In a method of executing a transaction using an electronic coupon, coupon campaign information is provided to an engine. The coupon campaign information defines a discount value, a product family and a number of coupons to be distributed. Each coupon within the coupon campaign has a coupon identification (ID). Coupon publications are provided including a machine-readable portion that encodes coupon data describing the coupon campaign information. The coupon data is retrieved from the machine-readable portion of the coupon publication using a personal electronic device. The coupon data is used to retrieve a coupon ID that is stored in the personal electronic device. The coupon ID is transmitted to a point of sale (POS) system using the personal electronic device. The POS system communicates with the engine to verify a validity of the coupon ID. A discount is applied to a transaction in accordance with the discount value.

The coupon industry is a multi-billion dollar business generating significant savings for customers and allowing companies to compete in new markets, sell new products, and strengthen customer relations. In the US, over $331 billion worth of savings in paper coupons are in circulation each year. Even though the coupon industry offers many opportunities for savings for customers, many coupons go unredeemed. In fact, the coupon industry faces a very low redemption rate that is close to 1% for 300 billion issued coupons.
Unfortunately, the coupon industry suffers from a significant volume of fraudulent activities including duplication of coupons, alteration of coupons, or retailer fraud in the form of coupons that are redeemed for transactions that never take place. In some estimates, these fraudulent activities cost the couponing industry between $500 million and $800 million annually. In some cases, the fraudulent activity has been linked to the financing of terrorist activities with annual amounts of over $150 million.
Unlike the payment industry, the distribution, redemption and processing technologies used in the coupon industry are somewhat antiquated. Many coupons are issued as paper, which remains the principal distribution channel for coupon campaigns. Existing paper processing methods are very laborious and extremely time consuming with potential misredemptions and chargebacks for the retailers.

System and method for distribution, redemption and processing of electronic coupons


This invention discloses a three-in-one combination wrench. A preferred embodiment features an easily assembled ratchet wrench in the middle of the wrench body, suitable for operation in confined spaces. The combination wrench terminates at one end in a pair of opening jaws for engaging fasteners of various sizes that fit into the jaws; and at the other, in an adjustable mortise-tenon pivotal wrench for approaching fasteners from an optimal angle to maximize torque with least effort. Furthermore, a substantially symmetrical streamlined dual-handle is ergonomically configured for a comfortable holding gesture.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a hand-operated wrench, and more particularly to a compact three-in-one combination wrench with great accessibility to fasteners and workpieces. A preferred embodiment in accordance with this invention includes a ratchet wrench in the center of the wrench body, an open-end V-shaped socket wrench at one end of the wrench body, and an adjustable mortise-tenon pivotal wrench at the other end. The two handle portions in between the above-mentioned three parts are ergonomically adapted for a friendly human-machine interface.
2. Description of Prior Art
It is the goal of this invention to provide some feasible solutions for problems encountered in the prior art, as stated below.
FIG. 7 depicts a T-handle wrench with a sleeve or a socket configured at the end of the bar, which is perpendicular to the handle. Wrenches of this kind are only applicable to certain sizes of fasteners that fit into the one-size sleeve, and hence have limited applications.
FIG. 8 shows an improvement on T-type wrenches, which is configured to have a ratchet wrench at the head of the wrench body, and a drive shaft for engaging sleeves of various sizes. This kind of wrenches, however, requires a working space of at least the diameter of the length of the wrench body for a 360-degree rotation about fasteners, not desirable for operation in cramp spaces.
In a basic socket wrench embodiment, the main body is made cylindrical in shape, as shown by handle 32′ of a conventional wrench (3′) in FIG. 9, which is also configured with drive shaft 31′ to accommodate a wide range of workpieces. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,833 to Macor a double-ended wrench having a flat elongated-shaped handle is produced to overcome the inconvenience of gripping a bulky cylindrical handle. In the present invention, a symmetrical streamlined dual-handle is designed to relieve muscular stiffness in holding substantially straight handles.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,862,956 to Chen, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,882 to Hu disclose ratchet wrenches with a simplified structure, both of which still have the disadvantage of complexity in assembly, demanding higher precision in machining.


A method for handling a remote copy request in a distributed storage includes providing a plurality of primary volumes within a primary storage system that is coupled to a primary host via a first network, the primary storage system being coupled to a secondary storage system via a second network. A first request is selected from a plurality of requests placed in a queue based on priority information associated with the requests. A first path group is selected from one or more path groups that could be used to transmit the request. The first request is transmitted to the secondary storage system using the first path group, the secondary storage system including a plurality of secondary volumes that are paired to the plurality of primary volumes.

The present invention relates generally to a distributed data storage system, and in particular to techniques for managing data flow over a plurality of connections between primary and remote storage devices.
The information technology revolution brings with it an ever increasing need for more storage capacity for business enterprises. It is expected that the average Fortune 1000 company's storage requirement will more than double in the coming years. In addition, growth has brought shortages of skilled persons in the information technology field. These challenges confront many companies facing the need to expand and improve their information technology assets. Increasingly, companies are turning to storage based remote copy as a method of coping with the need to prevent data loss from disaster. Remote copy creates and manages mirror images of storage volumes between a local, or primary storage system, and a remote or secondary storage system. The primary and secondary storage systems may be located at a far distance from one another. The two disk storage systems are connected by a network, through which updates on a local disk system are copied to the remote disk system. Nowadays, there are many types of networks that can connect the two storage systems performing remote copying. For example, one type of network can be a fast, reliable, secure and relatively more expensive network, such as, for example, a T3 private network. Another type of network is relatively more slow, insecure, and cheap, such as the Internet, for example.
Business critical applications, like on line transaction processing (OLTP) for banking, finance, flight reservation systems, and so forth, requires remote copy capabilities with low response times, high security, and high reliability. Other types of applications, like WEB mirroring, data warehousing, data center consolidation, bulk data transfer, and the like, do not have such requirements, because these applications generally do not need to copy data in real time.
While certain advantages to present remote copy technologies are perceived, opportunities for further improvement exist. For example, according to conventional remote copy technology, the network carrier companies charge customers based upon a required throughput, and sometimes offer pay per services for private networks. For example, a network carrier company may charge customers according to network bandwidth used per month. However, some remote copy users would like to reduce the costs associated with data connections and will be willing to accept operational limitations to do so. For example, users can lower expenses by using different networks for remote copy depending on application characteristics. A user could employ the Internet for web mirroring applications, but use a T3 network for OLTP for banking, for example. Users who would like to use the storage for backup purposes do not need a full-time data connection. However, conventional technology does not provide the capability to manage access to the data transmission services of a network carrier based upon the charges for the access. Further, issues such as security are important concerns to both the user and the network carrier. For the user, this means that valuable information assets can be protected by restricting access to the data being sent to remote storage. For the network carrier, this means that data integrity is preserved for each of its customers, and that no user receives access that is not authorized by the network carrier.

Remote copy with path selection and prioritization


Embodiments of methods and network devices for securing data within a network are generally described herein. One such method includes a key aggregation server receiving a request for an encryption key to secure the data. The server may query a plurality of network devices for a respective key from each queried network device. The server may then receive the respective key from each of the plurality of network devices and select a key element from each of the plurality of keys. An encryption key may be constructed from the key elements and transmitted to a client.

Corporations and government entities seek to substantially reduce unauthorized access to various types of sensitive information. Some systems may reduce or prevent unauthorized access by having users log on to file storage systems with credentials such as user names and passwords. These systems, however, may not prevent authorized users from copying sensitive information and thereby removing sensitive information to one computer or computing system.
Other systems may bind sensitive information to one computer or computing system. However, these systems may be overly restrictive in limiting movement of data. For example, an authorized user may only be able to use the sensitive information at a certain computer.
Thus, there are general needs for system and methods for flexibly securing sensitive files.

Distributed network encryption key generation


An electric machine includes a first magnetic pole with an arrangement of interposed magnetically active layers and magnetically inactive layers, and a second magnetic pole movable relative to the first magnetic pole and spaced from the first magnetic pole by a gap. An electrical conductor operates as a coupling element between an electrical circuit and a magnetic circuit. At an operating time, a common useful magnetic flux for electromechanical energy conversion flows through the magnetic circuit composed of the first magnetic pole, the gap and the second magnetic pole. The magnetically inactive layers have a lower average density than the magnetically active layers. A ratio (k) of the total volume of the magnetically active layers to the combined total volume of the magnetically active and inactive layers fulfills the condition 0.5≦k≦0.8 A method for producing an electric machine are also disclosed.

The invention relates to an electric machine which includes a first magnetic pole having an arrangement of layers with magnetically active layers and a second magnetic pole moveable relative to the first magnetic pole and spaced from the first magnetic pole by a pap, and an electric conductor as a coupling element between an electric circuit and a magnetic circuit, wherein for electromechanical energy conversion the magnetic circuit includes the first magnetic pole, the pap and a second magnetic pole. The invention also relates to a magnetic pole part with the aforedescribed first magnetic pole with the arrangement of layers, a vehicle and a wind turbine as well as a method for producing an electric machine of this type.
Electric machines of the aforementioned type can be used as a drive motor or as a generator. One reason for the increased use of electric machines as a drive motor is that because of the scarcity of fossil fuels an alternative must be found to conventional internal combustion engines. Reliance is in this case being placed on renewable energy sources as a replacement for fossil fuels. Because a renewable energy source is not always available at the right time and place, the renewable energy has to be converted into a form of energy that can be transported and stored. Electrical energy has become established as the form of energy here. Electrical energy can be obtained from renewable energy sources using electric machines which act as generators, transported by cables, temporarily stored in batteries and converted into motive energy by high-efficiency motors. The generators are in this case fixed in supporting structures which must withstand the natural forces of the renewable energy sources. It must be possible for the motors to be used efficiently, as well as effectively, in mobile applications. When using an electric machine as a generator or motor as high a power density as possible is desirable, because the power that can be supplied needs to be as high as possible in proportion to the mass of the electric motor, given that the smaller the mass of the generator, the more cheaply the mounting structure can be produced. In the case of the motor in the mobile application, for instance in a vehicle, the smaller mass moved means energy can be saved and thus the vehicle operated more cheaply.
In the past a reduction in the mass achieved for this purpose in the magnetically active part of the electric machine by optimizing the lamination geometry and selecting suitable materials for the metal sheets was often insufficient.
Thus on pages 68-70 of the magazine "antriebstechnik 5/2011" the authors Brand, Stahel and Vezzini describe a high-performance permanent magnet motor in which metal sheets made of cobalt-iron materials are used in the stator and rotor. The article primarily describes the need for a higher torque, which is achieved using metal sheets made of a cobalt-iron alloy with a saturation polarization of 2.35 Tesla compared to a silicon-iron material with a saturation polarization of 2.03 Tesla. It was possible to increase the maximum torque by 22% in this case. The last paragraph of the article states that instead of increasing the maximum torque, the volume and thus the weight of the motor can be reduced with the same maximum torque.
Although the article cited describes how cobalt-iron alloys have been the norm for decades in the aviation industry for reasons of weight reduction, nevertheless the weight reduction achieved by the use of cobalt-iron alloys is still not sufficient for many applications.

Electric machine having a low-mass design in magnetically active parts


A computer memory cache system that includes hardware (called a conflict cache) for short term tolerance and reduction of cache misses and including counters to enable software to detect and remove longer term cache misses through dynamic page remapping. In an example embodiment, when a conflict miss occurs for a low associativity cache, the address of the displaced item is saved in a content addressable memory and the corresponding data is saved in a data RAM. The operating system logically partitions the low associativity cache into bins, where the address range for a bin is a page or multiple pages. Every logical bin in the low associativity cache has a corresponding counter in the conflict cache. Each bin counter counts the number of conflict misses for the corresponding bin. When a bin counter exceeds a predetermined value, the operating system remaps a corresponding page. For a multiple level cache hierarchy, the top level cache is made a subset of the union of a lower level direct mapped cache and the conflict cache. This inclusion property prolongs the life of cache lines in the top level cache in the presence of conflict misses, improving the top level cache performance. In addition, the top level cache (and the conflict cache) may contain several lines that map to the same index in the lower level cache, thereby reducing the probability of thrashing due to the lower level cache.

Most computer systems employ a multilevel hierarchy of memory systems, with fast but limited capacity memory at the highest level of the hierarchy and proceeding to slower but higher capacity memory at the lowest level of the hierarchy. Typically, the hierarchy includes a small fast memory called a cache, either physically integrated within a processor integrated circuit or mounted physically close to the processor for speed. There may be separate instruction caches and data caches. There may be multiple levels of caches.
A memory hierarchy is useful only if a high percentage of items requested from memory are present in the highest levels of the hierarchy when requested. If a processor requests an item from a cache and the item is present in the cache, the event is called a cache hit. If a processor requests an item from a cache and the item is not present in the cache, the event is called a cache miss. In the event of a cache miss, the requested item is retrieved from a lower level of the memory hierarchy. This may have a significant impact on performance. In general, minimization of cache misses and minimization of the effects of cache misses are some of the most important design parameters for overall computer system performance.
The minimum amount of memory that can be transferred between a cache and a next lower level of the memory hierarchy is called a line, or sometimes a block. Typically, a memory is organized into words (for example, 32 bits per word) and a line is typically multiple words (for example, 16 words per line). Memory may also be divided into pages, with many lines per page.
If a cache stores an entire line address along with the data, any line can be placed anywhere in the cache. A space saving alternative is as follows. Assume that a cache holds 128 lines. For 128 lines, seven bits may be used to designate a line position within the cache. If the least significant seven bits of the line address are used to designate a line within the cache, then only the remaining set of more significant bits of each physical address must be stored along with the data. The number used to designate a line within a cache is commonly called an index and the remaining set of bits required to define a physical address for a line is commonly called a tag.
In a cache with indexing, an item with a particular address can be placed only at the one place within the cache designated by the index. In addition, every item within the address space having identical index bits will potentially require the same line space within the cache. Therefore, a new line may be fetched that requires the same space in the cache as an existing line and the existing line may need to stay in the cache. This condition is called a conflict and is discussed in more detail below.
If a line can appear at only one place in the cache, the cache is said to be direct mapped (and is said to have low associativity). In an alternative design, a cache may be organized into sets, each set containing two or more lines. If a line can be placed in only one of the sets, the cache is said to be set associative. If a line can be placed anywhere in the cache, the cache is said to be fully associative. In general, caches having low associativity are simpler, faster and require less space than caches having high associativity. However, direct mapped or other low associativity caches may have performance problems due to conflicts as discussed below.
For a direct mapped cache or other low associativity cache, a new line may require the same space as an existing line. That is, instead of displacing lines randomly, or displacing the least recently used line, the new line displaces the line having the same index within the cache. The displaced line may be useful and may need to stay in the cache. A miss resulting from a useful line being displaced by a line having the same index is called a conflict miss. In some software, a second line may displace a first line, only to have the first line soon displace the second line. This thrashing of a single cache line can result in low system performance, even though the cache size is adequate for the particular software. There is need for the inherent speed and space advantages of low associativity caches while minimizing the negative effects on system performance due to conflict misses.
One approach to reducing the impact of conflict misses in direct mapped caches is to add a small fully associative secondary cache. For example, see Jouppi, N. P. "Improving Direct-Mapped Cache Performance by the Addition of a Small Fully-Associative Cache and Prefetch Buffers", Proceedings of the 17th Annual International Symposium On Computer Architecture, May 1990, pp 364-373 and see also U.S. Pat No. 5,261,066 (Jouppi et al). Jouppi proposes adding an additional small (2-5 lines) fully associative cache called a miss cache. In the event of a cache miss in the primary cache, the requested item is placed in both the primary cache and into the miss cache. Items placed in the miss cache replace the least recently used item. As an improvement, Jouppi proposes loading the small secondary cache with the displaced victim of a miss instead of the requested line, calling the resulting secondary cache a victim cache. In an alternative design, a small additional cache with first-in first-out replacement, called an assist cache, is disclosed in Kurpanek, G. et al, "PA7200: A PA-RISC Processor with Integrated High Performance MP Bus Interface", Digest of Papers Spring COMPCON 94, 1994, pp 373-382.
If there are multiple levels of caches, a lower level cache is typically larger than upper level caches and a lower level cache typically includes all the information that is in higher level caches. If the lower level cache includes all the information contained in higher level caches, the lower level cache is said to have inclusion. The primary advantage of inclusion is that when a check is needed to determine whether items in cache memory are the same as items elsewhere in the hierarchy (called coherency checking), only the lowest level cache needs to be checked. In general, for the systems with victim or assist caches described above, when an item is displaced from a lower level cache into the victim or assist cache, any corresponding item in a higher level cache is removed from the higher level cache. This impacts performance if the victim item is requested again, resulting in a cache miss for the higher level cache.
An alternative approach to reducing the impact of conflict misses in direct mapped caches is to monitor conflict miss address distribution and to remap memory paging. If the operating system has information on the cache conflict distribution it can remap pages that conflict with other pages into pages that have no such conflicts. This remapping can be static (determined before run time) or dynamic (changing based on conflict misses during software execution). The static approach assumes the operating system knows the number of pages mapped to a given cache line when deciding on the page's address translation (page mapping). For an example of the static approach, see Kessler, R. et al, "Page Placement Algorithms for Large Real-Indexed Caches", ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, Vol. 10, No. 4, Nov. 1992, pp 338-359. For an example of dynamic page remapping, see Bershad, B. et al, "Avoiding Conflict Misses Dynamically in Large Direct Mapped Caches", ASLOS VI Proceedings, Oct. 1994, pp 158-170. In Bershad et al, additional hardware is provided (called a Cache Miss Lookaside buffer) that detects and records a history of cache misses. Cache misses are detected on a per-page basis. Pages with many misses are remapped to different physical addresses. The Cache Miss Lookaside buffer stores associatively indexed page number tags from cache misses. The buffer also includes counters. If a cache miss is detected and the page number tag is already in the buffer the corresponding counter is incremented. If a cache miss is detected and the page number tag is not in the buffer, the least recently used address is displaced. When a counter exceeds a threshold, the buffer generates an interrupt and the operating system then remapps the page corresponding to the interrupting counter.
Victim caches and assist caches reduce conflict misses if the conflict misses occur within a relatively short time interval. For misses occurring at longer time intervals, the victim line may be displaced from the victim cache before it is required again by software. Dynamic page remapping reduces conflict misses but requires a relatively long time. The software context may change before remapping ever occurs. In addition, dynamic page remapping requires a large cache to provide many alternative target pages for remapping of high miss pages. Finally, in the specific implementation of Bershad et al, all cache misses are counted, even the ones that do not displace lines from the cache. There is a need for an improved cache system providing the speed and space benefits of a direct mapped cache, with reduction of short term effects of conflict misses as provided by small fully associative auxiliary caches, with the reduction of misses by dynamic page remapping and still other improvements.

Conflict cache having cache miscounters for a computer memory system


Viruses of the family poxviridae such as vaccinia or fowlpox viruses are modified to contain a gene which expresses a protein corresponding to the conserved exposed region of the M6 protein. The modified products are useful as vaccines against streptococcal infection.

This invention is concerned with viruses such as the vaccinia and fowlpox viruses modified to contain the DNA sequence (gene) which will express in a mammalian host, including humans, a protein corresponding to the conserved, exposed region of the M6 protein. It is concerned also with the use of such modified products as vaccines to protect against streptococcal infection. Further, it is concerned with plasmids or other vectors carrying the said gene.
Approximately 30 million cases of group A streptococcal infections occur each year in the United States, the most common of which is acute streptococcal pharyngitis which is found predominantly in school age children. Up to 5% of pharyngitis cases which have gone untreated, or have been ineffectively treated, can lead to acute rheumatic fever, a disease which can ultimately result in cardiac damage. While not a major problem in the United States, this streptococcal sequelae is a significant problem in developing nations of the world. For example, it has been estimated that nearly 6 million children of school age in India suffer from rheumatic heart disease.
The M protein of group A streptococci is a fibrous dimer of helices arranged in a coiled coil extending about 50 nm from the surface of these organisms. It is a fibrillar molecule of which there exists more than 80 serological types M. The protein renders the streptococcus resistant to nonimmune phagocytosis. It is the major virulence factor of streptococcal bacteria.
Thus, there are over 80 distinct serotypes of group A streptococci such that a vaccine based on type-specific epitopes may not be practical. In general, no satisfactory vaccine which will confer protection against streptococcal infection has yet been developed, although significant and costly efforts have been directed towards that end.
There is a strong impetus to develop a safe and effective vaccine against group A streptococci.

Recombinant poxvirus and streptococcal M protein vaccine


A backpack tool, a backpack blower and a control handle assembly are provided by the present invention. The backpack tool includes a battery pack for providing electrical energy, a power assembly electrically connected with the battery pack to convert the electrical energy provided by the battery pack into mechanical energy, and a backpack assembly carried on the human back to support the battery pack and the power assembly. Both the battery pack and the power assembly can be carried on the human back using the backpack assembly, so that the weight carried by the arms of the worker can be reduced. The battery pack serves as a power source that reduces the noise and vibration caused by the backpack tool during operation as compared with a gasoline powered backpack tool.

Generally, an existing lightweight hand-held blower is equipped with a battery pack having a capacity ranging from 200 Wh to 300 Wh, which has about 10 minutes' discharging time and is only suitable for home use. For professional workers, a professional blower with a high power and a long discharging time is needed. However, a large-capacity battery pack will increase the total weight of the blower, which means a heavy load is carried by the worker.
Further, existing professional backpack blowers are gasoline powered and use centrifugal air passages, which causes the blower to generate loud noise and strong vibration, to be difficult to clean during work, and cause environmental pollution.
Therefore, there is a requirement to provide an improved backpack tool, backpack blower and control handle assembly which can reduce the weight carried by the worker, and the noise and vibration caused thereby.

Piggyback working appliance, piggyback blower, and control handle assembly


The present invention pertains to complexes comprising sterols and saponins. The complexes are capable of binding a genetic determinant including a polynucleotide. The complexes may further comprise a lipophilic moiety, optionally a lipophilic moiety comprising a contacting group and/or a targeting ligand, and/or a saccharide moiety. The complexes may further comprise an immunogenic determinant and/or an antigenic determinant and/or a medicament and/or a diagnostic compound. The complexes may in even further embodiments be encapsulated by an encapsulation agent including a biodegradable microsphere. The present invention also pertains to pharmaceutical compositions and methods of treatment of an individual by therapy and/or surgery, methods of cosmetic treatment, and diagnostic methods practised on the human or animal body.

Several medical applications utilizing genetic determinants have evolved in recent years. In such applications, the introduction of whole genes or specific nucleic acids into cells is of central importance. This process is often referred to as gene transfection independently of the origin of the cells, the sequence and character of the nucleic acid, and irrespective of whether the transfer is performed in vivo or ex vivo.
To facilitate the process of gene transfection several different approaches have been developed. Such approaches include among others i) using biological vectors (including viral vectors), ii) associating a nucleic acid with a cationic liposome, iii) associating a nucleic acid with peptides covalently linked to a transfection agent, and iv) coating minute gold particles by nucleic acids and using the coated particles for a bio-ballistic transfer.
The major iscom constituents are quillaja saponins and cholesterol. The procedure for preparation of iscoms comprises solubilization of amphipathic polypeptides in preferably nonionic detergents, addition of Quillaja saponins, cholesterol, and possibly also phosphatidylcholine. In the presence of amphipathic proteins, iscom particles are formed on removal of the detergent.
Morein (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,269) was the first to describe that iscoms not only formed a very characteristic structural complex, but also possessed significant immunogenic properties when amphipathic antigens were inserted into this complex by hydrophobic interaction. Conventional iscoms (immunostimulating complexes) have since been used for vaccine formulations and combine a multimeric presentation of an antigen with an adjuvant functionality. (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,725 to Marciani).

Cage-like microparticle complexes comprising sterols and saponins for delivery of polynucleotides


A synchronous high speed motion stop for a series of multi-top loaders residing on “n” controllers on one rail achieves effective detection of the servo-error status and shut off of the trailing controller's servo power within 3 ITP time. The control method reduces the unnecessary error recovery because it only shuts off its immediate trailing controller without aborting its leading controller, allowing the leading controller to complete the cycle tasks. The cascade control method produces a synchronous high-speed motion stop for the robots across the controllers and effectively prevents the collision between the robots.

It is desirable to provide full collision protection for robots on the same rail at high-speed motion, with speeds as high as 3000 mm/sec along a rail direction, and small carriage separation distance, as close as 70 mm, with no additional hardware.
Previously, a method for collision avoidance for all of the robots along a rail included a controlled stop event, requiring all of the robots connected to different controllers to have the same deceleration rate. Problems emerged with this system when some robots performed an emergency stop due to an unanticipated servo error event that caused immediate servo-shut off while the remaining robots were subject to a controlled stop. This caused collisions to occur between the trailing robots and the leading robots where the controlled stop controller moved the corresponding robots to a commanded position using the programmed deceleration rate, while the emergency stop shut off the servo and resulted in a short deceleration distance for the remaining robots.
To have full protection, if one robot on the rail performs an emergency stop due to any servo error condition, then ideally the remaining robots on the same rail have to use the same emergency stop as soon as possible to avoid any collisions.
Prior systems use PLC, Ethernet Link Control and PMC/IO Link or any combination of hardware and software solutions. However, none of these solutions can provide the needed performance that can effectively protect against collision. A PLC control takes too long to detect the servo error condition from one controller and then take the proper action to stop the robots in different controllers. Additional hardwire connections from the PLC to each controller are also required.
The disadvantage of an Ethernet Control Link is that the non-deterministic transmission delay time across the controller can result in a collision. The disadvantage of a PMC/IO Link is the cost and delay. This type of link is too costly to make the hardware connections among all the controllers. Further, the delay time is large where the Master PC resides on one controller only.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,459 discloses a method for detecting a collision between a robot and one or more obstacles before it occurs. Generally, a plurality of voxels defines a finite work space and each grid element is assigned a value representing the relative strength and distance of the robotic manipulator to an object and subsequent collision potential. The robot is modeled by spheres in a voxelized workspace. Each voxel within the workspace is assigned a value which corresponds to its distance from the closest obstacle. A collision is determined to be imminent if the voxel value at the center of a sphere is less than the radius of the sphere in voxels.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,282,460 discloses a method for preventing collisions between robots using a central controller to communicate with each robot. Each robot is programmed to automatically stop when the robot reaches a certain point in the operation.
The central controller causes a first robot to stop or pause so that a second robot may safely complete an operation. The central controller allows the robots to resume operations when it has been determined that the robots have reached their respective correct positions. The method includes using a pendant controller to provide stop commands to a robot as instructed by an operator.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,607 discloses a collision checking system which can be performed in order to determine if a collision will likely result by simulating movement of the robot in accordance with a general motion plan developed from the motion of a robot within a free space confined by obstacles. The collision checking system provides a pre-determined collision-free path of at least one fixed robot within a confined work area.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,678,582 discloses a method of avoiding collisions between robots based on continuous predicted configurations and forecasted stopping distances. The method allows for automatic configuration of the work space from a collision avoidance standpoint. It determines automatically which components have potential collisions with which other components by predicting the configurations of the moving components over a period of time sufficient enough to allow the machines to stop safely and check for interference. If a collision is predicted, the machines are commanded to stop on or off their paths.
U.S. Pat. App. Publication No. 20060129348 discloses a system for collision avoidance of rotary atomizers by measuring both the drive-side motion quantities of the drive system, and the driven side quantities, i.e., on the driven mechanism. The dynamic model contemplates the inertia of various components of the system, the elastic components, and the frictional forces or moments of the drive system and the mechanism, respectively. For disturbance-free operation of the drive system, the two comparison values must agree, while a deviation between the two comparison values can indicate a disturbance or even a collision. A monitoring device is provided for each shaft of the robot to recognize any deviation of the actual behavior of the drive system from the modeled behavior.
U.S. Pat. App. Publication No. 20060182536 discloses a Cartesian robot cluster tool architecture that includes at least two robots for performing a task within a confined workspace. A collision avoidance system includes a system controller that monitors the position of each of the robots by use of various sensors positioned on the robot(s) or in the cluster tool during the transferring process to avoid a collision. The system controller is adapted to actively alter the motion and/or trajectory of each of the robots during the transferring process to avoid a collision and minimize the transfer path length. Preferably, the disclosure provides a cluster tool configuration so that if one of the robots becomes inoperable the system can still continue using the other robots. This configuration also removes, or minimizes, the need for collision avoidance type control features since the physical overlap of robots that are positioned next to each other is eliminated.

Control method for synchronous high speed motion stop for multi-top loaders across controllers


In a process and apparatus for the production of panels, plates or sheets are cemented on opposite sides of an intermediate layer of honeycomb with transverse openings constituted by a network of strips of constant width defining the openings. The edges of the strips defining the network are cemented on opposite sides of the layer and the plates or sheets are applied on the cemented edges. Two lateral parallel grooves are formed intermediate the thickness of the longitudinal edges of the intermediate layer with the layer contracted, such that the strips are flat against each other. Then these grooves are used to guide the layer when the layer is pulled out to form the openings. The necessary reduction of the width of the layer is effected by inserting two lateral convergent guides in the grooves on opposite edges of the layer, and forcing the layer to move in the direction of convergence of these guides.

The structure described above of a composite sandwich panel is known, but its production poses problems. In particular, the median layer is difficult to manipulate and to position because of its deformability. A known process consists in deploying a median layer of the dimensions of one panel, so as to form recesses that are as regular as possible, then separately and uniformly cementing the two plates and applying them on opposite sides of the median layer, on the edges of the recesses. The cemented plates are difficult to handle. It is necessary to apply them one after the other on the intermediate layer. There is a large consumption of cement.

Machine for the production of panels including specified displacement means


An automated networked service request and fulfillment system and method includes "client" computer systems in the offices of professionals such as doctors, and "sponsor" computers at the sites of service providers such as test labs or insurance companies, interconnected with a mail server system that exchanges e-mail messages via the Internet or a similar network. "Service requests", such as ordering a medical test or requesting authorization for a particular procedure, are prepared using a client system and automatically e-mailed to the sponsor system of an appropriate service provider. The request is fulfilled and the results e-mailed back to the requesting client system using the mail server system. Confidentiality is insured by encrypting all e-mail messages. The system includes a "universal interface" component which automates the process of converting data records found in existing databases into the data record format required by the new system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of automated service request and fulfillment systems, particularly systems in which requests are made and fulfilled over a computer network.
2. Description of the Related Art
The health care industry and its endlessly spiraling costs are subjects of great concern at present, with new methods of managing medically-related information introduced regularly. A labor intensive approach has traditionally been taken to manage such information: a doctor orders a medical procedure on a multi-ply form, and a copy is delivered to a medical center by the patient, a courier, or via facsimile or mail. The results are returned to the doctor in similar fashion, recorded on paperwork which is physically carried back to the ordering doctor's office. Verifying a patient's medical insurance status traditionally requires that personnel working in a doctor's office or health care facility consult the latest revision of an insurer's printed "eligibility" list, or attempt to learn the status via telephone.
In the "managed health care" operating environment favored by health maintenance organizations (HMOs), member doctors typically must request and receive "authorization" from a patient's HMO prior to performing a particular medical procedure. The request for authorization, and its subsequent approval or denial, are commonly handled with an exchange of paperwork, via the mails. Similarly, permission to refer a patient to another doctor is usually requested and received via mailed or hand-delivered paperwork.
Many modern offices have attempted to improve their efficiency by introducing computers. A myriad of "complete medical office management" software products are in use which keep track of patient information and medical histories, billing and insurance information, etc. These products generally place such information into "data records" which are stored in one or more databases within a personal computer. The "format" of the information in a data record, i.e., the precise arrangement of text, data, and control characters which make up the record, is unique to most of the products in the market, as is the way in which the data records are arranged into a database. When an office adopts a new management system, a transfer of the stored information from the existing database to a new database is necessitated. However, because of the differences in the data record and database formats of the old and new products, such a transfer is typically accomplished by manually re-entering data into the new database one record at a time.
Some offices have linked their computer systems to various insurance providers via costly, proprietary computer networks, for purposes of determining insurance eligibility, for example. However, as with the office management software products, most of the existing network systems are unique, with each system having its own set of system requirements, operating procedures, and communications protocols. Confidentiality is also a serious concern when using a network, and while some network-based systems do encrypt the data sent over the network, the quality of the various encryption schemes and the procedures associated with them tend to vary widely. Also, many of these networks are arranged so that their user interface screens must be downloaded into the office computer over the network, which often results in long delays and poor responsiveness for the user due to the large amount of data that must be transferred over the network.
Similar problems and attempted solutions are found in other professional fields. For example, a brokerage may store investor identification and portfolio information in a database of some sort. The brokerage may need to communicate with a variety of off-site service providers, such as financial exchanges, quotation services, etc. As in the medical field, many software products and proprietary networks have been introduced to improve the management of financial information, but the vast technical differences which exist between competing products tends to also provide a host of incompatibility, upgrading and training problems.

Automated networked service request and fulfillment system and method


A testing device tests a magnetic head with a read head structure including a read head element while applying an external magnetic field to the magnetic head. The testing device receives signals from the read head element and processes the signals to generate a spectral power density for the signals. The spectral power density is characterized for at least one frequency range. The characterization of the spectral power density is used to determine a characteristic of noise from the read head structure. The signals from the read head may be received with different applied magnetic fields and/or before or while thermally exciting the magnetic head. Additionally, a histogram of the signals may be generated and used to determine a second characteristic of the noise.

In order to increase the recording density in hard drive disks, magnetic heads are being produced with an inductive write head element and a magnetoresistive effect (MR) read head element. The basic concept of magnetoresistive element is that resistance of such element changes as a function of applied magnetic field. Such elements can be produced by using an anisotropic magnetoresistive effect (AMR) element, a giant magnetoresistive effect (GMR) element such as a spin-valve MR element or a tunnel magnetoresistive effect (TMR) element to increase element sensitivity.
A magnetic head with a defective read head structure will not follow predictable resistivity changes over the range of magnetic read signals from a disk. Accordingly, it is important to qualify each magnetic head by testing the magnetic head for instabilities or noise.

Spectral noise analysis for read head structures


An exposure apparatus which forms a pattern on an object. The apparatus includes an exposure head structure in which a plurality of elemental exposure units are arrayed, each elemental exposure unit including (i) at least one light source for emitting exposure light and (ii) an optical element which forms an image of the at least one light source on the object, for exposing the object. Positions of the images of the at least one light source in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the object include plural positions different from each other. A sensor detects a position of the surface of the object and produces a detection result. A controller receives the detection result and controls the exposure head structure such that a pattern is formed on the object by the exposure is selected to expose the object based on the detection result by the sensor.

Along with recent developments in IT (Information Technology) and the expansion of the mark, demands for a manufacturing apparatus that manufactures semiconductor devices, liquid-crystal display devices, and the like, have increased more and more. A particularly important component in manufacturing such devices is an exposure apparatus, which is used to form a pattern. Regarding the exposure apparatus, emphasis is put, not only on the exposure performance, but also, on the COO (Cost of Ownership), which supports the price competition of the finished products, i.e., the total operating cost of the manufacturing apparatus.
As an exposure apparatus, a one-to-one imaging exposure apparatus is generally used to illuminate a mask, to form a pattern within a predetermined region of the mask on a substrate within a good-image area in a projection imaging system. However, in the above one-to-one imaging exposure apparatus, the cost of a mask having a circuit pattern tends to greatly increase when the substrate size becomes larger. This is because one-to-one imaging basically requires a mask having the same size as that of a substrate. Accordingly, a reduction in cost of a mask is a serious problem in developing a large-sized display, such as a liquid crystal display.
Even in developing leading-edge VLSI submicron lithography, it is troublesome to reduce the cost of a mask, although its technical field is different from the liquid crystal display in line width, exposure area, and device specification. In the VLSI, the problem is not an increase in the size of a mask when the substrate size becomes larger, but an increase in the cost due to micropatterning. In particular, since the VLSI requires a large number of, e.g., twenty or more masks to be included in a mask set, mask costs present a serious problem.
To solve the above problem about the mask cost, a technique has been proposed that uses a mask lithography exposure apparatus (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,133,986).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,133,986 discloses a maskless lithography exposure apparatus that selectively reflects a portion of light using a DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) to expose the substrate surface.
When a glass substrate is used as an exposure target substrate, the working distance often varies due to undulations, typically having a size of about 20 μm, which are present on the surface of the glass substrate. If the working distance varies, a light source image is formed at a position that falls outside the surface of the exposure target substrate, resulting in a decrease in accuracy of the light source image formed on the surface of the exposure target substrate.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,133,986, the working distance is detected using a light sensor. However, since image data obtained using the light sensor needs to be processed, the response speed naturally becomes low. Accordingly, a separate image data processing device is necessary. In addition, the optical path length needs to be assured. These requirements complicate the arrangement of the apparatus.

Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method


The present invention relates to the identification, extraction, linking, storage and provisioning of data that constitute the captioned components of published or “print ready” literature for computerized information discovery activities including search, browse and data mining. These components, or objects, include the tabular presentation of data (“tables”) and graphics such as “figures”, “images” and “illustrations” typically used to supplement the textual narrative of the publication.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to automatic information capture techniques and, more particularly to the secondary publishing (or, abstracting and indexing) industry.
2. Background
Captioned components such as figures and tables represent the distilled essence of research communicated in academic articles. Although the marginalia surrounding these displays of data is useful, researchers are eager to view the actual data collected, observed, or modeled to determine the article's relevance to their work. Raw data sets are usually unavailable, but the processed data displayed in figures and tables are as, or even more, valuable.
The primary objective of a literature search is to find articles containing information most relevant to researchers' interests. Neither traditional article-level indexing provided by standard Abstracting & Indexing (A & I) services, nor full-text indexing whereby all text within a document is indexed, can restrict a result set to only those publications which contain data of interest.
For one reason, many key variables are excluded from traditional A&I searches because, although discretely important, they are generally not reflected in the more general nature of the author's abstract or the article title, traditional grist for the A&I indexing mill. Also, variables can be hidden from full-text searches because critical text within figures and tables is actually part of an image file which is not indexed (and made searchable) in full-text search systems. Web harvesters (e.g. Google) do not distil text from images. Furthermore, variables are 'diluted' in full-text indexes because many matches are peripheral; i.e., the variable of interest appears as an indirect reference (e.g. in a literature reference cited within an article). As a result, the identified article may not actually contain a figure or table including that particular variable.
A secondary objective of a literature search has been more intractable—and arguably more valuable. Any variable appearing in a figure or table within an article can be searched and linked to other studies examining the same variable. Traditional A&I services are adequate tools to help answer research questions, but there remains a need for indexing other information such as, for example, tables and figures that goes further. By revealing data links in studies across disciplines, new avenues of research can be illuminated.

Method and system to search objects in published literature for information discovery tasks


A power assisted steering apparatus for a vehicle has a driving source and an actuator for the vehicle's steering mechanism, to power assist the steering operation. The driving source, such as an engine, continuously drives a pump. A working passage is arranged so that working oil discharged from the pump is introduced into the actuator. A check valve is disposed in the working passage, between the actuator and the pump so that the working oil flows only one way to the actuator. An accumulator is connected to the working passage, between the check valve and the actuator to maintain a predetermined pressure in the working passage. A regulator is connected to the working passage, between the pump and the check valve to regulate flow to the actuator. When the pressure within the working passage reaches the predetermined pressure, the working fluid is dumped to a reservoir, bypassing the check valve, the accumulator, and the actuator.

The present invention relates to a power assisted steering apparatus which is applicable to an automotive vehicular steering system.
Generally, in order to facilitate a steering operation through a steering wheel with less force, various types of power assisted steering apparatuses in which supply and exhaust of a working oil (hydraulic) into or from a (hydraulic) actuator installed in the vehicular steering system are carried out to achieve a steering assisted power have been used.
A Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. Showa 61-85272 exemplifies one of the previously proposed power assisted steering apparatuses which is provided with an actuator constituted by a regulating valve and a power cylinder, a hydraulic circuit interposed between an oil pump driven by means of an electric motor and the actuator, an accumulator installed in the hydraulic circuit, a pressure sensor arranged for detecting a hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic circuit, a controller arranged for receiving a detection signal from the pressure sensor and controlling a drive or stop of the motor according to the received detection signal.
In the disclosed vehicular power assisted steering apparatus, when the pressure sensor detects a reduction in the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic circuit, the working oil is accumulated into the accumulator so that, during an abrupt steering operation, an inconvenience for a discharge oil quantity to become insufficient can be eliminated because of its rise characteristic of the hydraulic pump in a start operation.
However, since the pump for the hydraulic pressure generation is driven and rotated by means of the motor, a driving energy of an engine mounted in the vehicle is not only reduced according to a working efficiency of the motor but also is reduced according to a power generation efficiency of an alternator of the engine so that an energy loss becomes large. In addition, since the motor is controlled according to the detection signal from the pressure sensor for electrically detecting the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic circuit, the pressure sensor and the controller are required so that a whole power assisted steering apparatus becomes expensive.
A Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. Heisei 4-321803 exemplifies another previously proposed power assisted steering apparatus which is provided with a variable capacity pump, a spring biased in a direction such that the discharge quantity of the variable capacity pump is decreased, a regulator biased in a direction such that the discharge quantity of the variable capacity pump is increased, a hydraulic circuit arranged for introducing the discharge oil of the variable capacity pump into the actuator via a cargo control valve, an accumulator arranged for holding the remaining pressure of the hydraulic circuit up to a predetermined value, an open/closure valve disposed within a pressure introducing passage linked between the hydraulic circuit and regulator, and a cargo switch operatively opening or closing the open/closure valve.
When the actuator is not operated, the open/closure valve is closed to zero the discharge quantity of the working oil from the variable capacity pump and the remaining pressure of the hydraulic circuit is introduced into the regulator which is held up to the predetermined value by means of the accumulator, thus increasing the discharge quantity of the variable capacity pump.
Since, in the latter previously proposed power assisted steering apparatus, the variable capacity pump is always operated and during non-operation of the actuator the discharge quantity of the variable capacity pump is zeroed so as to avoid an energy loss, it is not necessary to install a clutch mechanism so as to halt the drive to the pump during the non-operation of the actuator, in order to avoid the energy loss and the whole apparatus becomes simplified.
In addition, since, in the latter previously proposed power assisted steering apparatus, during the abrupt steering operation, both of the open/closure valve and the cargo control valve are opened so that the remaining pressure in the hydraulic circuit which is held to the predetermined value by means of the accumulator is speedily supplied to the regulator and actuator, thereby the discharge quantity of the variable capacity valve being increased and the power assisted steering operation being achieved.
However, in the latter previously proposed power assisted steering apparatus, the discharge quantity of the variable capacity pump is zeroed during the non-operation of the actuator. If the discharge quantity of the variable capacity valve is zeroed, the working oil is left in an inside of the pump and a suspended state of the working oil is continued. In this state, in addition to a heat generation of a constituent part of the pump due to a frictional slide thereof, a temperature of the working oil is increased so that an earlier deterioration of the working oil may be resulted. A reduced durability in the power assisted steering apparatus is involved.

Power assisted steering apparatus for automotive vehicle


An electrical interconnect for electrically connecting a magnetic head and read/write circuitry in a disc drive includes a dielectric substrate, a first conductive trace layer deposited upon the substrate, a dielectric layer deposited upon at least a portion of the first conductive trace layer and a second conductive trace layer deposited upon the dielectric layer. The first and second conductive trace layers have ends configured for being electrically coupled to the magnetic head and the read/write circuitry. The first and second conductive trace layers at least partially overlap one another and are sufficiently proximate to one another to reduce inductance of the interconnect.

The present invention relates to computer disc drives. In particular, the present invention relates to an electrical interconnect for electrically connecting a magnetic head and read/write circuitry in a disc drive.
Magnetic read/write heads require an electrical interconnect between read/write transducers of the magnetic head and read/write circuitry including amplifier components. Electrical interconnects conventionally comprise discrete twisted wire assemblies which are electrically connected to the magnetic head and the read/write circuitry. Although inexpensive, twisted wire electrical interconnects require labor intensive assembly operations for bonding the wires to the heads, routing, crimping and tacking the wire interconnects down the suspension and actuator arms and soldering the wires to read/write circuitry on a circuit board. These labor intensive assembly operations are costly and are prone to error.
In addition, conventional electrical interconnects lack the electrical performance typically required by the increasing data transfer rates of modem magnetic read/write heads. To maximize performance of the read/write circuitry, it is desirable that the electrical interconnect have a low inductance.

Flex circuit head interconnect for improved electrical performance and ease of assembly


A method and apparatus for treating or preventing neurocardiogenic syncope is disclosed. Upon detection of bradycardia or a drop in blood pressure indicating the onset of syncope, electrostimulation pulses are delivered during the heart's refractory period. The pulses are non-excitatory but increase myocardial contractility and thereby increase cardiac output.

Syncope, or fainting, is a transient loss of consciousness and postural tone that may be due a number of etiologies, both cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular. The most common pathophysiogical basis of syncope is an acute decrease in cerebral blood flow secondary to a decrease in cardiac output, thereby causing cerebral hypoxia. Such a decrease in cardiac output can be due to, for example, cardiac arrhythmias or cardiac outflow obstructions. Neurocardiogenic syncope is a relatively benign condition in which dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system causes an inappropriate slowing of the heart (bradycardia) to result in hypotension. Classic neurogenic syncope (vasovagal syncope) occurs when inappropriate reflex inhibition of the sympathetic nervous system and increased parasympathetic activity causes both bradycardia and peripheral vasodilation. Vasovagal syncope may occur in otherwise healthy individuals and in patients with a variety of underlying diseases. A number of factors may precipitate vasovagal syncope, including a hot or crowded environment, alcohol, extreme fatigue, hunger, chronic recumbency, prolonged standing, and emotional or stressful situations. Another type of neurocardiogenic syncope involves failure of the baroreceptor reflex to transiently increase the heart rate when an individual rises to an upright position, causing venous pooling in the lower extremities and decreased venous return to the right side of the heart.
Even if the cause of the syncope is benign, however, its consequences may not be. Falls during syncope can result in fractures, and episodes that occur while driving can be extremely dangerous. Chronic and recurring syncope can create a level of functional impairment similar to that produced by other chronic debilitating disorders.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for treatment of neurocardiogenic syncope


A firearm can have a handguard having an inner section and an outer section with the outer section having circuitry and control devices for controlling electronic devices. The electronic devices can be part of the outer section. The inner section attaches to the firearm similarly to a current art handguard. The outer section attaches to the inner section. Different functionality can be obtained through the attachment of different outer sections to the inner section. The outer section can obtain electrical power from a power supply attached to or integrated with the firearm. The outer section can alternatively receive electrical power from a power supply carried by a person in a back pack or vest.

Firearms, particularly military style carbines and rifles, are often outfitted with rail systems. Historically, Picatinny rails were attached to or formed into the upper receivers of M-16 style firearms to which sights such as scopes, red dots, and even iron sights have been mounted. Over time, more and more mounting rails have been added with current models having mounting rails on the receiver and four mounting rails on the forward hand guard. The reason is that a vast number of rail mountable firearm accessories have become available. Examples of these firearms accessories include the aforementioned sights as well as lasers, flashlights, bayonets, grenade launchers, sling swivels, cameras, bipods, vertical fore grips, and other items.
A number of the firearm accessories are electrically powered. Many solutions simply include battery compartments. For example, a flashlight accessory is basically a battery powered flashlight with rail compatible mount points. More recently, solutions are being developed for electrifying the firearms and rail systems. Hines (U.S. Pat. No. 7,627,975) and Thompson (US Patent Application 2011/0000120) teach bringing electrical power to forward mounted accessories. Darian (US Patent Applications 2010/0192446, 2010/0192448, and 2011/0131858) also teaches powering firearm accessories from a firearm rail. Such rails can be referred to as empowered mounting rails.
Current small arms use mounting rail systems for attaching accessories to the small arm. For example, M4 and M16 carbines are often fitted with a single piece handguard that incorporates up to four Picatinny rails. Picatinny rails are well known mounting rails that meet the specifications contained in MIL-STD-1913 and MIL-STD-1913 Notice 1. Another mounting rail called the Weaver rail is a notoriously well known variation of the Picatinny rail. Battaglia discloses a mounting rail system in U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,711 while Olson discloses another in U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,363.
FIG. 1, labeled as "Prior Art", illustrates an M16 type firearm 101 with mounting rails 106. The specific rifle is a flat top model having a mounting rail 106 on the upper receiver 102 as well as the four on the handguard 105. As is standard for M16 type firearms, the handguard 105 is attached to the firearm by being pushed into a front handguard cup 104 by a delta ring 103. The illustrated handguard 101 has four non-powered mounting rails 106 of which three are visible. A number of accessories have been developed to attach to small arms by way of mounting rails 106. The mounting rails have recoil grooves that help lock accessories in place and help users attach accessories in repeatable positions. Note that the term "firearm" used here and throughout this document is intended to include firearm replicas. In general, firearm replicas are toys or models that look substantially like fully functioning firearms and are designed to accommodate the same firearm accessories as those used with fully functional firearms. As such, FIG. 1 can also be a picture of a firearm replica.
FIG. 2, labeled as "Prior Art", illustrates a barrel nut 201 having a barrel nut sprocket 202. The barrel nut sprocket 202 has numerous teeth 203 that can provide a gripping surface for turning the barrel nut 201. As is well known by those familiar with modern firearms, the barrel nut attaches the barrel to the upper receiver. Many current handguards are "free floating" in that they attach to the barrel nut but do not touch the barrel.
FIG. 3, labeled as "Prior Art", illustrates a barrel nut 201 attaching a barrel 301 to a firearm receiver 102. The barrel nut 201 is tightened onto the receiver 102 by gripping the barrel nut sprocket 202 and twisting. A special tool is often used to tighten the barrel nut 201 until the barrel nut 201 and the barrel 301 are firmly attached to the receiver 102.
Many of the current art electrified rail systems use powered firearm mounting rails that conduct electrical energy from an electrical input connection to one or more rail mounted devices. Systems and methods providing alternative methods of controlling and attaching electronic and electrified devices are needed.


A PSA process for the separation of a gaseous flow containing essentially oxygen and nitrogen, such as air, by preferential adsorption of the nitrogen on at least one bed of a thickness (e) of an adsorbent material of mean granulometry (d) in at least one separation zone, in which there is selected a thickness (e) of the adsorbent bed such that: ##EQU1## e and d being expressed in mm.

Oxygen is a gas having high industrial interest because it finds multiple applications in various technical fields: production of steel, glass or paper, medicine, metal welding, combustion or pollution control, for example.
One of the techniques used at present to produce oxygen is the "PSA" (Pressure Swing Adsorption) technique. In the context of the invention, there is meant by PSA processes, not only the PSA processes as such, but also similar processes, such as VSA (Vacuum Swing Adsorption) or MPSA (Mixed Pressure Swing Adsorption) processes.
According to this PSA technique, the oxygen contained in a gaseous mixture comprising essentially oxygen and nitrogen, such as air, is separated from said gaseous mixture by adsorption of nitrogen on a material that preferentially adsorbs nitrogen, said adsorption of the nitrogen being carried out by pressure variation applied in the separation region containing said adsorbent material; the oxygen that is not adsorbed or is little adsorbed is recovered at the outlet of said separation zone.
Such PSA processes have already been described many times in the prior art. Generally speaking, a PSA process always comprises:
an adsorption step selective to nitrogen, on an adsorbent material, at an adsorbent pressure called "high pressure"; PA1 a desorption step of the nitrogen trapped by the adsorbent, at a desorption pressure lower than the adsorption pressure, called a "low pressure"; PA1 a repressurization step of the separation zone comprising the adsorbent, by passage from low pressure to high pressure; and the produced oxygen being recovered during the adsorption phase of the nitrogen. PA1 depends essentially only on the mean granulometry of the adsorbent particles used, particularly the diameter when the adsorbent is in the form of balls, PA1 takes account of the geometric constraints of the dead volumes, PA1 does not have a negative influence on the energy consumption of the PSA process. PA1 the high pressure of adsorption is comprised between 10.sup.5 Pa and 10.sup.6 Pa, PA1 the feed temperature (T.sub.feed) is comprised between 10.degree. C. and 60.degree. C., preferably between 25.degree. C. and 45.degree. C., PA1 the gas flow to be separated is air, PA1 the adsorbent material is selected from zeolites of type X or A, and, preferably, said zeolite comprises at least 50% Alo.sub.2 associated with cations selected from the group comprised by the cations calcium, lithium, zinc, copper, manganese, magnesium, nickel or any alkali or alkaline earth metal, PA1 the cycle time is less than 120 seconds, preferably less than 100 seconds, PA1 e is comprised between 0.1 m and 2 m, preferably between 0.2 m and 1.5 m, PA1 d is comprised between 0.1 mm and 5 mm, preferably between 0.2 mm and 3 mm, PA1 the adsorbent is in shapes substantially spherical, ovoidal, oval, rod shaped or the like. PA1 upstream of the adsorbent bed, that is to say on the feed side, there exists an incompressible dead volume of thickness a (VM supply in FIG. 1) representing particularly the space separating the first isolation valve for supplying the adsorbent and the beginning of the adsorbent bed, the bed of particles of a drying material located upstream of the adsorbent bed, the system of distribution of supply gas (air) in the adsorber. PA1 downstream of the adsorbent bed, which is to say on the production side, there also exists an incompressible dead volume of a thickness b (VM production in FIG. 1) representing particularly the space separating the first shut off valve for production of the adsorber at the end of the adsorbent bed, the system of production gas recover (oxygen).
From this, it is easy to understand that the efficiency of separation of the gaseous mixture depends on numerous parameters, such as the high pressure, the low pressure, the type of adsorbent material, and the affinity of the latter for the components to be separated, the composition of the gaseous mixture to be separated, the temperature of adsorption of the mixture to be separated, the size and shape of the adsorbent particles, the composition of these particles, the thickness of the adsorption bed and the temperature gradient established within said bed, for example.
Until now, no overall regulating law has however been able to be determined, because it is very difficult to relate these various parameters to each other.
In particular, although it is known that the thickness of the adsorbent bed, the granulometry of the adsorbent and the dead volumes have more than a negligible influence on the performances of the PSA unit, particularly as to the pressure drop, no method for selection of the thickness of the bed according to the granulometry of the adsorbent, taking account of the dead volumes, has been determined up to the present.
In other words, numerous papers describe the ranges of values of granulometry and the ranges of values of thickness of the bed, but without establishing the existence of any real relationship between these ranges.
Moreover, certain papers disclose combinations of granulometry and cycle time and/or bed thickness.
Thus, EP-A-0 480 797 teaches a PSA process using adsorbent particles of a diameter 0.4 mm to 1.7 mm, and a cycle time of at least 20 to 60 seconds.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,892 discloses an adsorbent bed thickness of at most 2.4 m, adsorbent particles of a diameter at most equal to 0.9 mm and a cycle time of at: least 30 seconds, whilst U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,891 describes an adsorbent bed thickness at most equal to 1 m, adsorbent particles of a diameter at most equal to 0.9 mm and a cycle time of less than 18 seconds.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,449 describes an adsorbent bed of a thickness 0.15 m to 1 m, adsorbent particles of a diameter 0.2 mm to 1 mm and a cycle time of 6 seconds to 60 seconds, and the document "Gas Separation by Adsorption Processes", Yang, 1989, p. 267, discloses an adsorbent bed thickness of 1.8 m to 3 m, adsorbent particles of a diameter equal to 1.6 mm and a cycle time of 3 minutes to 4 minutes.
It will be noted that, for a same diameter of particles, the bed thickness can vary considerably from one paper to another, without actually giving a precise choice and without taking into consideration the geometrical constraints imposed by the dead volumes within the adsorber.
Furthermore, it is known that adsorbents used in PSA units are expensive and that it is thus necessary and desirable to reduce the quantities of adsorbent used, hence the thickness of the adsorbent beds, so as to reduce the cost of production of oxygen.
However, this reduction of adsorbent bed thickness must not impinge on the performance of the PSA unit, particularly the output and the productivity of said PSA unit.

Bed granulometry and thickness of a PSA unit

L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


A motorized shade control system is described in which electrostatic charges, generated by a shade fabric being reeled on to and off of a roller are conducted to and grounded by the shaft of a remote drive motor. The drive motor is ultraquiet, and includes a worm gear drive and single-stage reduction gear assembly which delivers about 0.010 to 0.005 horsepower, with motor output shaft rotational velocity limited to no more than about 30RPM. The motor is mounted within a two-part housing and is clamped between elastomeric acoustic dampers connected between pedestals extending from opposite interior wall surfaces to opposite sides of the motor. An H-bridge drive circuit powers the motor under the control of a microprocessor which can be addressed by an infrared remote transmitter or by a wall mount control. Soft start and soft stop circuits are employed to further reduce noise.

This application relates to motorized window shades and more specifically relates to an ultraquiet motorized window shade employing a microprocessor controlled motor which is separable from the shade roller and which has electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection for the control circuit.
Motorized roller shade assemblies are well known in which a shade can be reeled onto and off of an elongated roller under the control of an electrical motor. Such shades can then be operated remotely to control the amount of light entering a room, to control the temperature and/or air flow in a room, to provide ultraviolet protection, and to provide privacy. The motor may be controlled by a microprocessor. a hand held infrared (IR) remote control, or a remote wall switch to control the direction and speed of rotation of the roller, preset stop positions, and the like. Further, controls driven by time clocks, photo sensors, occupancy sensors and the like can also be used.
One known motor driven shade structure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,266, entitled Motor-Operated Window Cover and assigned to the assignee of the present application, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. In that shade structure, the drive motor is located within an upper shade roller. The shade, which accumulates electrical charge (electrostatic charge) during its operation, is connected to earth ground through its roller support through several contact interfaces to a ground terminal to discharge the shade electrostatic charge to earth ground. Thus the microprocessor and other control elements in the control circuit will not be exposed to the high electrostatic potential which could be accumulated on the shade and could damage or destroy the circuits.
Another known prior art structure is a single motorized roller shade made by Somfy of Cluses, France. Its roller is secured to the window opening with two mounting brackets. The single roller shade is custom made with a fabric of choice. The motor is installed inside the roller tube at the factory and line or low voltage wiring connects the motor to a nearby power source. The roller shade is driven by an AC motor and does not include a microcontroller and is therefore less affected by ESD, other than the discomfort a user may experience due to electrostatic discharge when the shade is touched.
Motorized roller shades are also made, using an external motor drive which is separable from the shade roller. These have the advantage of easier shade replacement and maintenance since the roller can be easily separated from the external drive motor. A system of this kind is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,634, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application, and the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. Since the motor is removable from the roller, noise reduction techniques are more easily applied to the motor and its support structure. However, the physical removal of the motor from the roller complicates the discharge of the electrostatic charge on the shade to prevent its accidental connection to voltage-sensitive components in the motor control circuits.
The system of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,634 patent has shade fabric coupled to a single roller driven by an external motor drive unit. The motor drive unit is enclosed in a housing which supports a first end of the roller shade. The second end of the roller shade is supported by an idler bracket. The fabric is reeled or unreeled onto the roller to display a certain amount of shade fabric in front of a window or other opening. The motor drive unit is controlled by a microprocessor to allow for the setting of upper and lower limits and various preset and stop positions. The presets can be selected at a wall control to display a predetermined amount of shade fabric. The motor drive unit is connected to a low voltage transformer, usually 24VAC, which can be connected to a nearby power source. However, the motor drive unit does not have a ground terminal. Therefore, accumulated electrical charge on the shade can be accidentally connected to voltage-sensitive motor control components and damage or destroy them. Further. the drive motor can produce excessive noise, or noise of an especially annoying quality.
In the field of lighting controls, it is also known to use electrically conductive tapes to protect sensitive electrical components from ESD damage. For example, the Grafik Eye(copyright) 3000 Series of lighting controls, manufactured by the assignee of the present application, can be adversely affected if static electrical charge is not properly directed away from the sensitive control components, particularly high-impedance circuits such as the gate circuit of MOSFET transistors in the control circuits. Thus, during the manufacturing process, conductive tape is placed on the back side of the lighting control faceplate near all openings or entry points for ESD. The conductive tape is then coupled to the lighting control yoke, usually made from an aluminum alloy, which can be coupled to earth ground. This creates a low resistance path between the source of electric charge and ground. If such a controlled, low resistance path is not provided, the electrical charge may travel from the source to ground through a sensitive component causing damage to the component.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a novel arrangement for a motor controlled shade which will reduce motor noise, improve ESD protection and preferably, a combination of both of these features.
In accordance with a first feature of the invention, a novel roller shade assembly is made, which may use a remote motor drive unit; that is, one in which the roller and shade are removably mounted relative to the drive shaft of a fixed motor drive unit, wherein a novel structure is provided for connecting the roller to the motor drive unit output shaft, and thus to a remote ground. Further, the motor drive unit, which is physically removed from the interior of the roller, is now mounted and operated in a manner to greatly reduce motor noise.
More particularly, the motor drive unit, which acts as a fixed support for one end of the roller, includes a motor and worm gear drive assembly supported within the interior surface of a two-part housing by rubber or elastomeric motor drive isolation grommets. Further, the motor armature rotational velocity is operated at a predetermined operating speed of about 1600 RPM (corresponding to a roller speed of about 22 RPM), but not greater than about 2200 RPM (corresponding to a roller speed of about 30 RPM). Still further, soft start and soft stop control is exercised on the motor to prevent noise generation due to start and stop play in the motor drive system.

Motorized window shade with ultraquiet motor drive and ESD protection


A method for heat treating a gear having gear teeth includes removably mounting the gear on a work-piece holder, moving one of either a magnet assembly or the work-piece holder to bring the gear and the magnet assembly into heating proximity, rotating the magnet assembly for a desired amount of time while said magnet assembly and gear are in heating proximity to each other to heat treat surfaces of the gear teeth, moving one of either the magnet assembly or the work-piece holder relative to the other to bring different surfaces of the gear into heating proximity with said magnet assembly, and repeating for each opposed pair of gear teeth surfaces until all said gear teeth surfaces are heat treated.

This application is related to magnetic induction heating of gear teeth and components, and in particular to an apparatus and method for moving magnets relative to gear teeth to effectuate magnetic inductive heating.
Case hardening of a work-piece through heat treatment has been a common practice in the bearing and gear industry for many years. Various means and methods have been known and utilized to various degrees over the years.
Induction heating is well known and utilized throughout the industry for its effectiveness and environmental friendliness. As an electrically conductive work-piece is brought into a varying magnetic field, eddy currents are generated. These eddy currents result in an Ohm loss that is manifested as heat generation. Traditionally, the varying magnetic field is generated by a copper tooling coil which is energized with an alternating electric current, the frequency of which is regulated by power electronic switches such as IGBTs and MOSFETs. The tooling coil in most cases is placed stationary relative to the work-piece, and the work-piece is moved relative to the coil. Heat generation and the heated volume in the work-piece are determined by (1) magnetic flux density, (2) electric conductivity of the work-piece, and (3) the frequency of magnetic field variation. To increase heat generation, electric voltage and frequency of the tooling coil has to be increased. This results in a noticeable power loss within the tooling coil and power electronic switches. In addition, the tooling coil is not very flexible and the system cost is relatively high.

Inductive heating for hardening of gear teeth and components alike


A magnetic material of a magnetoresistive element is formed on a lower electrode. An upper electrode is formed on the magnetic material. A resist for nano-imprint lithography is formed on the upper electrode. A first pattern or a second pattern is formed in the resist by setting a first template or a second template into contact with the resist and curing the resist. The first template has the first pattern that corresponds to the magnetoresistive element and the lower electrode. The second template has the second pattern that corresponds to the magnetoresistive element and the upper electrode. The magnetic material and the lower electrode are patterned at the same time by using the resist having the first pattern, or the magnetic material and the upper electrode are patterned at the same time by using the resist having the second pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a magnetic random access memory, by using nano-imprint lithography, and also to a method of manufacturing an embedded memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic tunnel-junction (MTJ) elements used in any magnetic random access memory (MRAM) comprise upper and lower magnetic material, and a tunnel insulating film formed between the upper and lower magnetic material. The flatness of the films greatly influences the characteristic of the MTJ element. The flatness of the MTJ element on a lower electrode must therefore be increased in order to enhance the characteristic. Further, no MTJ element can be formed immediately above a contact connected to a transistor. The alignment margin of between the MTJ element and the lower electrode can be selected. The alignment margin of between the MTJ element and the lower electrode pattern influences the memory-cell size.
A nonvolatile RAM, such as MRAM, is embedded together with logic circuits in many cases, because of its characteristic. Therefore, the memory section must be embedded between the logic-circuit layers developed. However, the wirings of the memory section and the logic section must be formed different in height, in the same plane. Consequently, the wirings of the memory section are not aligned with those of the logic section.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2007-207778 is cited herein as a prior-art document that pertains to the present invention.

Method of manufacturing a magnetic random access memory, method of manufacturing an embedded memory, and template


A fastening device B comprises a support member secured to one body to be fastened, a base member secured to the other body to be fastened, an operating lever having a U-shaped configuration in section and a basal end of which is turnably connected to the base member through a first shaft, an arm one end part of which is turnably connected to the support member through a second shaft and the other end part of which is turnably connected to the basal end part of the operating lever through a third shaft, and a lock mechanism for locking the operating lever at an overlap position with respect to the base member. The lock mechanism includes a lock claw disposed at the base member, a lock pin laid between opposite side walls of the operating lever, and a pin biasing member received in the operating lever for biasing the lock pin toward the lock claw.

A fastening device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. S61-20873 comprises a support metal piece secured to one body to be fastened, a base metal piece secured to the other body to be fastened, and an operating lever having a U-shaped configuration in section. A basal end part of the operating lever is turnably connected to the base metal piece through a first shaft. The fastening device further comprises an arm, one end part of which is removably and turnably connected to the support metal piece through a second shaft and the other end part of which is turnably connected to the basal end part of the operating lever through a third shaft. The arm is comprised of an assembly which includes two elongate arm elements each provided at one end thereof with a engaging part, and a compression coiled spring. The second and third shafts are biased toward each other by the compression coiled spring.
In the above fastening device, a dead point where the third shaft is aligned with the first and second shafts is located at an intermediate of the turning range of the operating lever. The operating lever is turned beyond the position where the third shaft is located at the dead point and overlapped with the base metal piece. In that condition, the two bodies are fastened. The overlap position where the operating lever is overlapped with the base metal piece is kept by a lock mechanism.
The lock mechanism will now be described. A cutout is formed at one side wall of the operating lever, and one part of the peripheral edge of this cutout is provided as a lock claw. Two support elements are cut and raised on the base metal piece, and a lock pin is laid between the two support elements. One end part of the lock pin is inserted in a support hole of one support element with play such that the lock pin is turnably supported by the support element. The other end part of the lock pin is passed through a long hole of the other support element and provided as a handle part.
A hook pin is secured to the base metal piece at the area on the opposite side of the third shaft when viewed from the lock pin. A tension coiled spring (pin biasing member) is hooked over between this lock pin and the hook pin. In the state that the operating lever is overlapped with the base metal piece as mentioned above, the lock pin is biased by the tension coiled spring and is kept engaged with the lock claw of the operating lever. When the handle part of the lock pin is moved along the long hole of the support element against the tension coiled spring, the lock pin is disengaged from the lock claw and brought to the engagement released position. With the lock pin kept in the engagement released position, the operating lever is turned in such a manner as to be moved away from the base metal piece and the operating lever is further turned until the third shaft is moved beyond the dead point. By doing so, the two bodies are released from the fastened condition.
However, in the device disclosed in the above-mentioned Laid-Open Publication, when the operating lever is located away from the base metal piece, the tension coiled spring installed on the base metal piece is exposed. Therefore, there is such a risk that the tension coiled spring is accidentally contacted with the operator's hand and broken or disengaged from the lock pin. Moreover, since it is necessary to keep the lock pin in the engagement released position with one hand and to turn the operating lever with the other hand simultaneously at the time of unfastening operation, operability is bad.