A system and method are disclosed which predict whether a performance problem within a network is likely to be encountered during future operation. Furthermore, a preferred embodiment not only predicts the likelihood of a performance problem, but further determines the appropriate preventative measures to be taken in an attempt to prevent a predicted performance problem from occurring. In a preferred embodiment, a management system (MS) that oversees the operation of a network is implemented to predict likely performance problems within the network, and may determine appropriate preventative measures for preventing predicted performance problems within the network. Polling gateway(s) may be utilized to periodically poll the network resources in order to retrieve status information for such resources, including but not limited to status of disk(s), database(s), memory, CPU(s), and operating system(s) within the network. The gathered status information is then evaluated by the MS by, for example, correlating such status information with known performance rules for the network to predict potential performance problems, and based on such evaluation, the MS may predict whether a future performance problem is likely to be encountered. Once a future performance problem has been predicted, the MS determines an appropriate preventive action for preventing the performance problem from occurring, and the MS may initiate the appropriate preventive action before the occurrence of the predicted performance problem in an attempt to prevent such performance problem. Most preferably, the network management system is implemented to “learn” symptoms of performance problems over time.

The information-communication industry is an essential element of today's society, which is relied upon heavily by most companies, businesses, agencies, educational institutions, and other entities, as well as individuals. As a result, information service providers such as telephone, cable, and wireless carriers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and utility companies all have the need to deploy effective systems suitable for servicing such a demand. The importance of such information service providers rapidly deploying new systems and system elements and altering their existing management systems to accommodate evolving business and network requirements as needed has been recognized in the prior art. For example, it has been recognized that information service providers should have the ability to integrate existing network equipment and systems with new elements and applications, customize existing systems and applications, and scale systems to accommodate growing networks and traffic volumes.
Network management and operations have become crucial to the competitiveness of communication companies, utilities, banks and other companies operating Wide Area Networks (WANs) of computer devices and/or other network types and devices, including SONET, Wireline, Mobile, etcetera. For instance, many companies currently use customized "legacy" network management systems (NMSs) and operations support systems (OSSs). However, such NMSs/OSSs are generally based on older technologies, which poorly integrate disparate network elements and associated Element Management Systems (EMSs). Many other companies use other types of EMSs, NMSs and OSSs that are not scalable, cannot be easily interfaced with disparate network elements, and require costly programming while offering limited features and flexibility.
Objective Systems Integrators, Inc. ("OSI") of Folsom, Calif., the assignee of the present invention, currently produces a Framework virtual system management (VSM) which is both operationally and network-focused, and is primarily used in the development of EMSs and NMSs sold under the trademark NetExpert™. In general, NetExpert™ may allow for relatively easy and inexpensive integration of disparate network elements and associated EMSs within a network. NetExpert™ is an object-oriented network management system that is comprised of a set of integrated software modules and graphical user interface (GUI) development tools that permit the creation and deployment of network management and operations support solutions. Each element type, device, device component, and even database may be managed as a separate "object." NetExpert, like other NMSs/OSSs on the market today, may require customization for each managed object.
Each element type and device, as well as other managed objects, requires a separate set of rules (known as rule sets) to be tailored to the nature of the object. An object may comprise specific hardware and software, and also may include the business practices of the company. Each rule set provides the details for the management of the particular object to which the rules are directed. NetExpert's Fourth Generation Language (4GL) editors permit this customization to be performed by subject matter experts (SMEs). SMEs use their knowledge to create simple rule sets, such as "if-then" statements, to manage their Network Elements, EMSs, or NMSs, rather than requiring skilled programmers to integrate devices and other elements with additional computer software code such as C and/or C++.
EMSs/NMSs can manage a wide range of communications and computer devices, including switches, DCS, SONET ADM's, routers, testing devices, video units, banking ATM machines, air traffic control systems, and other computer elements such as databases and objects. OSSs provide a broader layer of functionality to directly support the daily operation of the network, such as order negotiation, order processing, line assignment, line testing and billing. EMSs/NMSs can be a component of a larger OSS system. For the sake of simplicity, but not limitation, the communication switching network context will be used throughout this application.
Each device, such as a switch, for example, either responds to or has available certain information relating to its operation, such as performance, fault, configuration, and inventory. For each device, the correlation of performance information with operational functions is typically provided within the EMS/NMS/OSS. For example, when an equipment provider develops and markets a new switch, a skilled programmer typically identifies and analyzes the performance information for that switch and then correlates that information with all of the functionalities that a customer may desire to use in connection with that switch. The programmer typically then modifies the existing EMS/NMS/OSS program code to manage that switch. Additionally, as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,279 entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC NETWORK MANAGEMENT SUPPORT USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE," the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, an EMS/NMS/OSS may use artificial intelligence (e.g., expert systems and learning techniques) to automatically identify and integrate new network elements.
NetExpert™, OSI's network management and operations support framework, currently uses a high-level computer language to permit non-programmers to write rule sets to manage or route information within NetExpert, between NetExpert systems, or between NetExpert and other programs and functions, without the cost and complexity of other EMSs/NMSs/OSSs. For example, if a particular fault message is generated by the switch, one customer may want to page a particular technician, while a second customer may only want to have an indicator light activated or a warning message generated. Generally, these rules are entered through an editor, such as NetExpert's 4GL editor.
In providing and operating a network, monitoring and control functionality is clearly important to support various management aspects of the network. In more recent times, not only does the network itself have to be managed, but the services provided by the network also have to be managed. Generally, a network management system has to have interfaces with the network it is managing so that it can monitor or test various aspects of the network, such as the current configuration and traffic conditions, and also determine whether the network is performing satisfactorily, i.e., meeting any performance criteria applicable.
Given the importance of network systems, it is crucial that information service providers maintain the operability, integrity, performance level, and overall "health" of the network. For example, a service level contract between a service provider and a customer often requires that the service provider provide a particular quality of service to the customer. The term network "performance" may be utilized herein for conciseness, which is intended to broadly encompass the network's operability, integrity, and various other conditions of the network and/or its elements affecting the overall "health" of the network. As an example, a service provider may utilize a computer network, such as Ethernet, Token Ring, fiber distributed data interface, virtual circuit switched network, e.g., frame relay (FR) or asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, which may each include one or more computer systems and/or other types of "network elements." Additionally, one or more of such types of computer networks may be interlinked to form a larger overall network of elements. As the network is in use for a period of time (e.g., days or even years), characteristics of the network typically change from time to time during such usage. For instance, as the network is in use over time, various system resources begin being consumed. Furthermore, various peculiarities (e.g., faults) in the system may be detected. For example, a network management system (NMS) may detect that resources within the network are being consumed in an inappropriate manner. For instance, system resources such as the system's CPU, memory, and hard drive, as examples, may be consumed (or utilized) beyond an acceptable usage level. Various other undesirable characteristics of a system may be detected upon their occurrence. For example, failure of all or a portion of a network or an element of the network may be detected upon such failure.
Generally, problems in computer networks of the prior art are detected once they occur, and only then is an attempt made to correct or otherwise respond to such problems. NMSs of the prior art typically do not attempt to predict whether the network itself or some element of the network is likely to fail or whether performance of the network or some element thereof is likely to be hindered (e.g., slow to an undesirable performance level) while the network is in use. That is, prior art EMSs/NMSs/OSSs typically fail to recognize conditions that indicate that a failure or otherwise poor performance of the network or an element of the network is likely to occur in the near future. Furthermore, such EMSs/NMSs/OSSs not only fail to predict a likely failure or poor performance, but also fail to take responsive actions to prevent such a problem. While prior art EMSs/NMSs/OSSs may provide warnings of an inappropriate or dangerous condition in the network (e.g., fault messages), EMSs/NMSs/OSSs of the prior art fail to detect a cause of such a problem or predict a solution to deter such a problem. Furthermore, before such an inappropriate or dangerous condition occurs within a network (or element thereof), EMSs/NMSs/OSSs of the prior art fail to predict, based on evaluation of the network (or element thereof), that such an inappropriate or dangerous condition is likely to occur in the future. Accordingly, prior art EMSs/NMSs/OSSs fail to predict or recognize potential problems within the network, and further fail to take preventative action in an attempt to prevent such a problem from occurring. That is, prior art EMSs/NMSs/OSSs fail to recognize potential problems within a network and take appropriate preventative action(s) in an attempt to avoid such problems.
Typically, once a warning, such as a fault message, is provided in prior art systems, the performance of the network is already negatively affected. That is, in prior art EMSs/NMSs/OSSs, a fault message is typically provided only after a problem has occurred. Generally, in prior art networks, once a problem, such as a failure or other type of inappropriate condition is detected in the network, reliance is placed on an engineer or technician to inspect and service the network. Such a technician can perform some limited analysis of the network in an attempt to detect the source of the problem, but the technician will not necessarily find the source of a problem. In fact, when the technician actually services the network, conditions in the network may have changed such that the technician fails to detect that a problem even exists within the network. Accordingly, difficulty exists in prior art networks in determining whether the network (or some element thereof) is likely to fail during future use of the network and to prevent such a failure. Therefore, prior art EMSs/NMSs/OSSs exist which can monitor a network to know when the network (or some element thereof) fails, but such EMSs/Ss/OSSs fail to provide a prediction of when the network (or some element thereof) is about to fail because, for example, certain resources being utilized at an inappropriate rate or some other factors being detected which are indicative of a problem existing.
Prior art networks may include one or more "intelligent agents" that monitor a specific network element to predict failures within the specific network element and may possibly trigger some type of manual intervention in an attempt to prevent such a failure of the specific network element. However, networks of the prior art have generally not been implemented to monitor the system which manages the network elements (i.e., the EMS/NMS/OSS) to predict performance problems within the network. Generally, such intelligent agents that have been implemented in the prior art to monitor a specific network element are "passive." That is, while such agents may detect failures for a specific network element, they typically rely on some type of manual intervention to resolve a detected failure.
Additionally, such intelligent agents provide very limited, focused monitoring, in that they are typically implemented to monitor only a specific network element. Thus, overall problems of a network may not be detected or prevented by such intelligent agents. That is, network problems of an entire network, which may or may not involve a specific network element being monitored by an intelligent agent, are generally not predicted or prevented by such intelligent agents. Furthermore, such intelligent agents that monitor a specific network element may have a skewed view of whether a problem exists. For instance, an intelligent agent may determine that a condition exists that is very critical to the performance of its specific network element, but such a condition may have little or no effect on the overall performance of other network elements or the network as a whole. The intelligent agent is typically unable to determine the effect a condition detected within its associated network element may or may not have on other elements or the network as a whole. On the other hand, an intelligent agent may determine that a condition exists for its monitored network element that is not very critical for the performance of such network element, but the condition may greatly impact the performance of other network elements and/or the network as a whole. Again, the intelligent agent is typically unable to determine the effect a condition detected for its associated network element may or may not have on other elements or the network as a whole.

Method and system for predictive enterprise resource management


A hammock formed by suspending a substantially rectilinear section of material by two diagonally-opposed corners to two respective anchor points. Preferably, the other two diagonally-opposed corners of the substantially rectilinear section of material are anchored to respective anchor points below the two suspension anchor points. The hammock preferably has a suspension line and a body, wherein the suspension line and body are separate. Preferably, the body includes the substantially rectilinear section of material, and an overlying rain-fly. A method of suspending such a hammock includes suspending the suspension line to the two suspension anchor points, and suspending the hammock body from the suspension line. Preferably, the other two diagonally-opposed corners of the substantially rectilinear section of material are then anchored to respective anchor points below the two suspension anchor points.

Enclosed hammocks used for camping are well known. These hammocks are almost exclusively made by suspending a substantially rectangular section of fabric from opposing edges. The most basic camping hammocks simply gather the fabrics short edges that are then used to suspend the hammock, and may include a rain fly made from a sheet of waterproof fabric that is suspended over the hammock to keep the user protected from precipitation. Other common attributes include a mesh covering to protect the user from insects, and the use of rigid poles to increase the internal volume of the hammock or create a more comfortable sleep surface.
Such hammocks typically suffer from several drawbacks, namely, a non-flat sleep surface, very high tension in the suspension lines, difficulty in entering and exiting, and a minimal internal volume—creating a confined space for the user and limiting the stowage of equipment. It is also difficult to find a suitable location to set up such known hammocks.
Having a non-flat sleep surface is a well-known issue with traditional hammocks, because it can cause users to experience back pain when used for extended periods, such as sleeping overnight. Many users also prefer to sleep on their side or stomach, which can be difficult or impossible to do in a traditional hammock. Previous attempts to overcome this problem include various embodiments using rigid members to create a framed sleep surface. This significantly increases both the weight and bulk of the hammock which is highly unwanted by adventurers seeking lightweight and compact products. U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,549 to Eriksen discloses a hammock that creates a generally level sleep surface without using any rigid poles by using a novel arrangement of ropes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,865,757 to Hennessy discloses a hammock using an asymmetrical fabric section to improve user posture without the use of rigid poles. While both of these patents improve user comfort, neither provides a sleep surface capable of being used in any desired sleep position.
Traditional hammocks not using rigid members must attempt to minimize the bent posture that causes user discomfort while sleeping, and reduce the amount of slack within the hammock, by tensioning the suspension lines such that when the user enters the hammock, sag will be minimized. These highly tensioned suspension lines can easily overload the posts and trees that the hammock is anchored to, damages trees by cutting into the bark, and requires strong, low stretch rope that can be expensive and heavy. Special webbing straps known as "treehuggers" help reduce the damage inflicted on the tree, but the other problems have not been overcome.
Entering and exiting traditional hammocks has always been cumbersome and requires experience in order to do so comfortably. U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,763 to Hennessy discloses a hammock with a slit formed longitudinally on the underside of the hammock sleep surface to facilitate user access. This slit self closes when the user places weight within the hammock causing the door to close upon the user's leg while entering and can easily open inadvertently.
Lack of internal space is another major drawback of traditional hammocks and limits users to bringing inside only items required for sleeping, such as a sleeping pad, sleeping bag and clothes; and a few small items such as a headlamp, knife and glasses. The users other equipment, such as backpacks, stoves, water bottles, cameras, clothing, food, and so forth must be stored outside the hammock which offers less protection. This lack of internal space also limits user comfort within the hammock as they cannot easily move about to change clothes, get in and out of their sleeping bag, or wait out periods of inclement weather. U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,542 to Cohen discloses a suspended shelter using a series of pole assemblies to provide the user with an enlarged internal volume.
Another drawback of the geometry of traditional hammocks is that preferred anchor point locations are between waist and head height and spaced between 10 to 20 feet apart. Needless to say, finding sturdy anchor points that meet these requirements is not always possible.
Although camping hammocks have been considered, improvements are sought. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel hammock system and method of creating a substantially flat suspended sleep surface.


The present disclosure provides an array substrate, including: a base substrate, a first metal, a buffer layer, a second metal, a second buffer layer, a third metal. A via is defined in the first buffer layer and the second buffer layer to electrically interconnect the first metal and the third metal, so that the first metal, the second metal and the third metal constitute parallel capacitors.

The present disclosure relates to the field of displays, and in particular to an array substrate.
There are still apparent defects in AMOLED display panels. For example, due to uneven manufacturing of panels and a threshold voltage of each driving thin film transistors is different, resulting in display difference of the light emission between pixels. A compensation circuit is used to reduce the display difference of the light emission between the pixels in the prior art.
In the compensation circuit of a pixel circuit, capacitors are key components for storing the turn-on potential and the compensation potential of thin film transistors. Therefore, the performance of the capacitors plays an important role in the working process of the pixel circuit.
In general, in order to maintain the stability of the potential of one end of a capacitor in the pixel, it is necessary to increase the size of the storage capacitor as much as possible in the pixel space. However, with the requirements of high definition of display panels, the size of a storage capacitor becomes smaller as the pixel definition of the display panels increases. FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of the structure of an array substrate having a storage capacitor in the prior art, in which the storage capacitor constituted with a first gate 12 and a second gate 13 occupies a large space of the array substrate, and as a result, the size of the storage capacitor becomes a cause of limiting the increase of number of pixels of display panels. Therefore, it is necessary to provide an array substrate to solve the above problems.
In existing display panels, there is a problem that the requirements of setting high pixel value of the array substrates and increasing the capacitance of a storage capacitor in a compensation circuit cannot be satisfied at the same time.

Array substrate having parallel capacitors in compensation circuit

Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co., Ltd.


A web site can be authenticated by a third party authentication service. A user designates an authentication device that is a shared secret between the user and the authentication service. A web site page includes a URL that points to the authentication service. The URL includes a digital signature by the web site. When the user receives the page, the user's browser issues a request to the authentication service, which attempts to authenticate the digital signature. If the authentication is successful, it sends the authentication device to the user computer.

A user who wants to avail himself of the services provided by a secure web site (such as a site that supports online banking) must typically authenticate himself to the site. This is often accomplished by having the user submit a public username along with a secret password shared only between the user and the bank. If the bank successfully verifies that the password is correct for the corresponding username, the user is permitted to avail himself of the services, such as checking account balances, making payments to third parties, etc.
More sophisticated user authentication schemes can require the user to provide a token capable of generating a One Time Password (OTP) that changes on the basis of time or an event, such a pressing a button on the token. A password based upon the OTP can be sent to the site along with a secret password (such as Personal Identification Number (PIN)) and a username. The site verifies the OTP password, the username and any other secret password before permitting the user to access the site services.
Another problem is authenticating the site to the user. Over the past few years, fraudsters have become increasingly adept at serving pages that masquerade as web site pages of third parties. Typically, links to these fraudulent pages are distributed via e-mails that allege some problem with a user's account and solicit from the user sensitive information, such as usernames and passwords to "logon" on fix the problem. For example, a user can receive an e-mail that purports to be from his bank announcing that his statement is ready to be viewed online by clicking a link in the e-mail. When the user clicks the link, he is directed to a web page that looks like the bank's site but is actually deployed by a fraudster. The user may enter his username and password, which is then received by the fraudster. The fraudster can sell this information or use it himself to logon to the actual bank site, logon as the user and obtain information about or money from the user's bank account. This process, known as phishing, is becoming increasingly widespread and is known to occur for auction sites, brokerage house sites, enterprise extranets and other types of sites provided over networks. Information sought from users by this technique includes usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, bank account numbers and the like.
What is needed is a reliable and robust technology for providing assurance to the user that the site he is viewing is the true and authentic site of the service he is seeking to use.

System and method for website authentication using a shared secret


An image forming apparatus and a method of controlling the same is provided. A plurality of cells formed at the surface of a transfer roller is filled with a developing agent to initialize the transfer roller, thereby suppressing contamination and electrical non-uniformity of the transfer roller. A method of controlling an image forming apparatus includes determining whether a transfer roller mounted in the image forming apparatus is a new one and, upon determining that the transfer roller is a new one, feeding a developing agent to the surface of the transfer roller and filling a plurality of cells formed at the surface of the transfer roller with the developing agent to initialize the transfer roller.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to an image forming apparatus including a transfer roller to charge paper such that a developing agent is adsorbed to the paper and a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrophotographic type image forming apparatus uses a transfer member to feed a toner image generated by a developing member to recording media, i.e. paper. A corona mode and a transfer roller mode are known as transfer modes. The transfer roller mode is mainly used in consideration of miniaturization of image forming apparatuses and ozone generation in the corona mode.
In the transfer roller mode, transfer bias is applied to the transfer member, i.e. the transfer roller, to generate a transfer field and transfer is electrostatically performed according to the transfer field. In the transfer roller mode, however, paper may be contaminated by the transfer roller if the transfer roller contains contaminants before the paper contacts the transfer roller. For this reason, the transfer roller may be cleaned.
A first method of cleaning the transfer roller is to provide a cleaning member to clean the transfer roller. Specifically, a cleaning blade or a cleaning roller is disposed at the rear of the transfer roller to clean the transfer roller. However, this method needs additional devices and is thus not suitable for miniaturization and reduction of cost. Furthermore, the cleaning member may increase torque of the transfer roller and thus negatively affect jitter.
A second method of cleaning the transfer roller is an electrostatic cleaning method of applying transfer bias to the transfer roller to clean the transfer roller. After or before transfer of a toner image, cleaning bias is applied to the transfer roller to remove toner from the transfer roller. Specifically, cleaning bias having the same polarity as toner and cleaning bias having a polarity opposite to that of the toner are alternately applied to the transfer roller. As a result, toner charged with positive (+) and negative (−) polarities may be removed from the transfer roller.
When the transfer roller is cleaned in the transfer bias mode, uncharged paper powder or non-polar toner with an external additive removed therefrom is not removed. Furthermore, if the transfer roller is partially contaminated, the transfer roller is not uniformly charged with the result that image quality may be deteriorated and cleaning may not be completely achieved.

Image forming apparatus and method of initializing and cleaning a transfer roller therin


Curable composition providing, upon curing, an abrasion resistant, transparent, antistatic coating comprising: a) at least one conductive polymer, b) colloidal particles of at least one non-conductive oxide, c) at least one binder comprising at least one epoxysilane having at least two hydrolysable groups directly linked to the Si atom of the epoxysilane, and/or its hydrolysis product, said at least one conductive polymer and said colloidal particles of at least one non-conductive oxide being substantially not agglomerated, the content of said conductive polymer in the dry extract of said curable composition ranging from 0.1 to 10% by weight, preferably from 0.2 to 10% by weight and the content of the dry extract of said at least one epoxysilane in the dry extract of said curable composition ranging from 20 to 80% preferably 25 to 60% by weight based on the total weight of the dry extract.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to curable compositions for preparing antistatic transparent abrasion resistant coatings and articles exhibiting antistatic and abrasion resistance properties coated therewith.
The invention also relates to articles, especially optical and ophthalmic lenses for eyeglasses comprising at least one antistatic coating obtained by depositing and curing a curable coating according to the invention.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known that optical articles, which are composed of essentially insulating materials, have a tendency to get charged with static electricity, especially when they are cleaned in dry conditions by rubbing their surface with a cloth or synthetic piece, for example a polyester piece (triboelectricity). The charges which are present at the surface of said optical articles create an electrostatic field capable of attracting and fixing. As long as the charge remains on optical articles, objects lying in the vicinity thereof (a few centimeters) that have a very little weight, generally small size particles such as dusts.
In order to decrease or suppress attraction of the particles, it is necessary to decrease the intensity of the electrostatic field, i.e. to decrease the number of static charges which are present at the surface of the article. This may be carried out by imparting mobility to the charges, for instance by introducing in the optical article a layer of a material inducing a high mobility of the charges. Materials inducing the highest mobility are conductive materials. Thus, a material having a high conductivity allows for a more rapid dissipation of charges.
By "antistatic", it is meant the property of not retaining and/or developing an appreciable electrostatic charge. An article is generally considered to have acceptable antistatic properties when it does not attract or fix dust or small particles after one of its surfaces has been rubbed with an appropriate cloth. It is capable of quickly dissipating accumulated electrostatic charges.
This property is often related to the static potential of the material. When the static potential of the material (measured when the article has not been charged) is 0 KV+/−0.1 KV (in absolute value), the material is antistatic. When its static potential is different from 0 KV+/−0.1 KV (in absolute value), the material is said to be static.
The ability of a glass to evacuate a static charge created by rubbing with a cloth or any other electrostatic charge generation process (charge applied by corona . . . ) can be quantified by measuring the time required for said charge to be dissipated (charge decay time). Thus, antistatic glasses have a discharge time in the order of 100-200 milliseconds, while static glasses have a discharge time in the order of several tenths seconds, sometimes even several minutes. A static glass having just been rubbed can thus attract surrounding dusts as long as it requires time to get discharged.
It is known in the art to prepare conductive inorganic and organic layers for anti-static applications.
It is known to achieve high optical transparency in anti-static coatings (over 90% or even 95% transmittance in the visible light) by using vacuum-deposited ITO layers.
However, the performance of ITO is affected when applied to plastic. These thin coatings are fragile and are readily damaged during bending or other stress inducing conditions.
Coatings comprising conducting polymers such as Baytron P® are also known as being able to impart antistatic properties.
The use of Baytron P® is known in different commercial applications such as photographic films, electronics packaging and imaging materials.
However, Baytron P® antistatic hard coatings with overall excellent performances, including high transmittance, low haze, and excellent adhesion and abrasion resistance, have been barely addressed in prior art, especially in ophthalmic lens field.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,663,956 to Heberger et al describes that Baytron PH®-based antistatic coatings show adhesion and high transmittance by optimizing the concentration of surfactants and nanoparticles. A high level of surfactant is used. The coating solutions as well as the coatings comprise low level of polymeric binders. The resulting coatings still present some haze.
This antistatic coating is preferably not overcoated with another coating. Such a top coating could limit the ability of the antistatic coating to prevent static effects.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,479,228 to Majumdar also discloses transparent Baytron P®-based coatings exhibiting some scratch resistance and antistatic properties, but the Taber Δhaze value is not fully satisfying.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,211,274 describes coating compositions comprising a composite colloid which is prepared by mixing a conductive oxide such as a conductive zinc antimonate and a conductive polymer such as Baytron P®. The inorganic-organic composite conductive sol of the conductive oxide and the conductive polymer thus obtained has a particle size of 100 to 300 nm, measured by a laser scattering method.
The polythiophene colloids are adsorbed on or bonded to the periphery of the anhydrous zinc antimonate. Practically, the size of the composite particles between is 151 and 193 nm.
This size of particles is quite high for an application in the optical field, especially in the ophthalmic field, and particularly for eyeglasses and may lead to articles exhibiting a certain level of haze non acceptable in the ophthalmic field.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,084,040 discloses a scratch resistant conductive coating of polythiophene salts wherein silanes have been hydrolyzed in the presence of the conductive polythiophene salts and the use thereof for the production of scratch-resistant electrically conductive coatings.
Tetraalkoxysilanes and alkyl or aryltrialkoxysilanes are used as silanes.
Fillers, for example silicon dioxide, such as colloidal silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, can be added to the coatings and form transparent coatings.
The coatings can also comprise additives improving adhesion to the respective substrate, such as epoxysilanes and γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane.
However, none of the examples of this patent describes compositions containing fillers.
γ-glycidoxypropropyl trimethoxysilane is merely used as an optional component. The components that have to be used in the conductive coatings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,084,040 are tetraalkoxysilanes and alkyl or aryl trialkoxysilanes that do not contain epoxy groups. Such components are generally used as the main components of the conductive coating composition.
This document does not mention any reference to the use in ophthalmic articles such as eyeglass lenses.
As seen above, the antistatic hard coatings of the prior art still have certain limitations preventing them from some specific applications, especially in the ophthalmic lens application.
Therefore, conductive coatings providing antistatic properties, having low haze and excellent hardness and/or abrasion resistance at the same time are very desirable in these specific applications.
There is still a need for coating compositions that can retain their antistatic properties inside a stack of several layers, including inorganic dielectric layers deposited thereon.

Curable coating compositions providing antistatic abrasion resistant coated articles

Essilor International (Compagnie Générale d'Optique)


A magnetic ink composition for three-dimensional (3D) printing a bonded magnet is provided. The magnetic ink composition includes magnetic particles, a polymer binder and a solvent. A 3D printing method for fabrication of a bonded magnet using the magnetic ink composition is also provided.

Bonded magnets have received continuous attention due to their advantages such as intricate shapes, low weight and cost, superior mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. Applications for bonded magnets are numerous, including computer hard disk drives, motors, sensors in automobile air bags, and consumer electronics. Traditionally, the bonded magnets are produced by mixing magnetic powders with a polymer binder, and the mixture is molded into desired shapes using injection molding, compression molding, calendaring, or extrusion molding. However, these conventional fabrication techniques require specific tooling for each design, which increases fabrication cost and imposes limits in shape flexibility and complexity.
Three-dimensional (3D) printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is an emerging technology that allows building 3D objects of almost any shape from a computer-aided design (CAD) model through additive processes in which successive layers of material are laid down under computer control. 3D printing offers unparalleled flexibility in achievable geometric shape and complexity over existing manufacturing techniques. Therefore, it is highly desirable to fabricate bonded magnets using 3D printing.

Extrudable magnetic ink and novel 3D printing method to fabricate bonded magnets of complex shape

Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc.


According to an aspect, a display device includes: a display section; a barrier section in which a plurality of unit regions are arranged in columns in a first direction, the plurality of unit regions extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and a plurality of light shields disposed at regular intervals for the display section such that a transmittance of light transmitted through a unit region is kept substantially the same regardless of a position of the unit region through which light is transmitted in the barrier section.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a head tracking technique, an eye tracking technique, or the like, which controls an optical device layered on a display section based on a position of a user's viewpoint, has been known as a technique to be applied to a display device or the like. If a positional relationship between a user and a display device changes, luminance of light reaching to an eye of the user from the display device changes, thereby possibly generating what is called moire, which gives a feeling of strangeness to the user.
FIGS. 26 and 27 are diagrams for explaining moire. In FIG. 26, a display section 14 constituting a display device and a barrier section 16 serving as an optical device are layered in this order, for example. In a step S11 illustrated in FIG. 26, only light from each place of each pixel P1 in the display section 14 is incident on an eye E1 of a user through each predetermined region 16a in the barrier section 16. On the other hand, if the user moves in a direction closer to the display device as in a step S12 illustrated in FIG. 26, light from each place where the pixel P1 and a pixel P2 are adjacent to each other in the display section 14 (see M1 to M4 illustrated in FIG. 26) is incident on the eye E1 of the user through each predetermined region 16a in the barrier section 16.
In other words, in the step S11 illustrated in FIG. 26, the eye E1 of the user sees substantially the center of the pixel P1 as illustrated in a step S21 illustrated in FIG. 27. Therefore, the user senses light with predetermined luminance corresponding to a display color of the pixel P1. In the step S12 illustrated in FIG. 26, on the other hand, the eye E1 of the user sees a region A1 located in a boundary between the pixel P1 and the pixel P2 in addition to the pixel P1 and the pixel P2 adjacent to each other as illustrated in a step S22 of FIG. 27. Since a signal line, a transistor, etc., are disposed in the region A1, the region A1 has a light transmittance different from those of the pixel P1 and the pixel P2. If it is assumed that luminance is the same for the pixel P1 and the pixel P2 adjacent to each other, for example, the user senses light with luminance which is reduced by an amount equal to the luminance of the region A1. As described, for example, when the user moves closer to the display device, thereby changing the positional relationship between the user and the display device as illustrated in the steps S11 and S12 of FIG. 26, luminance of light reaching to the eye E1 of the user may change. Such a change in luminance of light reaching to the eye E1 of the user gives a feeling of strangeness to the user. This is what is called moire. The above-described head tracking technique or the like has a limited performance in tracking changes in a positional relationship between a user and a display device. Thus, the technique has a problem that it is difficult to prevent a generation of moire. In view of this, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2012-242443 (JP-A-2012-242443) discloses a technique in which a distance between a barrier section serving as an optical device and a display device is adjusted for the purpose of preventing a generation of moire.
The technique disclosed in JP-A-2012-242443 is possible in principle. However, the technique has problems such as requiring highly-precise control in microns, a need to change a design size of a module mounting a barrier and a display device, and concern about deterioration in the optical property due to an air layer generated between the barrier and the display device.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a display device capable of easily improving moire while maintaining the optical property without requiring precise control, a change in the design size, and the like.


Chemical-mechanical polishing methods are disclosed for removing insulating inorganic metal oxide materials from semiconductor wafers. Such utilize aqueous acids or base slurries having a pK ionization constant of less than or equal to 5.0. Alternately, aqueous slurries having an oxidizing agent with an E.degree. reduction potential of greater than or equal to 1.0 volt are utilized. Further alternatively, non-aqueous slurries having a liquid halogenated or pseudohalogenated reactant are utilized. Further, slurries having an organic ligand precursor are utilized.

Insulating inorganic metal oxide materials, such as ferroelectric materials or perovskite materials, have high dielectric constants and low current leakage which make them attractive as cell dielectric materials for high density DRAMs. Perovskite material and other ferroelectric materials exhibit a number of unique and interesting properties--both physical and electrical. The defining property of a ferroelectric material is that it possesses a spontaneous polarization that can be reversed by an applied electric field. Specifically, these materials have a characteristic temperature, commonly referred to as the transition temperature, at which the material makes a structural phase change from a polar phase (ferroelectric) to a non-polar phase, typically called the paraelectric phase.
Despite the advantages of the high dielectric constants and low leakage, insulating inorganic metal oxide materials suffer from many drawbacks. One major hurdle to incorporating perovskites into semiconductor processing methods is the fact that no reliable method for removing such materials exists. A major problem is that most of the inorganic compounds formed, such as by way of example by dry chemical etching, are solids having high boiling temperatures. In otherwords, conventional dry etching of perovskite materials results in formation of solid compounds, as opposed to gaseous compounds, as in dry etching techniques for other materials which are then easily expelled from the wafer. For example, dry etching of perovskite materials containing barium or strontium typically produces chlorides, such as BaCl.sub.x, SrCl.sub.x, and TiCl.sub.4. Only the latter of these is volatile under typical semiconductor dry etching wafer processing conditions.
Accordingly, there remain needs for development of semiconductor wafer processing methods for removing insulating inorganic metal oxide materials from semiconductor wafer substrates.

Methods of chemical-mechanical polishing insulating inorganic metal oxide materials


Trisubstituted triazines can be synthesized from cyanuric chloride. These compounds are useful anti-tubulin agents for treating cancer and proliferative diseases.

Cancers are among the leading causes of death in animals and humans. Although many types of chemotherapeutic agents have been shown to be effective against cancers and tumor cells, not all types of cancers and tumors respond to these agents. Current major chemotherapeutic and radiation therapy regimens focus on inducing DNA damage which indiscriminately kills cells, with the hope that the cancerous cells die more quickly than the normal cells. Unfortunately, in many cases the end result is simply prolonged suffering because DNA damage accumulates too quickly in the body for the patient to handle.
Microtubules are an array of fibrous cytoskeleton proteins which control cell strength and molecular movement within the cell. In particular, microtubules are critical to chromosomal movement during cell division. Microtubules are comprised of tubulin subunits which form a diverse array of both permanent and transient structures. The processes of microtubule assembly and disassembly are dynamic and can be affected by various factors including temperature, anti-cancer drug such as colchicines and taxol, and microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). MAPs are involved in the formation and stabilization of microtubules.
It is hoped that tubulin-binding drugs will offer an alternative to indiscriminate cellular destruction. For mitosis to succeed, the cellular cytoskeleton must be completely rearranged in a particular manner. In fact, it is microtubular motion that is responsible for the actual separation and division of the cellular compartments and the correct distribution of DNA between two cells. Interruption of this process can halt mitosis without any inherent cytotoxic effect, although prolonged interruption of mitosis can lead to apoptosis.
Microtubule formation is a dynamic process which includes polymerization of α- and β-tubulin heterodimers and degradation of tubular polymers. Tubulin-binding drugs interfere with this dynamic process, either by inhibiting microtubule assembly or by over-stabilizing the polymer structure. Microtubule assembly inhibitors are conventionally divided into two classes: colchicines, domain binders such as podophyllotoxin, steganacin, combretastain, and amphethinile; and vinca alkaloid domain binders such as vinblastine, vincristine, maytansinoid, phomopsin A, rhizoxin, dolastatin, and cryptophycin. Taxol microtubule-stabilizing compounds, obtained from natural products, include epothilone, eleutherobin, and discodermolide.
The vinca alkaloids, including vinblastine and vincristine, have been used for treating cancers such as leukemias and lymphomas for a long time, and taxol derivatives have recently been used for treating breast cancers. However, several problems remain with these conventional anti-tubulin drugs. Among these problems are inherent toxicity (especially neurotoxicity) as a side effect, low solubility of the compounds, availability in quantity, and multi-drug resistance. As most of the lead compounds originated from naturally occurring sources (plants, sponges, mollusks, bacteria), chemical modification might be a straightforward approach for improving the activity and properties of the drugs while reducing side effects. Serious efforts have been made to synthesize derivatives of vinca alkaloids, colchicines, taxol and related compounds, but modification of the complicated natural products without adversely affecting utility has so far been difficult.
Many other natural products and their synthetic derivatives are also undergoing clinical testing, particularly combrestatins and cryptophycines, which elicit much interest because of their anti-angiogenic activity and high activity (pM IC50) with respect to multi-drug resistant cells. Another approach is to screen small synthetic molecules to find novel tubulin binders.
Myoseverin, a recently discovered tubulin binder with a novel purine structure, has so far demonstrated a promising ability to surmount the major problems associated with currently available tubulin binding drugs. Myoseverin was originally isolated from a library of 2, 6, 9-substitued purines by virtue of its activity of inducing the reversible fission of multinucleated myotubes into fragments. While myoseverin has an in vitro tubulin depolymerization effect and tumor cell growth inhibition without an apparent cytotoxicity, a transcriptional profiling using DNA microarray and biochemical analysis indicated that myoseverin affects expression of a variety of growth factors, immunomodulation, intracellular matrix remodeling, and stress response genes, implicating the activation of biochemical pathways involved in wound healing. The moderate activity of myoseverin (low μM IC50) remains to be improved by structure-activity relationships.

Although a 2,6,9-substituted purine library is a useful tool for developing better derivatives of myoseverin, there are several flaws. The synthetic scheme confined the modification sequence to substitution at the 9-position (Mitsunobu reaction), the 6-position (1st amination) and the 2-position (2nd amination) because of the reactivity differences among the three positions. This sequence and reaction nature limit the flexibility of diversity generation, especially for the 9- and 6-positions. Additionally, purine, the starting material, is relatively expensive.

Trisubstituted triazine compounds, and methods for making and using the compounds, which have antitubulin activity


A dynamo-electric machine includes: a stator having an iron core constructed by linking outer peripheral portions of a plurality of teeth arranged at equiangular pitches in a circumferential direction by an annular core back, and a plurality of coils wound around the teeth; and a rotor constructed by a plurality of magnetic poles composed of magnetic members arranged at equiangular pitches in the circumferential direction, the magnetic poles being formed into one piece by a base portion composed of a nonmagnetic member, and the rotor being rotatably disposed around an axis of the stator and adjacently to an inner periphery of the stator. The plurality of coils are composed of a plurality of first coils that are excited by alternating current and a plurality of second coils that are excited by direct current, each of the coils being wound around each of the teeth without involving any other teeth.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dynamo-electric machine applicable to a motor and a generator and, more particularly, to a dynamo-electric machine that is directly coupled to a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine to be ideally used for starting the internal combustion engine and for generating power.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a dynamo-electric machine used for such a type of application, there is a claw pole synchronous motor disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2641166.
FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the claw pole synchronous motor described in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2641166.
Referring to FIG. 12, the conventional claw pole synchronous motor is configured using a flywheel 3 attached to a crankshaft 2 projecting from an end surface of an engine main body 1, and equipped with rotating field poles 4 provided on an outer peripheral portion of the flywheel 3, a field coil 5 disposed on an inner peripheral side thereof, and a starter coil 6 disposed on an outer peripheral side thereof. The rotating field poles 4 are provided integrally at regular intervals on the outer peripheral portion of the flywheel 3, and formed of first pole cores 7 having many claws 7a, second pole cores 8 having many claws 8a positioned between the claws 7a, and a nonmagnetic ring 9 coupling the first and second pole cores inside the distal ends of the claws 7a and 8a. The field coil 5 is constructed by winding a conductor around a field core 10 secured to the end surface of the engine main body 1 via a member (not shown) that shuts off a magnetic field, and housed in a recessed section 3a provided in the outer peripheral portion of the flywheel 3 such that its outer peripheral surface is close to and opposes the inner peripheral surface of the rotating magnetic pole 4. Very small gaps are provided between the opposing surfaces of the field core 10 and the flywheel 3 and between the opposing surfaces of the field coil 10 and the rotating field pole 4. The starter coil 6 is constructed by winding a conductor around an annular starter core 11 composed of many stacked steel plates, the inner surface thereof being close to and opposing the outer peripheral surface of the rotating field pole 4. Numerous slots 11a are formed at regular intervals in the inner periphery of the starter core 11. A three-phase coil is constructed by installing conductors in these slots 11a by three-phase distributed winding.
In the claw pole synchronous motor configured as described above, passing Direct currents through the field coil 5 generates a magnetic flux. The magnetic flux causes the claws 7a of the pole core 7 to be magnetized to the north polarity, and the claws 8a of the pole core 8 to be magnetized to the south polarity. Supplying a three-phase alternating current to the starter coil 6 causes a rotating magnetic field to be applied to the rotating field pole 4 to rotationally drive the flywheel 3, that is, the crankshaft 2, thereby starting the engine.
Stopping the supply of the three-phase alternating current to the starter coil 6 causes the rotating magnetic field formed by the rotating field pole 4 to be applied to the starter coil 6 instead. This generates induced electromotive force in the starter coil 6, so that the motor acts as a generator.
As another dynamo-electric machine used for such a type of applications, there is an inductor type generator disclosed in, for example, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 2-43029.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the inductor type generator disclosed in, for example, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 2-43029, and FIG. 14 is a development front view showing an essential section of the inductor type generator shown in FIG. 13.
The conventional inductor type generator shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 has many inductor magnetic poles 15 provided at predetermined pitches in a circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface of a flywheel 14 attached to a crankshaft 13 directly coupled to an engine. The flywheel 14 provided with the inductor magnetic poles 15 constitutes a rotor. The starter 16 is equipped with a plurality of pole cores 17 arranged in the circumferential direction of the flywheel 14. Bottom ends of pole cores 17 face against the inductor magnetic poles 15 with small gaps provided therebetween, while top ends thereof are secured to a cover plate 19a of a case 19 via a stator yoke 18. Each armature coil 20 is wound around two pole cores 17, while each excitation coil 21 is wound around each of the pole cores 17.
In the inductor generator configured as described above, passing Direct currents through the excitation coils 21 causes the excitation coils 21 to be energized. The excitation coils 21 cause the pole cores 17, two each, to be magnetized so that they are magnetized in the opposite directions to each other, and paired pole cores 17 wrapped with the same armature coil 20 are magnetized to have opposite polarities to one another. Accordingly, at a certain moment, a magnetic circuit 22 indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 14 is created, and when the flywheel 14 rotates to cause the inductor magnetic poles 15 to move for an angle corresponding to the pitch of the pole cores 17, a magnetic circuit 23 indicated by a chain line in FIG. 14 is formed. A magnetic flux passing through these magnetic circuits 22 and 23 is interlinked with the armature coils 20, and the direction of the magnetic flux passing through the magnetic circuit 22 is opposite to the direction of the magnetic flux passing through the magnetic circuit 23. Changes in the magnetic fluxes induce electromotive forces in the armature coils 20, causing the motor to act as a generator.
On the other hand, in this conventional inductor generator, the excitation coils 21 are energized by a battery (not shown) to form the magnetic circuits 22 and 23 alternately. At the same time, currents that reverse the directions thereof alternately pass through the armature coils 20 disposed to be interlinked with the magnetic circuits 22 and 23 as the flywheel 14 rotates or the inductor magnetic poles 15 rotate. This causes the armature coils 20 to be subjected to torque in a rotational direction. The armature coils 20 make up a stator, so that it cannot rotate; the inductor magnetic poles 15 are subjected to a reactive force thereof. Thus, the flywheel 14 provided with the inductor poles 15 rotates to provide the motor for starting the engine.
The rotating field pole 4 serving as the rotor of the conventional claw pole synchronous motor is constructed by the first pole cores 7 having many claws 7a, second pole cores 8 having many claws 8a positioned between the claws 7a, and the nonmagnetic ring 9 coupling the two types of pole cores inside the distal ends of the claws 7a and 8a. Hence, the rotor has the complicated structure, presenting a problem in that it exhibits unsatisfactory strength against a centrifugal force during high-speed revolution, leading to a possibility of damage to the rotor during a high-speed operation.
Furthermore, in the conventional inductor generator, each of the armature coils 20 wraps two pole cores 17. This requires a longer coil with consequent higher coil resistance, meaning an increased copper loss when currents pass through the armature coils 20, with resultant deteriorated efficiency.
The present invention has been made with a view toward solving the problems described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a dynamo-electric machine that acts as a motor and a generator, features higher strength against a centrifugal force during high-speed revolution so as to protect a rotor from damage during the high-speed revolution, and also features lower coil resistance of armature coils to suppress deterioration of efficiency caused by copper loss.
In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dynamo-electric machine including: a stator having an iron core constructed by linking outer peripheral portions of a plurality of teeth arranged at equiangular pitches in a circumferential direction by an annular core back, and a plurality of coils wound around the teeth; and a rotor constructed by a plurality of magnetic poles composed of magnetic members arranged at equiangular pitches in the circumferential direction, the magnetic poles being formed into one piece by a base portion composed of a nonmagnetic member, and the rotor being rotatably disposed around an axis of the stator and adjacently to an inner periphery of the stator, wherein the plurality of coils are composed of a plurality of first coils that are excited by alternating current and a plurality of second coils that are excited by direct current, each of the coils being wound around each of the teeth without involving any other teeth.


A wire chopper module for processing spent electrode emerging from an EDM system employs replaceable inserts that are also movable relative to the feed path of the electrode. Shifting the position of the inserts relative to the feed path of the electrode allows more than one portion of each cutting edge on the insert to be used. Each insert has more than one cutting edge and can be rotated and re-inserted to present a completely new cutting edge. Removable multi-edge inserts that are repositionable relative to the feed path of the spent electrode permit renewal of the cutting edges of the wire chopper module with increased frequency and reduced cost. The wire chopper module also incorporates a flywheel to increase the movement of inertia of the rotating cutting inserts as an aid in overcoming jams. Sharp cutting edges and increased rotational momentum improve the reliability of the inventive wire chopper module.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the processing of used electrode discharged from an electrical discharge machining (EDM) system and more particularly to a wire chopper module for shearing used electrode wire into many small pieces which accumulate in a relatively dense pile.
2. Description of the Related Art
The process of electrical discharge machining (EDM) is well known. An electrical potential (voltage) is established between a continuously moving EDM electrode and an electrically conductive workpiece. The potential is raised to a level at which a discharge is created between the EDM electrode and the workpiece. The intense heat generated by the discharge will melt and/or vaporize a portion of both the workpiece and the electrode to thereby remove, in a very small increment, a piece of the workpiece. By generating a large number of such discharges, a large number of increments are removed from the workpiece whereby the workpiece can be cut very precisely to have a desired planar contour. A dielectric fluid is used to establish the necessary electrical conditions to initiate the discharge and to flush debris from the active machining area.
The EDM process erodes the wire electrode as well as the workpiece. Therefore, EDM systems continuously renew the wire electrode from a coil. Spent electrode wire has previously been allowed to accumulate in a reservoir below the EDM system. This approach proved unacceptable because the wire has a tendency for expansion in the reservoir. This necessitates frequent intervention by the operator because the wire forms entanglements, which rapidly fill the space available in the reservoir. It is known to crimp the electrode wire by making it pass between two toothed wheels or also to cut it into small pieces which possess the capability of accumulating in a relatively dense pile. A device for cutting the wire into pieces is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,395.
A continuing problem with prior art wire-chopping devices is the rapid wear of the tool edges used to section the wire. EDM wire is typically comprised of tough metal allows to give it the requisite tensile strength. Chopping this wire results in high wear to cutting surfaces. If cutting surfaces wear to the extent that the wire is no longer chopped cleanly, the wire-chopping device can jam resulting in a machine shutdown.
Reliable processing of spent EDM electrode is essential to reliable operation of EDM equipment, for example, at night or over a weekend. EDM systems frequently require a large capital investment, which motivates the owner to keep the machines in use as continuously as possible. Failure of the electrode disposal device results in expensive downtime. The premium placed on reliable electrode disposal has necessitated frequent service typically including replacement of portions or the entire wire-chopping device to renew the cutting surfaces.
One prior art wire-chopping device comprises a plurality of blades mounted to a rotating shaft. A stationary wire guide orifice is positioned to feed wire into the blades generally transversely to the axis of blade rotation. The wire is sheared transverse to its feed path as the blades pass the exit orifice of the wire guide. The blades and wire guide orifice are constructed of tungsten carbide or similar hardened material to increase their durability. The blades are permanently fixed to a shaft of the wire-chopping device by welding or other known process for fixing a hard cutting edge to a cutting tool. The prior art discloses a wire-chopping device in which the wire guide orifice has two possible locations, each of which guide the spent electrode into axially spaced portions of the cutting blades. When one portion of the cutting blade is dulled, the write guide orifice is repositioned to feed wire toward a fresh cutting surface on the cutting blades. Once the cutting blades are dulled in both available locations, the prior art wire-chopping device must be removed and discarded or remanufactured by inserting a new shaft with new cutting blades.
The prior art wire-chopping devices of the rotating blade/stationary anvil type require frequent replacement to renew the permanently attached blade cutting surfaces. This results in high expense and the necessity to maintain an inventory of remanufactured and/or new wire-chopping devices. There is a need in the art for a wire-chopping device in which the cutting surfaces can be frequently and inexpensively renewed without necessitating replacement of the entire device.


A rackmount chassis includes removable supports that provide interior support for blades having mounting edge-to-mounting edge dimensions that are less than the full chassis width. The removable supports are mounted on parallel support plates that span the full width of the chassis. Each removable support supports an edge of at least one blade installed into the rackmount chassis. The locations of the removable supports on the parallel support plates determine the blade form factors (mounting edge-to-mounting edge dimensions) that the rackmount chassis can accept. Because the removable supports can be individually removed/installed, the configuration of the resulting rackmount component can be changed without physically removing the rackmount component from the rack in which it is mounted.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electronics enclosure, and in particular, to a highly configurable rackmount chassis.
2. Related Art
Large electronic installations are often implemented using rackmount architecture to provide maximum space efficiency and large-scale modularity. Rackmount systems typically follow the Electronics Industry Alliance (EIA) standard EIA-310-D that specifies an overall rackmount system width of 19 inches. Rackmount components must therefore be designed to fit within the specified system limits.
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary rackmount system 100 that includes a rack 110 populated by rackmount components 120. Rack 110 is simply a metal framework that defines an installation space for rackmount components 120. Rackmount components 120 (e.g., servers, routers, switches, and other electronic devices) are installed into rack 110, thereby providing a modular, standardized electronics system installation.
Each rackmount component 120 is a self-contained unit for providing a desired functionality. Typically, a rackmount component will be formed from a rackmount chassis that houses one or more "blades" (i.e., processors, memory, and/or other elements mounted on a circuit board). For example, a rackmount router may include multiple Ethernet blades that route network traffic to and from a larger bandwidth trunk. The overall capabilities of a rackmount component therefore depend on the number and type of blades installed in that rackmount component. Accordingly, those capabilities are in large part determined by the blade-mounting capacity of the rackmount chassis of the rackmount component.
FIG. 2A shows an isometric diagram of a conventional rackmount chassis 250. Rackmount chassis 250 includes an enclosure top 222T, an enclosure bottom 222B, and enclosure sides 222L and 222R that form a box-like enclosure. Side supports 223L and 223R are mounted within this box-like enclosure between enclosure top 222T and enclosure bottom 222B, and adjacent to enclosure side 222L and 222R, respectively. A center support 223C is mounted between enclosure top 222T and enclosure bottom 222B, midway between side support 223L and 223R.
To provide installation locations for blades within rackmount chassis 250, side supports 223L and 223R and center support 223C include multiple blade support slots 223B. Each blade support slot 223B in side supports 223L and 223R is positioned at the same level as a corresponding blade support slot 223B in center support 223C. Each of these pairs of blade support slots allows a blade to be installed into rackmount chassis 250.
For example, FIG. 2B shows an isometric diagram of a conventional rackmount component 220. Rackmount component 220 includes multiple blades 225 installed into rackmount chassis 250. The edges of each blade 225 slide in to one blade support slot 223B on one of side supports 223L and 223R, and the corresponding blade support slot 223B on center support 223C. In this manner, rackmount chassis 250 is populated with blades 225 to form a functional rackmount component 220.
Note that due to historical conventions, the side edge to side edge distance of a rackmount blade (i.e., the distance between the mounting edges of the blade, which are generally perpendicular to the electrical contact edge of the blade) is referred to as the "height" of the blade, even though the dimension is parallel to the width of the rackmount chassis. Thus, blades such as blades 225, which span roughly half the total width of rackmount component 220, are sometimes referred to as "half height" blades. Due to the construction of rackmount chassis 250 (i.e., a fixed center support 223C that runs between enclosure top 222T and enclosure bottom 222B), blades 225 must all exhibit the same height H. Therefore, replacing any of blades 225 with a larger or smaller blade is typically infeasible.
For example, blades 225 could all be fast Ethernet (i.e., 100 Mbps) network interface cards. Should increased network traffic handling capabilities be desired for rackmount component 220, it would be desirable to replace some or all of blades 225 with higher bandwidth gigabit Ethernet (i.e., 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps) or fiber optic network interface cards (blades). However, next generation technology is typically larger than existing generation technology. For example, if current fast Ethernet blades exhibit a half height form factor, next generation gigabit Ethernet blades may exhibit a full height form factor (i.e., a height that spans roughly the full width of the rackmount chassis). This blade size disparity would then preclude installation of the next generation technology into an existing rackmount component.
Consequently, to achieve the higher bandwidth benefits of the new blades, rackmount component 220 would be required to be uninstalled from its rack and be replaced with a different rackmount component having a rackmount chassis particularly configured to accept the newer blades. However, total rackmount component replacement of this sort is undesirable due to the overall system downtime and labor expense associated with such removal and reinstallation.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a rackmount chassis that can accommodate a range of blade widths.

Rackmount system including conversion rail


An electrical contact for use with a semiconductor device, a carrier, a probe card, or another substrate includes a dielectric core and a conductive coating on at least a portion thereof. Alternatively, an electrical contact may include a plurality of adjacent, mutually adhered regions comprising conductive material. The electrical contact may be rigid or flexible and resilient. Protective structures for use with flexible resilient contacts prevent deformation of such contacts beyond their elastic limits.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical contacts for use with semiconductor devices. The electrical contacts of the present invention may be used to provide temporary electrical connections as semiconductor devices are being burned in or otherwise tested. More specifically, the present invention relates to electrical contacts which include stereolithographically fabricated portions. The present invention also includes semiconductor devices, carriers, probe cards, and other substrates that employ such electrical contacts. Additionally, the present invention includes methods relating to fabrication of the electrical contacts of the present invention and structures incorporating same.
2. Background of Related Art
Numerous types of electrical contacts that are configured to provide temporary communication between the bond pads or other contacts of a semiconductor device and corresponding terminals or other contacts of a test substrate, carrier substrate, or other electronic component have been developed and used in the art.
Several examples of temporary electrical contacts have been developed by FormFactor, Inc., of Livermore, Calif., and are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,211, as well as in other U.S. patents referenced hereinbelow that have been assigned to FormFactor (hereinafter collectively "the FormFactor Patents"). Each of these temporary electrical contacts is a compressible, resilient element which is secured to a bond pad of a semiconductor device. They may include a core and an outer coating, both of which are formed from electrically conductive materials. The core may comprise a relatively soft material, or material which is subject to plastic deformation, while the outer coating may comprise a more rigid material, which imparts the electrical contact with elastic properties. Alternatively, the core may be formed from a more rigid, elastic material, while the coating is formed from a material that enhances adhesion of the electrical contact to a bond pad of a semiconductor device.
The electrical contacts that are described in the FormFactor Patents are represented to be useful for providing temporary electrical connection between the bond pads of a semiconductor device and the contacts of a test or burn-in substrate. They may also provide permanent electrical connections between the bond pads of the semiconductor device and corresponding contacts (i.e., bond pads, terminals, leads, etc.) of another semiconductor device, a carrier, another semiconductor device component, or another electronic device.
The FormFactor Patents teach that wire-bonding apparatus may be used to form the core of an electrical contact of the type described therein, while conventional deposition or plating methods may be used to coat each core with another layer of conductive material. As conventional wire-bonding apparatus are typically configured to form only a single conductive element (e.g., bond wire, electrical contact, or other conductive structure) at a time, and since there may be thousands of bond pads on a substrate (e.g., silicon wafer) upon which numerous semiconductor devices are carried, the electrical contact fabrication processes that are described in the FormFactor Patents may be extremely and undesirably time consuming. Furthermore if, as described in the FormFactor Patents, gold is used to form the cores of numerous electrical contacts, the cost of forming the cores may be extremely and undesirably expensive.
The contacts described in the FormFactor Patents may be used, for example, in probe cards, which are used to establish a temporary connection between a semiconductor device and a test substrate or burn-in substrate. The contacts are positioned at locations that correspond to the locations of corresponding bond pads of the semiconductor device and terminals of the test substrate or burn-in substrate. Thus, the contacts are positioned so as to align between corresponding bond pads and terminals when the probe card is aligned between the semiconductor device and the test substrate or burn-in substrate. The compressibility of such contacts imparts the probe card with dimensional tolerance for the spacing between the semiconductor device and the test substrate or burn-in substrate.
Whether the Form Factor contacts are used with a probe card or another type of semiconductor device component, they may be compressed or deformed beyond their elastic limits, which will render them useless.
Accordingly, processes are needed by which electrical contacts may be more efficiently and cost-effectively fabricated, as are electrical contacts that are formed by such processes, protective structures for preventing damage to such electrical contacts, and semiconductor devices, carriers, probe cards, and other substrates with which such electrical contacts may be assembled.

Electrical contacts with dielectric cores


A tag with sufficient variability is generated. The tag facilitates quick location and processing within a facility. During generation, a matrix representative of a possible tag may be tested for sufficient variability. A two-dimensional matrix representing the possible tag may include different bit values at different positions. A variability metric of the matrix is performed to check the variability between adjacent elements of the matrix. This variability metric of the matrix is then compared against a variability threshold value. If the variability metric of the matrix falls below the threshold value, the matrix is flagged as unusable. If the variability metric of the matrix exceeds the threshold value, the matrix can be used to generate a tag with sufficient variability. Once generated, the tag can be presented and affixed to an item or object to help identify and locate the item within the facility.

An optically readable machine-readable tag ("tag") may be used to store and convey data. For example, a tag may be placed or printed on an item to provide information about the item, such as a stock keeping unit value, handling instructions, and so forth. In another example, a tag may be presented on a display device, such as on the screen of a smartphone. Data encoded by the tag may be read and used by other systems.
While implementations are described herein by way of example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the implementations are not limited to the examples or figures described. It should be understood that the figures and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit implementations to the particular form disclosed but, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words "include," "including," and "includes" mean including, but not limited to.


A drive control unit for controlling speeds of driving parts based on a target speed, includes a detecting part to detect speed fluctuations of each of the driving parts when the speeds of the driving parts are controlled based on a common target speed, a storage part to store speed fluctuation profiles of each of the driving parts created based on the detected speed fluctuations, an extracting part to extract a speed fluctuation profile having a largest amplitude of the speed fluctuation profiles stores in the storage part, a calculating part to calculate difference profiles of the driving parts, corresponding to differences between the extracted speed fluctuation profile and the speed fluctuation profiles of each of the driving parts, a setting part to set the difference profiles of the driving parts as new target speeds of the driving parts, and a control part to control the speeds of the driving parts based on the new target speeds.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to drive control units, drive control methods and image forming apparatuses, and more particularly to a drive control unit and a drive control method for controlling speeds of a plurality of driving parts, and an image forming apparatus which employs such a drive control unit or drive control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as methods of forming color images, there are the intermediate transfer method and the tandem method. The intermediate transfer method forms a toner image on one photoconductive drum, one color at a time, and obtains the full color image by successively transferring the toner images of different colors on a transfer member. The tandem method arranged a plurality of photoconductive drums in parallel, forms the toner image of one color at each photoconductive drum, and obtains the full color image by successively transferring the toner images of different colors on the transfer member which successively passes the plurality of photoconductive drums. According to the tandem method, it is possible to carry out a high-speed image formation by operating the plurality of photoconductive drums approximately at the same time in synchronism with each other.
Since the tandem method overlaps the toner images of the different colors, the plurality of photoconductive drums must rotate without flutter and in accurate synchronism with each other. Hence, in the tandem method which uses the plurality of photoconductive drums (for example, four photoconductive drums in order to obtain the full color image), the rotational speeds of the photoconductive drums are controlled independently so as to match the toner images of different colors that are overlapped.
The tandem method can form the full color image without registration error of each of the colors (for example, black, yellow, magenta and cyan) if the rotational speeds of the plurality of photoconductive drums are all constant. However, since the plurality of photoconductive drums are controlled independently, it is difficult to perfectly match the rotational speeds of the plurality of photoconductive drums.
In other words, in the case of the tandem method, even if a target rotational speed is set with respect to each of the plurality of photoconductive drums, each photoconductive drum undergoes a fluctuation in its rotational speed that is peculiar to each photoconductive drum, due to eccentricity of a drum shaft and mounting error of a driving part and the photoconductive drum itself. As a result, the registration error in which the overlapping toner images of the different colors do not match on the transfer member is caused by the fluctuations in the rotational speeds of the plurality of photoconductive drums.
FIG. 1 is a system block diagram showing an example of a drive control unit for the photoconductive drums. The drive control unit shown in FIG. 1 includes drive control systems for each of the colors, which are black, yellow, magenta and cyan in this particular case. The drive control system for black includes a control part 1K, a motor 2K, a photoconductive drum 3K and an encoder 4K.
The motor 2K is coupled to the photoconductive drum 3K via a driving shaft and drives the photoconductive drum 3K. The encoder 4K detects the actual rotational speed of the motor 2K. In addition, the control part 1K controls the rotational speed of the motor 2K depending on a difference between a target rotational speed which is a constant value and the actual rotational speed that is fed back from the encoder 4K.
The drive control system for yellow includes a control part 1Y, a motor 2Y, a photoconductive drum 3Y and an encoder 4Y. The drive control system for magenta includes a control part 1M, a motor 2M, a photoconductive drum 3M and an encoder 4M. The drive control system for cyan includes a control part 1C, a motor 2C, a photoconductive drum 3C and an encoder 4C. The drive control systems for yellow, magenta and cyan operate similarly to the drive control system for black described above.
However, even though the drive control unit having the structure shown in FIG. 1 controls the rotational speed of the motor 2K depending on the difference between the constant target rotational speed and the actual rotational speed that are fed back from the encoder 4K, the photoconductive drum 3K undergoes a fluctuation in its rotational speed that is peculiar to the photoconductive drum 3K, due to the eccentricity of the drum shaft and the mounting error of the driving part and the photoconductive drum 3K itself. As a result, the registration error in which the overlapping toner images of the different colors do not match on the transfer member is caused by the fluctuations in the rotational speed of the photoconductive drum 3K.
In addition, in the drive control systems for yellow, magenta and cyan, the registration error is generated similarly to the drive control system for black. In other words, the rotational speeds for one revolution of the photoconductive drums 3K, 3Y, 3M and 3C fluctuate as shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a graph showing the actual speed fluctuations for one revolution of the photoconductive drums 3K, 3Y, 3M and 3C, wherein v denotes the rotational speed in arbitrary units and t denotes the time in arbitrary units. In the following description, the fluctuation of the rotational speed for one revolution of each of the photoconductive drums 3K, 3Y, 3M and 3C will be referred to as a speed fluctuation profile.
A Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-72816 proposes a process of controlling the rotational speed of each photoconductive drum to approach the target rotational speed, by detecting the actual speed fluctuation profile of each photoconductive drum and adding data having an inverted phase (that is, a phase shifted by 180 degrees) with respect to the speed fluctuation profile, so as to correct the rotational speed of each photoconductive drum.
However, according to the process proposed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-72816, the rotational speeds of the plurality of photoconductive drums are independently controlled, similarly to the conventional method. For this reason, even if the rotational speeds of the photoconductive drums are controlled to approximate the target rotational speed, it is difficult to completely eliminate the fluctuation in the rotational speeds of the photoconductive drums and to perfectly match the rotational speeds of each of the photoconductive drums.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Drive control unit, drive control method and image forming apparatus


A tandem type image forming apparatus drives an agitation paddle when the waste toner defecated from a plurality of image forming units and flowed and collected in a single waste toner containing member by way of the first collection port thereof gets to a predetermined level in order to level the height of the waste toner in the waste toner containing member. The quantity of waste toner flowed by way of the first collection port is estimated from the quantity of the toners supplied from the toner cartridges of the development apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waste toner collecting apparatus for collecting waste toner used in an electronic photography type copying machine, a printer or the like adapted to produce a color image by laying toner images of a plurality of different colors one on the other. This invention also relates to an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cleaning apparatus is normally operated to remove toner remaining on a photosensitive member of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer after the end of an image transfer process. The toner removed from the photosensitive member is collected in a waste toner box as waste toner. When the waste toner box becomes full, it is replaced by a new one.
Tandem type image forming apparatus have been marketed in recent years. A plurality of image forming units, each having a photosensitive member, are arranged in parallel in a tandem type image forming apparatus and the toner images of different colors formed on the respective photosensitive members are transferred onto a single sheet of paper and laid one on the other to produce a color image. Residual toner is remained from each of the photosensitive members of such a tandem type image forming apparatus. When a transfer medium such as an intermediate transfer belt is employed, residual toner is remained also on the transfer medium.
When the residual toner from the plurality of photosensitive members and on the transfer medium is collected into a single waste toner box extending in the direction of arrangement of the photosensitive members, a heap of accumulated waste toner is formed in the waste toner box for each of the photosensitive members and the transfer medium. To cope with this problem, apparatus have been proposed for leveling down the heaps of waste toner accumulated in the waste toner box by means of an auger so as to increase the quantity of waste toner that can be contained in the waste toner box. For example, Jpn. Pat. Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-148884 discloses such an apparatus. Apparatus have also been proposed for detecting the volume of developer in the development unit and controls the number of rotations of the paddles for drawing up developer onto the development rollers of the development unit. For example, Jpn. Pat. Publication (Kokai) No. 8-36294 discloses such an apparatus.
However, the former known apparatus do not pay attention to the control of the auger. In other words, the auger or some other leveling member is driven to operate simply when the number of sheets where images are formed gets to a predetermined value. If images are formed with a low image density, it may be not necessary to level down the waste toner in the waste toner box when the number of image-bearing sheets gets to a predetermined value.
Generally, the number of rotation of the leveling member is designed to operate on an assumption that images are formed with a high image density and waste toner is defecated at a relatively high rate from the viewpoint of preventing a waste toner collecting mechanism from being broken down and improving the safety of the mechanism. In other words, the leveling member is driven to operate frequently on an assumption that waste toner is defecated at a relatively high rate. When the leveling member is driven to rotate frequently, so much flying toner is occurred in the waste toner box.
On the other hand, in the case of apparatus adapted to detect a full condition of the waste toner box typically by means of an optical sensor, the full condition detecting section of the apparatus can erroneously detect a full condition in the waste toner box when it is stained by flying toner.
Thus, there is a demand for an arrangement for satisfactorily leveling waste toner in a waste toner box and efficiently collecting waste toner, while minimizing flying toner in the waste toner box in order to prevent the full condition detecting section from detecting a full condition in error due to the smudge thereof given by flying toner when the waste toner defecated from a plurality of image forming units and a transfer medium is collected in the single waste toner box.

Waste toner collecting apparatus and image forming apparatus


A toner container for use in an image forming apparatus having a toner receiving section, includes a cylindrical container body in which toner is stored, the cylindrical container body having a toner discharging end and provided with a spiral rib provided on its inner circumferential surface so that toner is conveyed toward the toner discharging end by the spiral rib when the cylindrical container body is rotated, the cylindrical container body further having a cylindrical portion with a discharging port on the toner discharging end; and a sleeve member mounted around the cylindrical portion so that the discharging port is closed by the sleeve member, the sleeve member movable in the axial direction of the cylindrical portion so that when the toner container is attached to the toner receiving section of the image forming apparatus, the sleeve member is moved so as to open the toner discharging port.

This invention relates to a developing apparatus for electrophotographic recording, and in particular to a toner container which contains toner in its cylinder-shaped container body and discharges the toner with rotation, and a toner replenishing device which is fitted with the container and replenishes toner therein to a toner storing portion by rotating the container.
Heretofore, there has been such type of means for replenishing toner from the toner container (toner cartridge) to the toner storing portion in the image forming apparatus as the following: every time when toner is to be replenished, the toner container is attached to the image forming apparatus to replenish whole toner in the container to the storing portion, and it is taken away from the apparatus mainframe after the replenishing is finished. However, in the above-mentioned type of replenishing method, the toner may overflow out of the storing portion in case of excessive replenishment, because the whole toner is fed at a time to the storing portion, and therefore some means must be provided for preventing the excessive replenishment.
It is difficult to prevent the above-mentioned excessive replenishment of toner, and although some means for preventing the excessive replenishment could be provided in the apparatus mainframe on occasion, it resulted in the higher-costed and larger-sized apparatus. Thus, it has been developed a device of the type that a toner container which has a coil-shaped protrusion inside is attached to the apparatus mainframe, and is rotated around its center axis to cause the toner to be discharged through a toner discharging opening to replenish the toner storing portion with it (Japanese laid open patent H7-295356 etc). This type of device has such advantage that any means for preventing the aforesaid excessive replenishment is not necessary, because the toner container is attached to the apparatus mainframe at all times, and it enables a timely replenishment of toner to the toner storing portion by rotating the toner container on occasion that the toner amount in the storing portion decreases.
However, in the above-mentioned toner replenishing device, the function is effected by mating the toner discharge opening provided at the end surface of the toner container with the toner receiving opening provided at the end surface of the toner storing portion, so that the exact positioning of the above-mentioned discharge opening and receiving opening is required. Moreover, it has such disadvantage that toner is easy to leak from the joint portion of the toner discharging opening and the toner receiving opening on exchanging the toner container. Further, the aforesaid toner container and the aforesaid toner replenishing device to be fitted with the toner container have many subjects to be considered such as how to feed efficiently the toner in its container to the toner storing portion.

Developer cartridge and developer replenishing apparatus