A thermal-transfer recording medium having thereon a heat-meltable peeling layer, a heat-meltable adhesion layer and provided therebetween an inter layer consisting principally of an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer is disclosed. It is suitable for high speed printing of an excellent resolution with low transfer energy.

With the recent popularization of word processors having thermal-transfer devices, a thermal-transfer recording medium comprising a support having thereon a heat-meltable ink layer has now been used extensively.
However, in the conventional thermal-transfer recording medium, its printing quality is liable to be affected by the surface smoothness of a transfer image-receiving medium such as paper, and when used for printing in a high-speed thermal-transfer recording device, it lacks transfer sensitivity to invite deterioration of the print quality, particularly of resolution.
In order to improve the transfer sensitivity, various attempts have been made to have the heat-meltable layer of the thermal-transfer recording medium made in the form of a multilayer composition or provided with a specific peeling layer.
Conventionally known as the peeling layer is one composed principally of a wax such as paraffin.
However, such a peeling layer has a poor peeling characteristic. In order to improve the peeling characteristic, a low-melting paraffin must be used, but in that case, its low-molecular paraffin moiety moves to the ink layer (coloring agent layer), resulting in the deterioration of its printing quality.
To avoid this, the use of a high-melting paraffin or of polyethylene wax as a principal component of the peeling layer is disclosed in JP O.P.I. Nos. 68786/1987 and 8739I/1987. The disclosed technique, however, has the problem that in a high-speed printing, the peeling characteristic becomes insufficient and no sufficient transfer sensitivity is obtained.
The present invention has been made on the basis of the above-mentioned situation.


A method for producing a block having a flat bottom, a flat top which is parallel to the bottom and sidewalls which extend between the bottom and the top is disclosed. At least three cooperating mold parts are assembled on a first plate to produce assembled mold parts having interior surfaces which conform with the shape of the sidewalls of the block and flat, coplanar tops and bottoms. The assembled mold parts are clamped together, and a high slump concrete which is hardenable by hydration of cement therein is charged and worked as required into close proximity to the interiors of the mold parts and to the plate inside the mold parts. A foamable composition capable of forming a body of a thermoset, closed cell, urethane foam having a density of about 10 to 60 pounds per cubic foot which fills the interior of the assembled mold parts above the concrete therein is then charged, and a second plate is clamped over the tops of the mold parts. Preferably, there are small openings between the interior and the exterior of the mold through which excess water in the concrete can flow without appreciable loss of cement or aggregate from the mold.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention is a method for producing a mold, the mold produced by the method, a wall panel and a block Both the wall panel and the block can be produced in the mold produced by the method of the invention, and both are useful in constructing buildings.
(2) Description of Related Art
Various methods for producing wall panels and blocks, molds for use in producing wall panels and blocks, and the use of the wall panels and blocks produced in the production of homes and other buildings have been suggested. Some such panels and blocks include polyurethane, polystyrene and other foams for their thermal insulating properties.
For example, "Labrecque", U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,232, granted Mar. 1, 1977, includes the following disclosure (column 1, lines 22-55) of the production of a construction panel:
"The method of making the construction panel includes forming a dry cement mixture by mixing cement, silica and an aggregate with preferably a coloring agent to obtain a concrete of the desired color. Preferably, the cement is a white cement, the silica is of 70-mesh, and the aggregate is expanded mica, such as the heat expanded mica known under the registered trade mark "ZONOLITE", owned by W. R. Grace Co.
"Some of the dry cement mixture is mixed with water to form a wet cement mixture which is spread into a layer in a mold. Some dry cement is thereafter powdered onto the wet cement mixture until a dry blanket is formed onto the latter. As soon as such dry blanket has been obtained, an unset foaming urethane formulation in liquid form is poured onto the dry cement blanket and the mold is closed by a cover. The setting operation is started at room temperature that is some 70° F., no heating being required. When the foaming urethane formulation has set into a foam urethane layer, the construction panel is removed from the mold to allow the cement mixture to complete its setting into a concrete layer. The urethane formulation upon reacting in the mold, expands and develops heat and pressure whereby the wet cement mixture is heated and the resulting urethane layer is pressed against the cement layer. Water in the wet cement layer migrates into and wets the dry blanket whereby the latter turns into concrete. This water migration takes place in the closed mold where it is helped by the pressure and heat conditions therein. A firm bond is thus produced between the concrete layer and the foam urethane layer. The mold may be vibrated to pack the wet cement mixture into a compact layer before setting."
Stott, U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,193, Mar. 12, 2002, discloses a "wall or panel which has the appearance of natural stonework, rock, brick, wood or the like, which is lightweight and durable" (column 1, lines 59 and following), and is composed of a thin concrete layer with a contoured exterior to provide the indicated appearance, and an interior foam layer coupled to the interior of the concrete layer. There may be a reinforcing layer between the concrete and the foam, and a rigid layer spaced from the concrete, with the foam between the two.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,536, Piazza, discloses a composite module shown in FIG. 1 which comprises a rigid core 10 (which is preferably a polyurethane foam) having scrim reinforcing material 14 (preferably coated glass fiber scrim) wrapped at least partly therearound and a rigid encapsulating shell 12 comprising a cementitious material 13 reinforced with glass fibers, and a facing member 11. The composite module is produced by placing the facing member 11 (FIG. 2) face down in a mold 20 and positioning the scrim reinforcing material 14 on the upper face of the facing member. The foam is then foamed into the mold 20 and allowed to harden to form the rigid foam core member 10 (FIGS. 1, 4, 5B and 5C). The foam, in conjunction with the scrim material 14, is bonded to the exposed face of the facing member and the resulting unit is removed from the mold 20 (FIG. 2). The excess scrim 14 is then folded around the core 10, producing a unit shown in FIG. 4. A wet cementitious bottom layer 15 (shown in FIG. 5A) is formed in the bottom of a second mold 21. The combined facing member and scrim wrapped core (FIG. 4) is then placed in the mold 21 with the facing member facing up and with the periphery of the facing member and core spaced from the side walls of the mold 21 as shown in FIG. 5B. Wet reinforced cementitious material is then deposited in the mold 21 (see FIG. 5C) in the free space surrounding the core and facing member until the cementitious material is substantially flush with the outer surface of the facing member. The cementitious material is allowed to cure and the module is removed from mold 21 in such a form as that shown in the partially cutaway perspective view of FIG. 6.
Refrigerated trucks and trailers usually have aluminum floors made up of a number of extruded sections, each of which has a plurality of parallel, longitudinally-extending channels. Adjacent ones of the channels have common sidewalls, and webs which are parallel to one another and are structurally integral with opposite edges of the sidewalls. The sections are welded together to make an entire floor, which may have inside dimensions as great as 102 inches (2.6 meters) by 52½ feet (16 meters). The aluminum floor must be insulated from the metal of the truck or trailer by which it is supported. This is usually accomplished by attaching spaced transverse wooden members to the supporting metal of the truck or trailer, and attaching the aluminum floor to the wooden members. After the assembly is complete, a froth foam is injected from a wand into the spaces which are below the floor and between the wooden members, where the floor is unsupported. Such floors leak, and must be replaced frequently, to a large extent because movement of a trailer or truck while in operation on a highway often exerts enormous forces tending to strip screws that are supposed to hold the floor to the trailer or truck and, as a consequence, stripping frequently occurs after a short time of service. Wet floors are particularly subject to this stripping.
Isocyanates and compositions that are polymerizable by condensation of the NCO groups of isocyanates with compounds having active hydrogens have been used widely since World War II to produce a broad spectrum of products ranging from coating compositions to medical appliances. The present dyligomers are particularly desirable constituents of compositions which are polymerizable by condensation of NCO groups of isocyanates with active hydrogens to produce urethanes.


An image forming apparatus includes an image forming mechanism for forming an image on a recording medium with a developer according to image data and a fixing mechanism for fixing the developer forming the image on the recording medium. The fixing mechanism includes a pressing member, a fixing member, a tension roller, and a cleaner. The fixing member and the pressing member respectively apply heat and pressure to the recording medium conveyed through a nip formed between the pressing member and the fixing member. The tension roller contacts one of the pressing member and the fixing member that contacts the developer forming the image on the recording sheet to apply tension to the one of the pressing member and the fixing member. The cleaner contacts the tension roller and removes contaminants including the developer adhered to the tension roller.

1. Field of Invention
Exemplary aspects of the present invention relate to an image forming apparatus, a fixing unit, and an image forming method, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus, a fixing unit, and an image forming method with an enhanced cleaning mechanism for removing contaminants including toner particles.
2. Description of the Related Art
A background image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile machine, forms an image on a recording medium (i.e., a recording sheet) in an electrophotographic or electrostatic method. Specifically, an electrostatic latent image is formed on a uniformly charged photoconductor according to image data. The electrostatic latent image is visualized with a developer (e.g., toner) to form a toner image on the photoconductor. The toner image is transferred onto a recording sheet and the recording sheet having the toner image is conveyed to a fixing unit in which heat and pressure fix the toner image on the recording sheet.
One example of a related art fixing unit includes a fixing roller including a heater and a pressure roller opposing the fixing roller. The fixing roller and the pressure roller respectively apply heat and pressure to the recording sheet to fix the toner image on the recording sheet while the recording sheet is conveyed through a nip formed under pressure between the fixing roller and the pressure roller.
Another example of a related art fixing unit includes a fixing belt, a heating roller including a heater, a fixing roller, and a pressure roller. The fixing belt is looped over the heating roller and the fixing roller. The pressure roller opposes the fixing roller via the fixing belt. The heating roller heats the fixing belt. The fixing belt and the pressure roller respectively apply heat and pressure to the recording sheet to fix the toner image on the recording sheet while the recording sheet is conveyed through a nip formed under pressure between the fixing belt and the pressure roller.
In the above-described fixing units, contaminants, including toner particles not completely fixed and paper dust, may be transferred from the recording sheet to the fixing roller or the fixing belt due to temperature and electrostatic factors while the recording sheet is conveyed through the nip formed under pressure between the fixing roller or the fixing belt and the pressure roller. The contaminants transferred onto the fixing roller or the fixing belt may be further transferred onto the pressure roller opposing the fixing roller or the fixing belt because the pressure roller is not configured to release the contaminants as easily as the fixing roller or the fixing belt. When the transferred contaminants are accumulated on the pressure roller, a part or all of the accumulated contaminants may be transferred onto a following recording sheet conveyed through the nip formed under pressure between the fixing roller or the fixing belt and the pressure roller. As a result, the recording sheet or the toner image on the recording sheet may be damaged.

Image forming apparatus, fixing unit, and image forming method with a cleaning mechanism that contacts a tension mechanism


A new method and device to encapsulate integrated circuits such as flip chips and BGA packages. A special mold to surrounds the chip to be encapsulated in a cavity, and the encapsulant is injected into the cavity at an elevated pressure, and possibly at an elevated temperature. This shortens the cavity filling time by two or three orders of magnitude, compared to the conventional dispensing process. The reliability of the package is increased by increasing the adhesion of encapsulant to the package, by controlling fillet shape through in-mold curing, and by completely filling the cavity through proper mold design and, optionally, evacuation of the cavity prior to injection. The invention also allows the use of a wider range of encapsulants, including highly viscous material, fast curing materials and reworkable materials.

A "flip chip" is a semiconductor die having terminations all on one side in the form of solder pads or bump contacts. After the chip has been passivated or otherwise treated, it is flipped over for attaching to a matching substrate. A "BGA" or "Ball Grid Array" chip is similar to the "flip chip", except that the chip is mounted on a carrier, with wires connecting the chip to the carrier, and the carrier has the solder pads for connection to the substrate.
The use of flip chips and BGA chips have inherent advantage over other methods in high-density electronic packaging because it provides an area array (2 dimensional) that interconnects the chip and the substrate (Tummala and Rymaszewski, 1989). However, due to the high production cost of today's technology, its market share among semiconductor chip industry is low as yet. As the flip-chip and BGA technology improves, their uses are expected to increase drastically in the near future. The Semiconductor Industry Association projects a 250-fold increase in IC functional density over the next 15 years. Flip-chip technology and BGA technology is expected to play a major role in accomplishing such a goal due to its capability of connecting high numbers of i/o and compactness. However, the predicted growth rate by experts all depends on the ability to reduce production cost significantly.
Traditionally, flip-chip technology uses ceramic material as chip carrier or substrate (see Miller, L. F., 1969, "Controlled Collapse Reflow Chip Joining", IBM J of Res. and Dev., v. 1 3, 239-250). Because of the similarity of the thermal-expansion coefficients of the chip and ceramic, thermal stresses during thermal excursions were not a serious problem.
Recently, the desire for low cost mass production has resulted in the growing use of organic materials for substrates (Flip chip on board or "FCOB"). The current process typically uses solder to connect the chip to the board. Although efforts are being made to use electrically conductive polymers to connect the chip to the board (see Dion, J., Borgesen, P., Yost, B., Lilienfeld, D. A. and Li, C. Y., 1994, "Material and Reliability Considerations for Anisotropically Conductive Adhesive Based Interconnects", Mat. Res. Soc. Symp., Proc. 323, Pittsburgh, Pa.), such development is still in the research stage.
In FCOB, the difference in thermal-expansion coefficient between the chip (2.5 ppm/.degree.C.) and the organic substrate (15 ppm/.degree.C.) causes significant shear strain on the interconnects during temperature cycling, ultimately resulting in fatigue cracking and electrical failure (Machuga, S. C., Lindsey, S. E., Moore, K. D. and Skipor, A. F., 1992, "Encapsulation of Flip Chip Structures", IEEE/CHMT Symposium, p.53). This is particularly true as the size of the chip increases because the thermal stress in the interconnect increases with DNP (distance from the neutral point).
This problem can be significantly reduced by encapsulating the space between the solder joints with encapsulant to provide mechanical reinforcement. Because the encapsulation is provided mainly under the chips, this process is called "underfill encapsulation". Underfill encapsulation is different from encapsulation of other packages such as DIP or PGA, which require encapsulation on all sides of the chip.
Underfill encapsulation has resulted in more than a ten-fold increase in the reliability of the flip chip on board technology (Nakano, F., Soga, T., Amagi, S., 1987, "Resin Insertion Effect on Thermal Cycle Resistivity of Flip-Chip Mounted LSI Device", ISHM Conf., 536-541; Suryanarayana, D., Hsiao, R., Gall, T. P., McCreary, J. M., 1991, "Enhancement of Flip Chip Fatigue Life by Encapsulation", IEEE CHMP, v. 14, 218-223). The same is true for BGA technology.
Currently, most flip chip and BGA packages are encapsulated by dispensing the encapsulant along the periphery of one or two sides of the chip. Capillary action (i.e. a surface-tension phenomenon) drives the encapsulant through the space between the chip and the board. After the filling is complete, the board is taken to an oven where it is cured. The current encapsulation process has the following problems:
(1) Filling and curing: Because the current process fills the cavity (space between the chip and the board) by capillary action, it is very slow and could be incomplete, resulting in voids. The filling problem becomes even more serious as the chip size increases. The fill time is proportional to the square of the length of the chip. (See Suryanarayana, D., Wu, T. Y., Varcoe, J. A., 1993, "Encapsulaits Used in Flip-Chip Package", 43rd ECTC, Orlando, Fla.) For example, in a typical encapsulation operation, the filling takes about 2 minutes for a small chip (1/4") to 15 min. for a large chip (3/4"). PA1 (2) Adhesion: Adhesion of the fluid to the chip is essential for achieving good reliability of the encapsulated chip. High wettability of the fluid requires low surface tension which, in turn, leads to an even slower cavity filling. PA1 (3) Encapsulant: Development of materials suitable for flip chip encapsulation is difficult. The encapsulant needs to have good fluidity, wettability, matching thermal expansion coefficient with the solder and with appropriate curing kinetics. It is difficult to satisfy all these at the same time. Currently, most encapsulants are epoxy-based thermoset which are filled with solid fillers (O'Malley, G., Giesler, J. and Machuga, 1994, "The Importance of Material Selection for Flip Chip on Board Assemblies", IEEE CPMT, Pt. B, v. 1 7, 248). On one hand, It is desirable to increase the filler content to match the thermal-expansion coefficient of the solder but on the other hand, the viscosity increases sharply with the filler content, which make the flow more difficult. Another problem with the current encapsulant is because of its thermosetting nature, the repair of the board is difficult. PA1 1. Banerji's method depends first on a partial vacuum to "suck out" the air from the under-chip area and let it "bubbling through the polymer infiltration" (line 54, p. 2)--a method inherently impossible to get all the air out. This is even after the air is let in (at the atmospheric pressure) again to push the polymer to infiltrate the partially-vacuumed under-chip area. The air in the chamber always maintains a uniform pressure (i.e. no gradient) except at the instant when the vacuum is applied or removed. On the contrary, our invention pushes the air out of the under-chip area by the flow front of the liquid polymer coming in at one point (gate) driven by a pressure gradient from the injection system. The flow front advancement can be predicted by computer simulation to ensure that all the air is evacuated (not bubbling through). PA1 2. Because of high pressure gradient (which can be as high as 1000 psi), the filling time in the present invention is less than one second, not "about 50 seconds" in Banerji's patent, or 5 to 20 minutes in conventional underfill method. PA1 3. The fillet geometry is considered critical to the reliability of the package. In Banerji's invention, the shape of the fillet is determined by the force balance of the surface tension and gravity on the encapsulant. This limits controllability of the shape of the fillet, because neither factor can be controlled. In contrast, in the present invention, the fillet shape can be controlled by the proper design of the mold. Especially when in-mold curing is used, the fillet shape will exactly follow that of the mold cavity. PA1 4. Also, because of the fast filling time with the current invention, fast-curing encapsulant can be used to reduce the cycle time. U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,599, granted to Hall, G. L., in January 1995, for "Liquid Crystal Polymer Encapsulated Electronic Devices and Methods of Making the Same", uses a high pressure and high temperature process to encapsulate flip-chips with a rigid liquid crystal polymer. The encapsulation is applied over the flip-chips. Epoxy polymer can be applied over and part of under the chip before applying liquid crystal polymer. This process cannot fill the cavity underneath the chip completely, which will be detrimental to the reliability of the package. Also, the encapsulant used is liquid crystal polymer which is as yet less popular than epoxy. PA1 (1) The filling time can be reduced dramatically compared to dispensing encapsulation process. For example, for a 0.3" chip, the fill time can be as much as 100 times or more smaller. For the test case described below, the filling time was reduced by 100 times. The curing process can also be shortened by using a faster-curing encapsulant, which is impractical in the current process. PA1 (2) The filling process can be done at room temperature if in-mold curing is not needed, as compared to the prior-art dispensing process which typically requires heating. PA1 (3) Another benefit that can be achieved from this process is a potential increase in reliability of the package. First, as indicated in Giesler et al. (Giesler, J., O'Malley, G., Williams, M. and Machuga, S., 1994, "Flip Chip on Board Connection Technology: Process Characterization and Reliability", IEEE CPMT, pt. B, v. 1 7, 256-263), reliability of the package increases as the encapsulation temperature decreases. Because in the new process, encapsulation can be conducted at room temperature, the reliability of the package increases compared to other processes which are done at elevated temperature. Second, it is well known (see Giesler et al.) that the reliability of the package depends on the fillet shape. The current process can control the fillet shape better than the dispensing process by designing the mold appropriately. Third, for the in-mold curing process, the curing will take place under high pressure which will enhance the adhesion of encapsulant to the package. The enhanced adhesion will improve the reliability of the package. PA1 (4) The selection or development of encapsulant will become much more flexible. For example, it is no longer necessary to compromise the wettability and the surface tension. Also, the process will be able to handle materials with higher viscosity thus allowing more fillers to be added to the encapsulant in order to better match the thermal-expansion coefficients of the encapsulant and the solder. It can also handle thermoset material with much faster curing kinetics. It will also be possible to add rubbery plastic to the encapsulant. This will soften the cured encapsulant when heated, making the reworkability of the package possible.
Because the filling is slow, the encapsulant has to be a slowly curing material. Thus, curing of the encapsulant typically requires several hours in an oven. The slow filling and curing process is detrimental to mass production.
Some recent inventions have tried to improve the flip-chip encapsulation process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,234 granted to Thompson, K. R., Banerji, K. and Alves, F. D., in 1993 for a "Semiconductor Device with Controlled Spread Polymeric Underfill", teaches creating a window-frame shaped opening in the film on the substrate. The semiconductor device lies in the interior perimeter of the opening. The window frame opening in the film serves to confine the encapsulant which fills the space between semiconductor device and substrate to within the opening. This prevents unwanted spread of the encapsulant and help form an ideal fillet geometry. Other than this, this invention still suffers from the disadvantages that the dispensing process have.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,076, granted to Banerji, K., Alves, F. D., and Darveaux, R. F., in 1993 "Vacuum Infiltration of Underfill Material for Flip-Chip Devices", applies and removes vacuum to encapsulate the chips. In this process, a bead of underfdill material is provided on the substrate about the periphery of integrated circuit. Vacuum is then applied to evacuate the area between integrated circuits and the substrate through the underfill encapsulant. After that, the vacuum is removed forcing the underfill material into the evacuated area. This process, however, involves three steps and requires a vacuuming process which is not effective for highly viscous encapsulant. The key differences between Banerji's patent and our invention can be summarized as follows:

Pressurized underfill encapsulation of integrated circuits


A handle structure for a stamping implement, such as a marking device, utilizing a base member having an outer surface which is easily gripable. The outer surface is capable of being contacted by least one of fingers II-V of the hand. A flange is linked to the base member and includes a ramped surface which is intended for contacting the thumb, finger I, of the hand. The base member and linked flange are connected to the stamping implement for use.

The present invention relates to a novel handle structure for a marking or stamping implement.
Marking devices such as hand held stamps normally require repetitive use in a downward motion. Conventional marking devices include a handle structure which is gripped by the user's hand such that the thumb wraps around a handle and lies next to the non-thumb fingers of the hand. Unfortunately repetitive use of such a stamping device causes serious medical disabilities such as "trigger finger", "carpel tunnel syndrome" and "palm tissue deterioration", to name a few. These medical conditions may take the form of a complete disability in the user of the stamping implement, and requiring medical treatment prior to continuing work. However, use of the same stamping implement, results in the same medical disabilities.
In the past, physical therapy has been prescribed for suffers of such medical conditions as "carpel tunnel syndrome". Such physical therapy has met with mixed results.
A handle structure which greatly decreases or eliminates medical disabilities caused by repetitive use of an implement, such as a stamping or marking device, would be a great advance in the medical field.


A thermal insulation device includes a first plate, a second plate formed to nest adjacent the first plate with a gap between the first and second plates, a porous material disposed between the plates, and a sealing layer disposed between the first and second plates such that the porous material is sealed from ambient at a pressure less than ambient. Multiple such sets of plates may be used to form an enclosure for a device that thermally insulates the device from ambient.

Conventional thermal insulating materials (e.g. polyisocyanurate, polystyrene, polyurethane) cannot meet the thermal resistance requirements of certain applications requiring thin, high performance thermal insulation (e.g. portable fuel cells). Vacuum-based thermal insulators (e.g. vacuum insulated panels) can meet the thermal performance requirements of these applications, but cannot be manufactured in custom form factors.


A hammer assembly (1) for breaking, levering and raking material, the hammer assembly includes a hammer (1) and an articulated control linkage (3). The hammer includes: a movable mass capable movement along an impact axis (14), an elongated 5 tool (23) having a longitudinal axis substantially parallel or coaxial with the impact axis(4), a primary pivot (6) attachment point for attaching the hammer (1) to a distal end of an operating arm (2) attached to the carrier for pivotal movement of the hammer (1) about a primary axis (6) orthogonal to the impact axis (14). The control linkage (3) includes first (4) and second linkss (5) for effecting pivotal movement of the hammer (1) about the primary axis (6) in response to movement from a drive attached to the operating arm (2).

Gravity drop hammers are primarily designed for surface breaking of exposed rock and generally consist of a weight capable of being raised to a height within a housing before release. The weight falls under gravity to strike a surface to be broken, either directly (thus protruding through an aperture in the hammer housing) or indirectly via a striker pin.
The present invention is discussed herein with respect to rock breaking devices produced by the applicant including the devices described in PCT/NZ03/000236 and PCT/NZ03/000237 featuring a drop hammer lock and drive mechanism for a powered drop hammer respectively. U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,363 describes a rock breaking apparatus known as, and herein referred to as the Terminator™ and New Zealand patent application No. 540097 describes a striker pin and drop-weight apparatus designed to be attached to an excavator or the like. The term gravity drop hammer is thus used herein to encompass powered drop hammers in addition to those powered solely by gravity.
In operation of the above-mentioned machines it is often desirable to move or lever rock and other material with the hammer or striker pin. Movement of the material can be achieved by placing the hammer or pin against the material and pushing or pulling with the excavator. However, with existing hammers the coupling between the hammer and excavator, known as the mounting plate, is a substantial distance from the striker pin so the pulling forces at the striker pin are low and difficult to control. This large separation between the striker pin and the mounting plate coupling with the excavator also increases the likelihood of generating high uncontrolled forces that can damage the hammer. Mounting the hammer at a distance from the striker pin thus causes time consuming, inaccurate and inconvenient operation of the hammer for the operator.
A rock breaking apparatus described in the applicant's New Zealand patent application No. 540097 can also perform levering and raking in addition to performing surface breaking tasks of conventional hammers.
Raking refers to using the excavator to pull surface rock horizontally along the ground using the side of the pin. The rock can be loose above the ground surface or be friable enough to be drawn towards the excavator after pressing or driving the point of the pin into the in-situ rock. When raking it is necessary for the hammer/arm assembly to remain locked relative to each other. The linkage geometry to maintain such a locked position requires far greater strength than conventional mounting methods, though ideally the linkage should still utilise standard components.
Levering is a particularly useful action of the rock breaking apparatus afore-mentioned. Levering refers to the driving of the point of the striker pin or hammer into non-friable in-situ rock creating or exploiting a crack. Once the crack is established, the operator can lever the hammer and pin through actuation of one end of the boom attached to the excavator and extract the rock from the ground or widen the cracks further. In such applications it is an important advantage to have the maximum torque and thus leverage available to pry intractable rocks.
Another advantage of being able to lever a powered hammer or breaking device is being able to apply the impact point at positions away from the top surfaces of the material to be broken. This is an important advantage of the applicant's previous inventions described in PCT application numbers PCT/NZ03/000235, PCT/NZ03/000236 and PCT/NZ03/000237. Often the rock requires fine manipulation to correctly position the hammer impact over a seam or weak point. In such scenarios, delivering high power in combination with fine control close to the striker pin provides a significant advantage.
Some existing earth working devices are capable of pivoting to allow the device to operate away from the vertical. Such a device is described in WO98/07952 by Persson. This device comprises pivotable links coupled to a drilling rig to pivot the rig by operation of a hydraulic ram. This allows the rig to be pivoted to drill at an angle away from the vertical. However, the device is unsuited for levering action due to the geometry of the linkage limiting the degree of applicable torque to unfeasibly low levels.
The theoretical maximum lifting capacity of an excavator is the moment resolved about the ends or sides of the tracks without tipping the excavator. The allowable lifting moment is a percentage of the tipping moment. However, not all this moment is available for lifting. The excavator arm and hammer assembly extending from the excavator apply a moment to the excavator which must be subtracted from the maximum lifting moment and is governed by;                a. the distance between the excavator and the drop hammer,        b. the mass of the excavator arm and drop hammer, and        c. any forces applied to the drop hammer or excavator arm.
Thus by minimising the counterproductive inherent tipping moment created by a)-b) above, the capacity of the excavator to resist any additional moments generated during levering and raking operations without tipping over is increased.
The impact energy of the drop hammer, divided by the mass of the excavator is herein defined as the power-to-weight ratio. A greater power-to-weight ratio implies either more breaking power for a given excavator size or a smaller excavator for a given breaking power. The profitability of a system is thus increased by a higher power-to-weight ratio.
Existing gravity drop hammers are attached to excavators via a wing and mounting plate arrangement attached to the excavator arm. These mounting plates must be custom made for each drop hammer and excavator to ensure the geometrical proportions of the plate are correct. The mounting plate and associated fixings on the drop hammer also add substantial weight to the drop hammer, thereby reducing the power-to-weight ratio and absorbing more moment capacity of any given excavator. The wing and mounting plate also increase the distance from the excavator to the centre of gravity of the drop hammer, which also reduces the power-to-weight ratio and absorbs more lifting moment capacity for a given excavator and arm extension.
In many regions globally, excavation, demolition and quarry operations are restricted from using explosives due to the elevated risks of explosives theft by unauthorized parties including rebels, terrorists and the like. Urban encroachment on quarries and mines has also made the use of explosives difficult and expensive in many regions due to community opposition to ground vibration. Obtaining the necessary permissions or consents from the relevant authorities to use explosives for laying roads, railways and pipelines has also become extremely difficult or impossible to achieve due to the above discussed factors. In such regions, it is thus desirable for a rock breaking machine to also be capable of levering embedded rocks, widening cracks, breaking rock faces and raking without the use of explosives.
It is thus desirable to provide a tool for a carrier such as an excavator, capable of striking a surface to be broken, hammered or compacted about a substantially linear axis and which is also capable of applying a torque and side load to an object substantially laterally to said axis to lever and rake rocks or other material.
It is also desirable to provide a tool that is readily attachable to standard excavator arms, enabling cost to be minimised by permitting different tools/implements to be fitted as required.
It is further desirable for the weight of the attachment mechanism of the tool and the distance between the implement and the excavator arm to be minimised.
It would be a yet further advantage for the implement to enable high forces to be applied about the levering pivot point when the implement is attached to an excavator, without damaging the tool or excavator.
There are many linkage systems and implements designed for attaching to earth working machines including those described in WO96/33315, WO90/03473, JP2000132448, JP2002145911, JP2001257017, JP05034057, JP09364906, JP63125843, JP11344858, DE19702624, EP0887475, EP1013835, EP0325358, EP0386904, EP0818581, U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,740, U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,126, U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,167, U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,141, U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,237, U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,464, U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,762, WO01/016433, WO02/22966, WO2004/016864, WO2004/027162 and WO2004/057114.
However, none of the devices described in these documents achieve the objectives of the present invention, i.e. to                a) provide an implement for a rock working machine or excavator that is capable of striking a surface to be broken, hammered or compacted and that is also capable of pivoting so as to lever and rake rocks or other material.        b) minimise the weight of the attachment mechanism of the implement and/or the distance between the implement and the excavator.        c) provide a means of applying sufficient force to embedded rocks and the like to prise them from the ground by levering the tool about a pivot point when the tool is attached to an excavator.        d) provide fine control of the forces in the striker pin.
All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.
It is acknowledged that the term 'comprise' may, under varying jurisdictions, be attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, the term 'comprise' shall have an inclusive meaning—i.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements. This rationale will also be used when the term 'comprised' or 'comprising' is used in relation to one or more steps in a method or process.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.


A method of upgrading encryption machine, including: a controller for managing upgrading of encryption machine determines a first encryption machine to be upgraded; the controller transfers the data of the first encryption machine to a second encryption machine; and the controller sends an upgrade command for instructing the first encryption machine to conduct the upgrade to the first encryption machine. The above method solves the problem that in the process of upgrading the encryption machine in the conventional techniques, the operation is extremely complicated, which is easy to cause an operation error and interruption of user service.

With the continuous development of network technology, in order to ensure data security, many service data or keys need to be encrypted by encryption machine, i.e., a hardware security module (HSM).
In conventional techniques, the upgrade operation of the encryption machine is usually completed by an operator of the encryption machine manufacturer. The operator of the manufacturer connects the terminal device (such as a notebook and the like) to the encryption machine through the network, manually uploads the upgrade software package to predetermined directory of the disk of the encryption machine, and then logs in to the encryption host system (running on the operating system on the HSM) to execute the upgrade commands, and waits for results returned by the execution.
The process of upgrading the encryption machine in the conventional techniques involves the following problems, i.e., the operation is extremely complicated, which is easy to cause an operation error and interruption of user service.

Encryption machine upgrade, data import and request migration method, apparatus and device


A backrest assembly has a backrest board pivotally attached in front of a backrest frame and a buffering resilient device connected between the backrest board and the backrest frame. The buffering resilient device has two resilient brackets with through holes penetrated by a transversal adjusting rod and has a rotating tube sleeving the transversal adjusting rod to be operationally stopped by a stop bar protruded from the backrest frame. Therefore, the backrest board has a resilient and buffering efficiency relative to the backrest frame by setting the buffering resilient devices. By rotating the transversal adjusting rod to different positions, the brackets of the buffering resilient device is extended in length, and resilience of the backrest assembly is changed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backrest assembly and, more particularly, to a backrest assembly having a backrest board, a backrest frame and a buffering resilient device connected between the backrest board and backrest frame to provide extension and resiliency changes.
2. Description of Related Art
With reference to a conventional backrest structure with resilient and buffering efficiency, the backrest structure is constructed by boards filled with foams or a backrest frame covered with a net so that the backrest has a resilient and buffering efficiency by attaching resilient materials. Thereby, the backrest is more comfortable when users lean thereon.
However, The buffering design of the conventional backrest assembly achieves the buffering efficiency by providing partial deformation when the backrest is pressed by the most protruded portion on the user's back. When The user's back is supported by the backrest buffering design, the user's sitting posture is incorrect. Moreover, the conventional backrest cannot provide any efficiency to correct the user's posture or any fit variation of different users. Thus, users easily get tired with their incorrect postures after sitting for a long duration.


A storage container includes a base housing having first and second containers mounted to the housing. The base housing includes a cavity therewithin, having a rotatable dial projecting through a first side wall of the housing. The dial includes sequential digits visible through a window in a top wall of the housing, wherein sequential days are counted relative to contact lenses, and particularly disposable contact lenses stored within the first and second containers.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to contact lens storage apparatus, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved contact lens date storage container wherein the same permits the visible notation of time passage for counting days worn of disposable contact lenses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Contact lenses, and particularly disposable contact lenses, are worn for a predetermined period of days and then disposed. To provide for date notation and time passage relative to the contact lenses, the instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by providing for a storage container having a rotary dial to provide for visual indication of time passage. Prior art contact lens cases such as indicated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,826,001; 4,838,413; 4,909,382; and 4,925,017 are examples of prior art contact lens storage containers wherein the same do not provide for the convenience and ease of use of the construction of the instant invention providing for the visual indication of time passage relative to a contact lens wearing event and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A system, apparatus, and method for identifying and authenticating articles using expression codes obtained from marks incorporating microparticles on or in articles, article packaging, or article labeling where the expression codes are based on signature strings generated relative to attributes of valid individual microparticles. The system, apparatus, and method can also enable the serialization of articles over and above the code-formulation that is achievable with multi-layered color-coded microparticles or single expression microparticles.

Counterfeiting, tampering, and product diversion account for nearly a half-trillion dollars in worldwide business losses every year. While these business losses are staggering, public trust is also declining as a result of these problems. News stories documenting problems such as black market fraud, theft, gray market goods, and product tampering contribute to the dwindling public trust in the authenticity of goods and services.
Marks incorporating a multiplicity of microparticles ("microparticle marks") have been used in the past to combat counterfeiting, tampering, and product diversion. Microparticles have been used for identifying and authenticating many types of materials and objects, including the use of microparticles directly in bulk materials (e.g., fertilizer, chemicals, paints, oils, plastics, pigments, clays, fertilizers, and explosives), the use of marks incorporating a multiplicity of microparticles on or in containers for prepackaged materials (e.g., shampoo, conditioner, lotion, motor oils, and pharmaceuticals) and the use of marks incorporating a multiplicity of microparticles on individual product units (e.g. stereos, cameras, computers, videocassette recorders (VCRs), furniture, motorized vehicles, and livestock).
Since the late 1970's, multi-layered color-coded microparticles specifically have been used to covertly mark materials and objects. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,053,433 and 4,390,452 and GB Patent No. 1,568,699 describe multi-layered color coded particles for marking articles. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,433 describes a method of marking a substance with microparticles encoded with an orderly sequence of visually distinguishable colored segments detectable with a microscope or other magnifying device. GB Patent No. 1,568,699 describes systems for making microparticles of layered colored material, which have generally parallel flat surfaces with irregular broken edges there between, enabling visualization of the code.
Other examples of multi-layered color-coded microparticles are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,647,649 and 6,455,157, wherein each describes methods for generating microparticle codes from multi-layered color-coded microparticles. Additional types of microparticles are described in DE Patent No. 19,614,174 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,927. DE Patent No. 19,614,174 describes a process for producing multi-layered microparticles by forming a laminate sheet of colored layers and crushing the sheet. The individual marking layers are applied by a printing process, by bronzing, by spray painting, or by roll coating. U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,927 describes microparticles encased in a transparent solid matrix obtained by hardening a liquid adhesive.
While multi-layered color-coded microparticle marks have been useful in tamper and counterfeit detection, verification of articles using such marks has been a manual visual process using a microscope or other magnification system to permit a user to confirm the existence of the expected type of multi-layer color-coded microparticles within an area on an object where the microparticle mark is expected.
Automated reader systems have been developed for single expression microparticles, such as the readers for thermal or laser activated microparticle powders as described, for example, in PCT Pub. No. WO2005/104008A1. These single expression microparticle readers generally rely on both the "invisibility" of the microparticle until the microparticle is activated by the reader and the random location of the microparticles dispersed relative to a registration mark to create a unique code for the security and authentication purposes. Although such automated reader systems for identifying random patterns of single expression microparticles can be useful, the significantly higher level of complexity associated with automatically reading anything other than the presence and/or location of single expression microparticle marks has so far stymied the development of automated readers for multi-layer multi-color microparticle marks.
Using a unique set of multi-layered color-coded microparticles, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,647,649 and 6,455,157, a unique microparticle code can be created for a given article. While the multi-layered color-coded microparticles can be used in this manner to place a unique identification mechanism on individual articles, there is an inherent practical, albeit large, limit to the number of microparticle codes that can be written. To create more codes using multi-layered color-coded microparticles, additional layers, colors, or microparticles must be included in the microparticle set, wherein each of these can add cost and complexity to the system. As a result, a limit can exist at which the coding in this fashion can become impractical.
While the multi-layered color-coded microparticles described above can represent a first-level of security that is generally useful in protecting against counterfeiting, tampering, and product diversion, it can be anticipated that a day will come in which counterfeiters, tamperers, and diverters will attempt to breach this security level by recreating the multi-layered color-coded microparticles and placing counterfeit marks incorporating the multiplicity of microparticles on counterfeit or diverted products.
One attempt to create an additional level of security using multi-layered color-coded microparticles is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,690, which describes a system and method that recognizes the random distribution of microparticles that occurs in applied microparticle marks. Using the method described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,690, by manually comparing an image of the mark taken at the time of the marking with an image of a mark manually obtained at a later time, one can attempt to determine whether the individual article is authentic.
While the method described by U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,690 can generally enable authenticating individual articles, it can suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, the method requires the cumbersome manual comparison of an image of the mark taken at the time of the marking with an image of the mark obtained at a later time to determine whether the individual article is authentic. As data volume increases rapidly with increasing image resolution, the storage of very large amounts of data can be necessary for maintaining the images. Additionally, remote access to the images for field authentication requires the transfer of the entire image data to or from the field location, which can add substantial cost and time to the authentication process. Thus, the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,690 is generally not practical for real-time, large-volume applications because of the expensive and time-consuming nature of the process. Importantly, the method described by U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,690 first requires an identification of the article (i.e., one looking at a mark on an article must be told the identity of the article) before determining whether an article is authentic. If one does not know the identity of the article in the first place, then the authentication method described by U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,690 cannot be performed.
There is therefore a need for an improved anti-counterfeiting and anti-fraud marking system, apparatus, and method for identifying and authenticating articles that can overcome the inherent deficiencies with conventional marking systems and also enable serialization of articles over and above the microparticle code-formulation achievable with unique collections of multi-layered color-coded microparticles

Expression codes for microparticle marks based on signature strings


An apparatus for transmitting an RF signal in a mobile communication terminal and a method for controlling the same. The apparatus is insensitive to temperature variation simultaneously with satisfying a specification of a mobile communication system, and reduces noise simultaneously with preventing output power from bounding. The apparatus includes a step-up converter for converting a signal to be transmitted into a signal of a transmission band; a reverse variable attenuator for performing high attenuation or low attenuation about an output signal of the step-up converter according to an attenuation control value; a transmission power processor for raising power of an output signal of the reverse variable attenuator to transmission power; and a controller for generating the attenuation control value used for performing high attenuation if the signal to be transmitted requires a low output power level, whereas performing low attenuation if the signal to be transmitted requires a high output power level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for processing signals in a mobile communication terminal and a method for controlling the same, and more particularly to an apparatus for processing RF (Radio Frequency) transmission signals in a mobile communication terminal and a method for controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, since a mobile terminal and a base station are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined distance in a mobile communication system, they perform a transmission/reception operation on a predetermined frequency band. That is, data transmission between the mobile terminal and the base station is performed using an RF signal of a predetermined frequency band. Noise is a greater problem in such a wireless communication system than a wired communication system because the data transmission is wirelessly performed. The noise may occur due to limitations of a channel environment or a transmitter.
The noise generated by the channel environment will be discussed below. The noise of the channel environment may be generated by interference between two similar frequencies in a radio channel, or may be generated by a topographical object, etc. The noise generated in the radio channel will be discussed below. Firstly, in case of a noise generated by the interference between two similar frequencies, a frequency band of data to be transmitted is raised to a predetermined frequency band and then the data is transmitted via the predetermined frequency band. Therefore, in the case where a signal having a frequency similar to the raised frequency band is adjacent to the signal of the data to be transmitted, signal interference may occur between the two signals under the condition that two wireless terminals using two similar frequencies are adjacent to each other. Next, as for the noise generated by a topographical object, data to be wirelessly transmitted is raised to a predetermined frequency band and then the data is transmitted via the predetermined frequency band. Since the data has a high frequency, noise may be caused by refraction and diffraction phenomena, and noise may be also caused by a time delay owing to a difference between transmission paths.
In the case of radio data transmission, besides the noise generated in the radio channel, noise is generated in a transmission device (i.e., a transmitter). The noise generated in the transmitter will be hereinafter described below. The noise generated in the transmitter occurs during signal step-up conversion or transmission amplification. Comparing the noise generated in the transmitter with the other noise generated in the other bands (except for a band of the transmitter in the case of a spreading spectrum system generally used), the noise generated in the transmitter comprises 80% of an overall noise factor. So, a mobile communication system makes all possible effort to remove such noise generated in the transmitter.
A detailed block diagram of such transmitter generally used for transmitting RF signals will hereinafter be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an RF transmitter for reducing noise in a mobile communication terminal.
Referring to FIG. 1, a baseband processor 10 converts baseband signals, i.e., data to be transmitted, into symbols. Such symbols generated from the baseband processor 10 are amplified in a variable amplifier 12, filtered in a BPF (Band Pass Filter) 14, and then input to a mixer 16. The mixer 16 converts the symbols of a baseband into RF signals of a predetermined band, that is, performs a step-up conversion from the baseband symbols to the RF signals of a predetermined band. The step-up converted signals, i.e., RF signals from the mixer 16, are filtered in a BPF 18, amplified in a variable amplifier 20, and then input to a fixed attenuator 22. The fixed attenuator 22 attenuates the received signals with a predetermined fixed attenuation value. The attenuated signals from the fixed attenuator 22 are input to a BPF 24, filtered in the BPF 24, and then input to a variable amplifier 26. Then, the variable amplifier 26 amplifies the received signals to make a predetermined gain value therein, and transmits the amplified signals to a power amplifier 28. The power amplifier 28 amplifies power levels of the amplified signals, and then transmits the resultant signals to an antenna.
The aforementioned circuit shown in FIG. 1 attempts to remove the noise generated in an RF transmitter by means of the fixed attenuator 22. Likewise, the fixed attenuator 22 can perform a sequential power adjustment in such a way that it satisfies an ACPR (Adjacent Channel Power Rejection Ratio) required by an RF specification (also called a spec) of a mobile communication system. However, the RF transmitter of FIG. 1 has a disadvantage in that it degrades a level of input power in accordance with an ACPR of a maximum output power because the fixed attenuator 22's value is always fixed to a predetermined value. Also, the RF transmitter of FIG. 1 has a further disadvantage in that it has a high power variation at a low temperature.
FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a block diagram of another RF transmitter for reducing noise in a mobile communication terminal. Comparing the RF transmitter of FIG. 1 with the RF transmitter of FIG. 2, the RF transmitter of FIG. 2 adopts a drive amplifier 50 whereas the RF transmitter of FIG. 1 adopts a fixed attenuator 22. Except for this difference between them, the components of RF transmitter of FIG. 2 are the same as the RF transmitter of FIG. 1. The drive amplifier 50 adopts a step gain adjustment method. The RF transmitter of FIG. 2 uses the drive amplifier 50, thereby using less power, improving its temperature characteristic, and simplifying a control circuit. The drive amplifier 50 has an unavoidable discontinuity in the case of adjusting a power level because it adopts the step gain adjustment method. As a result, in the case of measuring an RF signal such as a signal "open_loop_time_response", the output power may suddenly rise or spike. This may result in exceeding the power range required by an RF specification of a mobile communication terminal.

Apparatus for transmitting RF signal in mobile communication terminal and method for controlling the same


A non-volatile storage system includes defect detection and early program termination. The system commences programming of a plurality of non-volatile memory cells, determines that a defect condition exists and, in response to determining that the defect condition exists, terminates the programming of the plurality of memory cells prior to completion of programming.

Semiconductor memory devices have become more popular for use in various electronic devices. For example, non-volatile semiconductor memory is used in cellular telephones, digital cameras, personal digital assistants, mobile computing devices, non-mobile computing devices and other devices. Flash memory is among the most popular non-volatile semiconductor memories.
Some non-volatile memory devices are used to store two ranges of charges and, therefore, the memory cells can be programmed/erased between two data states: an erased state and a programmed state (corresponding to data "1" and data "0"). Such a device is referred to as a binary device or a single-level cell (SLC) and the data is binary data.
A multi-state flash memory cell (storing multi-state data) is implemented by identifying multiple, distinct allowed threshold voltage ranges (ie data states). Each distinct threshold voltage range corresponds to a predetermined value for the set of data bits. For example, some memory cells can store two bits, and others can store three bits. The specific relationship between the data programmed into the memory cell and the threshold voltage ranges (also called data states) of the memory cell depends upon the data encoding scheme adopted for the memory cells. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,762 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0255090, both describe various data encoding schemes for multi-state flash memory cells.
In addition to the gains in capacity resulting from multi-state memory architectures, consumers have seen significant advantages as a result of a history of steadily scaling down the physical dimensions of memory cells. Smaller memory cells can be packed more densely on a given die area, allowing the user to access more memory capacity for the same price as an older memory technology. However, scaling the sizes of memory cells entails certain risks. In order to achieve the advantage of higher memory capacity for a fixed die size, these smaller memory cells must be packed more closely together. Doing so, however, may result in a greater number of manufacturing defects, such as shorting between adjacent word lines, shorting between word lines and interconnects, shorting between word lines and the substrate, broken word lines, etc. Such defects often result in corruption of data stored on the word lines being programmed and nearby word lines. In some cases, these defects are not realized during tests conducted by manufacturers prior to packaging and shipping. Rather, these defects only begin to corrupt data after programming and erasing is performed by the user.
Prior systems have sought to combat latent manufacturing defects by reading programmed data after programming or evaluating performance after completing programming. However, by the time programming has completed, the programming process may have already damaged data being stored in other nearby memory cells.

Non-volatile storage system with defect detetction and early programming termination


A valve-type electric tool for downhole flow control using a holo-shaft motor. Said valve comprises: a housing provided with an infinitely variable choke where in seals work as gaskets both the outside and inside of the valve; a hollow-shaft servomotor inside said housing attached to a nut, and, additionally, when said motor is activated, the motor directly moves a sliding sleeve provided with an infinitely variable choke axis-wise said valve; and in which the movement of said motor is generated by of a spindle, created on the very same said sliding sleeve, and in which said valve is operated from the surface by a single electric cable.

Even though there is a constant search for alternative means of energy, there is still a need for producing a great amount of oil for worldwide demand.
One of the key components in terms of oil production is the completion string used in production and injection wells. Its high complexity—equipment wise—draws the attention of the related industries.
One of the main equipment components of a well completion system is the flow control valve, used both for injection and production. On conventional completion systems—which account for most wells worldwide, subsurface flow control valves are operated either mechanically through wireline operations or via hydraulic systems. Even though there are a few exclusively electric completion systems, such usage is in a very small scale when compared to hydraulic or electro-hydraulic systems.
Furthermore, the few downhole flow control valves which operate electrically and are available in the industry also make use of a hydraulic piston in order to operate the sliding sleeve, the component that controls the available area for the flow of the fluid produced/injected to the inside/outside of the production/injection string, thus characterizing itself as a hybrid electro-hydraulic system.
Hydraulic activation is a very trustworthy method of operation. However, it lacks a refined valve opening and closing control. For "on-off" type-valves, the conventional hydraulic activation system is perfectly applicable. However, for wells which require greater precision in the production output control—or injection—the valve must be capable of offering variable control. Such technology then becomes quite complex.
In order to attain a variable control in either direction between fully open to and from closed positions, downhole flow control valves—be they hydraulic or electro-hydraulic—must contain a series of additional mechanical components. The complexity of such components contributes to reducing the overall system reliability. When the opening and closing operations must be performed continuously (infinitely variable choke), in contrast with a variation in multiple, predefined stages, said complexity becomes even greater. Examples are: U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,558; U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,558; U.S. Pat. No. 7,377,327.
An additional important concern regarding the actuation systems for hydraulic, downhole inflow control valves is the need for control lines (usually quarter-inch tubes) connected to the valves and an HPU—Hydraulic Power Unit—installed on the top-side. This requires greater complexity in installing, operating and maintaining the system, thus elevating its cost considerably.
The downhole inflow control valve is a piece of equipment that is part of a well's intelligent completion system. Its main function is to control the injection or production output in multiple intervals along the well.
On most market-available equipment, output control takes place by moving a tubular part located inside the valve called a "sliding sleeve". The sliding sleeve contains ports (openings), which allow for the communication of fluids between the inside and outside of the production (or injection) completion string and the outer region. The sliding sleeve is located inside a housing that also contains openings for fluid communication. Two seal barriers—one above, one below—surround said housing openings.
For the opening procedure, the sliding sleeve is moved in a way such that its port or perforations match the frames of the housing openings. Closing takes place when the sliding sleeve perforations move away from the seal barrier and the inside of the tool no longer communicates with the outside.
In most cases the inflow control valve is remotely operated from the surface by a primary activation system of control lines and a power unit. A secondary system, which is mandatory for downhole operations, is used if the primary system suffers any sort of malfunction. The secondary system is activated by means of a mechanical tool through wireline operation.
Currently the conventional downhole valve control systems are either hydraulic or electro-hydraulic. On the former, a stationary production unit (SPU), located on the surface, supplies pressure through a control line, usually a quarter-inch metallic tube, in order to move the valve. The system uses an independent hydraulic opening line for each valve and a common line for closing. Therefore, in a well containing three isolated intervals, four hydraulic control lines are needed (see FIG. 6).
For the electro-hydraulic system, only one hydraulic control line, extending from the surface, passing through the wellhead, and reaching the downhole, inflow control valves is needed. The opening and closing of the valves are attained through a directional solenoid valve that is electrically activated, directing the hydraulic flow to the desired purpose. Still, the electro-hydraulic method does not eliminate the use of hydraulic control lines (and every malfunction linked to them) between the wellhead and the inflow control valves (see FIG. 7).
The main advantages of the fully electric system that is the object of the present invention are:                Improved system reliability by eliminating the need of hydraulic lines and relying instead on the use of direct electric control through a single electric cable shared by all the electric tools and sensors installed downhole;        Precise control of the valve operating positions, continuously between fully open and closed and consequently of the pressure drop and flow-rate across the valve;        Significant reduction in the number of control lines used in the system, since only one electric control line is used;        A hydraulic power unit installed on the surface is no longer needed.
An additional important aspect is the significant risk mitigation of control loss associated with hydraulic systems, such as leaks and pressure loss.
Said factors make the use of this equipment relevant to be considered for deep water wells or ultra-deep water operations. Published patents show several interesting documents on flow control devices.
As such, U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,996 presents an electro-hydraulic valve that uses a solenoid valve housed inside the downhole equipment. When submitted to hydraulic power—be it from the surface or from the wellhead—the valve directs the hydraulic line to the opening or closing of the chamber of the device, according to the desired operation. However, the system still retains the need for hydraulic lines as well as of an HPU.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,843 presents an electrically activated downhole safety valve, in which a linear actuator is attached to a screw that drives the outer part of a sleeve. The forward movement of the sleeve pushes a flapper valve to the open position, overcoming the opposing pressure from the spring, which otherwise keeps the opening shut. When the sleeve is retreated, the spring shuts the flapper valve, thus interrupting the string's production. However, using spring elements for an opposing force to the motor does not consist in a reliable flow control, making it unsuitable for production flow control valves. In contrast with the said U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,996, instead of a linear actuator and a number of other moving parts, the invention disclosed herein, in a much simpler embodiment, employs a hollow shaft motor and a spindle to provide linear motion to a sleeve.

Fully electric tool for downhole inflow control

OURO NEGRO TECNOLOGIAS EM EQUIPAMENTOS INDUSTRIAIS S/A


The present disclosure relates to an optical fiber distribution system that can be expanded to selectively add a number of ruggedized fiber optic adapter ports for connecting to customer premises.

Fiber optic telecommunication technology is becoming prevalent in part because service providers want to deliver high bandwidth communication capabilities to subscribers. One such technology is referred to as passive optical networks (PONS). PONS may use optical fibers deployed between a service provider central office, or head end, and one or more end user premises. A service provider may employ a central office, or head end, containing electronic equipment for placing signals onto optical fibers running to user premises. End user premises may employ equipment for receiving optical signals from the optical fibers. In PONS, the central office, or head end, transmission equipment and/or the transmission equipment located at the end user premises may, respectively, use a laser to inject data onto a fiber in a manner that may not require the use of any active components, such as amplifiers between the central office, or head end, and/or the end user premises. In other words, only passive optical components, such as splitters, optical fibers, connectors and/or splices, may be used between a service provider and an end user premises in PONS. PONS may be attractive to service providers because passive networks may be less costly to maintain and/or operate as compared to active optical networks and/or older copper based networks, such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN). In addition to possibly being less expensive than other network topologies, PONS may provide sufficient bandwidth to meet a majority of end users' high bandwidth communication needs into the foreseeable future. In other network architectures, such as fiber-to-the-distribution point, optical service is provided to locations short of the final subscriber locations, and electrical lines (e.g., co-axial cable, twisted pair cable) define the final leg to the subscriber locations.
In optical networks, transmission equipment may transmit signals containing voice, data and/or video over a fiber strand. An optical fiber may be split using, for example, passive optical splitters so that signals are dispersed from one fiber (the input fiber) to multiple output fibers running to, for example, user premises from a convergence point in the network or to an intermediate node or distribution point. An optical fiber routed to a user's premises or to a distribution point may be coupled to a fiber drop terminal. Fiber drop terminals may be mounted in aerial applications, such as near the tops of utility poles, along multi-fiber and/or multi-conductor copper strands suspended between utility poles. Fiber drop terminals may also be installed in junction boxes mounted at ground level and/or in below-grade vaults where utilities are run below ground. Example fiber drop terminals are disclosed at U.S. Pat. No. 7,120,347; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0213921; and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0153517. Basically, drop terminals provide exterior access points located in the vicinity of subscriber locations for allowing the optical network to be readily accessed.
A fiber distribution terminal, such as a fiber distribution hub, may be configured to receive fibers from a central office and contain one or more optical power splitters. Typically, fiber can be routed through an optical splitter to convert each input fiber into "n" number of active fibers. Splitters are typically referred to as 1×n where "n" represents the number of output fibers. The output fibers of the splitter may be optically coupled to a distribution cable that is routed from the fiber distribution hub to a location or locations closer to the outer edge of the network. Often, the optical fibers of the distribution cable are optically coupled to ports of drop terminals. The drop terminal is typically in the general vicinity of subscriber locations.
Based on the conventional architecture of existing fiber drop terminals, it may be difficult to add expansion later because the fiber drop terminals usually have a fixed capacity. In certain circumstances, the fiber drop terminals may include extra ports or stranded ports until subscribers take service and are coupled to the ports. However, this approach only allows for limited expansion and increases cost at the front end in order to accommodate unknown/unexpected expansion.
Usually, once all available active ports are assigned, a technician would be required to add a cable to the network to provide service for a new subscriber. As a result, substantial effort and cost may be required to include additional ports.
There is a desire for inexpensive ways to expand service capacity over time. That is, a deferred investment of including extra ports for expansion over time without investing too much at the front end or without having to run a cable back through the network. As a result, the cost of expansion can be delayed while still allowing for expansion.


In order to overcome the need to remove each fracturing plug after a plug and perforate operation it is desirable to utilize a profile latch in conjunction with a coupling profile. By having a profile in each coupling or at least in predetermined couplings a tool such as a perforating assembly including a fracturing plug may be precisely placed. A profile in the couplings also provides a means to latch the perforating assembly or other tool securely to the casing without using slips. Such profiles typically provide for securing the tool or perforating assembly in one direction although a particular profile may secure the assembly in place in two directions. By securing the tool or perforating assembly in one direction only the tool may be easily relocated or removed from the casing.

In the course of producing oil and gas wells, typically after the well is drilled, the well may be completed. In many instances, in order to complete the well the well may be cased. In certain instances the process of installing casing into the wellbore may begin with a cement float shoe threaded to a coupling and the coupling is threaded onto the first joint of casing. Typically, each joint of casing is about thirty feet long with a pin connection on each end. A coupling typically has a box connection on both ends. As the casing is lowered into the well a coupling is attached between each joint of casing to allow the joints of casing to be threaded together.
Once the casing is located at the appropriate position in the wellbore cement may be pumped into and down the interior of the casing. The cement may both anchor the casing into position as well as isolate the hydrocarbon bearing formation from another section of the same formation or from other formations that are penetrated by the same wellbore. Once the cement reaches the cement float shoe the cement flows out of the casing and then into the annular area outside of the casing between the casing and the wellbore. The cement is forced into the annular area generally until the annular area is filled with cement. Once an appropriate amount of cement is pumped into the casing a wiper plug may then be used push the cement out of the casing and to eliminate as much of the remaining cement as possible from the interior of the casing.
Generally the next step in completing the well, after the cement is allowed to set or cure is to form ports in the casing to allow the fluids from the formation into the interior of the casing. One of the current methods of forming the ports in the casing is known as plug and perforate. Typically, fracturing operations in oil and gas wells today involve fracturing plugs. Fracturing plugs are typically deployed on electric line in combination with perforating guns and a plug setting tool. The operator uses the weight of the fracturing plug, perforating guns, and plug setting tool to lower the assembly to the desired location in the well. For highly deviated and horizontal wells, gravity will not provide the assistance to move the assembly out in the horizontal lateral section, therefore many operators use a 'pump-down' technique where fluid is pumped into the well above the assembly thereby forcing the assembly into the well and while allowing the electric line to unspool. The operator monitors the length of electric line deployed to determine where the assembly and in particular the fracturing plug is located in the well. Once the assembly reaches the desired setting location, the surface pumps are stopped and the fracturing plug is set by sending an electric signal down the electric line which fires the setting tool. The setting process also releases the plug from the setting tool.
Once the fracturing plug is set within the wellbore, the operator may then perform a second operation to perforate the casing allowing access the adjacent formation. The perforating guns utilize specially designed explosives to perforate the casing allowing access to the adjacent formation above the fracturing plug's pre-determined location. After firing the perforating gun, the operator may move the perforating gun and setting tool up the casing and the perforating gun is again activated. The process may be repeated until all of the perforating gun's sections have been utilized.
After firing all of the desired sections of the perforating gun the operator typically retrieves the electric line and spent perforating guns. Once the electric line and spent perforating guns are removed from the wellbore the operator may then rig up the surface piping to conduct pressure fracturing operations through the new perforations and into the formation with the fracturing plug that was placed into the casing isolating that portion of the casing below the fracturing plug and allowing only the portion of the formation that was accessed by the perforating gun to be fractured
Formation fracturing occurs when the fracturing fluid, pressurized from surface using high-pressure pumps, creates a pressure greater than the natural reservoir pressure contained in the formation. This process is commonly known as 'fracturing the well.' The pressurized fluid will be diverted by the fracturing plug through the perforations in the casing, therefore the fracturing fluids will be forced out into the formation of interest. Fracturing the reservoir causes cracks and fissures to occur in the rock containing the hydrocarbon, and thus releases the oil or gas to flow into the well bore for easier production.
After fracturing the formation a new perforation assembly is run into the casing where the new fracturing plug is set above the section previously perforated and the entire process is repeated until the desired number of perforations has been completed and the associated portions of the formations have been fractured and treated.
Once the process is complete the fracturing plugs must be removed, typically by milling or drilling out each fracturing plug. It is not unusual for there to be ten or more fracturing plugs that must be removed before the well may be produced. Removing each fracturing plug by milling it out takes a substantial amount of rig time incurring substantial cost. Typically this is accomplished by running a motor and mill assembly on the bottom of either coil tubing or on threaded pipe. Each previously installed fracturing plug may be completely milled up, or removed, from the wellbore. The milling operation may be expensive and can sometimes cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to remove all of the plugs so the well can be placed into production.

Plug and perforate using casing profiles


An optimized two-stroke internal combustion diesel engine, suitable for locomotive applications, has been developed to meet the EPA locomotive Tier 2 emission standards. To achieve a low emission target below the EPA Tier 2 standards for NOx (5.5 g/bhp-hr) and particulates (0.2 g/bhp-hr), several innovative changes have been made to the engine. These changes include: a new piston bowl geometry; low oil consumption piston rings; optimized surface finish cylinder liner; optimized fuel injection camlobe; modified fuel injector nozzle; new efficient aftercooler; optimized oil separator; and optimized turbocharger.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has promulgated standards which require locomotive manufacturers to comply after Jan. 1, 2005 with "Tier 2" emissions standards. As a result, there is a need to achieve about a 50% reduction in particulate emissions along with about a 30% reduction in NOx (nitrogen oxides) emissions for locomotive two-stroke internal combustion diesel engines, dictating need for engine optimization.
Accordingly, what remains needed in the art is an optimized two-stroke internal combustion diesel engine, suitable for locomotive (as well as other) applications, which meets EPA Tier 2 emissions standards.

Optimized low emission two-stroke internal combustion diesel engine


An electromagnetic pickup for stringed musical instruments has at least one bobbin mountable to the instrument beneath the instrument's strings, each of the bobbins having a body and a coil wrapped around the body, the body having one or more holes therethrough positioned below the strings. A magnetic device for generating a magnetic field around the bobbins and one or more pole pieces extended through the holes is also included. Ferromagnetic material is positioned within the body of one or more of the bobbins or between the bobbin(s) and the musical instrument to increase the device's inductance.

As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,185, granted Feb. 26, 1985 to one of the inventors named in this application, Steven Blucher, electromagnetic pickups are used with stringed musical instruments, such as electric guitars, to convert the vibrations of "picked" strings into electrical signals for subsequent amplification into sound. The pickups usually comprise a magnet system, including one or more permanent magnet elements and one or more pole pieces made of magnetic or ferromagnetic material to establish a magnetic field within which the strings vibrate, and coils wound on one or more bobbins disposed in the field to generate electrical signals corresponding to flux variations in the field due to the strings' vibrations. These electrical signals are amplified into musical sounds by circuits and equipment well-known to those skilled in the art.
Although the embodiments presented herein include pole pieces, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that one or more permanent magnets may be positioned within the pickup's bobbin body or bodies, in a manner such that the top and bottom edges of the magnet constitute different polarities, without the necessity of pole pieces of any kind. Furthermore, where pole pieces are used and constitute actual magnet devices, it is known in the art that a separate permanent magnet element is not necessary to create the magnetic field.
Typically, where pole pieces are used in the pickup implementation, they are disposed through holes in the bobbins and the pickup itself is generally mounted on the face of the instrument so that at least one pole piece is situated below each string. The bobbins are arranged so that the pole pieces are within the coils to allow the magnetic field developed by the pole pieces and/or permanent magnet to envelope the coil. Each string, when set into motion, causes variations in the magnetic field in the vicinity of the pole piece or pieces and the variations are converted into electrical signals by the interaction of the magnetic field with the coil.
It is generally understood by those skilled in the art that the efficiency of an electromagnetic pickup is measured by how much output voltage can be produced with the smallest amount of impedance, resistance and inductance. Unfortunately, pickup efficiency has often been sacrificed in the prior art due to other concerns. For example, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,199, granted Jun. 25, 1996 also to Mr. Blucher, the introduction of a second coil to cancel hum in a standard hum-cancelling pickup is accompanied by an increase in resistance, impedance and inductance, thus reducing the efficiency of the pickup.
A common complaint regarding the tonality of electric guitars (as well as other electronic stringed instruments) is that the sound produced is too harsh. This harshness is particularly evident at higher pitches. One way of eliminating or reducing the harshness has been to increase the number of turns of wire in the coil or coils. However, doing so also increases the inductance, resistance and capacitance, resulting in a higher impedance of the pickup. This has the undesirable result of reducing the pickup's efficiency and dulling the instrument's tonality, especially at the lower pitches.
While it is known in the prior art that the inductance of a magnetic transducer (or pickup) will have a direct bearing on the tonality or sound produced by the instrument, no attempt has been made to adjust the amount of inductance of a pickup, independent of the other parameters which contribute to the impedance of the pickup.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an electromagnetic pickup having a reduced sonic harshness due to an increased inductance without a corresponding increased DC resistance or capacitance
A further object of the present invention is to provide such results in a hum-cancelling pickup while maintaining the pickup's hum-cancelling capability

High inductance electromagnetic pickup for stringed musical instruments


Provided is a zoom lens including: a focus lens unit which moves during focusing; and a magnification-varying lens unit which moves during zooming, in which when the magnification-varying lens unit is moved in a direction in which a depth of focus deepens, a focus operation using the focus lens unit is stopped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a focus lens apparatus which performs a focus operation with a depth of focus taken into account.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional autofocus system, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,860, a focus adjustment is performed on all subjects within an area for recognizing the focus state to continuously maintain an in-focus state. Therefore, the focus adjustment is performed to maintain the focus state during a zooming operation of a zoom lens.
When the focus adjustment is to be performed on a specific subject among multiple subjects located within a screen at a wide-angle end, it is difficult to perform a high-precision focus adjustment on the specific subject due to the deep depth of focus.
The conventional autofocus system performs a focus adjustment to maintain the in-focus state averagely for all the subjects within the area for recognizing the focus state. Therefore, if multiple subjects are within the area for recognizing the focus state, it is difficult to perform the focus adjustment particularly on the specific subject among the subjects.
A high-precision focus adjustment may be automatically performed in a case in which only a specific subject can be captured within the area for recognizing the focus state by use of a telephoto side of the zoom lens. However, when the zoom lens is moved to a wide-angle side, the focus adjustment is performed again, and hence the focus adjustment cannot be performed on the specific subject similarly.


The present invention discloses polycarbodiimides containing two terminal hydrophilic groups, which differ from conventional polycarbodiimde crosslinkers that contain a hydrophilic portion on one side and a hydrophobic portion on the other. The polycarbodiimides have superior hydrophilic properties and crosslinking properties as well. A method for producing such polycarbodiimides is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polycarbodiimides and a method for producing the same. More particularly, it relates to polycarbodiimides with superior hydrophilicity and crosslinking properties.
2 . Description of the Related Arts
Originally, industrial coatings were primarily solvent-borne systems, but the development of water-borne coatings has come to be of increasing interest for a number of reasons. The main reasons for the shift from solvent-borne coatings to aqueous alternatives are a decrease in the potential harm to the environment and lower toxicity. In the development of water-borne coatings, although the performance is often inferior to that of solvent-borne coatings, it is improved to a large extent by the addition of crosslinking agents such as water-dispersible polycarbodiimides.
Polycarbodiimides and their derivatives have been widely used as crosslinking agents or condensation agents in the preparation of carboxylic acids, sulfonic acids, esters, amidines, anhydrides, amides, and peptides. Previously, polycarbodiimides were prepared by reacting mercury or lead oxide with thioureas, and mercuric oxide and sodium hypochlorite were employed as catalysts later on; however, the large quantities of byproducts remained the greatest shortcoming. In recent years, polycarbodiimides were commonly obtained by heating diisocyanates at elevated temperatures by using phosphorous catalysts. Such a method has the advantages of less byproducts and a higher product yield while prolonging the reaction time. The reaction involves a combination of two isocyanate moieties to yield a carbodiimide group with evolution of carbon dioxide: EQU 2 R--NCO.fwdarw.RN.dbd.C.dbd.NR+CO.sub.2
Aliphatic and aromatic carbodiimides are liquid or solid at room temperature and it is often difficult to keep them stabilized during long-term storage since they tend to dimerize and/or trimerize at temperatures as low as room temperature. The rate of dimerization and/or trimerization will be affected by the nature of the terminal group attached to each carbodiimide group.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,173 discloses a surface-active polycarbodiimide containing a hydrophilic portion and a hydrophobic portion joined through the reaction of a carbodiimide group with a reactive functional group. U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,481 discloses a multi-functional water-dispersible crosslinking agent which consists of oligomeric compounds containing carbodiimide functions and other reactive functional groups to improve the efficiency of the crosslinking agent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,059 discloses mono-disperse, multi-functional carbodiimides which provide greater reaction efficiency at lower temperatures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,712 discloses a method for preparing carbodiimide-isocyanate adducts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,588 discloses a method for preparing surface-active polycarbodiimides of the formula: EQU R--X--R'
wherein X represents carbodiimide groups; R is a residue of a hydrophobic organic compound; and R' is a residue of an organic compound having a hydrophilic segment.
Generally, conventional polycarbodiimide crosslinkers contain a hydrophilic group at one end and a hydrophobic group at the opposite end. Such a structure, however, usually lacks hydrophilicity and powerful mechanical agitation is therefore required to disperse it in water. Usually, this requires the employment of special, high-shear mixing equipment, and results in the further drawback of high energy costs. Moreover, owing to the poor hydrophilicity, to guarantee a more stable dispersion, a longer hydrophobic chain is not possible, and therefore the total functional carbodiimide groups in a conventional polycarbodiimide molecular chain is restricted.

Polycarbodiimides and method for producing the same

Industrial Technology Research Institute