, wherein the machine tool is provided with: multiple feed shafts for moving the tool relative to the workpiece; a tool magazine drive motor for driving the tool magazine; and a manual pulse generator, which is for sending a positive or negative command pulse to the multiple feed shafts or tool magazine drive motor, the manual pulse generator being provided with a selection switch for selecting one of the multiple feed shafts or the tool magazine drive motor as the destination to which the command pulse is to be sent.

In a machine tool having a tool magazine and tool changer, the operation for changing a tool between a spindle of the machine tool and the tool magazine is automatically performed by a command from a machining program. On the other hand, the preparatory work for a tool, that is, the operation of loading a tool into the tool magazine, is performed by an operator. The tool magazine is usually protected by being held in a housing, so when an operator loads a tool into the tool magazine, he opens the door of an opening part provided in the housing. To secure the safety of the operator, an interlock acts to prevent the tool magazine from operating when the door of the housing is opened and to prevent the door of the housing from being opened when the tool magazine is operating (for example, see PTL 1).

Machine tool with manual pulse generator


Disclosed herein are systems and method for securely sending user data. In an exemplary aspect, a trusted party device may receive a request for user data and a first hash of the request stored in a distributed registry. In response to verifying that the first hash matches a hash of the request as calculated by the trusted party device, the trusted party device may generate and transmit both a confirmation request to send the user data and a second hash of the confirmation request to an authorized user device. The trusted party device may receive, from the authorized user device, both a confirmation message and a third hash of the confirmation message stored in the distributed registry. In response to verifying that the third hash matches a hash of the confirmation message as calculated by the trusted party device, the trusted party device may send the requested user data.

The constant development and expansion of computer networks has led to the widespread use of related technologies for the gathering, sending, storage, analysis and use of various information in electronic formats, including personal user data. This, in turn, allows various persons to obtain access to a large volume of information, including the personal data of users. At the same time, situations arise where users are not able to manage or control the processing of their personal data by third parties. As a result, there is a need to protect personal user data, for example, to ensure the security, anonymity and confidentiality of personal user data, which has led to the appearance of legislative initiatives of various countries for its protection. For example, in the Russian Federation (RF), it is Federal Act F-152 "on personal data," and in the European Union, it is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Therefore, one technical goal is to create such solutions for the interaction of various parties such that the parties do not violate the requirements of the data processing rules of data processing set forth in the legislative initiatives taken by various countries. In this case, parties refers at least to devices such as a computer, a server, and a mobile device. Said devices may belong to either physical individuals (users) or various corporate persons (companies and enterprises).
At the same time, there is a need to obtain and process various kinds of personal user data. The data may be obtained from the user himself or herself, as well as from other parties which are already processing, e.g. storing, the data of the corresponding user. In both cases, according to the present rules of data processing, it is necessary to observe the requirements on the rights of users to control their personal data. Therefore, it is necessary for the user to give their consent to the processing and sending of data desired by another party. Such consent, and also the details of data transmittal, is advisably registered and saved in a database in order to resolve various possible conflict situations which may arise in future. One example might be a situation where the first party has sent user data to a second party, yet the user was not informed about this sending and did not give consent to it; in this case, the user may lodge a claim against the parties.
One variant solution of these problems is a solution utilizing the technology of distributed registers (e.g., blockchain technology). The decentralized scheme used in blockchain technology allows for transferring the authority and trust of a decentralized network and allows the nodes of the network to continuously and sequentially record transactions in public blocks, while creating a unique block chain. Thus, blockchain technology is able to organize an invariable incremental public database, independent of any one party, which can store information of various kinds.
At the same time, the specifics of blockchain technology generally does not support anonymity, and also does not allow a removal of records from the blocks contained in the chain of blocks. Therefore, this characteristic is a shortcoming for cases of exchanging personal data between parties, since the users may need to cancel their consent to processing of personal data and to remove the data from the information systems of the corresponding parties. On the one hand, this shortcoming might be removed by hashing the data being recorded in the block. But, on the other hand, this does not always make it possible to conceal the data, since methods exist for the restoring of data from its hashes, such as the sorting method. If a hash has been formed from structured data, such as personal data, it becomes possible to determine the data from which the hash was obtained in a reasonable time.
Thus, there is a need for a solution which is able to send data between parties with the consent of the owner (user) of the personal data, while being able to confirm the lawfulness of the sending and further processing of the data, in the event of a dispute arising between the parties and/or the owner of the data. It is also necessary for the solution to guarantee the reliability of the authentication of the parties during the sending of the data and to ensure the confidentiality of the personal data, for example, in the event of the user revoking his or her consent to the processing of the data.

Systems and methods for sending user data from a trusted party to a third party using a distributed registry


Systems and methods are provided for parallel column twist interleaving. Parallel bit-interleaving with column twist may be applied to an input bitstream based on one or more interleaving parameters. Bits in the input bitstream may be read, in sets having size based on a first interleaving parameter, and may then be processed based on a second interleaving parameter. The processing may comprise applying a shift to a combination of bits that include a current bit set and additional bits corresponding to previously processed bit sets and/or pre-set bits. The shift may be determined based on a column twist associated with the current corresponding. Bits generated based on processing in current and/or previous cycles may be stored into memory, and bits may be read from the memory, based on a third interleaving parameter, for generating an output interleaved bitstream.

Various issues may exist with conventional approaches for use of interleaving in communication solutions. In this regard, conventional approaches for use of interleaving may be costly, cumbersome, and/or inefficient. For example, conventional systems and methods, if any existed, for interleaving may be too costly for high throughput applications.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present disclosure as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Methods and systems for parallel column twist interleaving


The present invention provides a method for implementation in a wireless communication system including a plurality of base stations, a plurality of gateways, and a plurality of mobility management entities. The method includes receiving, at a first mobility management entity and from a first base station, measurement data collected by the first base station for a first mobile unit having a connection to the wireless communication system via the first base station. The measurement data includes a temporary identifier associated with the first mobile unit for the duration of the connection. The method also includes identifying the first mobile unit using the temporary identifier and forming a first record associated with the first mobile unit. The first record includes the measurement data collected by the first base station for the first mobile unit and previously collected measurement data for the first mobile unit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to communication systems, and, more particularly, to wireless communication systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communication systems use a geographically dispersed network of base stations to provide wireless connectivity to large numbers of mobile units. The term "Node B" is used in 3G UMTS standards as the name for the base stations. The term "Evolved Node B (eNB)" is used in the 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) standards as the name for the base stations that implement the 4G LTE standard. Unlike wired communication systems, the quality of a wireless communication link or connection is both geographically and temporally variable. Furthermore, the quality of service received by individual users is an important factor in determining customer satisfaction. Service providers can bill higher rates for guaranteed higher quality of service levels. Wireless operators like Verizon Wireless use data generated by the wireless communication system to assess the overall user experience in wireless communication systems. One approach is to use performance counters to generate statistical information related to the user experience. The performance counters typically gather statistical information to assess the performance of interfaces between elements of the wireless communication system and to assess the performance of the software implemented in these elements.
Another approach to monitoring the user experience is to collect performance data in near real time for each wireless user. One example of this type of information is Per-Connection Measurement Data (PCMD) that is used to capture statistics related to the user experience each time the wireless user accesses the network or performs other procedures. In proposed 4G wireless networks, the PCMD data is collected by different network elements. For example, eNodeBs (eNBs) may collect one type of PCMD data, mobility management entities (MMEs) may collect another type of PCMD data, and serving gateways (SGWs) may collect yet another type of PCMD data. The collected data can then be stored in the network element until it is needed by a post-processing tool. Records of the stored data are therefore labeled by an indicator of the identity of the user equipment. However, each of the collecting entities uses a different user equipment identifier. For example, an MME uses an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) to uniquely identify the user equipment, whereas the eNodeBs are unaware of the IMSI and instead they use a negotiated temporary identifier that is associated with each user equipment for the duration of the call session with the eNodeB.
User equipment can also roam through numerous areas served by different eNodeBs, MMEs, and/or other network elements that can collect PCMD data. Consequently, the post-processing tool has to search through information stored on all of the network elements that collect PCMD data within the network when the post-processing tool wants to begin analyzing the PCMD data for one or more users. Locating the per-user information collected by the different network elements is a nontrivial task because typical wireless communication system may include thousands of eNodeBs and tens or hundreds of MMEs and SGWs. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the different network elements use different identifiers for the same user equipment and some of these identifiers are temporary identifiers that may be released from their association with user equipment when the user equipment ends a particular connection.
Furthermore, the PCMD records collected by a network element for each user during the each time interval have to be correlated with the records collected by the other network elements so that the post-processing tool can analyze the records for each user equipment as a single record. Correlating the per-user information collected by the different network elements is a nontrivial task because the records collected by the different network elements may not be coordinated. For example, in the 3GPP standards, as many as three network elements can generate PCMD records for the same user and the network elements may generate the records at slightly different times. Hence, correlation of these records for the same user connection can be difficult to achieve. Again, the use of different identifiers by different network elements further complicates this task.
Storing the collected information may also present difficulties. For example, it is typical for each network element to deposit PCMD records on a host collector. Depositing per-user data collected for millions of users by thousands of eNodeBs, tens or hundreds of MMEs, and similar numbers of other network elements can easily overwhelm the capacity of even a large number of host collectors. Hence, another issue to cope with is the generation of a multiplicity of files on the host collector and the disk storage capacity required to store multiple files for the same user connection to the network.
Wireless providers that want to initiate (or terminate) PCMD data collection are also faced with the problem of signaling their intent to large numbers of network elements. For example, a wireless provider may want to turn ON the data collection functionality for a certain period of time and then they may want to turn OFF the data collection. Typically, PCMD collection is controlled by Element Management Systems that utilize management interfaces to each and every Network Element to turn ON PCMD or to turn it OFF. However, as discussed herein, a typical 4G LTE Wireless Network can have thousands of individual elements, which may require multiple Element Management Systems. Coordination of the data collection among several Element Management Systems may be difficult to achieve.

Method of collecting per-user performance data


A rear-wheel drive for a bicycle or a trailer bike comprises an output sprocket of a chain drive, a rear-wheel shaft, and a driving mechanism being supported outside to the bicycle frame. The rear-wheel shaft is supported only on one side of the driving in a supporting manner relative to the bicycle frame. The driving mechanism on the side facing the bicycle frame is not, as commonly known, supported relative to the rear wheel shaft but relative to the bicycle frame. That creates the required space for arranging a freewheel clutch, that fulfills the strength requirements for transmitting the occurring torques even when using sprockets with only a few teeth. Thus, short distances between the rear wheel and the bottom bracket and single-arm suspensions in the bicycle frame can be implemented together with the implementation of suitable developments of the chain drive for small running wheels.

Bicycles are preferably driven by means of a chain drive. Commonly the drive chain wheel connected to the crank arm lies predominantly outside the bicycle frame, while the output sprocket that is mounted on the rear-wheel axle is predominantly arranged inside the bicycle frame between the bicycle frame and the rear wheel.
Bicycles having smaller running wheels are preferably used so as to achieve small packing dimensions and weights, often designed as folding bicycles. Bicycles having 14 inch running wheels and less require a gear ratio of at least 1:5 between pedaling frequency and running-wheel frequency to be usable.
Trailer bikes are attached to the rear of a bicycle and, in contrast to those bicycles to which they are attached, mostly exhibit much smaller running wheels. Up till now, mostly transmissions having similar gear ratios are used for these running wheels as for the bicycles themselves. Thus the person riding the trailer bike has to ride at much higher pedaling frequencies than the person on the bicycle to which the trailer bike is attached. Even trailer bikes having small running wheels require the gear ratios mentioned above between the pedaling frequency and the running-wheel frequency.
So that the gear ratios that have been mentioned can be achieved with a single-stage chain drive, an output sprocket having as few teeth as possible has to be used. All tooth counts that have been mentioned below in this document, of the output sprockets and drive chain wheels refer to the chain pitch of 12.7 mm that is conventional for bicycle chains.
In the following solutions, output sprockets having low tooth counts are used:
a. In most cases the output sprocket is arranged between the bicycle frame and the rear wheel, the output sprocket being supported on a rear-wheel axle that is firmly connected to the bicycle frame. This solution has the disadvantage that on account of the strength requirements on the rear-wheel axle resulting from the bending loads, this axle must exhibit across its entire length a minimum diameter, on which the output sprocket is mounted, as a result of which the tooth count of the output sprocket amounts to at least nine teeth. This solution also has the disadvantage that the required freewheel has to be arranged in the rear-wheel hub or on the bottom bracket. JP 2003-054 479 A discloses a chain drive with an output sprocket having only eight teeth. Here it is a disadvantage that, on account of the system, no freewheel clutch is provided on the rear wheel. It would then have to be disposed between the crank arm and the drive chain wheel, seen in the power flow.
b. JP 11-321 768 A discloses a chain drive that uses an output sprocket that is arranged outside the bicycle frame and exhibits only seven teeth. A disadvantage of this solution is that the output sprocket exhibits an outer thread that is screwed directly to the rear-wheel shaft and that a freewheel clutch is arranged between the bottom bracket and the drive chain wheel, as a result of which no commercially available drive chain wheel directly connected to a crank arm can be used and as a result of which the output sprocket, the drive chain wheel, and the chain co-rotate in the freewheel case.
c. DE 101 27 614 A1 discloses a chain drive having an output sprocket of fewer than eleven teeth respectively having seven teeth. It is a disadvantage that the rear wheel is rotationally engaged with the chain and no freewheel clutch is provided.
d. JP 2005-289 283 A discloses a one-armed rear-wheel suspension on the bicycle frame, the output sprockets of the chain drive being mounted on both sides in the bicycle frame that has been designed as the gear case, and the rear wheel being arranged outside the gear case on one side of the bicycle frame. A freewheel clutch is arranged between the output sprockets and the rear-wheel shaft. So that a chain line distance that is conventional for bicycles is achieved for the bicycle drive, seen axially, the bicycle frame is designed between the output sprockets and the rear wheel as a thin-walled gear case. The consequence is that, seen axially, the rear-wheel shaft and the bottom-bracket shaft have to be mounted on both sides of the output sprocket respectively of the drive chain wheel relative to the gear case, in order to achieve the required stiffness between the rear-wheel shaft and the gear case respectively between the bottom-bracket shaft and the gear case. It is a disadvantage that in the process the rear-wheel shaft has to absorb, in the area of the freewheel clutch, the bending moments that are introduced from the rear wheel and are caused by the weight, and has to exhibit a minimum diameter that complies with the strength requirements and that in the process the smallest output sprocket of the sprocket assembly exhibits at least 13 teeth. It is further a disadvantage that on account of the fact that the rear-wheel shaft and the drive chain wheel are mounted in a supporting gear case on both sides, no commercially available drive chain wheel that is directly connected to a crank arm, can be used.
US 2006/0 108 858 A1, US 2006/0 108 859 A1 and BE 558 090 A reveal rear-wheel drives where a bearing supports a rear-wheel shaft relative to the frame and, seen in the power flow, a freewheel is arranged between a driving mechanism and the rear-wheel shaft, the freewheel being installed as a complete unit on the rear-wheel shaft. The freewheel comprises a freewheel clutch and bearing that supports the driving mechanism on the rear-wheel shaft.
A disadvantage of these embodiments is the fact that the bearings of the freewheel support the driving mechanism in each case relative to the rear-wheel shaft and, seen radially, are thus arranged between the driving mechanism and the rear-wheel shaft. On account of the design, the freewheel mechanism arranged between these bearings can thus again, seen radially, be implemented only between the sprockets of the driving mechanism and the rear-wheel shaft. In addition, the complete freewheel unit is connected to the rear-wheel shaft using a shaft-hub-connection. The radial installation space required for these elements in the area of the bearings, of the freewheel clutch and of the shaft-hub-connection probably does not permit an implementation of a driving mechanism having an output sprocket of fewer than 11 teeth in this area on account of the strength that is required for bicycles. It is in particular the bearing, which supports the driving mechanism, that is responsible for these disadvantages that, seen axially, is arranged between the freewheel mechanism and the bearing that supports the rear-wheel shaft relative to the frame. This bearing prevents an output sprocket having a lower tooth count and an acceptable chain line distance being implemented on the driving mechanism.


A holding strap for wireless ear-bud style earpieces having a cylindrical or prismatic stem, includes: a pair of stem housings, each of which is constructed to form a hollow cylinder or prism having a hollow cylindrical or prismatic space to receive the cylindrical stem, wherein the hollow cylinder or prism has an inlet, an inlet rim, an outlet, and an outlet rim; a connecting strap connecting the pair of stem housings; and a strap holder for holding two places of the connecting strap. The hollow cylindrical or prismatic space is sized for the cylindrical or prismatic stem to fit in, and the stem housing is constructed so that the stem passes through the inlet, the hollow cylindrical or prismatic space and the outlet and then, the cylindrical or prismatic stem is retained in the cylindrical or prismatic space of the stem housing by a friction fit.

Apple Inc.™ has introduced in September 2016 wireless earbuds or earpieces called AirPods™ 100, which is compatible with iPhone™ or iPad™. See http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEF2AM/A/airpods. As in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), AirPods™ 100 is ear-bud style earpieces 110 having a stem 120 and can be charged in a charging case 200 which has its own battery. Accordingly, if a user carries AirPods™ 100 and the charging case 200 together, he can charge his AirPods on the go.
However, wireless ear-bud style earpieces 110 having a stem 120, such as AirPods™, are small and thus, they can be hard to find and easy to lose.
The present invention is directed to overcome such disadvantage and provides a number of other advantages in using wireless ear-bud style earpieces 110 having a stem 120.

Holding strap for wireless ear-bud style earpieces having a stem


Devices and methods for warming or cooling blood flowing through the vasculature of a human or animal subject so as to alter or control the temperature of all or part of the subject's body. Heat exchangers are positioned within the subject's vasculature and heated or cooled heat exchange fluid is circulated through the heat exchanger. For certain therapeutic applications, the heat exchanger and associated elements of the system have sufficient power to lower the subject's body temperature by at least 3 degrees C. in less than 30 minutes.

Therapeutic hypothermia can protect various tissues, including cardiac, brain, and renal tissue, against the effects of ischemic, anoxic or toxic insult. For example, animal studies and/or clinical trials suggest that mild hypothermia can have neuroprotective and/or cardioprotective effects in animals or humans who suffer from ischemic cardiac events (e.g., myocardial infract, acute coronary syndromes, etc.), postanoxic coma after cardiopulmonary resuscitation, traumatic brain injury, stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, fever and neurological injury. Also, studies have shown that whole body hypothermia can ameliorate the toxic effects of radiographic contrast media on the kidneys (e.g., radiocontrast nephropathy) of patients with pre-existing renal impairment who undergo angiography procedures.
One method for inducing hypothermia is through the use of a technique known as endovascular temperature management (ETM). In ETM, a catheter having a heat exchanger is inserted into a blood vessel and thermal exchange fluid of precisely controlled temperature is circulated through the catheter's heat exchanger. This technique can effectively cool blood flowing through the subject's vasculature and, as a result, lower the core body temperature of the subject to some desired target temperature. ETM is also capable of warming the body and/or of controlling body temperature to maintain a monitored body temperature at some selected temperature. If a controlled rate of re-warming or re-cooling from the selected target temperature is desired, that too can be accomplished by carefully controlling the amount of heat added or removed from the body and thereby controlling the temperature change of the patient.
For ischemic events that result from blockage of an artery, such as myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke, a primary treatment objective is to remove, dissolve or bypass the arterial blockage so as to reperfuse the ischemic tissue within a shot period of time (e.g., less than 5 hours) after the onset of acute clinical symptoms. Such reperfusion can be accomplished by surgery (e.g., open embolectomy, bypass grafting, etc.), catheter based intervention (e.g., angioplasty, stenting, atherectomy, catheter-based embolectomy, etc.) or through the use of thrombolytic drugs (e.g., tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) or streptokinase). Because of the tissue protection added by hypothermia, it is currently believed that optimal treatment of such ischemic events may be achieved through a combination of therapeutic hypothermia with a reperfusion strategy such as surgery, catheter based intervention and/or thrombolytic drug therapy.
The effects of mild whole body hypothermia have been studied in acute myocardial infarction patients who subsequently underwent coronary interventions (i.e., angioplasty and stenting procedures) which resulted in reperfusion of the infracted myocardium. In at least one study, it was observed that patients with anterior wall infarctions whose core body temperature had been lowered to at least 35° C. prior to reperfusion had significantly smaller median infarct size than other patients with anterior wall infarctions whose core body temperature was greater than 35° C. at the time of reperfusion. This observation is not explained by other factors including time-to-presentation, lesion location and incidence of TIMI flow prior to angioplasty.
Thus, at least in the treatment of evolving myocardial infarctions, the size of the infarct may be significantly reduced if mild hypothermia is induced prior to reperfusion. Given the motivation to accomplish reperfusion as rapidly as possible, there exists a need in the art for the development of new methods, devices and systems for rapid endovascular cooling to facilitate the induction of hypothermia prior to reperfusion in subjects suffering from ischemic disorders such as myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke. Beyond this example, it should be understood that such methods, devices and systems are also beneficial in other therapeutic applications including but not limited to the treatment of cardiac arrest, radiocontrast nephropathy, inotropic treatment of heart disease, and others.
Furthermore, the mammalian body has physiologic temperature regulation mechanisms that function to maintain a setpoint temperature (usually normothermia) under most conditions. These innate physiologic mechanisms also cause the body to warm faster if the body is perceived to be cold and to cool faster if the body is perceived to be warm. Conscious subjects who have not been medicated to deter sivering may often times shiver in response to a decrease in their body temperature. Such shivering can provide significant additional energy which must be overcome in order to induce the hypothermic effect. Strategies to prevent shivering include warming blankets applied to the skin of the patient as well as several drugs such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,594 (Dae), U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,457 (Dae), U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,839 (Dae) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,008,444 (Dae), each such United States Patent being expressly incorporated herein by reference. The development of a new endovascular heat exchange catheter system with substantially more cooling (or warming power) could provide a new treatment that is better able to override the body's normal physiologic mechanisms and external factors thereby inducing therapeutic hypothermia (or hyperthermia) faster than endovascular heat exchange catheter systems of the prior art. Likewise, such more efficient endovascular heat exchange catheter system would be better able to control temperature change in the face of the body's own mechanism that might be attempting to change the body's temperature back to the set point after a period of hypothermia, for example maintaining a desired temperature that is other than the set point temperature, or re-warming a cold patient back to normothermia at a very controlled rate that is slower than the rate the body would otherwise warm itself.

Devices, systems and methods for rapid endovascular cooling


The phosphate mold material of this invention comprises refractory materials and binders as principal components, the refractory materials containing cristobalite and quartz, and the binders containing metal oxides which includes magnesia clinker and a phosphate salt. The proportion of said refractory materials to said binders is 80:20-90:10, and the proportion of cristobalite to quartz is in the range 6:1-7:1.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns phosphate mold materials suitable for the casting of glass ceramics with a melting point of 1000.degree. C. or more. 2. Description of the Related Art
Since phosphate mold materials have excellent heat resistance to gypsum mold materials, they are used for base metal alloys, such as Ni-Cr and Co-Cr, which have high melting points. Their usefulness as mold materials is particularly appreciated in the field of dental casting using base metal alloys.
Phosphate mold materials comprise mainly silica (consisting of cristobalite and quartz with different crystal systems), which functions as a refractory material, and phosphates and metal oxides, which function as binders. The phosphate used as a binder may be an acid phosphate, such as primary ammonium phosphate or primary magnesium phosphate. The metal oxide used as a binder may be magnesium oxide, and in particular hard-baked or electromelted magnesia, which has a periclase crystal structure.
The composition of conventional phosphate mold materials is 80-90 weight % of refractories, 10-20 weight % of binders, and minute amounts of other components, which are added to control hardening time, or to adjust gas permeability and to improve storage stability.
Mold materials with these compositions are ground together with 5-20% colloidal silica solutions in order to prepare a mold. After the cast is poured into the mold, the mold is then shattered and the cast is removed.
With alloys having high melting points, however, about 2.0-2.3% shrinkage occurs in the cooling process after pouring, and it is necessary to compensate for this shrinkage if a high precision cast is to be manufactured.
A mold material which permits control the expansion coefficient is disclosed in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent No. 57-9554. The mold material in this disclosure consists of quartz 65 weight %, cristobalite 20 weight %, magnesium oxide 5.6 weight % and primary ammonium phosphate 9.4 weight %, and carboxylic acids are also added.
Conventional mold materials however have a compressive strength of 76-185 Kg/cm.sup.2, and they are thus very hard. If it was attempted to remove a cast of a brittle material, such as glass from the mold, therefore, there was a strong possibility that the cast would also break when the mold was shattered, and removal was therefore difficult.
If the amount of cristobalite in the mold material is increased, the overall expansion can be compensated, but cracks then occur more easily in the mold due to thermal shock.


A shock absorbing member of the present disclosure is a shock absorbing member including a first hollow member (11) and a second hollow member (12) that are made of aluminum alloy and are weld joined to each other, in which a weld material and weld beads (W) do not project from a side on which a joined surface between the first hollow member (11) and the second hollow member (12) is located.

Regarding vehicles, such as automobiles, various methods for reducing injury to drivers have been considered in order to protect the drivers at the time of crash. In particular, bumpers are mounted on the front and rear of a vehicle and are supposed to crash against an oncoming vehicle or crash against a wall or the like because of driving error. As such, importance of bumpers as shock absorbing members has increased.
An automobile basically has bumper structures for absorbing shock at the time of crash mounted on the front and rear of the automobile. A bumper structure generally includes a bumper reinforcement and an energy absorbing member. The bumper reinforcement receiving shock and the energy absorbing member deforming enables the bumper structure to suppress damage to a vehicle body. Regarding, in particular, a bumper mounted on the front of a vehicle, various crash conditions can be considered. The crash conditions include, for example, offset crash and full-wrap crash. Contact with a pedestrian is also one of the crash conditions. While safety is regarded as an important problem, coping with weight reduction of a whole vehicle to solve environmental problems is also an important problem, and a bumper constituting a vehicle is no exception to this problem.
While the circumstances described above has necessitated a shock absorbing member using aluminum alloy, which is lightweight, it has become necessary to investigate strength and shock absorbency of a shock absorbing member suited to crash conditions.
For example, in Patent Literature 1, a bumper structure in which vertically offset crash protection components are arranged is proposed. The bumper structure includes a bumper reinforcement that is formed of a hollow extruded material made of aluminum alloy and a raised member that is formed of a hollow extruded material made of aluminum alloy and that is attached on the upper surface or the under surface of the bumper reinforcement.


The present invention provides a prefabricated substrate of array substrate, a vapor deposition method, an array substrate and a display apparatus, which can solve a problem that there is a waste of material in a vapor deposition process of the prior art. The prefabricated substrate comprises a plurality of sub-pixel units, each sub-pixel unit comprising a drive unit and a sub-pixel electrode connected with the drive unit, wherein, the drive unit is also connected with a data line and a gate line, and is used for transferring a data voltage signal outputted from the data line to the sub-pixel electrode when the gate line is strobed. The sub-pixel unit further comprises a switch unit connected with the data line and the sub-pixel electrode The switch unit is used for adjusting voltage of the sub-pixel electrode under control of a switch signal outputted from a switch signal line.

A pixel of an OLED display is a light emitting diode constituted of a stacked structure. In a color pixel structure constituted of a red (R) sub-pixel, a green (G) sub-pixel and a blue (B) sub-pixel, positions and shapes of light emitting layers (EMLs) of sub-pixels in different colors should respectively correspond to electrodes (generally anodes, hereafter referred to as "sub-pixel electrodes") of sub-pixels in different colors, in addition, the lower structure and the upper structure of the EMLs are common layers of the (sub) pixels in different colors. The light emitting layers of sub-pixels in different colors are made of different materials and have different vapor deposition target regions and patterns, thus they should be vapor deposited respectively. If material of EML of a sub-pixel in one color is deposited on a region of a sub-pixel electrode corresponding to another color, color mixing will be caused.
In order to limit deposition region of scattering particles during a vapor deposition process so as to form a light emitting layer with a predefined pattern at a specific position, the mainstream technology currently used in the industry is that, a fine metal mask (FMM) is located close to a substrate to prevent undesired particles from being deposited on regions of the substrate except for regions corresponding to holes of the FMM during a vapor deposition process. The holes of the FMM are aligned with sub-pixel electrode regions to be vapor deposited. Particles of organic electroluminescent material may be deposited on the sub-pixel electrode regions to form light emitting layers in shapes similar to that of the holes of the FMM. Different materials will be deposited by moving the FMM or using different FMMs to form desired organic light emitting layers of sub-pixel electrodes in different colors respectively.
However, the inventor found that there are following technical problems in technical solutions of the prior art, in which vapor deposition processes are performed by using the FMM(s). First, the FMM may be deformed due to gravity of deposited material and variation of temperature for vapor deposition, so that precision of positions and patterns of the light emitting layers formed by vapor depositing may be affected. Secondly, since shield function of the FMM, only a little of EML material will be deposited as the light emitting layer through the FMM, and other material will be deposited on the FMM so as to be wasted.

Prefabricated substrate of array substrate, vapor deposition method, array substrate and display apparatus


A visual display and amusement device is provided which will give an illusion that a miniature airplane model is pulling a curved banner with a message thereon about an upper transparent portion of a housing. The device will convey the message over and over again to a person viewing the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates generally to sight pleasing apparatuses and more specifically it relates to a visual display and amusement device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous sight pleasing apparatuses have been provided in prior art that are adapted to perform various tasks which can cause relaxing sensations to people who look at the apparatuses. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.


A backward discrete state event driven power electronics simulation method includes simulation initialization and a k-th simulation step, k≥0. The k-th simulation step includes obtaining a system state equation at the k-th step. The k-th simulation step further includes determining alternative quantized values for each of state variables at a k+1-th step. The k-th simulation step further includes setting up a finite state machine to determine quantized values for the state variables at the k+1-th step one by one. The k-th simulation step further includes calculating a vector of derivatives based on the quantized values at the k+1-th step and the system state equation. The k-th simulation further includes determining the time of the k+1-th simulation step based on occurrence times of events.

Computer numerical simulation is of great importance in the analysis of non-ideal characteristics of power electronics systems. However, for power electronics systems taking account of non-ideal models of power switches and stray parameters, the simulation models have characteristics of multi-time scale, discontinuity, non-linearity, and strong stiffness. When solving such systems, traditional numerical algorithms based on the discretization of time (such as trapezoidal method, Runge-Kutta method, etc.) have the following difficulties. There is a difficulty in determining a step size. Fixed-step algorithms may lead to wrong solutions due to error accumulation; while variable-step algorithms will spend much computation time on adjusting step size, and may choose too-small time steps in order to capture the trajectories of fast state variables, which causes the simulation difficult to go forward. Theses algorithms are inefficient. Power electronics systems always contain many discrete events, which leads to discontinuities in mathematics. These algorithms, whether fixed-time step algorithms or variable-step algorithms, cannot integrate across the discontinuity points, and the iterations to find discontinuity points will consume a large amount of computation time and slow down the simulation. Discrete-time algorithms may lead to spurious oscillations or divergence in the simulation due to multi-time scale.
In order to help overcome the shortcomings of traditional discrete-time algorithms, in 2001, Ernesto Kofman et al. proposed an algorithm based on the discretization of event, named Quantized State Systems (QSS) algorithm. (See Kofman E, Junco S., Quantized-state systems: a DEVS Approach for continuous system simulation [J], Simulation Transactions of the Society for Modeling & Simulation International, 2001, 18(3):123-132, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.) Different from classical discrete-time algorithms, in QSS, every state variable is quantized first by means of quantization function (Q-function), then the vector of derivatives is calculated according to the values of Q-functions rather than the values of state variables themselves, and the time which takes from one quantized state to a next quantized state can be calculated to push the simulation. QSS has some advantages over classical time-driven algorithms. QSS has excellent mathematical properties, such as good stability and convergence, because global errors in QSS algorithm can be constrained by the quantum. There is no iteration in QSS because all state variables are approximated by piecewise constant Q function. Time intervals between two points of discontinuity can be easily calculated by simple linear operations, which means higher efficiency. QSS is a variable-step method by nature. The time from one quantized state to a next quantized state is determined by the derivatives of the state variables and the relevant quantum. When the derivative is large, the time step calculated is a small value. On the contrary, a small derivative results in a large time step. Thus, no extra computation is needed for finding a suitable step. All the above advantages indicate that QSS possesses potential in the simulation of power electronics systems.
In spite of the advantages mentioned above, the efficiency and stability of the QSS algorithm when dealing with stiff systems are not satisfactory. Power electronics systems are typical stiff systems because they involve a large number of switches and multi-time scale processes. If stiff integrator algorithms are not used when solving stiff systems, the maximum step size permitted will be determined by the smallest modulus of the Jacobian matrix's eigenvalues rather than the vector of the derivatives, and the step size must be very small to satisfy the demand of stability, which will significantly slow down the speed of simulation. All discrete-time stiff integrator algorithms are implicit backward algorithms, while QSS is an explicit forward one, and QSS does not perform well in efficiency and stability when solving systems with strong stiffness.
Ernesto Kofman et al. proposed a backward QSS algorithm (BQSS). In BQSS, a group of quantized values of the state variables are selected as the vector Q for the next computation step, based on which the signs of the derivatives calculated can make every state variable approach its quantized value at the next step (See Migoni G, Kofman E, Cellier F. Quantization-based new integration methods for stiff ordinary differential equations [J], Simulation, 2012, 88(4):387-407, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). As an implicit event-driven algorithm, the main problem of BQSS is how to select the vector Q correctly and efficiently. The derivative of a state is variable is not only affected by its own quantized value but also by the quantized values of other state variables. Thus, the selection of quantized values of state variables affects each other. At each computation step, there are two alternatives for the quantized value of each state variable, and thus enumeration is not feasible in high dimensional systems due to a huge number of combinations. The existing implementation schemes of BQSS are all based on enumeration, and do not take into account the interactions and constraints among quantized values. Thus, in complex systems like power electronics systems, these implementation schemes cannot find the correct vector Q, and the few existing examples are all simple low dimensional systems. There is no effective scheme for complex high dimensional systems yet.

Backward discrete state event driven power electronics simulation method, power electronics simulation computation apparatus and computer-readable storage medium


A rotor with poles in the form of claws, of a rotary electrical machine. This rotor comprises a plurality of interpolar magnetic assemblies. On a radial cross-sectional plane, a first total magnet surface of a section of the magnetic assembly is smaller than a second surface defined by the product of the radial height of a face (h) of the magnetic assembly (40) which faces towards the polar claw (44a), and the circumferential distance between the polar claws (44a, 44b) in the interpolar gap. The magnet has at least one recess which extends in an axial direction.

Typically, the rotor has a claw-type structure. A structure of this type is constituted by two opposite, imbricated polar wheels, each comprising claws. Each claw of a polar wheel extends in the direction of the other polar wheel. In addition, each claw is inserted between two consecutive claws of the opposite polar wheel. Additionally, the rotor comprises magnetic parts, and the excitation coil is wound around the rotation shaft of the machine.
The rotor is located inside a stator. When the rotary machine is functioning, the rotor rotates around its axis, and a magnetic flow circulates between the adjacent magnetic poles with respective opposite polarities, by passing via the windings of the stator. The magnets which are disposed between the magnetic poles, constituted by the claws, are used to prevent the magnetic flow from passing directly from one pole to the other, without passing via the stator.
In fact, this leakage of flow from one pole to the other, without passing via the stator, affects the output, and detracts from the power performance of the rotary electrical machine. In fact, the flow which passes directly from one claw to the other without passing via the stator does not participate in the functioning of the machine. The use of interpolar magnets makes it possible to limit these leakages.
Interpolar magnets with a globally parallelepiped form are known. Each is placed between two adjacent claws of the rotor, each belonging respectively to one of the two polar wheels. These interpolar magnets are retained either by hooks, or by means of two grooves (or shoulders), each provided in one of the opposite lateral edges of the claws between which the magnet is situated.
In the first case, the magnets can have a reduced size, but they tend to move because of centrifugal force, since the hooks do not guarantee optimum securing.
In both cases, the magnets must have a volume which is sufficient to fill the entire interpolar gap, and they can be machined to have a rib which is designed to co-operate with the groove in the polar claws. This increases the cost of the machine, since these magnets are expensive.
In applications in which the rotary electrical machine must provide a high power density, the use of a large number of these magnets is essential.
Because of the cost of the raw material from which they are made, for example rare earths or ferrite, these interpolar magnets represent a substantial part of the cost of the rotor. Consequently, their design needs to be improved. In particular, it is necessary to optimise their geometric form in order to ensure that all of the mass of the magnet is useful for its functions, whilst guaranteeing good mechanical strength.

Rotor for rotary electric machine with reduced-mass interpolar structures


The casting apparatus (50) includes a holding vessel (10) for containing a supply of molten metal (12) and a casting mold (52) located above the holding vessel (10) and having a casting cavity (54). A molten metal injector (14) extends into the holding vessel (10) and is at least partially immersed in the molten metal (12) in the holding vessel (10). The molten metal injector (14) is in fluid communication with the casting cavity (54). The molten metal injector (14) has an injector body (16) defining an inlet opening (24) for receiving molten metal into the injector body (16). A gas pressurization source (38) is in fluid communication with the injector body (16) for cyclically pressurizing the injector body (16) and inducing molten metal to flow from the injector body (16) to the casting cavity (54). An inlet valve (42) is located in the inlet opening (24) in the injector body (16) for filling molten metal into the injector body (16). The inlet valve (42) is configured to prevent outflow of molten metal from the injector body (16) during pressurization and permit inflow of molten metal into the injector body (16) after pressurization. The inlet valve (42) has an inlet valve actuator (44) located above the surface of the supply of molten metal (12) and is operatively connected to the inlet valve (42) for operating the inlet valve (42) between open and closed positions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a molten metal casting apparatus and, more particularly, a casting apparatus including a gas driven molten metal injector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous furnace-ladling devices are known in the art for delivering molten metal from a molten metal container or vessel to a desired point of use, such as a die casting machine. Such devices often include a crucible body that includes a molten metal inlet tube and a molten metal delivery tube for delivering molten metal to a point above the crucible. The molten metal inlet and delivery tubes generally define vertically extending passages through which molten metal from the container or vessel is able to pass through the crucible. The molten metal inlet tube extends upward into the crucible and defines an opening above the operating level of molten metal contained in the crucible. A gas inlet tube provides a third passage into the crucible and through which the crucible may be pressurized to force the molten metal into the delivery tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,057 to Solheim and U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,191 to Lauersdorf are examples of such furnace-ladling devices known in the art. The crucibles for these devices may be partially or completely submerged in the molten metal in the container or vessel. A known disadvantage with such devices is that the molten metal inlet tube extending upward into the crucible, in operation, allows molten metal to spill over or xe2x80x9cfree fallxe2x80x9d over the top of the tube to refill the crucible. Such a spilling effect often causes metal oxides to form within the crucible and reduces the overall quality of the cast product ultimately made from the molten metal contained in the crucible. The pressure applied to the metal injected is limited by the height of the molten metal inlet tube used to refill the crucible.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,886 to Puschalovsky et al. (hereinafter xe2x80x9cthe Puschalovsky patentxe2x80x9d) improves upon the arrangement disclosed by the Solheim and Lauersdorf patents by providing a submergible crucible having an inlet opening in the top wall of the crucible and a closing device for selectively closing the inlet opening. However, because the inlet opening is located in the top wall of the crucible, the crucible molten metal enters through the inlet opening during refilling operations and xe2x80x9cfree fallsxe2x80x9d into the interior of the crucible. Accordingly, the same molten metal quality issues that exist with the arrangements disclosed by the Solheim and Lauersdorf patents are also present in the arrangement disclosed by the Puschalovsky patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,846,445 to Umino discloses an apparatus for transferring molten metal that includes a molten metal chamber positioned within a metal furnace. The molten metal chamber is connected to a bottom wall of the furnace. A fluid feed pipe communicates with the chamber through a sidewall of the chamber. The fluid feed pipe operates as both a molten metal inlet conduit and a molten metal discharge conduit for the chamber. A gas inlet/outlet pipe communicates with the chamber through a top wall of the chamber. The arrangement disclosed by the Umino patent is substantially similar to the arrangements disclosed by the Solheim and Lauersdorf patents, but includes a single molten metal inlet and discharge conduit and the chamber is physically attached to the bottom of the furnace. The arrangement disclosed by the Umino patent overcomes the molten metal xe2x80x9cfree fallxe2x80x9d problems present in the arrangements disclosed by the Solheim and Lauersdorf patents, but due to the position of the chamber and the vertical length of the discharge conduit from the chamber, the arrangement disclosed by the Umino patent is very limited in available operating pressures and there is no means provided to prevent backflow of molten metal into the furnace from the chamber. The flow of molten metal out of the furnace cannot be accurately controlled and the pressure is extremely limited and difficult to control.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,358 to Chadwick discloses a casting apparatus that includes a holding furnace for holding a reservoir of molten metal and a smaller pumping furnace in fluid communication with the holding furnace through a non-return, ball check valve. The pumping furnace is integrally formed with the holding furnace. The ball check valve prevents the flow of molten metal from the pumping furnace to the holding furnace during pressurization of the pumping furnace, but allows the flow of molten metal from the holding furnace to the pumping furnace after pressurization.
The holding furnace/pumping furnace arrangement disclosed by the Chadwick patent has several drawbacks. First, the ball check valve providing the connection between the holding furnace and the pumping furnace is a passive device that provides little ability to control the inflow of molten metal to the pumping furnace. In addition, the use of ball check valves in such molten metal transfer arrangements is known to have practical disadvantages. In particular, ball check valves require clean molten metal flows to operate effectively. The introduction of metal oxide particulates in the molten metal flows will cause the roller ball of the ball check valve to stick or prevent its full closing position from being obtained and this will require that the furnace be drained and the ball check valve cleaned. Further, the integrally formed holding furnace/pumping furnace arrangement disclosed by the Chadwick patent provides little flexibility in dosing molten metal to downstream processes such as a die casting machine. The position of the pumping furnace is fixed with respect to the holding furnace, which limits the locations from which molten metal may be dosed from the holding furnace/pumping furnace arrangement.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a casting arrangement that includes a gas driven molten metal injector that provides the ability to control the inflow and filling of molten metal into the injector. In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a casting apparatus that includes a plurality of gas driven molten metal injectors that may be independently positioned and operated in a molten metal holding vessel. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a gas driven molten metal injector that improves metal quality delivery to downstream processes. This invention provides for accurate control of injected molten metal flow rate and subsequent holding pressure applied to metal held in a mold cavity of a die casting machine.
The above objects are accomplished with a casting apparatus made in accordance with the present invention. The casting apparatus includes a holding vessel for containing a supply of molten metal. A casting mold is located above the holding vessel and defines a casting cavity. A molten metal injector extends into the holding vessel and is at least partially immersed in molten metal when the holding vessel contains the supply of molten metal. The molten metal injector includes an injector body that defines an inlet opening for receiving molten metal into the injector body from the supply of molten metal contained in the holding vessel. A gas pressurization source is in fluid communication with the injector body for cyclically pressurizing the injector body and inducing molten metal to flow from the injector to the casting cavity of the casting mold, and for exhausting to atmospheric pressure to permit filling of the injector body with molten metal. An inlet valve is located in the inlet opening in the injector body for filling molten metal into the injector body. The inlet valve is configured to prevent outflow of molten metal from the injector body during pressurization of the injector body and permit inflow of molten metal (i.e., filling/refilling) into the injector body after pressurization. The inlet valve has an inlet valve actuator located above the surface of the supply of molten metal and is operatively connected to the inlet valve for operating the inlet valve between an open position allowing for the filling of the injector body with molten metal and a closed position allowing for the pressurization of the injector body. The gas pressurization source may be operable to pressurize the injector body when the inlet valve is in the closed position and to exhaust to atmospheric pressure when the inlet valve is open.
The injector body may be defined by a top wall, sidewalls, and a bottom wall. The gas pressurization source may be in fluid communication with the injector body through the top wall of the injector body. The inlet opening may be provided as an inlet conduit extending from one of the sidewalls of the injector body. The inlet valve may be located in the inlet conduit.
The injector body may include a fill tube extending into the injector body and in fluid communication with the casting cavity. The fill tube may be integrally formed with the injector body. A molten metal filter may cover the inlet opening for filtering the molten metal entering the injector body through the inlet opening. The fill tube may define an opening within the injector body. A second molten metal filter may cover the opening to the fill tube. The injector body and the inlet valve may be made of graphite, ceramic material, or a mixture of graphite and ceramic material.
The present invention is also directed to a gas driven molten metal injector for use with a holding vessel containing a supply of molten metal. The molten metal injector includes an injector body defining an inlet opening for receiving molten metal into the injector body from the supply of molten metal when the injector body is at least partially immersed in the supply of molten metal. A fill tube extends into the injector body for dosing molten metal from the injector body to a downstream process. A gas pressurization source is in fluid communication with the injector body for cyclically pressurizing the injector body and inducing molten metal to flow into the fill tube, and for exhausting to atmospheric pressure to permit filling of the injector body with molten metal. An inlet valve is located in the inlet opening in the injector body for filling molten metal into the injector body. The inlet valve is configured to prevent outflow of molten metal from the injector body during pressurization of the injector body and permit inflow of molten metal into the injector body after pressurization. An inlet valve actuator is operatively connected to the inlet valve for operating the inlet valve between an open position allowing for the filling of the injector body with molten metal and a closed position allowing for the pressurization of the injector body. The gas pressurization source may be operable to pressurize the injector body when the inlet valve is in the closed position and to exhaust to atmospheric pressure when the inlet valve is open.
Furthermore, the present invention is a method of casting a metal component that may include the steps of: providing a holding vessel containing a supply of molten metal; locating a casting mold above the holding vessel with the casting mold having a casting cavity; positioning a molten metal injector in the holding vessel such that the molten metal injector is at least partially immersed in the supply of molten metal, with the molten metal injector in fluid communication with the casting cavity of the casting mold, with the molten metal injector having an injector body defining an inlet opening for receiving molten metal into the injector body from the supply of molten metal contained in the holding vessel, and with the molten metal injector having an inlet valve located in the inlet opening in the injector body and having an inlet valve actuator connected to the inlet valve for operating the inlet valve between an open position and a closed position; placing a gas pressurization source in fluid communication with the injector body for cyclically pressurizing the injector body and inducing molten metal to flow from the molten metal injector to the casting cavity of the casting mold and for exhausting to atmospheric pressure to permit filling of the injector body with molten metal; operating the inlet valve to the open position to allow filling (i.e., refilling) of molten metal into the injector body through the inlet opening; operating the inlet valve to the closed position after the injector body is at least partially filled with molten metal; and pressurizing the injector body with the gas pressurization source to induce molten metal to flow from the injector body to the casting cavity of the casting mold.
The method according to the present invention may include the steps of filtering the molten metal entering the injector body through the inlet opening and filtering the molten metal within the injector body before passing the molten metal to the casting cavity of the casting mold. The inlet valve actuator may be located above the surface of the supply of molten metal contained in the holding vessel, and the method may further include the step of operating the inlet valve between the open and closed positions from above the surface of the molten metal with the inlet valve actuator. The injector body may be provided with an integrally formed and vertically extending fill tube in fluid communication with the casting cavity of the casting mold. Further, the method according to the present invention may include the step of depressurizing the injector body after a set duration of time to allow the molten metal received in the casting cavity of the casting mold to substantially solidify.
The method may also include the steps of positioning a plurality of the molten metal injectors in the holding vessel such that each of the molten metal injectors is at least partially immersed in the supply of molten metal and independently operating the inlet valve and gas pressurization source for each of the molten metal injectors. The step of independently operating the inlet valve and gas pressurization source for each of the molten metal injectors may be performed by a programmable logic controller or a programmable computer. The inlet valve and gas pressurization source for each of the molten metal injectors may be operated such that each of the plurality of molten metal injectors doses molten metal to the casting cavity of the casting mold at different times and at different rates. The injector body for each of the molten metal injectors may be depressurized substantially simultaneously after a set duration of time has elapsed to allow the molten metal in the casting cavity to substantially solidify. The inlet valve and gas pressurization source for each of the molten metal injectors may be further operated such that at least two of the plurality of molten metal injectors dose molten metal to the casting cavity of the casting mold at substantially the same time and at substantially the same rate.
Further details and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description read in connection with the drawings.

Casting apparatus including a gas driven molten metal injector and method


A fixed-wing aerial underwater vehicle includes a shell component, a flight component and a pneumatic buoyancy component. The flight component includes a fixed wing and rotors, and the fixed wing and the rotors are mounted in the shell component. The pneumatic buoyancy component includes an air bladder and an inflation and deflation portion, and the inflation and deflation portion can inflate and deflate the air bladder. The air bladder is installed on the shell component, a containing space is formed in the shell component, and the inflation and deflation portion is partially or entirely installed in the containing space. Each rotor includes a rotor supporting rod, a motor base, a motor and a propeller, which are sequentially connected. A control method for the fixed-wing aerial underwater vehicle mentioned above is further provided.

As an emerging mobile underwater observation platform, underwater glider has been playing an increasingly important role in marine resource exploration, environmental monitoring, seabed detection and other military and civilian fields, due to its advantages of low power consumption, long endurance and low cost. The buoyancy adjustment mechanism is adopted to change the net buoyancy, and the posture adjustment mechanism is adopted to adjust the position of the gravity center, so that the glider performs the up and down motion, and changes the pitch and roll angle. The glider only relies on the net buoyancy as the driving force, and its operation speed and maneuverability are not as good as the other underwater vehicles driven by propellers. A variety of underwater gliders have been developed in China and other countries, such as Slocum, Seaglider, Spray and other underwater gliders developed by U.S., and Petrel developed by the Tianjin University, Sea-wing developed by Shenyang Institute of automation, China Academy of Sciences, and Seagull developed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, etc. However, the underwater glider focuses on underwater observation and detection, cannot perform air-sea joint observation, and need support vessels for release and recovery.
The common Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) include two categories: fixed-wing UAV and rotorcraft UAV. Fixed-wing UAV mainly relies on the lift force of the wing to balance the its gravity, its speed is fast, and has relatively long endurance, but the take-off and landing distance is long, and it cannot take off or land vertically, and its hover and maneuverability is limited. Multi-rotor flight control is relatively simple, can achieve take-off and landing vertically, can perform hover and forward backward and many other motions, mobility is more flexible, however rotorcraft UAV has higher flight resistance and higher power consumption than the fixed-wing UAV, thus affecting the flight speed and endurance, consequently, its efficiency is inferior to the fixed-wing UAV. UAVs have high level of autonomy, their operation is relatively simple, they can follow scheduled routes, and provide real-time monitoring data and video. However, their function is still limited, they cannot dive into the water and perform underwater detection and observation.
A number of hybrid aerial underwater vehicles have been carried out in recent years. The Georgia Technology University released GTQ-Cormorant prototype, which uses wireless remote control mode and is equipped with small video cameras. The water tank experiments prove the prototype can fly in the air and dive into the water, but its endurance is limited. Rutgers University released Naviator, which can switch movement in the air and water through the coaxial arrangement of the two sets of propeller, and water tank experiments verify the ability of the vehicle in cross-domain operation in both the aerial and underwater environments. But Naviator is tethered to the ground control station, which greatly limits its flying distance, the prototype has very limited load capacity, will be difficult to complete detect, search or rescue missions. Loon Copter developed by Oakland University chose to use wireless remote control mode, and moves up and down by pumping in and out water, water tank experiments verify that Loon Copter can complete fly motion, is able to dive a few meters underwater, and perform shooting tasks. These above aircrafts commonly use multi-rotor techniques, their common drawback is that the endurance in both air and underwater is extremely limited, which cannot meet the desire of persistent sea-air observation.

Fixed-wing aerial underwater vehicle and control method thereof


An embodiment includes developing unit having a first developer roller and a second developer roller in contact with the first developer roller. The first developer roller is adapted to transfer developed liquid developer to the second developer roller, and the second developer roller is adapted to transfer the developed liquid developer to a photoconductor. An electrode is separated from the first developer roller by a gap. The gap is configured to receive undeveloped liquid developer from a reservoir remote from the developing unit so that the first developer roller does not pass through undeveloped liquid developer contained in a reservoir within the developing unit.

Liquid (or ink) electrophotographic imaging devices typically utilize a light source, such as a laser or light emitting diodes, to expose regions of a photoconductor, e.g., a rotating photoconductor drum, to form a latent image on a photoconductor. A visible image is formed on the photoconductor using developed liquid developer having charged toner particles dispersed in a liquid carrier. More specifically, the developed liquid developer is transferred to the regions of the photoconductor exposed by the light. For some electrophotographic imaging devices, the developed liquid developer is formed on a first developer roller having an electrical charge by rotating the first roller through undeveloped liquid developer contained in a reservoir. The developed liquid developer is then transferred to a rotating second developer roller by an electrostatic force due to a difference in electrostatic potential between the first and second developer rollers. The developed liquid developer is then transferred to the photoconductor. One problem with this is that liquid developer can spill over the first and second developer rollers.

Liquid electrophotographic imaging device and methods

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.