A photoconductor that includes, for example, a supporting substrate, a photogenerating layer, and at least one charge transport layer comprised of at least one charge transport component, and wherein the at least one charge transport layer contains at least one phosphonium salt.

This disclosure is generally directed to imaging members, photoreceptors, photoconductors, and the like. More specifically, the present disclosure is directed to multilayered drum, or flexible, belt imaging members, or devices comprised of a supporting medium like a substrate, a photogenerating layer, and a charge transport layer, including a plurality of charge transport layers, such as a first charge transport layer and a second charge transport layer, and wherein the photogenerating layer contains an additive or dopant, and a photoconductor comprised of a supporting medium like a substrate, a photogenerating layer, and a charge transport layer, including a plurality of charge transport layers, such as a first charge transport layer and a second charge transport layer, and wherein at least one of the charge transport layers contains an additive or dopant.
The additives or dopants which can be incorporated into the charge transport layer or the photogenerating layer, and which dopants function, for example, to passivate the charge transport layer or the photogenerating pigment surface by, for example, blocking or substantially blocking intrinsic free carriers, and preventing or minimizing external free carriers from attracting to the pigment surface, and thereby permitting photoconductors with minimal CDS (charge deficient spots), the control of PIDC, for example controlling, and more specifically, reducing the PIDC, especially in those situations where the photosensitivity of the photoconductor can be adjusted on line and automatically, to a desired preselected value or amount, and which photosensitivity can be increased or decreased; and acceptable LCM characteristics, such as for example, improved lateral charge migration (LCM) resistance.
More specifically, the photoconductors illustrated herein, in embodiments, have excellent wear resistance, extended lifetimes, elimination or minimization of imaging member scratches on the surface layer or layers, such as the charge transport layer of the member, and which scratches can result in undesirable print failures where, for example, the scratches are visible on the final prints generated. Additionally, in embodiments the photoconductors disclosed herein possess excellent, and in a number of instances low Vr (residual potential), and allow the substantial prevention of Vr cycle up for at least 10,000 xerographic imaging cycles; low acceptable image ghosting characteristics; low background; and/or minimal charge deficient spots (CDS). At least one in embodiments refers, for example, to one, to from 1 to about 10,to from 2 to about 7; to from 2 to about 4,to two, and the like.
Also included within the scope of the present disclosure are methods of imaging and printing with the photoconductor devices illustrated herein. These methods generally involve the formation of an electrostatic latent image on the imaging member, followed by developing the image with a toner composition comprised, for example, of thermoplastic resin, colorant such as pigment, charge additive, and surface additives, reference U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,560,635; 4,298,697 and 4,338,390,the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, subsequently transferring the image to a suitable substrate, and permanently affixing the image thereto. In those environments wherein the device is to be used in a printing mode, the imaging method involves the same operation with the exception that exposure can be accomplished with a laser device or image bar. More specifically, the imaging members and flexible belts disclosed herein can be selected for the Xerox Corporation iGEN3® machines that generate with some versions over 100 copies per minute. Processes of imaging, especially xerographic imaging and printing, including digital, and/or color printing are thus encompassed by the present disclosure.
The photoconductors disclosed herein are in embodiments sensitive in the wavelength region of, for example, from about 400 to about 900 nanometers, and in particular from about 650 to about 850 nanometers, thus diode lasers can be selected as the light source. Moreover, the imaging members disclosed herein are in embodiments useful in high resolution color xerographic applications, particularly high-speed color copying and printing processes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Phosphonium containing charge transport layer photoconductors


A hybrid interchangeable battery evaluation tool (HIBET) is provided. HIBET determines an amount of electrical energy and an amount of jet fuel necessary for a hybrid electric aircraft to complete a flight based on a range of the flight, a payload of the hybrid electric aircraft, an indication of a battery mass limitation of the hybrid electric aircraft, and an optimization of an energy split between the electrical energy and the jet fuel. HIBET causes an indication of the amount of electrical energy to be displayed in a graphical user interface and/or to be otherwise outputted.

A hybrid-electric aircraft may include a propulsion system that comprises one or more gas turbine engines and an electrical system configured to provide propulsion or provide electrical energy used in propulsion of the hybrid-electric aircraft. The gas turbine engine(s) burn fuel for propulsion. The electrical system may include one or more electric motors and one or more batteries.

Method and tool for optimizing fuel/electrical energy storage allocation for hybrid-electric aircraft

ROLLS-ROYCE NORTH AMERICAN TECHNOLOGIES INC.


A backlighting assembly for an LCD display is divided into a plurality of selective dimming areas each having a respective plurality of light generating blocks. A plurality of driving units supply power to the light generating blocks. The light generating blocks are grouped into light source groups. Each of the driving units supplies power to at least one light generating block in a first light source group and a second light generating block in a second light source group but not to all the light generating blocks in any one light source group. Light generating blocks connected to a same driving unit may be distributedly arranged to be nonadjacent to one another. Plural driving units are used to fully power a brightly lit one dimming area, thereby reducing the loads on the individual driving units and preventing overheating.

1. Field of Invention
The present disclosure of invention relates to a backlight assembly and a method of driving the same. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a backlight assembly capable of performing a local dimming and a method of driving the backlight assembly.
2. Description of Related Technology
In general, a liquid crystal display (LCD) includes a liquid crystal display panel to display an image and a backlight assembly to supply a light to the liquid crystal display panel from a back side of the LCD panel. The backlight assembly may employ one or more cold cathode fluorescent lamps as its light source or other sources such a light emitting diodes (LEDs).
In order to increase a contrast ratio of a displayed image or reduce power consumption of the backlight assembly, recently various selective dimming methods have been applied to the liquid crystal display to control brightness of the backlight assembly.
As one of the dimming methods, a local dimming method sets dimming areas of a display panel, calculates gray-scale values of images respectively displayed in the dimming areas, and controls brightness of light emitted from the backlight assembly for those dimming areas according to the calculated gray-scale values. In the local dimming method, the backlight assembly increases the brightness of light supplied to areas in which the gray-scale value is relatively high and decreases the brightness of light supplied to areas in which the gray-scale value is relatively low.
The backlight assembly to which the local dimming method is applied is divided into a plurality of light generating blocks and includes a plurality of driving units that control the brightness of light emitted from each light generating block for its respective dimming area. However, if plural light generating blocks are connected to a specific driving unit and the plural light generating blocks are simultaneously brightened in concentrated fashion, overheating may occur in the specific driving unit, so that long term reliability of the specific driving unit is lowered. In addition, the specific driving unit may not be able to supply all the power that is needed to simultaneously brighten all the light generating blocks to a prespecified maximum brightness level when so needed according to a prespecified dimming method to boost the brightness of light emitted from the light generating blocks.

Backlight assembly and method of driving the same


A method and computer system for implementing concurrent edits of a database record by a plurality of users is provided. The preferred embodiment allocates a fixed amount of storage space in the computer system's main memory for each of the plurality of users. The fixed amount of storage space is for storing versions of the record created as a result of the user modifying the record. In response to an access request for the record by one of the plurality of users, the preferred embodiment determines whether the user should be given access to the record itself or to one of the versions of the record, if any exist. When the user modifies the record to create a version of the record, the preferred embodiment stores the version of the record within the fixed amount of storage space allocated to the user.

A database is a collection of related records stored on a computer system. Often times, these records are accessible to multiple users (both people and computer programs) at the same time. A data integrity problem occurs when multiple users are concurrently attempting to access or modify a particular database record. If a database report is run while users are executing update transactions on records in the database, then the update transactions may cause the data to change, resulting in inconsistencies in the database report. For example, if database records are used to represent accounts at a bank and a user has multiple accounts at the bank, when the user transfers funds from one account to another account, a subtraction of funds from one record and an addition of funds to the other record must occur. If the bank is running an account balance report at the same time the user is transferring funds, and the report reads one record before the subtraction occurs and the other record after the addition occurs, then the user's total account value will be wrong.
There are several prior art solutions to this problem. One solution is to simply lock the database and not allow any updates while the report is being generated. This solution is inadequate because it limits the accessibility of the records in the database. Another prior art solution is to record the start time of the report and the time of each record's last update. If the report encounters a record with an update time that is after the start time of the report, then the report aborts and starts over. This solution is undesirable because it restricts reports to being generated when there is no activity in the database. Yet another solution maintains versions of records. A version is a copy of a record made immediately before the start of a modification of that record. Versions of records are maintained in case the record itself is inaccessible for some reason (e.g., someone is currently editing the record). Thus, a report may run to completion because the report may access a version instead of the record. One disadvantage of this solution is that all of the versions for a record are stored with the database record. Because the number of versions a particular record may have is unbounded, the database may become too large and cause performance of the database to suffer.

Method and computer system for implementing concurrent accesses of a database record by multiple users


A process and assembly for stabilizing organic additives in an electrolytic solution while electroplating copper. The process includes forming a protective film on a first surface of an anode and minimizing contact between the electrolytic solution and a second surface of the anode which is further from the cathode than the first surface. An anode housing is used to minimize contact between the electrolytic solution and the second surface of the anode. The housing includes two side walls and a bottom wall, each having a groove, and a sealing back plate. The anode is fitted in the grooves such that the first surface of the anode is in contact with the electrolytic solution and the second surface of the anode abuts against the sealing back plate. The anode housing may be used in an electroplating system including the anode housing, a plating tank containing the electrolytic solution, a cathode immersed in the electrolytic solution, and an anode, which preferably is in the shape of a slab.

A typical electroplating system consists of a cathode, an anode, and an electrolytic solution. The cathode is the work piece upon which metal is to be plated, and the anode functions as the counter-electrode in the electrochemical cell. The electrolytic solution contains dissolved metal ions along with other constituents which influence deposit quality. The cathode and anode are immersed in the electrolytic solution and connected by a power supply. A voltage difference is applied between the cathode and anode, and current flows freely from the anode to the cathode.
At the cathode surface, metal is deposited as metal ions are reduced to their base form via an electrochemical reaction: M.sup.+v +v e.sup.- .fwdarw.M.sup.0. To conserve charge, an electrochemical reaction also occurs at the anode surface and can be one of two types. If the anode is soluble at the potential being applied, it dissolves and releases metal ions into solution: M.sup.0 .fwdarw.M.sup.+v +v e.sup.-. If the anode is insoluble at the potential being applied, a gas evolution reaction, such as 2 O.sup.-2 .fwdarw.O.sub.2 +4 e.sup.-, occurs at the anode. A variety of other side reactions are also possible at both the cathode and the anode.
In electrolytic copper plating, the actual properties of the deposited metal are a strong function of local agitation, current density, and the exact concentration of all bath components, including organic additives. It is well known that bright, smooth copper deposits cannot be obtained without the presence of organic additives. Such additives must be controlled during production in order to obtain consistent metallurgical properties, including grain structure, brightness, smoothness, leveling, and purity. The degree to which various additives must be controlled is a strong function of the application at hand. Perhaps the most demanding applications lie within the microelectronics industry, where very small metal features need to be synthesized, without irregularities or surface anomalies.
Several of the common additives, including a copper brightener and grain refiner sold under the trademark CuBath M-D by Enthone-OMI Corporation, are easily oxidized at the bare anode surface. This electrochemical degradation can cause a continuous depletion of the organic additives which can lead to poor metal quality if not properly controlled. On the other hand, increased stability of the organic additives leads to longer lifetimes of the electroplating baths which is economically very important. For example, frequent replacement of the bath interrupts the copper plating operation which reduces product yield and requires replacement of the chemicals in the new bath as well as disposal of the chemicals in the old bath. Accordingly, there is a need for a device, process, or additive which would stabilize organic additives within an electrolytic solution to preserve deposit quality and extend bath life.
Efforts along these lines have been made. For example, some attempts have been made to control additive degradation by separating the anode from the bulk solution by using a membrane. Membranes that restrict the passage of additives usually also restrict passage of copper ions, which can cause over-potential problems at the anode surface. This problem can only be combated with a complex exchange scheme within the anode chamber. Other efforts have focused upon implementing steady-state bath exchange schemes, in which old solution is discarded to remove harmful breakdown products, and new solution is added to replenish additives. Bath exchange schemes are viable, but are clearly more cumbersome and costly than preventing the problem at the outset.
The breakdown of organic additives in the presence of copper can be significantly retarded by forming a protective film on the anode surface. However, an additional problem is encountered when the particular cathode to be plated requires that a relatively low cathode current density be used. In these cases, forming such a protective film over the anode surface has been accomplished only with difficulty. More specifically, the areas of the anode remote from the cathode can only be completely filmed by increasing the current density, which might not be possible due to the product requirements of the cathode. When subsequently plating copper in a system having an anode which has only been partially covered with a protective film, the organic additives tend to be consumed at the unprotected anode surface.

Copper anode assembly for stabilizing organic additives in electroplating of copper

International Business Machines Corporation


A narrowband microstrip type bandpass filter adapted for a home network, telematics, an intelligent traffic system, and a satellite Internet, includes: an input terminal for receiving a predetermined signal; an output terminal for outputting a selection signal in a characteristic band; a first resonator electrically coupled with at least a portion of the input terminal; a second resonator electrically coupled with at least a portion of the first resonator; and a third resonator electrically coupled with at least a portion of the output terminal and the second resonator. A magnetic coupling is provided using a cross coupling gap or a cross coupling line between non-adjacent resonators, so that a pattern can be simplified by optimizing the design and the manufacturing process to provide low-cost millimeter-wave parts. The manufacturing cost can be reduced by miniaturizing the parts, and the mass production can be readily realized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a narrowband microstrip type bandpass filter adapted to a home network, telematics, an intelligent traffic system, and a satellite Internet and, more specifically, to a microstrip type bandpass filter, in which a pattern can be simplified by optimizing the design and the manufacturing process to provide low-cost millimeter-wave parts, the manufacturing cost can be reduced by miniaturizing the parts, and the mass production can be readily realized.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Recently, a millimeter-wave application has been proposed in a field such as a home network, telematics, an intelligent traffic system and a satellite Internet. To succeed in these markets with the millimeter wave technology, one should reduce the cost and size of the parts considerably.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are pattern diagrams for illustrating a microstrip type bandpass filter according to a first example of the prior art, in which FIG. 1A is a pattern diagram for a bandpass filter having an attenuation pole at an upper side of the passband, and FIG. 1B is a pattern diagram for a bandpass filter having an attenuation pole at a lower side of the passband.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the bandpass filter according to the first example of the prior art are formed with a cross coupling and an open loop resonator, which have a microstrip type asymmetric frequency characteristic, comprising an input terminal 10, an output terminal 11, an input resonator 12, an upper resonator 13, and an output resonator 14.
Here, an electric coupling 18 between the input terminal 10 and the input resonator 12, an electric coupling 15 between the input resonator 12 and the upper resonator 13, an electric coupling 16 between the upper resonator 13 and the output resonator 14, an electric coupling 19 between the output terminal 11 and the output resonator 14, and a magnetic coupling 8 between the input resonator 12 and the output resonator 14 are formed, respectively.
Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, since the input terminal 10 and the output terminal 11 contact with the input resonator 12 and the output resonator 14, an electric coupling 18 between the input terminal 10 and the input resonator 12 and an electric coupling 19 between the output terminal 11 and the output resonator 14 do not exist.
When a signal is input through the input terminal 10, the input signal is electrically coupled 18 between the input terminal 10 and the open loop input resonator 12, and the signal electrically coupled 18 is transferred again to the upper resonator 13 by the electric coupling 15 with the open loop upper resonator 13, and transferred to the open loop output resonator 14 through the electric coupling 16 between the open loop upper resonator 13 and the open loop output resonator 14. In addition, the transferred signal is transferred again to the output after selecting the characteristic band through the electric coupling 19 between the output terminal 11 and the open loop output resonator 14.
The coupling provided in FIG. 1A is largely composed of an electric coupling, and the coupling between the open loop input resonator 12 and the open loop output resonator 14 is an electric coupling. Therefore, the attenuation pole characteristic is formed at the upper side of the band, and the attenuation pole characteristic and the frequency are adjusted using a cross coupling.
In addition, the coupling provided in FIG. 1B is largely composed of an electric coupling, and the coupling between the open loop input resonator 12 and the open loop output resonator 14 is a magnetic coupling, so that the attenuation pole characteristic is formed at the lower side of the band.
However, although the open loop resonator is suitable for a wireless communication system adapted to a high selectivity channeling and low insertion loss, only one attenuation pole is formed and a design is limited based on the dielectric coefficient. [J. S. Hong, M. J. Lancater (1999.02), "Microstrip cross coupled trisection bandpass filters with asymmetric frequency characteristics", IEE proc Microwave and antennas propagation, Vol 146. No 1, pp. 84-90].
FIGS. 2A and 2B are pattern diagrams for illustrating a microstrip type bandpass filter according to a second example of the prior art, in which FIG. 2A is a pattern diagram of a bandpass filter having an attenuation pole at the upper side of the passband, and FIG. 2B is a pattern diagram of a bandpass filter having an attenuation pole at the lower side of the passband.
Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the bandpass filter according to the second example of the prior art is formed with a cross coupling and a triangular patch resonator, which have a microstrip type asymmetric frequency characteristic. Here, a filter using the triangular patch resonator has a small size and forms one attenuation pole at a high/low frequency of the passband by the electric coupling and the magnetic coupling.
In other words, the bandpass filter using the triangular patch resonator comprises an input terminal 20, an output terminal 21, an input resonator 22, an upper resonator 23, and an output resonator 24.
An electric coupling 28 between the input terminal 20 and the input resonator 22, an electric coupling 25 between the input resonator 22 and the upper resonator 23, an electric coupling 26 between the upper resonator 23 and the output resonator 24, an electric coupling 29 between the output terminal 21 and the output resonator 24, and a magnetic coupling 27 between the input resonator 22 and the output resonator 24 are formed, respectively.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, since the input terminal 20 and the output terminal 21 contact with the input resonator 22 and the output resonator 24, an electric coupling 28 between the input terminal 20 and the input resonator 22 and an electric coupling 29 between the output terminal 21 and the output resonator 24 do not exist.
When a signal is input through the input terminal 20, the input signal is electrically coupled 28 between the input terminal 20 and the triangular patch input resonator 22, and the signal electrically coupled 28 is transferred again to the triangular patch upper resonator 23 by the electric coupling 25, and transferred to the triangular patch output resonator 24 through the electric coupling 26 in the triangular patch upper resonator 23. In addition, the transferred signal is transferred again to the output after selecting the characteristic band through the electric coupling 29 between the output terminal 21 and the triangular patch output resonator 24.
The coupling provided in FIG. 2A is largely composed of an electric coupling, and the coupling between the triangular patch input resonator 22 and the triangular patch output resonator 24 is an electric coupling. Therefore, the attenuation pole characteristic is formed at the upper side of the band, and the attenuation pole characteristic and the frequency are adjusted using a cross coupling.
In addition, the coupling provided in FIG. 2B is largely composed of an electric coupling, and the coupling between the input resonator 22 and the triangular patch output resonator 24 is a magnetic coupling, so that the attenuation pole characteristic is formed at the lower side of the band. The conventional bandpass filter using the triangular patch resonator is suitable for a wireless communication system adapted to a high selectivity channeling and low insertion loss [J. S. Hong, M. J. Lancater (2000), "Microstrip triangular patch resonator filters", IEEE MTTS digest, pp. 331-334].
FIG. 3 is a pattern diagram for illustrating a microstrip type bandpass filter according to a third example of the prior art, which is a pattern diagram of the resonator made of a multi-layer substrate.
Referring to FIG. 3, the microstrip type bandpass filter according to the third example of the prior art comprises an input terminal port1, an output terminal port2, input resonators L11, L12, and C1, upper resonators L21, L22, and C2, and output resonators L31, L32, and C3.
The three resonators formed in a typical multi-layer substrate comprise inductance portions and capacitance portions. The inductance portion of the second resonator couples that of the first resonator and that of the third resonator in the triangular form. In addition, the attenuation pole is formed below the passband by a cross coupling between the first resonator and the third resonator.
When a signal is input through the input terminal port1, the input signal resonates through the input resonator L11, L12, and C1, and the resonated signal is transferred to the upper resonator L21, L22, and C2 to resonate by the electric coupling, and again, transferred to the output resonator L31, L32, and C3 to resonate by the electric coupling. Next, the resonated signal is output through the output terminal port2.
Here, a main coupling of the filter is made of an electric coupling, and the coupling between the input resonator L11, L12, and C1 and the output resonator L31, L32, and C3 is a magnetic coupling. Therefore, the attenuation pole characteristic is formed at the upper side of the passband, and the attenuation pole characteristic and the frequency are adjusted by the cross coupling. The conventional bandpass filter uses an LC coupling resonator in the multi-layer substrate, which is suitable for a microwave device and miniaturization (U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,538 (Sep. 19, 2003)).
FIG. 4 is a pattern diagram for illustrating a microstrip type bandpass filter according to a fourth example of the prior art, which is a pattern diagram of a bandpass filter formed with an LC resonator, and the resonator type is an LC coupling resonator.
Referring to FIG. 4, the microstrip type bandpass filter according to the fourth example of the prior art includes three LC coupling resonators, a cross coupling gap, a cross coupling line or a mixed structure of a cross coupling gap and a cross coupling line on the substrate. Here, the microstrip type bandpass filter comprises an input terminal 30, an output terminal 31, an input resonator 32, an upper resonator 33, and an output resonator 34.
In addition, with regard to the coupling between the respective resonators, there exist a coupling 35 between the input resonator 32 and the upper resonator 33, a coupling 36 between the upper resonator 33 and the output resonator 34, a cross coupling gap 37 between the input resonator 32 and the output resonator 34, a cross coupling line 38 between the input resonator 32 and the output resonator 34, and the cross coupling gap 37 and the cross coupling line 38 between the input resonator 32 and the output resonator 34.
A microwave signal is flowed into the LC coupling input resonator 32 through the input terminal 30, transferred to the LC coupling upper resonator 33 through the electric coupling, and transferred again to the output terminal 31 via the LC coupling output resonator 34. In addition, the attenuation pole is formed at the upper and lower side of the passband by the cross coupling gap, the cross coupling line, or a combination thereof between the LC coupling input resonator 32 and the LC coupling output resonator 34.
The main coupling of the bandpass filter described above is an electric coupling, and the cross coupling is a magnetic coupling or an electric coupling, and it is suitable for a microwave device and miniaturization since the LC coupling resonator is used.
However, recently, the costs and the size of the passive device such as a bandpass filter should be significantly reduced due to a miniaturization of the millimeter wave system for the home network, telematics, the intelligent traffic system, and the satellite Internet. According to the prior arts, it is difficult to implement a bandpass filter having a minimum width of 2.0 mm or less. This is because, when the width is 2.0 mm or more, an unwanted waveguide mode is generated in a waveguide when shielding the bandpass filter.

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


Disclosed are methods of fabricating nanogaps and various devices composed of nanogaps. The nanogap devices disclosed herein can be used as in a number of electronic, photonic and quantum mechanical devices, including field-effect transistors and logic circuits.

The last few decades have witnessed myriad breakthroughs in studies on single molecules, nanometer-scale structures and quantum phenomena in general. Exciting results continue to emerge at a rapid rate and proposed applications for them are quick to follow. In order to realize these applications and pursue research at similar and even smaller scales, reliable methods are needed to electronically connect atoms, molecules, nanostructures and other components at the nanoscale. In this regard, two or more electrical contacts separated by a nanometer scale distance constitute a "nanogap".
Charge transport measurements using nanogaps have yielded much of what is currently known about the electrical properties of objects small enough to have their properties dominated by quantum mechanics. Scanning probes have also been used to study electric properties of single crystals, but their ability to probe the lateral charge dynamics between several neighboring nano-structures is seriously limited and their potential for integration into any scalable production is unlikely.
Functional nano-electronic devices based on nanogaps have been demonstrated. For instance, transistors have been made from a single nanocrystal, a single strand of DNA, a single C60 molecule, a single Co ion, and other single molecules containing spin impurities. However, all of the currently available techniques used to fabricate nanogaps require a lengthy and complicated fabrication process, suffer from low yield and poor control of the gap size, as well as its location on a substrate. Most of them require the skill and finesse that a limited number of people possess and many demand uncommon facilities. In most cases, the fabrication of each gap requires arduous tuning of the instrumentation parameters while simultaneously measuring the progress of the gap formation. As a consequence, automated and scalable production is not likely to be achieved with these methods. Furthermore, the structural details and content of nanogaps produced by these techniques are either difficult or impossible to determine directly.
Efforts towards developing a reliable nanogap fabrication technique have been active for over a decade. The first reported method for achieving small gaps employed angled evaporation to fabricate two closely spaced electrodes on SiO2 (Klein, D. L.; McEuen, P. L.; Katari, J. E. B.; Roth, R.; Alivisatos, A. P. App. Phys. Lett. 1996, 68, 2574). Dekker and Bezryadin were able to fabricate gaps under 5 nm by sputtering metal onto carbon electrodes, which had been deposited near each other with an electron beam (Bezryadin, A; Dekker, C. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 1997, 15(4), 793). An analogous method developed by Marcus et al. involved first fabricating nearby electrodes and then electroplating additional metal to reduce the gap size (Morpurgo, A. F.; Marcus, C. M.; Robinson, D. B. App. Phys. Lett. 1999, 74, 2084). Tour et al. demonstrated a mechanical "breakjunction" technique based on first fabricating a thin continuous metal wire and forcing it to break open by introducing mechanical strain (Reed, M. A.; Zhou, C.; Muller, C. J.; Burgin, T. P.; Tour, J. M. Science 1997, 278, 252). The mechanical breakjunction technique was modified by Park et al. by triggering the gap formation with a sudden voltage application across the wire (Park, H.; Lim, A. K. L.; Alivisatos, A. P.; Park, J.; McEuen, P. L. App. Phys. Lett. 1999, 75, 301). Both of these breakjunction methods require liquid helium temperatures (4 K). Gaps fabricated using such methods are usually accompanied by randomly deposited small metallic particle debris that can distort measured signals. Park's "electromigration" technique was improved by developing a method for gradual gap formation with a sequence of slow voltage ramps, which allows the fabrication to be done at room temperature (Strachen, D. R.; Smith, D. E.; Johnston, D. E.; Park, T.-H; Therien, M. J.; Bonnell, D. A.; Johnson, A. T. App. Phys. Lett. 2005, 86, 043109). Many other methods for achieving nanogaps exist, though they are of similar or even greater complexity (see, for example, Chen, J.; Reed, M. A.; Rawlett, A. M.; Tour, J. M. Science 1999, 286, 1550; Krahne, R.; Yacoby, A.; Shtrikman, H.; Bar-Joseph, I; Dadosh, T.; Sperling, J. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2002, 81(4), 730; and Sun, L. F.; Chin, S. N.; Msarx, E.; Curtis, K. S.; Greenham, N. C.; Ford, C. J. B. Nanotechnology 2005, 16, 631). Researchers have demonstrated a simpler technique of directly writing small gaps with EBL onto a SiO2 substrate by underexposing and overdeveloping the resist while carefully monitoring the temperature and development time (Liu, K.; Avouris, Ph.; Bucchignano, J.; Martel, R.; Sun, S. App. Phys. Lett. 2002, 80, 865). The final gap geometry is highly sensitive to these parameter values. In that case, a second writing process, requiring alignment of the incomplete device, is necessary to connect the electrode gaps to a full circuit.
In addition to the complications involved with the methods mentioned above, nanogaps that are produced are typically inspected with Scanning Electron Microscopy ("SEM"). SEM has a resolution limit roughly between 1 and 10 nm, depending on the microscope, sample properties and imaging conditions. A serious consequence of this is the potential for measuring single electron effects due to an impurity in the gap and mistaking the impurity for the sample being probed. Specifically, "Coulomb Blockade", a phenomenon attributed to the successful detection of a single nano-scale sample, was recently reported to be frequently detected in electromigrated gaps containing no sample—only debris produced during the gap formation (Sordan, R. Balasubramanian, K.; Burghard, M.; Kern, K. App. Phys. Lett. 2005, 87, 013106). Accordingly, rapid and reliable methods for making nanogaps and other structures on the nanometer-scale are presently needed.
Transmission Electron Microscopy ("TEM") offers the highest resolution imaging available (less than 1 Angstrom or 0.1 nanometer). Two methods for fabricating nanogaps on TEM-compatible thin films have been reported previously, however neither solve the problem in a practical manner. The first demonstrated example uses shadow evaporation, although this method suffers from an extremely low yield (Philipp, G.; Weimann, T.; Hinze, P.; Burghard, M.; Weis, J. Microelec. Eng. 1999, 46, 157). A second method breaks a thin wire on a Si3N4 support membrane by exposing it to a 300 kV electron beam (Zandbergen, H. W.; van Duuren, R. J. H. A.; Alkemade, P. F. A.; Lientschnig, G.; Vasquez, Dekker C.; Tichelaar, F. D. Nano. Lett., 2005, 5, 549). The high energy beam drives thermal diffusion of atoms away from the targeted region until a gap suddenly opens. Although high quality TEM images are obtained, the initial gap size is difficult to control and the gaps continued to grow over time. Because this is a breakjunction technique, it is necessary to remove the substrate from underneath the gap region to avoid contamination from metallic debris. Furthermore, this technique requires deft use of a dual beam Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), which is an extremely rare system. A technique called "On-Wire Lithography" (OWL) makes use of standard nanowire growth technology by momentarily stopping the growth of a gold nanowire, growing a thin section of another material and then resuming the growth of the gold nanowire Qin, L.; Park, S.; Huang, L.; Mirkin, C. A. Science, 2005, 309, 113. The continuous wire is then exposed to a wet etch that removes the non-gold material and consequently defines a gap. A large number of the final structures are then deposited on a substrate containing many pre-patterned electrodes and the experimenter is forced to hope for one of the gapped-wires to randomly span two of the electrodes. The low yield of successful integration of the gaps into a full circuit imposes a severe limitation to OWL as a viable approach to useful nanogap device production. Accordingly, there is also a present need for rapid production of nanogaps and other structures on the nanometer scale that can easily be inspected using TEM. There is also an urgent need to prepare electronic, photonic and quantum-effect devices that include such nanogaps and other nanoscale structures.

Nanogaps: methods and devices containing same

The Trustees of The University of Pennsylvania


A heat transfer printer includes a line thermal head having heat generating elements formed in a straight line at one end of a top surface of a substrate and a sealing member for covering and protecting at least a portion of the top surface of the substrate at the other end thereof opposite to the heat generating elements. A film wrinkle removing member is disposed in the vicinity of the heat generating elements of the line thermal head upstream in a direction that an ink film is carried. A voltage is selectively applied to the heat generating elements when the line thermal head abuts a platen with the ink film and a printing sheet sequentially overlapped from the line thermal head disposed therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat transfer printer in which a plurality of heat generating elements of a thermal head selectively generates heat for transferring ink from an ink film to a sheet, thereby performing desired printing, and more particularly, to a heat transfer printer equipped with a line thermal head comprising a plurality of the heat generating elements arranged in a straight line so as to oppose an entire area in a lateral direction within a printing boundary of a printing sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in a heat transfer printer which performs printing by using an ink film, a line thermal head in which a plurality of heat generating elements having heat generation resistors is arranged in a row on a substrate is used. According to printing information, power is selectively applied to the respective heat generating elements of the line thermal head to generate heat, so that ink on the ink film is melted or sublimated and is then transferred to a printing sheet, such as a regular printing sheet, an overhead projector (OHP) sheet, or a sheet exclusively for sublimation printing, thereby performing printing.
In a conventional thermal head used in such a heat transfer printer, a heat reserving layer is formed on the surface of a heat-radiating substrate, and a projection is formed in the vicinity of a leading end of the top surface of the heat reserving layer so as to project by a predetermined height. Further, a heat generation resistor is formed in a laminated manner on the top surface of the heat reserving layer formed with the projection, and a common electrode and an individual electrode for applying a voltage to the heat generation resistor are respectively formed in the portions of the heat generation resistor at a leading end and a base end of the substrate. Also, a plurality of dotted heat generating elements is formed in a straight line in a portion of the heat generation resistor interposed between the common electrode and the individual electrode.
Further, a chip for a driver IC (hereinafter, referred to as an IC chip) connected to the common electrode and the individual electrode is disposed at the base end of the substrate. Also, the IC chip is covered and protected with a sealing member made of a sealing resin material.
In such a conventional line thermal head, the substrate is mounted on a head mount to be disposed on a main body of the printer, and the head mount is rotated so that each of the heat generating elements can be abutted on a platen with the ink film and the printing sheet disposed therebetween (hereinafter, the middle of an abutting portion between each of the heat generating elements and the platen in the direction that the printing sheet is carried will be referred to as 'abutting position').
When printing is performed by a heat transfer printer employing such a line thermal head, the ink film and the printing sheet are carried in a state in which each of the heat generating elements abuts the platen with the ink film and the printing sheet disposed therebetween, and on the basis of printing information, the plurality of heat generating elements selectively generates heat to heat the ink film, so that the ink on the ink film is transferred to the printing sheet to print characters or images on the sheet (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-129023).
Meanwhile, similar to other electrical appliances, such a heat transfer printer is also required to be miniaturized or reduced in cost. In order to meet such requirements, the following have been studied. That is, the dimension of the substrate of the line thermal head in a direction orthogonal to the direction that the heat generating elements are arranged is drastically reduced as compared to conventional thermal heads, thereby realizing the miniaturization of the above-mentioned heat transfer printer. Further the number of substrates of the line thermal head cut off from one mother board is increased to achieve the cost reduction.
In the case where the dimension of the substrate in the direction orthogonal to the direction that the heat generating elements are arranged is reduced, a sealing member for protecting the IC chip from the heat generating elements is disposed in the vicinity of the heat generating elements on the top surface of the substrate. Thus, in a heat transfer printer equipped with the line thermal head in which the dimension of the substrate is reduced in the direction orthogonal to the direction that the heat generating elements are arranged, it is necessary to configure the line thermal head in which the abutting angle of the line thermal head when the line thermal head abuts the platen, that is, the angle at which the line thermal head is formed with respect to a tangential line at an abutting position between the line thermal head and the platen is adjusted to be larger than that of the conventional line thermal head, and only the heat generating elements properly abut the platen.
However, when the abutting angle of the line thermal head with respect to the platen becomes large, the space defined between the platen and the substrate of the line thermal head also becomes large. Also, the carrying of an ink film fed to a printing position where the heat generating elements abut the platen easily becomes unstable in such a largely formed space, and the ink film provided for printing is apt to be loosened or wrinkled, which adversely affects printing. In particular, there is a problem in that the ink film may tend to be wrinkled in a printing environment of high temperature and high humidity.


A door hinge lubricator includes a tube, a wicking material and at least one attachment device. At least one lubrication opening is formed through a wall of the tube. Each lubrication opening could be a hole or a slot. The wicking material is inserted into an inner perimeter of the tube. The wicking material is saturated with a lubricant, such as oil. Each end of the tube is sealed with an end plug or the like. The at least one attachment device is preferably attached substantially in-line with the at least one lubrication opening. It is preferable to place the single attachment device on each end of the tube. The door hinge lubricator is attached to one of the hinge plates, adjacent the hinge pin. Lubricant will be wicked into the joints between the opposing hinge plates. After a door hinge stops squeaking, the door hinge lubricator may be removed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lubrication of door hinges and more specifically to a door hinge lubricator, which may be easily secured to a door hinge for the lubrication thereof.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The prior art teaches filling hinge pins with a lubricant and placing bushings between mating hinge plates. However, it appears that the prior art does not teach or suggest retaining an external device, adjacent a door hinge for the lubrication thereof.
Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art for a door hinge lubricator, which may be easily attached to a door hinge for lubrication and easily removed from the door hinge.


A cold-gas munitions launch system is disclosed. In the illustrative embodiment, the system includes a munitions canister, a gas generator, and a sled. The sled supports a munition. The gas generator is located in the aft end of the munitions canister. When ignited, the gas generator produces gas, which drives the sled forward. As the sled reaches the end of the canister, the munition is launched by its own inertia, at a velocity that is within the range of about 3 to 9 g. After the munition clears the canister and travels at least about 150 feet from it, the munition's booster is ignited.

A canisterized missile is typically launched using the missile's own booster—so called "hot launch." When the booster fires, a plume of high-temperature (i.e., in excess of 5000° F.), high-velocity exhaust gas is generated. Since the plume is quite erosive (e.g., due to its high velocity and sometimes the presence of metallic particulates, etc.), direct exposure to it adversely affects the missile, the missile canister, other launch structures, and the surrounding environs (e.g., deck of a ship, etc.).
As a consequence, most missile-launch systems include an exhaust-gas management system, which directs the booster plume away from the missile, launch structure, etc. But to survive the plume's extreme conditions, the launch structure, as well as the exhaust-gas management system itself, must incorporate thermal- and erosion-protection materials.
The exhaust-gas management system and thermal- and erosion-protection materials necessarily add weight, cost and complexity to the launching system. Furthermore, heating of the launch structure and deck that results from hot launch creates a residual thermal signature. This signature is readily detectable by various sensors, and therefore potentially compromises the survivability of the missile launcher and, indeed, the ship or vehicle that supports it.
To address the problems of hot launch, "cold launch" systems have been developed. In a cold launch, the missile's booster is not used to eject the missile from the missile canister; rather, some other means, which does not generate the high temperatures or the erosive flow of a missile plume, is used. After the missile clears the canister, the missile's booster fires, with minimal impact on the launch structure, etc.
Existing cold launch systems have a variety of drawbacks. One drawback is that most cold launch system include a substantial number of additional components. Another drawback is that in some cold launch systems, the missile is exposed to high-pressure gas from a gas generator (that provides the pressure for launch).


At the time of measurement of a sample, before a sample is introduced into a graphite tube, signal voltages which would be detected by a photomultiplier in connection with all programmable combinations of atomizing temperatures of a graphite tube, widths of entrance and exit slits provided in a spectrometer, and wavelengths into which the light is to be decomposed by the diffraction grating are stored in memory beforehand. At the time of measurement of a sample, an amplification factor of the photomultiplier is controlled by a negative high-voltage controller according to measurement requirements, or measurement is performed after an optimum detector signal voltage is set by controlling the amplification factor of the detector signal output from an amplifier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an atomic absorption spectrophotometer which performs quantitative analysis of metal elements contained in various substances, and more particularly, to a furnace-type atomic absorption spectrophotometer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an atomic absorption spectrophotometer, light originating from a holocathode lamp which serves as a light source is decomposed into spectra by a spectrometer, and the spectra reach a detector. A detector signal voltage is dependent on the type of an element of the holocathode lamp, a characteristic of the spectrometer, and a spectral sensitivity characteristic of the detector.
In the furnace-type atomic absorption spectrophotometer, a sample is held in a graphite tube (heating tube), and the tube is heated, whereby the sample is heated to a high temperature and eventually atomized. A measuring beam is caused to pass through atomic vapors, to thus measure absorbancy. Therefore, when the graphite tube has reached the maximum temperature; that is, when the sample is atomized, the graphite tube radiates light. The thus-emitted light also reaches the detector.
The detection signal including the emitted light may saturate an analog circuit or may exceed the maximum voltage which can be converted by an analog-to-digital converter, because the detection signal is excessively strong. However, when the detection signal has exceeded the maximum voltage, accurate measurement of the signal cannot be carried out. For this reason, an optimum detection signal voltage is set by controlling an amplification factor of the detection signal before measurement (see, e.g., JP-A-2002-71558).
This detection signal voltage is usually set to 50 to 70% of the maximum voltage which can be measured within the atomic absorption spectrophotometer. In consideration of noise of the analog circuit or quantization noise of the analog-to-digital converter, both being employed in the atomic absorption spectrophotometer, a better signal-to-noise ratio is obtained as the voltage of the detection signal approaches 100%. However, in order to prevent saturation of the voltage of the detection signal, which would otherwise be caused by the light emitted from the graphite tube, the voltage is held down to 50 to 70% of the maximum voltage.
Under the related-art method, only a given margin for the light emitted from the graphite tube is expected within an ordinary range of measurement requirements, and no allowance is given for variations in the intensity of emitted light which would arise depending on measurement requirements. The longer the wavelength, the wider the slit width, and the higher the atomizing temperature, the greater the intensity of the light emitted from the graphite tube. Therefore, the voltage of the detection signal may exceed the maximum measurable voltage, depending on the wavelength, the slit width, and the atomizing temperature.
In such a state, the voltage has been adjusted by the operator manually rendering the slit width narrow. However, when the slit width has been made narrow, the quantity of light entering the detector is decreased, whereby the signal-to-noise ratio is deteriorated.
According to another method, an amplification factor is changed during the course of atomizing operation in response to the detector signal. However, atomization arises during a period of one second or thereabouts, thus raising demand for a circuit which is highly responsive such that it can set the amplification factor in response to the atomization. Further, the amplification factor to be set also requires accuracy, and hence such a circuit becomes expensive.


This invention is generally related to methods and apparatus that permit the measurements from a plurality of sensors to be combined or fused in a robust manner. For example, the sensors can correspond to sensors used by a mobile device, such as a robot, for localization and/or mapping. The measurements can be fused for estimation of a measurement, such as an estimation of a pose of a robot.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to combining or fusing data from sensors. In particular, the invention relates to robust techniques for a robot of combining data that may include potentially unreliable data.
2. Description of Related Art
The problem of estimating a characteristic that cannot be known with certainty is common. For example, if sensor measurements with known statistical properties and correlated with the characteristic are available, i.e., the measurements are noisy or incomplete, and the measurements are acquired over time, then the optimal and consistent way to solve the above problem is known as probabilistic inference or sequential probabilistic inference.
In a Bayesian framework, one can express an optimal filtering method that accounts for any nonlinearity and any statistical distribution. Although such a method provides an optimal recursive solution, it can generally be reduced to a closed form only for linear Gaussian systems, whereas for most real-world systems (nonlinear and/or non-Gaussian), approximate solutions will typically be used.
A flexible approximation of the solution is obtained by implementing the filtering method using a sequential Monte-Carlo method, such as, for example, a particle filter. The idea behind the Monte-Carlo methods, and, in particular, the particle filter, is to approximate the relevant statistical distributions by a finite number of samples, also called particles, and to update the distributions as observations are received by appropriately generating new random samples. By using a particle filter, complex nonlinear computations can often be avoided.
However, a disadvantage of the standard particle filter is that it often fails to update the estimate of characteristic correctly, and, often, if the error in the initial estimate is large, the estimate converges relatively slowly, or not at all. This weakness is due to the limited number of samples used to approximate the relevant probability distributions; namely, the samples tend to cluster more than is appropriate in regions where the density function is relatively large. Hence, the probability of an unknown characteristic to be a value in an unlikely region is usually too small to be represented by a discrete sample and is often estimated to be zero. A conventional technique to reduce this limitation is to use a relatively large number of samples (particles), which disadvantageously results in a large computational requirement on the filtering process. In addition, the statistical properties of the measurements are typically not known with accuracy, which can cause the performance of particle filter to break down.
One example in which the above scenario exists is in the autonomous localization of mobile robots. In particular, if a robot is lifted and moved to a new location without receiving an indication that such motion has occurred, it has been exposed to what is called "kidnapping." The unknown characteristic (the characteristic to be estimated) is the pose (location and orientation) of the robot, while the observations on which the estimation is based, include dead reckoning measurements, such as wheel odometry, and observations from one or more sensors that give global measurements rather than incremental measurements, such as images from a camera, scans from a laser range finder, measurements from SONAR, IR, and LIDAR sensors, and the like. If relatively many observations have been made and processed before kidnapping occurs and an appropriate algorithm for the sensor fusion is used, then the estimate of the unknown characteristic (the robot pose) will typically have converged, and the confidence of the estimate will typically be relatively high. However, immediately after the kidnapping, this estimate is very likely to be wrong because that most conventional methods of data fusion are not able to recover the pose in a short amount of time.
The above scenario demonstrates that a more robust treatment of observations and estimated distributions is valuable for a successful implementation of Monte-Carlo methods, such as the particle filter, to allow for faster and more reliable recovery from kidnapping.
Monte Carlo techniques are sometimes used for implementing various probabilistic methods in robotics.
Dieter Fox, Sebastian Thrun, Wolfram Burgard, and Frank Dellaert, Particle filters for mobile robot localization, Sequential Monte Carlo Methods in Practice, (Doucet, A., de Freitas, N., and Gordon, N., eds.) Springer Verlag, pp. 401-428, 2001, and Sebastian Thrun, Mapping: A Survey, Technical Report, CMU-CS-02-111, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa., February 2002 describe uses of particle filtering in the field of mobile robot navigation. These references show that the use of particle filters enables a solution to certain previously unsolved problems. One example of such a problem is known as global localization. Another example of such a problem is known as the kidnapped robot problem, in which the robot is lifted and moved to a new location without receiving an indication that such motion has occurred. One important difference between global localization and recovery from kidnapping is that in a kidnapping scenario, the robot "thinks" it knows where it is (i.e., it has some pre-existing estimate of its pose) at the same time as it is lost, while in the global localization scenario, the robot knows that it is completely lost (i.e., it has no pre-existing estimate of its pose).
Methods have been proposed to solve the problem of simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) (see Michael Montemerlo, Sebastian Thrun, Daphne Keller, and Ben Wegbreig, FastSLAM: A factored solution to the simultaneous localization and mapping problem, in Proceedings of the AAAI National Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Edmonton, Canada, 2002). An important weakness of the methods described in Montemerlo, et al., id. is that if the robot is kidnapped a relatively short time before the map is expanded (i.e., a new feature, such as a new landmark, is added to the map), then it will be relatively difficult for the robot to recover and fully correct the map. A second disadvantage of the methods described in reference 4 lies in the so-called "landmarks" that form the basis for its map. These landmarks are based on laser range scans, and it becomes crucial to associate the data acquired during a new laser scan with the data acquired during a previously acquired laser scan correctly. "vSLAM", however, addresses these two weaknesses by introducing two kind of particles, termed "primary" and "dual" particles (see also Fox, Thrun, Burgard, and Dellaert, id., and A. C. Davison and D. V. Hinkley, Bootstrap Methods and Their Application, Cambridge Series in Statistical and Probabilistic Methods, Cambridge, United Kingdom, pp. 450-466, 1997). Additionally, the data association problem is resolved by using relatively more robust visual landmarks, wherein false association of an acquired image with a previously acquired image is relatively rare.

Robust sensor fusion for mapping and localization in a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) system


The mist ejection head has: a nozzle plate in which a nozzle hole for ejecting liquid is formed; a liquid chamber connected to the nozzle hole; an ultrasonic wave generating device which applies an ultrasonic wave to the liquid in the liquid chamber; and a reflective wall which reflects the ultrasonic wave applied to the liquid, wherein: the reflective wall is disposed so as to oppose the nozzle plate and has an axially symmetrical shape comprising a portion of a parabolic surface, the portion including an apex of the parabolic surface and being on an apex side with respect to a focal point of the parabolic surface; an axis of the parabolic surface passes through the nozzle hole; and the focal point of the parabolic surface is positioned in a vicinity of the nozzle hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mist ejection head, an image forming apparatus comprising a mist ejection head, and a liquid ejection apparatus comprising a mist ejection head, and more particularly, to a mist ejection head which uses a high-focus low-attenuation type of reflector for a mist ejection head, and an image forming apparatus and a liquid ejection apparatus comprising such a mist ejection head.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, image forming apparatuses are known which form desired images by atomizing liquid ink to form a cloud of ink, known as an ink mist, and selectively depositing this ink mist onto a recording medium.
For example, each of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 62-85948 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 62-111757 discloses an ink mist image recording apparatus which generates a charged ink mist locally from the front tip of a fine ultrasonic vibrating needle which vibrates ultrasonically in accordance with an image signal, and performs recording by depositing the ink mist selectively on a recording medium by applying an electric field to the charged ink mist.
Furthermore, for example, each of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-59540 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-166541 discloses a liquid ejection apparatus in which an ultrasonic wave is supplied to the ink inside a cavity for storing ink provided inside an ink tank, by means of a piezoelectric transducer (oscillator) provided on the bottom surface of cavity, the ultrasonic wave is reflected by the inner walls of the cavity, which are formed with a parabolic cross-section, the reflected wave concentrates at the focal point of the parabola, thereby raising the acoustic energy density in the ink, and ink is sprayed in the form of a mist from an ejection port formed in the vicinity of the focal point.
An ultrasonic wave of the MHz order is generally used to create a mist of liquid ink. More specifically, the method of creating a mist of a liquid ink uses cavitation atomization based on a cavitation phenomenon, or capillary atomization based on a capillary wave. Using the latter method enables the generation of a mist having more uniform particle size, and it also has good energy efficiency.
In the case of capillary atomization, a capillary wave is generated by applying a planar wave from below in the direction of the free liquid surface, and if the planar wave has a frequency and amplitude at or above a certain level, then a capillary wave starts to oscillate. Consequently, as the capillary wave grows, minute liquid droplets break away from the peaks of the wave, thereby creating a mist.
In this case, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-59540 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-166541, for example, the inner walls of a cavity of the ink tank which reflect an ultrasonic wave are designed to form a reflector having a parabolic surface shape, which increases the energy efficiency by focusing the ultrasonic wave in the region of the wavelength level.
FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of a conventional mist ejection head which uses a parabolic surface-shaped reflector of this kind.
The conventional mist ejection head 100 shown in FIG. 8 comprises an ink tank 110, a cavity section 112 for storing ink which is provided inside the ink tank 110, and an ultrasonic wave generating device 114 provided in the bottom surface of the cavity section 112. The ultrasonic wave generating device 114 comprises a diaphragm 116 and a piezoelectric element 118.
The inner wall of the cavity section 112 forms a reflector (reflective wall) 120 which reflects an ultrasonic wave generated by the ultrasonic wave generating device 114. The reflector 120 has a parabolic form, with a cross-sectional shape such as that shown on the right-hand side of the drawing. Furthermore, the upper end side of the cavity section 112 forms a straight cylinder section 122 having a straight shape, and the focal point 124 of the parabola formed by the cross-sectional shape of the reflector 120 is positioned in the center of the upper part of this straight cylinder section 122.
Moreover, a nozzle plate 126 is formed on the upper side of the cavity section 112, and a nozzle 128, which is an opening for ejecting ink, is formed at a position corresponding to the focal point 124. Furthermore, an ink supply channel 130 for supplying ink to the cavity section 112 from the sides, is provided at the bottom surface of the cavity section 112.
When ejecting an ink mist, an ultrasonic wave 132 is applied (in an approximately planar shape) in parallel with the axial direction of the parabola formed by the cross-sectional shape of the reflector 120, from the ultrasonic wave generating device 114, to the ink inside the cavity section 112. The ultrasonic wave 132 is reflected by the reflector 120. Since the reflector 120 has the cross-section of a parabolic shape, the reflected ultrasonic wave 132 is concentrated at the focal point 124 of the parabola.
Moreover, since the nozzle 128 is formed at the position of the focal point 124, then the ultrasonic wave 132 is concentrated at the nozzle 128, the acoustic energy of the ink is raised at the nozzle 128, and an ink droplet is ejected in the form of an ink mist, from the nozzle 128.
In this way, in the mist ejection head 100 according to the related art, the cross-sectional shape of the reflector (reflective wall) 120 is formed to have a parabolic shape, and furthermore, as shown on the right-hand side of FIG. 8, the portion P1 which is situated on the farther side than the focal point F of the parabola with respect to the apex C (in the case of FIG. 8, the portion of the parabola below the focal point F) is used as the reflective surface.
Next, the effective amplitude focusing factor (magnification) in a mist ejection head using the conventional parabolic surface-shaped reflector shown in FIG. 8 is described below.
Here, a case is considered in which the vibrational energy of an acoustic source (the ultrasonic wave generating device 114) is focused at the inlet of the nozzle (the side of the nozzle 128 adjacent to the cavity section 112), by means of the parabolic surface-shaped reflector (reflective wall 120) shown in FIG. 8.
Firstly, the geometrical focusing factor "m" of the energy when using a parabolic surface-shaped reflector is given by the following equation, (1).m=(D2−d2)/λ2  (1)
As shown in FIG. 8, D (m) is the diameter (inlet diameter) of the inlet side It of the reflector (namely, the diameter of the bottom surface side of the cavity section 112), and d (m) is the diameter (outlet diameter) of the outlet side Ot of the reflector (namely, the diameter of the upper end side of the cavity section 112). Furthermore, λ is the wavelength of the longitudinal wave in a fluid, which is expressed by the ratio between the speed of sound in a fluid (speed of propagation of longitudinal wave) v (m/s) and the frequency f (Hz) of the sound source, as indicated by the following equation, (2).λ=v/f  (2)
Moreover, the vibrational energy of a continuous body is directly proportional to the square of the amplitude, and the amplitude amplification rate is the square root of m, or √(m).
Therefore, the effective amplitude focusing factor Γ is defined by the following equation, (3), as the product of the geometric focusing factor of the amplitude due to the reflector, √(m), and the transmissibility T based on the viscous damping.Γ=T×√(m)  (3)
Here, the transmissibility T is given by the following equation, (4).T=exp(−αL)  (4)
Here, the coefficient α is α=0.8361×μf2×10−13 (neper·m−1), L(m) is the propagation distance, and μ(cP) is the coefficient of viscosity.
By consolidating the aforementioned equations, the effective amplitude focusing factor Γ is given by the following equation, (5).Γ=f√(D2−d2)/v×exp(0.8361×μf2×10−13×L)  (5)
Next, the shape of the reflector (reflective wall 120) is described below. As shown in FIG. 9, the reflector (reflective wall 120) has a parabolic surface shape, having a cross-sectional shape which comprises a portion of a parabola having axial symmetrical (as shown on the left-hand side of FIG. 9) on the far side of the focal point F of the parabola from the apex C of same (in the case of the parabola shown in FIG. 9, the portion below the focal point F).
Here, in order to describe the reflector (reflective wall) 120 in terms of an equation, the parabolic surface shape of the reflector is expressed by the following equation, (6), using the coordinate axes r and z, as shown on the right-hand side in FIG. 9.z(r)=(g+p+u+q)−(a1/RB1)r2  (6)
The meaning of the respective symbols used in the equation (6) is as described below.
Firstly, as shown in FIG. 9, the radius (inlet radius) of the inlet side It of the reflector (the bottom surface side of the cavity section 112) is taken to be RB1, the radius (outlet radius) of the outlet side Ot of the reflector (the upper side of the cavity section 112) is taken to be RA1, the height of the parabola is taken to be h as illustrated on the left-hand side of FIG. 9, and the distance between the focal point F and the apex C is taken to be p.
In this case, a1 is defined by the following equation, (7).h=a1RB1  (7)
If a1 is defined in this way, then by means of a simple calculation, the coefficient of the quadratic term of this parabola (the coefficient of r2), A, is a1/RB1.
Moreover, since the distance p between the focal point F of the parabola and the apex C of same is generally expressed by 1/(4A), using the coefficient A of the quadratic term (r2), then this distance p can be expressed as shown below in the equation (8), using the above results.p=RB1/(4a1)  (8)
Furthermore, the length q of the reflector in the axial direction shown on the right-hand side of FIG. 9 is expressed by the following equation, (9).q=(a1/RB1)×(RB12−RA12)  (9)
Moreover, from the drawing, the length g of the straight cylinder portion 122 of the cavity section 112 in the axial direction is expressed by the following equation, (10).g=h−(p+q)  (10)
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9, it is known that if the reflector has the shape of a parabolic surface, then the propagation distance L1 of the ultrasonic wave until reaching the focal point F, after the ultrasonic wave has entered in parallel to the axis of the parabolic surface from the inlet side It of the cavity section 112 and has been reflected by the parabolic surface, is generally a characteristic property of the parabolic surface and is a uniform distance regardless of the position of reflection. Consequently, looking in particular at a case where the ultrasonic wave is reflected at the point of radius RA1 on the outlet side Ot of the cavity section 112, from the drawing, it can be seen that the distance L1 can be expressed by the following equation, (11).L1=q+√(RA12+g2)  (11)
Here, if calculation is made by formulas (7) to (10), then the following equation, (12), is obtained.L1={(4a12+1)/4a1}×RB1  (12)
Furthermore, it can be seen that this expression can be further developed to give L1=a1RB1+RB1/4a1=h+p.
Moreover, the focal point F of the parabolic surface must be situated to the upper side of the outlet of the cavity section 112, in other words, at least inside the straight cylinder section 122 as shown in FIG. 9, and therefore the condition stated in the formula (13) below is necessary.g≧0  (13)
As described above, taking the diameter (inlet diameter) on the inlet side It of the reflector (the bottom surface side of the cavity section 112) to be D, and taking the diameter (outlet diameter) on the outlet side Ot of the reflector (the upper end side of the cavity section 112) to be d, then "D=2RB1" and "d=2RA1" are satisfied. Therefore, by using formulas (7) to (10) to rewrite formula (13), the following relationship, (14), is obtained. In other words, in order that the focal point F is positioned inside the straight cylinder section 122, it is necessary to satisfy the following relationship, (14).d≧D/2a1  (14)
Here, considering a case where g=0 as an ideal state, the diameter (outlet diameter) d at the outlet side Ot of the reflector (the upper end side of the cavity section 112) is redefined by the following equation, (15).d=min(d)=D/2a1  (15)
Here, min(d) is a symbol which expresses the minimum value of d.
In this way, the effective focusing factor Γ is expressed by the following equation, (16), as a function of the speed v of sound in the fluid, the frequency f of the acoustic source, the coefficient μ of viscosity, the diameter u of the ink supply channel (see FIG. 9), the diameter (inlet diameter) D on the inlet side It of the reflector, and the value a1 defined in formula (7) above.
                              Γ                                (                          v              ,              f              ,              μ              ,              u              ,              D              ,                              a                1                                      )                          =                              fD                                                                        4                                                        a                    1                    2                                                  -                1                                                          2                                      a              1                                    v                                                                                ⅇ                                                0.8361                  ×                  μ                                                                                f                    2                                    ×                                      10                                          -                      13                                                                          u                                +                                                                                4                                                                          a                          1                          2                                                                    +                      1                                                              8                                                                    a                        1                                                                                D                                                                                (        16        )
Moreover, this equation, (16), is written as shown below in (17), taking γ to be γ=0.8361×10−13.
                                          Γ                                      (                              v                ,                f                ,                μ                ,                u                ,                D                ,                                  a                  1                                            )                                =                                    fD                                                                                4                                                              a                      1                      2                                                        -                  1                                                                    2                                            a                1                                          v                                                                                ⅇ                                                      γ                                                                                μ                                                                                f                      2                                                            u                                    +                                                                                4                                                                                a                            1                            2                                                                          +                        1                                                                    8                                                                          a                          1                                                                                D                                                                                ,                                                    γ          =                      0.8361            ×                          10                              -                13                                                                        (        17        )
In this way, it can be seen that if the effective focusing factor Γ is considered to be a function of D and a1 only, then the turning values in the D direction and the a1 direction are situated on a curve in the plane D-a1, as given by the following equations, (18) and (19).
                              D                                |                                                            ∂                  Γ                                /                                  ∂                  D                                            =              0                                      =                              8                                      a              1                                            γ                                                                          μ                                                                                f              2                                                                                (                                                4                                                        a                    1                    2                                                  +                1                            )                                                          (        18        )                                          D                                |                                                            ∂                  Γ                                /                                  ∂                  a                                                                                1                                      =                              8                                      a              1                                            γ                                                                          μ                                                                                f              2                                                                                (                                                      4                                                              a                      1                      2                                                        -                  1                                )                            2                                                          (        19        )
For example, FIG. 10 shows the effective focusing factor Γ(D, a1) for various values of D and a1, when v=1500 (m/s), f=10 (MHz), μ=20 (cP) and u=0 (m). These contour-shaped curves indicating the values of the effective focusing factor Γ(D, a1) are known as "contour lines".
In FIG. 10, two curves C1 and C2 which intersect these contour lines are depicted, and the curve C1 is a curve which gives the maximum value of Γ when the value of a1 given by equation (18) is uniform, and the curve C2 is a curve which gives the maximum value of Γ when the value of the D given by equation (19) is uniform.
The maximum value of the effective focusing factor Γ obtained for all of the values of (D, a1) is located at an intersection of these two curves C1 and C2. This is obtained by solving the following equation, (20).∂Γ/∂D=∂Γ/∂a1=0  (20)
By solving this equation, (20), then the values of D and a1 which give the maximum value of the effective focusing factor Γ, namely, D′ and a1′, are obtained as shown in the following equation, (21).
                                          D            ′                    =                                    3                                      γ                                                                                μ                                                                                f                2                                                    ,                              a            1            ′                    =                                    3                        2                                              (        21        )
Moreover, here, the maximum value of the effective focusing factor Γ, namely, max (Γ), is given by the following equation, (22).
                                                                        max                                                                                (                  Γ                  )                                            =                              Γ                                                                                (                                                            D                      ′                                        ,                                          a                      1                      ′                                                        )                                                                                =                                                3                                                  v                                                                                γ                                                                                uf                                                                                ⅇ                                          1                      +                                              γ                                                                                μ                                                                                f                          2                                                                        u                                                                                (        22        )
In the case of FIG. 10, when these values are actually calculated, the results shown in the following equation, (23), are obtained. In other words, the maximum effective focusing factor Γ in this case is approximately 20.74.D′≈10.36 [mm], a′1≈0.866, max(Γ)≈20.74  (23)
However, in a mist ejection head which uses a conventional parabolic surface-shaped reflector such as that described above, since a portion of the parabola having axial symmetry (such as that shown on the right-hand side of FIG. 8) which is a far from the apex C with respect to the focal point F of same, (namely, the portion of the parabola below the focal point F in the case of FIG. 8) P1, is used as a reflector, then the area of the direct wave region which does not contribute to focusing is wasted and hence the spatial usage efficiency of the cavity section is poor.
Furthermore, if, on the other hand, the outlet diameter of the cavity section is reduced in order to reduce the direct wave region, then the propagation distance of the ultrasonic wave until the focal point of the parabola formed by the cross-sectional shape of the reflector becomes long, and therefore the effective focusing factor declines due to viscous damping.

Mist ejection head, image forming apparatus comprising mist ejection head, and liquid ejection apparatus comprising mist ejection head


An output-torque estimation unit obtains a value of a current input to a motor, from a power converter, and calculates an estimated output torque value which is an estimated value of output torque of the motor, from the obtained value of the current. A load estimation unit estimates a load value of a hanging cargo based on the estimated output torque value which is calculated by the output-torque estimation unit, a speed reduction ratio of a speed reducer, an effective radius of a winch drum, and the winding number which is set by the number setting unit.

In a crane, a load of a hanging cargo is detected in order to monitor a state of the crane. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique of detecting tension of a derricking rope which maintains an attitude of a boom, using a load cell or the like, and correcting the tension of the derricking rope, using a correction coefficient which is set in accordance with a working attitude or operation, to thereby calculate a load value of a hanging cargo.
Also, Patent Literature 2 discloses a technique of obtaining a current value which depends on tension of a wire rope, using a load detector which includes a strain-gauge load cell provided in a tip end of a boom, to thereby calculate a load value of a hanging cargo from the obtained current value.
However, with regard to Patent Literature 1, since a load value of a hanging cargo is estimated using not tension of a wire rope for hanging a hanging cargo, but tension of a derricking rope, so that there is caused a problem of a large calculation error between an estimated load value and an actual load value of a hanging cargo.
With regard to Patent Literature 2, it is necessary to use an extra dedicated detector such as a load detector, and thus there are caused problems of an increased cost due to the number of components, and degradation of reliability at a time of breakdown.

Load detector, and winding apparatus for crane comprising said detector

KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.


A control device for an automatic transmission for a bicycle is provided. The control device comprises a controller configured to instruct the automatic transmission to shift among a plurality of speed stages, each speed stage having an associated cadence range, wherein the controller is further configured to determine a traveling resistance of the bicycle, and if the traveling resistance exceeds a predetermined threshold, the controller is configured to adjust at least one of the cadence ranges, and following the adjustment of the at least one cadence range, the controller is further configured to operate the automatic transmission to shift based upon the adjusted cadence range and a detected cadence.

Many bicycles include manually shifted drivetrains having one or more derailleurs and sprockets. The derailleurs cause a chain to move between the sprockets in the drivetrain. The derailleurs are manually shifted via shifting mechanisms mounted on the handlebars or other rider accessible locations on the bicycle. Thus, the rider has to initiate shifting input to alter the gear ratio in the bicycle. This type of manual shifting input can be difficult to master for both inexperienced and experienced riders. A rider may not actuate the manual shifting controls with the proper force, timing, or direction, and as a result the rider's intended shifting operation may not be timely or properly executed. As a result, in inefficient gear ratio may result, and the rider's pedaling efficiency may suffer.
Automatic drivetrains have been developed for bicycles to eliminate the need for a rider to shift, increasing pedaling efficiency and simplifying bicycle operation. However, prior automatic drivetrains may only take into account a bicycle's cadence when determining a selected speed stage (e.g., gear ratio) in the drivetrain. Other factors including various resistances imparted to the bicycle, such as rolling resistances, drivetrain resistances, gravitational force, etc., can also affect pedaling efficiency and shifting performance.

Control device for an automatic transmission of a bicycle


There is provided a method for depositing a modified MCrAlY coating on a surface of a gas turbine engine component. The method includes cold gas dynamic spraying techniques to provide a metallurgical bond between a substrate, such as a superalloy substrate, and the modified MCrAlY composition. The method further includes post deposition heat treatments including hot isostatic pressing. The modified MCrAlY composition includes one or more elements of Pt, Hf, Si, Zr, Ta, Re, Ru, Nb, B, and C, which improves the corrosion and environmental resistance of the coated component.

In an attempt to increase the efficiencies and performance of contemporary gas turbine engines, engineers have progressively pushed the engine environment to more extreme operating conditions. The harsh operating conditions of high temperature and pressure that are now frequently specified place increased demands on engine component-manufacturing technologies and new materials. Indeed the gradual improvement in engine design has come about in part due to the increased strength and durability of new materials that can withstand the operating conditions present in the modern gas turbine engine. With these changes in engine materials there has arisen a corresponding need to develop new repair and coating methods appropriate for such materials.
Turbine engines are used as the primary power source for many types of aircrafts. The engines are also auxiliary power sources that drive air compressors, hydraulic pumps, and industrial gas turbine (IGT) power generation. Further, the power from turbine engines is used for stationary power supplies such as backup electrical generators for hospitals and the like.
Most turbine engines generally follow the same basic power generation procedure. Compressed air generated by axial and/or radial compressors is mixed with fuel and burned, and the expanding hot combustion gases are directed against stationary turbine vanes in the engine. The vanes turn the high velocity gas flow partially sideways to impinge on the turbine blades mounted on a rotatable turbine disk. The force of the impinging gas causes the turbine disk to spin at high speed. Jet propulsion engines use the power created by the rotating turbine disk to draw more air into the engine, and the high velocity combustion gas is passed out of the gas turbine aft end to create forward thrust. Other engines use this power to turn one or more propellers, fans, electrical generators, or other devices.
The high pressure turbine (HPT) blade is one engine component that directly experiences severe engine conditions. Turbine blades are thus designed and manufactured to perform under repeated cycles of high stress and high temperature. An economic consequence of such a design criteria is that currently used turbine blades can be quite expensive. It is thus highly desirable to maintain turbine blades in service for as long as possible, and to return worn turbine blades to service, if possible, through acceptable repair procedures.
Turbine blades used in modern gas turbine engines are frequently castings from a class of materials known as superalloys. The superalloys include nickel-, cobalt- and iron-based alloys. In the cast form, turbine blades made from superalloys include many desirable elevated-temperature properties such as high strength and good environment resistance. Advantageously, the strength displayed by this material remains present even under stressful conditions, such as high temperature and high pressure, that are experienced during engine operation.
While the superalloys exhibit superior mechanical properties under high temperature and pressure conditions, they are subject to attack by chemical degradation. The gases at high temperature and pressure in the turbine engine can lead to hot corrosion and oxidation of the exposed superalloy substrates in turbine blades. Those turbine blades at the high pressure stages following the combustion stage of a gas turbine engine are particularly subject to this kind of erosion, and the portion of a turbine blade at the blade tip is even more subject to corrosion and oxidation as this area of the blade also experiences high pressure and temperature. Blade tips are also potential wear points. Corrosion and oxidation are both undesirable in that these processes can lead to the gradual erosion of blade tip material, which affects the dimensional characteristic of the blade as well as physical integrity. In order to protect superalloy turbine blades, a coating may be placed on both the airfoil surfaces, and the blade tip, to act as a barrier between the engine environment and the substrate material.
Among other materials, conventional MCrAlY coatings have been used as one kind of coating on turbine blades to resist corrosion and oxidation. In the conventional formulation of MCrAlY, M represents one of the metals Ni, Co, or Fe or alloys thereof. Cr, Al, and Y are the chemical symbols for Chromium, Aluminum, and Yttrium. Some conventional MCrAlY formulations are discussed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,532,191; 4,246,323; and 3,676,085. Families of MCrAlY compositions are built around the Nickel, Cobalt, or Iron constituents. Thus the literature speaks of NiCrAlY, NiCoCrAlY, CoCrAlY, CoNiCrAlY, and so on. Nevertheless there is a need to further improve MCrAlY formulations. It would be desired to develop modified MCrAlY formulations that impart improved corrosion and environmental resistance on engine components.
In conventional methods, MCrAlY is applied to a turbine blade as a coating layer through a thermal spray coating process like low pressure plasma spray (LPPS) or electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD). In the thermal spray coating process the MCrAlY coating adheres to the surface of the substrate through mechanical bonding. The MCrAlY coating adheres to asperities previously fashioned onto the substrate surface. This process does not result in a metallurgical or chemical attachment of the MCrAlY material to the underlying substrate. This is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,410,159. Other deposition techniques that have been used with MCrAlY coatings include CVD, EB/PVD, HVOF, and LPPS. Each of these coating approaches may require complex coating procedures. Additionally expensive equipment such as LPPS, EB/PVD, and sputtering may also be required to apply an overlay coating. Thus, a need exists to utilize a relatively low cost process for applying an MCrAlY coating, as compared to existing methods.
The option of throwing out worn turbine blades and replacing them with new ones is not an attractive alternative. The HPT blades are expensive. A turbine blade made of superalloy can be quite costly to replace, and a single stage in a gas turbine engine may contain several dozen such blades. Moreover, a typical gas turbine engine can have multiple rows or stages of turbine blades. Consequently there is a strong financial need to find an acceptable repair or coating method for superalloy turbine blades.
Hence, there is a need for a turbine engine component coating method that addresses one or more of the above-noted drawbacks. Namely, a method is needed that provides an improved MCrAlY protective layer over the component substrate, and/or a method that allows the efficient and economical deposition of MCrAlY onto a superalloy substrate and/or a modified MCrAlY composition that provides improved properties and durability, and/or a method that by virtue of the foregoing extends turbine blade life and is therefore less costly as compared to the alternative of replacing worn turbine parts with new ones. The present invention addresses one or more of these needs.

Method for applying environmental-resistant MCrAlY coatings on gas turbine components