The present invention relates to a process for the production of coatings by coating substrates of any type with a coating composition of which the binder consists essentially of a mixture of:. (a) a polyisocyanate component and PA0 (b) at least one organic polyhydroxyl compound, distinguished by the fact that the polyisocyanate component. (a) is a reaction product obtained from:. (i) a polyisocyanate mixture which, in addition to from about 20 to 80%, by weight, of 2,4'-diisocyanato diphenyl methane, contains a total of from about 80 to 20%, by weight, of 2,2'-diisocyanato diphenyl methane, 4,4'-diisocyanato diphenyl methane and, optionally, higher nuclear polyisocyanates of the diphenyl methane series and PA2 (ii) a polyhydroxy polyether containing at least one tertiary amine nitrogen atom and having an average molecular weight of from about 500 to 10,000 or a polyhydroxy polyether mixture containing at least one such polyhydroxy polyether and having an average molecular weight of from about 500 to 10,000.. components (i) and (ii) having been reacted in an NCO:OH equivalent ratio of from about 300:1 to 10:1 to form a reaction product containing free isocyanate groups and urethane groups.

Solvent-free and low-solvent two-component polyurethane lacquers have acquired increasing significance over recent years. Two-component lacquers based on 4,4'-diisocyanato diphenyl methane are ideally suitable for quick-hardening coatings on concrete, steel, highly stressed industrial floors, ships decks and fuel oil containers, and are being used to an ever increasing extent. Such lacquers have the considerable advantage that they harden extremely quickly and lead more quickly to the expected properties at room temperature than is possible with any other known 2-component polyurethane lacquer. They have the additional advantage of a relatively low vapor pressure.
Nevertheless, conventional products are also attended by considerable disadvantages:
4,4'-diphenyl methane diisocyanate may only be used as a starting product for polysolvent-free lacquers because the pure compound crystallizes at 37.degree. C. and, when stored, dimerizes into a solid substance. The starting product used contains polyfunctional homologue mixtures having a functionality of greater than 2. Although its tendency towards crystallization is minimal, it is, on the other hand, very dark in color, with the result that it cannot be used for light-colored lacquers. In addition, the viscosity of this starting product is relatively high, which makes it difficult to process, for example, into solvent-free spray lacquers. Another disadvantage is that these starting polyisocyanates often show only limited compatibility with various reactants, such as hydroxy polyethers. When the components are mixed, hazy mixtures are initially formed and only become clear and homogeneous, if at all, after a certain preliminary reaction.
The pot-life of the mixture of the two components is also an important factor. The known two-component systems which are based on 4,4'-diphenyl methane diisocyanate and contain less than 20% of 2,4'-isomer have only a short pot-life and, hence, a limited processing time, with the result that it is only possible to make up relatively small batches (cf. Hans Wagner/Hans Friederich Sarx, Lackkunstharze, Carl Hanser Verlag, 5th Edition, Munich, 1971, inter alia pages 158 to 170; Hans Knittel, Lehrbuch der Lacke und Beschichtungen, Vol 1, part 2, Verlag W. A. Colomb in H. Hennemann GmbH, BerlinOberschwandorf, 1973, pages 586 eq seq).
Accordingly, there is a need for solvent-free and low-solvent polyurethane lacquers for quick-hardening coatings which show improved compatibility, lead to longer pot-lives, the polyisocyanate component of which does not have a high vapor pressure and does not show any tendency towards the development of deposits and crystallization, are light in color and have none of the above-mentioned disadvantages of conventional two-component polyurethane lacquers.
The present invention provides a new lacquer system which satisfies the above requirements. It has been found that two-component polyurethane lacquers having the requisite properties may be obtained by using as the polyisocyanate component certain reaction products defined hereinafter of certain selected polyisocyanates of the diphenyl methane series with certain selected polyhydroxy polyethers.

Polyurethane coatings produced from (1) a polyisocyanate mixture of polyisocyanates from the diphenol methane series and a polyhydroxy polyether containing at least one tertiary amine nitrogen with (2) a polyol in a two component coating system


A method of washing dishes in an automated dishwasher utilizing a high velocity sprayer and high velocity spray phase for forcibly spraying water from concavities on washed dishes or utensils in which liquid can puddle in the cavities of the dishes or utensils during previous washing or rinsing cycles.

Automatic dishwashers for use in a typical household include a tub defining a treating chamber and a spraying system for recirculating liquid throughout the tub to remove soils from the dishes and utensils. Two common configurations are a door-type, where a pivoting door provides access to a treating chamber where dishes are washed or a drawer-type where a drawer provides access to the as well as defining a major portion of the treating chamber. In either configuration, a rack for holding dishes to be cleaned is typically provided within the treating chamber. Dishes, especially open-top containers such as glasses, bowls, cups, etc., are placed in the rack with the open-top down so that the bottoms of the containers are facing up. The bottoms often provide a surface on which liquid used during the cleaning process can collect and forms puddles. The puddles of liquid can be great enough that the liquid is not evaporated during the drying phase of the cycle of operation. Upon the removal of the dish from the treating chamber, the puddled liquid can spill and wet other dishes, which is undesirable by most consumers.

Method of using high velocity water to remove puddling in a dishwasher


A semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor substrate, an interlayer insulating layer formed above the semiconductor substrate, a first metal interconnection embedded in the interlayer insulating layer with a surface thereof exposed to the same plane as a surface of the interlayer insulating layer, a diffusion preventive layer formed on at least the first metal interconnection to prevent diffusion of a metal included in the first metal interconnection, a nitrogen-doped silicon oxide layer formed on the diffusion preventive layer, a fluorine-doped silicon oxide layer formed on the nitrogen-doped silicon oxide layer, and a second metal interconnection embedded in the fluorine-doped silicon oxide layer with a surface thereof exposed to the same plane as a surface of the fluorine-doped silicon oxide layer, and electrically connected to the first metal interconnection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to a semiconductor device employing a fluorine-doped silicon oxide layer as an interconnection insulating layer, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In prior art semiconductor devices, SiO2 layer has been used as an insulating layer to electrically isolate interconnections. Such an SiO2 layer is primarily produced from source gas, for example, silane (SiH4) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) by a low pressure or atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. Particularly, plasma chemical vapor deposition can produce an SiO2 layer at a low temperature of about 400° C., using TEOS and O2, and the SiO2 layer produced in this way has been widely used. Further, as compared with other thin layer producing methods, the CVD method often uses high purity gas as a reaction source, and provides high quality layers.
However, as microstructure of semiconductor elements has become widespread in recent years, concern about reduction of signal transmission speed has arisen. This implies a problem that reduced interconnection space increases the capacitance between interconnections and reduces signal transmission speed. The reduction in signal transmission speed seems to be one of the negative factors in increasing the performance of semiconductor devices. Therefore, to solve the problem, it is essential to reduce permittivity of the insulating layer formed between interconnections to the lowest possible value.
To reduce the permittivity, in recent years, fluorine-doped silicon oxide or fluorine-doped silicate glass (FSG) has been developed together with the parallel plate CVD technique or high density plasma CVD technique (HDP-CVD). As a method of producing high-density plasma, use of electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) or the inductive coupled plasma (ICP) coil or helicon wave, for example, has been reported.
FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of Cu multi-layer interconnection using a conventional FSG layer. In the same drawing, reference number 81 indicates an FSG layer and likewise, 82 indicates a barrier metal layer, 83 indicates a Cu interconnection in a lower layer, 84 indicates a silicon nitride layer, 85 indicates an FSG layer, 86 indicates another barrier metal layer, 87 indicates a Cu interconnection of an upper layer, 88 indicates another silicon nitride layer and 89 indicates a silicon substrate, respectively. The Cu interconnections 83 and 87 are dual damascene interconnections.
In the FSG layer, as has been reported, the higher the fluorine (F) density, the lower the permittivity, and at the same time, moisture absorption increases. As the moisture absorption of FSG layers 81 and 85 increases, moisture (H2O) is taken into these FSG layers. And, H caused by the moisture reacts with F contained in these FSG layers, and HF is liberated from the FSG layers 81 and 85.
Even if moisture is not taken in, HF is produced from H that is inherently contained in the FSG layer 81. Furthermore, HF is also produced by reaction of hydrogen (H) and moisture (H2O) in silicon nitride layers 84 and 88 with surplus fluorine (F) in FSG layers 81 and 85. FSG layers 81 and 85 and silicon nitride layers 84 and 88 contain H, because gaseous materials such as silane and ammonia containing H are employed as source gas, and this H is mixed into FSG layers 81/85 and silicon nitride layers 84/88.
The above-noted HF will cause corrosion of Cu interconnections 83/87 or barrier metal layers 82/86, and degrade adhesion between Cu interconnections 83/87 and insulating layers 81/84/85/88. Further, this corrosion and deteriorated adhesion will cause more serious problems, for example, layer peeling off, bonding durability decline and decrease in reliability.
As described above, it has been proposed to use an FSG layer in interconnections as an insulating layer with low permittivity, to prevent signal transmission delay. However, there is a problem in using an FSG layer, that is, moisture absorption is high and HF is generated, causing corrosion of interconnection itself or barrier metal layer or peeling off of layers. Thus, a semiconductor device employing fluorine-doped silicon oxide as an insulating layer for interconnections and including multi-layer interconnection to decrease the influence of HF, and a method of manufacturing the same have been expected.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof


A rail-mounted hanging file arrangement includes a generally horizontally elongated rail which is supported in upwardly spaced relationship from the worksurface so as to extend generally along but above the rear edge thereof. The rail defines therein a longitudinally elongated slot which opens forwardly of the rail, and a file hanging frame is releasably attached to the rail at substantially any position therealong so that the frame is carried entirely by the rail and projects rearwardly a small distance therefrom to permit conventional hanging type files to be stored just rearwardly of the rail adjacent the rear edge of the worksurface. The file hanging frame includes a pair of generally parallel side legs which are spaced so as to permit a plurality of hanging files to be suspended therebetween, and the hang tabs provided on opposite ends of the files can engage the side legs. These side legs of the file hanging frame at their front ends fixedly join to front legs which project downwardly and also slope inwardly in converging relationship with one another. The front legs at the lower ends thereof respectively join to securing legs of short extent which are insertable into the slot of the support rail to fixedly but releasably secure the frame to this support rail.

The modern office has become exceedingly crowded and cluttered because of the increasing amount of equipment utilized by an office worker, such as a computer and the like. At the same time the need to work with, handle and store large numbers of documents continues to significantly contribute to the overall clutter and crowdedness of the office. Numerous types of closed and opened storage tools, including a wide variety of types and sizes of tools adapted to be mounted on walls or enclosed drawers, have been developed in an effort to provide increased but accessible storage of documents and articles. Many of these tools or accessories, however, either require mounting on a wall or containment in a closed storage unit, or require that bulky or complex overhead storage structures be supported on and project upwardly from a worksurface or table top, and the latter greatly impact both the usability of the worksurface and the openness and visibility afforded a person working at the worksurface.
In recognition of the disadvantages associated with conventional structures of the type summarized above, the present invention relates to a rail-mounted hanging file arrangement which, in a preferred embodiment, can be associated with a rail which readily mounts to a worksurface so as to project along the worksurface in upwardly space relation adjacent a rear edge thereof, with a hanging-file frame being readily attachable to the rail to provide convenient storage for at least a limited number of conventional hanging-type files closely adjacent the worksurface so as to provide convenient access thereto, without requiring cumbersome and complex structures which mount on and obstruct the worksurface.
In the rail-mounted file-hanging arrangement of this invention, a generally horizontally elongated rail is supported in upwardly spaced relationship from the worksurface so as to extend generally along but above the rear edge thereof. The rail defines therein a longitudinally elongated slot which opens generally forwardly of the rail. A file-hanging frame is releasably and easily attached to the rail at substantially any position therealong so that the frame is carried entirely by the rail and projects rearwardly a small distance therefrom to permit conventional hanging-type files to be stored just rearwardly of the rail adjacent the rear edge of the worksurface. The frame arrangement includes a pair of generally parallel side legs which are spaced upwardly from and project rearwardly relative to the support rail. The spacing between the side legs is such as to permit a plurality of hanging files to be suspended therebetween. The hang tabs provided on opposite ends of the files engage the side legs. At their front ends the side legs fixedly join to front legs which project downwardly and also preferably slope inwardly in converging relationship to one another. The front legs at their lower ends respectively join to rearwardly cantilevered securing legs of short extent, the latter being insertable into the slot of the support rail to fixedly but releasably secure the frame to the support rail. The frame is preferably a one-piece structure, such as by being formed in one piece from an elongate metal rod, and in the preferred embodiment includes a generally horizontally elongate rear leg joined between rear ends of the side legs.
The hanging frame arrangement of this invention can be economically manufactured so as to provide a very compact but lightweight structure. The resulting hanging frame arrangement can be readily mounted on or removed from the support rail, and can be positioned substantially at any desired location longitudinally along the support rail to facilitate convenient use thereof. The hanging frame arrangement, when mounted on the rail, permits several hanging-type file folders to be suspended downwardly from the frame closely adjacent the rear of the support rail, and generally within space adjacent a wall if the worksurface is mounted adjacent a wall. The frame also positions the folders such that they are generally positioned above the worksurface and thus are readily visible and accessible to a person using the worksurface. Several such frames can also be easily mounted longitudinally along the support rail if desired.
While the support rail in a preferred embodiment is mounted on one or more stanchions which are secured to and project upwardly from the worksurface adjacent a rear edge thereof, it will be recognized that the support rail can also be cantilevered forwardly from an adjacent wall for disposition above an adjacent worksurface if desired.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, as well as structural and functional variations thereof, will be apparent to persons familiar with this type of working environment upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.


An electronic timepiece has a wheel train mounted for undergoing rotation and a transmission wheel for undergoing rotation in accordance with rotation of the wheel train. A contact point spring is connected to the transmission wheel for rotation therewith. The contact point spring extends substantially linearly through a rotational center of the transmission wheel. First and second detection patterns contact the contact point spring during rotation of the transmission wheel to generate a rotational position detecting signal corresponding to a rotational position of the transmission wheel. The first and second detection patterns are disposed at an angle of substantially 180 degree relative to the rotational center of the transmission wheel.

The present invention relates to an electronic timepiece having a transmission wheel rotational position detecting apparatus for detecting a position along a rotational direction of a wheel, such as a transmission wheel, included in a wheel train, such as an obverse train or a calendar train, of the electronic timepiece.
In a conventional electronic timepiece, as shown by FIG. 38, a portion of an obverse wheel train 930, for example, a 24-h contact point 932 for detecting a rotational position of the obverse wheel train 930 is provided on an hour wheel. When the 24-contact point 932 detects a position in correspondence with twelve o""clock at night, a circuit block 934 rotates a date driving motor 936 by a detection signal outputted from the 24-h contact point 932. By rotating the date driving motor 936, a date indicator 912 is rotated via rotation of a reduction wheel train 938. Thereby, display of date can be changed.
According to such a conventional electronic timepiece, a conduction pin is provided at a region proximate to an outer peripheral portion of a gear portion of the hour wheel. Further, there is constructed a constitution in which when the hour wheel is rotated, the conduction pin is moved to thereby bring a contact point spring into contact with a contact point pattern of the circuit block, thereafter, when the hour wheel is further rotated, the conduction pin is detached from the contact point spring and the contact point spring is detached from the contact point pattern of the circuit block. That is, the contact point spring corresponds to the 24-h contact point 932 and is constituted to detect a position in correspondence with twelve o""clock at night when the contact point spring is brought into contact with the contact point pattern of the circuit block.
Further, according to a structure in which by rotating the date driving motor, a date driving wheel is rotated via rotation of an intermediate date driving wheel and a date indicator is rotated by rotating the date driving wheel, teeth shape of gears of the intermediate date driving wheel, the date driving wheel and the date indicator are constituted by a circular arc gear shape including one or more of circular arcs.
Accordingly, when the date indicator is exerted with an external force such as impact, rotation of the date indicator is hampered only by index torque of the date driving motor.
However, according to the conventional electronic timepiece, there pose the following problems.
(1) The contact point spring is formed by a material which is easy to flex and therefore, it is difficult to position a portion of the contact point spring which is brought into contact with the contact point pattern.
(2) A large space is needed to arrange a contact point spring having a sufficient length of the spring.
(3) When the portion of the contact point spring which is brought into contact with the contact point pattern is arranged remote from the contact point pattern more than necessary, even when the hour wheel is rotated, the contact point spring cannot be brought into contact with the contact point pattern of the circuit block by the conduction pin and time display or calendar display cannot be carried out accurately.
(4) When the portion of the contact point spring which is brought into contact with the contact point pattern is arranged proximate to the contact point pattern more than necessary, in the case where the hour wheel is rotated, pressure of the contact point spring applied on the conduction pin is increased, a malfunction may be caused in operating the electronic timepiece, or the electronic timepiece may be stopped.
(5) The structure of the hour wheel becomes complicated and the contact point spring having a sufficient spring length is needed.
(6) According to the conventional electronic timepiece with calendar provided with the 24-h contact point for detecting the rotational position of the obverse wheel train at a portion of the obverse wheel train, a number of wheel trains are arranged between the obverse wheel train and the date indicator and therefore, it has been difficult to accurately set the position of the date indicator owing to backlashes of the respective wheel trains.
(7) It has been difficult to promote an accuracy for detecting the position of the hour wheel along the rotational direction.
(8) There has been a concern of rotating the indication wheel or the date indicator when the electronic timepiece is exerted with external force by impact or the like. In order to hamper such a positional shift of the date indicator, index torque (stationary state maintaining force: a torque resisting against being rotated in a stationary state) needs to increase. However, when the index torque of the motor is increased, power necessary for driving the motor is also increased and battery life of the electronic timepiece is reduced.
Hence, in order to resolve such conventional problems, it is an object of the invention to provide an electronic timepiece having an apparatus of detecting a rotational position of a transmission wheel for accurately detecting a position of the transmission wheel along a rotational direction thereof.
Further, it is another object of the invention to provide a small-sized electronic timepiece having an apparatus of detecting a rotational position of a transmission wheel.
Further, it is another object of the invention to provide a small-sized thin-type electronic timepiece with calendar.
Further, it is another object of the invention to provide an electronic timepiece having an apparatus of detecting a rotational position of a transmission wheel having high durability function of a contact point.
Further, it is another object of the invention to provide an electronic timepiece having a date driving mechanism and an indication wheel detecting mechanism which are small-sized and simplified.
Further, it is another object of the invention to provide an electronic timepiece with no concern of rotating an indication wheel or a date indicator even when the electronic timepiece is exerted with external force such as impact.
According to the invention, there is provided an electronic timepiece characterized by comprising a transmission wheel rotated based on rotation of a wheel train included in an electronic timepiece and a contact point spring fixed to the transmission wheel and rotated integrally with the transmission wheel and having a conductivity, wherein the contact point spring is constituted to extend substantially linearly by passing through a rotational center of the transmission wheel, further comprising a first detection pattern and a second detection pattern constituted to be capable of being brought into contact with the contact point spring when the contact point spring is rotated, wherein the first detection pattern and the second detection pattern are arranged to constitute an angle of substantially 180 degree relative to the rotational center of the transmission wheel.
The electronic timepiece according to the invention is constituted such that when the transmission wheel is rotated and the contact point spring is brought into contact with the first detection pattern and brought into contact with the second detection pattern, a rotational position detecting signal is generated.
By this construction, the rotational position of the transmission wheel can be detected by using small-sized and simplified parts.
Further, according to the invention, there is provided an electronic timepiece characterized by comprising a transmission wheel rotated based on rotation of a wheel train and a contact point spring fixed to the transmission wheel and rotated integrally with the transmission wheel and having a conductivity, wherein the contact point spring is constituted to extend substantially linearly by passing through a rotational center of the transmission wheel, further comprising a first detection pattern and a second detection pattern constituted to be capable of being brought into contact with the contact point spring when the contact point spring is rotated.
The electronic timepiece is constituted such that the first detection pattern is arranged to constitute an angle of substantially 30 degree relative to the rotational center of the transmission wheel, the second detection pattern is arranged to constitute an angle of substantially 320 degree relative to the rotational center of the transmission wheel, and when the transmission wheel is rotated and the contact point spring is brought into contact with the first detection pattern and brought into contact with the second detection pattern, a rotational position detecting signal is generated.
Further, according to the invention, there is provided an electronic timepiece comprising a transmission wheel rotated based on ration of a wheel train included in the electronic timepiece and a contact point spring fixed to the transmission wheel and rotated integrally with the transmission wheel and having a conductivity. The contact point spring extends substantially linearly by passing through a rotational center of the transmission wheel. A first detection pattern and a second detection pattern are brought into contact with the contact point spring when the contact point spring is rotated. A first dummy pattern and a second dummy pattern are brought into contact with the contact point spring when the contact point spring is rotated. The first detection pattern and the second detection pattern are arranged to constitute an angle of substantially 180 degree relative to the rotational center of the transmission wheel.
The electronic timepiece according to the invention is constituted such that when the transmission wheel is rotated and the contact point spring is brought into contact with the first detection pattern and brought into contact with the second detection pattern, a rotational position detecting signal is generated and the rotational position detecting signal is not generated when the transmission wheel is rotated and the contact point spring is brought into contact with the first dummy pattern and is brought into contact with the second dummy pattern.
By the foregoing construction, the rotational position of the transmission wheel can accurately be detected.
Further, according to the invention, there is provided an electronic timepiece characterized by comprising
a transmission wheel rotated based on rotation of a wheel train included in the electronic timepiece and a contact point spring fixed to the transmission wheel and rotated integrally with the transmission wheel and having a conductivity, wherein the contact point spring includes a first contact point spring terminal and a second contact point spring terminal and a third contact point spring terminal extended outwardly from a rotational center of the transmission wheel.
Preferably, the electronic timepiece is constituted such that the first contact point spring terminal and the second contact point spring terminal are provided to constitute an angle of substantially 75 degree, the first contact point spring terminal and the third contact point spring terminal are provided to constitute an angle of substantially 142.5 degree, the second contact point spring terminal and the third contact point spring terminal are provided to constitute an angle of substantially 142.5 degree.
The electronic timepiece according to the invention is provided with a first detection pattern and a second detection pattern and a VDD pattern constituted to be capable of being brought into contact with the contact point spring when the contact point spring is rotated.
Further, preferably, the first detection pattern is provided within an angle of substantially 30 degree relative to the rotational center of the transmission wheel and the second detection pattern is provided within an angle of substantially 30 degree relative to the rotational center of the transmission wheel.
Further, according to the electronic timepiece of the invention, the VDD pattern includes a first pattern portion and a second pattern portion. Preferably, the first pattern portion of the VDD pattern is provided within an open angle of substantially 60 degree relative to the rotational center of the transmission wheel. Further, preferably, the second pattern portion of the VDD pattern is provided within an open angle of substantially 240 degree relative to the rotational center of the transmission wheel.
Further, one end portion in a circumferential direction of the first pattern portion of the VDD pattern is contiguous to the first detection pattern with a clearance therebetween and other end portion in the circumferential direction thereof is contiguous to the second detection pattern with a clearance therebetween, one end portion in the circumferential direction of the second pattern portion of the VDD pattern is contiguous to the first detection pattern with a clearance therebetween and other end portion in the peripheral direction thereof is contiguous to the second detection pattern with a clearance therebetween.
Thereby, according to the electronic timepiece of the invention, the first detection pattern, the first pattern portion of the VDD pattern, the second detection pattern and the second pattern portion of the VDD pattern are provided in this order in the circumferential direction centering on the rotational center of the transmission wheel.
Further, the electronic timepiece according to the invention is constituted such that a rotational position detecting signal is generated by conducting the first detection pattern and the second detection pattern and the VDD pattern by the contact point spring by rotating the transmission wheel.
Further, according to the electronic timepiece of the invention, there is provided a control circuit for determining to discriminate regular rotation or reverse rotation of the transmission wheel by whether the first detection pattern and the VDD pattern are conducted before conducting the first detection pattern and the second detection pattern and the VDD pattern or whether the second detection pattern and the VDD pattern are conducted before conducting the first detection pattern and the second detection pattern and the VDD pattern.
By the foregoing construction, the rotational direction of the transmission wheel can accurately be determined.
Further, according to the invention, the electronic timepiece is constituted to include the transmission wheel for transmitting rotation to an indication wheel and the contact point spring constituted to rotate integrally with the transmission wheel.
According to a preferable embodiment of the invention, the indication wheel is a date indicator and the transmission wheel is a date driving wheel arranged to rotate the date indicator.
According to the electronic timepiece, the contact point spring includes a first contact point portion extended in a first direction and a second contact point portion extended in a second direction.
Further, the electronic timepiece is provided with a contact point pattern constituted to include a reference potential pattern and a contact switch pattern.
The electronic timepiece is characterized by being constituted such that by rotating the transmission wheel, a rotational signal is not outputted in a state in which both of the first contact point portion and the second contact point portion are brought into contact with the reference potential pattern, the rotational signal is outputted in a state in which the first contact point portion is brought into contact with the reference potential pattern and the second contact point portion is brought into contact with the contact point switch pattern and the rotational signal is outputted in a state in which the first contact point portion is brought into contact with the contact point switch pattern and the second contact point portion is brought into contact with the reference potential pattern and the rotational signal is not outputted in a state in which neither of the first contact point portion and the second contact point portion is not brought into contact with the contact point switch pattern.
By the foregoing construction, the rotational position of the transmission wheel included in a calendar wheel train such as a date driving wheel can accurately be determined.

Electronic timepiece having transmission wheel rotational position detecting apparatus


A quantum cascade laser device has a light-absorbing cover member located between one emission end face of a quantum cascade laser element and an emission window of a housing. The emission end face and an opposing surface of a submount with respect to the cover member are flush with each other. The cover member has an opening at a position opposing the emission end face. The opening has a tapered first opening part increasing its diameter from the emission end face side to the emission window side and a second opening part formed with a fixed diameter not smaller than the smallest diameter of the first opening part.

Light in a mid-infrared region (e.g., where the wavelength is on the order of 5 μm to 30 μm) is an important wavelength region in the field of spectroscopic measurement, for example. Attention has been focusing on quantum cascade laser (QCL) elements as high-performance semiconductor light sources in such a wavelength region (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. H08-279647, 2008-177366, 2008-60396, and H10-4242).
The quantum cascade laser element is a laser element of monopolar type which utilizes a level structure caused by subbands formed in a semiconductor quantum well structure, so as to generate light according to electronic transitions between the subbands. The quantum cascade laser element achieves highly efficient, high output operations by cascade-connecting multiple stages of quantum well light-emitting layers, each of which is constituted by a quantum well structure and serves as an active region. The cascade connection of quantum well light-emitting layers is attained by using electron injection layers for injecting electrons to upper emission levels and stacking the quantum well light-emitting layers and injection layers alternately.


An insertion portion detection device provided with a light source unit which emits measuring beam to an outer circumferential surface of a cylindrical shape of an insertion portion to be inserted into an insertion target and to be a detection target, an optical pattern detection unit which receives reflected light from the outer circumferential surface and which sequentially acquires image data in a predetermined range of the outer circumferential surface including given optical patterns so that at least some of the optical patterns correspond to the image data, and a displacement amount calculation unit which detects a corresponding optical pattern from the image data and calculates at least one of an insertion amount of the insertion portion and an amount of rotation around the central axis of the cylindrical shape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a detection device and an insertion portion detection system which detect an insertion amount of an insertion portion having a cylindrical shape, and an amount of rotation around the central axis of the cylindrical shape.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, it is necessary to detect an insertion amount when inserting an insertion portion of, for example, an endoscope device into an insertion target. For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005-185308 has suggested a system comprising at least a roller disposed in an insertion assist tool, and a sensor which detects the number of rotations of the roller, to detect the relative amount of the insertion of the insertion portion into the insertion assist tool.
In this configuration, the roller rotates while being in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the insertion portion, and the number of rotations of the roller is detected to calculate an insertion amount. As another embodiment, there is also a description of a system in which optical indexes or magnetic indexes are attached to the insertion portion and are read by an optical sensor or a magnetic sensor to detect an insertion amount.

Insertion portion detection device and insertion portion detection system


An engine driven welding machine in which a welding generator is driven by an engine, and the engine performs an idle operation when a welding operation is stopped by including an engine stop signal forming circuit which forms a stop signal for stopping an operation of the engine when time of the idle operation exceeds a predetermined time, a direct-current power supply connected to an output terminal of the welding machine, voltage detecting means which detects a voltage change of the output terminal, a restart detecting circuit which forms a restart signal for restarting the engine when the detected voltage by the voltage detecting means shows a predetermined change mode for starting the welding operation, and an engine control circuit which stops the engine in response to the stop signal, and restarts the engine in response to the restart signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine driven welding machine, and particularly to a technique of reducing the amount of time that an engine wastefully runs at idle as much as possible and increasing reliability of restart of the engine.
2. Related Art
In an engine driven welding machine, in order to reduce fuel consumption and noise of an engine, the engine shifts to an idle operation from a standard operation every time a welding operation is stopped, and the engine is returned to the standard operation from the idle operation every time the operation is started. When the welding operation is stopped for a long time, an operator himself stops the engine.
However, the situation is different when a welding operation is performed at high elevations of a high-rise building and the like, and when the welding machine main body is placed on the ground and power is supplied by running a welding cable to an operation site. In such a case, when the welding operation is stopped for some long time, in order to stop the engine, the operator descends to the ground and performs a stop operation, and this is troublesome and not efficient.
Thus, there is proposed a method for performing a remote control by transmitting a remote control high frequency signal by superimposing it on a welding cable (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1992-162964). This forms an operation signal by a touch sensor in which a noise filter for signal extraction is incorporated or a similar welding holder, and can stop the engine by sending the operation signal to the welding machine main body by an operation of an operator.
However, there is the problem in the operation site in the respect that the touch sensor may be lost, and since the welding holder with the noise filter incorporated therein is not widely used, the problem is in unsolved.


In a pressure-contact connector in which terminal reception chambers receiving pressure-contact terminals are defined by partitions and provided side by side in a housing, notch portions cut out more deeply than an upper end of a wire pressed are formed in side plates of a pressure-contact portion of each pressure-contact terminal, the side plates being opposite to each other in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the wire. Hollow portions are formed in the respective partitions so as to coincide with the notch portions when the pressure-contact terminals are mounted in the terminal reception chambers. A cover having a side surface opened as an insertion hole is provided so that the cover can be removably fitted to the housing horizontally. Rail-like projections are formed on the upper and lower inner surfaces of the cover so as to project therefrom so that the projections are inserted into the notch portions and the hollow portions, when the cover is fitted to the housing, so as to be disposed on the upper ends of the wires which are brought into pressure-contact.

The present invention relates to a pressure-contact connector in which a wire is put onto a pressure-contact blade with pressure so as to make its core contact with the pressure-contact blade electrically, and particularly relates to an improvement of the respective structures of a cover member, a housing, and a pressure-contact terminal for the sake of improving the property for holding a wire in a pressure-contact portion.
In a pressure-contact connector in which a coated wire is put onto a pressure-contact blade with pressure so that its coating is cut and its core is electrically connected to the pressure-contact blade by pressure-contact, there is indeed an advantage in mass productivity, but there is a disadvantage that a pressure-contact portion is low in property for holding a wire against vibrations, and so on.
A pressure-contact connector in which such a disadvantage is solved and in which a wire contact means is provided in a pressure-contact portion will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7 by way of example. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional pressure-contact connector; FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a terminal reception chamber after assembling; and FIG. 7 is a front view showing the state where a wire is pressure-contacted.
A housing 3 in which a plurality of opening portions of terminal reception chambers 1 are opened in the upper and lower surfaces is provided so that the housing 3 is held from above and below by a pair of covers 5a and 5b, respectively. A plurality of wire contact portions 7 are provided on the inner walls of the covers 5a and 5b correspondingly to the terminal reception chambers 1 so as to project from the inner walls. When the covers 5a and 5b are fitted to the housing 3, each of the wire contact portions 7 is disposed between pressure-contact blades 9a and 9b of a pressure-contact terminal 9 received in the terminal reception chamber 1 as shown in FIG. 6. Accordingly, the contact portion contacts with a wire 15 in which a coating 11 (see FIG. 7) thereof is cut by the pressure-contact blades 9a and 9b so that the pressure-contact blades 9a and 9b contact with a core 13 of the wire 15 which has become able to be electrically contacted.
Consequently, the wire 15 is restrained from moving up and down (in the direction of arrow a in FIG. 7) by vibrations, and so on, so that the property for holding the wire 15 is improved to thereby improve the reliability in electrical contacting in the pressure-contact portion.
In such a conventional pressure-contact connector, however, the wire contact portions 7 are provided in the pair of upper and lower covers 5a and 5b respectively, and when the covers 5a and 5b are attached to each other, the wire contact portions are disposed between the pressure-contact blades 9a and 9b of the pressure-contact terminals 9 received in the terminal reception chambers 1. Accordingly, two sets of cover members are required as the covers 5a and 5b. Thus, since the number of parts are increased, disadvantageously, the cost of manufacture increases, and the management of the parts becomes troublesome.
In addition, wires 15 led out from a number of upper and lower terminal reception chambers 1 must be arranged in a wire insertion portion 17 (see FIG. 5) so as not to be trapped by the covers 5a and 5b when the covers are fitted, because the covers are constituted by two parts. Accordingly, the performance of assembling is remarkably poor.


A device for simulating hits on a target for example in war games and particularly for simulating hits on armored vehicles comprises a housing which has a plurality of separate spaced apart charge receiving chambers therein. Each chamber contains a distinct charge preferably including but not limited to a so-called fireball type of charge, a smoke type charge and a report type charge. The charges are arranged in separate cups or compartments and the first charge is connected to an igniter which may for example be an ignition system which is set off by an external pulse of light. The other charges are connected to the first charge and to each other through pyrotechnical propagation charges which may or may not have a delay operation so that they are set off in a controlled sequence.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to pyrotechnical devices and in particular to a new and useful device particularly adapted for indicating hits on targets and which includes a plurality of separate signal charge compositions.
The devices for indicating hits on targets such as moving vehicles are known for example as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,418; Canadian Pat. No. 9,997,960 and Swiss Pat. No. 535,727.
To simulate gun shots or hits during military practice or maneuvers, it is known to equip wheeled or tracklaying vehicles with devices for firing pyrotechnical detonating bodies. With such devices, shots or hits can be simulated acoustically and optically. The pyrotechnical bodies are detonated electrically by the crew of the practicing armored vehicle.
In prior art devices, while igniting and setting off the detonating body, thus simulating the shot, a pulse of light is transmitted simultaneously, which, if a hit is scored, is automatically registered by the fought or opposed vehicle. Such a hit is indicated on the opposed vehicle, for example, by an electric lamp which is switched on by the transmitted pulse of light. The lighting up of the lamp is an indication for the umpire that the fought vehicle has been hit and is to be eliminated from further combat exercise.
This manner of simulating shots and hits has proved satisfactory in general, however, under many combat and weather conditions, the lighting up of a hit indicating lamp is not sufficiently perceivable. For example, if the vehicle is disguised by camouflage, or during invisibility caused by fog, etc.
In view of these limits given by the concept of the devices, it has been proposed (German Utility Model No. 7,714,039), while still utilizing the fire equipment and the basic structure and mode of operation of the known pyrotechnical bodies employed for simulating shots and hits, to provide the pyrotechnical body with a pyrotechnical flare composition. The geometry and spatial accommodation of this flare composition in the pyrotechnical body corresponds to those of a detonating composition. As to making use of the flare composition, it has further been proposed to designate only one of the many discharging cups of which the firing device is assembled, for receiving the pyrotechnical body comprising the flare composition.
Even though this alternative arrangement of a detonating and a flare composition in the pyrotechnical body would meet the requirements of simulating hits better and in a way closer to actual combat conditions, it still does not correspond to all possible or imaginable hit patterns on or in armored wheeled or tracklaying vehicles. For this reason, the present invention is directed to a pyrotechnical body simultaneously comprising a plurality of different signal compositions.
In accordance with the present invention, a firing device which may be set off for example by a light control such as a laser control includes a housing containing a plurality of separate compartments which are filled with separate types of signal charges and which are arranged so that they may be set off at separate timed intervals. The signal charges advantageously include a fireball signal composition which is connected by pyrotechnic ignition devices to a smoke signal charge which in turn is connected to a report signal charge. The pyrotechnic igniting devices may advantageously include delay means for effecting the delay between the various charges and the charges may be arranged in any desired sequence.
A development of the inventive idea provides that by arranging the signal compositions in a pyrotechnical body spatially behind or above one another, it becomes easy to selectively obtain the following signalling sequences:
1. report-fire ball-smoke PA1 2. report-smoke-fire ball PA1 3. smoke-fire ball-report, and PA1 4. fire ball-smoke-report.
According to a further development of the invention, a laser-produced pulse of external light may be used for igniting the respective first signal composition.
The invention has a variety of advantages:
Aside from the possibility of further utilizing the commonly employed firing devices with their discharging cups even while applying the invention, the geometry of the pyrotechnical bodies themselves is not changed or modified either.
The principle advantage of the invention is that the fighting units may now selectively simulate any pattern of hits occurring during practice or maneuvers, on or in armored wheeled or tracklaying vehicles.
Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide a firing device for indicating target hits particularly on armored wheeled or tracklaying vehicles which comprises a housing having a plurality of separate spaced apart charge receiving chambers therein, one of the chambers containing a distinct first signal charge composition and at least one of the others containing a second signal charge composition and wherein the first and second charge compositions are disposed in spaced relationship with means for igniting the first composition being connected to the first signal charge and pyrotechnical propagation charge means disposed between the remainder of the signal charges and the first signal charge for selectively igniting the charges in a controlled sequence.
A further object of the invention is to provide a firing device which is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.

Device for simulating hits on armored vehicles and similar targets


Mobile station applications (419) may include an SI unit (409) for piggy backing SI onto data stored in data buffer (421) and also for adding an indicator to the SI information. The scheduling information and/or incremental control information (501) is piggy backed onto a data PDU and also has a sequence number (503) and an indicator field (505) which is added by the SI unit, such as SI unit (409), in accordance with the embodiments. The indicator may be a bit map having four bit positions. A bit position having a binary “1” value may be utilized to indicate that a previous SN of SI information remains valid. For example, “0100” of the bit map sequence may indicate that SN #3 is still valid. The base station or controller may then determine whether to implement or discard an SI information having the indicated SN.

Wireless communications systems, for example packet data communications systems, may utilize shared channels wherein the network allocates resources to a mobile station for uplink transmissions based on the number of mobiles requesting resources, the channel conditions of the mobile station, and the services for which the mobile station is requesting resources.
The mobile station will transmit information to the network regarding a buffer status of each radio bearer or for a group of radio bearers. Typically each service utilized by the mobile station is mapped to one radio bearer. Each service and thus, each radio bearer, is associated with a priority. In order to minimize the amount of signaling overhead, it is preferred to have a mobile station indicate the amount of data in its buffer across all radio bearers and indicate for example, the highest priority radio bearer that has data waiting to be sent. This allows the network to assign resources with some degree of fairness.
The buffer status information, which may be referred to as scheduling information (SI), may be transmitted by the mobile over an uplink control channel that terminates effectively in layer 1 or Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, or as piggy back information to the network over a shared data channel. So-called piggy back information is scheduling and/or control information, which may be segmented, and added to data packets being transmitted on a data channel.
The data transmitted over the shared data channel is transmitted using parallel Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) channels or processes. However, the HARQ mechanism implies that data packets, which may have piggy backed scheduling and/or control information, may be received by the network out-of-sequence. This is particularly true in the case where the control information, which is common across all IP flows, is appended to data packets associated with one of the IP flows. In this case, the sequence number associated with the data packets cannot be used to sequence the control information. Thus, for example, scheduling information may not be received at the relevant time, or if segmented, may be received, and possibly applied, in an incorrect order.
Therefore, although the network has a mechanism for determining the correct order of segmented data received in out-of-order packets, the scheduler at the network cannot discern the order of piggy backed information and may then schedule the mobile on the basis of incorrect information.
Further, various rules may be applied to allow the mobile to send SI on a periodic basis or on an event triggered basis, which may result in quite rapid sequential SI transmissions.
Thus, there is a need for apparatuses and methods for indicating a sequence order of scheduling and/or control information where the scheduling and/or control information is included in packets having sequence numbers that are not necessarily related to the sequence of included scheduling and/or control information.

Apparatus and method for transmitting uplink control information on shared channels


A programmable system with program flow monitoring is provided. A memory is configured to store a set of instructions, where the instructions are configured to be executed in a predefined order. A processor is configured to execute the set of instructions by fetching and executing the instructions in the predefined order. A program flow monitoring (PFM) unit is configured to deterministically generate a fingerprint from accesses to the memory, such as instruction fetches, while executing the set of instructions. A verification unit is configured to compare the generated fingerprint to an expected fingerprint to determine whether the set of instructions executed in the predefined order. A method for program flow monitoring, as well as a safety system within which the programmable system finds application, are also provided.

A processor is designed to execute a program, which is set of instructions configured for execution in a predefined order. When the program is executed, it is expected that the instructions are executed in the predefined order. However, in some situations, the order with which the instructions are executed may deviate from the predefined order. Such deviations may be caused by, for example, hardware errors, electromagnetic radiation, or malicious interference. For some applications, it's sufficient that the instructions execute according to the predefined order most of the time. However, for certain other applications, it's important that the instructions always execute according to the predefined order. For example, it's important that the instructions always execute according to the predefined order for safety-related applications.
Some automotive radar systems are employed to ensure the safety of drivers and passengers by, for example, providing lane change assistance, blind spot monitoring, and/or automatic breaking. Due to the safety importance of the automotive radar systems, safety monitoring units and safety controllers may be employed to monitor devices of the automotive radar systems. The safety monitoring units are hardware devices configured to perform tests on the monitored devices. For example, a safety monitoring unit may be configured to input a radio frequency (RF) signal into an RF receive chain and to compare an output of the receive chain to an expected output. The safety controllers are programmable devices comprising memories configured to store programs, as well as processors configured to execute the programs to trigger the tests and, in some embodiments, evaluate results of the tests. As such, it's important that instructions of the programs are executed according to predefined orders.
One approach for reducing the likelihood of instructions being executed out of order is to design processors to higher standards. For example, whereas processors in the automotive industry are often designed to meet the quality management standard of ISO/TS 16949, the processors may be designed to meet the higher, safety standard of ISO 26262. However, designing the processors to meet higher standards is challenging and costly given the complexity of the processors. Another approach for reducing the likelihood of instructions being executed out of order is to implement programs as state machines. However, implementing the programs as state machines reduces the ease with which the programs can be changed.

Deterministic code fingerprinting for program flow monitoring


A rechargeable metal oxide-hydrogen battery including an outer pressure vessel and a plurality of cell modules are disposed within the vessel. Each module is formed of a pair of back-to-back positive electrodes spaced apart by a separating layer, and a negative electrode having a hydrophilic surface is disposed adjacent each positive electrode and separated therefrom by a separator layer. An electrolyte, such as potassium hydroxide, is impregnated in the separator layers and is in contact with the positive and negative electrodes. Each module is semi-circular in planar configuration and is contained in an open-ended semi-cylindrical container formed of a polymeric material. A plurality of containers are stacked in side-by-side relation. The curved peripheral edges of the stacked containers are disposed adjacent the inner surface of the vessel, while the straight open ends of the containers are sealed and disposed in opposed relation to the sealed open ends of a second stack of module-containing containers. A plurality of metal tabs are connected to the straight edges of the positive and negative electrodes of each module and the tabs are connected by bus bars in a manner to obtain the desired voltage output for the battery. Electrical leads are connected to terminals on the battery and extend in sealed relation through a fitting in a head of the vessel to the exterior.

Metal oxide-hydrogen batteries, such as nickel oxide-hydrogen batteries, have seen wide use in aerospace applications. Batteries of this type are rechargeable and have an extremely long cycle life and provide a high uniform output during the entire discharge cycle.
A nickel oxide-hydrogen battery has a further advantage in that the pressure in the battery can be used as a quantitative indication of the state of charge. In addition, batteries of this type have an inherent overcharge protection.
In the typical nickel oxide-hydrogen battery, the positive electrodes are generally in the form of flat porous sintered nickel plaques, impregnated with nickel hydroxide, while the negative electrodes are formed from a thin fine mesh nickel screen having a catalyst, such as platinum, bonded to one surface of the screen through a hydrophobic polymeric material, such as polytetrafluoroethylene. On discharge of the battery, hydrogen gas diffuses through the electrolyte surrounding the catalyst surfaces of the negative plates and becomes disassociated by the catalyst to the monatomic form. The monatomic hydrogen is ionized and combines with hydroxyl ions to form water with an electron being released in the process of forming each hydrogen ion.
In addition, hydroxyl ions are formed at the positive electrode by the reaction of water with the available oxygen component of the nickel oxide. As a result of these reactions, an electron current is produced in the exterior circuit.
On recharging the reaction is reversed, with the recharging being characterized by the regeneration of hydrogen gas at the negative electrode and the reoxydation of the nickel hydroxide at the positive electrode.
Due to the gas pressures involved, the nickel oxide-hydrogen battery is contained within an outer pressure vessel.
The typical nickel oxide-hydrogen battery consists of a number of modules, each module preferably composed of a pair of back-to-back positive electrodes spaced apart by a separator layer, along with a negative electrode disposed adjacent and separated from each positive electrode. In some instances, each module is contained within a separate small pressure vessel and the modules are then connected externally in series or parallel patterns to provide the desired voltage or amperage output. In other instances, a group of modules may be contained within a single vessel and installations of this type are commonly referred to as "CPV" (common pressure vessel). In a typical CPV installation, a group of modules, which are generally rectangular in configuration, are mounted within a cylindrical pressure vessel. With this construction, there is a substantial gap or space between the sides of the battery and the inner wall of the vessel. With a nickel oxide-hydrogen battery, heat is generated in both the charging and discharging cycles and it is important that heat be transferred to the outer vessel and hence to the surrounding atmosphere. Due to the spacing of the polyhedral battery from the cylindrical vessel, heat transfer to the vessel is minimal, with the result that the performance of the battery can be adversely effected.

Rechargeable metal oxide-hydrogen battery


An optical element manufacturing apparatus includes plural pairs of stage units that are each arranged opposite to each other so as to sandwich a mold set that houses a molding material, each of the plural pairs of stage units performing at least one of heating, pressurization, and cooling on the mold set, wherein each of the stage units includes a temperature control block for which temperature is controlled, and in a third direction orthogonal to a first direction and a second direction, the temperature control block includes heating regions that are positioned on sides of both ends and in which heating sources are arranged, and a non-heating region that is positioned on a central side and in which the heating sources are not arranged throughout the first direction, the first direction being a direction in which the plural pairs of stage units are arranged, and the second direction being a direction in which a pair of stage units are opposite to each other.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical element manufacturing apparatus that manufactures an optical element.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, improvements in performance and functioning of optical elements such as lenses, prisms, or mirrors have been required, and a method for improving performance by changing an optical surface shape to an aspherical shape is known, for example. In particular, in mass-producing an optical element having an aspherical shape, a manufacturing method for pressurizing a molding material that has been heated and softened by using a mold is employed.
There are needs for an optical element having a middle or large diameter. Therefore, it is necessary to cope with mass-production of optical elements having a middle or large diameter. Examples of an optical element manufacturing apparatus that is suitable to mass-produce an optical element which is not limited to the optical element having a middle or large diameter include the following.
An optical element manufacturing method for sequentially conveying a molding material housed in a mold set to respective stages for heating, pressurization, and cooling so as to manufacture a desired optical element is known. The mold set includes, for example, an upper mold, a lower mold, a drum mold, and the like. The drum mold is a cylindrical member that is positioned around the upper mold and the lower mold.
In the optical element manufacturing apparatus, plural pairs of upper and lower stage units are arranged so as to function as a heating stage, a pressurization stage, a cooling state, or the like.
A temperature control block is mounted onto the stage unit. The temperature of the temperature control block can be controlled, and the temperature control block is set to satisfy a condition for a corresponding process (a heating process, a pressurization process, or a cooling process).
A heating source and a temperature measurement unit are buried in the temperature control block. A method is employed for detecting a temperature at a prescribed position by usually using a plurality of cartridge type heaters as the heating source, and using a temperature sensor such as a thermocouple as the temperature measurement unit.
The temperature control block is connected to a control unit that functions as a temperature output adjustment device outside the stage unit. In the temperature control block, an output state of the heating source is adjusted according to a signal output from the temperature sensor such that a temperature state is controlled.
A method has been proposed for improving a temperature distribution by providing the temperature control block above with portions that respectively have a high watt density and a low watt density in a heater cartridge (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2012-116705).


A cylinder head is provided with bolt hole portions for permitting cylinder head bolts to attach the cylinder head to a cylinder block of an engine, and the height of the bearing surfaces of the bolt hole portions is set to a large value so that an oil passage extending in the longitudinal direction of the cam chamber of the engine is provided in the lower portion of the elevated bearing surfaces.

Engines are classified into the type in which cylinders are serially connected, the type in which cylinders are connected so as to face each other, the V type, and the like in accordance with the arrangement of the cylinders. The V-type engine has a first cylinder bank on one side and a second cylinder bank on the other side. As a V-type engine, there is also a lateral mounting type in which the first and second cylinder banks are installed so as to be located on the front and rear sides with respect to the progressing direction of the vehicle.
There is an oil passage structure of a cylinder head disclosed in the Official Gazette of Japanese Utility Model Registration Application Laid-Open No. 54-127945. According to a valve portion lubricating apparatus of an engine disclosed in the above Official Gazette, an oil pan is provided in a cam portion of a single overhead cam mechanism of the front inclined type engine, a predetermined depth is set in a rear side wall of the oil pan, and a slit is formed so as not to lower the height of the oil surface in the oil pan.
In the conventional oil passage structure of the cylinder head, as shown in FIGS. 8-11, a cam chamber 144 is formed in the upper portion of a cylinder head 108. A plurality of bolt hole portions 140 for cylinder head bolts (not shown) are formed on the exhaust (EX) side of the cam chamber 144. A side wall 146 of the cam chamber 144 is formed so as to isolate the chamber 144 from the cylinder head bolts. An oil passage 142 appears in the inner surface and in the lower portion of the side wall 146 when it is used. Since the side wall 146 of the cam chamber 144 is away from the cylinder head bolts, namely, it is projected toward the intake side, a weir (i.e., barrier) 160 is formed in the lower portion of the oil passage 142. Similarly, the weir 160 is also formed adjacent the bolt hole portions 140. A concave portion 162 is formed in the lower portion of the oil passage 142 by the weir 160.
Thus, there is an inconvenience because the oil can remain in the concave portions such that the oil flow deteriorates and defective oil lubrication is caused. There are also inconveniences in that dust, sludge and the like which are conveyed by the oil precipitate and are deposited in the concave portions and become factors to deteriorate the oil. Therefore, the useful life of the oil becomes short and the frequency of oil changes increases, which is economically disadvantageous. Further, since a pulsation (i.e., turbulence) occurs in the oil as it flows by the concave portions, air can be mixed into the oil easily, and various disadvantages are caused by the air mixture.
In an attempt to eliminate the above inconveniences, in an oil passage provided on the exhaust side of the cylinder head to perform lubrication in a cam chamber which is formed in the upper portion of the cylinder head, the invention is characterized in that bolt hole portions for cylinder head bolts to attach the cylinder head to a cylinder block are provided, the height of a bearing surface of each bolt hole portion is set to a large value, and the oil passage extending in the longitudinal direction of the cam chamber of the engine is provided in the cylinder head below the bearing surface.
According to the invention as mentioned above, the oil smoothly flows in the oil passage in the cam chamber of the cylinder head. Inadequate lubrication can be prevented. Amounts of precipitation and deposition of dust, sludge and the like which are conveyed by the oil are reduced. The amount of air mixed into the oil is reduced.

Oil passage structure of a cylinder head


A method and apparatus for the cleaning of an underwater surface, such as a hull. The method and apparatus enables cleaning to be conducted while mitigating the release of removed material into surrounding waters. The integrated apparatus includes a cleaning deck for removing fouling from the underwater hull surface, and a pre-processing deck with integrated components for the processing of cleaning effluents. According to the method and apparatus, materials removed by the shroud are sucked into the pre-processing deck, crushed, and separated into a separator effluent that may be recycled to the shroud, and a concentrate, which is discharged to a land treatment unit for further processing.

Navy ships are periodically cleaned using open cycle cleaning devices such as, for example, submerged cleaning and maintenance platform (SCAMP) technology that utilizes integrated impeller and cleaning brush technology and results in the direct discharge of removed constituents such as, for example, biological fouling, hull coatings, and corrosion byproducts into surrounding water. Most antifouling coatings utilize heavy metals such as Cu and Zn as biocides that are released during cleaning operations at levels that can exceed water quality criteria. This has prompted governments to develop standards to manage this discharge or, in some cases, to prohibit open water cleaning of hulls with coatings that have antifoulants in them without special permission.
Waterborne underwater hull cleaning is critical to the worldwide operation and maintenance of Navy ships and impacts operating capability (e.g., speed and maneuverability), acoustic signature, fuel efficiency and the maintainability and lifecycle of critical systems including underwater hull coatings, impress current cathodic protection systems, and propulsion systems.

Underwater surface cleaning vehicle for integrated cleaning and effluent treatment system

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


The present invention provides a method and apparatus for use in measuring a thickness of a layer and/or variations in layer thickness for layers that are flat, curved or have curves. The apparatus comprises a light source to generate a light beam, a light beam detector to detect at least a portion of the light beam reflected, an eddy current field generator that induces an eddy current, an eddy current detector to detect the induced eddy current and a processor coupled with the light source, light detector, eddy current field generator and eddy current detector, wherein the processor controls the light detector, eddy current field generator and eddy current detector. A radial characteristic of a region of the surface can be determined, a scaling factor can be determined based on the radial characteristic and a measured distance can be scaled based on the scaling factor in determining a thickness.

The present invention relates generally to non-contact thickness measurements, and more particularly to non-contact layer thickness measurements and layer thickness variations.
It is sometimes advantageous to measure a thickness of a wet film or layer. For example, when applying paint to a surface it can be advantageous to know the thickness of the paint. Previously, the thickness was not measured until the paint was dry. This way the paint was not damaged or blemished. Waiting for paint to dry in order to measure the thickness of the paint layer can result in excessively long delays and be extremely costly. Some of the equipment for painting, operators of the equipment and parts of the facility in which a product is painted may be idle during this waiting period.
In some instances, the paint is measured when the paint is wet. These previous techniques required the wet paint to be touched. For example, a shim or other similar structure can be inserted into the wet paint to determine the paint layer thickness. This test is not very reliable. Further, the shim damages the paint surface which has to be repaired.

Method and apparatus for non-contact thickness measurement


Disclosed is a way of enhancing capabilities of an interface, such as a communications bus (100), while retaining backwards compatibility of the interface. The bus has a plurality of signal lines (250) including critical control signal lines. Legacy devices (102-103) present a legacy interface to each other over the bus by communicating with each other via a legacy protocol (251) over the bus. Critical control signals of the legacy protocol are conveyed by the critical control signal lines. New devices (104-105) present an enhanced interface to each other over the same bus by communicating with each other via an enhanced protocol (252) over the bus. Control signals of the enhanced protocol are conveyed by signal lines other than the critical control signal lines for the legacy protocol, so that the critical control signal lines remain idle or invalid for the legacy protocol. The new devices signal to each other an intent to use the enhanced protocol by sending a signal on a signal line (253) that is not used by the legacy protocol. The new devices preferably can communicate on the bus via either protocol, and thus can communicate not only with each other but also with the legacy devices.

This invention relates to interfaces between apparati in general and to computer communications buses in particular.
An interface is a definition, as well as an embodiment of that definition, of how an apparatus interacts with another apparatus. An example of an interface is a computer communications bus, which defines how devices that are connected to the bus communicate with each other across the bus.
Over time, interfaces tend to become obsolete, inadequate for present needs. For example, a computer bus that supports only 14-bit addresses may have been adequate when computer memories were relatively small (e.g., 16 Kbytes), as was the number of devices interconnected by the bus, but is inadequate today when computer memories and the numbers of interconnected devices must be expanded to be relatively large (e.g., 4 Gbytes of memory) and hence require a greater range (e.g., 32 bits) of addresses. One approach to solving this problem is to throw away the now-obsolete interface design and come up with a new one. But this makes the entire system that is built around the interface obsolete. Not only must the interface be redesigned and replaced, but the controller for that interface and the apparatuses that used the old interface must also be replaced. This is a very undesirable, expensive, often economically unfeasible thing to do. Another approach is to use any spare, unused, capacity of the existing interface to extend the capabilities of the interface. However, in some cases, there does not exist any such suitable spare capacity.
This invention is directed to solving these and other problems and disadvantages of the prior art. Generally according to the invention, a first device couples to a second and a third device, for example, via a physical connection (e.g., a bus) that is common to all three of the devices. The second device presents a first interface (e.g., uses a first protocol) over the connection, while the third device presents a second interface (e.g., uses a second protocol) different from the first interface over the connection. The second interface provides capabilities different from (e.g., additional to, or that cannot be provided by) those provided by the first interface. The first device has an interface arrangement that effects and presents the first interface to the second device on the connection and effects and presents the second interface to the third device on the connection.
An advantage of this approach is that it allows one to design new devices which fit into an existing bus structure, but which can communicate at a higher data rate or with a different bus configuration (increase address, data, etc.). This also allows one to keep existing devices in the system, and more importantly, it preserves the existing system backplanes and carriers. The old devices ignore the new bus accesses, while continuing to accept the old ones. The new devices either accept the new style accesses only, or support a mixture of both, so that software can be reused if the device is a replacement for an older device which accepted old-style accesses only.
Preferably, the first device has a way of signalling use of the second interface to the third device. Illustratively, this involves sending across the connection a signal that is either not used or not recognized by the first interface, or sending a signal across a signal lead of the connection that is not used by the first interface. This tells the third device whether to communicate using the first or the second interface.
Also illustratively, the connection is a communications bus that has a plurality of signal lines for conducting a first set of signals (a first protocol), including critical control signal lines for conducting critical control signals of the first set of signals. The first device transmits or receives the first set of signals on the signal lines, including transmitting and receiving the control signals on the control signal lines. The first device also transmits or receives a second set of signals (a second protocol) including control signals, on the signal lines other than the critical control signal lines for the first protocol. Leaving the critical control signal lines for the first protocol of the connection idle in the latter case ensures that devices which communicate via the first set of signals (the first interface) remain oblivious to the communications via the second set of signals (the second interface).
These and other features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention taken together with the drawing.

Arrangement for redefining an interface while maintaining backwards compatibility


There is provided a management server in which a print log analysis unit of a device management application analyzes a job log collected from an MFP device to detect a pair of reprint related jobs, determines whether a reprinted job is useless or useful for the detected pair of jobs, and a print log analysis result report generation unit generates an analysis result report based on a determination result to outputs the generated report. If a detection result includes a pair of jobs, in which one job has been printed based on default print settings and the other job has been reprinted based on changed print settings, it is determined that the job printed based on the default print settings is a useless job.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a management server and a method for controlling the management server to analyze the use tendency of a user with reference to print job history of a printer and visualize the analysis result.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO), such as papers, toners, and electric power consumed for printers, it is useful for a device administrator to change default print settings of a printer driver in such a way as to prioritize 2in1 or two-sided setting over the original setting and distribute the updated printer driver to users. However, if a desired print result cannot be obtained when each user performs printing of a document based on the changed default print settings of the printer driver distributed by the device administrator, the user reprints the same document while changing the distributed print settings to select a desired (e.g., 1in1) setting according to user's preference in many case.
As discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-011597, it is conventionally known to realize the TCO reduction by performing a print operation based on print settings distributed by a device administrator. The conventional method discussed in the above-mentioned conventional technique includes acquiring print setting values recommended by a device administrator and average print settings having been selected by a user. Further, the conventional method includes comparing two acquired setting values and calculating TCO and CO2 reduction effects if there is any difference in print settings. The conventional method further includes displaying at least one print setting, as a candidate to be changed, together with calculated reduction effects, before the user starts a printing operation. The user selects an appropriate print setting and performs the printing operation based on the changed print settings. Therefore, respective users can perform printing operations while confirming cost reduction effects. This is effective in encouraging each user to keep cost reductions in mind.
The above-mentioned conventional technique is preferably employed in a case where the printing operation is performed after a print job is once stored in a print job storage server or in a printer. In other words, in a case where a printing operation is directly instructed from the printer driver to the printer, the printing operation is automatically performed based on the default settings of the printer driver having been set beforehand by the device administrator. Therefore, the above-mentioned conventional technique is not useful if the printing is directly instructed from the printer driver to the printer, because the above-mentioned conventional technique cannot eliminate a useless reprint of the same document that may occur when the print settings having been set by the device administrator are dissatisfactory.
Conventionally, there is not any useful way of visualizing a reprint of the same document if it occurs because of dissatisfactory print settings having been set by the device administrator. Therefore, it was difficult for the device administrator to be aware of the amount of useless reprint operations performed in an office.

Management server and method for controlling the same


Arrangements directed to the wireless charging of a battery, particularly a battery for an electric or hybrid electric vehicle, are described. A wireless charging system can includes a charging station and a charge receiver. The charge receiver can be provided on a vehicle. The charging station can include a movable charge transmitter. The system includes a sensor that can detect a relative position of the charge receiver. The system can include a processor operatively connected to the charge transmitter. The processor can cause the position of the charge transmitter to be adjusted within the housing based on a relative location of a charge receiver such that the charge transmitter and charge receiver are in substantial charging alignment.

There is a shift in vehicle technology from vehicles with gas-powered engines to electric vehicles. Electric and hybrid electric vehicles use one or more electric motors for propulsion. Such motors are powered by one or more rechargeable batteries. The charging of the batteries is a new task for drivers. Some electric vehicles can be charged by being plugged into an external source of electricity, such as a wall outlet. Some electric vehicles can be charged wirelessly. Some wireless charging systems require a driver to park the vehicle in a charging station such that a charge receiver on the vehicle is aligned with a charge transmitter at the charging station.

Locating and aligning wireless charging elements for electric vehicles

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


A coating formulation containing as a corrosion inhibitor an effective amount of a tertiary or quaternary organo ammonium nitrite having a solubility such that it produces a concentration of nitrite ions in water of from about 1.times.10.sup.-6 mol per liter to 5 mols per liter.

The inhibition or elimination of rust formation has been a coatings goal for many years. Rust is formed by the oxidation of iron to form oxides of iron. Unlike some natural oxides such as aluminum oxide, which forms a fairly adherent oxide coating on the surface of aluminum, iron oxides are porous and the oxides do not adhere well to the underlying iron-based substrate. Thus iron-based substrates continue to form oxides in the presence of oxygen and water, eventually damaging the underlying structure.
Paints are one of the most cost effective coatings for iron structures. Various rust inhibitors are added to most paints; zinc chromate is particularly widely used. However, chromates must be used in fairly large quantities in paint to provide effective protection. Further, chromium is a heavy metal and thus poses a disposal problem. The costs of disposing of heavy metals such as chromium safely are increasing, and there are toxic dangers during disposal as well. However, in spite of environmental concerns, the elimination of chromates from paints has not been mandated until now because in truth there is no feasible substitute for chromates at the present time. Several other heavy metal compounds such as molybdates, phosphates and organic zinc compounds have also been tried, but they are much more expensive than zinc chromate, and they are much less effective in providing rust inhibition. Other heavy metals, such as lead, have already been banned due to their toxicity.
Other compounds have been suggested as corrosion inhibitors, particularly nitrites. Nitrites such as sodium nitrite are widely used to inhibit corrosion in water systems such as boilers, and they have been tried as rust inhibitors for paints as well, such as for flash rust inhibition in water based paints. In the short term, sodium nitrite is highly effective as a corrosion inhibitor, even at low concentration. For example, to inhibit the pitting of steel in water, about 65-160 ppm of chromate must be supplied, whereas only about 0.5-5 ppm of nitrite ion is equally effective. However, sodium nitrite is highly soluble in water, and thus is readily leached from the coatings over time, particularly in moist environments. Further, since sodium nitrite is highly soluble in water, it causes a paint coating to absorb water, which can result in blistering and lifting from the substrate by osmotic force as well.
Other metal nitrite salts, e.g., zinc nitrite, are also generally highly soluble in water, unlike metal chromates such as zinc or strontium chromate, which have low solubility in water. Thus metal nitrites cannot be substituted for zinc chromate in paint formulations.
More than forty years ago, organo amine nitrites were suggested as corrosion inhibitors for coatings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,596,450 to Wachter discloses organo nitrites which are the reaction product of various amines and nitrous acid in a slightly basic mixture. While tertiary and quaternary amines are suggested, all of the Examples use secondary amines. These compounds, while they may be effective as corrosion inhibitors, can convert to nitrosamine compounds, which are known to be toxic, and typically are carcinogenic in even trace amounts. Thus such compounds cannot be used as paint coatings in today's environmentally sensitive era.
Tertiary amine nitrites were suggested for use as corrosion inhibitors in coatings in U.S. Pat. No. 2,432,840 to Wachter wherein an object of the invention was to provide corrosion inhibitors which were soluble in both organic materials and water, without restriction of their solubility. Wachter had no understanding that the solubility of the amine nitrites would have any effect on their use in paint formulations.
The early disclosures by Wachter clearly have not provided environmentally safe, cost-effective anti-corrosion additives for paint coatings, and thus the search continues in order to find a substitute for zinc chromate.