A connector system is provided for connecting parts of an apparatus. A first part having one or more bayonet connectors and one or more retention pin receptacles cooperatively mates to a second part having one or more mating bayonet connectors. The second part further provides one or more retention pin bores. The first and second parts assemble to form a bayonet connection such that at least one pin retention bore aligns with at least one retention pin receptacle. At least one retention pin assembly disposed through the at least one pin retention bore selectively engages the retention pin receptacle to secure the connection of the first part to the second part of the apparatus.

Oil, gas, water and geothermal wells are typically drilled with a drill bit connected to a hollow drill string which is inserted into a well casing cemented in the well bore. A drilling head is attached to the well casing, wellhead or to associated blowout preventer equipment, for the purposes of sealing the interior of the well bore from the surface and facilitating forced circulation of drilling fluid through the well while drilling or diverting drilling fluids away from the well. Drilling fluids include, but are not limited to, water, steam, drilling muds, air, and other gases.
In the forward circulation drilling technique, drilling fluid is pumped downwardly through the bore of the hollow drill string, out the bottom of the hollow drill string and then upwardly through the annulus defined by the drill string and the interior of the well casing, or well bore, and subsequently out through a side outlet above the well head. In reverse circulation, a pump impels drilling fluid through a port, down the annulus between the drill string and the well casing, or well bore, and then upwardly through the bore of the hollow drill string and out of the well.
Drilling heads typically include a stationary body, often referred to as a bowl, which carries a rotatable spindle such as a bearing assembly, rotated by a kelly apparatus or top drive unit. One or more seals or packing elements, sometimes referred to as stripper packers or stripper rubbers, is carried by the spindle to seal the periphery of the kelly or the drive tube or sections of the drill pipe, whichever may be passing through the spindle and the stripper rubber, and thus confine or divert the pore pressure in the well to prevent the drilling fluid from escaping between the rotating spindle and the drilling string.
Rotating blowout preventers and diverters are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art of well pressure control. Rotation of the diverter/preventer is facilitated by a sealing engaged bearing assembly through which the drill string rotates relative to the stationary bowl or housing in which the bearing assembly is seated. Typically, a rubber o-ring seal, or similar seal, is disposed between the stripper rubber and the bearing assembly to improve the connection between the stripper rubber and the bearing assembly.
Pressure control is achieved by means of one or more stripper rubbers connected to the bearing assembly and disposed around the drill string. At least one stripper rubber rotates with the drill string. Stripper rubbers typically taper downward and include rubber or other resilient substrate so that the down hole pressure pushes up on the rubber, pressing the rubber against the drill string to achieve a fluid-tight seal. Stripper rubbers often further include metal inserts that provide support for bolts or other attachment means and which also provide a support structure to minimize deformation of the rubber cause by down hole pressure forces acting on the rubber.
Stripper rubbers are connected or adapted to equipment of the drilling head to establish and maintain the pressure control seal around a down hole tubular. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that a variety of means are used to attach a stripper rubber to the equipment above it. Such attachment means include bolting from the top, bolting from the bottom, screwing the stripper rubber directly onto the equipment via cooperating threaded portions on the top of the stripper rubber and the bottom of the equipment, and clamps.
It will be understood that, depending on the particular equipment being used at a drilling head, a stripper rubber at one well may be connected to equipment specific to that well while at another well a stripper rubber is connected to different equipment. For example, at one well the stripper rubber may be connected to the bearing assembly while at another well the stripper rubber may be connected to an inner barrel or an accessory of the drilling head. While the present disclosure is made here in relation to connecting the stripper rubber to the bearing assembly, it will be evident that the disclosure contemplates connection of the stripper rubber to any selected equipment of the drilling head.
It is common practice to tighten the bolts or screws of the connection with heavy wrenches and sledge hammers. The practice of using heavy tools to tighten a bolt, for example, can result in over-tightening, to the point where the threads or the bolt head become stripped. The results of over-tightening include stripped heads, where the bolt or screw cannot be removed, or stripped threads, where the bolt or screw has no grip and the connection fails. Both results are undesirable.
Even worse, vibration and other drilling stresses can cause bolts or screws to work themselves loose and fall out. If one or more falls downhole, the result can be catastrophic. The drill bit can be ruined. The entire drillstring may have to tripped out, and substantial portions replaced, including the drill bit. If the well bore has been cased, the casing may be damaged and have to be repaired.
Drilling head assemblies periodically need to be disassembled to replace stripper rubbers or other parts, lubricate moving elements and perform other recommended maintenance. In some circumstances, stripped or over tightened bolts or screws make it very difficult if not impossible to disengage the stripper rubber from the drilling head assembly to perform recommended maintenance or parts replacement.
As modern wells are drilled ever deeper, or into certain geological formations, very high temperatures and pressures may be encountered at the drilling head. These rigorous drilling conditions pose increased risks to rig personnel from accidental scalding, burns or contamination by steam, hot water and hot, caustic well fluids. There is a danger of serious injury to rig workers when heavy tools are used to make a stripper rubber connection at the drilling head. The connection should be made quickly and achieve a fluid tight seal.
It is desirable, therefore, to obtain a connector for optionally connecting a stripper rubber assembly to a bearing assembly, or other equipment, of a drilling head that is effective, safe, simple, fast and elegant.


A communication method and a communications apparatus are provided. The method includes: when receiving a first PDU session establishment request sent by a UE, encrypting, by an access and management network element (AMF), user information in the request, to obtain encrypted user information; and sending, by the AMF, a second PDU session establishment request to an SMF in response to the first PDU session establishment request, where the second PDU session establishment request carries the encrypted user information. In this manner, after the UE accesses a core network, an AMF entity may encrypt user information of the UE. The interaction information between NF entities, for example, the AMF entity and an SMF entity, carries the encrypted user information, which helps prevent user privacy leakage.

In 5G networks, a mobile communications network serves not only individual consumers, but more importantly, different industries. For example, in various industries such as healthcare, smart appliances, and intelligent transportation, service data may be transferred to a 5G network platform, that is, a 5G core network. When user equipment (UE) needs to access service data, the user equipment may access a core network. For example, the UE may access the core network through various access technologies (AT), such as a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access technology, or a non-3GPP access technology. Regardless of which AT is used to access the core network, user information of the UE is directly carried in interaction information between network function (NF) entities on a core network side after the UE accesses the core network. Therefore, user information leakage of the UE may cause user privacy leakage.

Communication method and communications apparatus


A method for molding an optical element by pressing a glass material in a mold, the method having the steps of: heating to soften the glass material outside a cavity of the mold; heating the mold; and pressing the glass material with the mold after putting the glass material into the cavity of the mold, wherein when the glass material is put into the mold a temperature of the glass material is in a range of (Tg×1.60) to (Tg×1.85)° C., and a temperature at an optical transfer surface of the mold is in a range of (Tg+50) to (Tg−70)° C., where Tg is the glass-transition temperature of the material.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a method of molding glass materials into optical elements and optical elements molded by the method.
2. Background of the Art
When heated up to a temperature about twice as high as the glass-transition temperature (Tg), glass materials for forming optical elements melt and become fluid to drip by gravity. For example, an optical glass material of a glass-transition temperature (Tg) of 500° C. can melt and drip through a nozzle when heated at 1000° C. or higher (which is twice as high as the glass-transition temperature). In this melting temperature range, glass can change its form freely. By putting a glass material in a mold for an optical element, we can transfer a mold shape approximately exactly to the glass material. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses such a droplet molding method of forming glass droplets for optical elements.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Examined Patent Publication H04-16414
However, in the droplet molding method of Patent Document 1, the molds may be exhausted quickly since the high-precision and smooth optical transfer surface of the mold is frequently in touch with extremely hot molten glass, easily coupled with oxygen in the air, and deteriorated. The optical surface of a mold made of, for example, cemented carbide material will be rough by some thousand molding shots and have to be replaced by a new one. Consequently, we must stop the molding machine for die change and set up the new mold. This takes a lot of time, cuts the operating ratio of the machine greatly and as the result reduces the productivity of the molding machine. Further, the cemented carbide mold materials are extremely hard and it takes a lot of time and trouble to machine the high-precision optical transfer surface of the mold. Therefore, it is difficult to say that the droplet molding method (which will easily deteriorate the high-cost molds) is fit for mass production of low-cost glass optical elements.
A re-heating molding method has been proposed and in practical use which comprises the steps of putting a glass piece of room temperature in the cavity of a mold, heating the mold and the glass piece together, press-molding the molten glass in the mold, cooling the mold and the glass piece together after the press-molding is completed, and taking out the shaped glass optical elements after the glass becomes fully hardened. This method has problems of occupying the mold which has a greater heat capacity than the glass piece during both heating and cooling the glass piece, keeping the mold at a constant heating rate to heat the glass piece of bad heat conductance uniformly, and having a longer molding tact because of low thermal coefficient and utilization efficiency. Therefore this method is not adequate to mass production of glass optical elements.
To solve these problems, the conventional reheating molding methods have contrived to shape a plurality of optical elements at a time (multiple-molding) or to prepare a lot of molds and pass them through a heating furnace, a pressing furnace, and a cooling furnace in the order continuously. Since these methods, however, heat the glass pieces and the molds together from the outside, the molds become basically hotter than the glass pieces in the molds, the molten glass sticks to the optical transfer surface of the mold. This reduces the operating rate and reliability of the molding machine. Also in the above method that passes molds through furnaces, it is very difficult to assure both a high reliability of molds and high-precision molding of glass optical elements since placing a pair of molding parts having opposite optical transfer surfaces without eccentricity is inconsistent with accomplishing a high tolerance in fitting of parts to slide the molds smoothly for pressing.
It appears to be a reality that there has been no better molding method which can reduce the mold occupying time and molding time and produce high-precision glass optical elements at high reliability and yields than these conventional molding methods.


An apparatus for determining a characteristic of a fluid flow within a pipe is provided, wherein the apparatus includes a separating device for separating the fluid into a gas component and a liquid component and directing the gas component to flow within a gas leg portion of the pipe and the liquid component to flow within a liquid portion of the pipe. The apparatus includes a gas leg portion metering device for generating gas component data and a liquid leg portion metering device for generating liquid component data. Moreover, the apparatus includes a processing device communicated with at least one of the gas leg portion metering device and the liquid leg portion metering device, the processing device being configured to receive and process at least one of the gas component data and the liquid component data to generate fluid flow data responsive to a fluid flow characteristic.

A fluid flow process (flow process) includes any process that involves the flow of fluid through pipes, ducts, or other conduits, as well as through fluid control devices such as pumps, valves, orifices, heat exchangers, and the like. Flow processes are found in many different industries, such as the oil and gas industry, refining, food and beverage industry, chemical and petrochemical industry, pulp and paper industry, power generation, pharmaceutical industry, and water and wastewater treatment industry. The fluid within the flow process may be a single phase fluid (e.g., gas, liquid or liquid/liquid mixture) and/or a multi-phase mixture (e.g. paper and pulp slurries or other solid/liquid mixtures), wherein the multi-phase mixture may be a two-phase liquid/gas mixture, a solid/gas mixture, a solid/liquid mixture, a gas entrained liquid or a three-phase mixture.
In certain flow processes, such as those found in the oil and gas industries, it is desirable to separate the liquid (e.g., oil and/or water) and gas (e.g., air) components of the fluid. This is typically accomplished using a separator, which is an item of production equipment used to separate the liquid components of the fluid stream from the gaseous components. The liquid and gas components flow from the separator in separate legs (pipes), with the leg containing the gas component referred to as the "gas leg" and the leg containing the liquid component referred to as the "liquid leg". Each of the legs typically includes a flow meter to determine the volumetric flow rate of the gas and fluid components, respectively. Furthermore, for the gas leg, the volumetric flow rate is commonly measured using an orifice plate.
Unfortunately however, current gas/liquid separator devices tend to be large, bulky and inefficient devices that are expensive to implement and operate. For example, current separators require a host of electronic equipment to control the operation of the separation device. This type of sensitive equipment is expensive to maintain. Furthermore, the carry-over of liquid into the gas leg of the gas/liquid separator commonly occurs, wherein the liquid typically takes the form of a mist comprised of small liquid droplets. In order to address this issue, most separators include mist catchers designed to recover the liquid carried over. This tends to increase the size of the already bulky separator devices. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an in-line solution for accurately conducting multi-phase in-line measurements while eliminating the separator device.

Multi-phase flow measurement system having a fluid separator


The apparatus comprises, between each pair of upper and lower bearing blocks, a shim or strut which provides a support for two bearing blocks on one another. Each of the upper bearing blocks is extended, in an upper portion and toward an inside of said apparatus, by a cantilevered portion subjected to action, in a downward direction, of a pressure exerting vertical jack mounted in an upper portion of said apparatus. A vertical and transverse plane containing a central axis of each pressure exerting vertical jack is situated between a vertical and transverse plane in which is situated a shim or strut placed between the bearing blocks and a vertical and transverse plane of raceways for an upper cutting cylinder and a lower cutting cylinder.

The present invention relates to a rotary cutting apparatus usable more particularly in printing and forming lines of cardboard collapsible boxes and self-adhesive labels.
These apparatus are generally based on the rolling principle on one another of two superimposed cylinders of parallel axes, of which one, namely the cutting cylinder as such, is engraved in relief, while the other one or "anvil" cylinder is smooth. However, in some processes, the two cylinders can present complementary engravings. The driving into rotation of the two cylinders, at the same peripheral speed but in reverse directions, is provided by connection gears of same working diameter chosen in such manner that there remains, between the two cutting cylinders, a small constant distance necessary for providing a good cut of the cardboard or paper sheet passing therebetween, without however a contact between the metallic parts ensuring the cut.
The interval separating the two cutting cylinders of parallel axes is provided by rollers or raceways which are secured at both ends of the two cutting cylinders while being perfectly concentric therewith. The diameter of each of these rollers is equal to the working diameter of the connection gear. Thus the cutting pressure can be applied without reservation on the two cylinders.
The diameter of the cutting cylinders, which depends on the cut-out format, has also to be determined, as a function of the paper width, in such manner that the deflections appearing during the cut, added to the manufacturing tolerances, are not superior to the theoretical distance separating the cutting parts. The deflections which appear during the cutting operation have two origins : the deflection as such of the cylinders under the effect of a load which is punctual or uniformly distributed due to the cutting effort, and the deflection caused by the flexing moments due to the effort exerted on the cylinder spindles.
Yet, it is necessary, mainly for certain works requiring a great precision and a cut which is clean and without dust, to maintain a deflection, that is a camber of the cutting cylinder which is as small as possible during the cutting operation as such. In order to reduce this camber or deflection of the cutting cylinder, it is of course possible to consider using a cutting cylinder of large diameter, but this entails a high cost for the tooling and reception structure.
As disclosed in French patent 2,645,790, it has also been provided to suppress the second deflection, that is the deflection caused by the flexing moments, by using a particular disposition of the hydraulic jacks.
In "IRON AND STELL ENGINEER", vol. 46, no. 12, December 1969, Pittsburgh US pages 69-87, M. D. Stone has disclosed a Backup Roll Bending for Crown and Gage Control using counter flexing means currently used in rolling mills, and utilizing counter pressure cylinders.
In the above device, the main force is applied on the bearing blocks and the counter-flexion is obtained by a spacing apart of the spindles.
The prior art has also shown U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,895 J. L. Bell et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,082 C. Ireton ; as well as German patent application published under No 1,243,000 F. L. Smithe Machine Company ; French patent application published under No 21578,193 J. Lacan ; and British patent specification No 398,169 A. Bingham et al.


A housing 10 of a development apparatus is vertically divided into two segments; a lower housing 20 and an upper housing 30. The housings 20, 30 are fixedly joined together without use of fixing means such as screwing or welding means but by means of causing a plurality of engaging projection pieces 26 formed on a joining surface section 25 to engage with engage holes 36 formed on a joining surface section 35, and causing resiliently-deformable snap-fit engaging sections 27 to engage with engaged sections 37. Side brackets 40, 50 are fitted to respective sides of the thus-joined housings 20, 30, thereby reinforcing the joined state of the housings 20, 30. No damage arises at the time of assembly or disassembly of the housing, and the housing can be reused.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for handling a developing device, a developer container, and an apparatus for handling a developer, such as a developer recycling apparatus (also called a xe2x80x9cdeveloper handling apparatusxe2x80x9d), which are used in an image forming apparatus for forming an image made of powder developer such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile, a complex machine, and the like and more particularly, to a developer handling apparatus which is relatively easy to assemble, disassemble, and reuse.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus such as a printer utilizing an image forming method such as electrophotography or electrostatic recording, an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrier such as a photosensitive member is developed with a powderlike developer, thereby forming an image made of the developer. The image is transferred to a recording medium, such as recording paper, directly or via an intermediate transfer member. Such an image forming apparatus is equipped with, e.g., a developing apparatus which contains and supplies the developer.
As such a development apparatus, a development apparatus having the following construction has been known. Specifically, an enclosed case (such as a housing or casing) having a storage section for storing the developer and an opening for enabling the developer passing therethrough is divided into a plurality of segments. Attachment components, including rotating members such as a development roller and a developer agitating-and-conveying rotator, are attached to the thus-divided segments. All the segments are joined together, and joints are fixed by means of welding or screwing, thereby assembling the development apparatus.
The development apparatus having the foregoing construction poses the following problems.
When the joints between the segments are fixed together by means of welding, complicated welding operations and subsequent complicated disassembly jobs are required. Further, damage is inflicted on the thus-welded joints at the time of disassembly of the joints. The workability of assembly or disassembly of the development apparatus is poor. Particularly when reuse of the development apparatus is to be considered, the damage inflicted on the development apparatus during disassembly hinders reuse of the apparatus.
In contrast, when the joints of the segments are fastened together by means of screwing, operations required for fastening or removing screws are unexpectedly troublesome, and much time is required. Further, screw holes are simple holes, and single use of such screw holes poses difficulty in reuse of the holes. Substantially as in the case where the joints are fixed through welding, the segments are not easy to assemble and disassemble. Thus, the segments are not suitable for reuse.
Incidentally, JP-A-Hei. 10-3247 describes an image formation unit. A photosensitive member, a development device, and an electrostatic charger are housed in an integral casing. Of this casing, a portion which stores and transports or moves toner and developer is divided into two segments. Of outer brims of the split segments to be fastened, portions having a bearing section and a movable section provided therein are screw-engaged together. Other portions of the outer brims of the segments to be fastened are engaged by means of engaging means comprising a claw and an opening.
Although the image formation unit is intended to improve ease of disassembly and assembly of the unit, a portion of the outer brims of the split segments is still screw-engaged. Hence, the image formation unit still suffers the same problem as that suffered by the development apparatus adopting screw-threading (i.e., difficulty in assembly and disassembly, and the image formation unit being not suitable for reuse).
As in the casing of the image formation unit, a casing made of plastic (synthetic resin) is used, and screw holes are formed in one of the two segments. Screw insertion holes are formed in the remaining segment, and the segments are screw-engaged together. In many cases, the following construction is adopted. Namely, screw threads are not formed in the screw holes beforehand. The screw holes are mere holes which are smaller in diameter than screws. When a screw is screw-threaded into any of the screw holes, a screw thread is formed in an interior wall surface of the screw hole for the first time while chipping off the interior wall surface. First screw-threading of the screw is effected well. However, once the screw has been removed, when the screw is again screw-threaded into the same screw hole, the screw thread artificially formed in the screw hole is vulnerable to corruption, and reliable fastening of the segments becomes difficult. Consequently, reliable screwing of the screw for the second time or subsequent to the second time is likely to become difficult or impossible. Consequently, when a casing adopts such screws, the casing is not suitable for re-assembly. Particularly when reuse of the casing is to be considered, difficulty in reusing the casing is a weak point.
The problem relevant to ease of assembly and disassembly of segments when a plurality of segments are assembled into a housing, such as that described in connection with the foregoing development apparatus, and the problem relevant to suitability of the housing to reuse may arise in the following apparatus which handles developer.
For example, the apparatus is a developer container (such as a toner bottle) which stores developer to be replenished to the development apparatus and is provided with a rotary member therein for agitating and transporting the stored developer. Another alternative of the apparatus is a (discarded) developer reclaim container. The reclaim container removes with a cleaning device the developer still remaining on an image carrier or an intermediate transfer member. The thus-removed developer is reclaimed by the reclaim container, and the reclaim container is equipped with a rotary member for leveling the thus-reclaimed developer. Still another alternative of the apparatus is a (deteriorated) developer reclaim container. A developer which has become old and deteriorated in the development apparatus is caused to flood, and the developer reclaim container is equipped with a rotary member for reclaiming the thus-flooded developer and leveling the thus-reclaimed developer. Yet another alternative of the apparatus is a developer transporting apparatus using a developer transport passage (a tube-like housing), the passage having provided therein a rotary member for transporting a developer.
The present invention has been conceived in view of the foregoing circumstances and primarily aims at providing a developer handling apparatus which comprises a housing including a storage section for storing a powder-like developer and an opening for enabling the developer passing therethrough and a rotary member to be attached to the housing so as to rotate in the housing, wherein even when the housing is separated into two or more segments, the segments are comparatively easy to assemble and disassemble; and when reuse of the developer handling apparatus is planned the developer handling apparatus is easy to reuse.
According to the invention, there is provided a developer handling apparatus comprising:
a casing including a storage section for storing a powder-like developer and an opening section passed the developer therethrough; and
a rotary member disposed to rotate within the casing,
wherein the casing is a structural body assembled by fixedly joining together a plurality of split housing pieces;
joining sections of at least a part of the split housing pieces are made of synthetic resin; and
the joining sections made of synthetic resin are fixedly joined together so that damage is not inflicted on the joining sections when the split housing pieces are disassembled.


A new novelty greeting card for providing an amusing illustration therein. The inventive device includes front and back panels pivotally coupled together. The inner side of the back panel has a primary illustration with a plurality of images depicted in a first pose. An animation sheet is positioned on the inner side of the back panel such that the animation sheet covers the primary illustration. One end edge of the animation sheet is coupled to the inner side of the back panel. The animation sheet has a secondary illustration with a plurality of images depicting the images of the primary illustration in a second pose. The other end edge of the animation sheet is coupled to an elongate rod and then rolled about the rod towards the front panel into a cylindrical roll.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to greeting cards and more particularly pertains to a new novelty greeting card for providing an amusing illustration therein.
2. Descirption of the Prior Art
The use of greeting cards is known in the prior art. More specifically, greeting cards heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art greeting cards include U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,041; U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,113; U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,003; U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,024; U.S. Pat. No. 734,135; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,349.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new novelty greeting card. The inventive device includes front and back panels pivotally coupled together. The inner side of the back panel has a primary illustration with a plurality of images is depicted in a first pose. An animation sheet is positioned on the inner side of the back panel such that the animation sheet covers the primary illustration. One end edge of the animation sheet is coupled to the inner side of the back panel. The animation sheet has a secondary illustration with a plurality of images depicting the images of the primary illustration in a second pose. The other end edge of the animation sheet is coupled to an elongate rod and then rolled about the rod towards the front panel into a cylindrical roll.
In these respects, the novelty greeting card according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing an amusing illustration therein.


A recording scan is performed through a relative reciprocation of color recording heads on a recording material. The recording heads can record with higher recording density than that of input image date. A plurality of pixels (2.times.2)are formed for each pixel of input image data. A mixed color image is recorded by multiple scans of the recording heads, in such a manner that pixels thereof (2.times.2) are not subjected to superposition of ink of two colors or more during a scan of the recording heads. Thus, it is possible to prevent an occurrence of variations in mixed color, and to record a high quality color image without increasing a recording time. Further, an amount of ink of one color may be reduced when recording a second one of the scans.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method of recording an image on a recording material by means of ejecting ink toward the recording material.
2. Related Background Art
Hitherto, there is known an ink jet printer for recording a color image by means of ejecting plural colors of ink toward a recording material such as a paper. In such a color ink jet printer, unlike a monochromatic printer for printing only characters, it is necessary to consider various factors such as color development ability, gradation and uniformity.
For example, to form on a recording medium a color image having colors other than the four colors, a plurality of colors of ink droplets are landed on the same position to mutually mix on the recording medium. FIGS. 6A and 6B show states of ink droplets at that time. In a case where a head is so arranged that it performs recording in order of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M) and yellow (Y) in a forward scan, and in order of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (K) in a backward scan, with respect to the recording medium, for example; if green is recorded in the forward scan of a carriage, cyan is first landed on the recording medium and then yellow is landed. At that time, first, a cyan ink penetrates through the recording medium to spread on a surface and the inside. The subsequent landed yellow ink gets in under the cyan ink. It appears, viewing from the surface of the recording medium, that the yellow ink spreads outside the cyan ink. The cyan and yellow mixed color portion of the inside makes up green (G) and thus it is recognized through the naked eye that green is recorded. The state of this forward scan printing is shown in FIG. 6A.
On the contrary, in printing at the time of the backward scan, the cyan ink is landed after the yellow ink. Thus, the cyan ink gets in under the yellow ink, so that the yellow and cyan mixed color portion makes up yellow-dominating green (G') as shown in FIG. 6B. Hence, in spite of the same cyan and yellow mixed color, it is quite different between the forward printing and the backward printing, and a different mixed color appears for each new line. Consequently, hitherto, a 1-pass of color reciprocating printing has not been realized.
Further, with respect to the uniformity, the slight irregularity on fabrication of the print head in units of nozzles have an effect on an ejection amount of the nozzle and an ejection direction. Finally, it will be a cause of deterioration of image quality in the form of unevenness in density of printed image.
The unevenness in density due to irregularity in fabrication of the nozzles of such a multi-nozzle head will be described hereinafter.
In FIG. 7A, reference numeral 91 denotes a multihead for brief description, it is assumed that the multihead consists of 8 multi-nozzles 92. Reference numeral 93 denotes ink droplets ejected from the multi-nozzles 92. It is ideal that the ink droplets are ejected, as shown in the figure, in a uniform fashion with respect to an ejection amount and an ejection direction. Provided such an ideal ejection is carried out, the droplets will land on the paper as dots, as those shown in FIG. 7B, which are uniform in magnitude. Thus, it is possible to obtain a uniform image free from unevenness in density in its entirety (FIG. 7C).
But, as a matter of fact, as described before, the nozzles involve irregularity. Thus, if the printing is carried out in the same manner as the above, as shown in FIG. 8A, the ink droplets ejected from the respective nozzles involve disunity in magnitude and direction, so that they are landed on paper as shown in FIG. 8B. As seen from the figure, in this case, there are periodically found the presence of a blank portion failing to satisfy the area factor 100%, or unnecessary overlapping of the dots, and occurrence of the white stripe as seen at the center of the figure. A gathering of the dots landed in such a condition provides a density distribution shown in FIG. 8C with respect to a nozzle arrangement direction. As a result, it is visible as an uneven image density as far as seeing through the naked eye. In order to remove the drawbacks on the image due to disunity in an ejection amount and an ejection direction between the nozzles, there has been proposed a printing control method called a divisional recording method which will be described hereinafter.
FIG. 9 is a view useful for understanding such a divisional recording method. According to the divisional recording method, the multihead 91 performs the scan three times to complete the printing areas shown in FIGS. 7B and 8B. The half 4-pixel unit of area is completed in printing with a 2-pass. In this case, eight nozzles of the multihead are segmented into two groups consisting of upper 4 nozzles and lower 4 nozzles. A nozzle serves in the first scan to print dots corresponding to a specified image data thinned to about the half in accordance with a predetermined image data arrangement. At the second scan, the remaining half image data is filled up, so that the printing of 4-pixel unit of area is completed. The above-mentioned recording method is referenced to the divisional recording method. According to such a divisional recording method, even if the same recording head as that used in conjunction with the recording referred to in FIGS. 6A and 6B, influence of the respective nozzles on the print image is reduced to half, and thus the printed image as shown in FIG. 9B is obtained and the black stripe and white stripe do not easily stand out as seen in FIG. 8B. Consequently, an uneven image density is also remarkably improved in comparison with FIG. 8C as shown in FIG. 9C.
Specifically, to perform such a recording, in the first scan and the second scan, image data are segmented in such a way that they are mutually made up in accordance with a specified arrangement. Usually as such an image data arrangement (thinning pattern), it is common to use as shown in FIGS. 10A to 10C an image data arrangement just like an array staggered in units of pixels with respect to column and row. Accordingly, in unit print area (here, 4-pixel unit), the printing is completed with the first scan for printing a staggered array (or checker) and the second scan for printing a reversed staggered array (or reverse checker). FIGS. 10A to 10C are views useful for understanding how a specified area is recorded when the staggered and reversed staggered patterns are adopted, using the multihead having eight nozzles, similar to FIGS. 7A to 7C, FIGS. 8A to 8C and FIGS. 9A to 9C. First, in the first scan, the recording of the staggered pattern .largecircle. is performed using the lower 4 nozzles (FIG. 10A). Next, in the second scan, a sheet feed is performed by the corresponding 4 pixels (the half of the head length), and the recording of the reversed staggered pattern # is performed (FIG. 10B). Further, in the third scan, again, the sheet feed is carried out by the corresponding 4 pixels (the half of the head length), and the recording of the staggered pattern .largecircle. is performed (FIG. 10C). In this manner, the recordings of the staggered pattern and the reversed staggered pattern are alternately carried out in conjunction with the 4-pixel unit of sheet feed, thereby completing the 4-pixel unit of recording area for each scan.
If such a divisional recording scheme is applied to a color reciprocating recording system, it is possible to improve to some extent uneven image density due to irregularity of the nozzles and disunity in color due to order of ink landing, in comparison with the aforementioned 1-pass color reciprocating recording system.
However, according to such a divisional recording scheme, it is necessary to scan the same area plural number of times. This involves such drawbacks that a recording time is increased and a throughput goes down.

Multiple scan mixed color ink jet recording method


A driving circuit for the electromagnetic relay provides a coil of the electromagnetic relay with stepped voltage having a first voltage which is slightly larger than a minimum operating voltage which caused the coil to generate magnetic field capable of closing contacts of the electromagnetic relay and a second voltage higher than the first voltage, in response to a triggering signal to trigger the electromagnetic relay. According to this structure, because the first voltage lower than the second voltage is applied to the coil firstly, the contacts are closed by attracting force of the coil risen gently. As a result, the bouncing of the moving contact can be prevented. In addition, the response time required for the closing of the contacts can be prevented to become long.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving circuit for driving an electromagnetic relay having a coil and moving and fixed contacts.
2. Related Art
The main cause of abrasion of contacts in an electromagnetic relay is the bouncing of a moving contact (chattering between a moving contact and a fixed contact) occurring when the contacts are closed. When the contacts are closed, if the strength of magnetic field to attract the moving contact is controlled to gently rise so that the speed of the moving contact approaching the fixed contact becomes slow, the bouncing of the moving contact can be suppressed.
Conventionally, there are techniques to suppress the bouncing of the moving contact. According to one example of these techniques, the rising of magnetic field is caused to be slow as the result that the rising of coil current is made gentle due to large inductance of the coil. In another example a time constant circuit is provided with a driving circuit for an electromagnetic relay, and the rising of magnetic field is caused to be slow as the result that the rising of voltage applied to the coil is made gentle. The latter technique is disclosed in, for example, Examined Utility Model Publication No. S. 57-13700.
In the latter technique described above, the more gently the voltage applied to the coil is increased, the more effectively the bouncing of the moving contact can be reduced. It takes long time, on the other hand, for the coil-applied voltage to reach a starting voltage at which the moving contact starts to move. As a result, there arises a problem such that a response time for switching of the relay becomes long. In addition, because the coil-applied voltage at the time of the contacts being closed is apt to vary, there is another problem such that the bouncing of the moving contact can not be stably reduced.

Driving circuit for electromagnetic relay


The present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a solid-state imaging device, including, forming on a first substrate a semiconductor thin film which is to be photoelectric conversion sections, forming driving circuits on a face side of a second substrate, laminating the first substrate and the second substrate by disposing the first substrate and second substrate opposite to each other in a condition in which the semiconductor thin film is connected to the driving circuits, and removing the first substrate from the semiconductor thin film in a condition in which the semiconductor thin film is left on the second substrate side.

The present technology relates to a method of manufacturing a solid-state imaging device in which photoelectric conversion sections are formed through film forming process, a solid-state imaging device obtained by the method, and an electronic apparatus having the solid-state imaging device.
In solid-state imaging devices having a plurality of photoelectric conversion sections arranged in order, there are those of a stacked structure in which photoelectric conversion sections are provided over driving circuits, for attaining an enhanced light reception sensitivity and an enhanced pixel density. As a method of fabricating such a solid-state imaging device, there has been proposed the following lamination method.
First, an impurity is introduced into the face-side surface of a first substrate composed of a silicon substrate, to form light-receiving elements. Next, the first substrate is formed on the back side thereof with trenches reaching the light-receiving elements, and electrodes connected to the light-receiving elements through the trenches are formed on the back side of the first substrate. On the other hand, charge transfer sections and electrodes are formed on one principal surface side of a second substrate. Thereafter, the first substrate and the second substrate are laminated on each other in a condition in which the electrodes formed on the back side of the first substrate are opposed to and connected to the electrodes formed on the one principal surface side of the second substrate. As a result, there is obtained a solid-state imaging device of a stacked structure in which the charge transfer sections formed on the second substrate are provided on the back side of the first substrate provided with the light-receiving elements on the face side (for the foregoing, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 1-205465).
Besides, in recent years, there has been proposed a solid-state imaging device in which a compound semiconductor is used in place of single crystal silicon. Such a solid-state imaging device has been manufactured by applying a method in which a semiconductor thin film of the compound semiconductor is formed by film forming process. The manufacturing method may, for example, be carried out as follows. First, circuit sections are formed on a semiconductor substrate, and lower electrode layers on a pixel basis are formed in a pattern on the upper side of the circuit sections. Next, a semiconductor thin film is formed on the upper side of the lower electrode layers by sputtering, and the semiconductor thin film is etched on a pixel basis, and transparent electrodes covering the semiconductor thin film are formed. As a result, there is obtained a solid-state imaging device of a stacked structure in which a light-absorbing layer having the semiconductor thin film is provided on the lower electrode layers formed on the circuit sections (for the foregoing, refer to WO 2008/093834).

Method of manufacturing solid-state imaging device, solid-state imaging device, and electronic apparatus


An improved flag pole structure having a substantially uniform outer diameter along its entire longitudinal extent. The flag pole structure comprises a pole, a first bearing collar, a second bearing collar, a rotatable sleeve, and first and second flag support elements. The pole has a base portion and an upper end portion. The first bearing collar is mounted about the pole and between the base portion and the upper end portion, and has a first cylindrical sleeve bearing surface. The second bearing collar is fixedly mounted about the pole at the upper end portion thereof, and has a second cylindrical sleeve bearing surface. The rotatable sleeve is of rigid construction and disposed about the upper end portion of the pole. The rotatable sleeve also has first and second interior end surfaces which are adapted to bear against the first and second cylindrical sleeve bearing surfaces, respectively, so that the rotatable sleeve is free to rotate about the upper end portion of the pole. The first and second flag support elements are disposed along the rotatable sleeve in a spaced apart relationship, for operably connecting a flag to the rotatable sleeve. As the flag and the rotatable sleeve are free to rotate together about the pole in response to the flow of wind over the flag, without becoming furled about the pole. As a result of the present invention, a flag pole structure with an aesthetically pleasing structural appearance is provided. Owing to its simplicity, the flag pole structure is inexpensive to manufacture, easily to install, and highly reliable during year round operation.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a flag pole structure which possess structural and functional characteristics that decrease the tendency of the flag which depends therefrom, to become furled or snagged about the pole as it responds naturally to wind and air currents.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Flag poles are centuries old and have been used world over to support flags and banners in the display of patriotism, group membership, social movement, and the like.
Some flag poles are intended for vertical mounting, some for oblique mounting, and yet others for either type of mounting. With either of these general flag pole mounting techniques, there is a tendency for the flag to become furled or wrapped about the flag pole in response to wind or natural air currents flowing over the flag. To most people, this problem is disturbing as it detracts from the beauty of a flag being displayed.
Hitherto, a number of flag pole structures have been proposed in order to avoid the problem of flag furling. Prior art flag poles addressing this problem are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 689,077 to Griffith; U.S. Pat. No. 756,989 to Suhri; U.S. Pat. No. 1,048,291 to Buckley; U.S. Pat. No. 1,061,042 to Buckley; U.S. Pat. No. 1,061,041 to Buckley; U.S. Pat. No. 1,069,776 to Foulis; U.S. Pat. No. 1,148,362 to Dahlberg; U.S. Pat. No. 1,194,489 to Earle; U.S. Pat. No. 1,236,417 to Finn; U.S. Pat. No. 1,295,274 to Crichton; U.S. Pat. No. 1,306,915 to Klamroth; U.S. Pat. No. 1,554,758 to Post; U.S. Pat. No. 1,855,824 to Crichton; U.S. Pat. No. 2,672,118 to Martin; U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,046 to Meade; U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,202 to Visitacion; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,301 to Peters.
However, each of these prior art flag pole designs suffers from one drawback or another as to make these flag pole constructions either commercially impracticable or undesirable. In particular, such prior art flag pole designs are either unnecessarily complicated, unattractive, or too costly to manufacture.
Thus, there is a great need in the art for an improved flag pole structure that is capable of supporting a flag or banner in a manner that the flag or banner does not become furled or snagged about the flag pole in response to the flow of wind or air currents thereover.

Pole structure for supporting a flag without furling thereabout


An apparatus includes an enclosed body defining a chamber therein. The body includes a rearward portion, a forward portion opposite the rearward portion and a first portion extending between the rearward and forward portions. The first portion has a stiffness less than at least one remaining portion of the body. The apparatus further includes at least one pressure sensor coupled to the body and the chamber to detect deformation of the first portion of the body.

Vehicles, such as automobiles, may include equipment for mitigating the impact of a range of collisions. For example, for relatively large magnitude collisions (e.g. with another vehicle at a high speed), vehicles may further include systems and components for managing the collision energy, such as certain components that deform and/or detach towards reducing collision impact on the passenger areas. In another example, for collisions with pedestrians, vehicles may include equipment such as bumper- or hood-mounted airbags and hood-lifting systems. To control and employ such equipment, the vehicle is required to detect a corresponding collision. Current mechanisms for detecting such collisions suffer from drawbacks including, for example, their complexity and cost.

Collision sensing and energy absorbing apparatus


The present invention relates to ataxia, in particular to protein and nucleic acids encoding proteins associated with ataxia. The present invention provides assays for the detection of ataxia polymorphisms and mutations associated with disease or disease carrier states.

Hereditary ataxia is a group of rare genetic neuromuscular disorders. It is characterized by degenerative changes in the brain and spinal cord. It can affect a person anytime between infancy through adulthood. Major symptoms include lack of coordination of the muscles used for voluntary movement. Many different hereditary ataxia's have been characterized, including Friedreich's Ataxia, Marie's Ataxia, Ataxia Telangiectasia, Vasomotor Ataxia, Vestibulocerebellar, Ataxiadynamia, Ataxiophemia, Olivopontocerebellar Atrophy, and Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease.
Autosomal recessive Cayman cerebellar ataxia, or Cayman ataxia, was identified in a population isolate on Grand Cayman Island (Johnson et al., Neurology 28:352 [1978]). This disorder is characterized by marked psychomotor retardation and prominent nonprogressive cerebellar dysfunction including nystagmus, intention tremor, dysarthria, and wide-based ataxic gait. Hypotonia is present from early childhood. Retinal abnormalities are absent.
There is a need for identification of the molecular basis of ataxia, as well as for improved diagnostics and treatments for ataxia.

Methods for the detection of variant cayman ataxia nucleic acids


An electronic still camera includes an image pickup element provided in an optically isolated space which is opened and closed by a shutter, and an image pickup optical system which makes object light incident upon the image pickup element. An image pickup light path defined between the shutter and the image pickup element is sealed by a sealing member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera having a shutter and particularly an electronic still camera having a focal-plane shutter, such as an interchangeable lens type single lens reflex camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an electronic still camera having a focal-plane shutter, such as a single lens reflex camera, an image pickup element (image sensor) is arranged behind the focal-plane shutter. Upon photographing, the focal-plane shutter is opened so that object light transmitted through a photographing lens (image pickup optical system) can be received by an image pickup element. FIG. 2 shows main components of a known single lens reflex camera type of electronic still camera.
The object light transmitted through a photographing lens (not shown) is reflected by a quick return mirror 13, is transmitted through a focusing screen 15 which is located in a position optically equivalent to an image forming surface position IP, is converged by a condenser lens 17, is reflected by a pentagonal prism 19, and is emitted from an eyepiece 21. A user views an erect real image of an object formed on the focusing screen 15 through the eyepiece 21, the pentagonal prism 19 and the condenser lens 17. Upon exposure, the quick return mirror 13 is moved up, and the focal-plane shutter curtain 23 is opened. The object image formed by the photographing lens (not shown) is projected onto an image pickup surface 103 of an image pickup element 101.
In such an interchangeable lens type single lens reflex camera, the image pickup element 101 is provided in an internal space of a camera body 11. However, foreign matter such as dust can enter the camera body during attachment or detachment of the lens. Therefore, there is a possibility that foreign matter sticks to a surface of an optical element which is located closer to the object (subject) than the image pickup element 101 in the light path, for example, a low-pass filter 105. If foreign matter sticks to the surface of the low-pass filter 105, a clear image of the foreign matter is projected onto the image pickup surface 103, thus resulting in deteriorated image quality.

Electronic still camera having a sealing member for optically isolating an image pickup element


A controlled attenuation bonding tool for bonding a fine wire to a substrate. The bonding tool comprises a first cylindrical section having a substantially uniform first diameter and a second cylindrical section with a substantially uniform second diameter less than the first diameter. The second cylindrical section is coupled to an end of the first cylindrical section and has a planar area along at least a portion of a length of the second section.

This invention relates generally to a tool for use in the bonding of wire to semiconductor devices and, more particularly to a bonding tool having controlled attenuation characteristics.
Modern electronic equipment relies heavily on printed circuit boards on which semiconductor chips, or integrated circuits (ICs), are mounted. The mechanical and electrical connections between the chip and the substrate have posed challenges for chip designers. Three well known techniques for interconnecting the IC to the substrate are: wire bonding, tape automated bonding (TAB) and flip-chip.
The most common of these processes is wire bonding. In wire bonding, a plurality of bonding pads are located in a pattern on the top surface of the substrate, with the chip mounted in the center of the pattern of bonding pads, and the top surface of the chip facing away from the top surface of the substrate. Fine wires (which may be aluminum or gold wires) are connected between the contacts on the top surface of the chip and the contacts on the top surface of the substrate. Particularly, the connecting wires are supplied and bonded to the chip and to the substrate through a capillary, a bonding tool further described below.
Capillaries are used for ball bonding the wire to electronic devices, particularly to bond pads of semiconductor devices. Such capillaries are generally formed from a ceramic material, principally aluminum oxide, tungsten carbide, ruby, zircon toughened alumina (ZTA), alumina toughened zircon (ATZ) and other materials. Very thin wire, generally on the order of about one mil gold, copper or aluminum wire, is threaded through an axial passage in the capillary with a small ball being formed at the end of the wire, the ball being disposed external of the capillary tip. The initial object is to bond the ball to a pad on the semiconductor device and then to bond a portion farther along the wire to a lead frame or the like. During the bonding cycle, the capillaries perform more than one function.
After the ball is formed, the capillary must first center the ball partly within the capillary for bond pad targeting. With a first bonding step, the ball is bonded to a pad on a semiconductor device. When the capillary touches the ball down on the bond pad, the ball will be squashed and flatten out. As the bond pads are generally made from aluminum, a thin oxide forms on the surface of the bond pad. In order to form a proper bond, it is preferable to break the oxide surface and expose the aluminum surface. An effective way of breaking the oxide is to xe2x80x9cscrubxe2x80x9d the surface of the oxide with the wire ball. The wire ball is placed on the surface of the aluminum oxide and the capillary rapidly moves in a linear direction based on the expansion and contraction of a piezo-electric element placed within the ultrasonic horn to which the capillary is attached. The rapid motion, in addition to heat applied through the bond pad, forms an effective bond between the wire and the bond pad.
The capillary then handles the wire during looping, smoothly feeding the bond wire both out of the capillary and then back into the capillary. The capillary then forms a xe2x80x9cstitchxe2x80x9d bond and a xe2x80x9ctackxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ctailxe2x80x9d bond.
Presently, thermosonic wire bonding is the process of choice for the interconnection of semiconductor devices to their supporting substrates. The thermosonic bonding process is partially dependent upon the transfer of ultrasonic energy from the transducer, attached to a movable bondhead, through a tool, e.g. capillary or wedge, to the ball or wire being welded to the semiconducting device or supporting substrate.
In conventional capillaries (bonding tools), the geometry of the bonding tool is not engineered to modify energy transfer to the ball/wire interconnection pad interfacial area. The inventors of the present invention have determined that control of the ultrasonic attenuation of the tool is crucial to controlling the bonding process and its performance.
Conventional bonding tool design is deficient, however, because conventional bonding tool design is based on interconnection pitch and wire bond loop height and does not consider controlling ultrasonic attenuation.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of a conventional bonding tool. As shown in FIG. 1, bonding tool 100 has a cylindrical body portion 102 and a tapered portion 104. An axial passage 108 extends from the end 110 to the tip 106 of the bonding tool 100. A bonding wire (not shown) passes through axial passage 108 and through tip 106 for eventual bonding on a substrate (not shown).
To solve the aforementioned disadvantages of conventional bonding tools, the present invention relates to a bonding tool that produces controlled direction and gain of tool attenuation.
The bonding tool comprises a first cylindrical section having a substantially uniform first diameter; a second cylindrical section having a first end coupled to an end of the first cylindrical section, the second cylindrical section having a substantially uniform second diameter less than the first diameter; and a third section having a predetermined taper, a first end of the third section coupled to an end of the second cylindrical section.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the bonding tool comprises a first cylindrical section having a substantially uniform first diameter; a second section having a first end coupled to a first end of the first cylindrical section, the second cylindrical section having i) a diameter substantially equal to the first diameter of the first cylindrical section and ii) a planar area along at least a portion of a length of the second section; and a third section having a predetermined taper, a first end of the third section coupled to an end of the second cylindrical section.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, the bonding tool comprises a first section having a substantially uniform first diameter, the first section having a planar portion formed along at least a portion of a length of the first section; a second cylindrical section having a first end coupled to an end of the first section, the second cylindrical section having a substantially uniform second diameter about equal to the first diameter; and a third section having a predetermined taper, a first end of the third section coupled to a second end of the second cylindrical section.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, the bonding tool comprises a first cylindrical section having a substantially uniform first diameter; and a second cylindrical section having a first end coupled to an end of the first cylindrical section, the second cylindrical section having i) a substantially uniform second diameter less than the first diameter and ii) a planar area along at least a portion of a length of the second section.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the bonding tool is formed from a unitary piece of material.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a transition section is coupled between the first section and the second section.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, the tapered section has a further tapered section at an end thereof.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a positioning guide is disposed at a second end of the first section of the bonding tool.
These and other aspects of the invention are set forth below with reference to the drawings and the description of exemplary embodiments of the invention.

Controlled attenuation capillary with planar surface


A female connector for supplying electric power from a power supply to an electric device includes two power supply terminals to supply the electric power, two relays connected to the two power supply terminals, respectively, to control supply of the electric power, and two control electrodes configured to control opening and, closing of the two relays, wherein the two relays are driven by the power supply, and the two control electrodes are electrically coupled to each other through a control terminal of a male connector upon mating between the female connector and the male connector, the electrical coupling of the two control electrodes causing the two relays to be closed to supply the electric power to the two power supply terminals.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosures herein generally relate to a connector and power supply unit used for the purpose of supplying electric power.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electric equipment generally receives electric power from a power supply to operate. For the purpose of supplying electric power, connectors are typically used to supply electric power from the power supply to electric equipment. Such connectors include a male-type connector having one or more male pins and a female-type connector having one or more female sockets, which mate with each other to establish electrical connection. This configuration is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2.
In recent years, the supply of direct-current high-voltage electric power for local-area electric power transmission has been under study as a measure against global warming. With such a power supply arrangement, power loss is small at the time of voltage conversion and electric power transmission, and, also, there is no need to use thick cables. Especially for information devices such as servers, such a power supply arrangement is believed to be desirable due to their large consumption of electric power.
Caution should be taken for the electric power that is supplied to electric equipment because direct contact by a human body is hazardous. In particular, a direct-current electric power has no frequency dependency, which may require greater caution.
Manual work is performed for the installment and maintenance of equipment. When direct-current electric power is used for information devices such as servers, thus, connectors used at the point of electrical connection may need to have a special design that is different from that of normal connectors used for commercial power supply.
Further, a power supply unit having a plurality of connectors is typically used to supply electric power to loads, e.g., information devices such as servers.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-82208
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-31301

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Connector and power supply unit with safety mechanism


A method for calibration of motion sensors included in a vehicle electronic brake control system includes measuring sensor offset errors at different points in the assembly of the system and the vehicle and then combining the offset errors to obtain net offset errors for use with an electronic brake system.

This invention relates in general to vehicle stability control systems and in particular to a method to compensate for mounting errors of the inertial sensors used in vehicle stability control systems.
Performing vehicle stability control (VSC) with an electronic control unit (ECU) requires accurate inputs of the vehicle's inertial state. This is accomplished with a sensor for detecting and measuring vehicle rotation about a vertical axis, that is, a yaw rate sensor, and either a single lateral accelerometer or a lateral accelerometer and a longitudinal accelerometer. Regardless of how many accelerometers are utilized, it is necessary that all of the internal state sensors are accurately mounted in the vehicle. Ideally, the rotational velocity sensors and accelerometers are mounted with their principle sensing axis aligned with the vehicle's three spatial axes. The three vehicle spatial axes for a vehicle 10 are illustrated in FIG. 1 where the arrow labeled 12 corresponds to the vehicle longitudinal axis that runs along the length of the vehicle and points toward the forward direction of movement for the vehicle. A second spatial axis labeled 14 corresponds to the vehicle lateral axis and is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 12. A third spatial axis labeled 16 that extends perpendicular to the plane formed by the longitudinal and lateral axes 12 and 14 corresponds to a vertical axis of the vehicle. Thus, an accelerometer for measuring acceleration and velocity of the vehicle would be ideally mounted with its sensing axis parallel to the vehicle longitudinal axis 12 while an accelerometer for measuring lateral motion of the vehicle would be mounted with its sensing axis parallel to vehicle lateral axis 14.
Three spatial rotational velocities are also illustrated in FIG. 1 where the circular arrow labeled 18 that is centered upon the longitudinal axis 12 corresponds to vehicle roll velocity while the circular arrow labeled 20 that is centered upon lateral axis 14 corresponds to vehicle pitch velocity. Similarly, the circular arrow labeled 22 that is centered upon the vertical axis 16 corresponds to yaw velocity. Each of these rotational velocities may be measured by a rotational velocity sensor that would ideally have its axis of rotation parallel to the vehicle spatial axis about which the rotational velocity occurs. Thus, for a measurement of yaw velocity, the corresponding yaw velocity sensor would have its axis aligned with the vehicle vertical spatial axis 16.
If the yaw rate sensor and accelerometers are not accurately mounted, erroneous information will be transferred to the ECU. Signal error due to mounting, which is the difference between the actual inertial state and the sensor's measured state, is a function of cos ⊖, where ⊖ is the angle between the axis of measurement and the actual sensor mounting. For example, a sensor 24 that is intended to measure yaw rate is illustrated in FIG. 2 where the spatial axes of the vehicle are shown by the solid arrows labeled 12, 14 and 15. In FIG. 2, the vertical axis of the sensor 24 is aligned with the vehicle vertical axis 16; however, the lateral axis of the sensor 24, that is illustrated by the dashed arrow labeled 26 is offset by the angle ⊖ from the vehicle pitch axis 14. For small ⊖, this error is not significant; however, cross-axis error, which is sensitivity to inertia in an axis not intended to be measured, is a function of sin ⊖. For small ⊖, the cross-axis error is significant. For example, consider that the sensor 24 shown in FIG. 2 has a 5° mounting error relative to the pitch axis 14. During an actual 50°/sec yaw maneuver, the sensor would have an output of (cos 5°)*50°/sec, or 49.8°/sec. However, during 100°/sec pitch maneuver, which has a zero °/sec yaw, the yaw sensor would have an output of (sin 5°)*100°/sec, or 8.7°/sec instead of zero °/sec. This signal is incremental to any existing errors. Similar errors also would occur for accelerometer measurements.
To prevent unintended interventions by the VSC ECU in response to the errors described above, activation thresholds for the VSC are increased. However, increasing the thresholds may reduce the sensitivity of the ECU. Accordingly, it would be desirable to minimize the effect of such errors.

Method for correction of inertial sensor mounting offsets


A method of preparing a fine pattern on a substrate characterized by the dry development of a photoimaged, etch resistant pattern on a receiver substrate. The pattern is transferred from a carrier substrate to the receiver substrate via a hardenable liquid adhesive. This method eliminates adverse reflection effects caused from substrate topography in single layer photoresist systems and also avoids time consuming multiple coatings in multilayer photoresist systems used to make fine patterns. The method is particularly useful in the fabrication of integrated circuits and fine dimension patterns.

The present invention relates to a method of preparing an etch resistant pattern on a substrate. In particular, this invention relates to a method of physically transferring a preformed pattern to a substrate. The method is useful in the formation of micro-patterns and in the fabrication of integrated circuitry.
In the fabrication of integrated circuitry and micron-scale devices, patterns are generally defined by photolithography. In order to define a pattern on a semiconductor wafer, a photoresist is used to produce a resist pattern on the substrate prior to image forming modifications of the substrate material, such as vapor deposition, ion implantation or etching.
Photoresist material is commonly applied to a wafer substrate by spin coating and is then dried to produce a thin film with a thickness of about 1 .mu.m. This dried film is subjected to photo imaging, for example, pattern reproduction from a mask in a photo printer. Various types of photo printers are used in the industry. One type of photo printer is a contact printer, where the photoresist layer is in direct contact with the pattern carrying mask. This method, which minimizes diffraction of light, provides the best image reproduction. However, the possibility of damage to the mask, and the difficulty in its alignment, limit the applications of this method.
Another type of photo printer is a projection printer. In this type of printer delicate optics are used to project the pattern from the mask onto the photoresist layer on the substrate. During the fabrication of fine line patterns, by the method, light diffraction problems are minimized through the use of reduction projection optics and an enlarged mask pattern. The magnitude of the reduction is usually by a factor of five or ten. However, such a method also shrinks the imaging field. Therefore, a step and repeat imaging mode with lower throughput is required. This type of projection printer also provides accurate overlay alignment and is capable of sub-micron imaging when improvements on the higher numerical aperture value of the optical system are made and shorter radiation wavelength is used.
After patterning, the latent image in the photoresist layer is developed in an appropriate solvent. In a positive working photoresist layer, the exposed area is washed off by the developer, while in a negative working photoresist layer, the unexposed area is washed off in the developing stage. In general, positive photoresist layers are more widely used to achieve higher resolution capability.
A diazoquinone/novolac system has been the most widely used positive working photoresist material. Diazoquinone, a photo-active compound, is converted into indene carboxylic acid upon exposure to photo-radiation. This conversion allows the development of the photoresist film in an aqueous alkali solution.
In negative working photoresists polymerization occurs in the irradiated region which makes the material insoluble. The pattern is developed by removal of the non-polymerized portion of the photoresist layer. Typical negative type photoresist materials include azide-sensitized rubber, such as cyclized polyisoprene, and polyvinylcinnamate with benzothiazole as photo-sensitizer.
During the production of integrated circuits, the patterning of the photoresist and the subsequent processes are repeated several times on a semiconductor wafer substrate. The non-planar circuit pattern topography on the substrate results in a non-planar photoresist coating. This causes focusing problem during photo-imaging of the coating. The use of a planarization coating prior to the application of a photoresist layer or multiple coatings of photoresist minimizes this problem, at the expense of a slower production rate, due to the time consuming extra coating and drying steps. However, the variation of the thickness of photoresist layer on the substrate makes it difficult to control the pattern profile. Furthermore, the different photo-reflectivity of various materials and the scattering of the reflected radiation off of the substrate topography, creates problems with the side wall profile and results in dimension control of the photoresist line becoming difficult. As a consequence, side wall indentation, line width variation over step topography of the substrate, and standing wave effects are commonly encountered during conventional image formation. The inclusion of a radiation absorbing dye or the use of an antireflective undercoat has been shown to minimize the influence of the substrate but with the problems of reduced photo-sensitivity and a narrowed processing window.
In view of the above problems, the use of dry developing in conjunction with the concept of "top imaging" emerged. In dry developing, a selective plasma etching reaction replaces the traditional wet developing process. In the top imaging process, a pattern is defined in the top photoresist layer of a multilayer system or in the top surface region of a single layer photoresist.
In the multilayer process, usually a two or three layer design, a thin layer of photoresist usually is placed on top of planarization sublayers. The pattern is initially defined in the top layer photoresist by a conventional method, that is, by wet developing. In a two layer system, the top photoresist layer is oxygen plasma etch resistant. Thus, in subsequent plasma etching, particularly oxygen plasma etching or oxygen reactive ion etching, the exposed sublayer is etched off and the top pattern is translated down to the inorganic substrate. However, there are problems associated with intermixing the etch resistant photoresist layer and the sublayer . These problems lead to difficulties in pattern definition control.
In the three layer system, a barrier layer is used which is located between the top photoresist layer and the bottom planarization layer. The barrier layer can be made of an inorganic compound material, preferably silicon oxide, siloxane, silane or other metals. Once the top pattern is defined, the exposed portion of the second layer is removed, usually by fluorocarbon plasma etching or a wet etching method which does not attack the top photoresist layer. Dry developing is used to translate the pattern down to the substrate. Although the multilayer systems exhibit high resolution, they suffer from the drawback of time consuming multiple coatings.
As a result, simpler single layer photoresists which are capable of dry developing were created. An oxygen plasma etchable photoresist is rendered selectively etch resistant by the imagewise inclusion of an etch resistant material. This material is usually organo-metallic compound which is introduced after photo-patterning of the photoresist layer. The selective inclusion of the organo-metallic compound is aided by the photo-reaction which has occurred in the imaged area. A typical example is a diazoquinone/novolac photoresist system. In this system, the exposed area allows a silicon compound to penetrate into the photoresist surface. This reacts with the novolac resin to form an etch resistant thin layer which can withstand oxygen plasma or oxygen reactive ion etching treatment. The use of this method allows the photoresist layer to be photo-patterned only in the surface region and avoids the problem of reflection of radiation from the substrate. However, a planar photoresist surface is still required to avoid the previously noted focusing problem. As a result, multiple coatings of photoresist may be required to cover the substrate topography.
In general, these existing advanced microlithography methods still suffer from the problems for using 3 complicated multiple photoresist patterning on what is usually a non-planar substrate. In addition, time consuming problems of alignment and focusing in the step and repeat mode of a projection printer also exist.

Method for preparing resist patterns utilizing solvent development with subsequent resist pattern transfer, via a photo-hardening liquid adhesive, to a receiver substrate and oxygen reactive ion etching

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A candlewick for use in a candle system includes two or more wicks which are intertwined and at least one binding member, such as a generally non-wicking yarn, which holds the wicks intertwined. The binding member decomposes in response to heat generated by a single flame fueled by the wicks so that the wicks separate from each other to define a pair of wick ends which fuel the single flame.

The present invention relates generally to candle systems and, more particularly, to a candlewick for use in such candle systems for efficiently burning candle fuels.
When a candle is burning, a problem of sooting occurs when the flame of the candle is incapable of efficiently burning the fuel that is being supplied to the flame via the wick. Soot is generally understood to be the remains of carbon particles that have not been completely decomposed (burned) within the candle flame as the candle burns. Soot has three directions it can go in a candle system. First, it can be fully combusted and burned off. Second, it can be released into the atmosphere as smoke. Lastly, it can attach itself to the candlewick and grow into a carbon head.
Soot in the form of smoke is typically associated with having a candlewick that is too large such that the flame is incapable of completely burning xe2x80x9callxe2x80x9d of the fuel being supplied via the wick. This problem is usually remedied by using a smaller wick which will provide less fuel to the flame and thus prevent a candle from smoking. However, smaller flames produce less heat which is oftentimes necessary to completely oxidize carbon particles from the wick to prevent carbon heading. Therefore, the optimum solution is to find a wick that can supply the correct amount of fuel to the flame so that there is neither smoking nor carbon head formation as the candle burns.
Proper sizing of the wick for a particular candle application has been the preferred solution for centuries. Recently, however, the introduction and popularity of various natural and cleaner burning candle fuels, as well as the introduction of oversized and oddly shaped candles (opposed to the traditional cylinder shapes) has presented the need for vastly more sophisticated candlewick systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for a candlewick for use in a candle system which burns efficiently without producing undesirable smoke or forming a carbon head in a variety of candle system applications.
The present invention overcomes the foregoing and other shortcomings and drawbacks of candlewicks and candle systems heretofore known. While the invention will be described in connection with certain embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments. On the contrary, the invention includes all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a candlewick is provided which is particularly designed to burn efficiently in a candle system without producing undesirable smoke and carbon heading. Rather than simply adjusting the size of the wick (larger or smaller) to accommodate the flame""s ability to consume the fuel supplied by the candle, the candlewick of the present invention is designed to change the physical shape of the flame to thereby find provide maximum burning efficiency.
To this end, and in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the candlewick comprises two or more discrete wicks which are braided, weaved, twisted or otherwise intertwined together so that the wicks are intertwined along their respective entire lengths. A binding member, such as one or more yarns of polypropylene or other generally non-wicking and non-toxic material, is intertwined with the wicks in one embodiment so that the wicks are bound together by the yarn and thereby prevented from uncoiling or unraveling before being incorporated into a candle system.
When the candlewick of the present invention is ignited, the heat generated by the flame melts or burns away the polypropylene yarns that are binding the wicks together. The individual wicks, which are no longer bound together, naturally unravel or uncoil away from each other generally at or slightly above the surface of the candle as the candlewick burns so that the ends of the wicks separate and spread apart. The single flame, which is now fed by two (or more) discrete wicks, is shaped by the unraveled or uncoiled ends of the wicks and the wick composition to produce an enlarged flame and flame base which are larger than the flame and flame base generated by a conventional single candlewick end of conventional candlewick systems. By having the particular wick construction and wick composition of the present invention define the size and shape of the enlarged flame, more oxygen is drawn into the flame, thereby providing for a larger heated burning chamber within the flame itself and reducing the generation of undesirable smoke and soot from the flame.
The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention shall be made apparent from the accompanying drawings and the description thereof.

Candlewick with improved burning capability


A plurality of panels are assembled into a single image. Each of the panels may have different intensities throughout the panel, as well as non-uniformities between panels. The panels are modified using flat-field calibration, panel flattening, and panel connecting techniques. These techniques correct for non-uniformities and provide a cleaner, single image.

Biomedical research has made rapid progress based on sequential processing of biological samples. Sequential processing techniques have resulted in important discoveries in a variety of biologically related fields, including, among others, genetics, biochemistry, immunology and enzymology. Historically, sequential processing involved the study of one or two biologically relevant molecules at the same time. These original sequential processing methods, however, were quite slow and tedious. Study of the required number of samples (up to tens of thousands) was time consuming and costly.
A breakthrough in the sequential processing of biological specimens occurred with the development of techniques of parallel processing of the biological specimens, using fluorescent marking. A plurality of samples are arranged in arrays, referred to herein as microarrays, of rows and columns into a field, on a substrate slide or similar member. The specimens on the slide are then biochemically processed in parallel. The specimen molecules are fluorescently marked as a result of interaction between the specimen molecule and other biological material. Such techniques enable the processing of a large number of specimens very quickly.
Some applications for imaging require two apparently contradictory attributes: high-resolution and high-content. The resolution requirement is driven by the need to have detail in the image that exceeds by at least 2× the information content of the object being images (the so called Nyquist Limit). The content requirement is driven by the need to have information over a large area. One method that addresses these needs is to acquire a plurality of individual images with high spatial resolution (panels) and to collect these panels over adjacent areas so as to encompass the large desired area. The multiple panels can then be assembled into a single large image based on the relative location of the optics and the sample when each panel was collected. When assembling the plurality of panels into a single montage, a number of steps may be taken to correct for intensity non-uniformities within each panel (known herein as flat-field Calibration and Panel Flattening) as well as non-uniformities in the panel to panel intensities.

Flat-field, panel flattening, and panel connecting methods


An equipping installation introduces fitted-out cable ends into plug housings and is arranged downstream from a fitting-out installation. A contact for the first plug housing is arranged at the leading cable end and a contact for the second plug housing is arranged at the trailing cable end. A feeder unit takes over the cable loop fitted-out to a finished state from a second transfer unit and transfers the leading cable end to a positioning unit and the trailing cable end either to a rotatable store or, after the positioning unit is again free of cable, to the positioning unit in accordance with a cable plan. An equipping unit takes over the cable ends in succession at the positioning unit and introduces the cable ends into the corresponding plug housings.

The present invention relates to a method and equipment for equipping plug housings with fitted-out cable ends of a cable, wherein an equipping unit introduces the cable ends into cells of the plug housing.
An equipping installation, which is arranged downstream of a fitting-out installation and which introduces the fitted-out cable ends in finished state into a first plug housing or into a second plug housing, is shown in the European patent application EP 0 181 0355.6. A contact for the first plug housing is arranged at the leading cable end and a contact for the second plug housing is arranged at the trailing cable end. A feeder unit takes over from a second transfer unit the cable loop fitted-out to a finished state and transfers the leading cable end to a second transfer station and the trailing cable end either to a rotatable store or, after the second transfer station is again free of cable, to the second transfer station in accordance with the respective cable plan. An equipping unit takes over the cable ends in succession at the second transfer station and introduces the cable ends into the corresponding plug housing.
A disadvantage of this known equipment is that contacts at the cable ends twisted about the longitudinal axis of the cable are difficult to introduce into the plug housing or even cannot be introduced at all. In the case of contacts with, for example, rectangular cross-section that fit into plug housings with rectangular cells, the contacts must be equipped without being in a twisted state.

Equipment for equipping plug housings with fitted-out cable ends of a cable