An ejector cycle device includes an ejector having a nozzle portion which decompresses refrigerant flowing out of a radiator, a first evaporator for evaporating refrigerant from the ejector, and a second evaporator provided in a branch passage that is branched from a position between the refrigerant radiator and the ejector and is connected to a refrigerant suction port of the ejector. Furthermore, a throttle member is disposed in the branch passage to decompress refrigerant and adjust a flow amount of refrigerant, and the second evaporator is disposed in the branch passage between the throttle member and the refrigerant suction port. In the ejector cycle device having both the first and second evaporators, a defrosting operation of one the first and second evaporators can be performed while the other one of the first and second evaporators is operated to have a cooling function.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ejector cycle device having an ejector, which is used for decompressing a fluid while being used as a kinetic pump for transmitting a fluid by entrainment function of a driving fluid jetted at a high speed. For example, the ejector cycle device can be suitably used as a refrigerant cycle for cooling plural different-temperature cooling subjects.
2. Description of Related Art
A vapor-compression refrigerant cycle device (ejector cycle device) having an ejector 62 is described in JP Patent No. 3322263 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,477,857 and 6,574,987). The ejector cycle device includes a compressor 60, a refrigerant radiator 61, the ejector 62, first and second evaporators 63, 64 and a gas-liquid separator 65. The first evaporator 63 is located between a refrigerant discharge side of the ejector 62 and the gas-liquid separator 65, and the second evaporator 64 is located between a refrigerant suction port of the ejector 62 and a refrigerant outlet of the gas-liquid separator 65.
In this ejector cycle device, a throttle open degree of a nozzle portion of the ejector 62 is controlled, so that refrigerant at an outlet side of the first evaporator 63 becomes in a gas-liquid two-phase state while a cooling capacity of the second evaporator 64 is controlled. In this case, the cooling capacity of the first evaporator 63 is operatively linked with the cooling capacity of the second evaporator 64, and it is difficult to suitably control the cooling capacities of both the first and second evaporators 61, 62.
In addition, when the temperature of refrigerant in one of the evaporators 63, 64 is reduced to a temperature lower than 0° C., moisture contained in air is frozen on the one evaporator. The flow of refrigerant to the one evaporator may be stopped for performing a defrosting operation of the one evaporator. However, in this ejector cycle device, both of the flow of refrigerant to the first evaporator 63 and the flow of refrigerant to the second evaporator 64 need to be stopped.


Retention of chlorine and hypochlorite in hair is reduced by treating the hair with a defined composition, allowing the composition to remain on the hair for at least 10 seconds, and then rinsing off the composition with water. The composition comprises at least 1% by total weight of the composition of potato particles having an average diameter of less than 10 microns when dried; at least 1% by total weight of the composition of clathrate; at least 1% by weight of surfactant; and water.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of hair protection from chlorine after swimming in chlorinated swimming pools.
2. Background of the Art
Published US Patent Application 20050053570 teaches clathrates as a general ingredient in shampoo, but for an undefined purpose along with many other generic classes of ingredients.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,985 (Petrow) discloses a method for removing rapidly chlorine retained by the skin and hair of, for example, swimmers, after exposure to chlorinated water by means of a stoichiometric excess of a suitable reducing agent, such as an alkali thiosulfate and the like in aqueous solution, and with toilet soaps and shampoos comprising said agent adapted to effect said removal. Clathrates were tried in an examples for leaching chlorine from the skin, but were found to be too slow, taking 20 times longer than the proposed ingredients.
General detergent anionic-cationic surfactant mixtures are well known to the art. See generally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,441,541, 5,472,455, 5,204,010, 4,790,856, 4,298,480, 3,730,912 (all to The Colgate-Palmolive Company), 5,622,925, 5,607,980, 5,565,145, 4,913,828, 4,659,802, 4,436,653, 4,338,204, 4,333,862, 4,132,680 (all to The Procter & Gamble Co.); also see WO 97/03164, WO 97/12022 and WO 96/37591 (all to The Procter & Gamble Co.), and WO 97/28238 and WO 97/15647 (both to Reckitt & Colman, Inc.). See also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,610,187 and 4,247,538 (both to Witco Corp.), 5,344,949 (to Th. Goldschmidt AG), 5,332,854 and 5,324,862 (both to Dai-Ichi Kogoyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd.), 4,273,760 (to National Starch and Chemical), and 4,264,457 (to DeSoto, Inc.).
Compositions comprising anionic-cationic surfactant mixtures are also relatively well known. U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,802 (to Procter & Gamble) discloses a conditioning shampoo composition with excellent cleaning performance and improved levels of conditioning while minimizing any adverse effect associated with build-up; the disclosed compositions general comprise an ethoxylated alkyl sulfate, amphoteric surfactant, insoluble, dispersed conditioning agent (nonionic, cationic silicone), synthetic esters, and cellulosic cationic polymers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,059 (to Akzo Nobel) discloses a 2-in-1 conditioning shampoo comprising an anionic surfactant (alkyl sulfate or ether sulfate) and ester quats, with optional amide. U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,436 (to Colgate Palmolive) discloses a low static conditioning shampoo comprising an anionic and an amphoteric surfactant, complex acid:amine (1:1 mole ratio) and polyquaternary compound. U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,980 (to Procter & Gamble) discloses topical compositions having improved skin feel comprising an anionic surfactant (alkyl sulfate, ether sulfate, isethionate), a cationic surfactant and an amphoteric surfactant. U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,854 (to Henkel) discloses a conditioning shampoo formulation comprising a quaternary ammonium component, an emulsifier, an amphoteric, an alkyl polyglycoside surfactant. U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,607 (to Takasago International Corporation) discloses an optically clear conditioning shampoo comprising anionic (alkyl sulfate or alkyl ether sulfate) and cationic surfactants. U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,216 (to Kao Corporation) discloses detergent compositions comprising an anionic or amphoteric surface active agents and a branched quaternary ammonium salt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,977 (to Henkel) discloses quaternary ammonium compound hair conditioners in combination with an anionic surfactant. U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,189 (to Unilever) discloses mixtures of anionic, cationic, amphoteric, nonionic, zwitterionic surfactants, along with benefit agents, thickening agents an small amounts of soap. These references are incorporated herein by reference for their general disclosure and compounding methods.


A child-resistant closure includes a base, and a lid integrally molded and coupled to the base by a hinge. The lid has a latch arm resiliently extending from a periphery opposite the hinge and having oppositely extending tabs adjacent to a free end of the latch arm. The base has an external recess for receiving the latch arm and spaced ledges in the recess for engagement by the tabs to lock the lid in a closed position. The latch arm is engageable by a user to pivot the latch arm radially inwardly within the passage and release the tabs from the ledges so the lid can be pivoted toward an open position. The tabs and the ledges are recessed radially inwardly from the outer surface of the latch arm in the closed position of the lid with the tabs engaged beneath the ledges.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,638,916 and 5,489,035 disclose dispensing closures of one-piece integrally molded plastic construction. These closures include a base with a dispensing opening and an internally threaded skirt for securement to a container neck finish. A lid is integrally connected by a hinge to a periphery of the base. U.S. Patent document 2005/0023285A1 discloses a child-risistant dispensing closure that includes a base having a deck with a dispensing opening and a peripheral skirt. A lid is integrally molded with the base and coupled by a hinge to a periphery of the base so as to be pivotable between closed and open positions. One of the lid and the base has a latch arm resiliently extending from its periphery opposite the hinge. The latch arm has a pair of oppositely extending tabs adjacent to a free end of the arm. The other of the base and the lid has an axial passage for receiving the latch arm, and a pair of laterally spaced ledges in the passage for engagement by the tabs to lock the lid in the closed position. The latch arm is directly manually engageable by a user from a radial direction external to the closure to pivot the latch arm radially inwardly within the passage and release the tabs from the ledges so that the lid can be pivoted toward the open position.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A child-resistant closure in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure includes a base and a lid molded integrally with the base. The lid is coupled by a hinge to the base to be pivotable between a closed position and an open position. One of the base and the lid has a latch arm resiliently extending from a periphery opposite the hinge. The latch arm has a pair of oppositely extending tabs adjacent to a free end of the latch arm. The other of the base and the lid has an external recess for receiving the latch arm and a pair of laterally spaced ledges in the recess for engagement by the tabs to lock the lid in the closed position. The latch arm in the recess is directly manually engageable by a user from a radial direction external to the closure to pivot the latch arm radially inwardly within the passage and release the tabs from the ledges so that the lid can be pivoted toward the open position. The tabs on the latch arm and the ledges in the recess are recessed radially inwardly from the outer surface of the latch arm in the closed position of the lid with the tabs engaged beneath the ledges. In this way, the latch arm can be pushed radially inwardly to release the lid without the user's fingers touching the ledges in the recess.
The latch arm preferably is coupled to the lid by a hinge strap having a width that is less than the width of the latch arm adjacent to the lid. This hinge strap absorbs the flexure when the arm is pushed inwardly so that the remainder of the lid is undistorted. Internal reinforcing ribs preferably are provided on the skirt of the lid, to which the hinge strap is coupled, further to protect the lid from distortion when the latch arm is pushed radially inwardly. The outer surface of the latch arm preferably forms a smooth continuation of the outer surface of the lid to eliminate any abrupt change in surface contour that a user's finger may contact. The latch system preferably is positioned adjacent to the bottom of the closure sidewall so that the bottom of the latch arm is protected by a shoulder on the container.

Child-resistant flip-top dispensing closure and package


A method for transporting a molded object, in particular an ophthalmic lens, specifically a contact lens (CL), in which a molded object is lifted up from a supporting surface (1) and transported to a destination, such that the molded object is acted upon by a fluid so that it is lifted up from the supporting surface (1) and transported to the destination through a transport line (2).

In mass production of contact lenses, specifically so-called disposable lenses, a large number of contact lenses must be manufactured in a relatively short period of time. In a preferred method of mass production, a starting material, e.g., a prepolymer solution containing water, is introduced into a female mold half, the casting mold is closed by the respective male mold half and then the starting material is polymerized and/or crosslinked photometrically with the help of UV light. The mold halves mask the UV light in the respective areas which are outside of the areas required for contact lens production. Cyclic mass production of contact lenses is described in WO 98/42497, for example. Suitable polymers formed by photochemical polymerization of suitable prepolymers include polymers based on polyvinyl alcohols (PVA) or silicone hydrogels (SiHy) as well as based on polyethylene glycols (PEG).
After polymerization and/or crosslinking and then opening the casting molds, the contact lenses must be removed from the mold halves and brought to the next production station, e.g., the coating station, the cleaning station or the inspection station. To do so, it is typical to use vacuum gripper, which are robot-controlled and with the help of a vacuum grip the contact lenses with suction, convey them further and then deposit them at the desired destination. So-called mechanical tweezers grippers are also known. Disadvantages of most of these mechanical approaches include not only the high cost of the robot systems but also the mechanical stress and the risk of damage to the contact lenses. For example, silicone hydrogels (SiHy) are used for the production of extremely oxygen-permeable contact lenses; they may adhere so tightly to the mold half that mechanical transport tools are unable to easily lift the contact lenses up from the mold halves and transport them. It may also happen that after the contact lenses have been lifted, they cannot be removed from the grippers easily.

Method and device for transporting a molded object


A printing system and method for printing XML files directly using a formatting template is disclosed. The formatting template includes an XML Descriptor (XMD) associated with each XML data element in a tree structure of the XML document. XML Descriptors (XMDs) are identified by an associated qualified tag. The qualified tag includes a concatenation of a plurality of XML start tags representing start tags hierarchically traversed in the tree structure of the XML document to reach the XML data element associated therewith. The XMDs provide formatting to content associated with the XML data element. A printer prints the rendered XML document according to the template using the XMDs.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to printing systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for printing XML directly using a formatting template.
2. Description of Related Art
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a text-based markup language that is designed to make information self-describing. XML is designed to improve the functionality of the Web by providing more flexible and adaptable information identification. It is called extensible because it is not a fixed format like HTML (a single, predefined markup language). Instead, XML is actually a "metalanguage", i.e., a language for describing other languages, which lets you design your own customized markup languages for limitless different types of documents. XML can do this because it's written in Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), the international standard metalanguage for text markup systems (ISO 8879).
XML is fast becoming the standard for data interchange on the Web. Indeed, since XML was completed in early 1998 by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the standard has spread like wildfire through science and into industries. XML is intended to make it easy and straightforward to use SGML on the Web, e.g., easy to define document types, easy to author and manage SGML-defined documents, and easy to transmit and share them across the Web. XML defines an extremely simple dialect of SGML which is completely described in the XML Specification. The goal is to enable XML to be processed in the way that is now possible with HTML. For this reason, XML has been designed for ease of implementation.
As with HTML, you identify data using tags (identifiers enclosed in angle brackets, e.g., < . . . >). Collectively, the tags are known as "markup". But unlike HTML, XML tags tell you what the data means, rather than how to display it. Where an HTML tag says something like "display this data in bold font" (<b> . . . </b>), an XML tag acts like a field name in your program. It puts a label on a piece of data that identifies it (for example: <message> . . . </message>).
In the same way field names for a data structure are defined, programmers are free to use any XML tags that make sense for a given application. Naturally, though, for multiple applications to use the same XML data, the tag names intended to be used have to be agreed upon.
A structured document formed of predetermined elements, such as a document described by XML is structured only by content and structure. The definition information regarding a style for the document, such as format and attribute information required for display or printed, is defined and administered independently of the document content information.
To display such a structured document on a displaying apparatus, or to print the document on a printing apparatus, information about the structure of the document ("structure information") is first analyzed and separately defined information about style definition ("style definition information") is obtained. The style definition information depends on the analyzed structure and, once obtained, is set as display or print attribute information.
The result of such a structure analysis may be represented in a tree structure. The independently defined style definition information is often defined in relation to a set of identifiers (hereinafter referred to as "tags") that indicate the elements of the document structure in terms of the various units of the document.
Authors and providers can design their own document types using XML, instead of only using HTML. Document types can be explicitly tailored to an audience, so the cumbersome fudging that has to take place with HTML can become a thing of the past. Thus, authors and designers are free to invent their own markup elements. Moreover, information content can be richer and easier to use because the descriptive and hypertext linking abilities of XML are much greater than those of HTML. XML can provide more and better facilities for presentation using stylesheets such as CSS and XSL.
In HTML, default styling is built into browsers because the tagset of HTML is predefined and hardwired into browsers. In XML, where you can define your own tagset, browsers cannot know what names are going to be used and what they will mean, so a stylesheet is needed if the formatted text is to be displayed. For example, browsers which read XML will accept and use a CSS stylesheet at a minimum, but you can also use the more powerful XSLT stylesheet language to transform your XML into HTML.
The Cascading Stylesheet Specification (CSS) provides a simple syntax for assigning styles to elements, and has been implemented in most browsers. The Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) has been created for use specifically with XML. XSL uses XML syntax (an XSL stylesheet is an XML file) and has widespread support from several major vendors, although current browser support is limited. XSL comes in two flavors. XSL is a pure formatting language and needs a text formatter like Formatting Objects Processor (FOP) or PassiveTeX to create printable output (both can produce PDF). XSLT (T for Transformation), is a language to specify transformations of XML into HTML either inside the browser or at the server before transmission. It can also specify transformations from one vocabulary of XML to another, and from XML to plaintext.
Style sheets originated in publishing and document management applications. However XML applications go behind traditional document management and are useful for these applications as well. The SGML approach was to separate the document from its presentation. A document can be published in different forms on any media. For example, there's the hardcover edition, the pocket edition and the CD-ROM edition. In fact, with SGML, documents are "retargetable": For example, the same document can be published automatically on different media including paper and electronic media. The operative word is automatically. To achieve this goal, SGML (and XML) encode high-level semantic information. For example, XML markup would identify the title, the paragraphs and the keywords in a document. The markup is specifically not concerned with whether the title is in Garamond or AvantGarde font. The font, the size and the color are properties of a published document on a given medium. More importantly, these properties can be automatically deduced from the high-level, semantic markup. Therefore software can automatically prepare documents for publishing. When printing, the title may be typeset in AvantGarde and the paragraphs in Garamond. Keywords require no special formatting but are compiled in an index. When publishing on the web, the title may be a graphic in its own frame and the list of keywords may be an index with hyperlinks.
Specific instructions on how to prepare the document for certain media are collected in stylesheets. Different stylesheets for print and for the web are used. Different stylesheets may even be used for the hardcover and the pocket editions.
An XSL stylesheet is a set of rules where each rule specifies how to format certain elements in the document. The stylesheets have rules for title, paragraphs and keywords. With XSL, these rules are powerful enough not only to format the document but also to reorganize it, e.g. by moving the title to the front page or extracting the list of keywords. This can lead to exciting applications of XSL outside the realm of traditional publishing. For example, XSL can be used to convert documents between the company-specific markup and a standard one.
Style sheets are, as discussed above, separated from documents. Therefore one document can have more than one stylesheet and, conversely, one stylesheet can be shared amongst several documents. The ability to associate several stylesheets to a single document means that the same document can be rendered differently depending on the media. The ability to share a stylesheet between several documents necessitates enforcing a corporate style.
As the Web became more commercial, publishers wanted the same control over quality of output that they had with the printed medium. This gradually led to an increasing use of concrete presentation controls such as explicit fonts and absolute positioning of material on the page. The unfortunate but entirely predictable side effect was that it became increasingly difficult to deliver the same content to alternative devices such as digital TV sets and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) phones. Until now, in order to control printing, content providers used stylesheets, as described above, to control the rendering, e.g. fonts, colors, leading, margins, typefaces, and other aspects of style, of a Web document without compromising its structure. To print XML data is to apply a stylesheet, such as XSL, to the data using an XSLT processor. This processor outputs formatted objects, which are then input to a composer that generates final-form pages. These pages are then converted into a page description language (PDL) such as PostScript, Portable Document Format (PDF), or Advanced Function Presentation (AFP). Nevertheless, stylesheets are cumbersome and do not allow a user to print XML data efficiently and quickly. In a production system, for example, print speeds exceed 1000 pages/minute. Transforming XML data with an XSL stylesheet is processing-intensive and does not support such print speeds.
It can be seen then that there is a need for a method and apparatus for printing XML directly using a formatting template.

Method and apparatus for printing XML directly using a formatting template


The present invention relates to conditions monitoring of structures forming part of a transport network, e.g. structural health monitoring of structures, especially tunnels by performing distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) on at least one optical fiber (104) deployed so as to monitor the structure (206) and detecting and analyzing the acoustic response to movement of traffic (205) on the network in the vicinity of the structure to detect the acoustic response (303, 304) of the structure. The acoustic response of the structure is then analyzed to detect any change in condition.

Transport network infrastructure, such as rail network infrastructure, will typically comprise some structures that it is desirable to monitor the condition of. For instance it may be desired to monitor the condition of tunnels that form part of the network to detect any faults in the tunnel that could lead to failure.
In some rail networks the condition of tunnels may be manually inspected. This may comprise an inspection by suitable personnel, including a visual inspection and/or performance of various tests or measurements to identify any potential problems. For instance, the condition of the walls may be visually inspected, the relative position of known markers measured for any movement and in some instances the wall condition may be tested using suitable probes.
Clearly however such inspections require sending an inspection team to the relevant structure and the inspection can take significant time. The area to be inspected, even in a single track rail tunnel of a few hundred meters in length, may be significant and some tunnels may large enough to house multiple tracks and be of the orders of kilometers in length. The inspection may only be possible in times when the relevant section of rail network is not in use, which may limit the time available for inspection and/or result in reduced or cancelled services on the network. For these reasons manual inspection is typically a time consuming and costly undertaking and most infrastructure is therefore inspected only periodically, in some instances with significant periods of time between inspections.
In some structures there may also be a number of permanently installed sensors to provide on-going structural health monitoring. For instance various strain sensors, accelerometers etc. and the like may be deployed through a tunnel to detect any motion. Such sensors are typically point sensors and thus providing adequate coverage for a tunnel, which may be kilometers in length, requires many such sensors with consequent expense. For remote monitoring each sensor must have a suitable power supply and be arranged to be able to transmit the acquired data for analysis.

Monitoring transport network infrastructure


A superconducting magnet system, such as an NMR apparatus, is outfitted with a compact-size refrigerator that prevents mechanical vibrations produced by the refrigerator from being transmitted to the superconducting magnet system. The refrigerator is in the form of a pulse tube refrigerator having a cold head and a pressure oscillation generating source. The cold head of the pulse tube refrigerator is connected directly to a vacuum insulation vessel of the superconducting magnet system. Cold generated from the cold head cools a cooling device, for example, a liquid helium tank for cooling the superconducting coil, or a heat penetration reducing device, for example, a liquid nitrogen tank, for reducing heat penetration from outside.

In physicochemical appliances, for example, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) appliances, that use a superconducting magnet to create a uniform magnetic field and measure physical and chemical characteristics of a substance in the magnetic field, liquid helium is conventionally used as a cryogen to cool the superconducting magnet (to about -270.degree. C.). The liquid helium is stored in a liquid helium storage tank that is surrounded by a liquid nitrogen storage tank to reduce heat penetration into the liquid helium storage tank and reduce evaporation of the liquid helium.
Such physicochemical appliances are susceptible of certain disadvantages and drawbacks in that they consume significant amounts of liquid nitrogen as compared with the consumption of liquid helium, thereby requiring much expense in time and labor for replenishment of the liquid nitrogen. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-327171 proposes a solution in an attempt to address this problem. The system described in this document is illustrated in FIG. 9.
As seen in FIG. 9, a vacuum insulation vessel 51 of an NMR apparatus contains a liquid helium storage tank 53 filled with liquid helium. A superconducting magnet 52 is located in the liquid helium in the liquid helium storage tank 53. Surrounding the outer periphery of the liquid helium storage tank 53 is a liquid nitrogen storage tank 54 filled with liquid nitrogen.
A re-liquefaction vessel 55 includes a vacuum insulation structure in which a re-liquefied gas pool portion 56 is formed. A cryogenic refrigerator is mainly made up of a cold head 58 and a compressor 59. A low temperature generating portion 60 of the cold head 58 protrudes toward or into the re-liquefied gas pool portion 56.
The vacuum insulation vessel 51 is connected to the re-liquefaction vessel 55 by a flexible pipe 61. The liquid nitrogen storage tank 54 of the vacuum insulation vessel 51 thus communicates with the re-liquefied gas pool portion 56 of the re-liquefaction vessel 55.
In this construction, nitrogen gas formed in the liquid nitrogen storage tank 54 of the vacuum insulation vessel 51 is conveyed by the flexible pipe 61 into the re-liquefaction vessel 55. In the re-liquefaction vessel 55, nitrogen gas is re-liquefied by the low temperature generating unit 60 of the cryogenic refrigerator, and re-liquefied gas (liquid nitrogen) is pooled in the re-liquefied gas pool portion 56 formed in the lower portion of the re-liquefaction vessel 55. Overflow of the re-liquefied gas (liquid nitrogen) from the re-liquefied gas pool portion 56 flows down through the flexible pipe 61 and thus returns to the liquid nitrogen storage tank 54. Therefore, the consumption of liquefied gas is reduced and the time period for liquefied gas replenishment is lengthened.
In this conventional technology, however, the cooling system for cooling and re-liquefying the nitrogen produces significant mechanical vibrations. Thus, the NMR apparatus and the re-liquefaction vessel are disposed apart from each other, with the flexible pipe connecting the two, in order to prevent mechanical vibrations produced by the refrigerator from being transmitted to the NMR apparatus. In this way, reductions in the measurement precision of the NMR apparatus can be prevented. Unfortunately, this results in a rather complicated construction having a relatively large size.
In light of the foregoing, a need exists for a superconducting magnet system which is able to effectively cool the superconducting magnet, yet which is relatively compact in size and does not require the same complicated construction as other known systems.

Superconducting magnet system outfitted with cooling apparatus


A mask data RAM (Random Access Memory) 213 stores mask data TDATA, which is 1 bit dot data representing a moving picture area MR. The state of the mask data TDATA determines the level of a write signal /MWR given to a dual-port VRAM (Video Random Access Memory) 212 for storing video data. An address for DMA (Direct Memory Access) transfer of the video data to the dual-port VRAM 212 is given to the mask data RAM 213 as well as the dual-port VRAM 212, and therefore the mask data TDATA are read out from the mask data RAM 213 for each dot of the video data. The mask data TDATA are updated according to the position and the shape of a moving picture window on a display screen. This allows a moving picture of an arbitrary shape corresponding to the state of the moving picture window to be transferred to the dual-port VRAM 212 and displayed on the display device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transferring video data to a frame memory, and also to a computer system having the video data transfer apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
The so-called DMA (Direct Memory Access) transfer can be used in transferring video data supplied from an external device to a video memory in a personal computer.
FIG. 29 is a block diagram showing a conventional computer system having a DMA controller for transferring video data to a video RAM. Three video memories 51R, 51G, and 51B store color data Dr, Dg, and Db for red (R), green (G), and blue (B), respectively. These color data Dr, Dg, and Db are previously binarized, for example, by the Dither Method. DMA controller 55 obtains the right of use of an address bus 53, a data bus 52, and a control bus 54 from a CPU 59, and executes real-time transfer of the binary color data Dr, Dg, and Db stored in the three video memories 51R, 51G, and 51B to video RAMs 56R, 56G, and 56B for display. The binary color data Dr, Dg, and Db thus transferred are further sent to a monitor control unit 57 from the VRAMs 56R, 56G, and 56B to display a video image on a monitor 58.
In DMA transfer, the CPU 59 sends a display start address for the VRAM 56R for the R component to the DMA controller 55 to activate the DMA controller 55. The DMA controller 55 obtains the right of use of the buses from the CPU 59; transfers the binary color data Dr of the R component on a first line to the VRAM 56R; and returns the right of use of the buses to the CPU 59. The CPU 59 then sends a display start address for the VRAM 56G for the G component to the DMA controller 55 to activate the DMA controller 55, which transfers binary color data Dg in the same manner as for the R component. The B component is also transferred in the same manner. In transferring video data on a second line, the CPU 59 calculates and sends respective display start addresses on the second line for the VRAMs 56R, 56G, and 56B to the DMA controller 55 for successively transferring the binary color data Dr, Dg, and Db of the color components R, G, and B, respectively.
The CPU 59 calculates respective display start addresses on each line for the VRAMs 56R, 56G, and 56B and sends the addresses to the DMA controller 55 in the above manner, and the DMA controller 55 executes DMA transfer of the color data Dr, Dg, and Db on each line accordingly, whereby one field of color data is transferred to the VRAM 56. `One field` corresponds to an image covered by one-through scanning from the left upper corner to the right lower corner on the screen. In many cases, the two-to-one interlace scanning is performed where two fields compose an image of one frame (or one screen). In this case, the binary color data is transferred by the DMA transfer at a rate of approximately 60 fields per second to display a moving picture on the monitor 58.
One scanning period of one horizontal line is equal to 63 microseconds for NTSC (National Television System Committee) video signals. In the conventional system shown in FIG. 29, only several fields of data can be transferred each second because the CPU 59 consumes much time in calculating and sending the display start addresses to the DMA controller 55, and so does the DMA controller 55 in obtaining the right of use of the buses from the CPU 59 and in the DMA transfer of the binary color data Dr, Dg, and Db on each line. Especially the CPU 59 requires a relatively long time for calculation of the display start addresses and for output of the addresses to the DMA controller 55. As described above, the conventional system transfers only several fields of data per second, and cannot display a smooth moving picture accordingly.
Recent advancement in faster CPUs and memories of larger capacities leads to the rapid spread of personal computers under a multi-window operation system. Some computer systems can display a moving picture in a window.
FIGS. 30(A) and 30(B) shows still picture images SIa and SIb and a moving picture image MI simultaneously displayed in a multi-window system. The conventional system can execute DMA-transfer to transfer a moving picture only when a display area of the moving picture image MI is rectangular in shape as shown in FIG. 30(A), but can not transfer video data representing a moving picture in a non-rectangular display area. The `display area` denotes an area where a video image is displayed on the screen of a display device. When the area of the still picture image SIa in FIG. 30(A) becomes active and is superposed upon the moving picture image MI as shown in FIG. 30(B), for example, the conventional computer systems can not execute DMA-transfer to transfer the moving picture image MI having the non-rectangular display area.

Method and apparatus for transferring video data using mask data


An arc tube for a ceramic metal halide lamp includes a hollow first body member (40) that is tapered along a majority of its length to aid in removing the molded component from a pin during assembly. An open end (46) of the first body member has a constant diameter (60) allowing it to be joined to a constant diameter portion (72) of the second body member or end cap (70). The mating constant diameter portions ensure that the hollow first body member can be monolithically joined with the end cap with a reduced level of seal voids.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ceramic tubes and methods of forming same, and more particularly to ceramic arc tubes used in ceramic metal halide lamps.
2. Discussion of the Art
Ceramic arc tubes used for discharge lamp chambers were developed to operate at high temperatures on the order of 950° C. and higher. These types of lamps exhibit improved color temperature, color rendering, and luminous efficacies. Typically, ceramic discharge chambers are constructed from a number of individual components that are extruded or die-pressed from a ceramic powder. Prior practice employed a five component construction that included a central hollow cylinder substantially closed at either end by first and second plugs to which first and second legs were joined to the end plugs.
More recent developments have been directed to minimizing the number of joints, i.e., reducing the number of individual components, to establish an improved sealed arc chamber. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,503 discloses a method of making a ceramic arc tube for a metal halide lamp comprised of two components, i.e., a hollow body and an end cap. The '503 patent describes a two-part arc tube produced with a hollow body having an open end with a diameter approximately three to six percent (3-6%) greater than the opposite, closed end. That is, the hollow tube is tapered along its length and the patent disclosure is void of any description regarding the hermetic seal formed between the hollow body and the end cap. In the past, these components have been extruded or pressed and subsequently heated or fired to integrally sinter and join the components together.
Current injection molding practice for molding hollow body parts or cylindrical components employs a taper on a mold pin to aid in removing the part after molding. The degree of taper ranges from about one-half percent to about six percent (0.5%-6%) along the length of the pin. While this may be acceptable for many molded assemblies, the tapered conformation presents problems where a tapered end of one component joins a second component having a non-tapered surface. In attempting to monolithically join the components together, e.g., sealing or bonding the hollow body to the end cap, to form a hermetically sealed ceramic arc discharge tube, the mating of the two non-parallel surfaces has been determined to be very problematic. This is because of potential seal voids forming at the joined interface and precluding a hermetic seal. Thus, improving manufacturing steps, components, and addressing these needs will lead to longer-life lamps having improved monolithic seals between the hollow body and end cap.

Injection molded ceramic metal halide arc tube having non-tapered end and method of forming same


According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for selecting a photomask substrate, including dividing a chip area scheduled to be arranged on the photomask substrate regarding a specific transfer pattern layer into a management pattern area in which an element pattern changed in shape by birefringence of the photomask substrate is arranged, and an area other than the management pattern area, setting a standard value of a size of birefringence of an area in which the management pattern area of the photomask substrate is arranged, inspecting the size of the birefringence of each of a plurality of photomask substrate candidates, and selecting a photomask substrate, in which the size of the birefringence satisfies the standard value, as a photomask substrate of the specific transfer pattern layer from the plurality of photomask substrate candidates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for selecting a photomask substrate, and more particularly, it relates to a method for selecting a photomask substrate for use in a photolithography process which uses a polarized light as an illumination light, a method for manufacturing a photomask, and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a polarized light has been used as an illumination light in a photolithography process to form a very small element pattern on a semiconductor substrate (e.g., Japanese Patent No. 3246615). The "polarized light" is a light in which a vibration direction of an electric vector is aligned in a specific direction. When an illumination light is brought into a polarized light of a proper state in the photolithography process, the element pattern on a photomask is transferred to the semiconductor substrate with desired accuracy, whereby an element pattern of a shape smaller than a wavelength of the illumination light can be formed on the semiconductor substrate. The "state of polarized light" is a direction of a polarized direction, i.e., a vibration light of an electric vector.
However, when the polarized light passes through a birefringence material having birefringence, a polarizing direction of the polarized light rotates to change the state of the polarized light. The "birefringence" is a phenomenon in which the polarized light passing through the birefringence material is divided into a plurality of polarized lights of different speeds dependent on the vibration direction of the electric vector. A speed difference generated in the polarized lights advancing through the birefringence material is observed as a phase difference between the polarized lights which have passed through the birefringence material. Generally, a polarize state of the polarized light passing through the birefringence material fluctuates.
Thus, if the photomask is made of a birefringence material, when a polarized state of an illumination light passing through the photomask fluctuates, contrast of an image projected on the semiconductor substrate also fluctuates. In other words, in the photolithography process in which the photomask is made of a birefringence material and the polarized light is used as the illumination light, depending on a fluctuation amount of the polarized state of the illumination light, a shape of a photoresist film formed on the semiconductor substrate deviates from a desired shape. Hereinafter, deviation from the desired shape will be referred to as "shape fluctuation". The shape fluctuation is a two-dimensional fluctuation with respect to a desired pattern width of the photoresist film, not including a thickness fluctuation.
A size of the fluctuation amount of the polarized state of the illumination light depends on a size of birefringence of the photomask through which the illumination light passes. The "size of the birefringence" is a speed difference generated when the polarized lights pass through the birefringence material, and observed as a phase difference between the polarized lights. For example, the size of the birefringence is represented as a phase difference between two polarized lights which pass through the birefringence material by 1 cm. Generally, the phase difference is represented by a wavelength of the polarized light. For example, in the case of an argon fluoride (ArF) excimer laser beam whose center wavelength is 193 nm, a phase difference of one wavelength is 193 nm. Accordingly, [nm/cm] is used for a size unit of the birefringence.
The size of the fluctuation amount of the polarized state of the illumination light depends on the size of the birefringence of the photomask. Accordingly, in-plane variance of the size of the birefringence of the photomask causes in-plane variance of a fluctuation amount of the shape of the photoresist film formed on the semiconductor substrate. In other words, the in-plane variance of the size of the birefringence of the photomask causes size variance of the element pattern transferred to the semiconductor substrate. Consequently, when there is the birefringence in the photomask, an image of a desired shape may not be transferred to the semiconductor substrate.
Generally, a fluctuation amount (hereinafter referred to as "polarization error sensitivity") of the shape of the element pattern transferred to the semiconductor substrate with respect to a fluctuation amount of the polarized state of the illumination light is larger as an element pattern to be transferred is smaller. Accordingly, to form a very small element pattern on the semiconductor substrate, a photomask of small birefringence must be applied to the photolithography process. For example, a size of birefringence is set to 1 nm or less per photomask thickness.
A size of birefringence of the photomask is known to reflect a distribution of heat applied to a photomask substrate during its manufacturing process. Thus, for example, by executing annealing, improving a cooling method of the photomask substrate, adjusting a composition of the photomask substrate or the like in the manufacturing process of the photomask substrate, in-plane variance of a size of birefringence of the photomask substrate is reduced (e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-330263). A mask substrate of small in-plane variance of a size of birefringence is selected from a plurality of manufactured photomask substrates, and an element pattern is formed on the selected photomask substrate to manufacture a photomask.
However, the manufacturing of the photomask substrate small in-plane variance of a size of birefringence needs a high level technology, and it is difficult to increase yield of photomask substrates small in-plane variance of a size of birefringence. In consequence, photomask substrate manufacturing costs are increased, causing an increase in photomask manufacturing costs. In short, there is a problem of an increase in semiconductor device manufacturing costs.

Method for selecting photomask substrate, method for manufacturing photomask, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device


A message exchange protocol for interconnecting packet forwarding devices through an intermediate network interconnect device is provided. According to one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for communicating data between packet forwarding devices. The presence of an interconnect device that is coupled between a first packet forwarding device and a second packet forwarding device is detected by recognizing a configuration sequence, for example. After the link between the interconnect device and the first packet forwarding device is established, the first packet forwarding device receives a command from the interconnect device requesting the types of data that are pending on the first packet forwarding device. Responsive to the command, the first packet forwarding device transmits a "menu" including information indicating the availability of one or more types of data that are awaiting transmission to the interconnect device. An "order" is received by the first packet forwarding device from the interconnect device. The order includes information identifying a type of data being requested by the interconnect device. Responsive to the order, the first packet forwarding device transmits a message which contains data of the type identified by the order to the interconnect device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of computer networking devices. More particularly, the invention relates to a message exchange protocol for interconnecting packet forwarding devices through an intermediate network interconnect device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Local Area Network (LAN) switches are typically employed to solve congestion problems associated with LANs that arise as workgroups and networks, such as an Ethernet, grow. (The terms Ethernet LAN, or simply Ethernet, Fast Ethernet LAN, or simply Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet LAN, or simply Gigabit Ethernet, as used herein shall apply to LANs employing Carrier Sense, Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) as the medium access method, generally operating at a signaling rate of 10 Mb/s, 100 Mb/s, and 1,000 Mb/s, respectively over various media types and transmitting Ethernet formatted or Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standard 802.3 formatted data packets). Switches reduce congestion, for example, by segmenting workgroups into different LANs having separate collision domains and switching traffic, i.e., data packets, between the workgroups at very high speeds.
Switches are generally offered as part of either a pure stackable or pure chassis-based product line thereby forcing network managers to choose between stackable or chassis switching. There are advantages to both approaches. For instance, stackable switches offer flexibility and low entry-cost, while chassis-based switches offer fault tolerance and high port-density.
What is needed is a combination of stackable and chassis switching technology, which will provide network managers an incremental way to build faster, more manageable networks. Additionally, as intranet requirements grow throughout an enterprise, it is desirable to have available a cost-effective migration path that allows the port density, fault tolerance and performance of LAN switches to scale dramatically. More particularly what is needed are packet forwarding devices, e.g. switches, and network interconnect devices (which may serve individually or coupled in parallel as an external backplane, for example) that are designed to bring together the flexibility and low entry-cost of a stackable system and the fault tolerance and high port-density of a chassis-based system. Further, it would be advantageous to provide a communication mechanism, such as a handshaking protocol or the like, to reduce the need for packet buffering and to simplify packet forwarding logic within the network interconnect device, thereby allowing such a network interconnect device to be manufactured at a reasonable cost.

Protocol for communicating data between packet forwarding devices via an intermediate network interconnect device


A rotor of a permanent-magnet-type rotating electrical machine of the present invention has a plurality of magnetic poles in point symmetry with respect to a rotation center of a rotor core 2. For each of the magnetic poles, there are arranged a permanent magnet 3 whose product of a coercive force and a magnetizing direction thickness is small and a permanent magnet 4 whose product of a coercive force and a magnetizing direction thickness is large. The permanent magnet 3 whose product of a coercive force and a magnetizing direction thickness is small is irreversibly magnetized by a magnetic field created by a current of an armature coil 21, to change a total linkage flux amount. This realizes a wide-range variable-speed operation of high output, to provide the rotating electrical machine with a wide operating range and high efficiency.

Generally, permanent-magnet-type rotating electrical machines are classified into two types. One is a surface-permanent-magnet-type rotating electrical machine having permanent magnets adhered to an outer circumferential face of a rotor core and an internal-permanent-magnet-type rotating electrical machine having permanent magnets embedded in a rotor core. For a variable-speed drive motor, the latter internal-permanent-magnet-type rotating electrical machine is appropriate.
The latter internal-permanent-magnet-type rotating electrical machine is described in "Design and Control of Internal Magnet Synchronous Motor," Takeda Yoji, et al., a document of Ohm-sha Publishing (Non-patent Document 1) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H07-336919 (Patent Document 1). With reference to FIG. 9, a configuration of such a conventional internal-permanent-magnet motor will be explained. Inside a rotor core 2 of a rotor 1 and close to an outer circumference thereof, rectangular hollows are arranged in a point symmetry of 360°/N where N is the number of poles. The number of the rectangular hollows is equal to the number N of poles. In FIG. 9, the rotor 1 has four poles, and therefore, four hollows are arranged in a point symmetry of 90° (=360°/4) and permanent magnets 4 are inserted into the hollows, respectively. Each permanent magnet 4 is magnetized in a radial direction of the rotor 1, i.e., in a direction orthogonal to a side (long side in FIG. 9) of the rectangular section of the permanent magnet 4 that faces an air gap. The permanent magnet 4 is usually an NdFeB permanent magnet having a high coercive force so that it is not demagnetized with a load current. The rotor core 2 is formed by laminating electromagnetic sheets through which the hollows are punched. The rotor 1 is incorporated in a stator 20. The stator 20 has an armature coil 21 that is installed in a slot formed on an inner side of a stator iron core 22. An inner circumferential face of the stator 20 and an outer circumferential face of the rotor 1 face each other with the air gap 23 interposing between them.
An example of a high-output rotating electrical machine having an excellent variable-speed characteristic is a permanent-magnet-type reluctance rotating electrical machine described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H11-27913 (Patent Document 2) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H11-136912 (Patent Document 3). This kind of permanent-magnet-type rotating electrical machine has a structural characteristic that a permanent magnet thereof always generates constant linkage flux to increase a voltage induced by the permanent magnet in proportion to a rotation speed. Accordingly, when a variable-speed operation is carried out from low speed to high speed, the voltage (counter electromotive voltage) induced by the permanent magnet becomes very high at high rotation speed. The voltage induced by the permanent magnet is applied to electronic parts of an inverter, and if the applied voltage exceeds a withstand voltage of the electronic parts, the parts will cause insulation breakage. It is necessary, therefore, to design the machine so that a flux amount of the permanent magnet is reduced below the withstand voltage. Such a design, however, lowers the output and efficiency of the permanent-magnet-type rotating electrical machine in a low-speed zone.
If the variable-speed operation is carried out in such a way as to provide nearly a constant output from low speed to high speed, the voltage of the rotating electrical machine will reach an upper limit of a power source voltage in a high rotation speed zone. This is because the linkage flux of the permanent magnet is constant. In the high rotation speed zone, therefore, a current necessary for providing the constant output will not pass. This greatly drops the output in the high rotation speed zone and the variable-speed operation will not be carried out in a wide range up to high rotation speed.
Recent techniques of expanding a variable-speed range employ flux-weakening control such as one described in the Non-patent Document 1. In the case of the permanent-magnet-type rotating electrical machine, a total linkage flux amount is the sum of flux by a d-axis current and flux by a permanent magnet. The flux-weakening control is based on this and generates flux with a negative d-axis current to reduce the total linkage flux amount of an armature coil. The flux-weakening control makes the permanent magnet 4 of high coercive force operate in a reversible range on a magnetic characteristic curve (B-H characteristic curve). For this, the permanent magnet is an NdFeB magnet having a high coercive force so that it may not irreversibly demagnetized with a demagnetizing field produced by the flux-weakening control.
In the flux-weakening control, flux produced by a negative d-axis current reduces linkage flux and a reduced portion of the linkage flux produces a voltage margin for an upper voltage limit. This makes it possible to increase a current for a torque component, thereby increasing an output in a high-speed zone. In addition, the voltage margin makes it possible to increase a rotation speed, thereby expanding a variable-speed operating range.
In the flux-weakening control, however, since a negative d-axis current that contributes nothing to an output is continuously passed, an iron loss increases to deteriorate efficiency. In addition, a demagnetizing field produced by the negative d-axis current generates harmonic flux that causes a voltage increase. Such a voltage increase limits a voltage reduction achieved by the flux-weakening control. These factors make it difficult for the flux-weakening control to conduct a variable-speed operation for the internal-permanent-magnet-type rotating electrical machine at speeds over three times a base speed. In addition, the harmonic flux increases an iron loss to drastically reduce efficiency in middle- and high-speed zones. Further, the harmonic flux generates an electromagnetic force that produces vibration.
When the internal-permanent-magnet motor is employed for a drive motor of a hybrid car, the motor rotates together with an engine when only the engine is used to drive the hybrid car. In this case, a voltage induced by the permanent magnets of the motor increases at middle or high rotation speed. To suppress an increase in the induced voltage below a power source voltage, the flux-weakening control continuously passes a negative d-axis current. The motor in this state, therefore, produces only a loss to deteriorate an overall operating efficiency.
When the internal-permanent-magnet motor is employed for a drive motor of an electric train, the electric train sometimes carries out a coasting operation. Then, like the above-mentioned example, the flux-weakening control is carried out to continuously pass a negative d-axis current to suppress a voltage induced by the permanent magnets below a power source voltage. The motor in this state only produces a loss to deteriorate an overall operating efficiency.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H07-336919    Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H11-27913    Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H11-136912    Non-patent Document 1: "Design and Control of Internal Magnet Synchronous Motor," Takeda Yoji, et al., Ohm-sha Publishing

Rotor of permanent-magnet-type rotating electrical machine


Saliva samples are collected for body fluid constituent analysis by placing a sponge member into a patient's oral cavity. The sponge member is formed similarly to a pacifier nipple. Saliva is absorbed. The saliva is then expelled from the sponge member into a pipette. A filter may be placed between the sponge member and the pipette, through which the saliva is cleaned and molecular weight-selectively prepared by letting only substances through with a molecular weight below a cut-off weight. The integral unit is dismembered after the saliva has been transferred into the collection pipette, and the latter is tightly closed off for further handling.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system for collecting samples of saliva for body fluid constituent analysis.
2. Description of the Related Art
Saliva testing has recently come to the forefront as a preferred option in body fluid constituent analysis. The collection procedure is non-invasive, and saliva has been found to be a very reliable carrier of analyte indicators. For instance, PKU tests on infants are now regularly done, drug abuse is tested in many circumstances, HIV testing may be relatively reliably performed with saliva, and levels of therapeutic drugs may be ascertained through saliva testing.
A recent advance in saliva collection and test preparation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,836 to Goldstein et al. An absorbent pad which is impregnated with a salt of a hypertonic solution is inserted into the mouth and saliva is brushed off from the cavity walls. After having absorbed a sufficient amount of saliva, the pad is removed and stored in a vial for later testing. The test kit is suited for immunoglobulin collection and testing for immunological information in the body fluid. That prior art test provides enough saliva for only a single test, i.e. the saliva is not collected for general, multiple testing.
Another saliva collector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,148 to Seymour. A portion of filter paper is exposed so that, when enough saliva is collected, the paper will provide an indication that the collected amount is adequate.
The method and apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,962 to Hebel et al. allows extracting saliva from the human body in that a sponge member is chewed for a certain amount of time and after saliva has been absorbed in the sponge member, it is centrifuged therefrom. The method may be acceptable for adult saliva collection. Such a free sponge, however, is essentially unsuitable for infant testing due to the danger of ingestion and it is also not acceptable in view of the proposed utilization thereof in HIV and hepatitis testing.
The prior art devices have in common that the collection of saliva sample is rather cumbersome, it exposes the medical worker to dangerous substances, and/or the amount of saliva thus collected is inadequate to perform various tests. Also, none of the prior art devices provide a convenient method and kit for collecting a large amount of saliva for body fluid constituent analysis. Finally, saliva collection from very small infants, for instance for PKU testing, is quite difficult and virtually always accompanied by forcing the infant's mouth open during the procedure.

Saliva collector with an aspirating pipette


Surface-treating metallic parts are produced by applying mechanical energy to the surface of a metallic part and to a substance on or near the surface of the metallic part. The substance is different from the metallic part in composition. The applying step forms a mechanically-alloyed layer from the metallic part and the substance in the surface of the metallic part. The surface-modified layer such as the mechanically-alloyed layer is a non-peeling alloyed layer having a composition or structure different from that of the metallic part. The method is effective in surface-treating light metal materials of which the surfaces are difficult to treat. For example, the method is applicable to soft Mg alloys and Al alloys to improve their surface hardness, and the thus-treated alloys are usable in slide parts which are required to have good wear resistance. It is also applicable to the improvement in the oxidation resistance of Ti alloy parts which are used at high temperatures, and to the improvement in the corrosion resistance of Mg alloys which are said to have poor corrosion resistance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface-treated metallic part and a processing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Arts
For improving the fatigue strength, the corrosion resistance and the wear resistance of metallic materials, various surface treatment techniques have heretofore been proposed. One of those is an alloying process. For this surface treatment technique, known are a surface treatment method comprising applying high energy of arcs, beams or the like to the surface of a substrate to remelt it, thereby forming thereon a surface-modified layer, of which the composition and characteristics are different from those of the substrate, through the reaction of the substrate and the additive added thereto while having a composition different from that of the substrate; and an ion implantation method comprising applying, to a solid substrate, ionized beams of particles that are desired to be implanted at an accelerated ionization rate, thereby implanting the particles into the substrate.
The former method of remelting the surface of the substrate followed by alloying it is advantageous in that the method gives a thick, surface-modified layer, that the adhesion between the layer and the substrate is strong, and that the method is applicable even to partial treatment of the substrate. On the contrary, however, this method is unfavorable in that the thermal influence on the substrate is great so that the substrate is often deformed due to the contractile stress to be caused by the melt bonding between the substrate and the surface-modified layer formed thereon.
On the other hand, the ion implantation method is advantageous in that additive elements can be implanted into the substrate at low temperatures without melting the substrate, that there is no limitation on the combination of the substrate and the ions to be implanted thereinto, that the treatment causes little dimensional change, and that no peeling occurs since the treatment is a non-coating one. However, this method is unfavorable in that it requires expensive apparatus for ionizing the additive element to give ionized beams, that the processing cost is high and that the mass-productivity of the method is poor.
Another simple surface treatment method is known, which comprises plastic working of a substrate to produce residual (compression) stress in its surface area. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-278224 discloses a shot peening technique to make a substrate have residual (compression) stress, and this technique is considered to be extremely effective in improving the fatigue strength of substrates and has been put to practical use. Even in this method, however, it is still impossible to make substrates have satisfactory wear resistance and corrosion resistance.
In order to solve these problems, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-86443 has proposed "a method of surface treatment of aluminium alloy-based parts" comprising shot-peening the surface area of an aluminium alloy-based part, which is characterized in that a peening shot is applied onto the surface of the aluminium alloy-based part while being accompanied by fine-grain particles, whereby the fine-grain particles are embedded into the surface area of the aluminium alloy-based part while being dispersed therein.
They say that, according to the proposed method, the fine-grain particles having the ability to improve the strength reliability of the aluminium alloy-based part, including its wear resistance and corrosion resistance, can be embedded into the surface area of the part through the shot peening treatment with the fine-grain particles, whereby the strength reliability of the thus-treated, aluminium alloy-based part, including its wear resistance and corrosion resistance, can be improved due to the residual stress produced by the shot-peening treatment and due to the existence of the fine-grain particles as embedded in the part.
However, the "method of surface treatment of aluminium alloy-based parts" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-86443 has problems of the following points.
(1) Since the bonding between the mechanically-embedded particles and the substrate is weak, the substrate will be cracked and the embedded particles will drop out of the substrate. Therefore, the strength reliability of the thus-treated substrate, including its wear resistance and corrosion resistance, could not be satisfactorily ensured. In order to enlarge the interfacial bonding between the embedded particles and the substrate, the bonding force therebetween must be increased by some secondary treatment.
(2) The degree of improvement in the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of the surface-treated substrate essentially depends on the intrinsic characteristics of the fine-grain particles embedded into the substrate.
(3) Since the particles as mechanically embedded into the substrate exist in its surface while forming a layer constitution comprising a dispersion of the particles, the surface of the substrate is often corroded at its exposed area and therefore could not have satisfactory weather resistance.

Surface-treated metallic part and processing method thereof


A method of determining a rotative position of an industrial roll includes: (a) providing a rotating industrial roll having a longitudinal axis, the industrial roll having mounted on one end thereof an accelerometer, the industrial roll further including a plurality of sensors; (b) determining a pre-trigger angular position of the roll based on a first gravity vector provided by the accelerometer; then (c) determining a trigger angular position of the roll based on a second gravity vector provided by the accelerometer, the magnitude of the second gravity vector differing from the magnitude of the first gravity vector by more than the magnitude of a typical noise signal; and (d) gathering data from the sensors after the roll has passed the trigger angular position; and (e) matching the data gathered in step (d) with a respective sensor of the plurality of sensors based on the determination of the trigger angular position.

In a typical papermaking process, a water slurry, or suspension, of cellulosic fibers (known as the paper "stock") is fed onto the top of the upper run of an endless belt of woven wire and/or synthetic material that travels between two or more rolls. The belt, often referred to as a "forming fabric," provides a papermaking surface on the upper surface of its upper run which operates as a filter to separate the cellulosic fibers of the paper stock from the aqueous medium, thereby forming a wet paper web. The aqueous medium drains through mesh openings of the forming fabric, known as drainage holes, by gravity or vacuum located on the lower surface of the upper run (i. e., the "machine side") of the fabric.
After leaving the forming section, the paper web is transferred to a press section of the paper machine, where it is passed through the nips of one or more presses (often roller presses) covered with another fabric, typically referred to as a "press felt." Pressure from the presses removes additional moisture from the web; the moisture removal is often enhanced by the presence of a "batt" layer of the press felt. The paper is then transferred to a dryer section for further moisture removal. After drying, the paper is ready for secondary processing and packaging.
Cylindrical rolls are typically utilized in different sections of a papermaking machine, such as the press section. Such rolls reside and operate in demanding environments in which they can be exposed to high dynamic loads and temperatures and aggressive or corrosive chemical agents. As an example, in a typical paper mill, rolls are used not only for transporting the fibrous web sheet between processing stations, but also, in the case of press section and calender rolls, for processing the web sheet itself into paper.
Typically rolls used in papermaking are constructed with the location within the papermaking machine in mind, as rolls residing in different positions within the papermaking machines are required to perform different functions. Because papermaking rolls can have many different performance demands, and because replacing an entire metallic roll can be quite expensive, many papermaking rolls include a polymeric cover that surrounds the circumferential surface of a typically metallic core. By varying the material employed in the cover, the cover designer can provide the roll with different performance characteristics as the papermaking application demands. Also, repairing, regrinding or replacing a cover over a metallic roll can be considerably less expensive than the replacement of an entire metallic roll. Exemplary polymeric materials for covers include natural rubber, synthetic rubbers such as neoprene, styrene-butadiene (SBR), nitrile rubber, chlorosulfonated polyethylene ("CSPE"—also known under the trade name HYPALON from DuPont), EDPM (the name given to an ethylene-propylene terpolymer formed of ethylene-propylene diene monomer), polyurethane, thermoset composites, and thermoplastic composites.
In many instances, the roll cover will include at least two distinct layers: a base layer that overlies the core and provides a bond thereto; and a topstock layer that overlies and bonds to the base layer and serves the outer surface of the roll (some rolls will also include an intermediate "tie-in" layer sandwiched by the base and top stock layers). The layers for these materials are typically selected to provide the cover with a prescribed set of physical properties for operation. These can include the requisite strength, elastic modulus, and resistance to elevated temperature, water and harsh chemicals to withstand the papermaking environment. In addition, covers are typically designed to have a predetermined surface hardness that is appropriate for the process they are to perform, and they typically require that the paper sheet "release" from the cover without damage to the paper sheet. Also, in order to be economical, the cover should be abrasion- and wear-resistant.
As the paper web is conveyed through a papermaking machine, it can be very important to understand the pressure profile experienced by the paper web. Variations in pressure can impact the amount of water drained from the web, which can affect the ultimate sheet moisture content, thickness, and other properties. The magnitude of pressure applied with a roll can, therefore, impact the quality of paper produced with the paper machine.
Other properties of a roll can also be important. For example, the stress and strain experienced by the roll cover in the cross machine direction can provide information about the durability and dimensional stability of the cover. In addition, the temperature profile of the roll can assist in identifying potential problem areas of the cover.
It is known to include pressure and/or temperature sensors in the cover of an industrial roll. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,729 to Moschel et al. describes a roll with a helically-disposed leads that includes a plurality of pressure sensors embedded in the polymeric cover of the roll. The sensors are helically disposed in order to provide pressure readings at different axial locations along the length of the roll. Typically the sensors are connected by a signal carrying member that transmits sensor signals to a processor that processes the signals and provides pressure and position information.

Industrial roll with triggering system for sensors for operational parameters


An integral rotary transport mechanism includes a turntable, a loading board, a lifting platform, two vehicle centering devices, a rotating device and two positioning members. A central portion of the turntable is provided with a first groove, by narrowing and extending which a second groove is formed. The lifting platform is liftable and can be lowered to a bottom of the second groove to form an activity space between the lifting platform and the loading board. The rotating device is disposed at a bottom of the turntable driven to be rotated 180 degrees. The vehicle centering device, through which cars can be accurately adjusted to middle of the loading board placed in the first groove, is disposed on the turntable and located at opposite sides of the loading board. The positioning member is disposed on the turntable and located at the other opposite sides of the loading board.

With the high development of city construction, the problem of lacking parking lots is particularly serious. The problem about parking difficulty is urgent to be solved. The space of stereo garage can be more fully utilized, thus it can save land resources and costs of land construction. The stereo garage is the mainstream trend about parking lots in the future. Cars need to be adjusted to the middle position after getting into the stereo garage for avoiding cars without being parked as required, which will cause a great accident during the car being handled. Once an accident is occurred, the parking equipment or the vehicle itself will suffer huge damage. In addition, cars need to be rotated 180 degrees for being picked up conveniently because the car enters and exits the stereo garage in different directions.
Therefore, there is a need for providing a liftable integral rotary transport mechanism capable of rotating overall and centering cars, to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.

GUANGDONG WEICHUANG WUYANG INTELLIGENT EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.


A display driving device is disclosed. The display driving device includes: a data signal end for providing a data signal, a source line, and a switching circuit. The source line can transmit the data signal to a first pixel circuit and a second pixel circuit. Along a direction of the source line, a distance between the second pixel circuit and the data signal end is larger than a distance between the first pixel circuit and the data signal end. The switching circuit is between the data signal end and the source line, and can be turned on in response to a first control signal, and can be turned on in response to a second control signal. A turned-on time period of the switching circuit in response to the second control signal is longer than a turned-on time period of the switching circuit in response to the first control signal.

Generally, in a display device, a pixel driving circuit is used to drive the display device to display a screen. A timing control module in the pixel driving circuit outputs a data signal and a scan signal. In the driving process, the pixel circuits are scanned row by row under the control of the scan signal, and the data signal is sent to each row through the source line to charge the capacitor corresponding to each row of pixels of the pixel circuit.
In practical applications, due to the different distances of the pixel circuits from the timing control module, the data signal is attenuated due to circuit load and the like in the process of transmitting the data signal to the capacitor corresponding to the pixel far from the timing control module, especially in a large-sized panel, for example, in a TV panel of 65 inches or more. The attenuation of the data signal causes the capacitor of the pixel circuit in a row at a far end is charged insufficiently, thus affecting the uniformity of panel charging.
It should be noted that the information disclosed in the Background section above is only for understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and thus may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Display driving device and display driving method for controlling charging time of pixel circuit, and display device


An apparatus and method for managing stacks in a virtual machine are provided. The apparatus includes a first memory which checks the space of a stack chunk and allocates a frame pointer if at least one of a push and a pop are performed in a virtual machine; and a second memory which is connected with an external bus, and stores frame pointers copied from the first memory via the external bus.

1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to managing stacks in a virtual machine. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for managing stacks in a virtual machine, which can reduce stack overhead by using memory directly connected with a processor when performing a push or pop on the stacks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a virtual machine provides a standard application performance environment that ensures mobility of an application. Here, a representative example of this virtual machine is Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
Java is an object-oriented programming language that can be used to produce platform-independent code. The Java code is compiled into Java byte code by a Java compiler, and the Java byte code is executed by the JVM.
FIG. 1A illustrates the structure of a conventional Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
As illustrated, a JVM includes a class loader 11, an execution engine 12, a method area 13, a heap 14, a Java stack 15, a personal computer (PC) register 16, and a native method stack 17.
The class loader 11 reads a Java class file from a network or a file system, puts the file at an appropriate position in memory depending on internal information included in the class file, and initializes the internal state.
The execution engine 12, which is a component for executing execution code of a class, recognizes and executes JVM machine commands, and while executed, converts JVM commands into machine code of a central processing unit (CPU) so as to improve the speed.
FIG. 1B illustrates the structure of a conventional Java class file.
As illustrated, Java classes are generally transmitted or stored in a class-file format, and the class-file format includes various class-related attributes. Here, the class-file format consists of a class header that indicates basic attributes, a constant pool that manages all constants, interfaces that include information about an interface of a class file, fields that include information about files, and methods, which are stored as byte-code.
FIG. 2A illustrates a basic unit for management of a Java stack by a conventional JVM.
StackStruct is used to manage a stack chuck, and includes the size of a stack and pointer information of the next stack.
FrameStruct is used to manage a frame generated whenever a function is called, and includes information on a method being executed, the pointer of the previous frame, the pointer of the previous stack, the previous program counter, a monitor object, and a stack chunk that belongs to a current frame.
FIG. 2B illustrates a conventional stack-management structure. Here, a process of managing stacks in a JVM 10 is described. The process of managing stacks occurs when performing a push and a pop.
First, in the case where a push is performed on stacks by calling a function in a class, it is checked whether a frame pointer can be added by checking the space of a stack chunk 23.
Then, if the space of the current stack chunk 23 is insufficient, it is checked whether there exists the next stack chunk. In the case where there exists no next stack chunk, a new stack chunk 22 is allocated from a heap area 21 in memory.
If a stack chuck 22 has been already allocated in the next chuck, the stack chunk 22 is specified as the current stack chuck.
Then, a frame pointer 24 is generated in the specified stack chunk 22, and the frame pointer 24 generated in the uppermost frame pointer is specified.
Then, the stack chunk of the current frame pointer 24 is specified as the stack chunk 22 of the allocated area.
Further, in the case where a pop is performed by calling a function, the current frame pointer 24 moves to the previous frame pointer, e.g., a frame pointer 25.
Then, the stack chunk of the current frame pointer 25 is specified as the stack chunk 23 that the current frame pointer 25 points to.
However, in the case where stacks are operated in the manner illustrated above, the stack area exists in a general memory area connected through an external bus.
As such, according to a conventional art, in order to handle data in memory, data in memory should be read to a register, but because data is read via an external bus, the transmission speed becomes low, which is a problem.
Korean Unexamined Patent 2004-111193 (Management of Stack-Based Memory Usage in a Processor) discloses a technology that determines whether a data subsystem is to operate as cache memory or as scratchpad memory in which line fetches from external memory are suppressed, and programs a control bit to cause the data subsystem to be operated as either a cache or scratchpad memory depending on the determination. However, this patent does not mention a technology that reads data from memory directly connected with a processor, which is not general memory connected to an external bus, when reading stacks.

Apparatus and method for managing stacks in virtual machine


A thermostatic valve arrangement includes a stop element disposed at a fixed location on a shaft that extends from and is fixedly connected to a thermostatic element housing. The stop element is located between the housing and a retaining ring which retains a bypass valve disc slidably mounted on and in direct contact with the shaft, and the bypass valve disc is located between the retaining ring and the stop element. An abutment member is slidably mounted directly on the shaft between the housing and the stop member. A bypass spring urges the bypass valve disc into engagement with the retaining ring and an additional spring urges the abutment member into engagement with the stop element. A shoulder of the bypass valve disc engages the abutment member when it is displaced by a predetermined distance along the shaft toward the housing against the bypass spring. The shoulder extends axially along the shaft at a radial spacing therefrom which is sufficient to permit the stop element to move therein. An axial bore is provided in the end of the shaft and a transverse bore is provided adjacent the stop element that communicates with the transverse bore, whereby a minimal coolant bypass flow is provided when the bypass valve disc is in the closed position, and the shoulder forms a seal with the abutment member and blocks the minimal bypass flow when the bypass valve disc is fully open.

Thermostatic valve arrangements are well known in the art, and a conventional thermostatic valve arrangement is used to adjust the temperature of a fluid coolant provided to an internal combustion engine in order to maintain a desired operating temperature of the engine. In general, each thermostatic valve arrangement includes a main valve assembly for controlling coolant flow from a coolant radiator into a mixing chamber, a bypass valve assembly for controlling coolant flow directly from the engine into the mixing chamber, and a thermostatic assembly for inversely adjusting the main valve assembly and the bypass valve assembly for adjusting the two coolant flows into the mixing chamber.
Conventional operation of such conventional thermostatic valve arrangements is as follows. During initial operation of the engine when the engine is in a cold state, flow through the main valve assembly of the thermostatic valve arrangement is closed and flow through the bypass valve assembly is open whereby coolant flows from the fluid passage for the engine outlet directly to the fluid passage for the engine intake without passing through the coolant radiator. When the temperature of the coolant reaches the "opening" temperature--or "reaction" temperature--of the thermostatic element of the thermostatic assembly, flow from the radiator through the main valve assembly is opened and flow through the bypass valve assembly is reduced. Thus, the thermostatic valve assembly regulates the temperature of the coolant flowing into the engine intake by changing as a function of its position the cross-sectional flow through the main valve assembly and the cross-sectional flow through the bypass valve assembly, whereby relatively cool coolant from the coolant radiator and relatively warm coolant coming from the engine outlet are mixed in the mixing chamber to obtain a desired temperature. Thereafter the mixture having the desired temperature flows to the engine intake. During a maximum cooling operation, flow through the bypass valve assembly is closed and flow through the main valve assembly is completely opened.
Based on the foregoing, it can be seen that such conventional thermostatic valve arrangements have three operating states, i.e., an initial state wherein the bypass valve assembly is open and the main valve assembly is closed, an operating state wherein both valve assemblies are open to varied extents, and a cooling state wherein the bypass valve assembly is closed and the main valve assembly is fully open.
An improvement in such thermostatic valve arrangements is disclosed by DE 195 45 081 A1 wherein the thermostatic valve arrangement therein further blocks fluid flow through the bypass valve assembly during engine warm up when the engine is in a cold state and running at idle. With particular reference to the Figure of this reference, this improvement is accomplished in the bypass valve assembly by use of a bypass spring (31) that urges a bypass valve disc (30) slidably disposed about a shaft (25) toward a retaining ring (28) secured on the end of the shaft and into covering relation with the fluid passage (14) for the engine outlet, which consequently permits the engine to reach a desired operating temperature more quickly than possible with the aforementioned thermostatic valve arrangements. Furthermore, in order to prevent local overheating of the engine when operated above idle rpm in the cold state, the bypass valve assembly functions as an overpressure valve whereby the bypass valve disc and the bypass spring initially yield to a predetermined differential pressure between the fluid passage for the engine outlet and the fluid passage for the engine intake. A cross-sectional flow through the bypass is thus created when the predetermined differential pressure is exceeded due to the higher rpm of the engine when operated above idle rpm in the cold state. When the differential pressure reaches a second, higher predetermined differential pressure, the bypass valve disc engages an abutment member (26). The abutment member includes a sleeve (29) that is slidably disposed about the shaft and extends towards the retaining ring and on which the bypass valve disc actually slides. A spring (27) urges the abutment member into engagement with the retaining ring and, when the bypass valve disc engages the abutment member, the spring assists the bypass spring in resisting further displacement of the bypass valve disc from the retaining member.
The thermostatic valve arrangement of DE 195 45 081 A1 furthermore provides a minimal coolant bypass flow even when the bypass valve assembly is closed by the provision of openings (34) in the bypass valve disc, the total cross-sectional flow through which is less than the maximum cross-sectional flow through the fluid passage for the engine outlet. These openings thereby provide a minimum coolant bypass flow when the bypass valve assembly is closed. Furthermore, the abutment member extends radially outwardly sufficient to sealingly cover the openings when the bypass valve disc is fully open and in engagement with the abutment member. The bypass valve disc also includes a collar (32) which assures that the bypass flow, including the bypass flow through the openings, does not flow directly to the engine intake but, instead, is directed towards the thermostatic element for proper functioning of the thermostatic element.
In comparison with the thermostatic valve arrangement of the present invention, the thermostatic valve arrangement disclosed in DE 195 45 081 A1 includes a thermostatic assembly, a spring support member, a main valve assembly, a bypass valve assembly, and a valve support assembly. Furthermore, the thermostatic valve of DE 195 45 081 A1 has similar operating characteristics to those of the thermostatic valve arrangement of the present invention. However, the thermostatic valve arrangement of the present invention achieves these similar results in an alternative, simplified, and cost effective manner with modifications to the bypass valve assembly and valve support assembly as discussed in detail below.


The object of the present invention resides in efficiently providing unsaturated alcohol from an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated aldehyde.. The present invention provides a process for preparing unsaturated alcohol by selectively reducing the aldehyde group of an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated aldehyde in the presence of a primary or a secondary alcohol having 2 to 8 carbon atoms using an aluminum alcoholate to produce an unsaturated alcohol such as compounds represented by the formula (III). ##STR1## (wherein R represents an alkyl group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms) wherein the reaction is carried out with addition of a protonic acid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for preparing an unsaturated alcohol, preferably to a process to efficiently prepare an unsaturated alcohol by selectively reducing the aldehyde group of an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated aldehyde compound.
2. Description of Related Art
For preparing the unsaturated alcohols, a process is known, wherein the aldehyde group of an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated aldehyde compound is selectively reduced. Particularly, an unsaturated alcohol having 2,2,3-trimethyl-3-cyclopenten-1-yl group represented by the formula (I): ##STR2## is known to be a perfume having musk-like smell as well as sandalwood-like smell, and prepared by selectively reducing the aldehyde group alone of an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated aldehyde compound having 2,2,3-trimethyl-3-cyclopenten-1-yl group represented by the above formula (I).
For example, JP-B 56-36176 discloses a process for preparing 2-methyl-4-(2,2,3-trimethyl-3-cyclopenten-1-yl)-2-buten-1-ol represented by the formula (III'): ##STR3## by selectively reducing the aldehyde group alone of 2-methyl-4-(2,2,3-trimethyl-3-cyclopenten-1-yl)-2-buten-1-al represented by the formula (II'): ##STR4## using aluminum alcoholate or a metal hydride compound in the presence of isopropyl alcohol.
This method, however, utilizes a large amount of aluminum alcoholate or a metal hydride compound as much as 40 mol % of the aldehyde as the starting material, as well as a large excess of isopropyl alcohol, i.e., more than 20 times by mole the amount of the aldehyde as the starting material, that is, this method is not efficient with low productivity.

Process for preparing unsaturated alcohol