A pen-size inspection lamp for detecting fluorescent materials. The inspection lamp includes a lamp housing, an extendible handle, and at least one LED.

The invention relates to the general field of inspection lamps utilized for detection of fluorescent materials.
Leak detection and surface flaw non-destructive testing techniques often use fluorescent dye additives or fluorescent penetrants. These techniques rely upon the unique physical property of various materials to fluoresce when excited by certain wavelengths of light.
Fluorescence is generally understood to be a property that enables some materials to absorb light energy and to radiate visible light at a longer wavelength than the absorbed light. According to generally accepted theory, electrons in fluorescent materials are excited upon being illuminated by light energy of a specific absorption band wavelength, and emit light energy in a longer wavelength response band as the electrons return to the unexcited or ground state. The specific excitation and response wavelengths are characteristics of the particular fluorescent materials.
The apparent brightness of a fluorescent material""s luminescence is dependent on the wavelength and the intensity of the incident radiation. The excitation band generally has one or more peak wavelengths that will produce a greater response than incident light of the same intensity at an off-peak wavelength. Thus, a fluorescent material which has an excitation peak at a specific wavelength may exhibit a much reduced luminescence as the wavelength of incident light deviates from the excitation peak, and will lose the ability to fluoresce when the incident light does not provide enough energy within the excitation range.
For example, two commonly used fluorescent leak detection dyes are perylene-based fluorescent compounds and naphthalimide-based fluorescent compounds. Perylene dyes produce a yellow fluorescent response when exposed to incident radiation which includes the UV-A wavelength band of about 315 nm to about 400 nm, with a strong peak between about 340 to 375 nm. Naphthalimide dyes fluoresce green when exposed to incident radiation of visible violet/blue light in a range from about 400 nm to about 480 nm.
A fluorescent response is more visible when the intensity of other visible light is reduced, so that the fluorescent response is not masked or washed-out by other light. The various UV-A or Violet/Blue inspection lamps use several types of light sources and filtering to produce a light output in the excitation bands with little or no output light in the fluorescent response band. For example, a lamp having a high intensity incandescent light source with a narrow band UV (360-370 nm) absorption filter will emit light energy concentrated around the excitation peak of a perylene dye additive. An inspection lamp with a wider band UV/BLUE absorption filter centered at about 400 nm provides output in the UVA and visible violet/blue range, with the greatest intensity centered in the excitation band of a common naphthalimide dye compound. In the absorption filter lamps, however, the larger portion of light energy in the visible and infrared wavelengths is absorbed as heat in the filter.
A more efficient inspection lamp uses thin-film dichroic reflectance filter. A dichroic filter can be tailored to reflect back into the lamp only the range of visible wavelengths outside of the chosen excitation band, while passing the other wavelengths. Because the emitted light is not converted to heat in the dichroic filter, the lamp can be made considerably more compact than the lamps with absorption filters.
All of the above-described prior lamps use a broad spectrum light source, and thus require some type of filtering, whether absorption or dichroic, to transmit light in an excitation band while restricting light output in the visible fluorescent response band. In the present invention, however, the inspection lamp uses the narrow band electroluminescence of solid state lamps, specifically light-emitting diodes (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cLEDsxe2x80x9d) with glass envelopes that refract light to the tip of the envelope. LEDs have been known for many years, but until recent developments it has been difficult to obtain sufficiently high levels of luminous flux as would be required for an inspection lamp. This problem was particularly acute for LEDs emitting in the blue to UV bands, which produced much less lumens per watt than the red, yellow and green emitting LEDs. [See, Lighting Handbook, 8th edition, Illuminating Engineers Society of North America, Chapter 6, figure 6.68(f)].
Recent developments in nitride semiconductor materials, particularly gallium nitride (GaN) based epitaxal structures, have provided more efficient LEDs that can produce sufficient lumens for an inspection lamp in the UV 360-390 nm range. For example, a GaN electroluminescent device as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,185 has an emission peak at 380 nm. An LED emitting in the 360 nm-390 nm range would make a useful light source for detection of a perylene dye.
GaN alloys can produce other useful emission bands. The same patent describes a commercial GaInAlN LED that emits blue light at 460 nm. The light emission wavelengths of GaN LEDs can also be altered by phosphor films if desired. As described in the specification of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,185 patent, these GaN-based LEDs have high efficiencies, typically in the energy emitted/power-in range of 10%.
The invention uses these LED light sources in the form of a LED bulb in which the glass lens capsule directs light to the rounded tip of the capsule. This causes a narrow high intensity focus at the tip and a diverging beam emanating from the tip. The effect is having a highest light intensity at the capsule tip and a rapidly decreasing intensity as distance from the tip increases. Thus, while the intensity at close distances may be sufficient to excite a strong response from a fluorescent dye, the intensity at longer distances may not be enough to produce the fluorescent response.
An LED inspection lamp can be very small, in fact, it can be the size of a pen light powered by AAAA sized batteries. A current LED pen light, the STYLUSTM model with an xe2x80x9cIce Bluexe2x80x9d emitting LED is only 0.38 inches in diameter and 6.60 inches in length and operates on three AAAA batteries with a run time of over 10 hours, yet it has sufficient blue light output to cause a fluorescent response in a naphthalimide-based leak detection additive from a distance of 18 inches in dark conditions. Even in daylight conditions, it can excite a naphthalimide dye to a bright response at one to six inches.
Although the narrow shape of the LED pen light is helpful in allowing the LED capsule to be inserted into narrow areas close to a suspected leak site, it is still restricted by its length. Furthermore, the metal handle and battery housing is inflexible. Both the short length and inflexibility can make it difficult or impossible to reach areas of potential leak sites, such as lines and connectors in the circuit of an automobile air conditioner.
It would therefore be useful to provide an LED lamp that has a high intensity focus at the tip as well as an extendible handle so that the lamp may be inserted deeply into tight areas to bring the tip of the LED capsule close to the potential leak site to be investigated for fluorescent material. An extendible handle may alternatively be flexible to aid in insertion around obstructions. An alternative embodiment lamp may have two or more different color LEDs, such as violet and blue, which may be selectively used to detect more than one type of fluorescent material, or may have an LED and a white light bulb to select between general illumination and fluorescent detection.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an inspection lamp for detecting fluorescent materials. The inspection lamp includes a housing, an extendible handle and at least one LED.

Pen-size LED inspection lamp for detection of fluorescent material


There is provided an infrared-sensitive lithographic printing plate capable of direct plate-making based on digital data from a computer or the like, and excellent in development latitude and scratch resistance, which is an infrared-sensitive lithographic printing plate comprising a support and a heat-sensitive layer, the heat-sensitive layer comprising (A) a copolymer having a specific monomer unit having a carboxyl group, (B) an alkali-soluble high molecular weight compound having a sulfonamide group, and (C) a light-heat conversion material.

The recent development of a laser is remarkable. Particularly, for solid lasers/semiconductor lasers having an emission region over a near infrared region to an infrared region, high-output and compact apparatuses have become readily available. The infrared-sensitive lithographic printing plate for direct plate-making based on digital data from a computer or the like using such an infrared laser as a light source can be handled in a bright room, and it is very preferable in terms of plate-making operation.
As the infrared-sensitive lithographic printing plate for direct plate-making, there is known a negative type planographic printing master plate containing an infrared absorber, a compound generating an acid by heat (acid generator), a crosslinking agent which effects a crosslinking reaction by an acid, and a binder polymer. However, the negative type planographic printing master plate requires heating after exposure for effecting a crosslinking reaction. This results in the increase in number of steps, leading to a complicated process, and in addition, entails the problem of high energy consumption.
For this reason, as a planographic printing master plate for an infrared laser not requiring heating after exposure, there was proposed a positive type infrared-sensitive lithographic printing plate having a recording layer containing an alkali aqueous solution-soluble binder resin, and an infrared absorber (such as an infrared absorbing dye) for absorbing light and generating heat. For the positive type photosensitive lithographic printing plate, in the unexposed portions (image portions), the infrared absorbing dye, or the like serves as a dissolution inhibitor which interacts with the binder resin to substantially reduce the solubility of the binder resin. In the exposed portions (non-image portions), the interaction between the infrared absorbing dye or the like, and the binder resin is weakened by heat generated through light exposure. As a result, the exposed portions become soluble in an alkali developer. Development is carried out by utilizing the difference in solubility between the exposed portions and the unexposed portions, resulting in the formation of a lithographic printing plate.
However, it cannot yet be said that the difference in solubility in a developer of the unexposed portions (image portions) and the solubility of the exposed portions (non-image portions) under various working conditions is sufficient. Unfavorably, the overdevelopment (the film reducing phenomenon that the image portions also begin to dissolve, thereby thinning an image film), and the insufficient development (the film remaining phenomenon that the non-image portions cannot completely dissolve, and are left behind) due to the variations in working conditions tend to occur. Further, an image recording layer also receives minute scratches by being touched on the surface during handling, or by other causes because of its low strength. Thus, and in other ways, it tends to undergo variations in surface conditions. Also when such minute scratches or slight surface variations occur, the solubility of the peripheral portion thereof increases. Accordingly, the unexposed portions (image portions) dissolve during development, unfavorably resulting in scratch marks, which cause the degradation of the plate wear resistance, and the inferior ink receptibility.
Such a problem derives from the essential difference in plate-making mechanism between the infrared-sensitive lithographic printing plate and the photosensitive lithographic printing plate for plate-making through UV exposure. Namely, the photosensitive lithographic printing plate for plate-making through UV exposure contains an alkali aqueous solution-soluble binder resin, and an onium salt and quinone diazide compounds as essential components. The onium salt and the quinone diazide compounds not only serve as dissolution inhibitors by the interaction with the binder resin at the unexposed portions (image portions), but also are decomposed by light to generate an acid, and serve as dissolution accelerators at the exposed portions (non-image portions), and thus play the two roles.
In contrast, the infrared absorbing dye in the infrared-sensitive lithographic printing plate only serves as a dissolution inhibitor at the unexposed portions (image portions), and will not accelerate the dissolution at the exposed portions (non-image portions). Therefore, when, as a binder resin, the one having a high solubility in an alkali developer is used previously for making a difference in solubility between at the unexposed portions and at the exposed portions, unfavorably, film reduction occurs, the scratch resistance is reduced, the conditions before development become instable, and other problems occur. On the other hand, when the solubility of the binder resin in an alkali developer is reduced in order to strengthen the unexposed portions, the reduction in sensitivity is caused. This restricts the range of the development conditions under which the discriminability between the image portions and the non-image portions can be kept (referred to as development latitude).
For this reason, various studies have been made on the development of selective dissolution inhibitors whereby the dissolution inhibition ceases at the exposed portions, and the dissolution inhibition is kept at the unexposed portions. For example, JP-A-7-285275 or the like discloses the following technique. To a recording layer of a positive type lithographic printing plate material for an infrared layer, a light-heat converting agent, and a substance which is heat decomposable, and substantially reduces the solubility of an alkali-soluble resin in a thermally undecomposed state are added. As a result, the solubility of the recording layer is inhibited, and the scratch resistance is improved. On the other hand, at the exposed portions, the substance is decomposed by the heat converted by the light-heat converting agent, and loses its action of inhibiting the dissolution of the alkali-soluble resin, which allows the improvement of the sensitivity.
However, even with the foregoing technique, the development latitude and the scratch resistance cannot be yet said to be sufficient, and have been under the circumstances where a further improvement is required.

Infrared-sensitive lithographic printing plate


A semiconductor composite element in which abnormal conditions of overcurrent, control supply voltage reduction and overheat are detected, and different abnormality signals are outputted according to the respective abnormal conditions thus detected. The semiconductor composite element includes: abnormal condition detecting circuitry for detecting the overcurrent and control supply voltage reduction of any one or all of the plurality of semiconductor switching elements and the overheat of the semiconductor composite element. An abnormality signal generating circuit is provided for producing different abnormality signals according to the respective abnormal conditions detected by the abnormal condition detecting circuitry.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor composite element which is employed in equipment such as an inverter device, and in which abnormal conditions of overcurrent, control voltage reduction, and overheat are detected, and different abnormality signals are outputted according to the respective abnormal conditions thus detected, and to a method of detecting abnormal conditions in an inverter device having the semiconductor composite element.
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the internal arrangement of a conventional semiconductor composite element. In FIG. 5, reference symbol 20 designates the semiconductor composite element; 21a, a positive-side control power source terminal; 21b, a negative-side control power source terminal; 22a, a positive-side control common terminal; 22b, a negative-side control common terminal; 23a, a positive-side control signal input terminal; 23b, a negative-side control signal input terminal; 24a, a positive-side abnormality signal output terminal; 24b, a negative-side abnormality signal output terminal; 25a, a positive-side DC power input terminal; 25b, a negative-side DC power input terminal; 26, an AC power output terminal; 27a, a positive-side semiconductor switching element which is a transistor; and 27b, a negative-side semiconductor switching element which is also a transistor. Further in FIG. 5, reference symbol 28a denotes a positive-side diode; 28b, a negative-side diode; 29a, a positive-side transistor current detector; 29b, a negative-side transistor current detector; 30a, a positive-side transistor drive circuit; 30b, a negative-side transistor drive circuit; 31a, a positive-side transistor overcurrent protection circuit; 31b, a negative-side transistor overcurrent protection circuit; 32a, a positive-side control supply voltage reduction protecting circuit; 32b, a negative-side control supply voltage reduction protecting circuit; 33, a temperature detector for detecting a temperature of the semiconductor composite element 20; 34, an overheat protection circuit; 35, a first logical OR circuit which produces an output signal upon reception of any one of the output signals of the positive-side transistor overcurrent protection circuit 31a and of the positive-side control supply voltage protection circuit 32a; and 36, a second logical OR circuit which produces an output signal upon reception of any one of the output signals of the negative-side transistor overcurrent protection circuit 31b and of the negative-side control supply voltage protection circuit 32b.
In the conventional semiconductor composite element 20 thus organized, control signals which do not turn on the positive-side transistor 27a and the negative-side transistor 27b at the same time are applied to the positive-side and negative-side control signal input terminals 23a and 23b, respectively, so that the transistors 27a and 27b are alternately turned on and off through the positive-side transistor drive circuit 30a and the negative-side transistor drive circuit 30b, to provide AC power at the AC power output terminal 26 whereby AC current flows in the transistors.
In this operation, the currents flowing in the positive-side transistor 27a and the negative side transistor 27b are detected by the positive-side current detector 29a and the negative-side current detector 29b, respectively. The positive-side overcurrent protection circuit 31a and the negative-side overcurrent protection circuit 31b determine whether or not the currents thus detected are abnormal, i.e. larger than a predetermined value. When detecting an overcurrent abnormality, the positive-side overcurrent protection circuit 31a (or negative-side overcurrent protection circuit 31b) supplies an abnormality signal to the positive-side transistor drive circuit 30a (or negative-side transistor drive circuit 30b) connected thereto. Upon reception of the abnormality signal, the positive-side transistor drive circuit 30a (or negative-side transistor drive circuit 30b) turns off the positive-side transistor 27a (or negative-side transistor 27b) to cut off the current irrespective of the control signal applied to the positive-side (or negative-side) control signal input terminal 23a (or 23b). At the same time, the positive-side overcurrent protection circuit 31a (or negative-side overcurrent protection circuit 31b) supplies the abnormality signal through the first logical OR element 35 (or second logical OR element 36) to the positive-side abnormality signal output terminal 24a (or negative-side abnormality signal output terminal 24b.
On the other hand, a control supply voltage applied between the positive-side control power source terminal 21a and the positive-side control common terminal 22a, and a control supply voltage applied between the negative-side control power source terminal 21b and the negative-side control common terminal 22b are read by the positive-side control supply voltage reduction protecting circuit 32a and the negative-side control supply voltage reduction protecting circuit 32b, respectively, so that it is determined whether or not the control supply voltages are abnormal being smaller than a predetermined value. When an abnormality occurs involving a control supply voltage reduction, in a manner similar to the above-described overcurrent detection, the positive-side control supply voltage reduction protecting circuit 32a (or negative-side control supply voltage reduction protecting circuit 32b) supplies an abnormality signal to the positive-side transistor drive circuit 30a (or negative-side transistor drive circuit 30b). Upon reception of the abnormality signal, the positive-side transistor drive circuit 30a (or negative-side transistor drive circuit 30b) turns off the positive-side transistor 27a (or negative-side transistor 27b) to cut off the current irrespective of the control signal applied to the positive side (or negative side) control signal input terminal 23a (or 23b). At the same time, the positive-side control supply voltage reduction protecting circuit 32a (or negative-side control supply voltage reduction protecting circuit 32b) supplies the abnormality signal through the first logical OR element 35 (or second logical OR element 36) to the positive-side abnormality signal output terminal 24a (or negative-side abnormality signal output terminal 24b).
The temperature of the semiconductor composite element 20 is detected by the temperature detector 33. The overheat protection circuit 34 determines whether or not the temperature thus detected is abnormal, i.e., higher than a predetermined value. When detecting an overheat abnormality, the overheat protection circuit 34 supplies an abnormality signal to the negative-side transistor drive circuit 30b. Upon reception of the abnormality signal, the negative-side transistor drive circuit 30b turns off the negative-side transistor 27b to cut off the current irrespective of the control signal applied to the negative-side control signal input terminal 23b. At the same time, the overheat protection circuit 34 supplies the abnormality signal through the second logical OR element 36 to the negative-side abnormality signal output terminal 24b.
As was described above, in the conventional semiconductor composite element, in order to detect three abnormal conditions of overcurrent, control supply voltage reduction and overheat, the detected current, voltage and temperature are compared with the predetermined values, respectively, to determine whether or not they are abnormal; and when it is determined that any one of the current, voltage and temperature is abnormal, the abnormality signal is outputted to eliminate the abnormal condition. However, the semiconductor composite element involves a problem in that the particular abnormal condition cannot be identified from the abnormality signal thus outputted.

Semiconductor composite element, and method of detecting abnormal conditions in an inverter device having the element


A process for producing nanoscale powders, and the powders so produced. The process comprises mixing an emulsion comprising all of the elements of the desired powder composition and a combustible fuel, and then combusting that emulsion to produce a powder. Powders with a median particle size of less than 50 nm have been made by this process. The process is suitable for the production of many types of powders, including particles and nanowhiskers of simple, doped, and polymetallic powders.

Fine powders with mean size less than 1 micron in general, and nanoscale powders with mean size less than 100 nm in particular, are a novel family of materials. A distinguishing feature of these materials is that a mean domain size is so small that size confinement effects become a significant determinant of the materials' performance. Such confinement effects can, therefore, lead to a wide range of commercially important properties. For example:
enhancement in mechanical properties, such as strengths and hardness; PA1 unique optical properties, when a domain size is less than the wavelength of visible light; PA1 unique electrical and electrochemical properties, when the interfacial atoms are a significant percentage of all atoms, and a domain dimension is less than the mean free path of electrons or holes, skin depth, Debye length, electron cloud thickness, or other physical parameters; PA1 unique electronic properties such as coulomb blockade; PA1 unique thermal properties, when a domain dimension is less than phonon length, and the interfacial processes are significant contributor to the overall properties; PA1 unique chemical properties, such as enhanced solubilities leading to non-equilibrium compositions, metastable states, and isotropic crystals; PA1 unique magnetic properties when a material's domain dimension is less than the magnetic domain size; and PA1 unique manufacturing properties, such as low temperature faster sintering of ceramics, metals, composites and alloys, and superplastic forming. PA1 The precursor raw materials for the process and method should be low-cost, safe, readily available, and environmentally benign; PA1 The compositions should be easily tailored to specific needs of the ultimate application; PA1 It should be possible to synthesize and control the composition of final powder characteristics; and PA1 It should be possible to collect the synthesized material without damage or loss of material.
Fine powders in general, and nanoscale powders in particular, therefore, represent an extraordinary opportunity for design, development and commercialization of a wide range of applications in structural, electrochemical, electrical, optical, electronics, magnetic, chemical products, and combinations thereof. Furthermore, since they represent a whole new family of material precursors where conventional coarse-grain physiochemical mechanisms are not applicable, these materials offer unique combinations of properties that can enable novel and multifunctional components of unmatched performance.
Previous patents teach the importance of fine powders and they also teach the art of producing a wide range of these powders (See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,486,675; 5,447,708; 5,407,458; 5,219,804; 5,194,128; and 5,064,464, all of which are incorporated herein by reference). The teachings in these patents attest to the importance of these powders, yet they do not offer a method or process for high volume, low-cost production of fine powders in general and nanoscale powders of complex compositions in particular. There are several characteristics that need to be achieved in a practical commercial process:
No currently available production method has all these characteristics.

Combustion of emulsions: A method and process for producing fine powders


A bottom pour casting apparatus (100) includes a vessel (114) having a bottom nozzle (118). A stopper rod (112) is coupled to a programmable controller (250) by linkage mechanism (250) for controlling the movement of the stopper rod (112) according to a pouring schedule. An LDT position sensor (216) is coupled to the stopper rod (112) by a cable (238) and also electronically to the controller (250) for sensing the actual position of the stopper rod during a pouring cycle and conveying this information directly to the controller (250) thereby bypassing any backlash present in the linkage mechanism (116) to enable precise control of the stopper rod movement. A method includes rezeroing the position sensor (116) at the beginning of each pouring cycle to account for slag build-up on the nozzle (118).

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to metal casting control devices and methods for controlling the pour of molten metal into molds and, more specifically, to an apparatus and method for controlling the positioning of a stopper rod of a bottom pour casting vessel.
2. Related Prior Art
Accurate control of the opening and closing of a stopper rod of a bottom pour casting vessel is essential for producing high quality metal castings. A typical stopper rod control mechanism in present day use and manufactured by the assignee of the present invention for pouring molten iron is shown in FIG. 1 and comprises a bottom pouring vessel having a bottom nozzle and a stopper rod extending into the vessel for communicating with the nozzle. A hydraulic cylinder remotely controls the movement of the stopper rod through a parallelogram linkage mechanism having six pivot points A programmable controller controls actuation of the hydraulic cylinder through a digital proportioning valve. The cylinder is provided with a digital encoder which measures movement of a rod of the cylinder commanded by the digital valve.
With all bottom pour casting systems, it is imperative that the movement and position of the stopper rod be precisely controlled since it is the stopper rod that governs the flow of molten metal through the nozzle. The prior art system of FIG. 1 relies on the digital encoder of the hydraulic cylinder to sense the position and stroke of the stopper rod. A problem arises, however, in that each pivot point of the linkage mechanism has a certain amount of "slop" or movement incorporated in its design which is necessary to avoid tight fits in the high temperature environment in which the mechanism operates. The accumulated slop of the pivot points can translate to an error of 0.30 to 0.70 inches between actual movement of the stopper rod and the movement sensed by the encoder. The solution heretofore has been to add a "slop factor" into the logic of a programmable controller to compensate for the error. This factor anticipates the amount of slop and compensates in terms of the stroke commands provided to the stop. There is a problem, however, in that the amount of slop varies with temperature. Varying metal level in the vessel adds to the control problems by changing the buoyancy forces on the stopper rod. Because of these problems, it is presently necessary to periodically update the slop factor thereby requiring constant monitoring of the pouring system.
The controller of the prior art pouring apparatus of FIG. 1 is programmed to raise and lower the stop rod in relation to the nozzle according to a predetermined pouring schedule characteristic of the mold being poured. Each casting cycle begins with the stopper rod in a fully closed position against the nozzle. The controller controls movement of the stopper rod according to the pouring schedule in relation to the fully closed position of the stopper rod. A problem rises, however, in that over time slag and other impurities build up on the nozzle which changes the actual position of the stopper rod when in the fully closed position. This adversely affects the ability of the prior art control system to control movement of the stopper rod since the changing fully closed reference position of the stopper rod is not taken into account.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,761 to Fishman et al, granted Sep. 4, 1990 recognizes slag formation on the nozzle but proposes to resolve such problems by increasing the seating force of the rod so that the slag can be crushed off the nozzle enabling the stopper rod to regain its original fully closed reference position before build up. Applying excessive force to the nozzle, however, can damage both the nozzle and the rod and hence such a practice is to be avoided.

Apparatus and method for controlling a stopper rod of a bottom pouring vessel


A crankshaft-mounted, multiple-speed electromagnetic clutch for driving multiple rotary devices of an engine, the engine having a crankshaft, the clutch comprising: a clutch support plate mounted to the crankshaft; a spring connected to the clutch support plate; a pair of clutch plates connected to the spring with the spring biasing the pair of clutch plates toward the clutch support plate; a pair of rotors rotating about the crankshaft on bearings; an electromagnet fixedly engaging each of the rotors and adapted to attract one of the clutch plates against the rotor, thereby transferring the rotational force of the crankshaft to the rotor; and a transmission device connecting each of the rotors to the rotary device.

This invention relates to a multiple-speed electromagnetic clutch with a belt drive that is mounted on an engine crankshaft to drive multiple rotary devices.
One device that might be driven by such a clutch is a turbocharger.
Many techniques have been devised to increase the performance of automotive internal combustion engines. Supercharger and turbocharger systems have been developed that substantially boost engine performance. These systems operate to increase air pressure delivered to the intake manifold of the engine before being mixed with the fuel. The increased air pressure enhances the combustibility of the fuel, thus making it more powerful. This added power then increases engine power and torque at both lower and higher rpms than would otherwise be possible. Turbo chargers are simple and cheap, unlike superchargers that do not suffer from a response lag time because they are generally mechanically driven. Superchargers are more complicated and can be very expensive, although they do solve the problem of incomplete combustion when an engine is initially leaving idle speeds. Acceleration is also greatly improved with a typical mechanically driven supercharger.
However, the complicated belts and pulleys used in mechanical superchargers require for operation as much as 40% of the engine's power output, which exacts a price of shortening the engine's life span for the increased performance.
Turbochargers, on the other hand, are passive performance boosting devices that are driven by the exhaust from the engine. The passive design of the turbocharger does not adversely affect the life span of the engine to the degree that a supercharger does.
Turbochargers suffer a lag in response time because they are driven by exhaust gases and these gases are under very little pressure and velocity when the engine is at idle. The turbocharger has very little rotational velocity to supply the engine with all the fresh air that is needed to complete combustion of all the fuel that is being forced into a vehicles combustion chamber. Hence large Semi's, ships, tractors, trucks, power plants and transit buses can be seen emitting black smoke as the diesel fuel is not completely burned initially on some heavy vehicles.
The turbo chargers have not gotten over their initial lag before they offer a power boost to the engine.
Even cars are being equipped more frequently with turbo chargers as engine size and weight must be kept to a minimum but the driving public wants more power from these smaller engines. These automobiles will suffer from the same incomplete combustion as larger vehicles although it will be less obvious from a visual point of view and surely less time in duration, but incomplete combustion none the less.
To overcome this some areas of the country are requiring oxygenated fuels, and low-sulfur diesel, be burnt in all of their vehicles especially during certain times of the year. Auto manufacturers are also to begin producing 85 compliant motors for vehicles. In essence, these vehicles can burn a mixture of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent gasoline. This extra oxygen improves the initial lack of oxygen some vehicles suffer from on acceleration from low speeds or stopped conditions thereby reducing pollutants and smog contributing effects. If these engines were to be adjusted lean enough (oxygen rich-fuel stingy), for all operating conditions they would overheat during highway conditions on warm days. They can be adjusted and controlled to burn completely at cruising speeds but that leaves an oxygen-deprived state at idle.
Smaller engines in personal vehicles would be possible and acceptable to the consuming public if there was a way to turbocharge these vehicles without the hassle that comes with present turbochargers. This hassle is the warm-up period before a car is driven at highway speeds and a cooling-off period before the engine is shut off.
Presently, catalytic converters aid in the low emissions scenario of most gasoline powered engines, but these only work after they have become hot, and are little or no help to a cleaner burning engine when the engine is first started up, and before it is warmed up.
Another problem with ordinary turbochargers is that heat of the exhaust gases which drive the turbocharger is transferred to the center bearing that provides support for the turbocharger's turbine. Present designs typically have an oil supply and engine coolant supply going to the turbocharger bearing. This is to maintain lubrication and cooling to this critical bearing while the engine is running. This design is adequate as long as the engine is operating. However, when the engine is shut off the oil and coolant stop flowing immediately and if the bearing is supporting a hot turbine that has just been revolving at 40,000 rpm's or more the bearing literally begins to cook.
Most recommendations are for allowing the motor to idle 3 minutes before shutting off the engine. This allows this bearing to cool off before removing critical oil and cooling from the bearing. Repeated occurrences of shutting off the engine before allowing an adequate cooling-off time for the turbocharger bearing leads to premature bearing failure and expensive repairs.
Several solutions have been developed to overcome the problem of turbo lag. One solution combines a supercharger with a turbocharger. The supercharger drives the turbocharger until the engine has reached a threshold level at which point it takes over the supercharger's job. This has the advantage of limiting the use of the supercharger, but it also has the drawback of being an active system that shortens engine life, as well as being overly complex.
By driving a simple turbocharger by a belt, and keeping it simple and inexpensive, the best of both can be achieved. By removing the turbine from exhaust gas stream, the excess heating to the turbine bearing is minimized and the compressed air itself is the only factor for heating. However, this heat transfers minimally to the bearing. The bearing is thus able to better withstand possible abuse by the average driver who doesn't want to be bothered by details, such as letting the engine run for several minutes after they reach their destination.
One simple yet effective way of driving a turbocharger with a belt is to place a multiple-speed electromagnetic clutch on the engine crankshaft and drive the turbocharger from a belt attached to the clutch.
By placing the clutch on the crankshaft rather than on the specific rotary device to be driven, the crankshaft can drive multiple rotary devices, in addition to a turbocharger, such as alternators, generators, air conditioners, fans, etc.
Two-speed electromagnetic clutches for driving a single engine rotary device are known, as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,747. However, there are a number of disadvantages with these devices.
First, these devices attach directly to the rotary device to be driven, rather than to the engine crankshaft. Therefore, they are only capable of driving a single rotary device. In order to drive multiple rotary devices at different speeds, multiple clutches must be used, with a clutch per rotary device to be driven and corresponding additional belts between each clutch and the crankshaft.
Second, these devices are constructed with components only of sufficient size to drive a single device, because that is the intent. They are not robust enough to drive multiple devices, even if some way was found to do so. For example, the '747 patent operates by having the electromagnet move to alternate clutch plates, rather than having the clutch plates move to the electromagnet. By having the magnet move instead of the clutch plate, this device limits the amount of power that can be transmitted through the pulleys because layered torsion springs can not be added in heavy-duty applications. Also, when the magnet moves over to engage the clutch plate, the electric windings about the magnet will be compromised in short order and wires will be worn through and electrical continuity will be lost because it is the face of the magnet coming into contact with the clutch plate that is doing all of the holding. In a conventional electromagnet, the electromagnet is in a fixed position laterally with respect to the shaft and a casing is around the magnet. This will protect the magnet's facing.
Thirdly, any of these devices that mount to the driven device could not be used with a device such as an alternator or generator, because the magnetic field of the electromagnet would conflict with the magnetic fields present about such devices. These devices are therefore limited to non-electromagnetic rotary devices such as fans or air conditioner pumps.
It is the object of the present invention to overcome the above-listed disadvantages of earlier two-speed electromagnetic clutches.

Belt transmission and clutch for vehicle accessories


A ferrite assembly has a first conductor and a number of ferrite members. Each of the number of ferrite members has a core. The ferrite members are in electrical communication with the first conductor. The ferrite assembly has a number of current dividing members in electrical communication with the first conductor. The current dividing members define a number of passages for allowing an airflow therethrough.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a power conversion system that supplies an electrical load from a current source by a power bus bar. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a ferrite assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
A polyphase alternating current source is known in the art. A known problem that exists is excessive heat is generated by the polyphase alternating current that traverses through a converter via a power bus bar. This occurs, in one instance, during high current fluxes during device switching as can occur with currents in a range that includes 3100 amps at 1300 volts. This relatively high current level can potentially cause unacceptable power bus bar temperature levels. Another known problem is the current traversing through the power bus bar per unit time generates a magnetic field. This magnetic field may disrupt electrical components that are proximate to the power bus bar.
This high temperature level of the power bus bar was dealt with in the art by increasing a length of the power bus bar and also increasing a length of a ferrite assembly being disposed adjacent to the power bus bar that has the increased length. This increased length of both the power bus bar and the ferrite assembly, although effective at dissipating heat and effective in reducing the detriments of magnetic field causes a number of problems.
First of all, the increased length of the power bus bar, for any linear dimension of the power bus bar, causes the power bus bar to not fit in certain applications such as in a cabinet. Secondly, the increased length will increase design and manufacturing costs associated with the forming of the power bus bar for applications that require a predetermined amount of current. This in turn results in forming another sized ferrite assembly having an increased length to correspond with the dimensions of the formed power bus bar. Additionally, when manufacturing these components there will be higher material costs associated with the increased dimensions. This results in decreased productivity and an increased overall cost of the power bus bar and the ferrite assembly due to the additional materials.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a ferrite assembly that is compact and overcomes one or more of these deficiencies.


A bottle stopper includes a cover body, a shaft rod and a rotatable member. The shaft rod is fixed inside the cover body and the rotatable member is secured on the cover body by means of an insert pin, which leans on two opposite oblique faces of the projecting base of the cover body. When the rotatable member is turned clockwise, the insert pin will be actuated to slide upward along the oblique faces of the projecting base and drive the shaft rod to move upward and squeeze a soft clogging member to expand outward and clog the bottle mouth of a bottle. The bottle stopper of this invention can be closely clogged in the bottle mouth, and its shaft rod and soft clogging member are hidden in the cover body, meeting sanitation, convenient in use and able to be placed horizontally for facilitating storing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bottle stopper, particularly to one composed of a cover body, a shaft rod and a rotatable member. The shaft rod is inserted and fixed in the interior of the cover body and the rotatable member is secured on the cover body by means of an insert pin, which leans on and across two oblique faces of the projecting base of the cover body. When the rotatable member is rotated, the insert pin will be actuated to slide upward along the oblique faces of the projecting base of the cover body and drive the shaft rod to move upward and have its bottom stopping member squeezing a soft clogging member to expand outward and closely clogging the bottle mouth. The bottle stopper of this invention can closely clog up the bottle mouth, and its shaft rod and soft clogging body are hidden in the cover body not exposed to the outside, meeting sanitation, convenient in use and able to be placed horizontally for facilitating storing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, after a bottle of wine is uncorked, the contents in the bottle, such as grape wine, champagne or the like, cannot entirely be drunk up at one time; therefore, it is necessary to cover up the bottle mouth with a bottle stopper so as to keep its contents fresh. A conventional bottle stopper 1 to be clogged in the bottle mouth 19, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes a shaft rod 10 orderly fitted thereon with a first elastic body 11, a positioning block 12 and a second elastic body 13. The shaft rod 10 has its lower end provided with an expanded member 100 for holding the elastic body 11, 13 and the positioning block 12 and its upper end inserted through a sealing cover 14 and a packing-up plate 15 pivotally connected with a pull lever 16 by means of a pivot 160. Thus, when the pull lever 16 is pulled and pressed downward, the resisting-pressing portion 161 at the lower end of the pull lever 16 will resist against the packing-up plate 15 on the sealing cover 14 and drive the shaft rod 10 to move upward, and simultaneously the expanded member 100 and the positioning block 12 at the lower end of the shaft rod 10 will squeeze the elastic body 11 to let it deformed and expanded outward to clog the bottle mouth 19.
By so designing, however, the conventional bottle stopper has the following defects.
1. When the bottle stopper 1 covered on bottle mouth 19 is to be clogged in the bottle mouth 19, a user has to apply a great force to pull and press the pull lever 16 sideward and downward, thus likely to make the bottle may fall flat and let the interior contents flow out due to unstable center of gravity.
2. The sealing cover 14 is only covered on the upper edge of the bottle mouth 19 so it is unable to be tightly fitted with the bottle mouth 19 and hardly to be held stably for applying force.
3. The shaft rod 10, the two elastic bodies 11, 13 and the positioning block 12 of the conventional bottle stopper 1 are exposed to the outside of the sealing cover 14 so they are likely to be soiled with dirt when they are not used.
4. The conventional bottle stopper 1 cannot be placed horizontally, inconvenient to be stored.

Bottle stopper for sealing bottle mouth tightly


A driving method for driving a display apparatus including a plurality of pixels, a plurality of data lines and a data driver. The data driver includes a first latch outputting a first sample data signal to a second latch, the second latch, a first charge sharing line and a second charge sharing line. The method includes performing a first charge sharing when a polarity of one of the pixels changes so as to output a first calibrated data signal to the data line electrically coupled to the pixel, and executing a second charge sharing when the most significant bit of the first sample data signal is different from the most significant bit of the second sample data signal so as to output a second adjusted data signal to the data line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving method for driving a display device, and in particularly, a driving method performed by using a data driver.
2. Description of the Prior Art
According to the prior art, each pixel coupled to each data line of a display device has a common voltage signal respectively for defining its polarity. For example, if a voltage level of a common voltage signal of a pixel is higher than a predetermined voltage level, a polarity of the pixel is positive; and if the voltage level of the common voltage signal of the pixel is lower than a predetermined voltage level, the polarity of the pixel is negative. In order to prevent unclear display caused by electric charge accumulation, a display panel should perform a polarity switching after finishing each frame period, that is to switch the polarity of each pixel and a data line coupled to the pixel from being positive to being negative or from being negative to being positive.
However, due to demand for higher resolution of display devices, the reserved charging/discharging time is no longer long enough for a data voltage level of a data line to be switched from an original voltage level to a target voltage level, and a long voltage level switching time leads to the power consumption being too high. Hence, how to reduce the charging/discharging time of a data voltage level and reduce the power consumption required by a data driver are problems to be solved.
FIG. 1 illustrates signal waveforms when performing charge sharing according to the prior art. In FIG. 1, a first data line voltage level VY1 and a second data line voltage level VY2 are voltage levels of two adjacent data lines respectively. When a common voltage signal POL does not change yet, the first data line voltage level VY1 is positive, and the second data line voltage level VY2 is negative. When the common voltage signal POL changes, for example, from a low voltage level to a high voltage level, this means that a polarity of a data line changes, and a frame period finishes for the display device to enter a next frame period, the first data line voltage level VY1 changes from positive to negative, and the second data line voltage level VY2 changes from negative to positive. When the common voltage signal POL is detected to switch, a control signal STB is enabled to be at a high voltage level (within a time interval t1 shown in FIG. 1), a switch is turned on accordingly so as to couple a first data line and a second data line to a charge share line for the first data line voltage level VY1 and the second data line voltage level VY2 to be pulled to a charge sharing voltage level. As shown in FIG. 1, the charge sharing voltage level HAVDD is half the power supply voltage. The first data line voltage level VY1 and the second data line voltage level VY2 are then pulled to two target voltage levels, i.e. the first data line target voltage level Vtarget-Y1 and the second data line target voltage level Vtarget-Y2, respectively, according to the data inputted to the data lines. Performing the described charge sharing in the interval of the switching of polarity may shorten the required time for the first data line voltage level VY1 and the second data line voltage level VY2 to be pulled to the first data line target voltage level Vtarget-Y1 and the second data line target voltage level Vtarget-Y2 respectively so as to reduce the power consumption. According to prior art, the charge sharing is merely performed when the polarity of the pixels and the data line coupled to the pixels changes. However, taking the time interval t2 and the time interval t3 for example, the polarity of the data line does not change in the time intervals t2 and t3 so that the charge sharing is not performed for reducing the power consumption. In particularly, if the change of the first data line voltage level VY1 or the second data line voltage level VY2 is larger, more time is necessary for pulling them to the target voltage levels, and power consumption is therefore greater.

Data driver and display device driving method


The present invention relates to the field of information processing involving digital computers, embedded devices and more particularly, to a method and system for defining hierarchical data model and related computation and instructions rules using electronic spreadsheet like interface. The system and method of the invention are directed to user friendly, fast, development of multi-user, workflow enabled applications using spreadsheet as a tool for application modeling.

It is known in the art, building an business application involves a complex process of creating requirements document that include data model diagrams (using various notations) and elaborating the business rules in simple English like language which are to be understood by the application developers. There are various tools starting from word processors to advanced modeling tools like UML modelers which are usually available to achieve this task. After completing this process, the documentation is handed over to the developers for translating the data model and business rules into an application. The developers create classes or templates in programming languages like Java, C++, .Net, etc.
The classes created by these developers represent the meta-data of the business model along with the code for the business rules. These classes are static definitions of how the model would behave in run-time. To see the actual working of these classes the developer compiles the classes to generate machine code and execute the classes. The classes can be tested only after the process of compilation (to intermediate code or target code) and execution. Developers go through this process of defining/modifying the classes, compiling and testing in an iteration to achieve the desired final output as described in the document. This existing approach demands a qualified software developer to translate a need into a working software program.
It is also known, that expert systems provide involving computer programs that could carry out reasoning tasks by applying the encoded knowledge inputs as "rules" or "frames" to facts concerning a problem provided by the end user.
The existing spreadsheet does not have a way to nest the sheets. Lack of nesting is a serious limitation in using the spreadsheets as a way to define data models. Spreadsheets described in the prior art also lack clear definition and support for 'Meta Data' i.e. data to describe data. Without 'Meta Data' interpretation of data becomes subjective and not explicit. Hence existing spreadsheets become unusable for defining business applications.
Also, any application is expected to go through multiple versions. With every new version comes along the problem of migrating the old model's data to the new model. This under the existing spreadsheet applications is often done as an offline data migration issue, which requires system downtime. Importantly, there is need for a method and system for maintaining historical changes done to a model against its previous version including such as the change of names, relationships and data types. Moreover, need is felt in the art for facilities for automatic migration utility (Change History) to migrate data from an earlier version of the model to the new version of the model.
Further the capability to selectively utilize part of an existing model in a new version by way of effective facilities to import sheets from one model to another is also found to be an and user requirement with formulas of the imported sheet to be reused in the linked mode.
Therefore, the above show that there exists a need for a new and innovative method for defining business applications using spreadsheet interface. The present invention is directed to meet such further need in spreadsheet like interface that would overcome problems encountered in existing conventional methods, including spread sheets used in defining business applications.

System and method of defining a hierarchical datamodel and related computation and instruction rules using spreadsheet like user interface


An apertured film with a reduced gloss through the use of light trap micro-pits uniformly distributed on the lands of the film in a random pattern and a method of making the same.

It is extremely desirable to construct disposable articles, such as absorptive devices, including sanitary napkins, panty liners, interlabial devices, diapers, training pants, incontinent devices, wound dressings and the like to have a cloth-like feel and a reduction in gloss for a plastic film topsheet. An absorptive device is typically comprised of a topsheet against the user's skin, the option of an acquisition distribution layer disposed beneath the topsheet, an absorbent core affixed between the topsheet and a barrier layer and a barrier layer that is also called a backsheet. Absorptive devices are more desirable when enhanced with a soft cloth-like surface feel to the user's skin at any anticipated points of contact. Likewise, by having a topsheet that is a soft, cloth-like body-facing surface that retains a dry surface feel during use, an absorptive device gives improved wearing comfort, and minimizes the development of undesirable skin conditions due to prolonged exposure to moisture absorbed within the absorptive device.
Topsheets comprised of macroscopically expanded, three dimensional, apertured polymeric webs have been shown to exhibit desirable fluid transport and fluid retaining characteristics. Desirable fluid transport characteristics allow the topsheet to acquire fluids, such as urine or menses, and pass the fluid into the absorptive article. Once absorbed into the absorptive article, the fluid retaining feature of the topsheet preferably prevents rewet, i.e., the movement of fluid back through the topsheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,045 (Ahr et al.) discusses an apertured macroscopically expanded three-dimensional polymeric web that exhibits a substantially non-glossy visible surface and cloth-like tactile impression. Ahr et al. teaches the criteria which must be met with respect to the regularly spaced pattern of surface aberrations in order to diffusely reflect incident light and thereby reduce the gloss. Despite its advancements in eliminating gloss, the structure of the surface aberrations of the web in Ahr, et al. can lack desired softness and pose manufacturing difficulties in reliably making the regularly spaced pattern of surface aberrations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,730 (Sorensen) discusses a multiplicity of "nubbles" to provides a cloth-like feel and a reduction in gloss for a plastic film topsheet. The nubbles are discusses as being spherical or spheroidal in cross-section having a cross-sectional diameter of from about 0.0005 inches to about 0.0110 inches (0.0127 mm to about 0.279 mm).
However, improvements in the reduction of gloss from polymeric webs used as topsheets while maintaining desired softness still remain an existing need.

Apertured formed film with a pattern of apertures and a plurality of light trap micro-pits


An automatic control system for directional control of an aircraft moving on the ground utilizing computer vision methods and camera sensing methods (visible, infrared or microwave) to optically recognize and track taxiway navigation features thereby providing pilot television picture steering cues or force inputs to the nosewheel steering system to maintain the aircraft on the centerline.

Deregulation of the airline industry has resulted in reduced airfares, which when combined with stable fuel prices that has produced a volume of air travel that has been strongly and steadily increasing in the past decade, and this trend is expected to continue unabated over the next two decades. Airport support infrastructure, however, has not kept pace with increasing traffic volume, and is expected to lag further in the coming decades. With limited numbers of airport gates, there is a strong motivation for airlines to move to larger aircraft to accommodate increased passenger volume through a limited number of gates. The need for larger aircraft is particularly critical at major "hub" airports in the "hub and spoke" systems operated by most large airlines in order to maximize passenger flow through their limited airport facilities.
A significant problem with larger aircraft is that it may be difficult to physically accommodate the increased wingspan in airport gates and taxiways designed for smaller aircraft. Increased wingspan for the larger aircraft is also highly desirable in view of the substantially improved aerodynamic efficiency and payload-range characteristics that are associated with increased wingspan. The increased wingspan and/or length of larger aircraft will make parking such aircraft next to each other at gates more risky in terms of probability of collision, and will also increase problems related to ground service vehicle, arrangements, flows, and congestion. Similarly, the increased wingspan increases the probability of collisions between aircraft taxiing on taxiways/taxilanes or other fixed objects,
Several prior art approaches exist, which address the problems associated with fitting larger aircraft into airport facilities originally designed for smaller aircraft. One obvious approach to maximizing passenger volume capability at a limited number of airport gates has been to park the largest possible aircraft type that will "fit" at each gate, given the constraining requirements of minimum clearances between the parked aircraft's wingtips and the wingtips of adjacent parked or parking aircraft and between the parked aircraft's aftmost extremity (e.g., tip of tail) and the "parking limit line" which separates the parking area from an adjacent active taxilane. This is a reasonable approach, but is inherently limited in the amount of additional passenger volume it can develop. Airline fleet mix, and more particularly the fleet mix present at each hub complex (i.e., the mix of aircraft actually present simultaneously at a gate constrained hub airport), can reduce the effectiveness of this strategy in increasing passenger volume. Airport terminals with movable (i.e., apron-drive type) passenger boarding bridges can take advantage of this method to a considerably greater extent than can airport terminals with fixed boarding bridges, because movable bridges can be moved to effectively change the maximum aircraft size accommodatable at each gate.
A second prior art approach has been to reduce the allowable operational clearances between parked aircraft and between a given aircraft and other fixed or moving objects (including other aircraft). An FAA Advisory Circular 150/5300-13 CHG 6, Sep. 30, 2000 specifies minimum clearances to be assumed for airport facilities design and expansion purposes. The specified clearance between a taxiing aircraft's wingtip and a nearest fixed-or-movable object is 44 ft. for Group IV airplanes (e.g., 767 or DC-10 class). Current airline practice includes examples of wingtip-to-wingtip clearances of as low as 17 ft. between adjacent parked aircraft or between two aircraft on parallel taxiways. An obvious disadvantage of this second approach is that it increases the probability of collisions, and requires increased pilot attention and precision for the taxiing and parking tasks.
A third prior art approach is to alternate large and small aircraft (747's and 737's) at gates nominally designed for 767/DC-10 size aircraft. While this approach increases the size of the largest accommodatable aircraft, it has the disadvantage that it may not significantly increase total passenger volume accommodatable, for example total passengers for 5 747's and 5 737's may not be significantly greater than for 10 DC-10's.
A fourth prior art approach goes beyond reducing allowable clearances between aircraft or alternating large and small aircraft. By taking into account the vertical separation between wingtips. For example, a DC-10 could be parked adjacent to a 727 with zero or even negative wingtip separation in a plan view, but with no real wing interference if the 727 wingtip passes under the DC-10 outer wing. Adequate vertical clearances have to be established accounting for the lowest possible ground clearance for the DC-10 wing and the highest possible wingtip location for the 727 (e.g., due to weight, gusts, etc.). The disadvantages of this approach are that it requires that airplanes with adequate vertical clearances be alternately parked, it limits gate assignment flexibility, and (ii) it aggravates problems of ground service vehicle access and parking.
A fifth prior art approach has been to use angled parking of aircraft at the gate combined with carefully designed nonlinear (e.g., curved) taxi-in paths to enable larger aircraft to park at gates designed for smaller aircraft, with the same level of wingtip-to-nearest-fixed-or-moving-object separations, While this approach is judged to be a viable for increasing the maximum aircraft size accommodatable and total passenger volume accommodatable at space constrained airport gates, the amount of increased airplane wingspan is limited to about 5 to 10%. Another possible disadvantage is that, for significant parking angles, modifications may need to be made to certain boarding bridges (e.g., fixed pedestal bridges) to increase the yaw swivel capability of the boarding bridgehead to assure proper sealed mating of the bridge head with the aircraft door. Or, alternatively replace the fixed pedestal bridge with an apron-drive-bridge that can swing laterally and has telescoping capability.
Yet another approach to increasing aircraft size accommodatable between adjacent parallel airport terminal piers is to replace dual, bidirectional wide-body aircraft taxilanes with unequal width dual taxilanes that re bidirectional for narrow-body aircraft (e.g., 737's and 757's) but are only unidirectional (i.e., effectively single lane) for increased span wide-body aircraft. However, this limitation could aggravate ground traffic congestion delays at major hub airports.
Finally, a seventh prior art approach to increasing aircraft size accommodatable in constrained gates and taxilanes is to equip the aircraft with foldable wingtips. This approach provides very significant airport compatibility benefits with correspondingly significant weight, complexity, and cost penalties.
As will be apparent, variations and combinations of the above-mentioned approaches are also possible.
All of the approaches cited above, except for approaches second and seventh, have the disadvantage of not allowing for increased airplane wingspan for dual bidirectional taxilanes between parallel terminal piers.

Autotiller control system for aircraft utilizing camera sensing


A fast and efficient method for reconstructing an image from undersampled, parallel MRI data sets acquired with non-Cartesian trajectories includes the calculation of unsampled k-space data from the acquired k-space data and sets of calculated reconstruction coefficients. To reduce the computation time, only a few reference reconstruction coefficients are calculated using a matrix inversion step and the remaining reconstruction coefficients are produced by interpolating between the reference reconstruction coefficients.

The field of the invention is magnetic resonance imaging and more particularly parallel imaging methods using a plurality of acquisition coils.
When a substance such as human tissue is subjected to a uniform magnetic field (polarizing field B0), the individual magnetic moments of the spins in the tissue attempt to align with this polarizing field, but precess about it in random order at their characteristic Larmor frequency. If the substance, or tissue, is subjected to a magnetic field (excitation field B1) which is in the x-y plane and which is near the Larmor frequency, the net aligned moment, Mz, may be rotated, or "tipped", into the x-y plane to produce a net transverse magnetic moment Mt. A signal is emitted by the excited spins after the excitation signal B1, is terminated, this signal may be received and processed to form an image.
When utilizing these signals to produce images, magnetic field gradients (Gx, Gy and Gz) are employed. Typically, the region to be imaged is scanned by a sequence of measurement cycles in which these gradients vary according to the particular localization method being used. The resulting set of received NMR signals are digitized and processed to reconstruct the image using one of many well known reconstruction techniques.
The most commonly used technique, which is frequently referred to as "spin-warp" or "Fourier imaging" employs a pulse sequence that samples Fourier space, or "k-space" in Cartesian coordinates. This technique is discussed in an article entitled "Spin-Warp NMR Imaging and Applications to Human Whole-Body Imaging" by W. A. Edelstein et al., Physics in Medicine and Biology, Vol. 25, pp. 751-756 (1980). It employs a variable amplitude phase encoding magnetic field gradient pulse prior to the acquisition of NMR spin-echo signals to phase encode spatial information in the direction of this gradient. In a two-dimensional implementation (2DFT), for example, spatial information is encoded in one direction by applying a phase encoding gradient (Gy) along that direction, and then a spin-echo signal is acquired in the presence of a readout magnetic field gradient (Gx) in a direction orthogonal to the phase encoding direction. The readout gradient present during the spin-echo acquisition encodes spatial information in the orthogonal direction. In a typical 2DFT pulse sequence, the magnitude of the phase encoding gradient pulse Gy is incremented (ΔGy) in the sequence of views that are acquired during the scan to produce a set of NMR data from which an entire image can be reconstructed. In a 3D FT scan a second phase encoding gradient (Gz) is also employed, and it too is stepped through a sequence of views for each value of the first phase encoding gradient (Gy).
Most NMR scans currently used to produce medical images require many minutes to acquire the necessary data. The reduction of this scan time is an important consideration, since reduced scan increases patient throughput, improves patient comfort, and improves image quality by reducing motion artifacts. There are many different strategies being used to shorten the scan time and the present invention relates to two of these.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,630,828 entitled "Rapid Acquisition Magnetic Resonance Imaging Using Radial Projections" and U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,435 entitled "Magnetic Resonance Angiography Using Undersampled 3D Projection Imaging", k-space can be sampled with radial trajectories rather than rectilinear trajectories as is done with spin-warp methods that employ phase encoding. This is illustrated for 2D imaging in FIGS. 2 and 3, where FIG. 2 illustrates the conventional rectilinear sampling of k-space where a Gy phase encoding is employed and FIG. 3 illustrates radial k-space sampling where the sampling trajectories all pass through the center of k-space and extend radially outward therefrom. The advantage of the latter method is that the image artifacts that are produced (when fewer views are acquired and k-space is not fully sampled according to the Nyquist criteria) are not as troubling to a diagnostician as the artifacts produced when a rectilinear method undersamples to the same extent. In other words, scan time can be reduced more by undersampling with a radial k-space sampling pattern than with the more conventional rectilinear sampling pattern.
A second technique that is used to shorten scan time is referred to generally as a "parallel imaging technique". Such "pMRI" techniques use spatial information from arrays of RF detector coils to substitute for the encoding which would otherwise have to be obtained in a sequential fashion using field gradients and RF pulses. The use of multiple effective detectors has been shown to multiply imaging speed, without increasing gradient switching rates or RF power deposition.
Parallel imaging techniques fall into one of two categories. They can fill in the omitted k-space lines prior to Fourier transformation, by constructing a weighted combination of neighboring lines acquired by the different RF detector coils. Or, they can first Fourier transform the undersampled k-space data set to produce an aliased image from each coil, and then unfold the aliased signals by a linear transformation of the superimposed pixel values. In either case, the reconstructed images tend to suffer from incomplete removal of aliasing artifacts, especially for large speedup factors. In images corrupted by aliasing, the edges of the image are wrapped into the center of the image.
Two such parallel imaging techniques that have recently been developed and applied to in vivo imaging are SENSE (SENSitivity Encoding) and SMASH (simultaneous acquisition of spatial harmonics). Both techniques include the parallel use of a plurality of separate receiving coils, with each coil having a different sensitivity profile. The combination of the separate NMR signals produced by these coils enables a reduction of the acquisition time required for an image (in comparison with conventional Fourier image reconstruction) by a factor which in the most favorable case equals the number of the receiving coils used as explained by Pruessmann et al., Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Vol. 42, p. 952-962, 1999.
For pulse sequences that execute a rectilinear trajectory in k-space, parallel imaging techniques invariably reduce the number of phase encoding steps in order to reduce imaging time, and then use the coil sensitivity information to make up for the loss of spatial information.
As explained above, undersampled non-Cartesian acquisitions such as spirals and radial sampling can acquire high resolution images quickly in such applications as real-time cardiac imaging and time-resolved contrast-enhanced MRA. Applying parallel imaging techniques could reduce further the undersampling artifacts to allow even shorter scan times than are currently available. However, in a non-Cartesian acquisition, a pixel may alias throughout a significant portion of the image volume and thus unaliasing the pixels using a PMRI technique is a different and more difficult task.
The SENSE technique has been applied to non-Cartesian trajectories by Pruessmann K P, Weiger M, Scheidegger M B, Boesiger P., "Advances In Sensitivity Encoding With Arbitrary K-Space Trajectories," Magn Reson Med, 2001; 46: 638-651; and Kannengiesser S A R, Brenner A R, Noll T G. "Accelerated Image Reconstruction For Sensitivity Encoded Imaging With Arbitrary K-Space Trajectories." Proceedings of the 8th Annual Meeting of ISMRM, Denver, 2000, p 155. Here the solution to an intractable matrix inversion is required and this is accomplished by iteratively using the Conjugate Gradient method. Though processing is tractable using this method, the processing becomes especially demanding for 3D imaging applications, and real-time applications are currently infeasible.
An important advance to efficient pMRI processing with non-Cartesian trajectories is a technique known as radial GRAPPA introduced by Griswold M A, Heidemann R M, Jakob P M., "Direct Parallel Imaging Reconstruction Of Radially Sampled Data Using GRAPPA With Relative Shifts.," Proceedings of the ISMRM 11th Scientific Meeting, Toronto, 2003: 2349. Original Generalized Autocalibrating Partially Parallel Acquisition (GRAPPA) determines a linear combination of individual coil data to create missing lines of k-space. The method determines the coefficients for the combination by fitting the acquired data to some oversampled data near the center of k-space.
With radial GRAPPA a preliminary scan is first performed to acquire "training data" that is used to estimate the missing radial data. This training data can then be used throughout a real-time scan to estimate unsampled radial lines with little processing. Using a large coil array, cardiac imaging with image quality equivalent to acquiring 96 radial sample trajectories per frame was achieved by acquiring as few as eight radial sample trajectories per frame. These techniques have also been successfully adapted to 3D radial sampling. However, radial GRAPPA requires the acquisition of high quality fully sampled training data, which often requires extensive signal averaging. Such a lengthy acquisition may be impractical in contrast enhanced dynamic studies.
A technique known as "PARS" described by Yeh E N, McKenzie C A, Ohliger M A, Sodickson D K, "Parallel Magnetic Resonance Imaging With Adaptive Radius In k-Space (PARS): Constrained Image Reconstruction Using k-Space Locality In Radiofrequency Coil Encoded Data," Magn Reson Med, in press uses the idea of k-space locality for efficient implementation of pMRI reconstruction for arbitrary sampling trajectories. The k-space locality principle assumes that only a few nearby points contribute to the sample being synthesized. This assumption allows avoiding computational problems associated with direct inversion of large encoding matrices. Instead, the method employs numerous inversions of much smaller matrices. Using the k-space locality constraint also improves numerical conditioning and reduces noise amplification in the reconstructed images. However, typical reconstruction times of PARS are still too long for many applications that require fast reconstruction.

Parallel magnetic resonance imaging method using a radial acquisition trajectory


This invention relates to a pneumatic tire comprising a tread at least a surface portion of which is made of a foamed rubber composition, the foamed rubber composition including closed cells formed by compounding a foaming agent and a foaming assistant which contains sodium benzenesulfinate or a combination of sodium benzenesulfinate and urea.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a pneumatic tire comprising a tread at least a surface of which is made of a foamed rubber composition, and particularly to an improved technique of forming closed cells.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a technique of using a foamed rubber in a tread rubber of a so-called studless tire so as to obtain good performances on icy roads such as a driving property, a steering property and the like, in running on snow and/or icy roads (see: JP-A-62-283001, JP-A-63-235921, JP-A-63-90403 etc.).
It is desirable that a wear resistance property and the performances on icy roads are more improved in the studless tire applied with the foamed rubber.
However, in a conventional technique of forming closed cells when a closed cell content is decreased in order to improve the wear resistance property, the performances on icy roads is lowered, on the contrary when the closed cell content is increased in order to improve the performances on icy roads, the wear resistance property is degraded.
In the conventional technique of forming the closed cells it is impossible to control closed cell content and closed cell size separately. And, when the closed cell content is decreased, the closed cell size simply becomes small and even though the wear resistance property is improved, the performances on icy roads is degraded. On the contrary when the closed cell content is increased, the closed cell size becomes large and the performances on icy roads is improved but the wear resistance property is degraded.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to improve the wear resistance property and the performances on icy roads together.
In order to attain the object, the inventors have studied hard and developed a technique capable of controlling the closed cell content and the closed cell size separately and accomplished this invention.
Therefore, in the present invention only the closed cell size can be made large or small while the closed cell content is kept constant.
Concretely, a wear phenomenon is caused by the fact that cracks generated at the closed cells grow and conjugate one another. This can be solved by making a distance between closed cells larger and suppressing conjugation of cracks. That is, while the closed cell content is kept optimum, the closed cell size is made larger to decrease a density of a number of the closed cells and to make the distance between closed cells larger, so that the wear resistance property can be improved. On the other hand, it is necessary to increase the closed cell content in order to improve the performances on icy roads.
Further, in a heavy duty pneumatic tire it is more required that the wear resistance property is good, and in a pneumatic tire for a passenger car it is more required that the performances on icy roads is good.
Meantime, a vulcanization reaction and a foaming reaction simultaneously occur and a difference of their reaction rates influences the closed cell size. That is, when the formation of the cells by foaming proceeds faster than a formation of three-dimensional bond through vulcanization, the cell size becomes large, on the contrary when the vulcanization reaction proceeds faster than the formation of the cells, the cell size becomes small.
Since the foaming assistant used in the present invention accelerates the vulcanization reaction as well, the relative reaction rate between vulcanization reaction and the foaming reaction can be controlled by regulating a compounding amount of the foaming assistant based on the foaming agent amount, and hence the closed cell content and the closed cell size can be controlled separately by regulating the foaming agent amount and a ratio of the foaming assistant amount to the foaming agent amount.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is a provision of a pneumatic tire comprising a tread at least a ground contacting portion of which is made of a foamed rubber composition, which comprises matrix rubber comprising at least one rubber ingredient selected from the group consisting of natural rubber and synthetic rubbers and closed cells which is formed by compounding a foaming agent and a foaming assistant which comprises sodium benzenesulfinate or a combination of sodium benzenesulfinate and urea and being vulcanized.
In preferable embodiments of the invention, the foamed rubber composition further comprises short fibers which are solid and/or hollow and/or a filler, at least one part of the closed cells may be covered with a coat layer made from the short fiber material, the foaming agent contains azodicarbonamide, the compounding amount of the foaming agent is 1-20 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the rubber ingredient and the foaming assistant is of 15-200% by weight based on the amount of the foaming agent compounded, a content of the closed cells is of 1-100%, or a mean size of the closed cells is of 30-200 xcexcm. Further, the pneumatic tire is used for a passenger car and as the filler at least one selected from the group consisting of carbon black and silica is compounded in the foaming rubber composition in an amount of 30-80 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the rubber ingredient, or the pneumatic tire is used as a heavy duty pneumatic tire and as the rubber ingredient comprises not less than 50% by weight of natural rubber and as the filler carbon black is compounded in an amount of 30-80 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the rubber ingredient, in the foaming rubber composition.
Though the rubber tends to decrease in its hardness owing to the cells"" existence, in case of including short fibers in the rubber matrix, the hardness of the rubber can be increased. In this case, the short fibers may be solid and/or hollow. When the short fibers are hollow, a hollow inside the fiber in addition to the cell formed by foaming effectively function on improvement of the performances on icy roads.
Further, when the fiber is made of a material which melts at any temperatures during vulcanization, since the gas formed through foaming reaction tends to gather at a melted fiber portion which is lower in viscosity than the rubber matrix portion, the cell becomes covered with the melted fiber material. In this case, when the fiber is hollow, the bigger closed cell may be formed by combining the gas formed through foaming reaction to the hollow inside the fiber (FIG. 3). On the other hand, when the fiber is a material which does not melt at any temperatures during vulcanization, the fiber maintains the form of the fiber even after the vulcanization (FIG. 4).
Moreover, the foaming agent preferably contains azodicarbonamide, and is compounded in an amount of 1-20 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the rubber ingredient and the foaming assistant of 15-200% by weight based on the amount of foaming agent compounded.
Further, the content of the closed cells is preferably 1-100% even when hollow fibers are compounded. And the mean size of the closed cells in the rubber matrix without being covered with the fiber material is more preferably 30-200 xcexcm. Cells those which have not been covered with the fiber material have a form of substantial sphere, while cells those covered with the fiber material has an elongated shape.

Pneumatic tire having tread made of foamed rubber composition


The invention includes a process for forming a laser pixel array useful with a pump-beam, comprising:                a) forming a layer containing a formamide of an amino dye compound on a support wherein the layer absorbs light outside the laser wavelength and predominantly outside the pump-beam wavelength range; and        b) subjecting the layer to UV radiation in the areas of the layer where it is desired to be free of pixels for a time sufficient to shift the absorption envelope of the areas into the pump-beam wavelength range. The invention also provides for unimolecularly forming an image or an information record and a composition of matter. The invention provides methods for forming filters, images or information records having a smooth surface and in particular for forming a pixel region pattern for use with an Organic VCSEL that would ease manufacturing.

Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) based on inorganic semiconductors (e.g., AlGaAs) have been developed since the mid-80's (K. Kinoshita et al., IEEE J. Quant. Electron. QE-23, 882 (1987)). They have reached the point where AlGaAs-based VCSELs emitting at 850 nm are manufactured by a number of companies and have lifetimes beyond 100 years (K. D. Choquette et al., Proc. IEEE 85, 1730 (1997)). With the success of these near-infrared lasers in recent years, attention has turned to other inorganic material systems to produce VCSELs emitting in the visible wavelength range (C. Wilmsen et al., Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001). There are many fruitful applications for visible lasers, such as display, optical storage reading/writing, laser printing, and short-haul telecommunications employing plastic optical fibers (T. Ishigure et al., Electron. Lett., 31, 467 (1995)). In spite of the worldwide efforts of many industrial and academic laboratories, much work remains to create viable laser diodes (either edge emitters or VCSELs), which span the visible spectrum.
In the effort to produce visible wavelength VCSELs, it would be advantageous to abandon inorganic-based systems and focus on organic-based laser systems. Organic materials have properties making them suitable for gain media in these lasers, such as low scattering/absorption losses and high quantum efficiencies. Organic lasers offer the advantage over inorganic systems in that they are relatively inexpensive to manufacture and can be made to emit over the entire visible range.
The usual route for making a manufacturable laser diode system is to use electrical injection rather than optical pumping to create the necessary population inversion in the active region of the device. This is the case for inorganic systems, since their optically pumped thresholds for broad-area devices are on the order of 104 W/cm2 (P. L. Gourley et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 54, 1209 (1989)). Such high power densities can only be obtained by using other lasers as the pump sources, precluding that route for inorganic laser cavities. Unpumped organic laser systems have greatly reduced combined scattering/absorption loss (˜0.5 cm−1) at the lasing wavelength, especially if a host-dopant combination is used as the active media. As a result, optically pumped power thresholds below 1 W/cm2 should be attainable, especially when a VCSEL-based microcavity design is employed in order to minimize the active volume (which results in lower thresholds). At these threshold power levels it becomes possible to optically pump organic-based vertical laser cavities using incoherent light-emitting diodes (LEDs). This result is highly significant for amorphous organic laser systems, since driving them by electrical injection has, to this date, been unobtainable mainly as a result of the low carrier mobility of organic materials (N. Tessler et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 74, 2764 (1999)).
It is possible to provide an organic surface-emitting laser arrangement that is particularly suitable to permitting optimization of the organic active region, improving power conversion efficiency, and removing unwanted spontaneous emission by constructing an organic vertical cavity surface-emitting laser device (Organic VCSEL) that produces light, for example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,728,278, 6,690,697, US 2004/0076203 and references cited therein.
Desirably the device comprises: a bottom dielectric stack reflective to light over a predetermined range of wavelengths; an organic active region for producing laser light, and including emissive material; a top dielectric stack spaced from the bottom dielectric stack and reflective to light over a predetermined range of wavelengths; a pump-beam light is transmitted and introduced into the organic active region through at least one of the dielectric stacks; and the organic active region includes one or more periodic gain region(s) and organic spacer layers disposed on either side of the periodic gain region(s) and arranged so that the periodic gain region(s) is aligned with the antinodes of the device's standing wave electromagnetic field, and wherein the spacer layers are substantially transparent to the laser light.
To enable a large area laser structure, which emits single- or multi-mode (a few modes), it is advantageous to construct a two-dimensional laser array device as shown schematically in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows a top view of the two-dimensional laser array device where on the surface of the VCSEL there are lasing pixels 200 separated by interpixel regions 210. In general the lasing pixels 200 are regions where the net gain of the device is larger than in the interpixel regions 210. As applied to two-dimensional inorganic laser arrays, a route for varying the net gain of the device is to modulate the reflectance of the top dielectric stack by either adding metal (E. Kapon and M. Orenstein, U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,430) or by deep etching into the top dielectric stack (P. L. Gourley et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 58, 890 (1991)). In both inorganic laser array cases, the laser pixels were on the order of 3-5 μm wide (so as to enable single-mode action) and the interpixel spacing was 1-2 μm. This technique can be applied to organic laser systems. The metal can be deposited by either conventional thermal evaporation, sputtering or electron-beam deposition techniques. The metal is patterned using standard photolithographic and etching techniques, thus forming a two-dimensional array of circular metallic pits on the surface of the substrate. The metal is removed from the laser pixel regions, while the metal remains in the interpixel regions. As a result, the reflectance of the device is smaller where the metal remains. However, it is very difficult to perform micron-scale patterning in a reproducible fashion on the laser structure once the organic layers have been deposited.
In another approach, the lower net gain regions are created by locally spoiling the emissive properties of the periodic gain region(s). This process uses standard photolithographic masks and UV exposing apparatus in order to create a patterned UV exposure of the periodic gain region(s). Since organic media is sensitive to high intensity UV radiation (for example the mercury arc lamp's i-line at 365 nm), this technique works very effectively to lower the emissive intensity of the UV exposed areas of the periodic gain region(s) by irreversibly changing the properties of the emissive material. In this case the UV exposed areas correspond to the interpixel region, while the unexposed areas correspond to the laser pixels. However this method has not been fully established and alternative methods of forming the laser pixel pattern are highly desirable.
Many methods have been described for formation of a micro-pattern or image, including those using the lithographic process, for example see M. Bowden, J. Electro. Chem. Soc., 128, 195C-214C (1981) for a review. Other methods include those reported in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,270,727, 4,782,006, 4,251,622, EP 0511403, JP 2002/293039, JP 2000/206645, JP 08035184, JP 06347633. However, many of these methods are not readily applied to the type of patterning needed in an Organic VCSEL because they leave the surface of the pattern pitted and not smooth, which can cause undesirable optical problems including light scattering. In some cases several components are required to generate the pattern and it would be desirable to find a simpler method.
B. K. Barnett and T. D. Roberts, J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Comm., 758 (1972) have described the quantitative photodecarbonylation of formanilides to give anilines. This technique has not been suggested for amino substituted dye molecules or for imaging applications.
Thus, there remains a need to find new methods to form filters, images or information records having a smooth surface and in particular to form a pixel region pattern for use with an Organic VCSEL that would offer ease of manufacturing.

Selective light absorption shifting layer and process