Check valve inserts define a valve seat for an open position of a check valve and have an outer support seatable in an internal chamber of the check valve and have an inner annular ring spaced radially inward from the outer support by a rib that angles axially toward a central longitudinal axis to position an upper surface of the inner annular ring a distance axially beyond an upper surface of the outer support. Check valves have a housing defining an inlet port, an outlet port, and a chamber in fluid communication with the inlet and outlet ports, have the check valve insert seated with the chamber, and have a seal disc moveable within the chamber between the open position defined by the inner annular ring of the check valve insert and a closed position. The seal disc is translatable in response to a pressure difference across the seal disc.

Engines, for example vehicle engines, have included aspirators or ejectors for producing vacuum, and/or check valves. Typically, the aspirators are used to generate a vacuum that is lower than engine manifold vacuum by inducing some of the engine air to travel through a Venturi gap. The aspirators may include check valves therein or the system may include separate check valves. As shown in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 9,534,704, issued Jan. 3, 2017, and U.S. Pat. No. 9,581,258, issued Feb. 28, 2017, each check valve, whether built into a Venturi device or as a separate check valve unit, includes a first valve seat defined by a plurality of radially spaced apart fingers to form a support/seat for a translatable seal disc that defines the open position of the check valve and a second valve seat that defines the closed position of the check valve. In these check valve units, the first and second valve seats are integrally molded components of the housing that defines the internal chamber of the check valve unit, and as a molded component are made of the same durable material as the housing.
The above-described check valve units can be improved, as disclosed herein, to reduce the stress on the translatable seal disc, which is a result of the shape, spacing, and material of the plurality of radially spaced apart fingers as well as the pressure applied to the seal disc by the pressure differential in the system. Thus, there is a need to improve the first valve seat to reduce the stress on the seal disc, and a need to improve the ease manufacture and assembly of a check valve unit.

Check valve insert defining an open position and check valves having same


A reflecting-mirror-type variable optical attenuator based on a new principle is provided. A reflecting-mirror-type variable optical attenuator according to the present invention is formed of a collimator lens with optical fibers in which two optical fibers are attached to a rod lens in respective positions off-centered from the optical axis of the rod lens and a linearly movable reflecting mirror. A phenomenon that the optical axis of a light beam emitted from one optical fiber deviates from the optical axis of the collimator lens by the angle according to the off-centered distance on the surface of the rod lens is utilized. That is, by changing the distance between the surface of the reflecting mirror arranged to be linearly movable in the optical axial direction back and forth and the surface of the rod lens, input light from one optical fiber is attenuated to be output to the other optical fiber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable optical attenuator. The variable optical attenuator according to the present invention is mainly for use as the DWDM system assembled in an optical fiber communication system and an optical intensity adjuster of the EDFA light amplifier and so forth. The variable optical attenuator according to the present invention is based on a new type of optical attenuation principle. By adoption of this type, extreme miniaturization for high-density mounting and improvement in resolving power of an optical attenuation and in weatherproof stability are achieved. In the variable optical attenuator according to the present invention, by adoption of this type, the structure thereof can also be simplified resulting in reduced cost in constituent parts and reduced number of assembling steps.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical structure of widely used conventional variable optical attenuator will be described with reference to FIG. 5. A pair of assemblies xe2x80x9cF1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cF2xe2x80x9d of collimator lenses with optical fibers 4, each collimator lens 4 being unitarily formed of a ferrule 2 having an optical fiber 1 attached thereto by coaxially arranging it about the same optical axis, are used by opposing these collimator lenses 4 to each other. Between the pair of collimator lenses 4 coaxially arranged with each other is inserted an attenuation filter plate 5 which is a thin glass plate having an optical attenuation film 6 formed on the surface thereof so that the thickness thereof is continuously changed.
The optical fiber 1 is inserted into the central hole 3 of the ferrule 2 to be fixed thereto. The optical fiber 1 is bonded to a rod lens 4 in coaxial alignment about the same optical axis as that of the rod lens 4 so as to produce the pair of collimator lenses with optical fibers xe2x80x9cF1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cF2xe2x80x9d. The collimator lenses with optical fibers xe2x80x9cF1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cF2xe2x80x9d are coaxially aligned in series about the optical axes of both the collimator lenses having a gap between the faces of the rod lenses 4. The continuously-changing-type attenuation filter plate 5 is provided with the optical attenuation film 6 formed thereon. The continuously-changing-type attenuation filter plate 5 is formed so as to be movable in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis (the arrow direction) by a step motor and a movement mechanism (not shown). Corresponding to the movement, the thickness of the optical attenuation film at the optical axial position of the collimator lenses with optical fibers xe2x80x9cF1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cF2xe2x80x9d is changed. Therefore, emitted light from the collimator lens with the optical fiber xe2x80x9cF1xe2x80x9d is continuously attenuated, as the thickness of the continuously-changing-type attenuation filter plate 5 changes, to impinge onto the collimator lens with the optical fiber xe2x80x9cF2xe2x80x9d.
The above-mentioned conventional attenuation-filtertype motor-driven variable optical attenuator involves the following problems.
(Reproducibility of Attenuation Characteristics of the Attenuation Filter) It is extremely difficult to produce the continuously-changing-type attenuation filter having constantly equal attenuation characteristics with high stability. The manufacturing-technically inevitable dispersed errors such as unevenness in the thickness from manufacturing lot to lot of the continuously-changing-type attenuation filters are produced. Therefore, in the motor-driven filter using a step motor, the relationship between the displacement of the attenuation filter and the optical attenuation cannot be reproduced, so that smooth optical attenuating control is difficult to be performed. In addition, when a user adjusts the attenuation manually, the dispersion is not a serious problem.
(Driving Mechanism and High Accuracy in Assembling) The conventional driving mechanism shown in the drawing has an extremely simple structure formed of several parts made by precision working. However, in the attenuation filter, the driving mechanism has to be arranged to have a plane precisely orthogonal to the optical axis of the collimator lenses with optical fibers. When errors of the angle due to the accuracy in the driving mechanism are produced, errors due to the angular errors are produced. In order to prevent these errors from being produced in the structure shown in FIG. 5, the manufacturing accuracy of parts and the assembling accuracy have to be improved. That is, the cost of constituent parts is increased and numerous number of steps of assembling and adjusting are simultaneously required, resulting in expensive products.
(Restriction in Package Miniaturization) It is manufacturing-technically difficult to miniaturize the product by reducing the entire length of the continuously changing type attenuation filter. The arrangement of the collimator lenses with optical fibers xe2x80x9cF1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cF2xe2x80x9d is a structure in which the optical fibers are extended to the right and left as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. In this type of driving mechanism, since the attenuation filter is moved in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the collimator lenses with optical fibers, it is required to arrange a step motor and a driving mechanism. Therefore, the longitudinal length of the package exceeds the sum of lengths of optical fibers xe2x80x9cF1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cF2xe2x80x9d of the collimator lenses with optical fibers while the width of the package is dependent on spaces for the movement of the attenuation filter and the arrangement of the related mechanisms, so that the size is increased. Accordingly, this is not suitable for a small-sized package for highdensity mounting on an optical communication system. By the way, the package dimensions of the smallest attenuation filter of this type of conventional attenuator available in the market are 50 mm in length, 25 to 45 mm in width, and 10 to 12 mm in height. In a half-inch printed circuit board package used heavily in the communication system, the height of devices to be assembled is limited to substantially 8.5 mm, so that the above-mentioned attenuator cannot be attached thereto to be used.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a reflecting-mirror-type variable optical attenuator based on a new principle so as to solve the problems of the above-mentioned conventional attenuation-filter-type motor-driven variable optical attenuator.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a reflecting-mirror-type variable optical attenuator according to the present invention is formed based on a new optical attenuation principle, wherein attention is paid to the phenomenon that the optical axis of a light beam emitted from one optical fiber deviates from the optical axis of a collimator lens with optical fibers, in which two optical fibers are attached to a rod lens in symmetrical positions off-centered from the optical axis of the rod lens, by the angle according to the off-centered distance on the surface of the rod lens. That is, by changing the distance between the surface of a reflecting mirror arranged to be linearly movable in the optical axial direction back and forth and the surface of the rod lens, input light from one optical fiber is attenuated to be output to the other optical fiber.
To this end, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reflecting-mirror-type variable optical attenuator comprising a rod lens, a pair of optical fibers connected to one end face of the rod lens at end faces of the optical fibers, optical axes of the optical fibers being symmetrically arranged about the optical axis of the rod lens and in parallel to each other, and a reflecting mirror disposed in the other end face side of the rod lens linearly movable in the direction of the optical axis of the rod lens having a reflecting surface in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis thereof, wherein the quantity of light from one of the pair of optical fibers, which is reflected by the reflecting mirror via the rod lens to impinge on the other of the pair of optical fibers via the rod lens, is adjustable by positioning the reflecting mirror.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reflecting-mirror-type variable optical attenuator comprising a mount, a rod lens supported by the mount, a pair of optical fibers, connecting means for the optical fiber pair connecting end faces of the pair of optical fibers to one end face of the rod lens so that the optical axis of each optical fiber is arranged symmetrically about the optical axis of the rod lens and in parallel to each other, and a reflecting mirror, supporting and guiding means for supporting the reflecting mirror to have a reflecting surface thereof in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the rod lens and to be linearly movable in the direction of the optical axis thereof, and driving means for driving the supporting and guiding means so as to adjust the quantity of light from one of the pair of optical fibers, which is reflected by the reflecting mirror via the rod lens to impinge on the other of the pair of optical fibers via the rod lens again.
The connecting means for the optical fiber pair is a ferrule in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in the central hole of the ferrule symmetrically about the central axis of the ferrule and in parallel thereto so as to be joined to the rod lens.
The ferrule has a central square hole in which two optical fibers are arranged symmetrically about the central axis of the ferrule and in parallel thereto.
The ferrule has two holes symmetrically about the central axis of the ferrule, in which two optical fibers are respectively arranged symmetrically about the central axis of the ferrule and in parallel thereto.
The mount is a housing member having a stepped cylindrical hole having a smaller cylindrical hole section and a larger cylindrical hole section in the axial direction, the rod lens being supported by the smaller cylindrical hole section, the supporting and guiding means for supporting the reflecting mirror being supported by the larger cylindrical hole section to be linearly movable by pin-grove connection, and a motor for driving the supporting and guiding means for supporting the reflecting mirror being fixed to the end face of the larger cylindrical hole section.
The supporting and guiding means for supporting the reflecting mirror is provided with a female thread portion, a male thread portion to be screwed with the female thread potion being driven by a motor.
The motor is a step motor and the male thread portion is disposed in the output shaft of the motor.
The reflecting mirror has a gold coating formed on a glass plate or a metallic plate by sputtering or plating.
The reflecting mirror has a gold coating formed on a glass plate or a metallic plate by sputtering or plating to yield a required attenuation. In addition to the attenuation absorbed by the reflecting mirror itself, the attenuation can be thus adjusted in accordance with position of the mirror.
The reflecting mirror has a multi-layer filter coating formed on a glass plate or a metallic plate for only reflecting light within a specific wave length range.
The rod lens has a shaft having a longitudinal pitch of 0.25.

Reflecting-mirror-type variable optical attenuator


A palmtop computer utilizes SD memory modules or other types of memory modules to provide expansion memory. The expansion memory module plugs in to the palmtop computer via an external slot or compartment that is easily accessed by the user. This provides additional memory to the palmtop computer. To facilitate use of expansion devices such as sled or cradle based devices, a connector is provided on the palmtop computer that not only includes conventional power, ground and serial communication terminals, but also provides direct access to the memory module for use by the expansion device. This provides the advantage that the sled or cradle based device can directly access the palmtop computer""s memory without using the palmtop computer""s processing resources.

The present invention relates to the field of expansion mechanisms for a palmtop computer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mechanism for sharing memory access with an accessory such as a palmtop sled based accessory.
As the components required to build a computer system have reduced in size, new categories of computer systems have emerged. One of the new categories of computer systems is the xe2x80x9cpalmtopxe2x80x9d computer system. A palmtop computer system is a computer that is small enough to be held in the hand of a user and can be xe2x80x9cpalm-sized.xe2x80x9d Most palmtop computer systems are used to implement various Personal Information Management (PIM) applications such as an address book, a daily organizer and electronic notepads, to name a few.
While these palm sized computers (xe2x80x9cpalmtopxe2x80x9d computers) have dramatically reduced size when compared to a desktop or notebook computer, the user would like to be able to perform many of the same types of functions performed using physically larger and more powerful computers. Such functions often require substantial amounts of memory and/or circuitry that is not generally incorporated within a palmtop computer. An example of such a function is that of an MP3 music player. It is conceivable to embed such a player within a so-called xe2x80x9csledxe2x80x9d device that couples to the palmtop computer. Unfortunately, such devices are taxing on the processing power of a palmtop computer if the music is stored either on the palmtop computer itself or on a storage device associated with the palmtop computer. In order to access such storage for real time audio playback using an MP3 player, the data stored in the memory device of a conventional palmtop must be converted to a serial format to be transferred through the processor to the serial connector of the palmtop before being played back by such a sled based MP3 player. This is cumbersome and taxing on battery life and processing power of the palmtop computer. Nonetheless, such an arrangement would have advantages since the MP3 player or other sled-based device could theoretically use the palmtop computer as a user interface and could use an existing memory interface to store music or other relevant data.
Unfortunately, the above listed drawbacks may be prohibitive in implementing such an arrangement. Thus, the cost of such sled accessories may suffer by needing to supply an additional connector to support its own memory for storing data (e.g. MP3 music) or personality programs.
Accordingly, what is needed is an arrangement to permit a sled-based device to directly access a palmtop computer""s memory.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a palmtop computer utilizes SD memory modules or other types of memory modules to provide expansion memory. The expansion memory module plugs in to the palmtop computer via an external slot or compartment that is easily accessed by the user. This provides additional memory to the palmtop computer. To facilitate use of expansion devices such as sled or cradle based devices, a connector is provided on the palmtop computer that not only includes conventional power, ground and serial communication terminals, but also provides direct access to the memory module for use by the expansion device. This provides the advantage that the sled or cradle based device can directly access the palmtop computer""s memory without using the palmtop computer""s processing resources.
A method of expanding capabilities of a palmtop computer with a memory expansion module in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: coupling the memory expansion module to a processor within the palmtop computer; coupling the memory module to an expansion port of the palmtop computer; and coupling a sled device to the palmtop computer, so that the sled device is coupled directly to the memory expansion module and to a communication port of the palmtop computer.
A palmtop computer having enhanced expansion consistent with embodiments of the present invention includes a central processor connected to a bus. An expansion memory is operatively coupled to the bus to provide the central processor with access to the expansion memory. A communication interface is operatively coupled to the bus to provide the central processor with communication with devices outside the palmtop computer. A connector, operatively coupled to communication interface and to the expansion memory, permits an external device to communicate with the central processor via the communication interface and to permit the external device to directly access the expansion memory module.
An expansion device for a palmtop computer consistent with the present invention, wherein the palmtop computer has a central processor, an expansion memory, a communication interface and a palmtop-side connector, the palmtop-side connector being operatively coupled to the communication interface and to the expansion memory, includes an expansion device-side connector suitable for mating with the palmtop-side connector. An expansion device-side communication interface is connected to the expansion device-side connector for communicating with the communication interface of the palmtop computer. A memory interface is connected to the expansion device-side connector for directly accessing the expansion memory of the palmtop computer.
The above summaries are intended to illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention, which will be best understood in conjunction with the detailed description to follow, and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims.

Palmtop computer expansion using shared memory access


The invention relates to a method for producing quenched components consisting of sheet steel, comprising the following steps: a) shaped parts are formed from sheet steel; b) the end of the shaped part is cut and the sheet steel is optionally punched or provided with a desired hole pattern prior to, during, or after the forming of the shaped part; c) at least some sections of the shaped part are subsequently heated to a temperature that permits the steel material to austenitize; and d) the component is then transferred to a quenching die, where it is subjected to a quenching process, during which the component is cooled and thus quenched by the contact of the quenching die with some sections of the component and the compression of said sections. The invention is characterized in that the component is supported by the quenching die in the vicinity of the positive radii and that some sections of said component are clamped in a secure manner without distortion in the vicinity of the cut edges. In the sections of the component that are not clamped, the latter is separated from a quenching-die half by a gap.

In the field of automotive engineering, there is an ongoing quest to reduce total vehicle weight or to add improved equipment without increasing total vehicle weight. This can only be achieved by reducing the weight of certain vehicle components. In this connection, there is particular impetus to reduce the weight of the vehicle body significantly in comparison to prior designs. At the same time, however, there are increased demands relating to safety, in particular safety to persons traveling in the vehicle, and relating to the behavior of the vehicle in an accident. While the number of parts and in particular also the thickness of parts are reduced in order to reduce the gross weight of the body, the reduced-weight body shell is expected to have an increased strength and rigidity with a definite deformation behavior in the event of an accident.
The raw material most frequently used in body manufacture is steel. No other material is able to provide so many sectors with inexpensive components that boast such a wide variety of material properties.
As a result of the changed requirements, at high strengths, high expansion factors are also assured and along with them, an improved cold formability. In addition, the range of achievable strengths for steels has been increased.
One example of this, particularly for automotive bodies, is components comprised of sheet steel with a strength—depending on the alloy composition—in a range from 1000 to 2000 MPa. In order to achieve such high strengths in the component, it is known to cut corresponding blanks from sheets, to heat the blanks to a temperature higher than the austenitizing temperature, and then to form the component in a press; during the forming process, a rapid cooling is simultaneously executed in order to harden the material.
During the annealing that is carried out in order to austenitize the plates, a scale layer forms on the surface. This is descaled after the forming and cooling. Usually sandblasting processes are used for this. Before or after this descaling, the final trimming and introduction of holes are carried out. If the final trimming and introduction of holes are carried out before the sandblasting, then this can have a disadvantageous effect on the cut edges and hole edges. Independent of the sequence of processing steps after the hardening, descaling by means of sandblasting and comparable methods has the disadvantage that this frequently distorts the component. After the above-mentioned processing steps, a so-called component coating with a corrosion protection layer is carried out. For example, a cathodic corrosion protection layer is applied.
In this context, it is disadvantageous that the remachining of the hardened component is extraordinarily expensive and involves a very high degree of wear due to the hardening of the component. It is also disadvantageous that the component coating usually does not produce a particularly pronounced corrosion protection. In addition, the layer thicknesses are not uniform, but instead fluctuate over the surface of the component.
In a modification of this method, it is also known to cold form a component out of a sheet metal blank, to subsequently heat it to the austenitizing temperature, and then to rapidly cool it in a calibration tool. The component, which experiences distortion due to the heating, is calibrated by the calibration tool in its formed regions. Then, the above-described remachining is carried out. This method enables the production of more complex geometries than the method described previously because simultaneous forming and hardening is essentially only able to produce linear forms, but such shaping procedures are unable to produce complex forms.
GB 1 490 535 has disclosed a method for manufacturing a hardened steel component in which a plate of hardenable steel is heated to the hardening temperature and then placed into a forming device in which the plate is formed into the desired final form and during the forming, is rapidly cooled at the same time so that a martensitic or bainitic structure is obtained while the sheet remains in the forming device. For example, a boron-alloyed carbon steel or carbon manganese steel is used as the base material. According to the patent application mentioned above, the forming is preferably a pressing, but can also be used with other methods. The forming and cooling should preferably be designed and rapidly executed so as to obtain a fine-grained martensitic or bainitic structure.
EP 1 253 208 A1 has disclosed a method for manufacturing a hardened plate profile from a plate that is hot formed and hardened in a pressing die to form a plate profile. On the plate profile, reference points or collars that protrude up from the plane of the blank are produced, which are used for positioning the plate profile in subsequent production operations. During the forming process, the collars should be formed out of unperforated regions of the blank; the reference points are produced in the form of stamped regions at the edges or in the form of punch-through points or collars within the outline of the plate profile. The hot forming and hardening in the pressing die should generally be advantageous due to the efficient operation achieved by the combination of the forming and the hardening/tempering procedure in a die. But the clamping of the plate profile in the die and the thermal stresses end up producing distortion in the component that cannot be exactly predetermined. This can have a negative impact on the subsequent production operations, which is why the reference points are produced on the plate profile.
DE 197 23 655 A1 has disclosed a method for manufacturing sheet steel products in which a sheet steel product is formed in a pair of cooled dies while it is hot and is hardened into a martensitic structure while it is still in the die so that the dies function as immobilizing means during the hardening. In the regions in which a machining is to take place after the hardening, the steel should be kept in the mild steel range; inserts in the dies are used to prevent a rapid cooling and therefore a martensitic structure in these regions. It should also be possible to achieve the same effect by means of recesses in the dies so that a gap forms between the steel plate and the dies. This method has the disadvantage that due to the considerable amount of distortion that can occur in it, the method in question is unsuitable for press hardening components with a more complex structure.
DE 100 49 660 A1 has disclosed a method for manufacturing locally reinforced formed sheet metal parts; the base plate of the structural part, when flat, is attached to the reinforcing plate in a definite position and this so-called patched composite plate is then formed as a unit. In order to improve the manufacturing method with regard to method creation and the results achieved and in order to relieve stress on the mechanisms executing the method, the patched composite plate is heated to at least approximately 800 to 850° C. before the forming, is rapidly inserted, quickly formed in the hot state, and then cooled in a definite way through contact with the blower-cooled forming die while the formed state is mechanically maintained. Particularly the temperature range of 800 to 500° C., which is decisive in this regard, should be passed through at a definite cooling speed. The step of joining the reinforcing plate to the base plate should be easy to integrate into the forming process; the parts are hard soldered to each other, which can simultaneously produce an effective corrosion protection in the contact zone. This method has the disadvantage that the defined internal cooling renders the dies very complex.
DE 2 003 306 has disclosed a method and device for pressing and hardening a steel component. The object is to press and harden pieces of plate steel in a die, with the intent of avoiding the disadvantages of prior processes, in particular that parts made of sheet steel are manufactured in successive, separate steps for form pressing and hardening. In particular, the intent is to prevent the hardened or quenched articles from deforming in relation to the desired form and thus necessitating additional work steps. To achieve this, a steel piece, after having been heated to a temperature that induces its austenitic state, is placed between a pair of cooperating die elements, whereupon the piece is pressed and at the same time, heat is rapidly dissipated from the piece into the die parts. The die parts are kept at a cool temperature during the entire process so that a quenching action is exerted on the piece while it is subjected to a die pressure.
DE 101 20 063 C2 has disclosed supplying metallic profile motor vehicle components, which are made of a base material supplied in belt form, to a profile rolling unit and rolling them into a rolled profile; after emerging from the profile rolling unit, some regions of the rolled profile are inductively heated to a temperature required for the hardening and then quenched in a cooling unit. After this, the rolled profiles should be cut to the length to form the profile components.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,604 B2 has disclosed a process for manufacturing a part with very high mechanical properties in which the part is to be manufactured by stamping a strip out of a rolled steel sheet and in particular, a hot rolled and coated component is coated with a metal or metal alloy intended to protect the surface of the steel and in which the steel sheet is cut to obtain a sheet steel blank; the sheet steel blank is hot formed or cold formed and either cooled and hardened after the hot forming or heated and then cooled after the cold forming. An intermetallic alloy should be deposited onto the surface before or after the forming and should offer a protection against corrosion and decarburization of the steel; this intermetallic mixture can also perform a lubricating function. The excess material is then removed from the blank. The coating here should generally be based on zinc or a zinc-aluminum alloy.
EP 1 013 785 A1 has disclosed a manufacturing process for a component made of rolled steel band, in particular a hot rolled band. The object is to be able to supply rolled steel sheets 0.2 to 2.0 mm thick, which, among other things, are coated after the hot rolling and are subjected to either a hot or cold deformation, followed by a thermal treatment in which the intent is to assure—before, during, and after the hot forming or the thermal treatment—the increase in the temperature without decarburization of the steel and without oxidation of the surface of the above-mentioned sheets. To this end, the sheet is provided with a metal or metal alloy that assures protection of the surface of the sheet, then the sheet is subjected to a temperature increase for the forming, whereupon a forming of the sheet is carried out and the part is then cooled. In particular, the coated sheet should be pressed in the hot state and the part produced by means of deep-drawing should be cooled for hardening purposes, in fact at a speed that is greater than the critical hardening speed. The application cited above also discloses a steel alloy that ought to be suitable, the intent being to austenitize this steel plate at 950° C. before it is deformed and hardened in the die. The coating applied should in particular be comprised of aluminum or an aluminum alloy; this should provide not only an oxidation and decarburization protection, but also a lubricating action. By contrast with the other known methods, this method does in fact make it possible to prevent scale from forming on the sheet metal part after it has been heated to the austenitizing temperature, but a cold forming of the kind discussed in the application mentioned above is essentially impossible with fire-aluminized sheets because the fire-aluminized layer has too low a ductility to permit a greater deformation. Particularly deep-drawing processes for more complex forms cannot be achieved with sheets of this kind when cold. With a coating of this kind, hot forming procedures, i.e. forming and hardening in a single die, are possible, but the component does not have any cathodic protection afterward. In addition, such a component must be machined mechanically or by laser after hardening, thus involving the previously described disadvantage that subsequent machining steps are very expensive due to the hardness of the material. It is also disadvantageous that all of the regions of the formed part that are cut mechanically or by laser no longer have any corrosion protection whatsoever.
From DE 102 54 695 B3, it is known to manufacture a metallic formed component—in particular a body component comprised of a semifinished product that is composed of an unhardened, hot formable steel sheet—by first forming the semifinished product by means of a cold forming process, in particular by means of deep-drawing. Then, the edges of the component blank are cut along an outer contour that approximately corresponds to that of the component to be manufactured. Finally, the cut component blank is heated and press-hardened in a hot forming die. The component produced in this manner has the desired outer contour immediately after the hot forming, thus making it unnecessary to subsequently trim the component edge. This should significantly reduce the cycle times in the manufacture of hardened components of sheet steel. The steel used should be an air-hardened steel that is heated under the protection, as needed, of a protective gas atmosphere in order to avoid scale formation during the heating. Otherwise, a scale layer on the formed component is descaled after the hot forming of the component. The patent application cited above mentions the fact that in the course of the cold forming process, the component blank comes out of the die in a form close to the final contour; the expression "close to the final contour" is intended to signify that the parts of the geometry of the finished component that are accompanied by a macroscopic material flow are completely formed into the component blank after the end of the cold forming process. After the end of the cold forming process, producing the three-dimensional form of the component should require only slight adaptations in shape, which require a minimum of local material flow. This method has the disadvantage that as before, a final forming step of the overall contour still occurs in the hot state and in order to avoid the formation of scale, either the known approach must be taken, which involves annealing in an envelope of protective gas, or the parts must be descaled. Both processes must be followed by a subsequent provision of a corrosion protection coating.
In summary, it is clear that all of the above-mentioned methods share the disadvantage that in order to achieve an optimal cooling action and to avoid distortion, steps are taken to achieve a 100% contact of the formed parts against the dies (a so-called 100% marking image).
Such a marking image requires a long, very labor-intensive breaking-in of the die in which applied ink is used to indicate which regions of the component are not yet resting against the die over their entire surface. Correspondingly, the surface must be continuously corrected. In spite of this fact, all known press hardening processes share the trait that despite careful breaking-in, distortion and cut edge displacement occur frequently and in an unpredictable fashion so that particularly after coming out of the die, components are distorted and the cut edges become displaced. Because of the high degree of hardness, such parts can no longer be remachined and for example straightened. In the known methods, the remachining is limited to the final trimming by laser.
One object of the present invention is to create a method for manufacturing hardened components comprised of sheet steel, which sharply curtails the break-in time of dies, reduces die wear, and supplies distortion-free, reliable components with a high degree of dimensional accuracy and fit, making it possible to omit remachining of the work pieces.
Another object is to create a device for manufacturing hardened components comprised of sheet steel, which has a reduced break-in time, is less susceptible to wear, is quicker to repair, and supplies distortion-free, reliable components with a high degree of dimensional accuracy and fit.

Method for producing quenched components consisting of sheet steel


A mixer/evaporator or an exhaust system (5) of an internal combustion engine (1), includes a carrier (20) surrounding, in a circumferential direction, a flat cross section of a mixing/evaporating device (12), through which exhaust gases flow and which extends at a right angle to the axial direction (17). The carrier has opposite side walls, wherein short side walls (23, 24) connect each long side walls (21, 22) to one another. Guide blades (25) project in a direction of the respective opposite long side wall, are set at an angle in relation to the axial direction and are arranged at one of the long side walls at least one axial end (26, 27). An axial end of the first long side walls is offset in the axial direction in relation to the axial end of the second long side wall on the same side of the mixing/evaporating device.

An exhaust system of an internal combustion engine is usually equipped with means for cleaning and treating the exhaust gases removed from the internal combustion engine. It may be necessary in this connection to introduce a liquid educt into the exhaust gas stream, to evaporate it in same and to mix it with the exhaust gas. It may be necessary, for example, to add a fuel to the exhaust gas upstream of an oxidation catalytic converter in order to bring about an exothermal reaction of the fuel in the oxidation catalytic converter. The heated exhaust gas stream can then be used downstream of the oxidation catalytic converter to heat an additional exhaust gas treatment means, for example, another catalytic converter or a particle filter, to operating temperature or to regeneration temperature. Furthermore, SCR systems are known, which operate with selective catalytic reaction and are equipped with an SCR catalytic converter, which absorbs NOx from the exhaust gas stream.
To make possible the most space-saving design of the exhaust system possible, the oxidation catalytic converter and the SCR catalytic converter may be arranged in parallel next to each other. The outlet-side end of the oxidation catalytic converter and the inlet-side end of the SCR catalytic converter are connected to one another in this case via a part of the exhaust system called a funnel or mixing chamber such that the exhaust gas flow is deflected by 90° each after the oxidation catalytic converter and in front of the SCR catalytic converter.
A suitable reducing agent, for example, ammonia or urea, preferably an aqueous urea solution, is added as an educt to the exhaust gas stream in the area of the mixing chamber upstream of the SCR catalytic converter. The ammonia will then bring about a conversion of the nitrogen oxides present into nitrogen and water in the SCR catalytic converter.
It applies to all educts added in the liquid form to the exhaust gas stream that the desired effect can only be obtained satisfactorily if sufficient evaporation of the educt as well as sufficient mixing of the gaseous educt with the exhaust gas stream can take place between the site at which the liquid educt is introduced and a site at which the educt is consumed. The mixing and/or evaporating means mentioned in the introduction are used for this purpose, which are arranged in the flow path of the exhaust gas between the site at which the educt is introduced and the site at which the educt is consumed. However, only the relatively short mixing chamber between the oxidation catalytic converter and the SCR catalytic converter is available for the evaporation and mixing of the reducing agent in the above-described embodiment of the exhaust system, which makes complete evaporation and mixing of the reducing agent before entry into the SCR catalytic converter difficult.
In addition, the reducing agent is usually added via a nozzle, which introduces the reducing agent as an expanding, conical jet into the exhaust gas stream. Part of the reducing agent is not consequently moving exactly in the direction of flow in the exhaust gas stream, but with a direction component in the direction of the wall of the exhaust system. Since the mixing chamber may have a relatively flat flow cross section, this may cause droplets to hit the wall of the mixing chamber and form a film on the wall before the reducing agent is evaporated. It is very difficult to return the reducing agent from such a film on the wall into the exhaust gas stream and to evaporate and mix it. The formation of a film on the wall is additionally also facilitated by the fact that the reducing agent is introduced into the exhaust gas stream directly behind the oxidation catalytic converter in order to have the longest possible flow path available for evaporation and mixing of the reducing agent. However, as was mentioned above, the exhaust gas flow is deflected by 90° in this area, as a result of which centrifugal forces may additionally develop, which may throw the droplets onto the wall of the mixing chamber.

Exhaust system with mixing and/or evaporating device

Eberspächer Exhaust Technology GmbH & Co. KG


A phase transfer catalytic process for the preparation of epoxide and halohydrin intermediates, which can be subsequently and directly reacted with isopropylamine to produce beta-adrenergic antagonists such as atenolol, propanolol and their derivatives. In the process disclosed in the present invention, quaternary ammonium salts of high alkyl groups or tertiary ammonium salts of lower alkyl groups are used as catalyst in the phase transfer catalytic oxygenated-alkylation reaction between an aromatic alcohol such as p-hydroxyphenyl acetamide (for the production of atenolol) or .alpha.-naphthol (for the production of propranolol) and epichlorohydrin to yield epoxide and halohydrin intermediates. The quaternary ammonium salts of high alkyl groups are represented by the following formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, and R.sub.4 are C.sub.1 to C.sub.20 alkyl groups and at least one of the R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, or R.sub.4 is a C.sub.9 to C.sub.20 alkyl group, and X is a halide group. And the tertiary ammonium salts of lower alkyl groups are presented by the following formula: ##STR2## wherein R.sub.5 is a C.sub.1 to C.sub.20 alkyl group, H is hydrogen, and X is a halide group.

Beta-adrenergic antagonists, or commonly referred to as beta-blockers, are important in the management of angina pectoris, hypertension and arrhythmia. The primary function of beta-blockers is to reduce the frequency of anginal episodes and raise the anginal threshold by attenuating the chronotropic and inotropic responses to adrenergic stimulation, thus diminishing myocardial oxygen consumption.
Atenolol and propranolol are two of the most commonly used beta-blockers. Atenolol is a cardioselective beta-blocker; whereas, propranolol is a nonselective beta-blocker. U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,671, issued to Barrett, et al. and assigned to Imperial Chemical Industries, discloses alkanolamine derivatives for producing beta-adrenergic blockade, and the method of producing therefor. The process disclosed therein used piperidine, which is a strong base, as a catalyst; it involved a relatively slow reaction rate (six hours to complete the reaction) and produced relatively large amounts of impurities.
In Japan Pat. Pub. 01-102,072 ('072 publication) filed by Nippon Kaya Ku (published Apr. 19, 1989), it is disclosed a process using quaternary ammonium salt of lower alkyl groups as a phase transfer catalyst during the oxygenated-alkylation step. The process disclosed in the '072 publication requires a step in which potassium hydroxide dissolved in methanol must be added as a base catalyst to convert halohydrin into epoxide before proceeding with the synthesis of the final product. Another disadvantages of this process is that methanol is known to react with epoxide to effect a nucleophilic displacement reaction thus resulting in undesirable impurities including ethers in the reaction products.

Phase transfer catalytic process for preparing intermediates of atenolol, propranolol, and their derivatives

Industrial Technology Research Institute


The present invention relates to a structure and a manufacturing method of epitaxial layers of gallium nitride-based compound semiconductors with less dislocation densities. Surface treatment is carried out first on the surface of a substrate using reaction precursors Cp2Mg and NH3. Then a gallium nitride-based buffer layer is formed on the substrate to form a semiconductor epitaxial structure with an interface layer or an interface zone between the substrate and the buffer layer. The structure can reduce effectively the dislocation density formed in the gallium nitride-based epitaxial layer on top of the gallium nitride-based buffer layer. Thereby, high-quality epitaxial layers tend to be attained and the uniformity of the dislocation density can be enhanced.

In modern light-emitting devices, gallium nitride-based materials are very important wide-bandgap semiconductor materials, which can be applied to green, and blue to ultraviolet light-emitting devices. However, the formation of bulk gallium nitride is hitherto a technical bottleneck difficult to breakthrough. By using sapphire or silicon carbide (SiC) as a substrate, a gallium nitride layer can grow epitaxially onto the substrate. Nevertheless, a substantially high dislocation density exists in the gallium nitride layer fabricated using such a process, resulting in reduction in luminance efficiency and electron mobility, and thereby a light-emitting diode with relatively higher luminance efficiency cannot be attained.
In view of the considerations, U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,393 discloses forming a low-temperature gallium nitride buffer layer at temperatures between 200° C. to 900° C. and with a thickness of between 0.001 μm to 0.5 μm on a sapphire substrate, and then forming a high-temperature gallium nitride layer at temperatures between 900° C. to 1150° C. Although the method can increase crystallizability of the gallium nitride-based materials, the dislocation density of the whole gallium nitride layer is as high as 109 to 1010 cm−2. Another US patent with U.S. Pat. No. 6,252,261 discloses reducing dislocation density in the gallium nitride layer during subsequent epitaxial growth by using an epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG) method. Although the method can reduce dislocation density effectively, an approximate thickness of 10 μm is required to reduce the dislocation density below 1×108 cm−2. In addition, production cost is relatively high because of mask fabrication in the processes and complex control mechanisms in selective growth. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,882 discloses a lateral epitaxial technology using silicon nitride (SiN) micro-masks. However, the drawback of the technology disclosed in the patent is that the uniformity and the density of the SiN micro-masks are difficult to control, which will result in difficulty in controlling production yields. Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 6,700,179 discloses a surface treatment technology using silicon as an anti-surfactant, which can attain better crystallization of subsequent epitaxial layers by controlling the reaction time of the reaction precursor SiH4. However, the drawback thereof is still difficulty in controlling uniformity as well as density. Bad uniformity tends to result in non-uniformity of stress distribution in the epitaxial layers, which in turn will result in difficulty in controlling production yields.
Consequently, in accordance with the problems described above, the present invention provides a structure and a manufacturing method of epitaxial layers of gallium nitride-based compound semiconductors.

Method for forming epitaxial layers of gallium nitride-based compound semiconductors


A doorknob and lock light assembly for providing a useful light when for a user attempting to place a key in the lock. The doorknob and lock light assembly includes a door lock assembly including a handle being adapted to be securely attached to a door; and also includes a light-emitting assembly being attached to the door lock assembly and including a battery being disposed in the handle and also including light-emitting members being attached to the handle and being connected with wires to the battery; and further includes a sensor/switch assembly being attached to the door lock assembly and being connected to the battery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to doorknob and lock lighting arrangements and more particularly pertains to a new doorknob and lock light assembly for providing a useful light when for a user attempting to place a key in the lock.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of doorknob and lock lighting arrangements is known in the prior art. More specifically, doorknob and lock lighting arrangements 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 includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,175; U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,615; U.S. Pat. No. 6,278,366; U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,314; U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,551; and U.S. Patent No. Des. 338,735.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new doorknob and lock light assembly. The prior art includes doorknobs having lights disposed therein.


There is disclosed a method of operating an allocating radio node in a wireless communication network, the method comprising allocating, to a second radio node, a frequency range for communication, the frequency range being part of an operating bandwidth of the second radio node, the frequency range comprising an integer number S of subcarriers, the number S of subcarriers corresponding to a value of a limitation relation applied to a fraction of the operating bandwidth, the fraction corresponding to N1/N2, wherein N1 and N2 are integers and N1 is smaller than N2. The disclosure also pertains to related devices and methods.

For future wireless communication systems, use of higher frequencies are considered, which allow large bandwidths to be used for communication. However, the use of such higher frequencies brings new problems, e.g. regarding physical properties and timing. With the introduction of high carrier frequencies, increasingly larger bandwidths may be used for signaling. For example, in 5G, carrier bandwidths are usually limited to 100 MHz or several 100 MHz, whereas for high frequencies bandwidths of 1 GHz or 2 GHz or even more are considered. Processing signaling for such large bandwidths provides significant challenges for electronics, in particular in the context of handling time domain representations of signaling.

Frequency allocation for wireless communication networks


A method of operation of a location based system includes: detecting an event; establishing an event context time associated with the event; establishing a geofence associated with the event; and identifying an event participant, associated with the event, with the event participant within the geofence during the event context time for displaying on a device.

Modern portable consumer and industrial electronics, especially client devices such as navigation systems, smart phones, portable digital assistants, and combination devices are providing increasing levels of functionality to support modern life including location-based information services. Research and development in the existing technologies can take a myriad of different directions.
As users become more empowered with the growth of mobile location based service devices, new and old paradigms begin to take advantage of this new device space. There are many technological solutions to take advantage of this new device location opportunity. One existing approach is to use location information to manage address books and contact lists containing names and contact information of people, places, or things.
Often, results are sought without considering relevant context or organization, which leaves the user inundated with useless results. Other times, the results are poorly organized and presented, which forces the user to spend more time and effort to make sense out of the presented results.
The need to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems. However, solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art. Thus, a need still remains for a location based system with contextual contact manager.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Location based system with contextual contact manager mechanism and method of operation thereof


A method for the in-situ remediation of contaminants including soluble metals more noble than iron and halogenated hydrocarbons that are present in groundwater, absorbed to soil, and exist in the free product state in a soil volume. An inert pressurized gas in combination with an atomized iron powder-water slurry is used to inject pre-determined quantities of reactive zero valent iron powder relative to the quantity of contaminants present in the soil for obtaining preselected rates of remediation with minimum quantities of iron powder and with reaction products within a preferred acidic pH range. Features, such as particle surface area and carbon content, are identified that enhance the reactivity of the iron powder.

This invention relates to in-situ remediation technology using zero valent iron powder for cleanup of industrially generated toxic heavy metal cations and halogenated hydrocarbons in subsurface geological formations.
Industrial manufacturing activities concerning inorganic chemicals, batteries, coil coating, leather tanning and finishing, electrical/electronic components, foundries, iron and steel, photographic equipment and supplies, metal plating and finishing, non-ferrous metals, mining, paint and ink formulators employ raw materials and produce wastes that contain such heavy metals as cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel, and copper. These industries also employ fire resistant halogenated solvents such as trichloroethylene or tetrachioroethylene for cleaning and degreasing operations. Spills, leaking storage tanks and pipe lines, or improper disposal of waste containing these hazardous materials can lead to subsurface soil and groundwater contamination. This occurs as a result of these chemicals migrating into the subsurface soil and groundwater with infiltrating rainfall. Exposure to these contaminants in subsurface soils and groundwater can pose a serious hazard to human health.
The following technology is currently being used for remediation of subsurface toxic heavy metal cations and halogenated hydrocarbons in geological formations.
Remediation of subsurface toxic heavy metal cations and halogenated hydrocarbons present in saturated soils and groundwater can be achieved by transferring the dissolved heavy metal cations and anions and halogenated hydrocarbon present in groundwater to the surface for treatment using conventional chemical and physical processes. The mobility of the non-soluble or undissolved phase heavy metal cations and anions and halogenated hydrocarbons can be increased for improved recovery through addition of surfactant and chelating agents to increase their solubility in the groundwater.
Improvements in technologies for use in geological formations that are dense and exhibit low permeability and hydraulic conductivity have been accomplished through the use of pneumatic fracturing using compressed gases, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,042, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference, and hydraulic fracturing using liquid and a fracture maintaining or proppant material as the injection fluid. These technologies create fractures or preferential flow channels within low permeability geological formations through which volatilized and dissolved halogenated hydrocarbons can be removed for surface treatment.
However, there exist several inherent disadvantages associated with the use of these technologies which require above-ground treatment. Since above-ground surface structures and treatment systems must be erected on site to treat the recovered extracted vapors or liquids from the subsurface formations, considerable costs associated with installation and operation can result. Also, the presence of these above-ground structures and treatment systems limit the use and accessibility of the property during the remediation operations.
Remediation technologies that are applied in-situ can overcome the disadvantages associated with the above-ground treatment systems.
In-situ bioremediation uses indigenous and/or mixed proprietary microorganism supplied with needed nutrients, moisture, and environment to biodegrade in-situ the halogenated hydrocarbons with desirable rates. Microorganism growth within the subsurface contaminated zones can be achieved by supplying additional microorganisms, nutrients, and moisture, altering environmental conditions (pH, etc.) and atmosphere through injection of air oxygen microbubbles, nitrogen, etc. In-situ delivery systems such as gas injection, hydraulic injection or hollow shaft auger drills with extended nozzles have been used creating in-situ environments for the microbial activity to flourish.
There exist several disadvantages associated with the use of in-situ bioremediation of halogenated hydrocarbons. Only low levels of soluble halogenated hydrocarbon can be remediated, since high concentrations of hydrocarbons can be toxic to the microorganisms. For example, microorganisms will not completely remove the chlorine atom from trichloroethylene if its concentration exceeds 30 parts per million (ppm) in water. Also, in-situ biodegradation of halogenated hydrocarbons is difficult to achieve because a combination of anaerobic (metabolism in absence of oxygen) and aerobic (metabolism requires oxygen) microorganisms are needed to degrade these organic compounds. Also, microbial clogging can occur around boreholes, which reduces the ability of the delivery system to provide needed nutrients and create an environment required to maintain subsurface microbial activity.
Additionally, treatment of soluble heavy metal ions and halogenated hydrocarbons in groundwater can be carried out using iron powder, granular iron metal filings or iron chips. All of these technologies rely on the use of beds or reactive walls containing large quantities of permanent or replaceable iron located solely within the saturated zone of a geological formation and where treatment occurs solely downstream of the ground water passing through sources of upstream heavy metal cations and halogenated hydrocarbons upstream in the formation. Large quantities of iron are used to insure that the contaminated groundwater flowing through the iron is remediated within the time required for the contaminated groundwater to pass through the bed or reactive wall.
Typically, the bed or reactive wall is designed so that it creates a more permeable flow area within the contaminated groundwater flow pattern. As the contaminated groundwater flows through the bed of iron filings, contact between the iron and the soluble contaminants results in dechlorination of the halogenated hydrocarbons and the reduction of the heavy metal ions to significantly less hazardous forms. Some of these technologies renew the iron bed material periodically to maintain its reactivity in reducing the heavy metal ions and halogenated hydrocarbons.
Although the iron bed or reaction wall methods are effective in reducing toxic heavy metal cations more noble than iron and halogenated hydrocarbons to desired levels in the ground water, the processes do not provide any treatment of the non-soluble phase contamination that may exist in the geological formation. Also, the contaminants in the soil being treated must be included within the ground water flowing through the permeable ion treatment beds or wall to be treated. In geological formations that exhibit complex groundwater flows, placement of the beds or reactive walls to intercept all contaminated groundwater flow is difficult to achieve. Additionally, the practice of utilizing large quantities of iron gives rise to significant reduction of ground water which is accompanied by the undesirable production of excess quantities of hydrogen that could lead to hazardous conditions in confined environments.

In-situ decontamination of subsurface waste using distributed iron powder


Footgear with an inner sole (66) having a grid of removable resilient elements to permit removal of selected elements (68) to provide relief to ulcerated or injured areas of the foot. An air bladder (64) may underlie sole (66), preferably with additional cushioning material (40) within the air bladder. A walker (12) with a soft support (20) may be provided with the inner sole within the support. Some of the removal resilient elements may have a higher density or height than others. The footgear may include an adhesively-backed resilient pad (212) to provide additional support to a region. The footgear may include means for reducing shear stress on a bottom surface of the foot. An edema patch (240) may be provided for covering an open space (248) left after a user has removed a removable section from the grid. The edema patch applies pressure to the afflicted zone of the foot (250) preventing fluids from building up.

The problems solved by the present invention were discussed at length in the prior patent application cited above, and the background section of that application will therefore be repeated here.
Support pads are used in a wide variety of applications to provide cushioned support to an injured or otherwise sensitive bodily appendage. Such pads have the dual purpose of (1) providing orthopaedic support to the appendage and (2) protecting the appendage from further injury or damage resulting from contact with a foreign object or hard surface.
One common use of a support pad is as a cushioned foot sole in specialized footwear such as soft boots or patient walkers. These devices generally employ some type of soft, resilient material, such as foam, to provide cushioned support of a sensitive or damaged foot.
A particular problem arises when it becomes necessary to provide uneven support across the outer surface of an appendage. For example, an ulcerated appendage, often found in diabetic patients, requires pressure relief to the ulcerated area to allow healing. In this instance, it is desirable to have a pad which will apply cushioned support to the appendage, while refraining from supporting the afflicted area. For diabetic patients, the feet are commonly beset with such ulcerations, and it is therefore desirable to provide a cushioned support sole for a shoe or walker which is capable of providing specific zones of pressure relief.
Other approaches have addressed the problem of providing cushioned foot support. U.S. Pat. No. 2,598,217 (Bronson), issued May 27, 1952, discloses as invalid's boot with a thick insole. However, these approaches require replacement of the sole for each new patient, or for each new area of the original patient's foot which must be relieved.
Andrews U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,078 discloses a footwear insole with a molded arch support. The insole has either three indentations or a single banana-shaped indentation arranged in an arc behind the toes, and another indentation at the heel. A user may adhesively fix pad inserts into one or more of the indentations to provide support to the foot. The user omits inserts from selected indentations to relieve pressure on certain area of the foot.
Unfortunately, a number of problems arise when diabetes patients, who are prone to severe foot ulcers, attempt to use the Andrews device. Before discussing these deficiencies, however, it is useful to review the foot problem that many diabetes patients face. It is well known that diabetes patients are prone to foot ulcers. In fact, lesions of the foot are responsible for more than one-fifth of the hospitalizations of diabetic patients. More than 40% of the lower extremity amputations in the United States are performed on diabetic patients who have poor circulation in the lower limb. With reduced sensation in the foot, the patient is unlikely to feel discomfort when the skin is subject to shear forces during walking, and consequently he or she does not properly adjust his or her gait. Lesions are formed or are made worse.
Diabetes patients also experience other extreme difficulties with their feet. Diabetic patients often undergo an unfortunate evolutionary pattern of anatomical deterioration. Initially, the foot will have a normal appearance and will only have vascular or neuro-vascular deficiencies. However, the bone structure can quickly deteriorate. Charcot joints can form, and the foot becomes drastically deformed. From then on, the areas of the foot that can bear weight are abnormal, their locations are unpredictable, and custom foot accommodations will be required for the remainder of the person's ambulatory life.
The Andrews device does little to overcome these problems. Foot ulcers and bone deterioration can occur anywhere on the foot, yet Andrews provides only a few pads in very specific locations. The Andrews fixed-location pad arrangement cannot provide pressure relief to damaged areas of the foot that are located anywhere except the four specific pad locations. This makes Andrews inadequate for the majority of diabetes patients with damaged feet.
An additional drawback of the Andrews pad is that it lacks means to reduce shear forces on the skin of the foot that arise as the patient walks along. Such shear forces can further damage existing ulcers, or create new ulcers. This is particularly true where the patient walks for any distance.
Other deficiencies of Andrews are apparent. As shown in Andrews FIG. 1, the Andrews sole is limited to either a left or right foot-only sole. The same Andrews sole cannot be used on either foot because sole support 16 is built into the shoe.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,056 (Rudy), teaches a method for conforming a ski boot to the foot of the wearer by heating an inflatable bladder, distending it to the desired shape, and then cooling and deflating the bladder. The bladder can be subsequently be re-inflated to fit the wearer's foot. This method requires a mechanism for heating, which may be inconvenient or impractical when applied to a comfortable sole. In the method disclosed, the inflatable bladder was placed over the foot to contact opposing sides, rather than underneath it as a support. Moreover, the elastomeric materials described in the Rudy patent typically may not provide the requisite comfort and cushioning generally required in a healing device.
A further method of providing support to an injured foot is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,128 (Grim, et al.) in which a removable leg walker includes a plurality of inflatable and adjustable bladder members in order to provide variable amounts of pressure to an affected limb as leg swelling increases or decreases. However, the bladder members of the Grim device do not retain their shape except as restrained by the surface of the appendage itself and thus do not provide the desired semi-permanent areas of relief to an injured appendage.
Incidentally, the above-cited U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/965,750 discloses arrangements which provide relief using a pad of particulate material which is vacuum formed to the desired configuration.
From an overall standpoint, a principal object of the present invention is to provide a comfortable cushioned sole which may be conveniently modified to provide pressure relief to specific areas of the wearer's foot.
Another important object of the invention is to furnish a device which may be reused to provide relief to different areas of the patient's foot, or which may be used by other patients.
A further object is to provide a method for comforting a cushioned sole to the foot of a particular wearer, and of later reforming or returning the sole to its original shape.


A kiln for baking ceramic materials includes a plurality of burners arranged along the conveyor surface so as to heat the internal volume of the kiln. The kiln includes a deflector which is arranged along the path of the flame that exits from at least one of the burners, so that the path of the flame is diverted with respect to a straight free path, achieving diffusion of the flame in the intended direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a kiln for baking ceramic materials, particularly a kiln of the type formed by a heated channel through which the ceramic materials to be baked are conveyed. These ceramic materials are conveyed inside the channel by means of conveyors. The conveyors can be constituted by carriages, which convey the ceramic material to be baked through the kiln, or preferably by a conveyor surface. The conveyor surface can be formed by a conveyor belt or preferably by a plurality of motorized rollers. Multiple burners are arranged along the heated channel so as to heat the internal volume of the kiln. The burners are generally arranged on the side walls of the channel that forms the kiln, both above and below the conveyor surface formed by the motorized rollers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The burners used are of various kinds according to the requirements and in particular they have a radiant, convective, high- or low-speed flame. The general purpose is to achieve optimum transfer of the heat generated by the burner, so as to provide an environment which is as uniform as possible around the parts to be baked, without discontinuities with excessively hot or excessively cold regions or points.
It has been observed that burners with a high gas stream speed generally allow better mixing of the atmosphere inside the kiln, allowing to improve the uniformity of the temperature conditions even with kilns in which the channel has a particularly wide transverse cross-section. In this manner, the kinetic energy generated by the stream of burner gas in fact entrains more or less significant masses of the atmosphere inside the kiln, so as to perform a mixing action which strikes the product to be baked with significant speeds. The expression "burners with a high gas stream speed" is used with reference to burners with outlet speeds of more than 40 m/s, preferably more than 50 m/s, and up to as much as 200 m/s.
The above is the main field of industrial utilization of the invention but is not a limitation, since the kiln according to the invention can be used in any other equivalent field, as claimed.
Devices as described above are known but have some drawbacks. In particular, in the immediate vicinity of the outlet of the burners there is no mixing of the atmosphere inside the kiln, and accordingly there are considerable temperature differences. In other words, while the central region of the channel is heated adequately, with a sufficiently uniform temperature, the regions near the walls, where the burners are installed, have a high temperature gradient, generally with temperatures which are significantly colder than those of the central region.
This difference becomes increasingly significant as the outlet speed of the burnt gases rises and, of course, as the transverse cross-section of the kiln increases. Since burners with a high gas outlet speed are generally used with kilns which have a considerable transverse width, in such conditions the kiln cannot be utilized adequately, because only the central part of the roller conveyor surface can be loaded, while the lateral parts, near the walls, must be left free from ceramic material to be baked, in order to prevent the high temperature gradient that occurs in these regions from causing defective production, which must later be rejected. In practice, therefore, the use of kilns which have a considerable transverse width to increase production cannot achieve the intended purposes.
GB 2 099 120 discloses a kiln in which the outlet of the burners is not straight, but comprises a bent end, so that the stream of burner gas is not directed perpendicularly to the burner supporting wall, rather it is directed with an angle of about 40.degree. with respect to this wall. However, also in this case, the above problems are not solved. In fact, the hot gas stream, even if inclined of 40.degree., cannot be opened to a large diffusion angle and always gives rise to the above temperature differences, inside the kiln. Furthermore, it is impossible to adjust local temperature problems.
FR 811 785 discloses a kiln, that, in correspondence with the burners is so shaped that the hot gas stream is redirected also tangentially to the wall of the kiln. However this solution, developed for metallurgical kilns is not suitable for kilns for firing ceramic material. In fact, in our case, the material to be fired is much more sensitive to temperature differences. Furthermore this solution cannot be used with the above identified burners with a high gas stream speed. Finally it is impossible to carry out any adjustment.
DE 296 06 706 U1 discloses a kiln heated with burners operating with the so called Venturi effect. The outlet flow of these burners cannot be opened to a large diffusion angle. Furthermore the burners are considerably expensive.
DE 2 134 330 discloses a kiln, in which the end of the burners is so shaped that the hot gas stream is redirected tangentially to the wall of the kiln. However, the above problems cannot be solved. In fact, the hot gas stream, even if redirected tangentially, cannot be opened to a large diffusion angle and always gives rise to the above temperature differences, inside the kiln. Furthermore, it is impossible to adjust local temperature problems.
Belgian patent 537 014 discloses a kiln in which, in the fixed structure of the kiln, there is arranged a diffusion element for each burner. However, also in this case, it is impossible to adjust the firing effect of the burners according to the local requirements. Particularly it is impossible to test various heating conditions in a process of trial-error-correction.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,884 discloses details of a burner, but nothing that can be helpful to solve the above problems.
DE 3 807 495 and FR 2 197 456 disclose a kiln in which the hot gas stream cannot be opened to a large diffusion angle and gives rise to the above temperature differences. Also in this case, it is impossible to adjust the firing effect of the burners according to the local requirements. Particularly it is impossible to test various heating conditions in a process of trial-error-correction.

Societa Impianti Termoelettrici Industriali


In order to reduce current consumption immediately after a power-on, generation of a voltage down-converting activation signal for activating a voltage down-converting circuit in accordance with an external control signal is stopped for maintaining the voltage down-converting activation signal supplied to the voltage down-converting circuit in an inactivate state. The voltage down-converting circuit can be maintained in the inactive state for a period from a power-on up to a dummy cycle, for reducing current consumption.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, it relates to a semiconductor memory device having an internal power supply voltage down-converting circuit for converting down an external power supply voltage to produce an internal power supply voltage. More specifically, the present invention relates to a structure for reducing current consumption in an internal power supply voltage down-converting circuit upon a power-on.
2. Description of the Background Art
As a semiconductor memory device is increased in storage capacity and implemented with higher density and integration, transistor elements forming the same are refined or miniaturized. In order to guarantee the reliability of such refined transistor elements and reducing power consumption, an operating power supply voltage is preferably reduced. Such reduction of the operating power supply voltage guarantees the reliability of gate insulating films of MOS transistors (insulated gate field effect transistors) forming the semiconductor memory device while reducing power which is proportionate to the square of the operating power supply voltage V.
However, the semiconductor memory device must keep compatibility with those of earlier generations, and hence an external power supply voltage which is a system power source voltage for example is down-converted to a voltage level required in the interior.
FIG. 10 schematically illustrates the overall structure of a conventional semiconductor memory device. Referring to FIG. 10, the semiconductor memory device 1 includes an internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b which is connected with a power supply terminal 1a receiving an external power supply voltage EXTVcc for down-converting the same and generating an internal power supply voltage INTVcc on an internal power supply line 2, an internal power supply use circuit 1c using the internal power supply voltage INTVcc on the internal power supply line 2 for executing a prescribed function, and an external power supply use circuit id using the external power supply voltage EXTVcc on an external power supply line 3 which is connected with the external power supply terminal 1a. The external power supply use circuit id is connected with an external terminal 1e, for transmitting/receiving signals/data to/from an external circuit of the semiconductor memory device 1.
The internal power supply use circuit 1c uses the internal power supply voltage INTVcc on the internal power supply line 2 as one operating power supply voltage, for performing prescribed processing. This internal power supply use circuit 1c transmits/receives signals to/from the exterior of the device 1 through the external power supply use circuit 1d serving as an interface.
FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary structure of the internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b shown in FIG. 10. Referring to FIG. 11, the internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b includes a comparator 10a for comparing a reference voltage Vref from a reference voltage generator circuit (not shown) with the internal power supply voltage INTVcc on the internal power supply line 2 when activated, a current source transistor 10b for activating the comparator 10a in response to activation of a voltage down-converting activation signal ACT, a drive transistor 10c formed by a p-channel MOS transistor which is connected between the external power supply terminal la and the internal power supply line 2 and receives an output signal of the comparator 10a at its gate, and a precharge transistor 10d formed by a p-channel MOS transistor for holding a gate potential of the drive transistor 10c at the level of the external power supply voltage EXTVcc in response to inactivation of the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT. The voltage down-converting activation signal ACT, the generation mode of which is described later, is brought into an active state of the external power supply voltage EXTVcc level during an activation period when the internal power supply use circuit 1c is brought into an operating state. The operation of the internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b shown in FIG. 11 is now briefly described.
When the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT is at a low level of an inactive state, the current source transistor 10b is in a nonconducting state, and the comparator 10a is in an inactive state. On the other hand, the precharge transistor 10d conducts in response to the inactive voltage down-converting activation signal ACT, to precharge the gate potential of the drive transistor 10c to the external power supply voltage EXTVcc level. The drive transistor 10c, whose gate and source potentials are identical to each other, is maintained in a nonconducting state. While the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT is in an inactive state, therefore, the internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b is in an inactive state to stop the operation of generating the internal power supply voltage INTVcc.
When the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT goes high to enter an active state, the current source transistor 10b conducts to form a current path for the comparator 10a, thereby activating the comparator 10a. The comparator 10a is formed by a differential amplifier circuit for differentially amplifying the internal power supply voltage INTVcc on the internal power supply line 2 and the reference voltage Vref (this structure is described later in detail). When the internal power supply voltage INTVcc is higher than the reference voltage Vref, the output signal of the comparator 10a goes high and the drive transistor 10c enters a nonconducting state. When the internal power supply voltage INTVcc is lower than the reference voltage Vref, on the other hand, the output signal level of the comparator 10a is reduced and the conductance of the drive transistor 10c is increased. The drive transistor 10c supplies a current from the external power supply terminal 1a to the internal power supply line 2 in accordance with its conductance, to increase the internal power supply voltage INTVcc.
The voltage down-converting activation signal ACT enters an active state when the internal power supply use circuit 1c using the internal power supply voltage INTVcc on the internal power supply line 2 operates. In this state, there is such a possibility that a large amount of operating current flows to the internal power supply use circuit 1c to reduce the internal power supply voltage INTVcc. In order to compensate for such reduction of the internal power supply voltage INTVcc in operation of the internal power supply use circuit 1c, the internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b is activated in accordance with the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT. In a non-operating state (standby state) of the internal power supply use circuit 1c, the internal power supply voltage INTVcc is not used but only an extremely small standby current (leakage current) is generated, and the internal power supply voltage Vcc is maintained at a substantially constant voltage level.
FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary structure of the comparator 10a shown in FIG. 11. Referring to FIG. 12, the comparator 10a includes p-channel MOS transistors 10aa and 10ab forming a current mirror circuit which is connected with a power supply node 3a and supplies a current from the power supply node 3a, and n-channel MOS transistors 10ac and 10ad forming a comparator stage for comparing the internal power supply voltage INTVcc with the reference voltage Vref. The gate and the drain of the p-channel MOS transistor 10aa are connected with the drain of the n-channel MOS transistor 10ac. The gate and the drain of the p-channel MOS transistor 10ab are connected with the gate of the p-channel MOS transistor 10aa and the drain of the n-channel MOS transistor 10ad, respectively. The sources of the MOS transistors 10ac and 10ad are connected with the drain of the current source transistor 10b in common.
The internal power supply voltage INTVcc and the reference voltage Vref are supplied to the gates of the MOS transistors 10ac and 10ad, respectively. The connection node (drain) between the MOS transistors 10ab and 10ad is connected with the gate of the drive transistor 10c. The operation of the comparator circuit (including the comparator 10a and the current source transistor 10b) shown in FIG. 12 is now described.
When the voltage down-converting activation circuit ACT is at a low level, the current source transistor 10b is in a nonconducting state. Therefore, a path for a current flowing from the power supply node 3a to a ground node is cut off, so that this comparator circuit consumes only a leakage current of several .mu.A, for example, in this current source transistor 10b.
When the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT goes high, the current source transistor 10b conducts to form the path for feeding a current from the power supply node 3a to the ground node. When the internal power supply voltage INTVcc is higher than the reference voltage Vref, the conductance of the MOS transistor 10ac exceeds that of the MOS transistor 10ad, whereby the MOS transistor 10ac feeds a current in a larger quantity than the MOS transistor 10ad. The current flowing through the MOS transistor 10ac is supplied from the MOS transistor 10aa. The MOS transistors 10aa and 10ab form the current mirror circuit, and hence currents of the same quantity flow through the MOS transistors 10aa and 10ab (the MOS transistors 10aa and 10ab are identical in size to each other). The MOS transistor 10ad cannot entirely discharge the current supplied from the MOS transistor 10ab, and hence the gate potential of the drive transistor 10c is increased.
When the internal power supply voltage INTVcc is lower than the reference voltage Vref, on the other hand, the conductance of the MOS transistor 10ac is smaller than that of the MOS transistor 10ad, and hence the current flowing through the MOS transistor 10ac is smaller than that flowing in the MOS transistor 10ad. The current supplied through the MOS transistor 10ab is identical to that flowing through the MOS transistor 10ac, and hence the MOS transistor 10ad discharges the current supplied from the MOS transistor 10ab, the potential at the drain of the MOS transistor 10ad is reduced, and the conductance of the drive transistor 10c is increased in response.
This comparator circuit supplies a current to the internal power supply line 2 through the drive transistor 10c when the internal power supply use circuit 1c (see FIG. 10) uses the internal power supply voltage INTVcc, in order to compensate for reduction of the voltage level. A relatively large amount of operating current of several 10 mA, for example, flows in operation of the internal power supply use circuit 1c. In order to reliably compensate for reduction of the internal power supply voltage INTVcc caused by the large current consumption, the response speed of the comparator circuit is sufficiently increased. Therefore, a current of about several mA, for example, flows through the current source transistor 10b, to change the gate potential of the drive transistor 10c at a high speed in accordance with the difference between the internal power supply voltage INTVcc and the reference voltage Vref.
The internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b including the comparator circuit using the relatively large current is driven only at need, thereby reducing the current consumption.
FIG. 13 schematically illustrates the structure of a part generating the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT. Referring to FIG. 13, the voltage down-converting activation signal generator part includes an input buffer 15 receiving a row address strobe signal /RAS and a power-on detection signal ZPOR, and a voltage down-converting activation signal generator circuit 16 generating the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT in accordance with an output signal of the input buffer 15. The input buffer 15 includes a gate circuit 15a outputting a low-level signal when the row address strobe signal /RAS is at a low level and the power-on detection signal ZPOR is at a high level. The voltage down-converting activation signal generator circuit 16 includes an invertor 16b inverting the output signal of the gate circuit 15a.
The row address strobe signal /RAS defines the memory cycle of the semiconductor memory device 1, which is a DRAM (dynamic random access memory). When the row address strobe signal /RAS enters an active state of a low level, the DRAM uses the internal power supply voltage INTVcc in its interior, to start a memory cell selecting operation. The power-on detection signal ZPOR enters an active state of a high level when the external power supply voltage EXTVcc is applied and reaches a prescribed voltage level or enters a stable state. The power-on detection signal ZPOR is employed for inhibiting the internal circuit from operating when the external power supply voltage EXTVcc is at an instable voltage level. The operations of the voltage down-converting activation signal generator part shown in FIG. 13 are now described with reference to waveform diagrams shown in FIGS. 14 and 15.
With reference to FIG. 14, description is now made on an operation in case of starting to supply the external power supply voltage EXTVcc to the semiconductor memory device 1 while setting the row address strobe signal /RAS at a high level. Power is on at a time t1, to increase the voltage level of the external power supply voltage EXTVcc. An internal node of the comparator circuit is charged in response to the application of the power supply voltage EXTVcc, whereby a relatively large peak current is generated in the comparator circuit in accordance with the power-on. Referring to FIG. 14, a reference symbol 1c denotes the current flowing in the comparator circuit. After the internal node is charged to a prescribed level, the MOS transistors forming the semiconductor memory device 1 are maintained in prescribed states (initial states) respectively, and the potential of the internal node is increased in accordance with the increase of the external power supply voltage EXTVcc. In this state, the comparator circuit is in a stable state (initial state), and the current 1c of the comparator circuit is stable at a small value (the signal ACT is at a low level).
When the external power supply voltage EXTVcc reaches a prescribed voltage level at a time t2 to reduce the possibility of causing a malfunction of the internal circuit, the power-on detection signal ZPOR rises to a high level. Despite this rise of the power-on detection signal ZPOR, the row address strobe signal /RAS applied to the gate circuit 15a and the output signal of the gate circuit 15a are at high levels, and hence the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT outputted from the invertor 16b is at a low level. Therefore, the internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b maintains its inactive state, not to increase the current consumption.
At a time t3, the row address strobe signal /RAS falls to a low level in order to carry out a dummy cycle described later. In response to the fall of the row address strobe signal /RAS, the output signal from the gate circuit 15a falls to a low level, and the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT outputted from the invertor 16b goes high in response. In response thereto, the internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b is activated, so that the comparator circuit performs a compare operation. The current source transistor 10b of the comparator circuit conducts in accordance with the activation of the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT, whereby a relatively large current 1c flows in the comparator circuit.
When the external power supply voltage EXTVcc is applied while setting the row address strobe signal /RAS at H level, the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT is maintained at a low level and current consumption in the internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b is at a substantially ignorable degree in the power supply (leakage current level), as shown in FIG. 14.
With reference to FIG. 15, description is now made on an operation in case of supplying power while setting the row address strobe signal /RAS at a low level. The power is on at a time t1 while setting the row address strobe signal /RAS at a low level, to increase the voltage level of the external power supply voltage EXTVcc. Also in this case, the current 1c is instantaneously increased in order to set the internal node of the internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b in an initial state similarly to the case shown in FIG. 14, and thereafter returns to a normal state. Despite the low level of the row address strobe signal /RAS, the power-on detection signal ZPOR is at a low level, the output signal of the gate circuit 15a is at a high level, and the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT is at a low level in response.
When the power supply voltage EXTVcc reaches a prescribed voltage level at a time t2 and is determined to reach a voltage level for driving the internal circuit with no malfunction, the power-on detection signal ZPOR rises to a high level. Due to this rise of the power-on supply detection signal ZPOR, the output signal of the gate circuit 15a falls to a low level and the voltage down-converting activation signal ACT enters an active state of a high level. The internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b is activated in response, so that the comparator circuit performs a compare operation. Thus, the current 1c of the comparator circuit reaches a high value similar to that in a normal operation. When the power is applied while bringing the row address strobe signal /RAS into a low level and setting the DRAM in an active state, the internal voltage down-converting circuit 1b is activated in response to activation of the power-on detection signal ZPOR, to disadvantageously consume a large amount of current to increase the power consumption after the power-on.

Semiconductor memory device having internal voltage down-converting circuit reducing current consumption upon power ON