A universal haptic drive system for arm and wrist rehabilitation that includes a hand accessory and a vertical handle for carrying the hand accessory, the vertical handle being movable in a transversal plane. The system furthermore includes a haptic actuator system for applying a force to the vertical handle. The vertical handle includes a universal joint with locking ability. When the universal joint is unlocked, it enables movements for wrist rehabilitation, and when it is locked it causes a stiff substantially vertical handle enabling movements for arm rehabilitation.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a universal haptic drive system for arm and wrist rehabilitation.
2. Description of Related Art
Upper extremity function is of paramount importance to carry out various activities of daily living. Various neurological diseases, most notably stroke, as well as orthopaedic conditions result in impaired function of manipulating various objects by reaching, orienting and grasping activities. Reaching or approaching toward an object is done by shoulder and elbow, orienting of and object is accomplished by wrist, while grasping and releasing of an object is carried out by opening and closing a hand.
After an injury or neurological impairment intensive physiotherapy is employed through active-assisted targeted movement and exercises aiming at restoration of sensory-motor planning, reduction of spasticity and preservation of range of motion to facilitate recovery of the arm and hand functionality. Numerous clinical studies have shown that a key to successful recovery is a sufficient number of repetitions that relate to a practiced task. Here two basic approaches can be distinguished: complex movement practice that involves reaching, orienting and grasping activities combined in a single task and isolated well-defined specific movement training of each isolated component of upper extremity function. Training specificity determines also therapy outcome; i.e. reaching exercises activate shoulder and elbow thus resulting in improvement of transport of the hand toward target location; movement of forearm and wrist exercises that serve to orient the hand and provide stability and control during grasping result in improvement of wrist function, while grasping and releasing exercises result in improvement of grasping function. The above outlined movement practice is facilitated by a physiotherapist that employs verbal communication as well as physical interaction to guide a trainee to appropriately execute a given task.
Rehabilitation robotics seems to be particularly well suited for delivery of mass-practiced movement. It brings precision, accuracy and repeatability and combined with computer or virtual reality tasks provide stimulating training environment. Impedance control of rehabilitation robots enables programmable haptic interaction with the paretic arm and hand. Such a haptic interaction is needed to initiate, guide and halt movement depending on the activity of the user. It has been demonstrated in numerous clinical studies that these features of rehabilitation robots yield significant rehabilitation results.
The current state of the art includes haptic robotic solutions that have from one to three haptic degrees of freedom and were developed for training of the shoulder and elbow. Examples are MIT-MANUS described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,213 (Hogan et al.), and ARM Guide and EMUL described in an article by Krebs et al., Robotic rehabilitation therapy, Wiley encyclopaedia of Biomedical Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, 2006. Other robotic solutions were developed for wrist, such as BI-MANU-TRACK, described by Hesse et al., Upper and lower extremity robotic devices for rehabilitation and studying motor control, Current Opinion in Neurology 2003, 16: 705-710 and MIT wrist robot described in the earlier cited article by Krebs et al. MIT-MANUS is a two-degrees-of-freedom, SCARA-type, planar impedance controlled robot that enables practicing of reaching movement in horizontal plane by activating shoulder and elbow. With MIT-MANUS it is not possible to practice movement along the vertical axis. EMUL is a three-degrees-of-freedom, PUMA type, impedance controlled robot that enables practicing reaching movement of the arm within the whole workspace, including the vertical axis. ARM Guide on the other hand is a single degree-of-freedom impedance controlled robot that enables movement of the arm (shoulder and elbow) along the line and can be oriented in different directions within the 3D workspace to enable practicing of reaching movement in different parts of a workspace. BI-MANU-TRACK is a device that offers active (motor assisted) or passive training of wrist flexion/extension or (depending on the mechanical configuration of the device) forearm pro/supination following bi-lateral approach, meaning that the un-impaired side drives movement of impaired side in a mirror-like or parallel fashion. MIT wrist robot is a three-degrees-of-freedom device that has three impedance controlled axis that intersect with all three human wrist degrees-of-freedom (flexion/extension, abduction/adduction and pronation/supination) enabling simultaneous practicing of wrist orientation movement. The common denominator for the above devices is that for exhibiting compliant (impedance controlled) performance the actuated degrees of freedom need to be back-drivable, meaning that the inherent impedance of actuators must be low. This necessitates use of direct drive, high torque motors as well as use of precise position and force sensors. Another drawback of the known devices is that they provide training environment for only one component/activity of reaching movement, either reaching movement or wrist movement.


A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a power supply unit that boosts a single voltage and includes multiple voltage boosting circuits which generate power supply voltages different from each other; a drive circuit that amplifies an original drive signal based on a power supply voltage which is generated by at least one of the multiple voltage boosting circuits and generates a drive signal that is applied; and an ejecting unit that includes a piezoelectric element which becomes displaced in accordance with the drive signal, in which the power supply unit controls the voltage boosting circuit, which generates the power supply voltage that is not used for amplification, to stop voltage boosting.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus, a drive circuit, and a head unit.
2. Related Art
An apparatus which uses a piezoelectric element (for example, a piezo element) is known as an ink jet printer which prints an image or a document by ejecting ink. Piezoelectric elements are provided in correspondence with each of multiple nozzles in a head unit, each of the piezoelectric elements is driven in accordance with a drive signal, and thus, a predetermined amount of ink (liquid) is ejected from the nozzle at a predetermined timing to form dots. The piezoelectric element is a capacitive element such as a capacitor from a viewpoint of electricity, and needs to receive a sufficient current in order to operate the piezoelectric elements of each nozzle.
For this reason, an original drive signal is amplified by an amplification circuit, is supplied to a head unit as a drive signal, and drives the piezoelectric elements. It is recommended that an amplification circuit uses a method (linear amplification, refer to JPA-2009-190287) of current-amplifying the original drive signal in an AB class or the like. However, since power consumption increases and energy efficiency decreases in the linear amplification, a D-class amplification is also proposed in recent years (refer to JP-A-2010-114711). In short, in the D-class amplification, a pulse width modulation or a pulse density modulation of an input signal is performed, a pair of transistors which is configured by a high side transistor and a low side transistor that are inserted in series between power supply voltages is switched in accordance with the modulated signal, an output signal which is generated by the switching is filtered by a low pass filter, and thus, the input signal is amplified.
However, in the D-class amplification method, energy efficiency increases compared to a linear amplification method, but if a piezoelectric element is driven in a wide voltage range, a power supply voltage of a pair of transistors increases. For this reason, there is room for improvement in terms of reducing power consumption.

Liquid ejecting apparatus, drive circuit, and head unit


An egg carton comprises a base having a plurality of egg cells, the base being attached to a lid and locking flap by at least one hinge member. The lid has a plurality of closing apertures adapted to receive a plurality of buttons located on the locking flap. The lid further has an outer closure mechanism adapted to interlock with an inner closure mechanism located on the locking flap. The egg carton may also be equipped with a venting system.

Egg cartons are common in grocery stores around the world. Egg cartons have been known to open accidentally during handling, causing the contents to spill from the carton. This accidental opening must be accounted for in the design of the carton.
Additionally, eggs are placed into cartons while they are still warm. These filled cartons are then placed into refrigerating units to cool the eggs to acceptable temperatures. It is in the producers' and distributors' best interest to cool the eggs as quickly and efficiently as possible, and to minimize the effects of condensation during cooling and maintain egg quality. Thus, a need exists for a newly designed egg carton.


There is provided a process of preparing low-temperature sintered microwave dielectric ceramics, prepared by a process comprising co-precipitating Nb and Bi or Zn in an aqueous basic solution to obtain a BiNbO4 or Zn3Nb2O8 precursor powder, thermally decomposing the powder to obtain BiNbO4 or Zn3Nb2O8 powder, adding CuO and V2O5, pulverizing and sintering the mixture, which produces ceramics having small dielectric losses (Q·f0>15,000 GHz) and high dielectric constant (k=20–45) at microwave frequencies by sintering at a low temperature of 700 to 750° C. Thus, the microwave dielectric ceramics prepared in accordance with the present invention can be advantageously used in multi-layer ceramic packaging such as filter planar antenna, microwave oscillator, etc., which comprise base metals such as silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) as an internal electrode.

Recently, new dielectric materials have attracted immense attention since they can be used to fabricate multi-layer microwave chips and devices. Dielectric materials should have a sintering temperature lower than the melting point (Tm=940° C.) of internal electrodes formed of metals such as Ag for their application in, for example, chips having internal Ag contacts, together with minimum dielectric losses.
Currently, low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) have been prepared by firing a mixture of conventional dielectric materials having a sintering temperature Ts>1100° C., and considerable amounts of glass frits or the components thereof. However, reducing the sintering temperature of such materials to about 900° C. is usually accompanied by rather high dielectric losses (low Q value, Q=1/tan δ) at microwave frequencies.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,935 discloses that dense microwave dielectric ceramics can be prepared by mixing 10% of glass frit, which is obtained from a glass composition comprising PbO, SiO2, B2O3 and ZnO, with a Zn- or Ta-doped BaO-xTiO2 composition (3≦x≦5.5), and then sintering the mixture at a temperature of about 900° C. for 2 hours in air. However, the Q·f0 values of such materials thus obtained do not exceed 2,500–3,500 GHz.
Another LTCC development is based on the introduction of small amounts (e.g., 0.1–5%) of dopant into the conventional microwave dielectric compound having a sintering temperature of about 1100 to 1300° C. This method allows the sintering temperature to be lowered by 200–300° C. by selecting suitable dopants. However, it has a problem in that a significant increase of dielectric loss will also result, even when using small amounts of dopant.
Alternative LTCC materials such as CaTeO3 and Bi6Te2O15 have been developed (see M. Valant et al., J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 24 (2004), pp. 1715–1719; M. Udovic et al., J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 87 (2004), pp. 891–897). Such dielectric ceramics can be sintered at 900° C. or less without sintering aids or glass frits. However, they are disfavored since they contain toxic and volatile tellurium oxide.
Further, one of the conventional ways of reducing the sintering temperature of dielectric materials is to employ finely dispersed precursor powders obtained by the wet chemical methods (see Li-Wen Chu et al., Mater. Chem. Phys., 79, 2003, pp. 276 –281; M. H. Weng et al., J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 22, 2002, pp. 1693–1698). Such methods can be successfully applied for producing microwave dielectrics having high Q·f0 values (100,000–500,000 GHz). These materials, however, can be obtained only at a high sintering temperature (1,400–1,700° C.) due to the refractory components therein. The sintering temperature can be reduced by about 100–300° C. by using chemically derived precursors. Such chemically derived precursors have high chemical homogeneity and lead to significant grain-growth during the sintering process, thereby resulting in decrease of dielectric losses caused by insufficient crystallographic ordering and defects at the grain boundaries. However, the application of chemically derived precursors to LTCC (Ts<900° C.) dielectrics is hampered by enhanced energy dissipation at the grain boundaries. In most cases, the conventional method using a chemically derived precursor would produce dielectric ceramics having moderate or low Q·f0 values (see H. Wang et al., Solid State Comm., 132(7), 2004, pp. 481–486).
In addition, Zn3Nb2O8 ceramics, which have Q·f0 values up to 80,000 GHz at εr=22–23, have been developed. In this case, the sintering temperature of the ceramics can be reduced to 850° C. by using a sintering aid which melts at a low temperature (see Yen-Chi Lee et al., Mater. Chem. Phys., 79, 2003, pp. 124–128).
Further, BiNbO4 is another candidate for a low-temperature sintered dielectric material. For example, Japanese Patent Nos. 07172916 and 05074225 disclose that the sintering temperature can be reduced to 875° C. through using suitable sintering aids.
However, those methods prepare the Nb-based ceramics through using coarsely grained precursor-powders obtained by using a solid-state synthesis technique, which has a limitation in applying for the preparation of low-temperature sintered dielectric ceramics. This is because the solid-state synthesis technique forms a precursor-powder in rather large grain sizes (e.g., usually several microns) so as to prevent the mobility thereof at a low sintering temperature, thus causing poor sinterability.

Process of preparing low-temperature sintered microwave dielectric ceramics

Korea Institute of Science and Technology


The invention relates a use of an aqueous composition comprising at least one organic peroxide to dissolve amorphous dithiazine.

Oil and gas reservoirs can often be associated with the production of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and organic sulfidic compounds. Such sulfidic components are highly undesirable due to a combination of their toxicity and corrosive nature. It is desirable, in oil and gas operations, to remove the sulfidic components from produced oil, gas and water in a process commonly termed "sweetening". Sweetening is the generic term given to reduce or remove sulfidic components from produced hydrocarbon and/or aqueous streams in the oil and gas processing facilities. The most common approach involves the use of chemicals, termed scavengers, in particular H2S scavengers. Such chemicals are most commonly based on triazine, produced via a reaction between aldehyde and an amine. Scavengers, such as triazine, react with H2S and convert it to a less volatile (ideally non-volatile) product. Typically commercial scavenger formulations use low molecular weight aldehydes such as formaldehyde, but ketones can also be used. Amine-based H2S scavengers are very effective at removing H2S however a major drawback is that they commonly form unwanted byproducts based on amorphous dithiazine (also commonly referred to as dithiazine solids).
In particular, amorphous dithiazine is exceptionally insoluble and has been observed in many oil and gas processing systems in significant quantities. Dithiazine solids can precipitate in sufficient quantities and can form blockages in oil and gas processing equipment, tubulars, vessels, storage tanks, truck tanks, and water disposal wells. Remedial action is then required and typically involves taking a system or affected equipment offline so that manual cleaning operations, such as jetting, can be performed—these cleanup operations can be very time consuming and challenging.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,920,568 teaches the dissolution of amorphous dithiazine using hydrogen peroxide alone but at elevated temperature, 65-70° C. is typically used. Peroxides alone are very aggressive to oil and gas assets and cannot be used without the necessary additives designed to mitigate these negative effects.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,281,417 teaches the production of dithiazine compounds.
The problem to be solved by the instant invention is to provide means for dissolving dithiazine at temperature below 65-70° C., most specifically at ambient temperatures typically encountered in external oil and gas operations. Specifically, these would be temperatures of 20° C. to −10° C. The dithiazine dissolver is required to be of improved efficiency when compared to acid dissolvers of the state of the art, but shall avoid the corrosion problems caused by the oxidizing dithiazine dissolvers.
The instant invention solves this problem by using an organic peroxide as dithiazine dissolver, optionally together with a selected corrosion inhibitor that was found to be capable to avoid the corrosion on oilfield equipment even against organic peroxides.
In a first aspect, the present invention provides the use of an aqueous composition, capable of dissolving amorphous dithiazine for applications in oil and gas systems, comprising at least one organic peroxide.
In a second aspect, the present invention provides a method for dissolving amorphous dithiazine, the method comprising adding at least one organic peroxide in aqueous composition as dithiazine dissolver to dithiazine-containing systems.
Organic peroxides may be referred to as "group 1" compounds in the following.
In a more preferred embodiment, the organic peroxide is selected from peralkanoic acid with formula RCOOOH, where R═C1 to C10. In a still more preferred embodiment, the organic peroxide is peracetic acid.
In another preferred embodiment, the use or the process occurs in the presence of a corrosion inhibitor. Corrosion inhibitors may be referred to as "group 2" compounds in the following.
In one preferred embodiment, the corrosion inhibitor is selected from the group consisting of
a) imidazolines and amidoamines
b) sulfur synergists
c) phosphate esters.
In another preferred embodiment, the composition comprises additionally
3. at least one surfactant; and/or
4. at least one solvent.
The use or process according to the present invention will, in a preferred embodiment, comprise at least one component from each of groups 1 and 2. The group numbering refers to the numbers of the constituents as indicated above.
In another preferred embodiment, at least one component from group 3 is present with the components from each of groups 1 and 2.
In another preferred embodiment, at least one component from group 4 is present with the components from each of groups 1 and 2.
In another preferred embodiment, at least one component from group 4 is present with the components from each of groups 1, 2, and 3.
It is to be understood that the components no. 1, 2, 3 and 4 as mentioned above are different compounds. The instantly claimed use or process must comprise at least one species for each of the groups 1 and optionally 2, 3 and 4.
In a preferred embodiment, the inventive use or process requires 0.1 to 35 wt.-% of the organic peroxide, more preferred 10 to 20 wt.-%.
In another preferred embodiment, the inventive use or process requires 0.1 to 6 wt.-% of the corrosion inhibitor, preferably 0.5 to 5 wt.-%. In an even more preferred embodiment, the inventive use or process requires 1 to 3 wt.-% of the corrosion inhibitor
If the corrosion inhibitor comprises an imidazoline or amidoamine according to group 2a), the concentration of the imidazoline or amidoamine is preferably from 1 to 3 wt.-%.
If the corrosion inhibitor comprises a sulfur synergist according to group 2b), the concentration of such sulfur synergist is preferably from 0.05 to 5 wt.-%.
If the corrosion inhibitor comprises a phosphate ester according to group 2c), the concentration of such phosphate ester is preferably from 0.05 to 5 wt.-%.
It is to be understood that the corrosion inhibitor is present during the inventive use or process in a total amount of 0.1 to 6 wt.-%. If more than one corrosion inhibitor from either group a) - c) is present, their total combined amount will be 0.1 to 6 wt.-%. In a preferred embodiment, the use or process according to the invention comprises one or more compounds from each of groups 2a, 2b and 2c, in a total amount of 0.1 to 6 wt.-%. It is common to have a combination of corrosion inhibitor bases present and the formulation will be determined by one skilled in the art in order to leverage the synergies that exist between different corrosion inhibitor base materials.
In another preferred embodiment, the concentration of the surfactant is from 1 to 20 wt.-%, if a surfactant is present.
In another preferred embodiment, water is present in balance to 100 wt.-% with a preferred range of 50 to 95 wt.-% .
If an organic solvent is present, its concentration is preferably from 0.1 to 30 wt.-%.
The weight percentages are related to the total weight of the dithiazine dissolver fluid that is used to transport the organic peroxide to the dithiazine deposit.
The inventive composition will directly contact the amorphous dithiazine solids and dissolve them without damaging the process equipment, i.e. pipes, vessels, tubulars, valves etc.
Group 1
The organic peroxide is preferably selected from
a) peralkanoic acids with formula RCOOOH, where R═C1 to C10,
b) dialkyl peroxides with 2 to 10 carbon atoms, and
c) aryl alkyl peroxides with 2 to 10 carbon atoms.
In a preferred embodiment, a peroxide whose structure is

is used, wherein
R1 is H, C1 to C30 alkyl, C1 to C30 alkyloyl, or C7 to C30 alkylene aromatic, and
R2 is C1 to C30 alkyl, C1 to C30 30 alkyloyl, or C7 to C30 alkylene aromatic.
Alkylene aromatic means a structure in which the peroxy group is bonded through an alkylene group to an aromatic group, and wherein the alkylene aromatic moiety has a total of 7 to 30 carbon atoms.
In a preferred embodiment, R1 and R2 mean independently from each other hydrogen, C1 to C3 alkyl or C1 to C3 alkyloyl.
In yet another preferred embodiment, peralkanoic acid with formula RCOOOH, where R═C1 to C10 is used as organic peroxide. Particularly preferred is a peralkanoic acid wherein R is C1 to C3, more preferred peracetic acid.
Group 2
The organic peroxides which are able to dissolve the amorphous dithiazine are inherently corrosive. In order to use the instant invention it is necessary to mitigate this inherent corrosivity.
The corrosion inhibitor may be selected from the groups 2a) to 2c) as explained below. There may be more than one corrosion inhibitor present.
Group 2a)
The compounds according to group 2a) are preferably prepared by the condensation of an ethylenediamine compound (A) with an acid or ester compound (B) that results in the formation of an imidazoline (C) and an amidoamine (D).

In formulae A, B, C and D,
R3 is —H, —C2H4NH2, —C2H4OH, —(C2H4NH)x—C2H4NH2,
X is a number from 0 to 200, preferably 1 to 5,
R4 is a C3 to C29 aliphatic hydrocarbon group, and
R5 is defined below.
Formula B depicts an ester.

In formula B R4 is H, or a residue derived from Methanol, Ethanol, Isopropanol, a glycol, preferably ethylene, propylene or butylene glycol, or Glycerol by abstraction of one hydrogen atom from an OH group.
In a preferred embodiment, R4 is selected from straight alkyl, mono unsaturated alkenyl, di unsaturated alkenyl, tri unsaturated alkenyl, oligo unsaturated alkyl, branched alkyl and cyclic alkyl. More preferred R4 has a chain length of 7 to 21, particularly of 11 to 17 carbon atoms. Likewise more preferred is that R4 is selected from linear or branched alkyl, monounsaturated alkenyl or diunsaturated alkenyl. R4 may represent a naturally occurring hydrocarbon distribution or mixtures of the above mentioned hydrocarbon moieties. R4 is the carbon chain of the acid or ester compound (B). The acid or ester compound (B) is preferably selected from tall oil fatty acid and its derivatives (TOFA), coconut oil and its derivatives, tallow fatty acid and its derivatives (Tallow), naphthenic acids and its derivatives, soya fatty acid and its derivatives (Soya), oleic acid and its derivatives.
The ethylenediamine compound (A) is preferably selected from diethylenetriamine (DETA), triethylenetetramine (TETA), tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA), aminoethylethanolamine (AEEA) or any other polyethylendiamine.
The structure of an imidazoline has been described below.

R results from the ethylenediamine compound substitution and, as described above, most commonly is either DETA, TETA, TEPA, AEEA and polyamine. Generally however it can be any type of ethylenediamine containing compound.

There are many commercial imidazolines available and the choice of imidazoline is wide and for the current corrosion inhibitor formulations may include, but not be limited to, 1:1 (molar ratio) TOFA/DETA imidazoline, 2:1 TOFA/DETA amido imidazoline, 1:1 TOFA/TETA imidazoline, 2:1 TOFA/TETA amido-imidazoline, 2:1 TOFA/TETA bisimidazoline, 1:1 TOFA/TEPA imidazoline, 2:1 TOFA/TEPA amido imidazoline, 2:1 TOFA/TEPA bisimidazoline, 3:1 TOFA/TEPA amido bisimidazoline, 1:1 TOFA/AEEA imidazoline, 2:1 TOFA/AEEA amido imidazoline, 1:1 TOFA/polyamine imidazoline, 2:1 TOFA/polyamine imidazoline, 2:1 TOFA/polyamine amido imidazoline, 2:1 TOFA/polyamine bisimidazoline, 3:1 TOFA/TEPA polyamine amido bisimidazoline, 1:1 Soya/DETA imidazoline, 2:1 Soya/DETA amido-imidazoline, 1:1 Soya /TETA imidazoline, 2:1 Soya/TETA amido imidazoline, 2:1 Soya/TETA bisimidazoline, 1:1 Soya/TEPA imidazoline, 2:1 Soya/TEPA amido imidazoline, 2:1 Soya/TEPA bisimidazoline, 3:1 TOFA/TEPA amido bisimidazoline, 1:1 Soya/AEEA imidazoline, 2:1 Soya/AEEA amido imidazoline, 1:1 Soya/polyamine imidazoline, 2:1 Soya/polyamine imidazoline, 2:1 Soya/polyamine amido imidazoline, 2:1 Soya/polyamine bisimidazoline, 1:1 Tallow/DETA imidazoline, 2:1 Tallow/DETA amido-imidazoline, 1:1 Tallow/TETA imidazoline, 2:1 Tallow/TETA amido-imidazoline,2:1 Tallow/TETA bisimidazoline, 1:1 Tallow/TEPA imidazoline, 2:1 Tallow/TEPA amido imidazoline, 2:1 Tallow/TEPA bisimidazoline, 3:1 Tallow/TEPA amido bisimidazoline, 1:1 Tallow/AEEA imidazoline, 2:1 Tallow/AEEA amido imidazoline, 1:1 Tallow/polyamine imidazoline, 2:1 Tallow/polyamine imidazoline, 2:1 Tallow/polyamine amido imidazoline, 2:1 Tallow/polyamine bisimidazoline and 3:1 Tallow/TEPA poly amine amido bisimidazoline—there are also products that have different molar ratios of acid to amine and all molar ratios can be considered for the corrosion inhibiting formulations in the instant Application. The molar ratios above refer to the molar amounts of the compounds according to formulae (A) and (B), and their reaction may form a mixture of the compounds according to formulae (C) and (D).
The imidazoline is preferably selected from TOFA-DETA imidazolines, TOFA-polyamine imidazolines or TOFA-TEPA imidazoline.
Group 2b)
The sulfur synergists are generically any sulfur containing compound, either ionic or covalent by nature.
The preferred sulfur synergists fall into 5 generic categories as described by the following formulae:CnH2n+1SH wherein n is a number from 1 to 18Mx(S2O3)y wherein, x=2 and y=1 and M=Li, Na, K, Ag, Cu or NH4; x=1 and y=1 and M═Mg, Ca, Sr, Cu, Zn, Pb or Fe; x=2 and y=3 and M═Al, Bi or Fe.M(SCN)x where x=1 and M═Li, Na, K, Ag, Cu or NH4; x=2 and M═Mg, Ca, Sr, Cu, Zn, Pb or Fe; x=3 and M═Al, Bi or Fe.M(HSCH2COO)x where x=1 and M═Li, Na, K, Ag, Cu or NH4; x=2 and M═Mg, Ca, Sr, Cu, Zn, Pb or Fe; x=3 and M═Al, Bi or Fe.S═C(NH)2R7R6 where R7 and/or R6 are H, C1 to C10 alkyl, C2 to C10 alkene or C5 to C9 aryl groups or mixture/polymers thereof.
The sulfur synergists are preferably selected from the group consisting of thioglycolic acid, sodium thiosulfate, ammonium thiosulfate, ammonium thiosulfate, sodium thiosulfate, potassium thiosulfate, potassium thiosulfite, thiourea, sodium thiocyanate, ammonium thiocyanate, and calcium thiocyanate, sodium thioglycolate, ammonium thioglycolate, polythioureas and derivatives such as 1,2-diethylthiourea, propylthiourea, 1,1-diphenylthiourea, thiocarbanilide, 1,2-dibutylthiourea, dithiourea thioacetamide, thionicotimide, or thiobenzamide, 2-Mercaptoethanol, 3-(Methylthio)propanol, thioacetic acid, cyste-amine, 3-Chloro-1-propanethiol, 1-mercapto-2-propanol, 2,3-Dimercapto-1-propanol, 2-Methoxyethane-thiol, 3-Mercapto-1-propanol, 2,3-Dimercapto-1-propanol, 1-Thio-glycerol, 1,3-Propane-dithiol, mercaptosuccinic acid, Cysteine, N-Carbomoyl-L-cysteine, N-Acetylcysteamine, 4-Mercapto-1-butanol, 1-Butanedithiol, 1,4-Butanedithiol, 2,2′-Thiodietanethiol, 4-Cyano-1-butanethiol, Cyclopentanethiol, 1,5-Pentanedithiol, 2-Methyl-1-butanethiol, 2,3,5,6-Tetrafluorobenzenethiophenol, 4-Chlorothiophenol, 2-Mercaptophenol, Thiophenol, Cyclohexylthiol, 4-Mercaptobenzoic acid, Thiosalicylic acid, 2-Ethylhexanethiol.
One preferred sulfur synergist is thioglycolic acid whose structure is:

In another preferred embodiment, 2-mercaptoethanol is used, whose structure is:

In yet another preferred embodiment, ammonium thiosulfate is used, whose structure is:(NH4)2S2O3   (11)
Group 2c)
The phosphate esters or organophosphates are preferably of the generic formula:
wherein Ra, Rb and Rc independently are selected from H or a hydrocarbon group, which may contain oxygen or nitrogen atoms, with a carbon atom number ranging from 1 to 49.
In a preferred embodiment, at least one of Ra, Rb and Rc are ethoxy groups.
In another preferred embodiment, at least one of Ra, Rb and Rc is an alkyl or alkenyl residue.
In another preferred embodiment, the number of carbon atoms in Ra, Rb or Rc is from 4 to 30 carbon atoms, preferably 8 to 22, more preferably 12 to 18 carbon atoms.
Ra, Rb and Rc may be preferably be terminated by hydrogen. The terminal hydrogen atom may be substituted by hydroxyl, benzyl or carboxylic acid groups. The carbon chains themselves may be saturated or unsaturated depending on the source of the carbon chain species or degree of ethoxylation. In one embodiment, they contain intrahydrocarbon chain groups such as carboxyl group (—COO—), oxygen (—O—), or a secondary amine group (—NH—). Intrahydrocarbon means that such groups are not terminal groups.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, phosphoric acid 2-ethylhexylester is the phosphate ester species used, the structure of which has been displayed below:

In another preferred embodiment of the invention uses poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) alpha-isotridecyl-omega-hydroxy-, phosphate:
m is a number from 1 to 200, preferably 2 to 100, more preferably 3 to 20 and most preferably 5 to 15.
Yet another preferred embodiment of the invention uses 2-Ethyl hexyl mono/di phosphoric acid ester, acid:

To one skilled in the art it is well known that the use of straight chained alkyl or alkenyl groups for Ra, Rb and Rc versus highly branched groups is preferred when one considers the biodegradation of the final phosphate ester molecule. A highly branched alkyl or alkenyl grouped phosphate ester displays a much higher biodegradation as naturally occurring bacteria are more able to degrade the molecule when compared to a straight chained alkyl or alkenyl group. Furthermore the mono- to di-ester ratio is a variable that has been discovered to affect the emulsion forming tendency of the phosphate ester molecule when oil and water mixtures are present. This is also known to one skilled in the art where highly mono-ester rich phosphate esters do not promote the formation of oil-water emulsions and the presence of high concentrations of di-ester phosphate esters have a tendency to create more persistent oil-water emulsions.
Group 3
A surfactant is defined herein as a compound that will decrease the surface tension when added to the aqueous compositions as described herein. In a comparison of aqueous composition with and without a surfactant, the composition with a surfactant must have a lower surface tension.
It has been found that the presence of a surfactant is bebeficial to the success of the dithiazine dissolution.
In a preferred embodiment, the surfactant is a compound having a hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) value between 11-16, preferably between 12 and 14. For the purpose of this invention, HLB values are to be determined using method EN 12836:2002 (Surface active agents—Determination of the water number of alkoxylated products).
Surfactants for use in the present invention typically contain hydrophobic groups such as polysiloxane, polyoxypropylene, alkyl/aryl, aryl, alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, or more complex aryl (such as petroleum sulfonates) moieties being from C8 to C22, and preferably C10 to C20, commonly C12 to C18, and a hydrophilic moiety which preferably is a polyethoxy group with 5 to 20 ethoxy units.
The surfactant may, for example, comprise or consist of an at least sparingly water-soluble salt of sulfonic or mono-esterified sulfuric acids, i.e. an alkylbenzene sulfonate, alkyl ether sulfate, alkyl sulfate, olefin sulfonate, alkane sulfonate, alkylphenol sulfate, alkylphenol ether sulfate, alkylethanolamide sulfate, alkylethanolamidether sulfate, or alpha sulfo fatty acid or its ester each having at least one alkyl or alkenyl group with from C8 to C22, more usually C10 to C20, aliphatic atoms. alkyl sulfate, alkyl ether sulfate, olefin sulfonate, alkane sulfonate, alkylphenol sulfate, alkylphenol ether sulfate, alkylethanolamide sulfate, alkylethanolamidether sulfate, or alpha sulfo fatty acid or its ester each having at least one alkyl or alkenyl group with from C8 to C22, more usually C10 to C20, aliphatic atoms.
The expression "ether" herein refers to compounds containing one or more oxyalkylene or polyoxyalkylene group. A polyoxyalkyene group preferably has from 2 to 150 oxyethylene and/or oxypropylene units. One or more oxybutylene groups may be additionally, or alternatively to the polyoxypropylene groups, present.
For example, the sulfonated or sulfated surfactant may be sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, potassium hexadecyl benzene sulfonate, sodium dodecyl, dimethyl benzene sulfonate, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium tallow sulfate, potassium oleyl sulfate, ammonium lauryl sulfate, sodium tallow sulfate, potassium oleyl sulfate, ammonium lauryl monoethoxy sulfate, or monethanolamine cetyl 10 mole ethoxylate sulfate.
Other anionic surfactants useful according to the current invention include alkyl sulfosuccinates, such as acyl taurides, alkyl ether sulfosuccinates, isethionates, palmitates, resinates, oleates, linoleates, soaps such as stearates, alkyl ether carboxylates and sodium dihexylsulfosuccinate.
Anionic phosphate esters and alkyl phosphonates, alkylamino and imino methylene phosphonates may be used as surfactant. In each case the anionic surfactant typically contains at least one alkyl or alkenyl chain having from C8 to C22, preferably C10 to C20. In the case of ethers, there is one or more glyceryl group, and/or from 1 to 150 oxyethylene and/or oxypropylene and/or oxybutylene groups. Preferred anionic surfactants are sodium salts. Other salts of commercial interest include those of potassium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, ammonium, monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine, alkyl amines containing up to seven aliphatic carbon atoms, and alkyl and/or hydroxyl alkyl phosphonium.
The surfactant component of the present invention may optionally comprise or consist of non-ionic surfactants. The non-ionic surfactant may be e.g. C10 to C22 alkanolam ides of a mono or di-lower alkanolamine, such as coconut monoethanolamide. Other non-ionic surfactants which may optionally be present, include tertiary acetylenic glycols, polyethoxylated alcohols, polyethoxylated mercaptans, glucamines and their alkoxylates, glucam ides and their alkoxylates, alkylpolyglucosides, polyethoxylated carboxylic acids, polyethoxylated amines, polyethoxylated alkylolam ides, polyethoxylated alkylphenols, polyethoxylated glyceryl esters, polyethoxylated sorbitan esters, polyethoxylated phosphate esters, and the propoxylated, or ethoxylated and propoxylated derivatives of all the aforesaid ethoxylated non-ionics, all having a C8 to C22 alkyl or alkenyl group and up to 20 ethyleneoxy and/or propyleneoxy groups. Also included are polyoxypropylene/polyethylene oxide block copolymers, polyoxybutylene/polyoxyethylene copolymers and polyoxybuylene/polyoxypropylene copolymers. The polyethoxy, polyoxypropylene and polyoxybutylene compounds may be end capped with, e.g. benzyl groups to reduce the foaming tendency.
Compositions of the present invention may contain an amphoteric surfactant. The amphoteric surfactant may for example be a betaine, e.g. a betaine of the formula (R9)3N+CH2COO−, wherein each R9 may be the same or different and is an alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkenyl or alkaryl group and preferably at least one, and more preferably not more than one R9 has an average of from C8 to C20, e.g. C10 to C18 of an aliphatic nature and each other R9 has an average of from C1 to C4.
Other amphoteric surfactants for use according to the current invention include quaternary imidazolines, alkyl amine ether sulfates, sulfobetaines and other quaternary amine or quaternised imidazoline sulfonic acids and their salts, and zwitterionic surfactants, e.g. N-alkyl taurines, carboxylate amidoamines such as
wherein R8 is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl and alkylaryl having 8 to 20 carbon atoms, preferably alkyl or alkenyl groups and amido acids having, in each case, hydrocarbon groups capable of conferring surfactant properties. Typical examples include 2-tallow alkyl, 1-tallow amido alkyl, 1-carboxymethyl imidazoline and 2-coconut alkyl N-carboxymethyl 2 (hydroxyalkyl) imidazoline. Generally speaking any water soluble amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactant compound which comprises a hydrophobic portion including C8 to C20 alkyl or alkenyl group and a hydrophilic portion containing an amine or quaternary ammonium group and a carboxylate, sulfate or sulfonic acid group may be used in the present invention.
Compositions of the present invention may also include cationic surfactants. The cationic surfactant may for example be a quaternary ammonium compound of the formula (19):

wherein                R11 is a C5 to C21 aliphatic hydrocarbon group,        X is an anionic counter ion, and        R10, R12, R13 are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, allyl, propyl, butyl, phenyl or benzyl residues,
Typically alkylammonium surfactants for use according to the invention have one or at most two long aliphatic chains per molecule (e.g. chains having an average of C8 to C20 each, usually C12 to C18) and two or three short chain alkyl groups having C1 to C4 each, e.g. methyl or ethyl groups, preferably methyl groups. Typical examples include dodecyl trimethyl ammonium salts. Benzalkonium salts having one C8 to C20 alkyl group, two C10 to C20 alkyl groups and a benzyl group are also useful. Another useful class of cationic surfactant according to the present invention comprises N-alkyl pyridinium salts wherein the alkyl group has an average of from C8 to C22, preferably C10 to C20. Other similarly alkylated heterocyclic salts, such as N-alkyl isoquinolinium salts, may also be used. Alkylaryl dialkylammonium salts in which the alkylaryl group is an alkyl benzene group having an average of from C8 to C22, preferably C10 to C20 and the other two alkyl groups usually have from C1 to C4, e.g. methyl groups are useful. Other classes of cationic surfactants which are of use in the present invention include so called alkyl imidazoline or quaternized imidazoline salts having at least one alkyl group in the molecule with an average of from C8 to C22 preferably C10 to C20 . Typical examples include alkyl methyl hydroxyethyl imidazolinium salts, alkyl benzyl hydroxyethyl imidazolinium salts, and 2 alkyl-1-alkylamidoethyl imidazoline salts. Another class of cationic surfactants for use according to the current invention comprises the amido amines such as those formed by reacting a fatty acid having C2 to C22 or an ester, glyceride or similar amide forming derivative thereof, with a di or poly amine, such as, for example, ethylene diamine or diethylene triamine, in such a proportion as to leave at least one free amine group. Quaternized amido amines may similarly be employed. Alkyl phosphonium and hydroxyalkyl phosphonium salts having one C8 to C20 alkyl group and three C1 to C4 alkyl or hydroxyalkyl groups may also be used as cationic surfactants in the present invention. Typically the cationic surfactant may be any water soluble compound having a positively ionized group, usually comprising a nitrogen atom, and either one or two alkyl groups each having an average of from C8 to C22. The anionic portion of the cationic surfactant may be any anion which confers water solubility, such as formate, acetate, lactate, tartrate, citrate, chloride, nitrate, sulfate or an alkylsulfate ion having up to C4 such as a higher alkyl sulfate or organic sulfonate. Polyfluorinated anionic, nonionic or cationic surfactants may also be useful in the compositions of the present invention. Examples of such surfactants are polyfluorinated alkyl sulfates and polyfluorinated quaternary ammonium compounds.
Compositions of the current invention may contain a semi-polar surfactant such as an amine oxide e.g. an amine oxide containing one or two (preferably one) C8 to C22 alkyl group, the remaining substituent or substituents being preferably lower alkyl groups, e.g. C1 to C4 alkyl groups or benzyl groups. Particularly preferred for use according to the current invention are surfactants which are effective as wetting agents, typically such surfactants are effective at lowering the surface tension between water and a hydrophobic solid surface. Surfactants are preferred which do not stabilize foams to a substantial extent.
One preferred embodiment uses a surfactant including at least one N-Alkyl-N-acylglucamine according to formula (20)

wherein                R14 is a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated C5-C21-hydrocarbon residue, preferably a C7-C13-hydrocarbon residue, and        R15 is a C1-C4 alkyl residue, preferably methyl.
In another preferred embodiment, the N-Alkyl-N-acylglucamines comprise at least 50 wt.-% of the total amount of N-Alkyl-N-acylglucamines (20) compounds with R14 being C7-C9-alkyl and at most 50 wt.-% of the total amount of N-Alkyl-N-acylglucamines (20) compound with R14 being C11-C13-alkyl.
In another preferred embodiment, the surfactant is including at least one cyclic N-Alkyl-N-acylglucamine of the formulae

whereas in formulae (21), (22) and (23)                R14 is a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated C5-C21-alkyl residue, preferably a C7-C13-alkyl residue, and        R15 is a C1-C4-alkyl residue, preferably methyl.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the surfactant is nonyl phenol ethoxylate

wherein                k is a number from 1 to 20, preferably 6 to 15, more preferably 8 to 12.
Mixtures of two or more of the foregoing surfactants may be used. In particular mixtures of non-ionic surfactants with cationic and/or amphoteric and/or semi polar surfactants or with anionic surfactants may be used. Typically mixtures of anionic and cationic surfactants are avoided, which are often less mutually compatible. The surfactants in the compositions of the current invention may be used as a bio-penetrant.
Group 4
The solvent comprises a group of components that form the make up or remainder of the formulation.
The inventive use or process may in one preferred embodiment occur in an aqueous medium. In one preferred embodiment, water makes the balance to 100 wt-% from the content in oxidizer and corrosion inhibitor.
In another preferred embodiment, there is another solvent together with water present, selected from the group consisting of aliphatic alcohols, aliphatic diols, aliphatic polyhydric alcohols, and aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons.
In a preferred embodiment the solvent comprises one or more components selected from the group consisting of monohydric alkyl alcohols having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, dihydric aliphatic alcohols having 2 to 6 carbon atoms and C1 to C4 alkyl ethers of said alcohols. More preferably, the solvent is selected from the group consisting of water, methanol, ethanol, monoethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, 2-butoxyethanol, 2-ethylhexanol, isopropanol, pentanol, butanol, or mixtures thereof.
In a preferred embodiment methanol is present as solvent. In another preferred embodiment a blend of monoethylene glycol and 2-butoxyethanol is used as solvent. In yet another preferred embodiment, a blend of methanol and 2-butoxyethanol is used as solvent.
The aqueous dithiazine dissolver of the instant invention is capable of dissolving amorphous dithiazine at ambient temperature. Ambient temperature shall mean a temperature range of 20° C. to −10° C.
The dithiazine dissolution according to the instant invention is an exothermic reaction which causes a temperature rise dependent upon the concentration of peroxide used. It can reach the boiling point of the aqueous acid and cause a flash boiling event if not controlled. Typically the exothermicity which is a result of the initial reaction at ambient temperature is controlled by reducing the concentration of the peroxide.
This injection fluid used to inject the composition of the instant invention may additionally contain, other ingredients known to those familiar with the art, including but not restricted to acids, dispersants, viscosifiers, lubricity agents, scale inhibitors, friction reducers, crosslinker, surfactants, scavenger pH adjuster, iron control agents, breakers. This is especially true if any produced water (or recycled water) is used to perform the treatment.
Employing the embodiments of the instant invention not only dissolves the amorphous dithiazine solids that are fouling a given system but also improve nullification of the treatment to render it benign and non-corrosive and damaging to the integrity of the metallurgy and equipment it will be used to treat, thus allowing better integrity management, dithiazine dissolution and corrosion inhibition. Other applications of the embodiments of the instant invention include treating water for downhole injection for pressure support, treatment of water for drilling and work-over use, wettability alteration and well cleanout.

Amorphous dithiazine dissolution formulation and method for using the same


A container assembly for flowable materials, the container assembly comprising: a reusable outer supporting container; and a disposable inner plastic liner; wherein the reusable outer supporting container comprises an outlet pipe comprising a first outlet pipe section connected to the reusable outer supporting container and a second outlet pipe section releasably connectable to the first outlet pipe section, wherein the second outlet pipe section comprises a valve for selectively closing off the second outlet pipe section, and wherein at least one of the first outlet pipe section and the second outlet pipe section comprises an annular recess; and wherein the disposable inner plastic liner comprises a tubular outlet portion, wherein the tubular outlet portion comprises an outer flange configured to be captured between the first outlet pipe section and the second outlet pipe section, and further wherein the outer flange of the tubular outlet portion comprises an annular protrusion configured to be received in the annular recess when the outer flange is captured between the first outlet pipe section and the second outlet pipe section.

In many situations it may be necessary and/or desirable to package flowable materials (e.g., liquids, pulverized solids, etc.) in individual containers. And in many situations it may be desirable to re-use the containers (or at least some part of the containers) after the flowable materials have been discharged from the containers. And in many situations, cleaning the container after discharge of the flowable materials may be expensive, time-consuming and/or inconvenient.
To this end, container assemblies have been developed which comprise a reusable outer supporting container and a disposable inner plastic liner. The reusable outer supporting container typically has a removable top cover for allowing the disposable inner plastic liner to be inserted into the interior of the reusable outer supporting container. And the reusable outer supporting container typically has an outlet pipe on its lower end for receiving a tubular outlet portion of the disposable inner plastic liner, with the outlet pipe having a valve disposed therein for selectively closing off flow through the outlet pipe.
On account of the foregoing construction, the disposable inner plastic liner can be positioned within the interior of the reusable outer supporting container, with the tubular outlet portion of the disposable inner plastic liner being disposed in the outlet pipe of the reusable outer supporting container; the valve in the outlet pipe can be closed off; and the disposable inner plastic liner can be filled with the flowable material, with the reusable outer supporting container providing support for the weight of the flowable material contained within the disposable inner plastic liner. The flowable material can then be maintained within the container assembly, e.g., for storage and/or shipping. When the flowable material is to thereafter be removed from the container assembly, the valve in the outlet pipe of the reusable outer supporting container is opened and the flowable material is dispensed out of the container assembly. Thereafter, the disposable inner plastic liner can be stripped out of the reusable outer supporting container, a new disposable inner plastic liner can be positioned within the interior of the reusable outer supporting container, and then fresh flowable material can be flowed into the disposable inner plastic liner.
In practice, the aforementioned outlet pipe of the reusable outer supporting container is typically formed in two pieces: a first outlet pipe section permanently affixed to the reusable outer supporting container, and a second outlet pipe section containing the aforementioned valve, with the first outlet pipe section being releasably connected to the second outlet pipe section with a clamp. In this way the second outlet pipe section, containing the aforementioned valve, can be easily disconnected from the first outlet pipe section (and hence can be easily disconnected from the reusable outer supporting container) for cleaning and/or replacement purposes. And in practice, the aforementioned tubular outlet portion of the disposable inner plastic liner typically has a flange on its outer end which is captured between the first outlet pipe section and the second outlet pipe section when the second outlet pipe section is clamped to the first outlet pipe section. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,485, issued Nov. 17, 1992 to Sotralentz S. A. and Francis Hermann for CONTAINER ASSEMBLY FOR FLOWABLE MATERIALS, which patent is hereby incorporated herein by reference. And in practice, an O-ring is typically disposed between the clamped first outlet pipe section and the second outlet pipe section in order to ensure a good seal.
Unfortunately, this arrangement, and particularly the handling of the O-ring during clamping of the second outlet pipe section to the first outlet pipe section, and during unclamping of the second outlet pipe section from the first outlet pipe section, has proven to be cumbersome and inconvenient.
Therefore a new approach is needed.

Container assembly for flowable matertals


The invention provides a magnetic detector that exerts no influence on detection accuracy of a magnetic movable body, being a detected body, even if relative positions of magnetic resistance elements and a magnet are out of alignment due to variation occurred in manufacturing process. A magnetic detector includes: a magnetic field detection part constructed of at least two magnetic resistance elements; a magnet for applying a magnetic field to the magnetic resistance elements; a magnetic movable body for changing the magnetic field that is generated by the magnet; and a processing circuit part for outputting a signal based on the change in resistance values of the magnetic resistance elements due to the change in the magnetic field; and in which a shape of the magnetic resistance elements is symmetric with respect to a point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic detector employing a giant magnetic resistance element (hereinafter, it is referred to as GMR element) acting as magnetoelectric transformation device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The GMR element is a laminate formed of alternately laminated magnetic layers and non-magnetic layers of a thickness of several angstroms to dozens of angstroms, being a so-called artificial grid film. (Fe/Cr)n, (Permalloy/Cu/Co/Cu)n, and (Co/Cu)n are known as this artificial grid film (n means the number of laminates).
It is a recent trend that the following magnetic detection method is employed for use in on-vehicle rotary sensor and the like. In this magnetic detection method, electrodes are formed at each terminal of a magnetic resistance segment constructed of the above-mentioned GMR element to constitute a bridge circuit, a power supply of a constant voltage and a constant current is connected between these two opposed electrodes of this bridge circuit, and a change in resistance values of the magnetic resistance segment is transformed into a change in voltages to detect a change in magnetic fields acting on this magnetic resistance element.
In the Japanese Patent Publication (unexamined) No. 69546/2004, such a conventional magnetic detector is disclosed, which is hereinafter described referring to the drawings. FIG. 1(a), (b), (c) and (d) show explanatory views of a constitution of a conventional magnetic detector disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication (unexamined) No. 69546/2004. In the drawing, FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view, FIG. 1(b) is a top plan view, and FIG. 1(c) is an enlarged view of a magnetic resistance segment.
With reference to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 designates a magnetic movable body, for example, a gear that includes protrusions on a circumference of a disk, and has a shape required for changing a magnetic field. Numeral 2 designates a processing circuit part in which a circuit is printed on the surface of a board. Numerals 2a and 2b designate magnetic resistance segments. Numeral 3 designates a magnet. Numeral 4 designates a rotary axis of the magnetic movable body 1. When this rotary axis 4 rotates, the magnetic movable body 1 also rotates in synchronization. In addition, the magnetic resistance segments 2a and 2b are shown respectively in one black block in FIGS. 1(a) and (b), and a shape (pattern) of the magnetic resistance segment is shown in an enlarged manner in FIG. 1(c).
FIG. 2 shows constitution of processing circuit part 2 of the above-mentioned conventional magnetic detector. With reference to FIG. 2, the processing circuit part 2 consists of a wheatstone bridge circuit 11 including two magnetic resistance segments (GMR elements) 2a and 2b, a differential amplifier circuit 12, a comparator circuit 13, and an output circuit 14. In addition, numeral 151 designates a transistor, numeral 152 designates an output terminal, VCC designates a constant voltage, and Vref designates a reference voltage.
With reference to FIG. 2, a constant voltage VCC is applied to a bridge circuit constituted of the magnetic resistance segments 2a and 2b fixed resistors 2c and 2d, and a change in resistance values of the magnetic resistance segments 2a and 2b caused by a change in magnetic fields is transformed into a change in voltages. The mentioned signals having been changed in voltage are amplified by the differential amplifier circuit 12, and are inputted to the comparator circuit 13. The signals having been compared with a predetermined reference voltage Vref by the comparator circuit 13 are transformed into a final output of "0" or "1" (=VCC) by the transistor 151 of the output circuit 14, and are outputted from the output terminal 152.
Now, operations of the conventional magnetic-detector are described referring to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the operations of the conventional magnetic detector. In this drawing, (a) shows positions of the magnetic movable body 1; (b) shows resistance values of the magnetic resistance segments 2a and 2b; (c) shows outputs from the differential amplifier circuit 12; and (d) shows final outputs respectively.
When the magnetic movable body 1 shown in FIG. 1 rotates about the rotary axis 4, magnetic fields to be applied to the magnetic resistance segments 2a and 2b change. Further, as shown in FIGS. 3(a) and (b), the change in resistances corresponding to a magnetic field to be applied to the magnetic resistance segments 2a and 2b comes out in accordance with a shape of the magnetic movable body 1.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3(c), outputs from the differential amplifier circuit 12 can be obtained due to the change in the above-mentioned resistance values. Then, as shown in FIG. 3(d), the output form of the differential amplifier circuit 12 is subject to a waveform shaping by the comparator circuit 13, and final output signals of "1" or "0" can be obtained corresponding to a shape of the magnetic movable body 1.
However, recently, there has been an increasing demand for higher detection accuracy in the above-described magnetic detector; whereas, there is a limit in achieving higher accuracy in detecting positions of the concave or convex parts of the magnetic movable body 1 due to variation in relative positions between the magnetic resistance segments 2a, 2b and the magnet 3 that occurs in the manufacturing process.
FIGS. 4(a) and (b) schematically show cases where relative positions between the magnetic resistance segments 2a, 2b and the magnet 3 are both arranged with high accuracy, and FIGS. 4(c) and (d) show cases where relative positions thereof are both out of alignment. FIGS. 4(a) and (b) are examples of a magnetic detector arranged with high accuracy, and in which (a) shows a case of the magnetic movable body 1 being close to the magnetic resistance segments 2a and 2b and (b) shows a case of the magnetic movable body 1 being apart from the magnetic resistance segments 2a and 2b. In both cases, in-plane magnetic fields to be applied to the magnetic resistance segments 2a and 2b are equal. That is, a vertical magnetic field and a horizontal magnetic field with respect to the magnetic resistance segments are equivalent.
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 4(c) and (d), in the case where a positional relation between the magnetic resistance segments 2a, 2b, and the magnet 3 is misaligned, in-plane magnetic fields to be applied to the magnetic resistance fields 21, 2b are unequal. That is, as for the magnetic resistance segment 2a, a horizontal magnetic field component comes to be more intense to a long side thereof. On the contrary, as for the magnetic resistance segment 2b, a vertical magnetic field component comes to be more intense to a long side thereof. Therefore, a vertical magnetic field and a horizontal magnetic field with respect to the magnetic resistance segments 2a, 2b are unequal.
Now, features of a magnetic field to be applied and a change in resistance values of a GMR element, being a magnetic resistance element, are described. The GMR element is an element magnetic-sensitive in plane, and has a considerably large MR effect (rate of MR change) as compared with a magnetic resistance element (MR element); and with which element being dependent on only a relative angle between directions of magnetization of the adjacent magnetic layers, the same change in resistance values can be obtained even if a direction of an external magnetic field has any angular difference with respect to current.
FIGS. 5(a) and (b) show relations between the intensity of a magnetic field of a GMR element and a resistance value of a GMR element. FIG. 5(a) shows a case where relative positions between the magnetic resistance segments 2a, 2b and the magnet 3 are arranged with high accuracy. FIG. 5(b) shows the case of the foregoing relative positions being out of alignment. In the GMR element, with respect to a magnetic field to be applied in plane, a difference is produced between resistance values of the GMR element due to the action of magnetic fields in vertical direction (direction indicated by the arrow A of FIG. 4(a)) and a horizontal direction (direction indicated by the arrow B of FIG. 4(a)) relative to a shape (pattern) of the GMR element. With reference to FIGS. 5(a) and (b), a thick line indicates a parallel magnetic field to be applied to a GMR pattern, and a thin line indicates a vertical magnetic field to be applied to a GMR pattern.
Arrows of FIG. 5(a) indicate ranges of a resistance value and a magnetic field of a GMR element in the case where in-plane magnetic fields shown in FIG. 4 are equal or even, and show that these ranges are located at the halfway point of the vertical magnetic field and the horizontal magnetic field. Furthermore, arrows of FIG. 5(b) indicate ranges of a magnetic field and a resistance of a GMR element in the case where in-plane magnetic fields shown in FIGS. 4(c) and (d) are unequal or uneven, and show that the magnetic resistance segment 2a possesses a larger horizontal magnetic field and the magnetic resistance segment 2b possesses a larger vertical magnetic field. In the case where in-plane magnetic fields are unequal or uneven as shown in FIG. 5(b), a difference in the range of resistance value change comes out between the magnetic resistance segment 2a and the magnetic resistance segment 2b. That is, the range of resistance change in the magnetic resistance segment 2a becomes lower than the range of resistance change in the magnetic resistance segment 2b.
Operations of a magnetic detector in the case where the magnetic resistance segments 2a, 2b and the magnet 3 are out of alignment are described referring to FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, (a) shows positions of the magnetic movable body 1, (b) shows resistance values of the magnetic resistance segments 2a, 2b, (c) shows outputs from the differential amplifier circuit 12, and (d) shows final outputs, respectively.
As shown in FIGS. 6(c) and (d), a difference is generated in the changes of resistance value of the GMR element, and an output waveform from the differential amplifier circuit 12 shifts to one side. Since a voltage value of the comparator circuit 13 is not changed, displacement of output signals comes out as compared with the case where the magnetic resistance segments 2a, 2b and the magnet 3 are in alignment, resulting in considerable reduction of detection accuracy.


Cooling fan with a fan wheel equipped with blades and an electric motor that has a stator and a rotor that is supported in a rotationally fixed manner on a driven shaft. For a purpose of a cost-saving and compact design of the cooling fan with low fan noise, the rotor is embodied as an external rotor with a bell-shaped pole housing encompassing the stator. The fan wheel is rotationally fixed in relation to the pole housing so that the fan wheel axially encompasses the pole housing at least partially and contacts the outer circumference of the pole housing at a number of points.

The invention is based on a cooling fan, in particular for vehicles.
In a known cooling fan of this type, also called a ventilator or blower, (DE 43 29 804 A1), the fan wheel is pressed against the motor shaft and, in order to fasten the motor to a component in the vehicle, a mount is provided which secures the electric motor on its stator which constitutes the pole housing. The mount is manufactured in two parts comprising a motor mount and an adapter, and a number of rubber-elastic support elements are disposed between the motor mount and adapter, which vibrationally decouple the unit made up of the electric motor and the fan wheel and consequently damp a noise transmission to the vehicle parts.
In electric motors of the external rotor type (DE 196 52 263.3), in order to reduce the structurally induced intense noise generation of an external rotor, the proposal has already been made to produce the bell-, cap-, or cup-shaped pole housing encompassing the stator out of a three-layer composite sheet metal in which a plastic layer is embedded between two covering layers of iron or steel.
The cooling fan according to the invention, has an advantage that due to the use of an electric motor of the external rotor type, it is embodied in a very compact, space-saving manner and the motor, it has a low noise level that is sufficient for cooling fan purposes so that an expensive manufacture of the pole housing of the electric motor out of composite sheet metal can be eliminated. This is achieved according to the invention because, the fan wheel rests against the circumference of the pole housing and therefore prevents the housing from vibrating. As a result, body sound waves, which are produced by changing forces and moments acting on the pole housing, are strongly damped and can only be transmitted in a sharply reduced form via the outer surface of the pole housing. This damping action is actually not as good as when a composite sheet metal is used for the pole housing, but it is completely sufficient for cooling fan purposes since the remaining noise still being transmitted by the rotor falls below the noise level of the fan wheel. Among other things, the quality of the damping depends largely on the forces with which the fan wheel presses against the pole housing at the contact points and also depends on the damping action of the fan wheel itself, which constitutes a spring-damper system. The damping action of the cooling fan is influenced by the geometric design and by the choice of material.
Advantageous improvements and updates of the cooling fan are possible measures set forth hereinafter.
According to a preferable embodiment form of the invention, the contact points of the fan wheel are located at the points of the pole housing in which the greatest vibrational amplitudes occur in the pole housing. Since the bell-, cap-, or cup-shaped pole housing exhibits the greatest vibrational amplitude at the leading edge, similar to a bell, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the contact points of the fan wheel are intentionally placed in this vicinity and are preferably embodied by damping projections which protrude inward radially from the end face of the fan wheel disposed in the vicinity of the bell edge of the pole housing and are of one piece with this end face.
This is achieved in a structurally simple manner according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the fan wheel is provided with a cylindrical wheel part which axially encompasses the pole housing at least partially with a radial gap and is supported against the pole housing by the above-mentioned damping projections, which are preferably disposed evenly distributed over the circumference, wherein in order to improve the damping action, axial slots are formed into the cylindrical wheel part of the fan wheel, preferably distributed evenly over the circumference.
Alternatively or in addition, according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, additional damping shaped parts are disposed between the fan wheel and the pole housing. In the embodiment of the fan wheel with a cylindrical wheel part, with a shaped part embodied as a ring, this shaped part is contained in a diametrically enlarged end section of the pole housing, wherein the shaped part is supported against the inner wall of the end section and against the outer circumference of the pole housing.


A robot control system according to an aspect of an embodiment includes a plurality of robots, at least one external axis, and converters. The robots perform axis behaviors. The external axes are a movable axis shared by the robots and are mutually connected to the robots. Each of the converters assumes a virtual robot formed by connecting all the external axes to the one robot and converts acquisition values on positions of the robot and the external axes acquired for the virtual robot into conversion values indicating absolute positions in a predetermined normal coordinate system.

A conventional robot control system that controls a multi-axis robot has been known. The robot control system performs interference prevention control by which a multi-axis robot prevents interfering with surrounding obstacles on the basis of axis position information detected by a position detector such as an encoder. The robot control system has been known as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-90403.
A two-arm robot that has one body and a pair of multi-axis robots acting as two arms has further been known. In the case of the two-arm robot, the robot control system performs interference prevention control on the basis of individual position detection for each arm, that is to say, for each multi-axis robot.
When the body of the two-arm robot is not fixed to a fixed surface such as a floor but is fixed to movable external axes such as pivot axes or travelling axes, the robot control system performs individual interference prevention control on the external axes.
However, because the conventional robot control system performs individual interference prevention control on multi-axis robots and external axes as described above, the robot control system has a problem in that the overall process of the system is easily complicated.
A behavior of a multi-axis robot normally requires certainty. Therefore, it is preferable to avoid complication that has an influence on the whole system in order to guarantee the certainty.
The problem is also caused due to the entire control of robots that are connected to each other, in addition to the interference prevention control of a two-arm robot.

Robot control system and robot control method


Methods of forming 3D NAND devices are discussed. Some embodiments form 3D NAND devices with increased cell density. Some embodiments form 3D NAND devices with decreased vertical and/or later pitch between cells. Some embodiments form 3D NAND devices with smaller CD memory holes. Some embodiments form 3D NAND devices with silicon layer between alternating oxide and nitride materials.

As semiconductor technology advances, the market demands increasing smaller chips with increasingly more structures per unit area. One class of devices which has seen many advances in miniaturization are memory devices. As the demand for higher density increases, the typical approach in 3D NAND devices has been to stack more layers. Yet additional layers result in thicker stacks which are increasingly difficult to etch due to increasing aspect ratios. Accordingly, one solution has been to decrease the vertical pitch between layers so that total stack height does not increase.
Yet with thinner layers, cross-talk between neighboring cells has become an issue. Cross-talk can lead to poor device performance and largely defeat the benefits of the increased chip density. One way to reduce cross-talk is to increase the surface area of charge-trap layers. Therefore, there is a need for methods of increasing the surface area of charge-trap layers without increasing vertical pitch between cells.
Another potential solution for increasing density is to place memory devices closer together laterally or reduce lateral pitch. This solution is complicated by the required critical dimension (CD) of the memory hole or channel. If the CD of the memory hole can be reduced, then cells can be moved closer together without decreasing performance. Therefore, there is a need for methods of decreasing the CD of memory holes in 3D NAND devices.


A method for synchronizing time in a plurality of graphical displays provided within a human-machine interface (HMI) includes displaying stored data via the plurality of graphical displays, receiving data refresh configuration parameters via a configuration tool within the HMI, and storing the data refresh configuration parameters in a memory. The method also includes generating, by the HMI, a data refresh message that includes the data refresh configuration parameters, and refreshing, by at least a portion of the plurality of graphical displays, display of the stored data based on the data refresh configuration parameters.

The embodiments described herein relate generally to graphical displays used to display data and, more particularly, to methods, systems, and computer-readable storage media for use in synchronizing the data displayed by such graphical displays.
At least some known systems enable a user to use a standard web browser over a network to modify a human-machine interface (HMI) and/or a control status of a machine having controllable parts such that the modifications are displayed to a remote user in real time. However, such systems do not enable specification of time synchronization parameters for use in displaying the modifications to the remote user.
Moreover, at least some known systems distribute time values to nodes within the system via a network. The distribution is synchronized by a master clock that generates a master time value and transmits the master time value to the nodes for use in synchronizing a slave clock within each node. The master clock may be a designated node or a server. Further, at least some known systems attempt to synchronize time across the system using a master clock and, if synchronization fails by the master clock, by using a reserve master clock. However, such systems do not enable specification of time synchronization parameters for use in displaying the modifications to the remote user.

Method, system, and storage media for global synchronization of time