Disclosed is an imaging member which comprises a conductive substrate, a photogenerating layer, and a charge transport layer comprising a polymer of the formulae I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, or X as further defined herein.

The present invention is directed to improved photosensitive imaging members. More specifically, the present invention is directed to photosensitive imaging members containing improved charge transport layers. One embodiment of the present invention is directed to an imaging member which comprises a conductive substrate, a photogenerating material, and a polymer of the formula ##STR1## wherein x is an integer of 0 or 1, A is ##STR2## or mixtures thereof, B is ##STR3## wherein v is an integer of from 1 to about 20, EQU --(CH.sub.2 O).sub.t --
wherein t is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR4## wherein z is an integer of from 2 to about 20, ##STR5## wherein u is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR6## wherein w is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR7## wherein (1) Z is ##STR8## wherein p is 0 or 1; (2) Ar is ##STR9## (3) G is an alkyl group selected from alkyl or isoalkyl groups containing from about 2 to about 10 carbon atoms; (4) Ar' is ##STR10## (5) X is ##STR11## wherein s is 0, 1, or 2, ##STR12## and (6) q is 0 or 1; or mixtures thereof, wherein at least some of the "B" groups are of the formula ##STR13## C is ##STR14## or mixtures thereof, wherein R is an alkyl group, an aryl group, an arylalkyl group, or mixtures thereof, and m and n are integers representing the number of repeating units.
The formation and development of images on the surface of photoconductive materials by electrostatic means is well known. The basic electrophotographic imaging process, as taught by C. F. Carlson in U.S. Pat. No. 2,297,691, entails placing a uniform electrostatic charge on a photoconductive imaging member, exposing the imaging member to a light and shadow image to dissipate the charge on the areas of the imaging member exposed to the light, and developing the resulting electrostatic latent image by depositing on the image a finely divided electroscopic material known as toner. In the Charge Area Development (CAD) scheme, the toner will normally be attracted to those areas of the imaging member which retain a charge, thereby forming a toner image corresponding to the electrostatic latent image. This developed image may then be transferred to a substrate such as paper. The transferred image may subsequently be permanently affixed to the substrate by heat, pressure, a combination of heat and pressure, or other suitable fixing means such as solvent or overcoating treatment.
Imaging members for electrophotographic imaging systems comprising selenium alloys vacuum deposited on substrates are known. Imaging members have also been prepared by coating substrates with photoconductive particles dispersed in an organic film forming binder. Coating of rigid drum substrates has been effected by various techniques such as spraying, dip coating, vacuum evaporation, and the like. Flexible imaging members can also be manufactured by processes that entail coating a flexible substrate with the desired photoconducting material.
Some photoresponsive imaging members consist of a homogeneous layer of a single material such as vitreous selenium, and others comprise composite layered devices containing a dispersion of a photoconductive composition. An example of a composite xerographic photoconductive member is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,121,006, which discloses finely divided particles of a photoconductive inorganic compound dispersed in an electrically insulating organic resin binder. Imaging members prepared according to the teachings of this patent contain a binder layer with particles of zinc oxide uniformly dispersed therein coated on a paper backing. The binders disclosed in this patent include materials such as polycarbonate resins, polyester resins, polyamide resins, and the like.
Photoreceptor materials comprising inorganic or organic materials wherein the charge generating and charge transport functions are performed by discrete contiguous layers are also known. Additionally, layered photoreceptor members are disclosed in the prior art, including photoreceptors having an overcoat layer of an electrically insulating polymeric material. Other layered photoresponsive devices have been disclosed, including those comprising separate photogenerating layers and charge transport layers as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,990, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference. Photoresponsive materials containing a hole injecting layer overcoated with a hole transport layer, followed by an overcoating of a photogenerating layer, and a top coating of an insulating organic resin, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,612, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference. Examples of photogenerating layers disclosed in these patents include trigonal selenium and phthalocyanines, while examples of transport layers include certain aryl diamines as illustrated therein.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 3,041,167 discloses an overcoated imaging member containing a conductive substrate, a photoconductive layer, and an overcoating layer of an electrically insulating polymeric material. This member can be employed in electrophotographic imaging processes by initially charging the member with an electrostatic charge of a first polarity, followed by exposing it to form an electrostatic latent image that can subsequently be developed to form a visible image.
Japanese Patent Publication 63-247757 A2, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an electrophotographic photosensitive body consisting of a body in which a photoconductive layer laminated on a conductive support contains a charge generating substance and/or a charge transporting substance, and at least one polyether ketone polymer consisting of structural units which can be expressed by the following general formulae (I) and (II) ##STR15## wherein m is 0 or 1 and Ar indicates ##STR16## wherein R is an alkyl group, n is 0, 1, or 2, and X indicates ##STR17## with R' and R" each independently indicating --H, --CH.sub.3, --C.sub.2 H.sub.5, ##STR18## wherein the proportion of structural units in the polymer expressed by the general formula (I) is from 0.1 to 1.0 and the proportion of structural units in the polymer expressed by the general formula (II) is 0 to 0.9.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,577 (Spiewak et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a thick organic ambipolar layer on a photoresponsive device which is simultaneously capable of charge generation and charge transport. In particular, the organic photoresponsive layer contains an electron transport material such as a fluorenylidene malonitrile derivative and a hole transport material such as a dihydroxy tetraphenyl benzadine containing polymer. These may be complexed to provide photoresponsivity, and/or a photoresponsive pigment or dye may also be included.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,517 (Frechet et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an electrostatographic imaging member and an electrophotographic imaging process for using the imaging member in which the imaging member comprises a substrate and at least one electroconductive layer, the imaging member comprising a polymeric arylamine compound represented by the formula ##STR19## wherein n is between about 5 and 5,000, m is 0 or 1, Z is selected from certain specified aromatic and fused ring groups, Ar is selected from certain specified aromatic groups, R is selected from certain specified alkyl groups, Ar' is selected from certain specified aromatic groups, and R' and R" are independently selected from certain specified alkylene groups.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,443 (Yanus et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an electrostatographic imaging member and an electrophotographic imaging process for using the imaging member in which the imaging member comprises a substrate and an electroconductive layer, the imaging member comprising a polymeric acrylamine compound represented by the formula ##STR20## wherein n is between 5 and about 5,000, m is 0 or 1, y is 1, 2, or 3, Z is selected from certain specified aromatic and fused ring groups, Ar is selected from certain specified aromatic groups, Ar' is selected from certain specified aromatic groups, and X' is an alkylene radical selected from the group consisting of alkylene and isoalkylene groups containing 2 to 10 carbon atoms. The imaging member may comprise a substrate, charge generation layer, and a charge transport layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,444 (Yanus et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,487 (Yanus et al.), the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, disclose an electrostatographic imaging member and an electrophotographic imaging process for using the imaging member in which the imaging member comprises a substrate and an electroconductive layer, the imaging member comprising a polymeric arylamine compound represented by the formula ##STR21## wherein n is between about 5 and about 5,000, m is 0 or 1, Z is selected from certain specified aromatic and fused ring groups, Ar is selected from certain specified aromatic groups, and Ar' is selected from certain specified aromatic groups. The imaging member may comprise a substrate, charge generation layer, and a charge transport layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,650 (Limburg et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,440 (Limburg et al.), the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, disclose an electrostatographic imaging member and an electrophotographic imaging process for using the imaging member in which the imaging member comprises a substrate and at least one electroconductive layer, the imaging member comprising a polymeric arylamine compound represented by the formula ##STR22## wherein R is selected from the group consisting of --H, --CH.sub.3, and --C.sub.2 H.sub.5, m is between about 4 and about 1,000, A is selected from the group consisting of an arylamine group represented by the formula ##STR23## wherein m is 0 or 1, Z is selected from certain specified aromatic and fused ring groups that also contain an oxygen or sulfur atom, certain linear or cyclic hydrocarbon groups, and certain amine groups, Ar is selected from certain specified aromatic groups, Ar' is selected from certain specified aromatic groups, and B is selected from the group consisting of the arylamine group as defined for A and EQU --Ar--V).sub.n AR--
wherein Ar is as defined above and V is selected from an oxygen or sulfur atom, certain linear or cyclic hydrocarbon groups, or a phenylene group, and at least A or B contains the arylamine group. The imaging member may comprise a substrate, charge generation layer, and a charge transport layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,532 (Limburg et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an electrostatographic imaging member comprising a support layer and at least one electrophotoconductive layer, said imaging member comprising a polyarylamine polymer represented by the formula ##STR24## wherein n is between about 5 and about 5,000, or 0 if p>0, o is between about 9 and about 5,000, or is 0 if p>0 or n=0, p is between about 2 and about 100, or is 0 if n>0, X' and X" are independently selected from a group having bifunctional linkages, Q is a divalent group derived from certain hydroxy terminated arylamine reactants, Q' is a divalent group derived from a hydroxy terminated polyarylamine containing the group defined for Q and having a weight average molecular weight between about 1,000 and about 80,000, and the weight average molecular weight of the polyarylamine polymer is between about 10,000 and about 1,000,000.
Copending application U.S. Ser. No. (not yet assigned; Attorney Docket No. D/96194, filed concurrently herewith, with the named inventors Timothy J. Fuller, Leon A. Teuscher, John F. Yanus, Damodar M. Pai, Kathleen M. Carmichael, Edward F. Grabowski, and Paul F. Zukoski, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an imaging member which comprises a conductive substrate, a photogenerating material, and a binder comprising a polymer selected from (a) those of the formulae ##STR25## wherein x is an integer of 0 or 1, A is ##STR26## or mixtures thereof, B is ##STR27## wherein v is an integer of from 1 to about 20, EQU --(CH.sub.2 O).sub.t --
wherein t is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR28## wherein z is an integer of from 2 to about 20, ##STR29## wherein u is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR30## wherein w is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR31## or mixtures thereof, C is ##STR32## or mixtures thereof, wherein R is an alkyl group, an aryl group, an arylalkyl group, or mixtures thereof, and m and n are integers representing the number of repeating units; (b) those of the formulae ##STR33## wherein x is an integer of 0 or 1, A is ##STR34## or mixtures thereof, B is ##STR35## wherein v is an integer of from 1 to about 20, EQU --(CH.sub.2 O).sub.t --
wherein t is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR36## wherein z is an integer of from 2 to about 20, ##STR37## wherein u is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR38## wherein w is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR39## or mixtures thereof, C is ##STR40## or mixtures thereof, wherein R is an alkyl group, an aryl group, an arylalkyl group, or mixtures thereof, and m and n are integers representing the number of repeating units; (c) those of formulae I, III, IV, VII, or VIII wherein x is an integer of 0 or 1, A is ##STR41## B is ##STR42## wherein v is an integer of from 1 to about 20, EQU --(CH.sub.2 O).sub.t --
wherein t is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR43## wherein z is an integer of from 2 to about 20, ##STR44## wherein u is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR45## wherein w is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR46## or mixtures thereof, C is ##STR47## or mixtures thereof, wherein R is an alkyl group, an aryl group, an arylalkyl group, or mixtures thereof, and m and n are integers representing the number of repeating units; (d) those of formulae I, III, IV, VII, and VIII wherein x is an integer of 0 or 1, A is ##STR48## B is ##STR49## wherein v is an integer of from 1 to about 20, EQU --(CH.sub.2 O).sub.t --
wherein t is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR50## wherein z is an integer of from 2 to about 20, ##STR51## wherein u is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR52## wherein w is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR53## or mixtures thereof, C is ##STR54## or mixtures thereof, wherein R is an alkyl group, an aryl group, an arylalkyl group, or mixtures thereof, and m and n are integers representing the number of repeating units; or (e) those of formulae I, III, IV, VII, and VIII wherein x is an integer of 0 or 1, A is ##STR55## B is ##STR56## wherein v is an integer of from 1 to about 20, EQU --(CH.sub.2 O).sub.t --
wherein t is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR57## wherein z is an integer of from 2 to about 20, ##STR58## wherein u is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR59## wherein w is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR60## or mixtures thereof, C is ##STR61## or mixtures thereof, wherein R is an alkyl group, an aryl group, an arylalkyl group, or mixtures thereof, and m and n are integers representing the number of repeating units.
Copending application U.S. Ser. No. (not yet assigned; Attorney Docket No. D/96194Q2, filed concurrently herewith, with the named inventors Timothy J. Fuller, Leon A. Teuscher, Damodar M. Pai, John F. Yanus, Kathleen M. Carmichael, Edward F. Grabowski, and Paul F. Zukoski, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an imaging member which comprises a conductive substrate, a photogenerating material, a charge transport material, and a polymeric binder comprising (a) a first polymer comprising a polycarbonate, and (b) a second polymer of the formula ##STR62## wherein x is an integer of 0 or 1, A is ##STR63## or mixtures thereof, B is ##STR64## wherein v is an integer of from 1 to about 20, EQU --(CH.sub.2 O).sub.t --
wherein t is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR65## wherein z is an integer of from 2 to about 20, ##STR66## wherein u is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR67## wherein w is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR68## or mixtures thereof, C is ##STR69## or mixtures thereof, wherein R is an alkyl group, an aryl group, an arylalkyl group, or mixtures thereof, and m and n are integers representing the numbers of repeating units.
Although excellent toner images may be obtained with multilayered belt photoreceptors that are developed with dry developer powder (toner), it has been found that these same photoreceptors may become unstable when employed with liquid development systems. The photoreceptors may suffer from cracking, crazing, crystallization of active compounds, phase separation of charge transporting molecules, and extraction of small molecule charge transport compounds caused by contact with the organic liquid vehicle, typically an isoparaffinic hydrocarbon such as one of the Isopar.RTM. materials commonly employed in liquid developers. The damaging results of contact with the hydrocarbon vehicle of the liquid developer can markedly degrade the mechanical integrity and electrical properties of the photoreceptor. More specifically, the organic carrier fluid of a liquid developer can leach out activating small molecules, such as arylamine containing compounds, typically used in charge transport layers. Examples of this class of arylamine materials are N,N'-diphenyl-N,N'-bis(3-methylphenyl)-(1,1'-biphenyl)-4,4'-diamine, bis-(4-diethylamino-2-methylphenyl)-phenylmethane, 2,5-bis-(4'-dimethylaminophenyl)-1,3,4'-oxadiazole, 1-phenyl-3-(4'-dimethylaminostyryl-5-(4"-dimethylaminophenyl)pyrazoline, 1,1-bis-(4-(di-N,N'-p-methylphenyl)-aminophenyl)-cyclohexane, 4-diethylaminobenzaldehyde-1,1-diphenylhydrazone, and the like. The leaching process can result in crystallization of the small molecules, such as the aforementioned arylamine compounds, onto the photoreceptor surface and subsequent migration of the arylamine into the liquid developer. In addition, the developer vehicle, typically a C.sub.10 -C.sub.14 branched hydrocarbon, can induce the formation of cracks and crazes in the photoreceptor surface. These effects can lead to copy defects and shorter photoreceptor life. The degradation of the photoreceptor manifests as increased background and other printing defects prior to complete physical photoreceptor failure. The leaching out of the activating small molecule also increases the susceptibility of the transport layer to solvent/stress cracking when the belt is parked over a belt support roller during periods of non-use. Some liquid developer vehicles can also promote phase separation of the activating small molecules, such as arylamine compounds, in the transport layers, particularly when high concentrations of the arylamine compounds are present in the transport layer binder. Phase separation of active small molecules also adversely alters the electrical and mechanical properties of a photoreceptor. Similarly, single layer photoreceptors having a single active layer comprising photoconductive particles dispersed in a charge transport film-forming binder also are vulnerable to the same degradation problems encountered by the previously described multilayered type of photoreceptor when exposed to liquid developers. Although flexing is normally not encountered with rigid, cylindrical, multilayered photoreceptors which utilize charge transport layers containing activating small molecules dispersed or dissolved in a polymeric film forming binder, electrical degradation is similarly encountered during development with liquid developers. Sufficient degradation of these photoreceptors by liquid developers can occur in less than two hours as indicated by leaching of the small molecule and cracking of the matrix polymer film. Continuous exposure for a few days severely damages the photoreceptor. Thus, in advanced imaging systems utilizing multilayered photoreceptors exposed to liquid development systems, cracking and crazing have been encountered in critical charge transport layers during belt cycling. Cracks developing in charge transport layers during cycling can be manifested as print-out defects adversely affecting copy quality. Furthermore, cracks in the photoreceptor pick up toner particles which cannot be removed in the cleaning step and may be transferred to the background in subsequent prints. In addition, crack areas are subject to delamination when contacted with blade cleaning devices, thus limiting the options in electrophotographic product design.
For use with liquid developers, photoreceptors employing charge transport polymers have been developed, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,507, U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,644, U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,650, U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,443, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,532. While these compositions may meet machine requirements, the synthetic procedure to make these polymers are difficult and in some cases employ toxic substances. The acidic conditions employed in the syntheses also results in generation of free radicals, which in turn can result in material having properties that vary from batch to batch.
While known compositions and processes are suitable for their intended purposes, a need remains for improved electrostatic imaging members. In addition, a need remains for electrostatic imaging members which exhibit reduced or no crystallization when operated in an environment employing liquid ink development. Further, a need remains for electrostatic imaging members exhibiting improved imaging operation during extended image cycling. Additionally, a need remains for charge transport polymers which can be prepared by non-toxic syntheses. There is also a need for charge transport polymers with properties which remain constant from batch to batch. In addition, there is a need for charge transport polymers which exhibit improved wear resistance. Further, there is a need for high performance charge transport polymers which can be synthesized and scaled up in a non-toxic environment and which have reproducible properties from batch to batch.

Imaging members containing high performance charge transporting polymers


An aspect of the present disclosure calculates a phase variance value indicating a degree of variance of a phase in a surrounding of each position in a biological tissue, based on phase values of excitation wave at respective positions in the biological tissue that acts in response to excitation caused by propagation of the excitation wave in the tissue, and generates an analysis map, based on a time series of at least part of the phase variance values at the respective positions. Since the phase variance value indicates the degree of variance of the phase in the surrounding, a position having a large degree of variance of the phase in the surrounding may be specified as a rotation center of rotating excitation wave.

The inventors have proposed a technique of generating a phase map of the excitation wave in the heart and generating a phase variance map that indicates the degrees of variance of phase in surroundings of respective positions (respective locations) by phase variance values in a numerical value range of 0 to 1, based on the phase map (as described in Non-Patent Literature 1). The phase variance value increases with an increase in the degree of variance of the phase in the surrounding, so that a rotation center of the rotating excitation wave has a large phase variance value. Accordingly, a position (location) having the phase variance value that is larger than a reference value (for example, 0.8 or 0.9) close to a value 1 may be specified as the rotation center of the rotating excitation wave.

Analysis map generating device that analyzes a rotating excitation wave in biological tissue


An apparatus, system, and method for determining an operational threshold level for distinguishing between video data and synchronization data in a video signal, are described herein.

Display devices are used for presentation of video to a viewer. The video to be presented may be transmitted to the display device from a source unit in the form of a video signal. A display device receiving a video signal will render video output corresponding to data conveyed by the video signal. However, if the display device improperly interprets the video signal, which could occur, e.g., if the video signal includes excessive noise, the corresponding video output may be disrupted or compromised.


A lens system which has a first optical boundary with a radius of curvature R, a second optical boundary located substantially a distance R from the first boundary, and a third optical boundary nearer to the second optical boundary than R. Secondly, a lens system providing optical field limitation using total internal reflection. Also, an array of lenses for reproduction, capture and display of three dimensional images discussed.

Stereoscopic systems provide a viewer with a three-dimensional representation of a scene (or an object), using two or more, two-dimensional representations of the scene. The two-dimensional representations of the scene are taken from slightly different angles.
The goal of stereoscopic systems is to produce one or more binocular views of a scene to the viewer. A full-parallax view accurately simulates depth perception irrespective of the viewer""s motion, as it would exist when the viewer observes a real scene.
Stereoscopic systems include autostereoscopic systems and non-autostereoscopic systems. Non-autostereoscopic systems require a viewer to use a device, such as viewing glasses, to observe the three-dimensional view, while the three-dimensional effect of autostereoscopic systems may be observed by viewing the system directly.
Early stereoscopic devices used prismatic, total internal reflection (TIR) to simultaneously present two views of a scene, such as the Swan Cube. Prismatic TIR allowed the views to be presented to the viewer such that each of the viewer""s eyes was presented one of the two images, thus creating a perception of depth. Prismatic devices simulate depth perception for only a single viewing angle.
After the introduction of transparent plastic optics, autostereoscopic devices using one-dimensional arrays of cylindrical lenses (known as lenticular lenses) were created. A lenticular lens array has an associated array of composite strip images. Each lenticular lens presents the viewer a selected portion of its strip image such that the combined presentation of all of the lenticular lenses presents a three-dimensional view of the scene.
Devices using lenticular lenses have several shortcomings. First, because the lenticular lenses are cylindrical (i.e., they have optical power in a single dimension), they produce parallax only on a horizontal viewing axis. If the viewer""s viewing angle departs from the horizontal viewing axis, the three-dimensional representation ceases to exist. Second, the lenticular lenses are highly astigmatic, and therefore, the viewer cannot bring the three-dimensional representation fully into focus. Third, if the two-dimensional images require illumination through the lenticular arrays (i.e., the images are not self-radiant, or the images are not printed on a transparent or translucent material that is capable of backlighting), the three-dimensional presentation will have uneven radiance resulting from uneven distribution within the array.
Another autostereoscopic system uses an array of spherical (or aspherical) lenses. Spherical lens array systems have an associated two-dimensional array of microimages. Each microimage is a two-dimensional view of a scene, captured from a slightly different angle. Unlike lenticular lenses, spherical lenses have optical power in two dimensions, thus allowing the viewer to maintain a three-dimensional representation of a scene despite departing from the horizontal viewing axis.
Each spherical lens presents the viewer a selected portion of a corresponding microimage such that the combined presentation of all of the spherical lenses presents a three-dimensional view of a scene. Ideally, each lens system of the lens array corresponds to a single microimage, such that when a viewer views the microimages through the lens array, each lens system transmits a single color or tone, from a selected portion of a single, corresponding microimage.
The shortcomings of spherical arrays have included that lenses in a lens arrays have excessive aberrations and a tendency to transmit light from multiple microimages. Both of these shortcomings have resulted in reduced image quality.
An additional advantage of spherical (or aspherical) arrays of lenses is there ability to capture arrays of microimages for use with three-dimensional viewing systems. The process of capturing arrays of microimages is known as integral imaging. An image captured by a spherical lens array is initially pseudoscopic, but may be made orthoscopic by reproduction of a captured image using a second array.
A difficulty encountered in capturing and reproducing images is optical crosstalk between lens systems of the array. Crosstalk causes overlap of adjacent images, resulting in degradation of the microimages. Solutions to crosstalk have ranged from modifications of the scene when creating the microimages, to optomechanical modifications of the lens arrays. Optomechanical modifications of the lens arrays have included baffles that limit the field of the lens systems comprising a lens array. The baffled lens systems are said to be field-limited. And a field-limited system whose field does not overlap the field of adjacent lens systems is said to be xe2x80x9cisolated.xe2x80x9d Solutions to crosstalk have been costly to implement.
An aspect of lens systems of the present invention is a high acuity lens system comprising three optical boundaries having optical power. The lens system comprises a first boundary having a radius of curvature R, a second boundary located substantially a distance R from the first surface, and a third surface located at least 0.05 R from the second boundary.
Another aspect of lens systems of the present invention is a lens array having a lens system that is xe2x80x9coptically field-limited.xe2x80x9d An optically field-limited system is a system wherein the edges of the field of the system are determined by the optical properties of lens material of the system. Accordingly, in the present invention, light within the field of a lens is substantially transmitted by the lens, and light at greater field angles than the edges of the field is substantially reflected by a surface of the lens system, using total internal reflection.


A subsea structure flowline connector assembly for a subsea structure having a flowline connector assembly adapted to be mountable to the subsea structure, the flowline connector assembly having a junction plate having a flowline connector therein; an receiver affixed to or adjacent to said junction plate, said receiver having an interior exposed to said flowline connector of said junction plate; a fly-in connector assembly adapted to be connectable to the flowline connector, said fly-in connector assembly having a connector thereon, said connector of said fly-in connector assembly adapted to engage said flowline connector of said junction plate to establish fluid communication, said fly-in connector assembly having a conduit in communication with said connector of said fly-in connector assembly, said conduit adapted to connect to a flowline; an actuating device coupled to the connector for actuating the connector to engage the flowline connector, a brace extending from the actuating device to the conduit for bracing the conduit to the actuating device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to subsea structure flowline connection systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems whereby a fly-in connector is joined to subsea structures so as to establish a flow communication therewith. More particularly, the present invention relates to a flowline connector assembly for use with large bore connections, e.g. 2 inch and above bore connection, between the fly-in connector and the flowline connector.
2. Background
Flowlines are used to interconnect pieces of subsea oil-field equipment for fluid communication, i.e. hydrocarbons (oil/gas), injection fluids/gases or hydraulic fluid. They generally take the form of somewhat flexible armoured hoses or pipes, provided with subsea matable connectors at either end. Typically, they are installed by being lowered into place from a pipe-laying vessel, with the final positioning and make-up of the end connectors carried out by divers or by an ROV. Short ROV-installable hoses and pipes are used to interconnect adjacent pieces of subsea equipment.
Examples of subsea equipment that may be interconnected using flowlines include subsea Christmas trees, manifolds, pipeline end terminations (PLET), capping stacks, blowout preventors or any other subsea structures that require flowline or hydraulic connections. This equipment is typically located on the seabed.
When there are several different pieces of equipment to be interconnected, installation of the necessary pipes and flowlines can be time-consuming and difficult. An end of each flowline is generally lowered vertically to the seabed from a pipe-laying or installation vessel. The flowline is then laid out horizontally between the points to be interconnected. The flowline ends must then be retrieved from the seabed bed by an ROV. The end connectors are aligned with the subsea equipment for make-up of the required fluid-tight, i.e. liquid and/or gas tight, connections.
A known type of connector for the flowline has a first part mounted to a piece of subsea equipment as described earlier, such as a wellhead, and a mating second part fitted to the end of a flowline. In use, the second part is lowered towards the sea bed and is stabbed from above into the first. A pivot arrangement then guides the second part and attached flowline so as to hinge over into a generally horizontal position, in which the flowline may be laid away along the sea bed, and in which the connector first and second mating parts are axially aligned for make-up of a fluid-tight connection between them.
In order to connect various flowlines to the equipment on the ocean floor, special connectors known as "flying leads" are often employed. The flying leads connect the ends of flowlines to subsea equipment, such as connecting to a control pod on a manifold or subsea tree at one end to an umbilical termination assembly at the other end. In shallow water, flying leads are connected to subsea equipment by divers. In deeper waters, one or more remotely-operated vehicles (ROV) are utilized.
Different configurations of flying leads are presently available. Two types of flying leads for interconnecting the elements of a subsea production system are hydraulic flying leads or steel flying leads. Both types of leads may house lines for monitoring, control and, when necessary, chemical injection in the subsea system. Each type of lead has benefits and limitations.
The hydraulic flying leads commonly are made up of thermoplastic hoses of various sizes and configurations. In known arrangement, a nylon "type 11" internal pressure sheath is utilized as the inner layer. A reinforcement layer is provided around the internal pressure sheath. A polyurethane outer sheath is bonded thereto so as to provide waterproofing. End fittings are provided on each end of the thermoplastic hoses. The end fittings are typically crimped or swaged onto the hose. Connected to the end fittings on each of the ends of the hoses is a multiple quick-connect junction plate. This plate provides the connection plate between the subsea equipment and communication lines. It is usually installed using ROV unit subsea.
Steel flying leads presently being used define a collection of separate steel tubes bundled within a flexible vented plastic tube. Typically, a "Cobra" type end connection containing multiple quick-connect junction plate connections is provided at each end of the tubes. The individual tubes are routed into the respective end connections and welded into socket fitting in the opposing junction plate connections. These plates are usually installed by means of ROV units subsea.
One of the problems with the existing systems is that, while they are effective for small bores of less than two inches, they are extremely difficult to install with respect to large bore applications (bores of two inches or greater than two inches). For large bores, flexible or rigid pipe is used to transport or channel the fluid. In large bore applications, the large pressures involved tend to create greater separation pressures, i.e. pressures that separate the flowline from the equipment. As such, they would generally be ineffective in supporting the connection under the effect of great pressures. As such, a need has developed so as to provide a subsea flowline connection assembly which can be used for large bore applications and which can withstand the great pressures involved in such applications.
In the past, various patents have issued relating to subsea flowline connection assemblies. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,016, issued on Apr. 28, 1987 to Baugh et al., describes a subsea flowline connector for remotely connecting and releasing a first flowline to a complementary second flowline at a submerged location without the use of divers. Seals in the connector may be remotely replaced without the need to bring the connector to the surface. A bundle of control/supply lines are remotely connected to respective submerged lines at the same time as the flowline is connected.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,125, issued on Mar. 1, 1988 to B. J. Reneau, describes a grip-and-seal mechanically-locking flowline connector. In particular, flowlines have separately actuated gripping and sealing assemblies which are actuated by hydraulic pressure but are held in actuated positions using internally mounted mechanical-type mechanisms.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,249, issued on Jan. 14, 1997 to Cox et al., provides a diverless flowline connection system for connecting a flowline to a subsea wellhead or other subsea structure. The diverless flowline connection system is used with an ROV. The diverless flowline connection system includes a frame assembly having clamping arms for mounting the frame assembly to the flowline. A pair of winches are mounted to the frame assembly. Each winch includes a winch line for attachment to the wellhead to which the flowline is to be connected. Each winch is independently controlled so that the lateral position of the flowline may be variously adjusted by controlling each of the winches.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,027, issued on Sep. 15, 1998 to I. Ostergaard, shows a system for pull-in and interconnection of two pipelines in subsea position. A first pipeline is initially freely suspended. A second pipeline is mounted on a bottom-based manifold frame. The end section of the first pipeline is provided with a socket-like termination with a front end, which is provided with means for coupling of the terminator to complementary pipe coupling means on the second pipeline. The terminator is provided with a laterally-directed, longitudinally-shaped anchor member. The manifold frame is provided with receiving means for receipt and fixation of the anchor element. The anchor element and the receiving means are dimensioned and positioned such that when the anchor element is placed in position in the receiving means, the coupling means of the terminator will be positioned straight in front of the complementary coupling means on the second pipeline.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,805,382, issued on Oct. 19, 2004 to C. E. Jennings, describes a one-stroke soft-land flowline connector. A frame is used to land on a base and soft land a connector receptacle on the end of a flowline to a mandrel protruding from the base. After the frame lands on the base, the frame and the receptacle are pushed toward the base so as to cause frame latching members to latch the frame to the base. The frame holds the base and the receptacle above the mandrel. The frame and receptacle are pushed further towards the base and the connector receptacle abuts the mandrel. The connector receptacle moves relative to the frame as the frame is pushed closer to the base. This causes an actuator on the frame to move dogs on the receptacle to engage the mandrel and lock the receptacle to the mandrel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,715, issued on Aug. 8, 2000 to Seixas et al., provides a flowline connection system having a pivotally-mounted funnel which is a permanent part of a subsea structure. The funnel is rotatably mounted so as to rotate from a vertical position to a horizontal position. Retractable pins engage a slot in the funnel to lock the funnel in a vertical position. This allows the funnel to rotate to the horizontal position to engage a hub connector. A flowline end termination stabs into the funnel while the funnel is in the vertical position. The flowline termination body has a flange connector on one end that connects to a flexible flowline.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,902,199, issued on Jun. 7, 2005 to Colyer et al., provides an ROV-activated subsea connector so as to connect a subsea flowline to a subsea connector hub. The connector has a frame with a tubular mandrel located within it. The mandrel connects to the flowline and has a forward end that engages the connector end. The mandrel moves axially relative to the frame between retracted and extended positions. A lock member on the forward end of the mandrel will engage the profile of the connector hub. An actuator mounted to the mandrel causes the lock member to move into engagement with the connector hub after the mandrel has been moved into engagement with the connector hub.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,112,009, issued on Sep. 26, 2006 to C. Mackinnon, provides an apparatus for substantially horizontal connection of a conduit to a subsea structure. A frame connectable to and supportable by the subsea structure. The frame has a docking device operable to allow a horizontal connection device to dock with the frame such that the frame is capable of bearing at least part of an operational load associated with the horizontal connection of the conduit to the subsea structure.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0283274, published on Nov. 19, 2009 to M. R. Lugo, discloses a connector assembly for connecting a hot stab to a hydraulic hose. The hot stab has a fluid conduit connector thereon. A hydraulic hose has a connector assembly at an end thereof suitable for joining to the fluid conduit connector of the hot stab. A sleeve is affixed to the hot stab and to the hydraulic hose so as to extend over and surround the fluid conduit connector and the connector assembly. A jam nut is affixed to the tubular portion of the fluid conduit connector. The sleeve is threadedly connected to the threaded exterior surface of the jam nut.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a subsea flowline connection system which is particularly configured to withstand the high pressures associated with large bore applications.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a subsea flowline connection system which facilitates the ability of an ROV to connect a fly-in connector to a flowline connector of the subsea structure.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a subsea flowline connection system which allows the large bending moments from the flowline to be distributed over to the fixed part on the subsea structure.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a subsea flowline connection system which effects a secure and strong seal between the fly-in connector and the flowline connector.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a subsea flowline connection system which allows for flowline misalignment during the installation process.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.

Subsea structure flowline connector assembly


A pattern holding assembly and a crystal material holding assembly are paired on opposed ends of a shaft passing transversely through a base unit such that the pattern and the crystal material are simultaneously rotated with a driven shaft through 360 degrees of angle, or multiples thereof, by an exterior drive mechanism. A second shaft, directed through the base unit to be parallel to the first axis, and to pivot about its longitudinal axis, is adapted to carry a stylus bit for tracing the pattern and a cutter bit for scribing the pattern onto the crystal material. The two shafts are offset sufficiently to enable rotation of the second shaft to completely follow the pattern, the stylus and the cutter bit being continuously in transverse alignment. Provision is made for holding and releasing both the pattern and for the crystal material, and for translating the stylus and cutter shaft longitudinally to enable engagement of the stylus into the pattern, and then for engaging the cutter bit onto the crystal material with an appropriate inscribing pressure.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to devices for cutting mineral glass crystal material. In particular, this invention relates to a device for holding a watch crystal bezel pattern and a piece of mineral glass crystal stock, and for mechanically inscribing the bezel pattern onto the mineral glass crystal material blank so that a bezel shaped mineral glass crystal may be broken from the mineral glass crystal stock material.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Bezel-shaped mineral glass crystals, primarily for replacement into wrist watches and the like, have long been formed from mineral glass crystal stock blanks, of a variety of materials, including plastics, by inscribing the stock with, typically, a diamond point or scribe, with repeated scribing, followed by snapping along or machining to the inscribed mark, resulting in a rough bezel-shaped mineral glass crystal, which is then ground on appropriate edges to a final size and shape. The only alternatives to the above process have been to grind the edges of a mineral glass crystal blank from the raw blank to a final shape and size, or to order a replacement mineral glass crystal from the watch manufacturer.
While the device of the present invention does not appear to be related to heretofore known devices discussed hereinabove, it may appear that devices specifically adapted to other purposes, other than forming replacement bezel-shaped watch mineral glass crystals, may have relation to the present invention. For example, the common pantograph provides for following a pattern with a first stylus, with a second stylus tracing an enlarged, equal, or reduced image of the pattern traced.
Also related, at least in part, are the known mechanical devices developed to form duplicate keys for multiple tumbler locks. Such devices typically provide a driven rotating, thin cross-section grinding wheel. The key to be duplicated is placed into a holder such the it extends parallel to the axis of rotation of the grinding wheel. A key blank is placed into a second holding device, also parallel to the axis of rotation of the grinding wheel, such that the longitudinal directions of the original key and the key blank are the same and that any longitudinal grooves are substantially aligned. Both holding devices are rigidly coupled to a shaft, extending parallel to the axis of rotation of the grinding wheel, the shaft being capable of being pivoted about its longitudinal axis and translated longitudinally therealong. As the shaft is pivoted, the original key is brought into contact with a fixed stylus while the blank key is ground equivalently by the grinding wheel. Translation of the shaft along its longitudinal extent enables all tumbler notches of the original key to be ground into the blank key, forming a substantially exact duplicate key.


A method for accelerated developing of mobile device specific webpages using a hypertext generator and a domain free interface traverser to collect predefined data from one or more third party servers, store the collected data, and maintain consistency throughout with a plurality of rules for a consistent look and feel. A replication step verifies consistence of predefined data. The method includes use of a document processor to merge predefined data into a webpage document template creating a mobile device specific webpage by one or more untrained webpage developers and generate a consistent look.

A need exists for an easy to implement method that enables an unskilled developer to develop webpages for mobile computing devices quickly and easily using data-entry screens to carry out a wide variety of searches and acquire a wide variety of extraction subsets of data without knowledge or skill in generating HTML.
A need exists for an easy to use method that quickly and efficiently allows a webpage developer to create mobile device webpages without the need to learn a computing language or have knowledge of computer programming.
The present embodiments meet these needs.
The present embodiments are detailed below with reference to the listed Figures.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for accelerated webpage development for at least one mobile computing device

INFORMATION CAPITAL EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT, INC.


A method for controlling engine idle speeds for an internal combustion engine. The method includes operating the engine at a first idle speed when a first device is in a first operational state, and when the first device is in a second operational state and a second device is in a first operational state, and operating the engine at a second idle speed when the first device is in the second operational state and the second device is in a second operational state. The first idle speed is a low idle speed and the second idle speed is a high idle speed that is higher than the first idle speed, and the low idle speed is selected to provide reduced engagement torque to the second device and the high idle speed is selected to provide user desired acceleration performance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and a method for controlling engine idle speed based on operational state settings.
2. Background Art
Engine emissions requirements have become increasingly stringent with the passage of increasingly restrictive air quality legislation as time has progressed. As engine control strategies are adjusted to meet increasingly tighter emissions regulations, desired customer vehicle acceleration performance is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.
One conventional approach at attempting to provide desired customer vehicle acceleration performance is to increase engine idle speed. The increased engine idle speed is typically used when a vehicle is traveling (i.e., not parked and with the transmission in gear).
Further, when the vehicle where the engine is implemented is a fire truck, a relatively low engine idle speed is generally desirable to provide power (i.e., rotational torque and speed) to a water pump that provides pressurized water to hoses when the vehicle is parked (e.g., the parking brake is engaged) and the engine is at an idle state (or mode of operation). The reduced idle speed typically causes reduced engagement torque to the water pump. The water pump is typically driven by an auxiliary shaft (e.g., a power take off, PTO, drive shaft from the vehicle transmission) when the PTO (and hence the water pump) is engaged. Yet further, when the vehicle where the engine is implemented is a utility or industrial service (e.g., electric service, cable television service, forestry service, etc.) truck, a relatively low engine idle speed is generally desirable to provide power via the PTO drive shaft to any of accessories such as a hydraulic pump that provides pressurized oil to hydraulic mechanisms, an electrical power generator, a mechanical winch, a mechanical saw, and the like when the vehicle is parked.
Thus, there exists a need and an opportunity for an improved system and an improved method for engine idle speed control.

System and method for controlling engine idle speed based on operational state settings


A method and system are provided for duplicating at a destination site changes made to data at a source site. According to the method a plurality of streams are established between the source site and the destination site. The plurality of streams are used in parallel to propagate changes made at the source site to the destination site. A record of transactions that made changes that need to be propagated from the source site to the destination site is maintained at the source site. Before propagating changes made by a transaction to the destination site on a stream of the plurality of streams, the record of transactions is inspected to identify a set of transactions whose changes are not known to have been made permanent at the destination site. It is then determined whether the transaction could possibly depend on any transaction in the set of transactions. If the transaction could not possibly depend on any transaction in the set of transactions, then the changes made by the transaction are propagated to the destination site using one of the plurality of streams.

Under certain conditions, it is desirable to store copies of a particular set of data, such as a relational table, at multiple sites. If users are allowed to update the set of data at one site, the updates must be propagated to the copies at the other sites in order for the copies to remain consistent. The process of propagating the changes is generally referred to as replication.
Various mechanisms have been developed for performing replication. Once such mechanism is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/126,586 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Data Replication", filed on Sep. 24, 1993 by Sandeep Jain and Dean Daniels, the contents of which are incorporated by reference.
The site at which a change is initially made to a set of replicated data is referred to herein as the source site. The sites to which the change must be propagated are referred to herein as destination sites. If a user is allowed to make changes to copies of a particular table that are at different sites, those sites are source sites with respect to the changes initially made to their copy of the table, and destination sites with respect to the changes initially made to copies of the table at other sites.
Replication does not require an entire transaction that is executed at a source site to be re-executed at each of the destination sites. Only the changes made by the transaction to replicated data need to be propagated. Thus, other types of operations, such as read and sort operations, that may have been executed in the original transaction do not have to be re-executed at the destination sites.
Row-level replication and column-level replication constitute two distinct styles of replication. In row-level or column-level replication, the updates performed by an executing transaction are recorded in a deferred transaction queue. The information recorded in the deferred transaction queue includes both the old and the new values for each data item that was updated. Row-level and column-level replication differ with respect to whether old and new values are transmitted for an entire relational row (row-level) or for only a subset of its columns (column-level).
The changes recorded in the deferred transaction queue are propagated to the destination site. The destination site first checks that its current data values agree with the transmitted "old" values. The check may fail, for example, if concurrent changes have been made to the same replicated data at different sites. If the check fails, a conflict is said to have been detected. Various techniques may be used to resolve such conflicts. If no conflict is detected, the current data values at the destination site are replaced with the transmitted "new" values.
Referring to FIG. 1, it illustrates a system in which copies of a table 118 are stored at multiple sites. Specifically, the system includes three sites 100, 102 and 104. Sites 100, 102 and 104 include disks 106, 108 and 110 that store copies 120, 122 and 124 oftable 118, respectively. Database servers 130, 132 and 134 are executing at sites 100, 102 and 104, respectively.
Assume that database server 130 executes a transaction that makes changes to copy 120. When execution of the transaction is successfilly completed at site 100, a record of the changes made by the transaction is stored in a deferred transaction queue 160 of a replication mechanism 140. Such records are referred to herein as deferred transaction records. Typically, the deferred transaction queue 160 will be stored on a non-volatile storage device so that the information contained therein can be recovered after a failure.
Replication mechanism 140 includes a dequeue process for each of sites 102 and 104. Dequeue process 150 periodically dequeues all deferred transaction records that (1) involve changes that must be propagated to site 102, and (2) that dequeue process 150 has not previously dequeued. The records dequeued by dequeue process 150 are transmitted in a stream to site 102. The database server 132 at site 102 makes the changes to copy 122 of table 118 after checking to verify that the current values in copy 122 match the "old values" contained in the deferred transaction records.
Similarly, dequeue process 152 periodically dequeues all deferred transaction records that (1) involve changes that must be propagated to site 104, and (2) that dequeue process 152 has not previously dequeued. The records dequeued by dequeue process 152 are transmitted in a stream to site 104. The database server 134 at site 104 makes the changes to copy 124 of table 118 after checking to verify that the current values in copy 124 match the "old values" contained in the deferred transaction records.
Various obstacles may impede the efficiency of the replication mechanism 140 illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, a mechanism must be provided which allows dequeue processes 150 and 152 to distinguish between the deferred transaction records within deferred transaction queue 160 that they have already dequeued, and the deferred transaction records that they have not yet dequeued.
Further, a single stream connects dequeue processes 150 and 152 to their corresponding destination sites. Efficiency may be improved by establishing multiple streams between the source site and each of the destination sites. However, there are constraints on the order in which updates must be applied at the destination sites, and the replication mechanism has no control over the order in which commands that are sent over one stream are applied at a destination site relative to commands that are sent over a different stream. Therefore, a transmission scheduling mechanism must be provided if commands are to be sent to a destination site over more than one stream.
Currently, database systems implement replication by executing deferred transactions using two phase commit techniques. During two phase commit operations, numerous messages are sent between the source site and each of the destination sites for each transaction to ensure that changes at all sites are made permanent as an atomic event. While the use of two phase commit techniques ensures that the various databases may be accurately recovered after a failure, the overhead involved in the numerous inter-site messages is significant. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a mechanism that involves less messaging overhead than two phase commit techniques but which still allows accurate recovery after a failure.


The invention relates to a method and device for producing a chain composed of chain links and of connecting elements. According to the invention, the chain can be produced in an essentially continuous manner whereby largely eliminating the need to make separating cuts and enabling the production of loadable and durable articulated connections of chain links. To this end, the invention provides that: connecting elements each having two holes are used; the connecting elements are inserted in cavities in first tools, and; chain links are produced with contact at least to partial areas of connecting elements. Inside the holes, joint pins are produced that are a part of the chain links. The invention also relates to a method and device for producing a chain, which is composed of chain links and of connecting elements, made of shapeable materials, particularly plastic.

The present invention relates to a method and a device for producing a chain which comprises chain links 2 and connecting elements 1, made from formable materials, in particular from plastic.
The invention is preferably used for the substantially continuous production of energy guiding chains, proceeding from at least one injection molded part or extruded part and with the execution of forming and separating operations. The energy guiding chains which are produced in this way comprise a plurality of links having individual connecting elements, the chains comprising elements which are connected to one another and have, at their ends, two pivots which extend to the outside or two connecting openings, the diameter of which corresponds to the diameter of the pivots, adjacent chain links being connected by the pivots which engage into the connecting openings.
Energy guiding chains, also called energy chains or drag chains, are used to convey flexible lines, in particular supply lines, to a movable or displaceable consumer. These energy guiding chains are composed of a multiplicity of chain links which have a box-shaped profile. At their ends, these chain links have an articulated connection, about which they pivot with respect to one another. Limitation of the angle ensures that the lines which are guided in the energy guiding chain are bent only in a defined bending radius.
Various methods for the production of energy guiding chains are known in the prior art. Here, the individual chain links are usually manufactured as injection molded parts from plastic. Subsequently, a predefined number of chain links are connected to one another to achieve the desired length of the energy guiding chain. At one end, the chain links usually have in each case one pivot on opposite sides of the box profile, while two lug-like projections are provided at the other end, which projections have in each case one opening, the diameter of which corresponds to the diameter of the associated pivot. For connection, the two lugs are bent apart from one another. The lugs are pushed over the two pivots, until the pivots latch into the connecting openings.
One disadvantage here is the complicated multiple-stage production and assembly operation.
According to DE 100 17 514 A1, a method for producing guide chains from plastic is known. These guide chains comprise chain links having a box profile, each chain link having a basic body with pivots and connecting openings, adjacent chain links being connected rotatably by engagement of the pivots into the connecting openings. In this method, first of all a box-shaped extruded part is provided, subsequently articulated connections are produced by forming and/or separating operations which in each case form the outer contour of the pivots. The side walls are separated in each case into an inner and outer part; the outer side part walls are severed. The inner side part walls are severed until finally the upper and lower faces of the box profile are likewise severed.
It is a disadvantage that, in these production steps, a multiplicity of individual parts are required for separating operations, for the execution of which complicated knives having delicate blades are required.
Furthermore, it is known in the prior art to construct single-piece energy guiding systems by first of all elongate components being extruded and the latter subsequently being configured in a plurality of processing steps by mechanical processing such as punching, cutting or bending, in such a way that they can be deflected in predefined radii.
It is a disadvantage here that the articulated connections of said guide chains do not exhibit sufficient flexibility by corresponding cross-sectional change in the extruded body and are therefore at risk of fracture.
It is a disadvantage here that these profiles which are produced continuously require great degrees of freedom with subsequently introduced functions and are susceptible to wear.
According to DE-A1 197 10 489, a method for producing a guide chain is known, which guide chain is also denoted there as a protective element for movably laid lines. In order to produce this protective element, first of all a flat plastic part is injection molded or cast in one piece, which plastic part has segments which are connected to one another by bendable bridges. Each protective element can be compared with a chain link and has a base face, two side faces and an upper face, connected to one another by predetermined bending points, in the form of a band. The individual faces can be folded to form a box-shaped segment, the upper face element being connected by way of the free end to the free edge of one side face segment. Whereas the two side face parts are joined to two opposite sides of the base face element, the individual adjacent base face elements are connected to one another at their other longitudinal sides, with the result that, when the respective face parts which are assigned to the respective base faces are folded to form a box-shaped element, the respective box-shaped segments (or chain links) are connected via a predetermined bending point on the longitudinal edges of the base faces.
High assembly expenditure is also required in this method, as the individual segments have to be folded from the face elements. Chains of this type have low stability, as the box-shaped profile ensures only low dimensional stability in the region of the edges, on which the segments are folded. Finally, the predetermined bending points which are produced by the reduction in the material thickness are also subjected to the risk of fracture on account of material fatigue phenomena during the use of the guide chain.
According to DE-A1 197 10 489, the side face segments are to be provided with articulated parts in the form of pivots and guide holes, with the result that the joint parts of respectively adjacent links engage into one another after the folding of individual segment parts.
It is also a disadvantage in this method that complex folding of the individual box-shaped profiles is performed.


A light deflector comprises a first movable plate having a reflective surface, fixing portions, a pair of second movable plates located between the first movable plate and the fixing portions, a pair of first elastic members supporting the first movable plate so as to allow it to oscillate with respect to the second movable plates, a pair of second elastic members supporting the second movable plates so as to allow them to oscillate with respect to the fixing portions, and an actuator to oscillate the first movable plate. Oscillation axis of the first elastic members and oscillation axis of the second elastic members are located on the same axis. Stiffness of the second elastic members against oscillation is lower than stiffness of the first elastic members against oscillation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light deflector manufactured by applying a semiconductor manufacturing process technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, attention has been directed to a light deflector manufactured by applying a semiconductor manufacturing process technique, i.e., a light deflector manufactured by applying MEMS technology. A light deflector that oscillates at a resonant frequency is disclosed in, for example, U.S. 2002/118429.
This light deflector comprises a movable plate having a reflective surface, a pair of torsion bars supporting the movable plate so as to allow it to oscillate, and a supporting member holding the torsion bars. The movable plate has a first portion having the reflective surface, and a second portion having electric elements that constitute part of actuating means to actuate a mirror oscillating member. The first portion has a reflective surface forming surface in which the reflective surface is formed, and the second portion has an electric element forming surface in which the electric elements are-formed. The reflective surface forming surface is smaller than the electric element forming surface, and has a shape such as an elliptic shape substantially inscribed in a rectangle of the electric element forming surface. An electromagnetically actuating method is employed, and the electric element is a drive coil going around the edge of the movable plate. This drive coil is disposed in a space having magnetic flux perpendicular to an oscillation axis, and oscillates the movable plate by a Lorentz force caused by passing an electric current through the drive coil.
In this light deflector, the area of the second portion is made smaller than that of the first portion configuring the movable plate so that the moment of inertia of the movable plate is reduced while the size of the movable plate and the dynamic flatness of the movable plate are maintained. As a result, the stiffness of the torsion bar can be reduced while maintaining a constant resonant frequency, thereby allowing actuating efficiency to be improved. Thus, the overall actuating efficiency is improved while maintaining the resonant frequency and mirror performance.
In a present application using a light deflector, a light deflector that manages both high-speed scanning and low-speed scanning is desired. More specifically, a light deflector is desired that can change an actuating frequency within a predetermined region in the low-speed scanning and that can actuate at a constant frequency higher than a low-speed scanning region in the high-speed scanning. It is naturally preferable that the low-speed scanning region may be wide and that the difference between the high speed and the low speed may be large.


The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus of automatic power management control for a Serial ATA device directly attached to a SAS/SATA host controller. In an exemplary aspect of the present invention, it is determined whether a Serial ATA device is directly attached to a SAS/SATA host controller without using a SAS expander. When it is determined that the Serial ATA device is directly attached to the SAS/SATA host controller, an idle or active condition of a Serial ATA interface including the Serial ATA device and the SAS/SATA host controller is automatically detected. When the Serial ATA interface is in an idle condition, idle time of the Serial ATA interface is measured using a power down counter whose frequency is determined by a programmable register based on an input clock. When a power down counter value is equal to a first value, a request for a Partial power state is asserted, and Serial ATA interface is put into a Partial power state. When a power down counter value is equal to a second value, a request for a Slumber power state is asserted, and Serial ATA interface is put into a Slumber power state.

Serial ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) is an evolutionary replacement for the Parallel ATA physical storage interface. Serial ATA (SATA) is a computer bus primarily designed for transfer of data between a computer processor and hard disk and has at least three advantages over Parallel ATA, namely speed, cable management, and Serial ATA's ability of being hot swappable.
There are three interface power states supported in Serial ATA: PhyReady, Partial and Slumber. In PhyReady (or power up) state, the PHY (physical) logic and main PLL (phase-locked loop) are both on and active, and the interface is synchronized and capable of receiving and sending data. Partial and Slumber are two power saving (or power down) modes. In both Partial and Slumber states, the PHY logic is powered, but is in a reduced power state. However, while the exit latency from Partial state is generally no longer than 10 μs (microseconds), the exit latency from Slumber state is generally no longer than 10 ms (milliseconds).
When a Serial ATA interface is idle (i.e., when either a Serial ATA host controller or a Serial ATA device is not active) for a period of time, it is desirable to put the interface into a power saving mode. In addition to saving power while in a power saving mode, the interface lifetime may be increased.
With the adoption of the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) protocol, it is possible to create a SAS/SATA host controller, to which a SATA device (e.g., a SATA drive or the like) may be either directly attached or accessed through a SAS Expander via the SCSI Tunneling Protocol (STP). In other words, a SAS/SATA host controller supports both SAS and SATA, and a SATA device may be either directly attached to the SAS/SATA controller or may be attached to a SAS expander that is attached to the SAS/SATA controller. In the case where the SATA device is attached via the expander, the host controller uses the SAS STP protocol to access the device. In this case, no SATA power management is allowed per the SAS specification. On the other hand, in the case where the SATA device is directly attached to the host controller, SATA power management is allowed.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus of automatic power management control for a Serial ATA device directly attached to a SAS/SATA host controller.

Method and apparatus of automatic power management control for serial ATA device directly attached to SAS/SATA host controller


A device for smoothly eliminating jammed papers by the operation of a control lever in an ink-jet printer, for example, where a number of the papers are conveyed one by one from a feed cassette to a printer head, the device being installed so as to be interlocked with a paper guide member rotatably centered around a hinge axis and including a control lever and a shaft disposed in a unitary format, the operation of the lever eliminating the jammed papers caused upon the papers passing from the feed cassette to a feed roller opposing a friction roller via a paper feed path by enlarging a space between the friction roller and the feed roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a device for eliminating jammed papers in an ink-jet printer, for example. More particularly, it relates to a device for smoothly eliminating jammed papers which are generated when papers are fed one by one between a friction roller and a feed roller in a feed cassette loaded with a plurality of papers.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, the paper feeding structure of an ink-jet printer, for example, can be divided into two types as follows. In one printer structure, a feed cassette (automatic paper feeding device) is slopingly installed at the rear of the printer body (housing) and papers are fed one by one by feed rollers (a friction roller and a feed roller) from the feed cassette loaded with a plurality of papers to a printer head, so that the papers can be ejected into a tray after printing. In the other printer structure, the feed cassette loaded with a plurality of papers is located at the bottom of the ink-jet printer. Individual cut sheets of paper are then conveyed by a pick-up roller and the feed roller and the direction of ejection can be controlled by a guide, so that the papers are fed through the feed roller, conveyed to the printer head, and ejected after printing, in a sequential manner.
In one contemporary design for an ink-jet printer having the first of the two above-noted structures, because the friction roller and the feed roller are closely engaged with each other to convey the sheets of paper, when a sheet of the paper becomes jammed during conveyance, operational problems necessarily occur because the printer must be taken out of operation while jammed paper is removed. Moreover, when the body of the printer is roughly handled or otherwise abused during removal of the jammed paper, a malfunction of the printer frequently occurs.
Examples of early efforts in the art include U.S. Pat. No. 1,385,930 to Scott entitled Sack Feeder, which shows a roller connected to a hinge arrangement to allow the roller to be separated from a facing roller; U.S. Pat. No. 1,578,330 to Lipton, et al. entitled Feeding Mechanism for Printing Presses; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,208,043 to Ormond entitled Offset Printing Machine. Subsequent efforts, namely U.S. Pat. No. 3,298,682 to Gatti entitled Document Aligning And Feeding Device, uses a hinged arm having a roller attached to one end and including a spring, which has its height controlled by a D-shaped cam; U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,181 to Edwards, et al. entitled Apparatus To Facilitate Jam Recovery And Hot Roll Reversal In A Fusing Assembly, which has a multi-lever mechanism arranged to separate rollers and thereby facilitate removal of a paper jam; U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,520 to Takenoya, et al. entitled Device For Adjusting Printing Paper Tension In a Printer, which shows a multi-lever and hinged arm linkage for adjusting the spacing between two rollers; U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,815 to Petersen, et al. entitled Quick Releasing, Pinch Roller Mechanism, which illustrates a quick release mechanism having a lever with a cam mounted is used with a hinged arm arrangement to separate rollers in an effort to remove sheets of paper; U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,954 to Robertson, et al. entitled Sheet Transporting Apparatus; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,039 to Jeske, et al. entitled Device For Retailing Sheet Stacks.
More recent efforts, U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,467 to Marentes, et al. entitled Laser Printer Paper Handling System, illustrates another arrangement in which a hinged arm is controlled by a cam so as to move one roller relative to another roller; while U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,861 to Suzuki, et al. entitled Sheet-Driven Type Automatic Drafting Machine, shows a hinged arm and a cam arranged to vary the position of one roller with respect to another roller; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,129 to Holbrook entitled Jam Clearance Apparatus For Sheet Feeding Device, illustrates a lever connected to a plurality of hinged arms to allow the separation of rollers to facilitate clearing the apparatus of paper jams. Another recent design, U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,687 to Heiler, et al. entitled Device For Extemporaneously Raising A Transport Roller In A Feeder Of A Sheet Processing Machine, has a hand lever directly rotating the bearing shell that supports a synchronizing roller. I have found that typically these designs employ multiple linked components in an endeavor motivated by different concerns, to simply separate a pair of rollers propelling the printed medium along its path through the device


The present invention relates to a ground fault detection arrangement for a synchronous three-phase electrical machine, and an electrical system comprising a ground fault detection arrangement and a synchronous three-phase electrical machine. The ground fault detection arrangement injects an off-nominal frequency voltage between a neutral point of the synchronous three-phase electrical machine and ground and measure resultant currents to detect a ground fault.

Ground faults in a generator stator winding are the most frequent internal generator electrical fault, and the most frequent cause of damage to the generator stator and a direct cause of phase-to-phase fault of the generator stator. All other electrical faults are always preceded by the ground faults. A ground fault is caused by physical damage to the stator winding or aging of the insulation of the stator. Therefore, stator ground-fault protection is the primary element of a protection system for a generator. Improper operation of ground-fault protection of the stator winding increases the possibility that a ground fault will transform into a phase-to-phase fault, which ultimately will damage the generator.
In order to effectively protect unit-connected generators against the effects of ground faults in the stator windings the phenomena that accompany these faults must be understood. The effects of ground faults depend on energy emitted in a ground-fault channel and on ground-fault over-voltages. By proper operation of ground fault protection it is possible to create conditions under which erosion of the magnetic circuit or stator frame caused by a ground-fault arc is insignificant or totally eliminated. Thus, the occurrence of phase-to-phase faults in the generator is practically impossible, if the ground-fault protection operates properly. During these conditions optimum protection of generator-transformer units against the effects of ground faults in the stator windings is ensured. The repair time for a single line to ground fault should be fairly short since only a stator winding have to be exchanged. The repair time for a phase-to-phase fault may take several months implying a (partial) restacking of the stator core.
In order to minimize the possibility of improper operation of a ground-fault protection system for a generator the particular types of protections forming the system should use different excitation parameters. The neutral point of a generator is not usually directly grounded, and the stator ground-fault currents are then relatively low, especially in generators of generator-transformer units. But even such small currents can cause significant damages to the generator stator iron. They can also transform into phase-to-phase faults.
The method used for protection of a generator against ground faults in the stator winding depends on the method of connecting the generator to the power system. There are several possibilities ranging from directly grounded neutral, different levels of resistive and inductive connection of the neutral, to utilizing isolated neutral. Resistively grounded generators are either connected with a resistor directly or transformed via a neutral grounding transformer utilizing a low voltage resistor on the secondary side of the transformer. A generator directly connected to bus bars and the power system without step-up transformer is usually of low power and the ground-fault protection is then based on supervising the amplitude or direction of the neutral current. A generator connected to the power system via a step-up transformer is theoretically quite simple, because the primary circuit of the step-up transformer is always delta connected and it forms a natural barrier for the ground faults on the higher voltage side. The ground faults on the stator winding can then be detected by monitoring the voltage between the generator neutral point and ground.
There are primarily two methods which in connection with a zero-sequence based protection system may ensure 100% protection for the generator stator winding. One of the methods uses third harmonic in voltages in the generator neutral point and at its terminal. The other method injects a low frequency signal to the generator circuit.
There are three main limitations which influence the length of the stator winding, which is covered by this protection during different operating conditions. They are connected with the following values or parameters of the generator and protection system: Maximum ground-fault current flowing in the generator neutral point; minimum injection voltage which can be measured with good accuracy; and maximum zero-sequence component in the generator neutral point during ground faults in the stator winding. The first and third limitations are independent of the protection system and depends only on parameters of the generator, the grounding system and unit transformer. However, the second limitation can be used to improve ground-fault protection dependent on the protection system.
Further, existing injection methods utilizes an injection frequency below 50 Hz, as higher frequencies increases capacitive current making it difficult to detect changes in the resistance used to detect ground faults.


A system for separating olefinic hydrocarbon and hydrogen in an effluent fluid stream from a dehydrogenation reactor includes a heat exchanger that receives and partially condenses the effluent fluid stream so that a mixed phase effluent stream is formed. A primary separation device receives and separates the mixed phase effluent stream into a primary vapor stream and a primary liquid product stream. A heat exchanger receives and partially condenses the primary vapor stream so that a mixed phase primary stream is formed. A secondary separation device receives and separates the mixed phase primary stream into a secondary vapor stream and a secondary liquid product stream. A heat exchanger receives and warms the secondary vapor stream to provide refrigeration for partially condensing the effluent fluid stream and a heat exchanger receives and warms the secondary vapor stream to provide refrigeration for partially condensing the primary vapor stream. A mixed refrigerant compression system provides refrigerant to a heat exchanger to provide refrigeration.

Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) Separation Systems are known in the art. An example of such a system is described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,333,445, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The current designs for PDH separation systems requires that the Reactor Effluent vapor stream be compressed to high pressure (˜12 Barg) using the Reactor Effluent Compressor and then de-pressurized using two, generator-loaded or compressor-loaded, cryogenic turbo-expanders to provide the refrigeration required for the separation and recovery of the liquid olefin product.
Disadvantages of such prior art systems include power consumption of the overall process, the added cost and maintenance requirements of the turbo-expander/generator (or compressor) sets, the high required Reactor Effluent Compressor discharge pressure (which increases capital and operating costs) and lack of flexibility to significantly adjust the olefin and hydrogen separation temperatures.

Dehydrogenation separation unit with mixed refrigerant cooling


A tong device for lifting various types and sizes of objects is disclosed. The tong lifting device includes tongs pivotally mounted on a slide rod which is extendable from a lift sleeve. Each tong has an attachment engaging end and an arm extending away from the attachment engaging end. Linkages are pivotally attached to the arms of the tongs, and are pivotally attached to a sliding lobe which travels along the length of the lift sleeve. The design of the lifting device provides a self-opening mode of operation and can be reconfigured in the field for optimum performance.

Various types of lifting devices are used for lifting objects such as logs, pipes, debris, concrete highway barriers, rocks and the like. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,752 to Douglas describes a concrete pipe lifting apparatus with a lockable and releasable scissor grip structure. U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,025 to Douglas describes a barrier lifter apparatus having a scissor structure with L-shaped clamping elements.


A method for manufacturing an integrated sheet of a MEGA and a resin frame, capable of curing a UV curable adhesive in a short time by suppressing an inhibition of curing of the UV curable adhesive and thereby providing excellent productivity is provided. A manufacturing method for an integrated sheet in which a resin frame is bonded to a MEGA, includes preparing a laminate in which a gas diffusion layer is laminated on at least one surface of a MEA, applying a coating of an UV curable adhesive to the laminate; placing a resin frame on the UV curable adhesive and applying a pressure to the frame, and irradiating the UV curable adhesive with ultraviolet rays, in which the irradiating includes a first irradiation step, and a second irradiation step in which ultraviolet rays are applied with irradiation intensity higher than irradiation intensity in the first irradiation step.

The present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing an integrated sheet of a membrane electrode gas diffusion layer assembly and a resin frame used for a fuel cell.
As a membrane electrode gas diffusion layer assembly (MEGA: Membrane Electrode Gas diffusion layer Assembly) for a fuel cell, an integrated sheet including the aforementioned MEGA and a frame-shaped resin frame disposed on the periphery of the MEGA has been known.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-287608 discloses a fuel cell in which a fuel-cell sealing plate and a separator are fixed by an adhesive, and discloses an example in which an ultraviolet (UV) curable adhesive is used as the adhesive.

Method for manufacturing integrated sheet