A laser apparatus is provided which is capable of achieving deep penetration into an aluminum-like metal material without causing welding defects such as spatters or cracks and performing high-speed pulse seam welding. The laser apparatus includes a pulse power source that generates a current signal and a mask signal for masking a fluctuation component included in the current signal, and which supplies a current signal in which a fluctuation component has been masked by the mask signal to a YAG pulsed laser oscillator. In addition, the laser apparatus sets the spot shape of a CW laser light oscillated by a CW laser oscillator to a rhombic streamlined shape, and causes a focus spot of the CW laser light to include a circular focus spot of a pulsed laser light.

Conventionally, sealing of an aluminum-like metal container used in a lithium battery for a mobile device has been performed by pulse seam welding in which a YAG pulsed laser light is irradiated along a junction line between an opening of the container and a sealing member fitted into the opening. More specifically, when sealing an aluminum-like metal container, a YAG pulsed laser light is irradiated to each processing point in a three-level waveform. That is, first, cutting is performed with a high-speed, high-peak pulsed laser, and when the aluminum-like metal material starts to melt, laser power is immediately suppressed to around half to perform final welding. Subsequently, laser power is further reduced to around half to perform annealing in order to relieve residual stress. Welding is performed in this manner using the three-level waveform YAG pulsed laser light because the aluminum-like metal material has a high reflectance and a high thermal conductivity yet a low melting point, and is further characterized by a rapid increase in laser absorptance once melted.
However, while usable for sealing a lithium battery for a mobile device, the three-level waveform YAG pulsed laser light cannot be used for sealing a lithium battery for a hybrid vehicle. This is because while sufficient joint strength can be achieved with a penetration amount of around 0.2 mm in the case of a lithium battery for a mobile device, a penetration amount of around 0.5 mm is required in the case of a large-size lithium battery for a hybrid vehicle, and increasing laser power so as to satisfy such a deep penetration creates spatters.
Meanwhile, conventionally, the use of a superimposed laser light in which a pulsed laser light is superimposed with a CW laser light in pulse seam welding has been proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-337881) According to the pulse seam welding using a superimposed laser light, since a pulsed laser light can be irradiated to a processing point that is in a state in which laser light is easily penetratable due to preheating by a CW component, spatterless welding can be performed. A conventional laser apparatus that generates the aforementioned superimposed laser light will now be described.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a general configuration of a conventional laser apparatus that generates a superimposed laser light in which a pulsed laser light is superimposed with a CW laser light. The laser apparatus includes a YAG pulsed laser oscillator 101 that oscillates a pulsed laser light having an oscillation wavelength of 1064 nm. A pulsed laser light oscillated by the oscillator 101 passes through an SI optical fiber 102 and is incident to a collimator lens 103. The pulsed laser light collimated by the collimator lens 103 is incident to a dichroic mirror 104.
In addition, the laser apparatus includes a high-output semiconductor laser 105 that oscillates a CW laser light. The CW laser light oscillated by the high-output semiconductor laser 105 is incident to the dichroic mirror 104.
The dichroic mirror 104 superimposes the pulsed laser light from the collimator lens 103 with the CW laser light from the high-output semiconductor laser 105 to generate a superimposed laser light, and causes the superimposed laser light to be incident to a focusing lens 106. The focusing lens 106 focuses the pulsed laser light and the CW laser light superimposed by the dichroic mirror 104 at a processing point.
As shown in FIG. 6, a focus spot 107 of the pulsed laser light having passed through the optical fiber 102 takes a circular shape similar to a core shape of the optical fiber 102. On the other hand, a focus spot 108 of the CW laser light oscillated by the high-output semiconductor laser 105 generally does not take a circular shape, and takes a linear shape as shown in FIG. 6.
When performing pulse seam welding using a superimposed laser light in which the circular-shaped pulsed laser light is superimposed with the linear-shaped pulsed laser light, the major axis direction of the focus spot 108 of the CW laser light is set in a direction aligned with a junction line and the superimposed laser light is relatively moved along a longitudinal direction of the junction line. Accordingly, since the pulsed laser light can be irradiated on a processing point that is in a state in which laser light is easily penetratable due to preheating by a CW component, spatterless welding can be performed.
However, while the superimposed laser light in which the circular-shaped pulsed laser light is superimposed with the linear-shaped CW laser light achieves spatterless welding that satisfies a desired penetration amount when sealing an NiH battery for a hybrid vehicle which uses a steel-like metal container, the superimposed laser light is unable to satisfy a desired penetration amount when sealing a lithium battery for a hybrid car which uses an aluminum-like metal container because heat escapes to the surroundings from a tip of a linear-shaped CW component. In addition, increasing the CW component in order to attain a preheating effect causes deformation of the container and subsequently widens a gap between a wall surface of an opening of the container and the sealing member, which in turn creates a disadvantage that laser light leaks to an inner electrode and damages the inner electrode.
As seen, the conventional laser welding technique is not capable of performing pulse seam welding of thick aluminum-like metal material such as the sealing of an aluminum-like metal container used in a lithium battery for a hybrid vehicle.
Furthermore, the sealing of an aluminum-like metal container used in a lithium battery for a hybrid vehicle has the following disadvantages. Firstly, with aluminum-like metal material, since laser absorption factor varies significantly due to minute differences in surface conditions such as scratches, coarseness and staining, the penetration amount also varies significantly due to surface conditions. On the other hand, during the sealing of an aluminum-like metal container, when laser light penetrates the sealing member, a spatter occurs from the penetrated portion and, in turn, causes a short circuit. Since a short circuit in a lithium battery has a risk of causing a fire, the penetration amount must be controlled so as to prevent the laser light from penetrating the sealing member. Therefore, it is necessary to stabilize the penetration amount even when surface conditions vary.
Moreover, since aluminum-like metal material has a high reflectance and, in particular, has only a laser absorption factor of 7% with respect to YAG pulsed laser light, pulse seam welding of an aluminum-like metal container requires a YAG pulsed laser light in the kW range. Therefore, in order to supply power in excess of 30 kW to an excitation light source to obtain a kW-range YAG pulsed laser light, output current in the order of several hundred amperes must be controlled at the power source for the excitation light source. Meanwhile, since a lithium battery for a hybrid vehicle is about ten times as large as a lithium battery for a mobile device, an increased welding speed is required from a productivity perspective. Increasing welding speed requires reducing a pulse width (welding time) of a pulsed laser light, which in turn requires that a pulse be raised at high speed. Therefore, at the power source for the excitation light source, it is necessary to control the output current in the order of several hundred amperes to be supplied to the excitation light source to a current signal having a high-speed rise and a short pulse width.
However, with a dropper power source, raising a current signal in the order of several hundred amperes at high speed significantly increases equipment size. Therefore, the dropper power source is unsuitable for a laser apparatus to be used to weld aluminum-like metal material. On the other hand, with a chopper/inverter power source that controls output current by switching an internal switch element, clock synchronization is essential. Therefore, a jitter in the order of several ten μs occurs in a chopping clock period signal (drive signal) that drives the switch element and, consequently, a jitter in the order of several ten μs also occurs in the output current. As a result, since reducing the pulse width of a current signal to be supplied to the excitation light source increases the proportion of a jitter component (fluctuation component) and causes a significant power fluctuation in the pulsed laser light, a stable penetration amount cannot be achieved. For example, when the pulse width of the current signal to be supplied to the excitation light source is set to 0.3 ms, a jitter component of 30 μs causes a 10% power fluctuation and penetration amounts also vary by about 10%.
Therefore, with a general dropper power source or a chopper/inverter power source, pulse reduction of a current signal to be supplied to an excitation light source could not be achieved. Consequently, a YAG pulsed laser light whose pulse width is 2 ms or more has been generally used to seal a lithium battery for a mobile device.
In addition, since the pulse width is set to 2 ms or higher, the energy of the YAG pulsed laser light increases. Thus, conventionally, a GI optical fiber could not be used and an SI optical fiber has been used. This is because, with a GI optical fiber, a spatter occurs from an edge surface of a laser exit aperture when the energy of the laser light is increased. However, an SI optical fiber is prone to damages due to on-site adherence of dust and the like during fiber exchange.
Moreover, an SI optical fiber has a small aperture of 0.6 mm to 0.4 mm. Meanwhile, since a lithium battery for a hybrid car has a large size, as far as the fitting relationship between the opening of the container and the sealing member is concerned, the gap between a wall surface of the opening and the sealing member is larger in comparison to a lithium battery for a mobile device. Therefore, when using an SI optical fiber with a small aperture, a wide spot diameter must be set for the pulsed laser light. As a result, power transmissibility to a processing point is reduced in comparison to a wide-aperture GI optical fiber.

Laser apparatus and manufacturing method of a battery


The present invention relates to a radiation source orientation technology. The invention discloses a method for optimizing the orientation performance of radiation source orientation system, which comprises the following steps: establishing a radiation source orientation matrix; obtaining the non-zero singular value of the orientation matrix; classifying orientation noise that affects the radiation source orientation system according to the distribution characteristic of noise energy; determining the optimal orientation matrix of the radiation source orientation system according to the minimum non-zero singular value σmin of the orientation matrix and its number of array elements m; determining the optimal orientation array according to the non-zero singular value of orientation matrix considering the distribution of different noise energy. The invention lays a foundation for the optimal design of a non-planar array in a radiation source orientation system. The optimal orientation matrix and array provided by the invention can be used to effectively improve the orientation accuracy of the radiation source orientation system and the resistance of the orientation system to interference.

Radiation sources, including optical radiation source, electromagnetic wave radiation source and radioactive radiation source, can radiate energy outwards. The radiation source orientation determination technology is used for observing the orientation of space radiation sources.
The passive orientation determination technology of radiation source plays an important role in civil and military applications such as navigation, aerospace, electronic warfare and so on. The orientation determination technology based on radiation energy is a significant component of passive orientation determination technologies for radiation sources. This technology measures the basic feature of radiation sources—radiation energy, which theoretically meets the passive orientation determination of all radiation sources. Therefore, it has great advantages in the application range. Moreover, the orientation determination technology only requires that the ratio of the energy radiated by the radiation source on the array element to the measured value is a constant, and it is relatively simple to measure the radiant energy, so it has advantages in the system implementation.
The radiation source orientation determination based on the energy of non-planar array elements is a method using radiation energy to determine radiation source orientation. The method is to obtain the space angle, azimuth angle and zenith angle, of the radiation source by solving the radiation source orientation equation, which is formed by unit normal vectors of mounting plane of array elements on a non-planar array (e.g., a polyhedron array) and the measured radiation energy on array elements. Chinese patents No. CN101907457A, CN102798374A and CN108181606 disclose such radiation source orientation technology.
In applications, the orientation noise caused by the interference of system internal and environmental interference is inevitable. Usually the radiation source vector, which is composed of unknown variables of the radiation source orientation equation, cannot be directly calculated through the orientation equation. Therefore, it was first proposed to use the ordinary least square (OLS) solution of the radiation source orientation equation to estimate the radiation source vector. Subsequently, the algorithm to compensate the orientation noise caused by the system internal interference and the method for optimizing the non-planar array structure were also proposed in order to improve the orientation accuracy of the radiation source. However, in-depth research on the OLS orientation performance was rarely reported in the prior art, especially no relevant research has been achieved in terms of method to optimize the radiation source orientation matrix and orientation array, which to a great extent hinders the optimization and improvement of radiation source orientation performance.

Method for optimizing the orientation performance of radiation source orientation system

Chengdu University of Information Technology


A method of monitoring network elements in a communications network includes querying the network elements for reboot and/or reconfiguration event data, identifying a group of the network elements responsive to the querying, and updating information for the identified group of network elements in a network configuration database. The method may further include extracting information from the identified group of network elements into independently searchable databases. The invention may be embodied as methods, data processing systems and computer program products.

Modern communications networks may include thousands of different network elements of various types and made by different manufacturers. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a conventional communications network 100 can include up to thousands or more network elements, such as network elements 105a . . . 105n. Network elements 105a . . . 105n may include routers 105a, switches 105b, servers 105c, and/or other equipment. Fewer or more elements than are illustrated in FIG. 1 may be provided. The design and operation of the communications network 100 and the network elements 105a . . . 105n are well known to those having skill in the art and need not be described further herein.
Management systems, methods, and computer program products are widely used in communications networks to manage these network elements. The management systems, methods, and computer program products can provide information regarding the status and configuration of network elements from each element to a network management center via a network management protocol. Well-known network management protocols, such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP), may enable access to information for network elements defined in a Management Information Base (MIB).
Examples of management systems include Cisco's CiscoWork™ and TTI Telecom's Netrac™ Operations Support System (OSS). CiscoWorks™ may allow access to a multitude of network information for Cisco switches, access servers, and routers. Additional information about CiscoWorkS™ may be found at http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/wr2k/rsmn/index.shtml.
Netrac™ may allow service providers to effectively monitor and manage multi-vendor networks, but may require several days to scan all of the elements in a large (5000+device) network. Additional information about Netrac™ may be found at http://www.tti.co.il/.

Methods, systems and computer program products for network element information management


A Base Station (BS) operation method for reducing load terminals based on load estimation of a neighbor cell in a wireless communication system includes receiving information for estimating a load of a neighbor BS, determining whether to determine the power control and handover terminal set using the number of terminals serviced by the neighbor BS, the number of overload terminals among the terminals serviced by the neighbor BS, and the backoff counter value, and, when it is determined to determine a power control and handover terminal set, deciding the power control and handover terminal set to minimize load terminals, based on the first power variation and the second power variation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for power control and load balancing based on load estimation of a neighbor cell in a wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A communication system for portable phones has conventionally employed a cellular scheme of dividing a service area into areas (cells) of a restricted range, deploying Base Stations (BSs) respectively, and performing communication with terminals within the cell. A 2nd-Generation (2G) mobile communication system based on the Frequency Division Multiple Access/Time Division Multiple Access (FDMA/TDMA) technology is employed in a method of changing a frequency allocated by a cell in order to prevent interference of a signal of a neighbor cell. Regarding this, in a 3rd-Generation (3G) mobile communication system based on the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology, the use of the same frequency was made possible even in a neighbor cell by interference resistance obtained by spectrum diffusion. The demand for higher-speed data communication is being expected in a 4th-Generation (4G) mobile communication system, and the use of the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology enabling high-speed data transmission using a broadband signal in a mobile communication environment is expected.
A cellular wireless communication system supports handover to support the mobility of terminals. When there is an increase of a load of a specific cell among a plurality of cells, the cellular wireless communication system performs load balancing for reducing a load of a corresponding cell. The cellular wireless communication system performs power control for maximizing BS capacity.
However, the conventional load balancing concept is for decreasing the load of the cell when there is a load increase within a specific cell, and cannot reduce the number of loaded terminals (hereinafter overload terminals) per cell from the overall system standpoint.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus for power control and load balancing for minimizing the sum of squares of the number of overload terminals per cell based on load estimation of a neighbor cell in a wireless communication system.

Method and apparatus for power control and load balancing based on load estimation of neighbor cell in wireless communication system

Korea University Research and Business Foundation


A method for normalizing a calibration of a computed tomographic (CT) imaging apparatus having a plurality of detector rows includes utilizing a prestored, predetermined inversion matrix and CT numbers obtained from images of a phantom to determine normalized calibration vectors for each row of a plurality of detector rows, and storing the determined normalized calibration vectors for each row of the plurality of detector rows in a memory for use in subsequent image reconstructions.

This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for computed tomographic (CT) imaging, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for accurately calibrating CT imaging apparatus.
In some known CT imaging system configurations, an x-ray source projects a fan-shaped beam which is collimated to lie within an X-Y plane of a Cartesian coordinate system and generally referred to as an "imaging plane". The x-ray beam passes through an object being imaged, such as a patient. The beam, after being attenuated by the object, impinges upon an array of radiation detectors. The intensity of the attenuated radiation beam received at the detector array is dependent upon the attenuation of an x-ray beam by the object. Each detector element of the array produces a separate electrical signal that is a measurement of the beam intensity at the detector location. The intensity measurements from all the detectors are acquired separately to produce a transmission profile.
In third generation CT systems, the x-ray source and the detector array are rotated with a gantry within the imaging plane and around the object to be imaged such that the angle at which the x-ray beam intersects the object constantly changes. A group of x-ray attenuation measurements, i.e., projection data, from the detector array at one gantry angle is referred to as a "view". A "scan" of the object comprises a set of views made at different gantry angles, or view angles, during one revolution of the x-ray source and detector.
In an axial scan, the projection data is processed to construct an image that corresponds to a two-dimensional slice taken through the object. One method for reconstructing an image from a set of projection data is referred to in the art as the filtered backprojection technique. This process converts the attenuation measurements from a scan into integers called "CT numbers" or "Hounsfield units" (HU), which are used to control the brightness of a corresponding pixel on a cathode ray tube display.
To reduce the total scan time, a "helical" scan may be performed. To perform a "helical" scan, the patient is moved while the data for the prescribed number of slices is acquired. Such a system generates a single helix from a fan beam helical scan. The helix mapped out by the fan beam yields projection data from which images in each prescribed slice may be reconstructed.
Reconstruction algorithms for helical scanning typically use helical weighing algorithms that weight the collected data as a function of view angle and detector channel index. Specifically, prior to a filtered backprojection process, the data is weighted according to a helical weighing factor, which is a function of both the gantry angle and detector angle. The weighted data is then processed to generate CT numbers and to construct an image that corresponds to a two-dimensional slice taken through the object.
To further reduce the total acquisition time, multi-slice CT has been introduced. In multi-slice CT, multiple rows of projection data are acquired simultaneously at any time instant. When combined with helical scan mode, the system generates a single helix of cone beam projection data. Similar to the single slice helical, weighting scheme, a method can be derived to multiply the weight with the projection data prior to the filtered backprojection algorithm.
In at least one known computed tomographic (CT) imaging system with fan beam reconstruction, CT number calibration is achieved using a simple algorithm that includes measuring each image of a phantom generated from 2D reconstruction, wherein each detector row contributes to one and only one image, and then adjusting a calibration vector. The calibration vector modification shifts the CT number by a constant value (including an air compensation), regardless of the size of the phantom.
However, in some cone-beam multi-slice CT systems, 3D image reconstruction is used, and any given image may contain contributions from a plurality of adjacent detector rows. Thus, simple measurement and scaling techniques based upon individual images may not provide satisfactory results.

Methods and apparatus for CT calibration


A package for a medical tool has a receiving space for the medical tool. The package has a readable data carrier with tool-specific data. The package is usable in a method for automatic identification of a medical tool.

Various packages and devices for medical products and in particular tools are known. Packages of medical products such as implants and tools with pointed and/or sharp operative portions, for example in the form of cutting or sawing edges, milling heads and drills or thread portions, are subject to special requirements. In addition to protecting users from injury before and in particular after use of the product, it is also necessary to protect the packaged product from undesirable influences such as contamination and damage.
A further requirement for the package is suitable identification of the product packaged in it, which is particularly important if the packaged product is not visible as such (since it is covered by the package, for example) or the product is not recognizable and/or identifiable (for example, since certain identity features such as the material, dimensions or similar features cannot be readily identified for the product). However, reliable and unambiguous identification of a medical product, such as a surgical instrument, a surgical tool or an implant, is of utmost importance in terms of patient safety.
Another important aspect of medical tools can be the transfer and communication of tool-specific information. This can be, for example, information about whether a particular tool is suitable for a particular application and/or what its condition is. For example, in the case of medical tools, it is often essential to know whether and how often it has been used, what its service life is and what its stock levels are. Such information is difficult or impossible to convey and maintain using standard packages.
It is the prior art to identify the packaged tool for the user by means of labels attached to or in the package. The disadvantage here is that the user cannot readily identify with certainty which tool is in the package without a separate and careful inspection of the label and/or the package. Furthermore, in the case of such labels, displaying of additional information, such as the maximum usability, dimensions, materials, etc., may be difficult and require unconditional care on the part of the supplier as well as when the user tries to identify it, for example due to soiling or wear. In addition, the handling in particular of sterile products such as surgical instruments and tools can be subject to restrictions (such as time pressure or stress during an operation) when they are removed from the package, which can make it difficult for the user to record and/or document product-specific data. This is critical in particular because incorrect use of medical tools due to inadequate recording of the respective tool and its properties or use characteristics can quickly lead to serious negative consequences, in particular for a patient. Finally, known packages offer no or only a limited possibility of documented tool recognition.
Packages in which the medical tool is held firmly and/or in a defined position are known from the prior art. An example of such a package is a blister packaging with a clamp in the coupling area of the tool in order to position and hold it in a defined position in the package. Such a package is disclosed, for example, in DE 10 2013 004 168 A1, in which the surgical tool is packaged under sterile conditions in a plastic package, the package is made up of at least two parts and consists of an inner protective packaging for sensitive parts of the surgical tool and a sealable blister packaging that accommodates the protective packaging. Furthermore, a method for packaging sterile surgical tools is proposed in which the surgical tool is packaged in the plastic packaging under sterile conditions, wherein in a first step the surgical tool is first packaged at least partially and in particular with its sensitive cutting edges and working surfaces in the first protective packaging and the protective packaging is transferred together with the surgical tool packaged there into a second blister packaging, where it is secured in position and then sealed with a sealing film. The disadvantage of this packaging is that although the operative edges of the tool are very well protected, the tool itself cannot be identified by the user through the packaging, or only with difficulty.

Package for a medical tool with automatic tool recognition, and packing method using such a package


A sigma-delta modulator is supplied with a data word and includes a first and at least one further modulation stage, each having at least two adders. The adders in the first modulation stage process a low-significance component and a delayed more significant component of the data word and provide a result word and a carry at their respective outputs. The adders in the at least one further modulation stage process a low-significance component and a more significant component of the result word and provide a further result word and a carry at their respective outputs. The low-significance component and the more significant component of the result word are provided to the further modulation stages with an unvarying delay. A bit stream is derived from a carry from final instances of the at least two adders in the first modulation stage and in the further modulation stage respectively.

In today's mobile radio systems, various mobile radio standards such as the Global System for Mobile Communication, GSM, Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution EDGE, Universal Mobile Telecommunication Standard UMTS, or others are used. In this case, radio-frequency signals are used for transmission.
For generating, or receiving, the radio-frequency transmission and reception signals, digitally controlled oscillators, DCOs are increasingly being used today. As an output signal, a DCO generates a radio-frequency signal on the basis of a digital frequency word. In addition, a digital phase locked loop with a DCO requires less space on a semiconductor body than a corresponding phase locked loop with an analog-controlled voltage controlled oscillator, VCO.
By way of example, DCOs in arrangements for radio-frequency generation use binary-weighted capacitance chips to perform coarse frequency adjustment, while an arrangement with equally weighted, for example thermometer-encoded, capacitance chips regulates the oscillation frequency in operation precisely. The equally weighted capacitance chips can also be used for modulating a signal onto a fundamental of the DCO.
Systems with narrowband modulation, as in the case of GSM/EDGE, require very small frequency steps of approximately 10 kHz, whereas wideband modulation operations, as in UMTS, require a broad adjustment for the range DCO of several 100 MHz. The demands on small frequency steps and a large modulation bandwidth can be achieved with an array of equally weighted capacitance chips, for example with 512 capacitive elements, which are actuated by means of a 9-bit data word. To achieve a finer effective frequency resolution, sigma-delta modulators are used, which convert a non-integer, fractional component of a data word calculated by a digital loop filter into a radio-frequency, serial bit stream. In this case, the bit stream follows the fractional component on average over time. Individual capacitive elements of the capacitance array are therefore changed over very quickly on the basis of this bit stream in order to improve the effective frequency resolution.
A further property of sigma-delta modulators is the suppression of low-frequency quantization noise generated as a result of the switching of the capacitive elements. For this, sigma-delta modulators of relatively high order, particularly of second order, are used, for example.
FIG. 14 shows a conventional first-order sigma-delta modulator. An input 1 is supplied with a data word having a word length of eight bits. An eight-bit full adder 405 has a first input coupled to the input 1 and a second input coupled via a delay element 418 to the output of the adder 405. The word length of the result from the adder 405 is nine bits, made up of eight bits of result and one bit of carry. The carry is output as a serial bit stream on a modulator output 2.
FIG. 15 shows a conventional second-order sigma-delta modulator. An eight-bit result from the adder 405 is supplied to a further adder 505. The adder 505 likewise has a second input which is coupled via a delay element 518 to the output of the further adder 505. In this case, too, a carry bit is generated. The carry bits from the first and second adders 405 and 505 are supplied to a single-bit full adder 602, in this case once negatively via a delay element 603. The result of the addition by the adder 602 is output on the modulator output 2 as a serial bit stream with a word length of two bits.
To achieve the fine frequency resolution for GSM/EDGE despite the large physical frequency step size for adjusting the oscillation frequency in the DCO, a fractional component of eight bits at a clock frequency of approximately 1 GHz is required for the sigma-delta modulator. However, an eight-bit full adder, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, for example, is not able to ascertain a result at this clock frequency within one clock period of the sigma-delta modulator on account of the switching times of the logic gates in the adder. The sigma-delta modulator is therefore no longer able to operate in precise time synch.

Sigma-delta modulator and method for sigma-delta modulation


A tsunami monitoring system includes a transmitting antenna configured to radiate a transmission signal to detect a tsunami as a radio wave toward a sea, and a receiving antenna configured to receive reflected waves reflected by the tsunami as a receiving signal. The tsunami monitoring system includes a signal generator circuit configured to generate the transmission signal having a predetermined frequency, a signal processor portion configured to generate a beat signal of a frequency difference between the transmission signal and the receiving signal, and a wave height estimator portion configured to divide a radio wave radiation region into a plurality of regions, calculate a flow velocity of a sea surface of the tsunami for each region on the basis of the beat signal, and estimate a wave height of the tsunami from a calculated flow velocity.

In recent years, it is concerned that a tsunami makes an incursion to a seacoast part of Japan due to an occurrence of a large earthquake. It is important to predict the arrival as early and accurate as possible in order to perform efficient evacuation behavior and handling before the tsunami arrives at the seacoast. Conventionally, several methods have been proposed to predict the arriving tsunami.
For example, according to a current tsunami forecast system in the Meteorological Agency, numerical simulations of tsunami are in advance performed by setting faults that possibly generates the tsunami, and the results are accumulated as a tsunami forecast database. When an earthquake actually occurs, prediction results corresponding to the location, scale and so on of the generated earthquake are retrieved from this database, and tsunami alarm or warning is announced (For example, see Patent Literature 1). However, since a location and a shift length of the fault necessary for predicting a magnitude of the generated tsunami are not accurately revealed when the earthquake occurs but subject to a data analysis at a later date, there has been a problem that large errors reside in the announced values of the magnitude, an arrival time and so on of the tsunami.
In addition, as another method, there is performed a trial to place a plurality of sensors such as buoys capable of measuring an arriving tsunami on and in the sea and to capture offshore the tsunami itself (For example, see Patent Literature 2). However, this method is able to only spatially obtain data of points, and therefore, this has been regarded insufficient to predict in detail a wave height and an arrival direction of the tsunami arriving in a wide range. Further, there has been such a problem that a large cost is necessary for securing a power source and a signal propagation path. In addition, sensors are necessary on and in the sea, and therefore, there has been such a problem that the maintenance of them are not easy.
Recently, in order to solve the aforementioned problems, tsunami monitoring with a marine radar is started (For example, see Patent Literature 3). The marine radar is able to measure ocean currents, ocean waves, ocean winds and so on in a wide region of about 100 km by radiating a radio wave from an antenna installed on a land toward the sea surface, receiving back-scattered waves due to the ocean waves at the sea surface and performing a frequency analysis. The marine radar has such a feature that a wide range can be observed at the same time, and the marine radar is suitable also for observation in a long term since observation can be performed from the land. However, the marine radar is able to measure only a sea surface flow velocity component in the line of sight of the radio wave radiated from the antenna and unable to directly measure a wave height of the arriving tsunami.
Therefore, in the tsunami monitoring system as described in Patent Literature 3, it is required to obtain a tsunami arrival time and prediction values of wave heights at nearby coasts from preliminarily prepared empirical rules of tsunami (e.g., wave height=flow velocity v×certain function F, arrival time T=distance/phase velocity and so on) on the basis of conditions of the measured flow velocity, terrain model and so on. It is required to construct in advance databases necessary for predicting tsunami characteristics from tsunami flow velocity patterns and to collate an obtained flow velocity distribution with these databases.

Tsunami monitoring radar system including transmitting antenna for radiating transmission signal for detecting tsunami as radio wave toward sea


An automated unsupervised apparatus for conducting a blood alcohol content level test on an individual user, and subsequently discerning and displaying a meaningful test result, is disclosed. The apparatus comprises an alphanumeric display for instructing the individual user to blow into the apparatus so as to provide a breath sample. A pressure switch is used to monitor the gauge pressure of the individual user's breath sample in order to determine whether the gauge pressure is at or above a threshold value for a predetermined length of time, typically three seconds. The alphanumeric display instructs the individual user to wait and blow again in the event that the gauge pressure does not remain at or above the threshold value for the predetermined length of time. A testing sample of the individual user's breath sample is captured in a fuel cell type alcohol concentration sensor. The alcohol concentration sensor in conjunction with an operational amplifier, a peak circuit detector and an analogue to digital convertor, effects an automated electrochemical analysis of the testing sample. A measurement value of the alcohol content of the testing sample is produced, and introduced into a microprocessor, where a numeric value derived from the measurement value and related to the individual user's blood alcohol content level, is calculated. The alphanumeric display displays this numeric value and the category corresponding to the numeric value as being one of "pass", "warn", and "fail".

Operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, or at least being in the situation of wanting to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, is a widespread problem in modern society. While some individual users are not generally concerned about operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, others are genuinely concerned about doing so because of the potential adverse consequences. It is sometimes difficult for an individual user to be able to objectively judge whether they have exceeded the threshold for o being able to legally operate a motor vehicle, particularly as objective judgment is impaired as alcohol is consumed. A very common threshold value of blood alcohol content level for determining whether an individual user is able to legally operate a motor vehicle is 80 milligrams of alcohol per liter of blood, or otherwise expressed, 0.08% blood alcohol content.
In order to make it possible for an individual user who has been consuming alcohol to make a proper and objective judgment as to whether he might be in a condition to legally operate a motor vehicle, it is necessary to test for that individual user's blood alcohol content in some manner. While it is possible to directly test an individual user's blood alcohol content level by way of taking a blood sample and analyzing that sample, this method is generally unsatisfactory for self-administration and may raise legal issues when administered by others since it involves the invasion of an individual user's body by a needle. It is also possible to relatively accurately discern an individual user's blood alcohol content level in an indirect manner, by analyzing a sample of an individual user's breath that has been obtained from the bottom portion of the individual user's lungs, which sample is hereinafter referred to as a testing sample. Many establishments that serve alcohol have testing devices located within their premises that allow an individual user to attempt to discern his or her blood alcohol content level in this manner.
Various types of such testing devices utilizing different operating mechanisms are known. Each type, however, receives an individual user's breath sample and ultimately produces by way of an electrochemical reaction, an electrical output signal that is representative of the blood alcohol content level of the individual user. Various means are then used in the testing devices to convert the electrical output signal from the electrochemical operating mechanisms to an output that is properly representative of the blood alcohol content level of the individual user being tested. This output might be the actual numeric value of the individual user's blood alcohol content level or might be, for example, a categorization of that level, as either "pass", "warn", or "fail".
As mentioned previously, in order to receive a reliable representative testing sample from an individual user's breath sample, it is necessary to obtain the testing sample from the air at the bottom of the individual user's lungs. Accordingly, in order to provide such a testing sample, the individual user must (1) wait until the testing device is ready, (2) take a deep breath, (3) blow (exhale) at a certain threshold rate, which can be measured as a gas pressure, and (4) maintain at least this threshold gas pressure for a predetermined length of time (generally considered to be at least three seconds). The testing sample should not be taken until after this predetermined length of time has expired, but does not need to last for more than about one half second thereafter. Presently available self-administered breath testing devices do not make provision for informing an individual user of the proper procedure for providing a testing sample. It has been found that presently available self-administered breath testing devices generally lack a sufficient and proper operating methodology necessary for permitting the easy and proper use by an untrained individual user in an unsupervised setting.
Further, an individual user must know how to correctly interpret the results that are displayed, and also how to use these results in a safe and appropriate manner. An individual user should know what the legal limit of alcohol is, must be informed of whether he or she is over this legal limit, should be informed if he or she is only slightly below the legal limit, and should be advised to perform a retest in certain situations, such as when he or she is only slightly below the legal limit, as it is extremely important in this situation to determine whether an individual user's blood alcohol content is rising or falling. The individual user should also be advised if the measured alcohol content is extremely high, and that such a high reading might also indicate that the test has not been performed properly.
It has been found that presently available prior art self-administrable breath testing devices generally lack a sufficient and proper operating methodology necessary to provide such information in its entirety, in a sufficiently useful manner.
One example of a prior art device can be found in Canadian Patent No. 997,585 to Hoppesch et al., which patent discloses a breath tester for supervised use. The breath tester disclosed therein has an analog meter that indicates the alcohol level from an individual user's breath, and also has three light emitting diodes that signal "pass", "warn", or "fail". In order to use this device, it is necessary to know that the analog meter must be in a near 0 condition at the start of the test, which indicates that the detector unit has been sufficiently purged of alcohol and is providing a null electrical output. Further, this device does not indicate when to blow, how long to blow, nor does it test for how hard the individual user is blowing, nor does it inform the individual user if he or she is not blowing hard enough. Further, no instructions as to retesting are provided, in the event that the individual user's blood alcohol content level is near the legal threshold, in order to help the individual user determine whether his or her blood alcohol content level is rising or falling. The unit does, however, indicate when an individual user must wait to use it and when it is ready to be used, and also when it is in its testing mode. It is not possible to properly use this device without specific knowledge of how to use the device, which would be gained by either previous experience or specific instruction. Accordingly, it is not suitable for unsupervised use by an untrained individual user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,945 to Collier et al. discloses a breath testing system suitable for direct installation in an automobile. This system indicates when it is ready to be used, when it is actually testing, and whether the results of the test are pass or fail. These indications are all presented by way of small lights or light emitting diodes. This system has all of the shortcomings of the prior art device described above, except that it can be used in an unsupervised manner. This is because an individual user would need to instruct himself in the proper operation of this device if it was installed in an individual user's car, failing which the car would be rendered inoperable. Such would not be the case with a device installed in a licensed drinking establishment.
One desirable aspect of testing for an individual user's blood alcohol content level is to re-test an individual user whose first test indicates that he/she is near the maximum legal blood alcohol content level, but not over it. If only one test is performed, it is not known whether that individual user's blood alcohol content level is rising or falling. The desirability of this feature is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,164 to Porter et al., wherein a vehicle breath monitoring device is adapted to require a retest after 8 minutes if a blood alcohol content level slightly below the legal limit is realized upon a first test. The device only beeps after the 8 minute period in order to indicate that a retest should be done. Again, specific knowledge of the operation of the device must be had by an individual user using the device in order to use it properly.
It is also known to provide an electronic digital display of the blood alcohol level, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,553 to Lopez et al. This patent also teaches the use of digital electronics to perform the testing operation and also to store the results of the test in random access computer memory for later use. It does not however, provide adequate instructions for the proper operation of the device.
Another important aspect of properly and accurately testing for blood alcohol content level by way of capturing and analyzing an individual user's breath sample, is informing that individual user that the test results might be inaccurate if the test results are very high, which high test results may be caused by the presents of alcohol in the individual user's mouth. It is necessary to inform the individual user that the test should be performed again after the individual user's mouth has been rinsed. Such instructions are not provided by the various devices disclosed in the prior art.
It has been found that it is common for individual users to not test for their blood alcohol content level upon leaving a licensed drinking establishment, even though the individual users might be unsure of whether their blood alcohol content level is within a threshold range for legally operating a motor vehicle. In many cases, the deficiencies of prior art blood alcohol content level testing devices installed in these drinking establishments do not provide adequate enough information on the use of the device, nor do they provide full and complete information about the test results, assistance on how to correctly interpret the test results and how to use the test results in a safe and appropriate manner.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for conducting an unsupervised test of the level of blood alcohol content of an individual user, which apparatus allows that individual user to accurately and objectively determine his/her blood alcohol content level.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for conducting an unsupervised test of the level of blood alcohol content of an individual user, which apparatus makes provisions for informing that individual user on an interactive basis about the proper procedures for providing a testing sample.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for conducting an unsupervised test of the level of blood alcohol content of an individual user, which apparatus provides instructions to permit the easy and proper use thereof by an untrained individual user in an unsupervised setting.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for conducting an unsupervised test of the level of blood alcohol content of an individual user, which apparatus informs the individual user how to correctly interpret the test results.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for conducting an unsupervised test of the level of blood alcohol content of an individual user, which apparatus informs the individual user in the event that the test has not been performed properly.
It another object of the present invention to provide an automated method for conducting an unsupervised test of the level of blood alcohol content of an individual user, which method allows that individual user to accurately and objectively determine his/her blood alcohol content level.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated method for conducting an unsupervised test of the level of blood alcohol content of an individual user, which method makes provisions for informing that individual user on an interactive basis about the proper procedures for providing a testing sample.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an automated method for conducting an unsupervised test of the level of blood alcohol content of an individual user, which method provides instructions to permit the easy and proper use thereof by an untrained individual user in an unsupervised setting.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an automated method for conducting an unsupervised test of the level of blood alcohol content of an individual user, which method informs the individual user how to correctly interpret the test results.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an automated method for conducting an unsupervised test of the level of blood alcohol content of an individual user, which method informs the individual user in the event that the test has not been performed properly.

Apparatus and method for conducting an unsupervised blood alcohol content level test


According to a production method, when a workpiece is grasped with a hand that includes two grasping pieces that grasp the workpiece by sandwiching the workpiece in a width direction between two surfaces orthogonal to a subject flat surface, and pressing surfaces that abut against a to-be-pressed surface of the workpiece opposite to the subject flat surface, the pressing surfaces are caused to abut against the to-be-pressed surface near a grasping position. The robot is operated on a basis of forces detected by a force sensor so that the robot assumes an orientation with which moments about axes that lie within the subject flat surface are balanced, and the workpiece is grasped with the two grasping pieces of the hand at a position where the moments are balanced. The robot is then operated to assume an orientation with which the subject flat surface aligns with the target flat surface.

A system for processing workpieces having various surface shapes is known.
According to this processing system, a robot having a hand to which a tool is attached is controlled on the basis of a force signal detected by a force sensor installed in the hand so that the tool moves and tracks the surface shape of the workpiece (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2011-41992).

Production method and production system that use robot


The invention provides a system, system components, and a method for rapidly obtaining and stably maintaining a cell in optimal contact with the cell-contacting surface of a sensor in a cell-based biosensor. In one aspect, the system maximizes the seal between a whole cell and the cell-contact surface of a patch clamp micropipette, maximizing the efficiency of a whole cell patch clamp recording.

Ion-channels are important therapeutic targets. Neuronal communication, heart function, and memory all critically rely upon the function of ligand-gated and voltage-gated ion-channels. In addition, a broad range of chronic and acute pathophysiological states in many organs such as the heart, gastrointestinal tract, and brain involve ion channels. Indeed, many existing drugs bind receptors directly or indirectly connected to ion-channels. For example, anti-psychotic drugs interact with receptors involved in dopaminergic, serotonergic, cholinergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission.
Voltage clamp methods are superior to any other technology for measuring ion channel activity in cells (see, e.g., Neher and Sakmann, Nature 260: 799-802; Hamill, et al., 1981, Pflugers Arch 391: 85-100; Sakmann and Neher, 1983, In Single-Channel Recording pp. 37-52, Eds. B. Sakmann and E. Neher. New York and London, Plenum Press).
Among voltage clamp techniques, patch clamp is most suitable for measuring currents in the pA range (see e.g. Neher and Sakmann, 1976, supra; Hamill, et al., 1981, supra, Sakmann and Neher, 1983, supra). Variations of patch clamp techniques can be utilized such as whole-cell recording, inside-out recording, outside-out recording, and perforated patch recording as are known in the art.
In whole-cell recording, the cell membrane covering the electrode tip is believed to be ruptured by suction in order to establish an electrical connection (and a chemical pathway) between the cell interior and the electrode solution. Because electrode solution is in great excess compared to the amount of cytosol in the cell (about 10 μl vs. about 1 pl), changing ionic species in the electrode solution will create concentration gradients across the cell membrane, providing a means to control the direction and magnitude of the transmembrane ionic flow for a given receptor/ion-channel complex.
In inside-out and outside-out patch clamp configurations, the cytosolic environment is lost by excision of a membrane patch from the entire cell (see, e.g., Neher and Sakmann, 1976, supra; Sakmann and Neher, 1983, supra). To obtain an excision of a patch in both the inside-out and the outside-out configurations, the cells are preferably attached to the bottom of the cell dish or recording chamber. In the case of acutely isolated cells, for example, poly-L-lysine can be used to fix the cells to the bottom of the chamber.
The inside-out configuration allows exposure of the cytosolic side of the membrane to solution in the recording chamber. It is therefore a method of choice for studying gating properties of second-messenger activated ion-channels at the single-channel level. Thus, the effects of cytosolic signaling molecules or enzymatic activity on ion-channel function can be studied by means of this configuration. The outside out configuration, on the other hand, allows exposure of the extracellular side of the patch. It can therefore be used to monitor the activity of ligand-gated or receptor-operated ion-channels.
One frequently used modification of the whole-cell configuration, the perforated patch mode also can be used (see, e.g., as described in Pusch and Neher, 1988, supra). In this technique, holes are selectively made in the cell membrane using a pore-building protein, such as amphotericin or nystatin (see, e.g., Akaike et al., 1994, Jpn. J. Physiol. 44: 433-473; Falke, et al., 1989, FEBS Lett. 251: 167; Bolard, et al., 1991, Biochemistry 30: 5707-5715) to create increased conductivity across the patched cell membrane without the loss of intracellular signaling molecules. In addition to measuring ion currents across ion channels at constant membrane potential, the patch clamp technique can be used to measure membrane voltage at a known constant or time-varying current. And in another aspect, the patch clamp technique can be used to monitor capacitance changes in cell membranes by providing a cell-based biosensor in the open volume reservoir and measuring impedance of the membrane across the membrane of the biosensor in an AC mode.
Patch clamp is traditionally performed using tapered glass micropipettes. However, recently there has been considerable effort in developing patch clamp devices on solid substrates such as silicon chips. Typically, these substrates have been equipped with one or several openings for placement and sealing of cells equivalent to the opening of a traditional patch clamp electrode. For example, Klemic, et al., in WO 01/59447, describe a planar patch clamp electrode array comprising a plurality of electrodes for performing patch clamp recordings on a plurality of patch-clamped cells.
Low noise levels provide better signal-to-noise ratios in patch clamp recordings. The low noise property of patch clamp is achieved by tightly sealing a glass microelectrode or patch clamp pipette onto the plasma membrane of an intact cell thereby producing an isolated patch. The electrical resistance between the pipette and the plasma membrane is critical to minimize background noise and should be in excess of 109 ohm to form a "giga seal". The exact mechanism behind the formation of the "giga seal" is debated, but it has been suggested that various interactions such as salt-bridges, electrostatic interactions, and van der Waal forces mediate the interaction between the glass surface of the pipette and the hydrophilic heads in the lipid layer of the cell membrane (see, e.g., Corey and Stevens, 1983, In Single-Channel Recording, pp. 53-68, Eds. B. Sakmann and E. Neher. New York and London, Plenum Press). Under optimal conditions, single-channel currents in the higher femto-ampere (10−15 A) range can be resolved. Strategies to decrease noise (e.g., such as caused by a bad seal between the electrode and the cell) to facilitate formation of GΩ-seals include, but are not limited to, fire polishing of the glass electrode or treating the surface of the glass electrode using agents such as sigmacote. Dielectric noise and capacitive-resistive charging noise also can be decreased by selecting an expedient electrode/pipette geometry, using quartz glass, and by coating of the glass surface of the pipette with Sylgard® (silicone, PDMS) in order to decrease the capacitance of the pipette as much as possible.
However, it has proven difficult to obtain and maintain cells attached to both solid substrate chips and traditional path clamp micropipettes with good electrical sealing properties. Typical success rates for obtaining a whole cell-recording configuration with both techniques is about 50%. Further, the time periods during which cells can be held in a satisfactory position relative to a patch clamp micropipette to obtain a recording rarely exceeds 20 minutes.

System and method for obtaining and maintaining high-resistance seals in patch clamp recordings


In a bearing apparatus for a wheel in which a hub, a constant velocity universal joint and double rows of bearings are united and one inner raceway of double rows of inner raceways, of the double rows of bearings is integrally formed with an outer joint member of the constant velocity universal joint, a stem portion of the outer joint member is fitted to the hub, an unevenness portion is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the hub or an outer peripheral surface of the stem portion or both thereof, and the hub and the outer joint member are plastically connected by expanding the hollow stem portion from an inner diameter side to an outer diameter side by caulking. Accordingly, the fitted portions of the hub and the outer joint member are prevented from being loosened.

The present invention relates to a bearing apparatus for a wheel for supporting a wheel of an automobile, and more particularly to a bearing apparatus for a wheel of a type that a hub, an outer joint member of a constant velocity universal joint and double rows of wheel bearings are united and at least one of the double rows of inner raceways is integrally formed in the outer joint member, or of a type that one of the inner raceways is directly formed in the hub and another of the inner raceways is formed in an inner race fitted to the hub.
Driving wheels of the automobile such as rear wheels of an FR vehicle, front wheels of an FF vehicle and all wheels of a 4WD vehicle are supported to a suspension apparatus by a bearing apparatus for wheels. The bearing apparatus mentioned above is structured, as shown in FIG. 43, such that a hub 10, a bearing 20 and a constant velocity universal joint 30 are united, one inner raceway 12 of double rows of inner raceways is formed in the hub 10, and another inner raceway 42 is formed in an outer joint member 40 of the constant velocity universal joint 30.
The hub 10 has a flange 14 for supporting the wheel, and the inner raceway 12 is formed on an outer peripheral surface close to the flange 14. The outer joint member 40 of the constant velocity universal joint 30 is constituted by a bowl-shaped mouth portion 43 and a solid stem portion 45, and is serration fitted to the hub 10 at the stem portion 45 and a shoulder surface 44 thereof is brought into contact with an end surface of the hub 10. The inner raceway 42 is formed on an outer peripheral surface close to the stem portion 45 in the mouth portion 43 of the outer joint member 40. Double rows of outer raceways 22 opposing to the inner raceways 12, 42 are formed on an inner peripheral surface of an outer member 21 (hereinafter, refer to as an outer race) of the bearing 20. Rolling elements 29 are assembled between the inner raceways 12, 42 and the outer raceways 22.
As shown by a reference numeral 45xe2x80x2, an axial end of the stem portion 45 protruding from the hub 10 is caulked, thereby connecting between the hub 10 and the stem portion 45, and the outer race 21 is fixed to the suspension apparatus by a flange 24 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the outer race 21, whereby the wheel is fixed to the flange 14 of the hub 10.
In the bearing apparatus mentioned above, a torque from an engine is transmitted to the hub 10 via the constant velocity universal joint 30 so as to rotate the wheel. Accordingly, it is necessary that the outer joint member 40 and the hub 10 are connected at a high reliability. However, since a great moment load is applied to the bearing portion particularly when the automobile turns, there is a disadvantage that the caulked portion is loosened in the case of caulking the axial end of the stem portion 45 of the outer joint member 40.
The bearing apparatus mentioned above is that one inner raceway 42 of the double rows of inner raceways 12, 42 is integrally formed with the outer joint member 40, however, as a bearing apparatus having another construction, there is a bearing apparatus structured such that one inner raceway is directly formed in the hub and another inner raceway is formed in an inner race fitted to the hub as an independent element from the hub.
FIGS. 44A and 44B show a representative embodiment of the bearing apparatus, in which FIG. 44A shows the bearing apparatus for a driving wheel and FIG. 44B shows the bearing apparatus for a driven wheel. Since a basic structure is common between the bearing apparatus for the driving wheel and the bearing apparatus for the driven wheel, a brief description will be given of a construction of the bearing apparatus for the driven wheel in accordance with FIG. 44A. The bearing apparatus is structured such that the hub 10, an inner race 80, the outer race 21, the double rows of rolling elements 29 and the constant velocity universal joint 30 are united. One inner raceway 12 of the double rows of inner raceways 12, 42 is directly formed in the hub 10 and another inner raceway 42 is formed in the inner race 80 fitted to the hub 10 as an independent element from the hub 10.
The hub 10 is structured such that the inner raceway 12 is formed in the outer peripheral portion and the flange 14 for supporting the wheel is formed in the end portion close to an outboard side. In this case, a side close to an outer side of the vehicle in a state of being assembled in the vehicle is called as an outboard side (a left side in the drawing) and a side close to a center portion of the vehicle is called as an inboard side (a right side in the drawing). A small diameter step portion 59 having a reduced outer size is formed in the inboard side end portion of the hub 10, and the inner race 80 independent from the hub 10 and having the inner raceway 42 formed on the outer peripheral surface is fitted to the small diameter step portion 59. Double rows of outer raceways 22 opposing to the inner raceways 12, 42 are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the outer race 21. The rolling elements 29 are interposed to be freely rotatable between the inner raceways 12, 42 and the outer raceways 22.
The outer race 21 is fixed to the suspension apparatus by the flange 24 (in FIG. 44, only a part thereof appears) formed on the outer peripheral surface of the outer race 21, whereby the wheel is fixed to the flange 14 of the hub 10. The stem portion 45 of the outer joint member 40 is serration fitted to a serration hole 63 of the hub 10, thereby transmitting a rotational drive force to the wheel fixed to the hub 10. A nut 69 is screwed to a male screw portion 67 at the front end portion of the stem portion 45, thereby connecting the bearing 20 and the constant velocity universal joint 30.
This kind of bearing apparatus is normally used by applying a pre-load to the bearing 20, and an accurate pre-load control is performed at a time of assembling. However, since the inner raceways 12, 42 are distributed to the hub 10 and the inner race 80, a change of a positional relation in an axial direction between the hub 10 and the inner race 80 results in a change of a size between the inner raceway 12 and the inner raceway 42, so that the bearing clearance changes and causes a pre-load omission. Accordingly, it is necessary that the hub 10 and the inner race 80 are connected to each other at a high reliability.
However, since a great moment load is applied to the bearing portion particularly when the automobile turns, there is a disadvantage that the caulked portion is loosened due to a spring back of the caulked portion or the other reasons in the case of caulking the axial end of the small diameter step portion 59 in the conventional hub 10. Further, the hub 10 a nd the inner race 80 has a relation pressure fitting with a interference, however, no specific device has been conventionally provided so as to prevent a relative rotation. Accordingly, when the relative rotation, that is, a creep is generated due to some reason, there is generated a problem that a damage is generated on the fitting surface between the hub 10 and the inner race 80, a seizure is generated and a interference is increased, whereby a service life is reduced.
A first object of the present invention is to prevent the hub and the constant velocity universal joint from being loosened. To achieve the foregoing object, the invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel which comprises a hub, a constant velocity universal joint and a bearing, these elements being united and at least one of double rows of inner raceways of the bearing being integrally formed with an outer joint member of the constant velocity universal joint, wherein the hub and the outer joint member are fitted to each other, and the fitted portion is at least partly expanded or contracted by caulking.
Embodiments for fitting between the hub and the outer joint member include a case of fitting a small diameter cylinder portion of the hub to a through hole of the outer joint member and a case of fitting a stem portion of the outer joint member in which at least an axial end portion is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape to a through hole of the hub.
The caulking operation by expanding the inner fitting member or contracting the outer fitting member can be performed by a hydroforming in addition to a press formation. For example, the caulking operation is performed by expanding the stem portion of the outer joint member to an outer diameter side from an inner diameter side. Otherwise, the caulking operation may be performed by contracting the hub to the inner diameter side from the outer diameter side.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein an uneven portion is formed in any one or both of the fitted surface of the hub and the fitted surface of the outer joint member.
As a result of the caulking operation due to the expansion of the inner fitting member or the contraction of the outer fitting member, the uneven portion on one fitted surface eats into another fitted surface so as to generate a plastic deformation, so that a firm connection can be achieved and a loosening can be prevented. As a concrete embodiment of the uneven portion, for example, there can be listed up a spiral shape such as a screw, a double-cut knurled shape, a serration or spline shape (hereinafter, the serration or spline is totally called as a serration) or the like.
The uneven portion mentioned above, a work hardening is generated due to an uneven formation, however, it is possible to further apply a hardening treatment to the uneven portion due to a heat treatment. Accordingly, the uneven portion is hard to be crushed and firmly eats into the fitted surface in an opposite side, so that a firm plastic connection can be achieved.
The hub and the stem portion can be securely connected by welding both elements in the end portion in an axial direction of the fitted portion so that it is possible to more securely prevent the loosening. One or two or more welding points may be dispersed in a circumferential direction in addition to welding all the periphery.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein a taper angle that a diameter is increased in the axial end side is given to the fitted surface of the hub or the fitted surface of the outer joint member. Since the diameter of the axial end side of the fitted surface is increased, a come-out prevention operation can be achieved.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein a projection is provided on the fitted surface of the hub or the fitted surface of the outer joint member. For example, an annular projection continuously extending all around the periphery can be exemplified, however, the projection is not always to be continuously provided in a circumferential direction. Further, a spirally extending projection may be employed.
As an embodiment of forming the unevenness on both of the fitted surfaces, there can be exemplified a case that a serration hole of the hub and a serration shaft of the stem portion in the outer joint member are fitted. The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein a cross sectional shape of the fitted surfaces of the hub and the outer joint member fitted to each other is formed in a polygonal shape or a serration shape.
In the case of fitting the stem portion of the outer joint member to the through hole of the hub, the structure may be made such that a clip for come-out prevention is attached to an end portion of the stem portion protruding from the hub. Further, the structure may be made such that the axial end portion of the stem portion is caulked to the end surface of the hub so as to prevent coming out.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein a reinforcing member is pressure fitted into the through hole of the stem portion. Since a rigidity of the hollow stem portion, particularly of the caulked portion is increased, the loosening can be prevented. The reinforcing member may be formed in a cylindrical shape, a ring shape or a solid short shaft shape. In the case of a cylindrical shape with a bottom or a solid member, it is preferable to provide a small hole communicating with a bottom of the mouth portion. Otherwise, in order to compensate for a reduction of rigidity due to a hollow construction, a solid portion may be provided in a part of the stem portion, for example, an area close to the mouth portion. In this case, it is desirable to provided a ventilating small hole communicating with the bottom of the mouth.
It is possible to obtain an effect of radiating a heat generated by a heat generation of the inner race portion and a heat generation of the mouth portion of the constant velocity universal joint to the outside since the through hole communicating with the bottom of the mouth portion is provided in the stem portion so as to make the stem portion hollow. In this case, in order to prevent a grease charged into the mouth portion from leaking, an end plate is attached to the bottom of the mouth portion. It is desirable to provide a ventilating small hole in the end plate.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein a cooling fin member is attached within the stem portion. Since a radiating effect can be further improved by attaching the cooling fin member to the hollow portion, it is very useful for improving a durability of the bearing apparatus for the wheel.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein the hub and the outer joint member are serration fitted at an axial position which is different from the caulked portion to be expanded or contracted. In this case, a torque transmission between the hub and the outer joint member is performed by the serration portion and a come-out prevention is applied to the caulked portion.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein an area closer to the axial end side than the serration portion of the stem portion in the outer joint member is expanded by caulking. The hub and the outer joint member are fixed in an axial direction by the caulked portion and a come-out prevention is performed.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein the caulked portion is partly extended to the serration portion. The caulked portion can be utilized as a play insert for the serration by caulking so that the caulked portion is extended to the serration end portion in the hub side.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein the serration portion of the stem portion is expanded from an inner diameter side by caulking. Accordingly, any play in the serration portion is lost, and a loosening prevention effect can be further increased.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein a portion changing to the caulked portion from the serration portion of the stem portion is gradually expanded.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein a spacer ring is interposed between the fitted surfaces of the stem portion and the hub. It is possible to apply an unevenness formation on an outer peripheral surface of the stem portion, an inner peripheral surface of the spacer ring or both of these. Further, an unevenness formation may be applied to an outer peripheral surface of the spacer ring, an inner peripheral surface of the hub or both of these surfaces.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel wherein an annular groove is provided on an inner peripheral surface of the hub and the swelled portion of the stem portion in the outer joint member is eaten into the annular groove. Since the swelled portion and the annular groove are engaged and a rigidity of the caulked portion becomes higher than that of a simple cylindrical shape due to the swelled portion, a more secure come-out prevention can be achieved.
A second object of the present invention is to prevent the hub and the inner race from being loosened. To achieve the foregoing object, the invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel which comprises an outer race having a flange for mounting to a vehicle body and double rows of outer raceways, a hub having an inner raceway opposing to one of the double rows of outer raceways of the outer race and a wheel mounting flange, an inner race having an inner raceway opposing to another of the double rows of outer raceways of the outer race and fitted to the hub, double rows of balls interposed between the outer raceways of the outer race and the inner raceways of the hub and the inner race, wherein an uneven portion is formed on any one of fitted surfaces of the hub and the inner race or both of them and both of the hub and the inner race are plastically connected by expanding the fitted portions or contracting the fitted portions. Since a connection strength can be increased due to the plastic connection in comparison with the conventional caulking operation, a problem that the hub and the inner race are loosened can be solved and a preload omission can be prevented.
Embodiments for fitting between the hub and the inner race include a case that the hub corresponds to an inner fitting member and the inner race corresponds to an outer fitting member and a case that the inner race corresponds to the inner fitting member and the hub corresponds to the outer fitting member.
In the case that a small diameter cylinder portion is formed in one end of the hub and the inner race is fitted to an outer peripheral surface of the small diameter cylinder portion, the uneven portion is formed on fitted surface of the inner fitting member, that is, the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter cylinder portion of the hub, the fitted surface of the outer fitting member, that is, the inner peripheral surface of the inner race or both thereof.
In the case that a small diameter cylinder portion is formed in one end of the inner race and the hub is fitted to an outer peripheral surface of the small diameter cylinder portion, the uneven portion is formed on fitted surface of the inner fitting member, that is, the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter cylinder portion of the inner race, the fitted surface of the outer fitting member, that is, the inner peripheral surface of the hub or both thereof.
As embodiments of the uneven portion formed on the fitted surface, there can be exemplified a spiral shape such as a screw, a double-cut knurled shape, a serration or the like. Then, the uneven portion on one fitted surface eats into another fitted surface by expanding or contracting the fitted portion, whereby the hub and the inner race are plastically connected. After fitting the hub and the inner race, the fitted portion of the inner fitting member is expanded or the fitted portion of the outer fitting member is contracted.
In the case of fitting the inner race to the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter cylinder portion of the hub, the fitted portion of the small diameter cylinder portion of the hub is expanded or the fitted portion of the inner race is contracted. In the case of fitting the hub to the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter cylinder portion of the inner race, the fitted portion of the small diameter portion of the inner race is expanded or the fitted portion of the hub is contracted.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel, wherein the inner fitting member has an axial through hole. A through hole extending all along the axial length is provided in the hub when the hub is the inner fitting member, and a through hole extending all along the axial length is provided in the inner race when the inner race is the inner fitting member. According to the structure mentioned above, since the whole of the bearing apparatus has a hollow structure, a heat radiating effect can be increased and a durability can be improved by restricting an amount of temperature increase in the bearing portion.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel, wherein hardening treatment by heat treatment is applied to the caulked portion between the hub and the inner race. The uneven portion has a higher hardness than the other portions due to a work hardening caused by the unevenness formation, however, since an elastic deformation after the caulking operation according to the expansion or the contraction is reduced by applying the hardening treatment by the heat treatment, it is possible to increase the loosening prevention effect.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel, wherein the end portions of the fitted portions of the hub and the inner race are welded. Accordingly, it is possible to further securely connect the hub to the inner race. The structure may be made such that the welding operation is performed all around the periphery or one or two or more welding points are dispersed in a circumferential direction.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel, wherein a clip is attached to the end portion of the inner fitting member so as to fix the hub to the inner race in an axial direction. When the hub is the inner fitting member, the clip is attached to an annular groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter cylinder portion in the hub so as to be engaged with the end surface of the inner race, and when the inner race is the inner fitting member, the clip is attached to an annular groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter cylinder portion in the inner race so as to be engaged with the end surface of the hub. Accordingly, it is possible to further securely connect the hub to the inner race.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel, wherein a reinforcing member is pressure fitted into the caulked portion between the hub and the inner race. According to the reinforcing member, it is possible to increase a rigidity of the caulked portion to be expanded or contracted, and it is possible to prevent the caulked portion from being loosened due to a spring back of the caulked portion or the other reasons.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a driving wheel which comprises an outer member having a flange for mounting to a vehicle body and double rows of outer raceways, a hub having an inner raceway opposing to one of the double rows of outer raceways of the outer race and a wheel mounting flange, an inner race having an inner raceway opposing to another of the double rows of outer raceways of the outer race, an outer joint member of a constant velocity universal joint fitted to the hub and the inner race, double rows of balls interposed between the outer raceways of the outer race and the inner raceways of the hub and the inner race, wherein an uneven portion is formed on any one of fitted surfaces of the hub and the outer joint member or both of them and both of the hub and the outer joint member are plastically connected by expanding the fitted portions or contracting the fitted portions. It is possible to prevent the hub and the inner race from being loosened by expanding or contracting the fitted portions between the hub and the outer joint member so as to plastically connect both of them.
Further, a third object of the present invention is to prevent a creep of an inner race in a bearing apparatus for a wheel of caulking an end portion of a hub so as to fix an inner race. To achieve the foregoing object, the invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel which comprises an outer race having a flange for mounting to a vehicle body and double rows of outer raceways on an inner peripheral surface, a hub having a wheel mounting flange in an outboard side, structured such as to pressure fit an inner race into an inboard side, directly form an inner raceway in the outboard side of double rows of inner raceways opposing to the double rows of outer raceways of the outer race on an outer peripheral surface and form an inner raceway in an inboard side on the inner race, double rows of rolling elements interposed between the outer raceways of the outer race and the inner raceways of the hub and the inner race, the inboard side end portion of the hub being caulked to the outer diameter side so as to fix the inner race, wherein a preventing means for preventing a relative rotation by directly or indirectly engaging the hub with the inner race is provided. The creep can be prevented and a durability can be improved by preventing the relative rotation between the hub and the inner race.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel, wherein the preventing means for preventing the relative rotation between the hub and the inner race is a recess groove provided in an inner diameter of the end surface portion of the inner race. By providing the recess groove, the hub eats into the recess groove of the inner race when caulking the inner end portion of the hub, whereby a kind of key operation can be obtained. Accordingly, the hub and the inner race are locked in a rotational direction, whereby the creep can be prevented. The number of the recess groove is one or two or more, and when a multiplicity of recess grooves are arranged all around the periphery, they form a so-called serration.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel, wherein the preventing means for preventing the relative rotation between the hub and the inner race is a recess portion formed in the end surface portion of the inner race and having a peripheral wall in which a distance from an axial core of the inner race is not uniform in a circumferential direction. In this case, when caulking the inner end portion of the hub, the hub is expanded along the recess portion. Since in the peripheral wall of the recess portion, the distance from the axial core of the inner race is not uniform, the hub and the inner race are locked in the rotational direction, whereby it is possible to prevent the creep. Exemplifying a concrete shape of the recess portion having the peripheral wall in which the distance from the axial core of the inner race is not uniform in the circumferential direction, there are a structure in which a contour of the peripheral wall is an oval shape, and a structure in which a contour of the peripheral wall is a complete round eccentrically formed with the axial core of the inner race. The peripheral wall may be parallel to an axis of the inner race or may extend in a direction crossing to the axis of the inner race such as a so-called bevel.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel, wherein the preventing means for preventing the relative rotation between the hub and the inner race includes a spacer interposed between the caulked portion of the hub and the inner race, and the spacer is engaged with both of the hub and the inner race. The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel, wherein the spacer is formed in an annular shape, and has a flat surface engaging with a flat surface formed in the outer peripheral portion of the hub in an inner peripheral portion thereof and a flat surface engaging with a flat surface formed in the outer peripheral portion of the inner race in an outer peripheral portion thereof. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the both from relatively rotating by indirectly engaging the hub with the inner race, whereby it is useful for preventing the creep of the inner race.
This invention can be applied to both of the bearing apparatuses for the driven wheel and the driving wheel. Then, in the bearing apparatus for the driven wheel, the hub is not connected to the drive shaft whichever the hub is a solid one or a hollow one. On the contrary, in the bearing apparatus for the driving wheel, the outer joint member of the constant velocity universal joint is connected to the hub. Further, the structure can be made such that the outer joint member is connected to the serration hole of the hub by a serration formed in the stem portion thereof, the hub and the outer joint member are fixed to each other by fastening a nut to a screw formed in the stem portion.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel or 47, wherein an annular recess portion for receiving a caulked end portion of the hub is formed in an inner diameter side of a shoulder surface of the outer joint member of the constant velocity universal joint. Accordingly, since the annular shoulder surface in the outer diameter side of the recess portion is brought into contact with the side surface of the inner race without being interfered with the caulked end portion of the hub and an axial positioning of the inner race is performed, there is no fear that a bearing clearance is changed and a pre-load is omitted.
The invention provides a bearing apparatus for a wheel, wherein an inner end of a thin cylinder portion formed in an inboard side end portion of the hub is set to be closer to the axial end side than a crossing point between a load application line of the inboard side rolling element and an inner diameter surface of the inner race. Accordingly, since the thin caulked portion is disposed at a position shunting from the load application line, it is useful for maintaining a desired rigidity and preventing a creep of the inner race. In this case, in the bearing apparatus for the wheel shown in FIG. 44, a thin cylinder portion 61xe2x80x2 having a depth h is provided in an inboard side end portion of the hub 10 in order to facilitate the caulking operation, in this case, the thin cylinder portion 61xe2x80x2 partly extend to a fitted area between the thin cylinder portion 61xe2x80x2 and the inner race 80. In the wheel bearing of the automobile, a great moment load is applied to the bearing portion due to a swirling motion or the like, however, in particular, since the thin cylinder portion 61xe2x80x2 is provided in the inboard side, there is left a problem of a creep of the inner race 80 due to an insufficiency of rigidity as a problem to be solved.


Techniques involving the transfer of signals across interconnection media are disclosed. For instance, an apparatus may include an apparatus having an interconnection medium, a first device that may drive the interconnection medium, and a second device. The second device may include a pull-up resistor that is selectively coupled between the interconnection medium and a power source. For instance, the second device may disconnect a power source from the interconnection medium when the first device is in a power saving operational state. Otherwise, the pull-up resistance is coupled between the power source and the interconnection medium.

Many devices include multiple electronic components that exchange information with each other. Such information may be exchanged across interconnection media in the form of electrical signals. For example, interfaces known generally as buses may distribute information between components of a computer.
Moreover, as the trend toward advanced central processing units (CPUs) with more transistors and higher frequencies continues to grow, computer designers and manufacturers are often faced with corresponding increases in power and energy consumption. Furthermore, manufacturing technologies that provide faster and smaller components can at the same time result in increased leakage power. Particularly in mobile computing environments, increased power consumption can lead to overheating, which may negatively affect performance, and can significantly reduce battery life. Because batteries typically have a limited capacity, running the processor of a mobile computing system more than necessary could drain the capacity more quickly than desired.
Thus, systems may attempt to conserve power by placing processors in various power states based on various operating characteristics. Such operational states may have a corresponding impact on the behavior of coupled interconnection media, such as buses.

Termination techniques for bus interfaces