An apparatus for analyzing the condition of a machine having a rotating shaft, comprising: at least one input for receiving measurement data from a sensor for surveying a measuring point of the machine, the measurement data being dependent on rotation of the shaft; a data processor for processing condition data dependent on the measurement data; the data processor performing a plurality of condition monitoring functions (F1, F2 Fn). At least one of the plurality of condition monitoring functions (F1, F2 Fn) is a restricted function having a disabled state and an enabled state; the disabled state prohibiting complete execution of the condition monitoring function, and the enabled sate allowing execution. The apparatus allows a limited amount of use of the at least one restricted condition monitoring function; and at least one of the plurality of condition monitoring functions (F1, F2, Fn) is an unrestricted function.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for analysing the condition of a machine, and to a system for analysing the condition of a machine. The invention also relates to method of operating such a system.
2. Description of Related Art
Machines with moving parts are subject to wear with the passage of time, which often causes the condition of the machine to deteriorate. Examples of such machines with movable parts are motors, pumps, generators, compressors, lathes and CNC-machines. The movable parts may comprise a shaft and bearings.
In order to prevent machine failure, such machines should be subject to maintenance, depending on the condition of the machine. Therefore the operating condition of such a machine is preferably evaluated from time to time. The operating condition can be determined by measuring vibrations emanating from a bearing or by measuring temperature on the casing of the machine, which temperatures are dependent on the operating condition of the bearing. Such condition checks of machines with rotating or other moving parts are of great significance for safety and also for the length of the life of such machines. It is known to manually perform such measurements on machines. This ordinarily is done by an operator with the help of a measuring instrument performing measurements at measuring points on one or several machines.
A number of commercial instruments are available, which rely on the fact that defects in rolling-element bearings generate short pulses, usually called shock pulses. State of the art shock pulse measuring apparatuses may include proprietary technology for generating a value indicative of the condition of a bearing or a machine.
WO 98/01831 discloses a machine having a measuring point and a shalt with a certain shaft diameter, wherein the shaft can rotate when the machine is in use. WO 98/01831 also discloses an apparatus for analysing the condition of a machine having a rotating shaft. The disclosed apparatus has a sensor for producing a measured value indicating the vibration or temperature at the measuring point. The apparatus disclosed in WO 98/01831 has a microprocessor and an analysis routine stored in a memory. According to WO 98/01831 the following process can be performed by running the analysis routine on the microprocessor:                producing the measured value;        acquiring interpretation information from an information carrier which is mounted by the measuring point;        producing an actual condition value, indicating the actual condition of the machine at the measuring point, dependent on the measured value and the interpretation information;        acquiring a second condition value, indicating the condition of the machine at measuring point at an earlier point of time, from the information carrier;        producing a relation value dependent on the actual condition value and the second condition value, which relation value indicates a change in the condition.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An electrically heated window glass is provided, in which an electric power load may be suppressed by causing a consumed electric power for energizing a heater to be variable depending on the purpose of heating. The electrically heated window glass in accordance with the present invention comprises two glass panels laminated to each other; a plurality of heaters sandwiched between the two glass panels for heating the glass panels, the heaters being positioned in such a manner that the heaters divide the surface of the laminated glass panels into plural parts; a plurality bus bars each provided at the end portions of each of the plurality of heaters for feeding thereto; and a changeover means for switching the connection between selected one of the plurality of bus bars and a DC power supply to heat the plurality of heaters in a series connected manner or parallel connected manner.

An electrically heated window glass used for a windshield of vehicles has been conventionally known. The electrically heated window glass is formed by laminating two glass panels with sandwiching a heater therebetween, for example.
The electrically heated windshield may be heated by energizing the heater by means of a battery or the like, so that ice, frost, snow and the like adhered on the outside surface thereof may be melted. The inside surface of the windshield may also keep off fog thereon by heating. As a result, a filed of view may be secured in the windshield without being disturbed from ice, frost, snow and the like adhered on the outside surface, or fog caused on the inside surface thereof.
Such electrically heated window glass has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-119065, for example. The electrically heated window glass disclosed in the publication comprises a transparent electrical conductive film and a pair of bus bars (i.e., electrodes for energizing) on top and bottom sides, or right and left sides thereof between two glass panels, in which the transparent electrical conductive film is energized via the bus bars by a battery or the like to heat the window glass for melting ice and snow, or defogging
However, in the case of the electrically heated windshield heated by energizing the heater, a consumptive electric power capacity of the heater must be larger than 500W in order to melt ice and the like on the outside surface of the windshield. On the other hand, such large consumptive electric power capacity required to melt ice and the like is unnecessary for defogging the inside surface of the windshield. Furthermore, the heater must be used at a lower consumptive electric power capacity for decreasing a load to the battery due to a frequent usage thereof for defogging.
When the heater energized by a battery or the like is excessively heated, an optical distortion is caused in the glass panels sandwiching the heater, and the material for constituting the heater is degraded. In order to prevent these phenomena, dedicated terminals are required for detecting an excessive heating of the glass panels sandwiching the heater.


A method of identifying a vehicle total loss claim includes retrieving a plurality of historical vehicle records, labeling the records as repaired or total loss, calculating mean cost values, training a regression model, optimizing a probability threshold, analyzing a plurality of inputs to generate a prediction, and transmitting the prediction. A computing system includes a transceiver; a processor; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing system to receive answers, transmit the answers, receive a prediction, when the prediction is repairable, generate a repair suggestion, and when the prediction is total loss, generate a settlement offer. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions that when executed, cause a computer to receive answers, transmit the answers, receive a prediction, when the prediction is repairable, generate a repair suggestion, and when prediction is total loss, generate a settlement offer.

An insurer (e.g., a property and casualty carrier) considers a vehicle claim to be a total loss claim when the cost of repairing the vehicle associated with the claim exceeds the actual cash value (ACV) of the vehicle. Existing techniques for identifying total loss require a time-consuming and lengthy process and suffer from other significant drawbacks.
First, existing techniques for identifying total loss may require manual inspection. Conventionally, an insured (e.g., a policy holder) reports a vehicle claim to the insured's insurer, and then schedules an appointment with a claims adjuster and/or appraiser. Typically, the claims adjuster inspects the vehicle in person and determines whether the vehicle is a total loss based on the inspection. The adjuster's analysis may take days or sometimes even weeks to be finalized, subject to the adjuster's backlog, schedule, etc. An adjuster's analysis may cost hundreds of dollars per vehicle. For example, the claims adjusting process may take as much as one week to complete post-inspection. However, recent marketing research conducted by J.D. Power indicates that claimants expect to receive a settlement offer within three days of a first notice of loss (FNOL). Therefore, the time-consuming and lengthy process of identifying total loss causes customer/claimant frustration and may have a negative impact on customer retention.
Second, existing approaches to predicting total loss are often inaccurate and require an adjuster/appraiser to perform additional confirmation inspections. Inaccurate and/or duplicative vehicle repairability predictions can have a negative impact on customer perception and increase claim cycle time.
Third, vehicle repairability options are not personalized to customer circumstances, which leads to unnecessary customer frustration. For example, a customer may be notified that a repair is necessary, but may not be provided with any information regarding the type of repair needed, or the most cost-effective repair provider.
Fourth, existing total loss prediction techniques may not be applied to vehicles that are drivable. As a result, some vehicles that are a total loss but are still drivable are not identified, and drivable vehicle data is not made available for further analysis.
Fifth, existing techniques do not provide the customer with an initial communication outlining the total loss or repair process, or communication throughout the process to keep the customer updated as to the progress of the claim.
Sixth, existing techniques are not optimized for total loss prediction. For example, existing techniques may be specifically designed to optimize other factors (e.g., to route vehicles faster to save on storage costs incurred from tow yards).
Seventh, existing techniques may rely on insured or claimant photos to avoid the need for physical inspection of the vehicle. However, in practice, around 25% of all vehicle claims relate to a vehicle that is non-drivable. In these cases, the customer might not be with the vehicle at the time the customer provides the insurer with the FNOL. Moreover, photograph-based total loss prediction requires the customer/claimant to engage with a digital channel which some customers seek to avoid.
Therefore, techniques are needed for expeditiously and correctly identifying total loss, without requiring a physical inspection of the vehicle by an adjuster.

Method and system for early identification and settlement of total loss claims

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company


A method for transferring an image of a mask pattern through a pitch range onto a substrate is presented. In an embodiment, the method includes illuminating the mask pattern of an attenuated phase shift mask using a multipole illumination that includes an on-axis component and an off-axis component, the mask pattern including non-printing assist features configured for a pitch larger than twice a minimum pitch of the mask pattern, and projecting an image of the illuminated mask pattern onto the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to lithographic apparatus and methods.
2. Summary of the Related Art
A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a target portion of a substrate. Lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacturing of integrated circuits (ICs). In that circumstance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g., including part of, one or several dies) on a substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer) that has a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist). In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively exposed. Conventional lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at once, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through the beam of radiation in a given direction (the "scanning"-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction.
Photolithography is widely recognized as one of the key steps in the manufacturing of ICs and other devices and products with small features. However, as the dimensions of features become smaller, photolithography is becoming one of the most, if not the most, critical gating factors for enabling ICs and other devices and products with small features to be manufactured on a massive scale.
Fabrication of these ICs and other devices and products with small features involves the control of space tolerances between such small features, e.g., contact holes and interconnecting lines, as well as the control of the size of these features. The smallest space between two features and/or the smallest width of a feature such as, for example, a contact hole or an interconnecting line, is referred to as the critical dimension or CD. For an array of features, a pitch P of the periodicity may also be defined. The pitch refers to the mutual distance between two corresponding points of two substantially identical, neighboring features.
In order to control the critical dimension of these features during manufacturing, several lithographic responses may be used. These responses generally include the depth of focus (DOF), the exposure latitude (EL), the dense isolated bias (DIB), and the mask error enhancement factor (MEEF). The depth of focus is generally viewed as one of the most critical factors in determining the resolution of the lithographic apparatus. It is defined as the distance along the optical axis over which the image of the pattern is adequately sharp. The mathematical representation of DOF is:
                    DOF        =                              +                          /                              -                                  k                  2                                                              *                      λ                          NA              2                                                          (        1        )            where k2 is an empirical constant, λ is the wavelength of radiation user, and NA is the numerical aperture of the projection system used to make the feature. The exposure latitude describes the percentage dose range wherein the printed pattern's critical dimension (CD) is acceptable, typically 10%. It is used in combination with the DOF to determine the process window, i.e., the regions of focus and exposure that keep the final resist profile within prescribed specifications. As for the DIB, it is a measure of the size difference between similar features, depending on the pattern density. Finally, the MEEF describes how reticle CD errors are transmitted into substrate CD errors. This parameter corresponds to the incremental change in the final feature size on the substrate per unit change in the corresponding pattern feature size (where the pattern dimension is scaled to substrate size by the reduction ratio of the lithographic apparatus). Near the resolution limit of a lithographic apparatus, the MEEF often rises dramatically.
With increasing demands on the number of features per area of die to be printed, there have been tremendous efforts within the industry to lower the CD and the pitch of these features. Typically, the industry has used the Rayleigh criterion to provide a theoretical estimate of the limits of feature printing for a given process. The Rayleigh criterion for resolution CD is shown in equation (2):
                    CD        =                              k            1                    *                      λ            NA                                              (        2        )            where λ is the wavelength of the radiation used, NA is the numerical aperture of the projection system used to image the feature, and k1 is a process dependent adjustment factor, also called the Rayleigh constant. For conventional optical lithography, the ultimate resolution limit of conventional lithographic apparatus is reached at k1=0.5, which corresponds to the state at which only one set of diffracted orders can pass through the projection system. The resolution limit of k1=0.5 stands firm even as exposure wavelengths decrease from 248 nm to 193 nm and then to 157 nm, and numerical aperture increases from 0.5 to 0.75.
The effectiveness of a given lithographic process is generally weighed based on its capability to print arrays of dense features with sufficient latitude. However, any given photolithographic layer may also include small features that are positioned in one or more arrays at a pitch larger than the smallest distance between two features. Therefore, the printing of layers including small features occurring at both minimum pitch, i.e., dense features, and larger pitches, i.e., semi-dense features and isolated features, is of importance. Dense features are commonly known to be separated by a distance that is substantially equal to the target feature dimension, isolated features are commonly known to be separated by a distance that is more than about five times the target dimension, and semi-dense features are spaced apart by a distance ranging between about one and about five times the target feature dimension.
Thus, the printing of features arranged in the full pitch range may be complicated because the requirements for printing dense features generally differ from those for printing isolated features. Finding process conditions that simultaneously satisfy high depth of focus, low mask error enhancement factor, low sidelobe printing, and good pattern fidelity for dense, semi-dense and isolated features may be difficult and may become even more difficult as k1 decreases below 0.4.

Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method


An oxide catalyst comprising the elements Mo, V and Nb with small amounts of phosphorus, boron, hafnium, Te and/or As. The modified catalyst provides both higher selectivity and yield of acetic acid in the low temperature oxidation of ethane with molecular oxygen-containing gas. A process for the higher selective production of acetic acid by the catalytic oxidation of ethane with oxygen, in the presence of the improved catalyst.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to improved catalysts, methods of making the same and to processes of using the same for low temperature oxydehydrogenation of ethane to acetic acid and ethylene providing increased ethane conversion and higher selectivity to acetic acid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Documents are cited in this disclosure with a full citation for each appearing thereat. These documents pertain to the field of this invention; and, each document cited herein is hereby incorporated by reference.
The use of molybdenum and vanadium containing catalyst systems for low temperature oxydehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene has become known since the publication of "The Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Ethane over Catalyst Containing Mixed Oxide of Molybdenum and Vanadium" by E. M. Thorsteinson, T. P. Wilson, F. G. Young and P. H. Kasai, Journal of Catalysis, vol. 52, pp. 116-132 (1978). This paper discloses mixed oxide catalysts containing molybdenum and vanadium together with another transition metal oxide, such as Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Nb, Ta, or Ce. The disclosed catalysts are active at temperatures as low as 200.degree. C. for the oxydehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene. Some acetic acid is produced as a by-product by these methods.
Several U.S. Pat. Nos. (4,250,346, 4,524,236, 4,568,790, 4,596,787 and 4,899,003) disclose low temperature oxydehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene. U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,346 discloses the use of catalysts of the formula Mo.sub.h V.sub.i Nb.sub.j A.sub.k in which A is Ce, K, P, Ni, and/or U, h is 16, i is 1 to 8, j is 0.2 to 10, and k is 0.1 to 5. The patent discloses one phosphorus-containing catalyst which is set forth in the examples having a Mo.sub.16 V.sub.4 Nb.sub.4 P.sub.4 oxide composition supported by silica-alumina. This catalyst is inactive in the oxidation of ethane at 320.degree. C. Furthermore, this patent reference is concerned with obtaining a high selectivity to ethylene, rather than acetic acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,326 is directed to the use of a calcined catalyst of the formula Mo.sub.a V.sub.b Nb.sub.c Sb.sub.a X.sub.e.
The above cited patents reference other patents concerned with the production of ethylene from ethane by the oxydehydrogenation process wherein acetic acid is formed as a by-product.
European Patent Publication EP 02 94 845 discloses a process for the higher selective production of acetic acid by the oxidation of ethane with oxygen in contact with a mixture of catalysts consisting of (A) a catalyst for oxydehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene and (B) a catalyst for hydration/oxidation of ethylene. The ethane oxydehydrogenation catalyst is represented by the formula Mo.sub.x V.sub.y Z.sub.z, wherein Z can be nothing or Nb, Sb, Ta, W and many other metals.
European Patent Publication EP 04 80 594 is directed to the use of an oxide catalyst composition comprising tungsten, vanadium, rhenium and at least one of the alkaline metals for the production of ethylene and acetic acid by oxidation of ethane with a molecular oxygen containing gas. The replacement of tungsten in whole or part by molybdenum carried out in EP 04 07 091 results in an increase in selectivity to acetic acid at the expense of the selectivity to ethylene.
EP 05 18 548 relates to a process for making acetic acid by oxidation of ethane in contact with a solid catalyst having empirical formula VP.sub.a M.sub.b O.sub.x, where M is one or more optional elements selected from Co, Cu, Re, Nb, W and many other elements, excluding molybdenum, a is 0.5 to 3, b is 0 to 0.1. The patent publication discloses that the catalyst contains a crystalline vanadyl pyrophosphate phase.
European Patent Publication EP 06 27 401 describes the use of a V.sub.a Ti.sub.b O.sub.x catalyst for oxidation of ethane to acetic acid. The catalyst composition may comprise additional components from a large list of possible elements.
It would be desirable to produce an improved catalyst for use in the oxidation of ethane to acetic acid with higher yields and increased selectivity of acetic acid.

Catalysts for the oxidation of ethane to acetic acid, processes of making same and processes of using same


Multi-spectrum imaging systems and methods are provided for imaging in multiple spectrums, e.g., thermal IR (infrared) at wavelengths of 4 microns and 11 microns, near-IR, and visible light, all on a same optical centerline. For example, an imaging system includes a first imager and a second imager. The first imager includes an array of thermal IR detectors, wherein the first imager is configured to receive incident photonic radiation and generate a thermal IR image, wherein each thermal IR detector comprises a photon absorber member that is configured to absorb thermal IR photonic radiation from the incident photonic radiation, and reflect remaining photonic radiation in the incident photonic radiation along an optical path of the imaging system. The second imager is disposed in said optical path of the imaging system, wherein the second imager is configured to receive the remaining photonic radiation reflected from the first imager and generate a second image.

In general, conventional imaging systems are typically designed with optics and detectors that are configured for optimal operation in one particular spectral band (e.g., visible light). However, for certain applications, it is desirable to implement an imaging system that is designed for multi-spectral operation in two or more discrete spectral sub-bands of the electromagnetic spectrum such as visible/near IR and mid/long wavelength IR bands. Indeed, in certain applications, the ability to image a target scene in the visible and IR spectral bands can allow viewing of target objects/scenes in normal level lighting conditions as well as low-level light conditions (e.g., dusk, smoke, bad weather conditions, long distance or objects that are close to background levels or weak emitters). There are various applications, such as military applications, where imaging targets of interest over a wide range of photonic wavelengths is important or otherwise desirable. However, systems and devices for multispectral imaging applications (e.g., imaging in visible and infrared portions of the spectrum) are typically complex and costly, due to the different optics, image sensors and imaging electronics that are needed for each of the different spectral bands of interest. For multispectral applications, the use of refractive optics is especially problematic, where refractive optics are typically designed for specific spectral bands and cannot sufficiently provide wideband performance across a wide spectral range. Consequently, for multispectral applications, different optics must be used for each spectral band of interest (i.e., the same refractive optics cannot be commonly used over a wide range of spectral bands).


A gas bubbler device provides enhanced recirculation of molten glass within a glass melter apparatus. The bubbler device includes a tube member disposed within a pool of molten glass contained in the melter. The tube member includes a lower opening through which the molten glass enters and upper slots disposed close to (above or below) the upper surface of the pool of molten glass and from which the glass exits. A gas (air) line is disposed within the tube member and extends longitudinally thereof. A gas bubble distribution device, which is located adjacent to the lower end of the tube member and is connected to the lower end of the gas line, releases gas through openings therein so as to produce gas bubbles of a desired size in the molten glass and in a distributed pattern across the tube member.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to molten glass recirculating apparatus and systems and, more particularly, to a bubbler apparatus for a glass melter that provides enhanced glass recirculation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Air bubblers have previously been used in glass melters. In general, these bubblers comprise air tubes for injecting air bubbles into the free glass pools. A disadvantage of such air bubbles is that liquid flow velocities imparted by the bubbles are lost in the localized liquid recirculation. The need to provide recirculation and agitation of molten glass is well documented and a number of issued patents relate to this problem. Considering some of these patents, U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,337 to Macedo et al. relates to an air bubbler for increasing the glass production of a glass melt, wherein a plurality of bubblers are provided and a precious metal insert is used to protect each of the bubblers from corrosion at the orifice or orifices thereof through which air is injected into the melt.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,814 to Lin also relates to apparatus for recirculating molten glass. A gas emitter pipe releases air into a riser chamber having a lower inlet, opening and an upper, outlet opening so that molten glass within the riser chamber rises and exits through the upper opening and along a trough. The exiting molten glass causes additional molten glass to be drawn into the riser chamber through the lower inlet opening.
Other patents disclosing glass melters including gas (air) bubblers include U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,551 to Piper et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,931 to Boettner, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,425 to Krumwiede et al.

Recirculation bubbler for glass melter apparatus

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy


An SOI pass-gate disturb solution for an N-type MOSFET wherein a resistor is connected between the gate and the body of the FET to eliminate the disturb condition. The FET is fabricated in a substrate having a source, a drain and a gate, wherein the body of the field effect transistor is electrically floating and the transistor is substantially electrically isolated from the substrate. A high resistance path is provided coupling the electrically floating body of the FET to the gate, such that the body discharges to a low state before significant thermal charging can occur when the gate is low, and thus prevents the accumulation of a charge on the body when the transistor is off. The resistance of the high resistance path is preferably approximately 1010 Ohmsxe2x88x92um divided by the width of the pass-gate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a Silicon On Insulator (SOI) pass-gate disturb solution, and more particularly pertains to an SOI pass-gate disturb solution for an N-type Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) wherein a resistor is connected between the gate and the body if the MOSFET to eliminate the disturb condition.
2. Description of Prior Art
N-type MOSFETs are used as pass-gates in Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) circuits for improved density and performance. In the SOI, the body or the substrate of the FET electrically floats. This floating leads to a disturb problem when the source and the drain electrodes are held high for greater than the thermal generation time and the gate is held low, followed by a transition from high to low by the input, which is usually the source. Holes generated in the body prior to the transition are drawn into the source by the low potential during the transition. The bipolar gain, with the source acting as the emitter, the body as the base, and the drain as the collector, results in a current pulse at the output of the pass-gate, which is usually the drain, given by the NPN beta times the body discharge current formula (Cgatexc3x97Vdd/Tfall). This current pulse can cause the circuit, which is to be isolated by the pass-gate, to falsely make a transition to the low state.
The current approach to solving this problem is to either increase the noise tolerance of the circuit being isolated by the pass-gate, and/or to add processing steps to reduce the NPN parasitic bipolar gain.
Increasing the immunity of the isolated circuit, called the latch, to this current pulse compromises performance as more current is now required from the pass-gate to complete a desired transition to the low state. Reduction of the NPN gain requires introduction of additional processing steps which involve compromises in leakage and manufacturing heat cycles.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an SOI pass-gate disturb solution.
A further object of the subject invention is the provision of an SOI pass-gate disturb solution for an N-type MOSFET wherein a resistor is connected between the gate and the body of the MOSFET to eliminate the disturb condition.
The present invention eliminates the disturb condition by adding a resistor whose value is approximately 1010 Ohmsxe2x88x92um divided by the width of the pass-gate between the gate and the body of the pass-gate. At this value of resistance, the body will always discharge to the low state before significant thermal charging can occur when the gate is low, and thus prevent accumulation or build up of the body charge when the pass-gate is off. The value of the resistor is high enough such that the current from the gate to the body, when the gate is high and the source and drain are low, is negligible compared to the MOSFET subthreshold current. This circuit also significantly lessens the increase in standby current in SOI MOSFETs since the low gate potential grounds the body and keeps the threshold voltage (Vt) from dropping due to drain avalanche current charging of the body.
In accordance with the teachings herein, the present invention provides a field effect transistor and a method of fabricating in a substrate, and having a source, a drain and a gate, wherein the body of the field effect transistor is electrically floating and the transistor is substantially electrically isolated from the substrate. Pursuant to the present invention a high resistance path is provided coupling the electrically floating body of the field effect transistor to the gate of the field effect transistor. During operation, the high resistance path discharges the body to a low state before significant thermal charging can occur when the gate is low, and thus prevents the accumulation of a charge on the body when the transistor is off.
In greater detail, the resistance of the high resistance path is approximately 1010 Ohmsxe2x88x92um divided by the width of the pass-gate. The high resistance path is sufficiently high such that current from the gate to the body, when the gate is high and the source and drain are low, is negligible compared to the subthreshold current.
The transistor is preferably fabricated in SOI MOSFET, and the circuit significantly lessens an increase in standby current in the SOI MOSFET since the resultant low gate potential grounds the body and prevents the threshold voltage (Vt) from dropping due to drain avalanche multiplication of the current charging the body.

International Business Machines Corporation


A sodium-ion conducting NaSICON ceramic can be densified via the addition of a solvent to a NaSICON powder and subsequent pressing under high pressure and mild heat. Densification to ˜90% relative density can be achieved, providing a path toward low-temperature fabrication of Na-ion conductors.

NaSICON-based ceramic and glassy ion conductors are solid state ion conductors with the nominal composition of (Na1+xZr2P3−xSixO12, 0≤x≤3), though this composition can vary dramatically within this particular structural motif. Conventional synthesis and densification of NaSICON-based sodium-ion conductors requires high temperatures (>900° C.), often resulting in sodium volatility as well as possible non-stoichiometric liquid phase creation and phase separation. Lowering the processing temperature can help alleviate these drawbacks by, for example, preventing sodium loss and avoiding temperatures above the solidus. Moreover, the low temperature sintering allows for independent control over ceramic microstructure and densification and can facilitate conformation of ceramic and polymeric or glassy phases that are not stable at elevated temperatures.

Solution-assisted densification of NaSICON ceramics

National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC


A coupling assembly for releasably interconnecting a fluid joint. The fluid joint includes confronting ends of a pair of fluid conveying members, each of which has a ferrule fixedly attached thereto, and a sleeve circumferentially surrounding the ferrules. The coupling assembly includes a pair of coupling members, a hinge assembly configured to hingedly connect the first ends of the coupling members to permit them to rotate relative to each other between an open position and a closed position where the coupling members surround the sleeve, a pair of bonding wires, each of which is coupled to a respective coupling member and configured to electrically bond the respective coupling member to the ferrules of respective fluid conveying members, and a releasable latching assembly configured to releasably secure the second ends of the coupling members together when they are in their closed position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to coupling assemblies for interconnecting confronting ends of a pair of fluid conveying members, and more particularly, to a clamshell variety coupling assembly for interconnecting confronting ends of a pair of fluid conveying members.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a number of prior art couplings that are used for interconnecting various types of fluid conveying lines or conduits. Depending upon the type of fluid to be conveyed, the prior art couplings may be designed to handle special safety requirements. Particularly for conduits which convey fuel, there is always a concern for designing a coupling so that an electrostatic charge does not build up on one of the coupled sections of the line. A stored electrostatic charge may give rise to the hazard of an electrical spark in the presence of vaporized fuel. Discharge of the spark by grounding or by flexing of the coupling in such a manner to bring electrically bonded parts of the coupling out of contact with one another may cause instantaneous combustion of any vaporized fuel which in turn can cause ignition of the fuel conveyed in the lines. Buildup of an electrostatic charge by ionization of fuel as it is conveyed through the fuel lines can be referred to as a static buildup of an electric charge. Lightning strikes can also create a spark and such strikes are commonly referred to as dynamic causes for creating an electrical charge. Thus, a coupling should also have the capability to dissipate a dynamic electrical charge, such as one caused by a lightning strike. Particularly for lightning strikes, it is important that the coupling have the capability to quickly dissipate the electrical charge due to the potential magnitude of a spark caused by the lightning strike.
Despite the advances in coupling designs, most fluid conveying lines still utilize metallic flanges which are sealed to the coupling by deformable o-rings. These type of sealing rings may electrically insulate the coupled sections of the line from each other, thus any ionization of fuel that flows through the lines may give rise to a differential electrostatic charge between the coupled sections, which creates a spark gap. Accordingly, there is still a need to ensure electrical conductivity across the coupled sections of the fuel lines to prevent electrostatic buildup to reduce the complexity, cost, and size of the coupling as well as improve overall performance.


A hermetically sealed motor compressor comprising a housing enclosing a motor stator and rotor. A vertically oriented crankshaft is connected at one end to the rotor and has an offset crankshaft journal at its other end. An oil passage is provided in the journal and an oil pick-up tube has a first straight end projecting into an oil sump. The second straight end portion is axially aligned with the rotation axis of the crankshaft. A helically twisted insert is provided in the second straight end portion and the first and second portions are connected by an S-shaped intermediate portion.

This invention relates to hermetically sealed compressors and, more particularly, to an improved oil pick-up tube for such compressors.
Compressors used in domestic and commercial refrigeration applications generally employ vertically arranged eccentric crank pins having one end connected to the rotor of an electric motor and a crank journal end driving a compressor piston. The compressor has a hermetically sealed housing, which provides a sump for lubricating oil at its lower end. Lubricating oil is conducted from the sump to machine elements requiring lubrication by a pick-up tube usually connected to a passage in the crank journal and extending into the oil sump. Since the crank journal is offset from the rotational axis of the motor, the pick-up tube enters the oil sump at an angle with its distal end intersecting the rotational axis. This arrangement pumps the oil by the centrifugal force created by the offset. However, considerable turbulence and splash noise is created by the angularity of the tube as where it enters the surface of the oil. Examples of slant pick-up tube arrangements may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,738,919; 3,545,891; 5,377,781; and 5,795,140.
Other slant pick-up tube arrangements employ an oil clip having a longitudinal slit, which is intended to separate the refrigerant from the oil. These arrangements tend to pick up high amounts of refrigerants at the surface of the sump and create considerable noise by oil splashing. Examples of such arrangements may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,858,685 and 5,085,579.
It is desirable to provide an oil pick-up tube which substantially eliminates oil-splash noise while providing an effective oil pump to deliver lubricating oil to the bearing surfaces of the compressor. It is also desirable to provide an oil pick-up tube which reduces the amount of refrigerant and, therefore, the amount of oil delivered to the bearing surfaces.
This invention relates to an oil pick-up tube which reduces oil splash noise and transient sound emissions while delivering a proper amount of lubricating oil to the bearing surfaces of a compressor.
More specifically, the invention relates to an oil pick-up tube for a hermetically sealed compressor. The compressor comprises a housing defining an oil sump and housing an electric motor. The motor has a stator and a rotor with the rotor connected to one end of a vertically oriented crankshaft. An offset crankshaft journal is provided at the other end of the crankshaft which is received by a connecting rod pinned to a compressor piston. The piston is received in a compressor cylinder. An oil passage is provided in the crankshaft journal and communicates with bearing surfaces in the compressor.
The oil pick-up tube has a first end portion in fluid communication with the oil passage in the crankshaft journal and has a second straight end portion projecting through a surface portion of a body of lubricating oil in the sump. The second straight end portion is axially aligned with the vertical rotation axis of the crankshaft. An S-shaped midportion connects the first and second end portions. The second straight end portion has a helically twisted fin inserted therein with a press fit. Since the second end portion rotates about its own axis, the twisted insert acts as a screw pump to conduct oil through the second end portion to the S-shaped midportion. Centrifugal force caused by the offset of the crankshaft journal pumps oil into the journal and to the bearing surfaces.
Preferably the first end portion of the tube is straight and is inserted in the oil passage of the crankshaft journal with a press fit. A radial flange is provided on the tube to limit the amount of tube inserted in the passage and properly locate the second straight end portion relative to the oil sump.


The present invention relates to methods for optimizing a production process having starting products, intermediate products and at least one final product. The present invention also relates to a digital storage medium and a computer program product that can be used in connection with the methods of the present invention.

Current production processes are generally complex and have a large number of production steps which are coupled to one another. As a result, there are one or more final products which were produced via a chain of intermediate products from starting products.
The planning of production processes is typically oriented to a demand for a final product at a specific time, the quantity of starting products to be processed and the time window for the individual production steps resulting therefrom. The demand for the final products is estimated from a prognosis function and the target inventory quantity for the periods observed is determined therefrom, taking a storage reserve into consideration. The prognosis function is typically determined empirically or using a prognosis method. The target inventory quantity, which may change over time, represents an essential starting parameter for the optimization of the production process.
The current methods for production planning essentially follow a formulation in which the capacity planning to be optimized is modeled as a linear planning problem (LP problem), the LP problem being solved using commercial products and being implemented in a production plan using a downstream scheduling strategy, which is often heuristic. Commercial products which are used to solve the LP problem are, for example, standard LP solvers, such as those offered by the companies ILOG or dash optimization.
If only one single product is planned, the capacity plan also automatically provides a production plan. This is frequently no longer relevant for multiple products, since the LP solution only provides capacity utilizations for certain time intervals. For the preparation of an optimum production plan for more than one product, a downstream, combinational problem is therefore to be solved. Since such combinational problems are only solvable with exponential computing outlay because of the mathematical complexity, the combinational solution is therefore excluded for problems relevant in practice from a very small number of products (approximately 5). Therefore, one attempts to avoid the significant computing outlay using task-, location-, and/or product-specific scheduling strategies which are based on heuristic methods.
A balanced quantity plan provides little or no information on whether and how a sequence plan which may be implemented is to appear. The sequence planning is completely decoupled from the capacity planning. Joint optimization of capacity and sequence plans is therefore not possible. Even productions having fixed plans and/or which have already begun may only be taken into consideration in the preparation of the production plan with great difficulty. Therefore, the production plan derived in this way no longer corresponds to the original capacity planning, and the quantity balance sheets which represent a minimum requirement for a production plan are no longer balanced, for example. For "batch productions" and/or "campaign formations", the material balance sheets must be checked again and again and possibly corrected. This increases the maintenance outlay of the planning significantly. These problems require increased caretaking, sometimes with very complex individual programming.
The modulation of the LP problem is performed in two parts using methods according to the related art. First, for the capacity planning, a supply-network planning model is used in which neither sequence restrictions, lot size restrictions, temporal restrictions, storability restrictions, pass-through times, or other things may be imaged correctly. The more detailed planning is left to a second model in a second step which performs the planning of the production sequences with the aid of heuristic rules, such as a scheduling strategy. These heuristic rules are frequently overtaxed with the capacity and/or storage optimization.
Because the modulation is performed in two steps, it may not be ensured that the goals of the capacity planning and the production sequences are taken into consideration jointly during the construction of the production plan. The practice of production planning shows that significant manual corrections are to be performed by the user. In this case, the unreliable results, whose quality is highly doubtful, represent a large disadvantage. In addition, this method is very susceptible to errors, since production-specific restrictions and finite capacities are to be taken into consideration manually and simultaneously by the planning person and facility capacities may frequently be assigned by multiple persons. A synchronization problem then arises between multiple planning persons if they modify the same resource.
For the reasons cited above, production planning with the aid of a model tailored for an LP solver leads to unacceptable and unfeasible production plans. It is especially disadvantageous that only linear dependencies may be imaged using an LP model (quantity balance sheets such as "the product A must first be produced before it is consumed" correspond to linear equations or capacity restrictions, such as a maximum production rate, correspond to inequalities). A realistic planning situation may be described only insufficiently using linear restrictions, however.
In order to be able to guarantee the preparation of a viable plan, other dependencies are necessary for modeling qualitatively, which may be described only poorly or not at all using linear equations or inequalities. These essential restrictions include                non-linear conditions ("at a specific time, fractions of a product may not be produced on a facility, but rather none or precisely one. A plan quantity must always be a multiple of a batch quantity."),        sequence-dependent conditions ("For the production steps 1, 2, and 3, the product A may never be produced before the product B."), or        storability restrictions ("product A may not be stored temporarily for longer than two days.").
These and similar restrictions require the introduction of integrity conditions and/or binary variables and lead to an MILP model (MILP=mixed integer LP). This is an expansion of an LP model using integrity conditions.
MILP problems may not be solved using the standard techniques of an LP server and require completely different solution techniques. In order to be able to compute the optimum solution of an MILP problem, in general, all possible assignments of the integrity conditions must be analyzed and compared. Viewed from a mathematical standpoint, this is an NP-complete problem. In practice, this means that it may not be solved like an LP problem, for example, in polynomial computing time as a function of the parameters described, but rather that an exponential computing outlay is necessary for this purpose as a function of the number of integrity conditions.
If it is assumed that an MILP problem having ten integrity conditions for a product may be solved in a specific time, then this same task requires 32 times as much time with 15 products and 1024 times as much time with 20 products. An MILP problem may therefore only be solved in a justifiable time with very few integrity conditions. This restriction, which is purely a matter of computing technology, is the essential reason the non-linear, sequence-dependent restrictions or storability restrictions are either completely ignored or only an insufficiently small number of machines, products, and planning periods are permitted in the MILP model observed.

Method for the optimizing of a production process


The invention relates to an infrared thermal sensor comprising a substrate having a cavity, a cavity bottom wall formed by a continuous substrate surface. The sensor comprises a membrane adapted for receiving heat from incident infrared radiation, a beam suspending the membrane, and a thermocouple. This membrane comprises openings extending through the membrane for facilitating the passage of an anisotropic etchant for etching the cavity during manufacture. Each opening has a cross-section with a length to width ratio of at least 4. The width direction of respectively a first and a second set of openings is oriented according to respectively a first crystallographic orientation and a second crystallographic orientation, these orientations corresponding to different directions lying in loosely packed crystal lattice faces of the semiconductor substrate.

Any object having a temperature above 0 K will radiate infrared radiation to some extent. Depending on the temperature of the object, the infrared radiation will vary. If the temperature of the object is higher it will radiate more infrared radiation. Therefore, infrared sensors can remotely determine the temperature of an object by measuring the amount of emitted infrared radiation.
Integrated semiconductor infrared thermal sensors are known in the field which absorb the infrared radiation emitted by the object on a membrane which is isolated from the bulk silicon. This membrane will thus heat up due to the absorption of the received infrared radiation. The infrared radiation may furthermore be blocked from the surrounding bulk silicon by an aperture layer such that the bulk silicon only heats up negligibly relative to the membrane. The bulk silicon is furthermore typically substantially more voluminous than the membrane, such that even if the infrared radiation were not blocked, the temperature change in the bulk silicon would still be negligible under normal circumstances since the thermal resistance to the outside is so low that the bulk remains on ambient temperature. The bulk silicon can be seen as a heat sink on a constant temperature. Because the temperature of the bulk will be constant and equal to a reference temperature, e.g. the ambient temperature, the temperature difference between the bulk and the membrane increases when the membrane receives infrared radiation from an object. This temperature difference is therefore a measure for the temperature of the object. By measuring the temperature difference between the membrane and the bulk, the temperature of the object can be deducted.
The temperature difference between the membrane and the silicon bulk can be measured by placing thermocouples between the membrane and the bulk. A thermocouple will generate a voltage difference depending on the temperature difference between the two nodes of the thermocouple and the type of the material. Thermocouples may for example comprise n-type and p-type poly-silicon. It is also possible to place multiple thermocouples together in series to create a larger voltage difference.
Thermocouples may be placed on beams which connect the membrane to the bulk silicon in devices known in the art. All the thermocouples may be connected in a series circuit in order to obtain a large output voltage. However, the thermocouples also have a certain electrical resistance, e.g. depending on the doping, such that connecting all the thermocouples in series will also connect the resistances in series. The total electrical resistance will therefore be the sum of the electrical resistance of each thermocouple.
The temperature difference between the membrane and the silicon bulk is a measure to define the temperature of the object. It is thus advantageous to obtain a large temperature difference. Therefore, the thermal isolation between the membrane and the bulk is preferably very large.
The heat from the membrane can dissipate through the air above and under the membrane. Heat loss via this heat loss path can be reduced by increasing the etch depth, such that the conduction path will become larger and therefore a higher thermal isolation is achieved. Also, a lower pressure in the cavity around the membrane can be used, such that heat loss via conduction and convection is reduced.
The heat from the membrane also dissipates via the beams to the silicon bulk. Longer beams can be used to increase the thermal isolation. Furthermore, decreasing the width of the beams can also increase the isolation.
The conductivity of the beams is typically much higher than the conductivity of the air. However, the membrane has a much greater area exposed to air than to the beams, such that the thermal resistance of both the air and the beams can be important in infrared thermal sensor design.
As is known in the art, the thermal sensor cavity may be a high vacuum cavity. This offers the advantage of substantially reducing the heat loss via the membrane surface, e.g. conductive and convective heat loss are negligible, such that the membrane can only lose heat via radiative heat dissipation via the surface and through the beams. In such devices, it may be preferred to have narrow and long beams. However, for other devices, e.g. in which the cavity is filled with a low pressure gas, a good balance can be reached when the thermal resistance of the surface heat loss path is about equal to the thermal resistance of the beams.
This can be seen by considering the case where the thermal conduction of the air is dominant, such that substantially all the heat is dissipated through the air. In this case, thermocouples can be added to the design without changing the temperature difference between the membrane and the bulk. Since all the heat is conducting through air, adding or removing thermocouples will not change the temperature on the membrane. However, when the thermal conduction through the air is not dominant anymore, the temperature on the membrane will change when a thermocouple is added since the thermal resistance from the membrane to the bulk is changed. However, adding thermocouples will also increase the electrical resistance and therefore also the noise.
When starting from the other extreme in which the thermal conduction of the beams is dominant, e.g. such that substantially all the heat is lost through the beams, thermocouples should be removed from the design to increase the output voltage. Since all the heat is conducting through the beams, the thermal resistance between the membrane and the bulk increases when removing beams. When thermocouples are removed, the width of the remaining thermocouples can be decreased to keep the same total electrical resistance. However, when the thermal conduction is not dominated by the beams anymore, removing beams will not increase the thermal resistance as fast, because some heat will be lost through the air. Thus, an optimum could be reached when the thermal resistance of the air is about equal to the thermal resistance of the beams.
In order to obtain good thermal isolation of the membrane, the beams are preferably under-etched. For this, an anisotropic etchant such as tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) can be used. However, such anisotropic etchant may not etch well in a direction for which the material being etched has a dense configuration in the crystal lattice planes normal to that direction, for example, TMAH cannot etch silicon perpendicularly to the <111> direction. When a side of a window is opened along a <110> edge of a silicon surface cut in the <100> direction, the etched side will be formed by the <111> plane that intersects with the <110> edge. Furthermore, an anisotropic etchant such as TMAH may also not etch in an obtuse angle, although it can etch away a sharp angle very well.
It may be known in the art to use a plurality of holes, e.g. circular holes, provided in the membrane to allow passage of the anisotropic etchant. For example, the United States patent application US 2010/0289108 discloses a thermal sensor device comprising a membrane having such arrangement of etchant holes.
However, it may be a disadvantage of similar devices that a large portion of the surface exposed to incident radiation is removed by the etchant holes, and thus the heat storage capacity and the sensitivity of the device may be reduced. Also, such configuration of etchant holes may reduce the structural integrity of the membrane, e.g. the membrane may be prone to tearing under external forces, e.g. under torque.


A new cultivar of Scabiosa columbaria named xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99 that is characterized by its small plant size, compact plant habit, proportionately sized pink flowers, prolific and continuous flowering, and sterility.

The present application is co-pending with another application entitled Scabiosa Plant Named xe2x80x98Walminibluexe2x80x99 (Application Ser. No. 09/962,382).
Scabiosa columbaria.
xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Scabiosa plant, botanically known as Scabiosa columbaria and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99. Scabiosa columbaria is a hardy perennial grown for landscape use.
The new Cultivar, xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99, was discovered in 1990 by the inventor at his nursery in West Sussex, England. xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99 was discovered as a naturally occurring mutation, amongst a large crop of Scabiosa columbaria xe2x80x98Pink Mistxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,957). The new invention was discovered as a whole plant, however it originated as a single cutting taken from xe2x80x98Pink Mistxe2x80x99. Several selections were discovered and observed before xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99 was selected as unique and desirable for its characteristics of plant size, plant habit, flower color, and sterility.
The new variety of Scabiosa can be characterized by its smaller size: the foliage dimensions, diameter of the flower heads and the height of the plant are less in comparison to the parent plant, xe2x80x98Pink Mistxe2x80x99. The new invention has never set fruit and all flowers observed have been self-sterile. Near self-sterility is a characteristic of xe2x80x98Pink Mistxe2x80x99 and the inventor""s variety xe2x80x98Butterfly Bluexe2x80x99 (un-patented) but is not a characteristic of any other commercial cultivars of Scabiosa columbaria known to the inventor. The flowers of Scabiosa columbaria are typically blue lavender and therefore, the new invention and xe2x80x98Pink Mistxe2x80x99 are unique in having flowers with distinctly pink and sterile flowers. The new cultivar is similar to both xe2x80x98Butterfly Bluexe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98Pink Mistxe2x80x99 in that it has a compact habit and has a continuous and prolific flowering habit.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by taking cuttings in West Sussex, England by the inventor in 1990. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations both by vegetative cuttings and by tissue culture.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the basic characteristics of the new cultivar. These attributes in combination distinguish the new invention from wild forms of Scabiosa columbaria and distinguish it as a new and distinct cultivar. xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99 has not been tested under all possible conditions and phenotypic differences may be observed with variations in environmental, climatic, and cultural conditions:
1. xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99 is smaller in height and has less of a spread in comparison to xe2x80x98Pink Mistxe2x80x99. xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99 attains 10 to 18 cm in height and 10 to 20 cm in width while xe2x80x98Pink Mistxe2x80x99 attains 15 to 30 cm in height and 17 to 30 cm in width, dependent on growing conditions.
2. The plant habit of xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99 is compact with a tight rosette of basal growth.
3. The flowers of xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99 are smaller than those of xe2x80x98Pink Mistxe2x80x99, ranging from 2.5 to 4.3 cm in diameter while the flower size of xe2x80x98Pink Mistxe2x80x99 ranges from 4.0 to 6.0 cm in diameter. This range in flower size is found on a single plant.
4. The flowers of xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99 are pink and are similar in color to that of xe2x80x98Pink Mistxe2x80x99 but unique in comparison to all other cultivars known to the inventor.
5. xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99 blooms continuously and profusely from early spring until frost. Typically, there are 10-12 flower heads showing color at one time.
6. The flowers of xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99 are presumed to be self-sterile as fruit set has not been observed to date.

Scabiosa plant named xe2x80x98Walminipinkxe2x80x99


A method and apparatus for searching the Internet is provided. In one embodiment, a computer implemented method of searching the Internet automatically creates a search query derived from a topic model used by a real time information retrieval service, where the real time information retrieval service produces real time information related to the topic model. The method uses a search engine for searching the Internet for non-real time information related to the search query.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to Internet searching techniques, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for searching the Internet to augment search results of real time information with non-real time information.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of search engines have been developed to assist users in locating and retrieving specific useful information from the Internet. Typically, a search engine accepts one or more keywords from a user, performs a search for information containing the keywords and returns links to the information containing the keywords for the user to review. Various services are available which provide ways in which the user is able to search the Internet and retrieve relevant information.
One particular concept utilized by various Internet real time information retrieval services provides the users with customized selections of real time information from the Internet. These services typically utilize models of the user's interest, i.e., mechanisms which are generally connected to a personalized model that has been accumulated over time, to filter information from applications such as really simple syndication (RSS) feeds to provide the user-personalized data of interest to the user. In addition, a user may receive news (an example of real time information) related to specific topics compiled and presented by a news aggregation service.
The various search engines for searching the Internet do not make use of models of the user's interest. However, users may want to see non-real time information in conjunction with their personalized real time information. For example, a user interested in real time information about a certain product type, may find it relevant to have access to, for example, periodic summaries of merger and acquisition (M&A) activities involving companies that make products of a similar type, past news stories about competitors and the like. Such information will not be part of a real time feed as it may have occurred in the past. For example, the M&A activity referred to earlier may have occurred months ago, but may still be relevant to the user's interest. This kind of information can be found through regular search mechanisms. However, regular search mechanisms do not have the relevance and specificity that the user has become accustomed to through real time services.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for searching the Internet for personalized and automated non-real time information retrieval to augment real time information.

Method and apparatus for searching the internet


A developer replenishing apparatus includes: a developer storing container for storing a developer therein; a first driving source for rotating the developer storing container to supply the developer; a developer reservoir section for receiving the developer supplied from the developer storing container; a conveying screw for replenishing the developer in the developer reservoir section onto a developing device; a second driving source for driving the conveying screw; and a stirring member for stirring the developer in the developer reservoir section, the stirring member having a first and second one-way clutches provided on a driving shaft thereof. The stirring member is driven by the first driving source through the first one-way clutch, and driven by the second driving source through the second one-way clutch.

The present invention relates to a developer replenishing apparatus used for a developing unit provided in an electrophotographic type image forming apparatus or the similar apparatus.
Conventionally, when developer (toner) is replenished to a developer reservoir section (a toner reservoir section), a delivery port of a developer storing container (a toner bottle or toner storing container) in which developer is stored, is mated with a replenishing port of the reservoir section, and the developer (toner) is replenished into the container at a stroke. However, phenomenon in which the developer scatters like as smoke, (emitting smoke phenomenon) occurs, and therefore, there is a possibility that the developer stains the periphery of the developer reservoir section.
Accordingly, recently, the following developer replenishing apparatus is used: a toner bottle is provided above the developer reservoir section so that the bottle can be rotated in the peripheral direction; by rotating the toner bottle in the peripheral direction, the developer is moved to one side by a rib of the inner peripheral surface corresponding to a spiral groove provided on the outer peripheral surface; and the developer can be gradually replenished from a delivery port provided on one side to the developer replenishing port.
In the developer reservoir section, a conveying screw to convey the replenished developer to the developing unit is provided, and further, a stirring member is also provided so as to level a hill of the developer replenished in the reservoir section and to make the replenished developer to be well mixed with the existing developer.
However, in the conventional apparatus, an operation to rotate the toner bottle in the peripheral direction and replenish the toner, is conducted singly, and the stirring member in the reservoir section is operated at a timing to operate a conveying screw to convey the replenished developer to the developing unit. Therefore, there is a problem in which the toner replenished from the toner bottle forms a hill in the reservoir section, thereby, an amount of toner is unstable.
Further, in the case where the stirring member is simultaneously operated when the toner bottle is rotated in the peripheral direction and the toner is replenished to the reservoir section, and in the case where the stirring member is not operated but only the conveying screw is singly operated when the developer in the reservoir section is conveyed to the developing unit, only toner around the conveying screw is moved, and toner still remains around that, which is disadvantageous.
Still further, when the operation in which the toner bottle is rotated in the peripheral direction and the toner is replenished to the reservoir, the operation of the stirring member, and the operation of the conveying screw in the reservoir section, are conducted simultaneously, the following problem occurs: when an amount of toner replenishment from the toner bottle to the reservoir section is not the same as an amount of toner conveyance to the developing unit by the conveying screw, the amount of toner in the reservoir section is gradually decreased, or overflows, and is unstable.
Yet further, it is considered that a driving source to rotate the toner bottle in the peripheral direction, a driving source of the stirring member, and a driving source of the conveying screw, are separately provided respectively, and the operation timing of them is controlled so that above problems do not occur even when these are independently operated. However, there is a problem that the production cost is increased when these driving sources are individually provided.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a structure of the inside of the developer replenishing apparatus. In FIG. 8, the bottle-like toner storing container 5, which is extending vertically to the drawing, is supported by a container supporting section 21 of the developer replenishing apparatus 100 having a corresponding concave portion. A toner reservoir section 1 whose sectional view is approximately U-shaped, is formed below the container supporting section 21. Toner T replenished from the toner storing container 5 is piled in the toner reservoir section 1.
A sensor 124 to detect a remaining amount of toner T in the toner reservoir section 1 is located on the side surface of the toner reservoir section 1. The sensor 124 has a detecting surface 124a facing the inside of the toner reservoir section 1. Further, a plate-like stirring member 28 for stirring the toner T in the toner reservoir section 1, attached to a driving shaft 29 is located so as to be rotatable by the external driving power, at the center of the toner reservoir section 1. The stirring member 28 has also a function to clean the detecting surface 124a.
The sensor 124 is composed of a piezoelectric element, and can detect toner T contacting with its detecting surface. Accordingly, even when a piling level of the toner T is lower than the sensor 124, when only a small amount of toner T adheres to the detecting surface, the sensor 124 erroneously detects that an amount of toner T, which exceeds the level of the detecting surface, remains.
Therefore, the stirring member 28 to clean the detecting surface 124a of the sensor 124 is provided. That is, by rotating the driving shaft 29, the stirring member 28 is slidingly moved on the detecting surface. By such the sliding movement, the toner T adhered to the detecting surface 124a is removed, thereby, the detecting accuracy of the sensor 124 is increased.
However, by such the movement of the stirring member 28, a new problem occurs. The stirring member 28 is rotated in the direction of an arrow (clockwise) in FIG. 8 such that the stirring member 28 cleans the detecting surface 124a from below. Accordingly, the toner T adhered to the detecting surface 124 is cleaned by cleaning of stirring member 28, however, when toner T is removed by the rotating stirring member 28, there is a possibility that a cavity S of toner T is formed below the stirring member 28.
When such the cavity is formed, even if the remaining amount of toner T is enough, there is a possibility that the sensor 124 erroneously detects the toner T as if its remaining amount is lower than a predetermined level.
As a method to solve this problem, it is considered that a plurality of optical sensors are provided in the toner reservoir section, and the remaining amount of toner is collectively judged from the detected results. However, when a plurality of sensors are provided, cost of the toner replenishing apparatus, and further, the cost of an image forming apparatus is increased.
Furthermore, in the case of the toner bottle installation type developer replenishing apparatus, a member which is rotated together with the toner bottle is necessary, and only on a portion engaging with developer delivery port of the toner bottle of the rotating member, a seal member is provided.
Accordingly, it is necessary to make the member rotated with the toner bottle coincide with the surface on which the developer delivery port of the toner bottle is provided, therefore, there is a problem in which not only the adjustment is troublesome, but the member rotated with the toner bottle also exists, resulting in an increase of production cost.
Still further, because the delivery port of the toner storing container by the conventional technology is formed on a cylindrical surface, and the delivery port is sealed by a thin seal, generally it is difficult to peel the seal by a simple mechanism. Therefore, the operator is required to manually peel the seal directly before the toner storing container is set to the toner replenishing device. Accordingly, even when such the toner replenishing device is used, a possibility that hands are still stained, is not solved. In addition to that, there also be a request to use again the seal which has been peeled once, so as to seal the delivery port.


Methods and apparatus for machining substrates are disclosed, as are articles formed from the separated substrates. A method of machining a substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface can include forming a first recess in the substrate extending from the first surface toward the second surface, forming a second recess in the substrate extending from the second surface toward the first surface, and removing a portion of the substrate extending from the first recess to the second recess to form an opening in the substrate.

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to methods for machining substrates of glass and, more specifically, to methods for machining features (e.g., through-holes, apertures, openings, etc.) in strengthened glass substrates. Embodiments of the present invention also relate to apparatuses for machining substrates of glass, and to articles of strengthened glass.
Thin strengthened glass substrates, such as chemically- or thermally-strengthened substrates have found wide-spread application in consumer electronics because of their excellent strength and damage resistance. For example, such glass substrates may be used as cover substrates for LCD and LED displays and touch applications incorporated in mobile telephones, display devices such as televisions and computer monitors, and various other electronic devices. To reduce manufacturing costs, it may be desirable that such glass substrates used in consumer electronics devices be formed by performing thin film patterning for multiple devices on a single large glass substrate, then sectioning or separating the large glass substrate into a plurality of smaller glass substrates using various cutting techniques.
However the magnitude of compressive stress and the elastic energy stored within the central tension region may make machining of chemically- or thermally-strengthened glass substrates difficult. The high surface compression and deep compression layers make it difficult to mechanically machine the glass substrate (e.g., by sawing, drilling, etc.) using conventional techniques. Furthermore, if the stored elastic energy in the central tension region is sufficiently high, the glass may chip or shatter when the surface compression layer is penetrated. In other instances, the release of the elastic energy may generate cracks within the substrate, which can ultimately reduce the strength of the machined article. Accordingly, a need exists for alternative methods for machining features in strengthened glass substrates.

Method and apparatus for machining strengthened glass and articles produced thereby


A mounting structure wherein a buffer member has a body portion, and a leg portion which is extended from the body portion and engaged with a recess, wherein the body portion has a plurality of first convex portions which are arranged around a center axis of the body portion at regular intervals and abut against a vehicle body, a plurality of first concave portions each of which is formed between the adjacent first convex portions, a plurality of second convex portions which are arranged around the center axis of the body portion 61 at regular intervals and abut the fuel tank, and a plurality of second concave portions each of which is formed between the adjacent second convex portions, and wherein the first convex portion is formed corresponding to the second concave portion, and the second convex portion is formed corresponding to the first concave portion, is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting structure of a buffer member installed between a fuel tank for a vehicle and a vehicle body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a technique for installing a buffer member such as a rubber, etc. between a fuel tank for a vehicle and a floor panel of a vehicle body has been well known. By installing the buffer member between the fuel tank and the floor panel, the fuel tank is prevented from striking against the floor panel, and vibration and noise caused by ruffles of fuel in the fuel tank, etc. is prevented from being transmitted to the vehicle body. For example, JP 05-089060 Y discloses that an adhesive layer is provided between a fuel tank and a floor panel when a buffer member is installed. Also, JP 05-089060 Y discloses that a double-faced tape may be used instead of the adhesive.
However, in adhesion by the adhesive or the double-faced tape, there arises a problem that a plasticizer contained in the buffer member is drawn to an adhesive interface as time passes and an adhesive strength is lowered. Also, since the adhesive strength of the buffer member depends on a strength of pressure to press the buffer member, a stable adhesive strength can not be obtained. Also, since the buffer member can not be removed easily once it is adhered, high accuracy is required at the time of assembling. For this reason, there arises a problem that a large burden is imposed on a worker. Also, since a buffer member of the prior art shows an approximately tabular appearance, it has a poor cushion feature.
The present invention aims to solve the above problems. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a mounting structure of a buffer member for a fuel tank, which mounting structure provides good cushion feature, prevents degradation in a connection strength caused by age degradation, and has improved mounting characteristics.

Mounting structure of buffer member for fuel tank


A papermaking fabric comprised of modular panels secured to one another by hook and loop tape fastener material or similar fastening means. The fabric can be repaired by removing therefrom a section encumbering the damage and securing in its place in overlapping relationship with the existing panels a replacement panel section which bonds to the existing fabric base by similar fastening type means. Alternatively, the fastening means may be used to join the ends of a fabric.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to papermaking fabrics. More particularly, it relates to utilizing hook and loop mesh fastener material to secure modular panels as a base fabric for a press felt or to seam a papermaking fabric.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Papermaking fabrics are used to form, transport, dewater and dry paper on a papermaking machine. Papermaking press felts are designed to transport an aqueous web of paper through the press rollers of a papermaking machine and to assist in the de-watering of the paper web. Commonly, a papermaking wet press felt is constructed from a woven base fabric having batt material needled to one or both sides.
The felts may be woven as endless felts, however, the use of a seam to join the ends of a flat felt into an endless felt is often desirable as it allows for ease of installation of the felt onto the papermaking machine. The seam may be of the pin type which utilizes a joining wire or pintle to secure opposing series of seaming loops projecting from the fabric's ends together. The insertion of a pintle is generally tedious and time consuming and can damage the seaming loops. Additionally, the high speed and conditions of operation often result in extreme conditions of wear at the seam. Many attempts to strengthen the seam have resulted in seams which are not uniform with the rest of the felt whereby undesirable markings and/or irregularities in the paper product result. As such, it is desirable to provide a seam which can be joined more efficiently while maintaining the characteristics and strength of the fabric.
During the papermaking process, papermaking fabrics are sometimes subjected to accidental perforation. A perforated fabric causes defects in the paper made therewith and must be replaced or repaired. A typical fabric may be 90 feet in length and 20 feet wide and cost upwards of $30,000 or more. Accordingly, the ability to provide a repairable fabric is desirable.
In the case of large tears or holes, a papermaking fabric cannot easily be repaired. In areas where longitudinal machine direction yarns are interrupted over a substantial width, a fabric forms a wave or ridge which has a detrimental effect on paper quality and safe operation. In cases of minor damage areas, i.e. having damage less than 20 millimeters, which tend to occur more a frequently, it is generally practical to continue using the papermaking fabric, at least for some time, on non-mark critical paper grades.
Prior art methods of fixing damaged fabrics include manual restitching over the damaged area using substitute yarns. However, this method is very time consuming and difficult to perform and can only be done by experienced and trained personnel. In addition, the mending method takes a long time and shut down costs of the machine are very high.
An alternate method for repairing damaged fabrics is patching with a woven patch. However, selecting a proper patch is difficult since the proper type of patch and adhesive must be chosen and the patch cannot be too thin or too thick so as to form an uneven paper surface. In addition, this method of repair cannot be used with press fabrics.
Another prior art attempt for patching damaged areas includes ultrasonic welding of a patch to the damaged area. However, this can be a problem with synthetic fibers, i.e. nylon and polyester, in that the heat from the weld can damage the materials. In addition, the welding requires skilled and trained personnel to perform the operation and furthermore, cannot be utilized with press fabrics.
Thus it is desirable to provide a laminated multi-layer base fabric for a press felt which combines the ease of installation of a flat woven fabric while maintaining the fabric characteristics of an endless woven fabric.


A hemispherical helical antenna employs a support frame assembly. The support frame assembly is configured to align and stabilize the turns of the helical antenna element above the ground plane. The support frame assembly includes a plurality of panels manufactured from a dielectric material. The panels are disposed at a fixed angular orientation that defines a central axis and form a series of supports for the element.

The helical antenna and its derivatives have been widely used in the field of communications for several decades. The helical antenna typically operates in the frequency ranges of 1 GHz and above. Many helical antennas resemble a coil of wire in the shape of a spring. As shown in FIG. 1A, wrapping the antenna wire on a cylinder is a relatively easy way to form the coils of a helical antenna. As shown in FIG. 1B, the cylinder used to construct the element is often incorporated into and becomes part of the antenna system. Helical antennas that operate at frequencies below 1 GHz tend to be more difficult to manage and construct because of their physical size and weight. For example, a 2 GHz helical antenna has a coil diameter of 2 inches while a 500 MHz helical antenna has a coil diameter of 8 inches. As a general rule, the larger coils of conventional helical antennas are supported by means of a main rod located in the center of the coil with smaller rods supporting the element.
The hemispherical helical antenna is a derivative of the helical antenna. Typically, hemispherical helical antennas exhibit a gain of approximately 8 dbi and are much smaller in axial length than a cylindrical helical antenna of similar gain. However, the coil shape of the hemispherical helical is significantly more challenging to form and support than the cylindrical helical antenna.

Hemispherical helical antenna and support frame therefor


Methods of modulating pancreatic function by modulating MCH signaling in a β cell.

Melanocyte concentrating hormone (MCH) is a cyclic 19 amino-acid peptide that is an important regulator of feeding behavior. In the brain, MCH is synthesized in neurons of the lateral hypothalamus, which make monosynaptic connections throughout the cortex. MCH neurons also synapse with neurons in the parabrachial nucleus and the nucleus of the tractus solitarius, hindbrain nuclei important in ingestive behavior.
MCH has been shown to circulate in plasma and to stimulate leptin secretion from rat adipocytes. When administered ICV, MCH induces an acute increase in feeding. Mice in which the MCH gene has been ablated are hypophagic and lean.


There is disclosed herein a printed circuit board, one embodiment of which comprises: a dielectric substrate 10; a solid metallic heat sink 16 attached to or embedded within the substrate; a cavity 18 formed generally in the substrate, wherein at least one wall 20 of the cavity is defined by a surface 17 of the heat sink 16; a component mounting pad 14 disposed on the substrate proximate the cavity; a predetermined volume of electrically insulative liquid 22 contained within the cavity; and a thermally conductive member 24 embedded within the substrate, the member 24 being in direct thermal contact with each of the mounting pad 14 and the liquid 22.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to printed circuit boards, and more particularly to a method for cooling electronic components attached to a printed circuit board.
2. Disclosure Information
In the design and construction of printed circuit boards (PCBs), a common concern is thermal management of the electronic components--that is, removing excess heat from the components. This is commonly a concern with resistors, transistors, integrated circuits, and other components which are power devices.
The typical approach to cooling such components 50 is to attach a finned copper or aluminum heat sink 70 thereto using a thermally conductive adhesive 80, either directly or through thermal vias 30 having thermally conductive material 32 therein, as illustrated in FIG. 1. If the heat sink is attached to more than one component 50 (as is commonly done), then the adhesive 80 used must usually be electrically insulative, so that the thermally adjoined components 50 do not electrically short one another through the heat sink 70.
However, such adhesives 80 are often the dominant thermal resistance in the thermal path between the components 50 and the ultimate heat well (e.g., the atmosphere). Thus, although these adhesives are useful for electrically isolating yet thermally connecting more than one component, they nonetheless add a relatively high thermal resistance to the component's thermal exit path. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a way of thermally connecting yet electrically isolating two or more electronic components without the aforementioned drawback.

Method for cooling electronic components


A device management apparatus determines whether or not each device connected to the device management apparatus has a device management page for managing the device and a remote operation function for remotely operating the device, and stores the result of the determination. The device management apparatus searches for the devices and creates a device list page. If any of the found devices has a device management page, reference information for referencing the device management page of the device is embedded into the device list page. Further, if any of the found devices has a remote operation function, trigger information for triggering the remote operation function is embedded into the device list page.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device management apparatus and a device management method that are for managing network devices connected to a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional multifunction device connectable to a network typically has a WWW server, functions to notify a user of the state of the device, the installation state of optional components, remaining amount of consumables (such as toner and paper), and the like, and provides a client with a web device management page that enables display and setting of various types of information. The user can check the information included in the web device management page from a client PC at a remote location via a browser, and can display and set the information as needed so as to manage the multifunction device.
Accordingly, a device management server (device management program) that manages the conventional devices connectable to a network generally has a function of providing links on a UI or the like that displays a list of found devices so as to move to the web device management pages of the devices (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-174303).
The above-described web device management pages in the conventional example need individual design and implementation according to the functions of the multifunction device. In order to avoid the cost, complications, and the like of individual implementation, typically, only general-purpose information among information that can be displayed by and set through an operation panel of the device are supported.
On the other hand, some recent multifunction devices have developed to include a remote desktop function. Remote desktop function refers to a function for allowing a user to remotely operate a graphical user interface (GUI) of the device. The remote desktop function is generally constituted by a server side application installed in a multifunction device that is to be operated and a client side application that is operated by the user. The server side application divides a screen of pixel data into small rectangles, designates position information thereof, and transmits the position information to the client side application, and the client side application transmits operations executed by the user to the server side application together with position information.
When comparing this remote desktop function with the web device management page, the former allows the user to remotely operate the GUI of the device so that often substantially all the information on the device can be displayed and set. However, since multifunction devices having the remote desktop function constitute only a small portion of commercially available products, a problem arises in that the device management program is not compatible with the remote desktop function, making it difficult to efficiently use the remote desktop function of the multifunction device.

Device management apparatus and device management method