The present invention provides a drilling apparatus and a method thereof capable of providing an adjustable active backup force to a composite workpiece to effectively reduce the delamination of the workpiece during drilling such that the application of the active backup force in terms of its force magnitude and its application location on the workpiece can adjustably counter the drill thrust force to retard the onset of delamination growth and reduce delamination damage at the drill exit in the workpiece, in particular in situation where large feed rate with short cycle time is desired for drilling of composite materials. A critical drill thrust force of the drilling apparatus and the method of the present invention is advantageously obtained in relation to said active backup force and the application of the active backup force to reduce the crack propagation of the delamination occurred in the composite workpiece.

Composite materials in structural parts have been widely used in various fields and applications replacing materials such as metal alloys due to their superior properties of high strength-to-weight ratio, high fracture toughness and excellent corrosion resistance. Recently the amounts of composite laminates used in aerospace industry have increased dramatically, for example, the use of composite materials for the construction of airline jets such as Boeing 787 Dream-liner and Airbus A350 increases significantly and are over 50% of the whole vehicle weight, respectively. For design and safety purposes, it is crucial to maintain structural stability and rigidity during the manufacturing of the device including transportation vehicles and airplanes. Drilling of construction materials is also one of the major parts of the whole production/assembly processes. A market demand in the aerospace industry, as an example, shows that there is approximately a demand for around 50 million holes per year to be drilled utilizing automatic manufacturing process. This automation, however, should ensure the drilling quality of composite-based components while minimizing manufacturing cost and optimizing resources.
Amongst all hole-making operations for joining purpose, mechanical drilling with a drill bit is conveniently and economically adopted for producing riveted and bolted joints during assembly operations. However, the defects and damages, such as delamination, burr, microcracking, swelling, splintering and fiber pullout, are commonly visible after drilling. The delamination at the entrance and exit planes of workpiece appears to be the most critical defect, which results in lowering the bearing strength and requires additional manufacturing operation to repair for increasing its service life under fatigue loads.
Past studies, including the ones by inventors Hocheng and Tsao, shown that the thrust force is a major factor responsible for drilling-induced delamination and it mainly depends on drill materials, drill geometry and feed rate. Linear elastic fracture mechanics are employed to construct the analytical model of the drilling-induced delamination. The model correlates the delamination of composite laminates with drilling thrust force and composite material properties. One solution is to reduce the thrust force and such reducing thrust force at the drill exit in the workpiece may be adopted to avoid delamination. Hocheng and Tsao also summarized various analytical models for special drills, such as candle stick drill, saw drill, core drill and step drill, and summarize the critical thrust force models of special drill bits for delamination-free drilling of composite laminates as well as the ones of several non-traditional machining processes for composite laminates. Hocheng and Tsao realize that making the thrust force low or distributed outward from the drill center can reduce the delamination. However, such reduction of thrust force is not optimal considering the low speed of the manufacturing as a whole and the costs to the production line to accommodate such low speed drilling process during manufacturing of design parts utilizing composite materials.
Apart from the abovementioned efforts made to reduce the thrust force from drill bits, there is another solution to reduce the delamination in drilling of composite materials and that is the use of a supporting plate (consumed plate) during the drilling composite materials. Such method or practice is common in some manufacturing industries and is known as the "passive" backup utilizing a consumed plated to support the back of composite workpiece to prevent deformation leading to exit delamination. Nevertheless, such use of passive backup to support composite workpiece in drilling as a backup is not optimal, again in terms of the costs, speed and maintenance of the manufacturing process as a whole. The use of backup or consumed plate as it is always consumed and then wasted or scraped, the cost of the production is inevitably increased, especially for workpiece of large design parts. Also, operation efforts must be made during drilling process to continuously monitoring and adjusting positions of the passive backup or consumed plate such that proper backups can be provided for the composite workpiece in drilling to avoid unsupported areas of perforations or consumed areas being repeatedly utilized, which too inevitably increases the costs, speed and operation steps of the manufacturing process.
In view of the above and with regard to the drilling of composite material in the field, it is therefore optimal to provide a solution capable of reducing delamination of the drilled composite material in a layered form. In other words, there is a need for a drilling apparatus and/or providing an effective method capable of overcoming the drawbacks of the known arts to reduce delamination or propagation of cracks of composite material during drilling or after drilling thereon, such that the drilling speed of the workpiece of a composite material in a layered form may be increased with reduced or controlled delamination including propagation of cracks thereon and such that the drilling production rate and costs can be reduced significantly.

Apparatus and method for delamination reduction of composite materials


A phospholipid derivative represented by the following formula (I) wherein R1CO and R2CO independently represent an acyl group; R3 represents hydrogen atom, or a hydrocarbon group; symbol “a” represents an integer of 0 to 4; symbol “b” represents 0 or 1, provided that when a is 0, b is 0; X represents hydrogen atom, an alkali metal atom, an ammonium, or an organic ammonium; A1O and A3O represent an oxyalkylene group containing oxyethylene group, wherein the ratio of the oxyethylene group to the oxyalkylene group in A1O and A3O is 0.5 or larger in terms of a weight ratio; A2O represents an oxyalkylene group; symbols “m” and “q” represent an average molar number of added oxyalkylene groups; and symbol “n” represent an average molar number of added oxyalkylene groups; provided that m, n and q satisfy the following conditions: 5≦m≦600, 1≦n≦45, 0≦q≦200, 10≦m+n+q≦600, 0.04≦n/(m+n+q), and q/(m+n+q)≦0.8, which can thicken the water shell of liposome surface by suppressing the spreading of the polyalkylene oxide structure on the surface and thus increase stability of the liposome

Microparticle drug carriers including liposomal formulations as typical examples and polypeptides such as protein drug are known to have poor retention in blood and be easily captured by the reticuloendothelial system (hereinafter abbreviated as "RES") such as liver and spleen when they are intravenously administered. The presence of RES is a serious obstacle when a microparticle drug carrier is utilized as a targeting type preparation, which delivers a medicament to organs other than RES, and as a sustained-release preparation, which allows a medicament retained in blood for a long period of time to control the release of the medicament.
Researches have so far been conducted to impart a microcirculation property to the aforementioned preparations. Some proposals have been made, including, for example, a method of maintaining a high blood concentration by reducing a size of liposomes in view of relative easiness of a control of physicochemical properties of lipid bilayers of liposomes (Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, Vol. 761, p. 142, 1983), a method of utilizing lecithin having a high phase transfer temperature (Biochemical Pharmacology, Vol. 32, p. 3381, 1983), a method of utilizing sphingomyelin instead of lecithin (Biochemical Pharmacology, Vol. 32, p. 3381, 1983), a method of adding cholesterol as a membrane component of liposomes (Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, Vol. 761, p. 142, 1983) and the like. However, no work based on these methods has been known so far that successfully provides a microparticle drug carrier having favorable retention in blood and being hardly taken up by RES.
As another approach for solution, researches have been made for providing a microcirculation property and escapability from RES by modification of membrane surfaces of liposomes with a glycolipid, glycoprotein, amino acid-lipid, polyethylene glycol-lipid or the like. Substances for the modification so far reported include, for example, glycophorin (The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan, the 106th Annual Meeting, Summaries of Symposia, p. 336, 1986), ganglioside GM1 (FEBS Letters, Vol. 223, p. 42, 1987), phosphatidylinositol (FEBS Letters, Vol. 223, p. 42, 1987), glycophorin and ganglioside GM3 (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Kokai) No. 63-221837), polyethylene glycol derivative (FEBS Letters, Vol. 268, p. 235, 1990), glucuronic acid derivative (Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, Vol. 38, p. 1633, 1990), glutamic acid derivative (Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, Vol. 1108, p. 257, 1992), polyglycerin phospholipid derivative (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 6-228012), and the like.
As for modification of liposome surfaces with a polyethylene glycol-lipid, for example, it has been reported that water shell and stability in blood thereof are correlated, and if the water shell is thickened, the stability in blood is increased (Pharm. Tech. Japan, Vol. 12, No. 7, p. 925, 1996). For the purpose of thickening the water shell, an increased amount of added polyethylene glycol-lipid and an increased molecular weight of polyethylene glycol chain are examined. It is considered that, if the amount to be added or the molecular weight is increased as mentioned above, the horizontal three-dimensional spreading of the structure of the polyethylene glycol chain on the surface of a liposome can be suppressed, i.e., changing from a pancake structure to a mushroom structure or further to a brush structure, thereby the structure spreads in the vertical direction to thicken the water shell (Langmuir, Vol. 11, p. 3975). However, it has been reported that if the added amount is increased to become excess, the packing of liposome lipid membrane will be weaker, and the stability of the liposome is degraded (Biophysical Journal, Vol. 74, p. 1371, 1998). Moreover, if the molecular weight of the polyethylene glycol chain is increased, the coagulation point and viscosity become high, and difficulties in handling at an ordinary temperature arise at practical use, for example, inevitable dissolution step of the product.


A developing device using one component developer for developing an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductive drum. The one component developer includes particles of parents of toner, resin beads and silica. The silica adhere to a surface of each resin bead. The resin beads and the silica further adhere to a surface of the parents of toner. A volume average diameter of the resin beads is more than that of the silica and is less than that of the parents of toner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine or a similar electrophotographic image forming apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a developing device which uses one component developer utilized in such image forming apparatuses.
2. Discussion of the Background
A developing device which uses one component developer is favorable for miniaturization and to decrease cost. In order to avoid deformation of a developing roller, wearing of a surface of a developing roller and forming a ghost and to reduce torque, a non-contacting type developing device in which toner on a surface of a developing roller jumps across a distance between a surface of a developing roller and a surface of a photoconductive drum is favorable.
In a background one component and non-contacting type developing device, if a cohesive force of toner is high, an adhesive force between the toner and a surface of a developing roller and between toner particles is high. As a result, it is difficult to transfer toner from the surface of the developing roller to a surface of a photoconductive drum, and therefore image density becomes low and gradations of an intermediate density of the image become poor.
In order to improve liquidity of toner, Japanese-Publication No. 63-42787 discloses a one component developing device in which additives such as silica are added to the toner. Silicon carbide or titanium oxide are also usable as additives.
Further, in a background one component developing device, it is difficult to carry enough toner on a developing roller, and therefore image density becomes poor.
In order to solve such problems, Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 4-127177 discloses a developing device in which small size electric conductive portions which are grounded and dielectric portions are provided on a surface of a developing roller. Toner and the dielectric portions are triboelectrically charged at a contact portion between a developing roller and a toner supply roller which moves relative to the developing roller. A large number of minute electric fields are formed on a surface of the developing roller by charging the dielectric portions, and therefore charged toner is adhered to the surface of the developing roller for carrying the developer, and a few toner layers are formed on the developing roller.
The present inventors have conducted experiments on a developing roller which was the same as the developing roller of the Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 4-127177 and on developer which was the same as the developer of the Japanese Publication No. 63-42787. As a result of the experiments, the present inventors determined that a density of the toner became poor after a large number of image operations were executed. The cause of the problem is that since additives which increase the liquidity of the developer are harder than parents of toner (i.e., base toner particles) such as styrene-acrylic resin and polyester resin, the additives are buried in the parents of toner while the developer is mixed by an agitator in a developer container, and therefore toner which is not developed increases. Further, an adhesive force between the toner and a developing roller increases since the parents of toner are held in direct contact with the developing roller, and as a result the toner adheres to the developing roller. Especially, since the developing roller of the Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 4-127177 has a strong adhesive force to toner, it is difficult to transfer toner to a photoconductive drum.
Japanese Publication No. 2-60179 discloses a developer in which resin particles having an average diameter from 0.1 .mu.m to 2 .mu.m are added to the developer from 0.01 to 10 weight-% to increase an ability of triboelectric charge of the toner. The ability of the triboelectric charge of the toner becomes poor if grinding particles such as silica are added to the developer to avoid toner filming from occurring on a surface of a photoconductive drum. According to the experiments by the present inventors, it was difficult to obtain enough liquidity and enough developing efficiency even if developer which includes resin particles was used in the one component and non-contact type developing device.

Developing device using one component developer


A tubular channel is disposed in a path of air that flows from an inlet to a dirty side. The cross sectional area of the tubular channel is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the inlet. A dust outlet is disposed in a wall in a path of the air that flows out of the exit of the tubular channels to the dirty side. The dust outlet extends through the wall of the air cleaner from the inside to the outside. As the air blasts out of the dust outlet, dust in the air cleaner is discharged to the outside.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air cleaner and an engine including the air cleaner.
2. Description of the Related Art
An air cleaner, which is a component for filtering and clarifying air that is supplied to an engine, is disposed in a path along which the air is supplied. Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 06-40350 discloses an air cleaner having a baffle near an inlet for reducing the amount of dust (particles, water droplets, and the like) that reaches an element (filter). Japanese Examined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 01-15886 discloses an air cleaner having protrusions around an inlet for preventing unwanted objects from entering through the inlet.
In general, air cleaners including the above-mentioned examples of the existing art, are designed on the basis of an airtight structure in which air that is drawn in through the inlet does not leak to the outside on the way to the element in the air cleaner. With such a design, all intaken air reaches the element and a lot of dust is deposited on the element. As a result, the element has to be cleaned or replaced frequently.

Air cleaner and engine including the same


An organic electroluminescent device comprising: a pair of electrodes; and at least one organic layer between the pair of electrodes, the at least one organic layer between the pair of electrodes, the at least one organic layer including a luminescent layer, wherein the luminescent layer contains at least one electron injection/transport compound, at least one hole injection/transport compound, and at least one green or blue phosphorescent compound; and the electron injection/transport compound and the hole injection/transport compound each has a minimum triplet exciton energy value which is equal to or more than that of the green or blue phosphorescent compound.

In recent years, active research and development regarding organic electroluminescent devices (the organic electroluminescent device being sometimes referred to as "luminescent device", "organic EL device", or "EL device" in the invention) are carried out because light emission with a high luminance is obtained at low-voltage driving. In general, the organic EL device is constituted of counter electrodes having a luminescent layer or a plurality of organic layers containing a luminescent layer put therebetween. The organic EL device utilizes light emission from excitons formed by recombination of electrons injected from a cathode and holes injected from an anode in a luminescent layer, or utilizes light emission from excitons of other molecule formed by energy transfer from the foregoing excitons.
In an organic luminescent device comprising an anode, a cathode and an organic compound film, there is reported an organic luminescent device in which the organic compound film includes a hole transport region comprising a hole transport material and an electron transport region comprising an electron transport layer, a mixed region containing both the hole transport material and the electron transport material is provided between the hole transport region and the electron transport region, and a material capable of causing red light emission from the triplet excitation state is added in the mixed region (see, for example, JP-A-2002-305085). However, any means for improving efficiency and durability of blue and green EL devices is not disclosed at all.


A method and system for compensating for scanner facet height error in a laser imaging application including a rotating polygon for directing a laser beam across a dimension of a photographic element. The present invention compensates for facet height error by measuring a scan interval for each facet of the rotating polygon and modifies the pixel clock for a subset of pixels of each scan line as a function of variations in scan intervals for the respective facets of the rotating polygon.. Several advantages of the present invention have been illustrated including the low cost of such a compensation system and technique. Furthermore, the present invention is not limited in accuracy by the pixel clock as are conventional techniques. Furthermore, the modified pixels are evenly distributed over the entire length of the facet's corresponding scan line.

In the field of medical imaging, diagnostic information from medical equipment is often output for viewing on a photographic element. Typically, the diagnostic information is recorded on the photographic element by exposing the element to radiation emitted by a radiation source such as a semiconductor laser diode. Other fields, such as graphic arts, also use photographic elements that are sensitized to imaging by a laser source. Typical laser sources include argon ion lasers, helium neon lasers as well as semiconductor laser diodes.
In laser imaging applications, the photographic element is exposed along one dimension by a laser beam that is modulated according to image data. The image data is a sequence of digital image values. Image processing electronics with the imaging system process the image data values to generate a sequence of digital laser drive values which control the intensity of the laser beam.
The modulated laser beam is incident upon a rotating, multi-faceted polygon which reflects the modulated laser beam across the photographic element in a raster pattern, thereby forming a plurality of scan lines of individual spots, known as pixels. The laser beam is modulated with the data at a fixed rate defined by a pixel clock. Typically, the polygon is mounted on an axis substantially orthogonal to the modulated laser beam and is spun by a motor. A complete image is formed on the photographic element by incrementally scanning the entire photographic element.
In order to achieve desirable image quality, such as image sharpness, the length of adjacent scan lines must be substantially equal. In high resolution imaging applications, such as medical imaging, the scan line length must remain constant to within a fraction of a pixel. Errors in scan line length may be caused by mechanical irregularities between individual polygon facets such as variations in "facet height", which is defined as the radial difference of each reflective surface from the rotational axis of the polygon. In order to minimize errors caused by variations in facet height, conventional polygon motor assemblies were constructed within tight mechanical tolerances. For this reason, conventional scanning assemblies are expensive to manufacture.
Other techniques have been developed for correcting facet height errors. For example, one technique generates the pixel clock via a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) and adjusts the frequency of the VCO for each facet of the polygon in order to maintain a constant scan line length. The facet height error is calculated by measuring a time interval starting when the laser has been modulated with all of the image data and ending when an end-of-scan is received. By adjusting a reference voltage for the VCO, the frequency output of the VCO is controlled such that the proper number of pixels are formed between the start-of-scan signal and end-of-scan signal for each scan line. This technique, however, requires expensive circuitry. Furthermore, because the pixel clock itself is typically used to measure the facet height error, the accuracy of this technique is plus or minus one pixel clock per scan line which may be inadequate for high resolution imaging applications.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a scanning assembly that does not require such restrictive manufacturing techniques, is more tolerant to mechanical variations and compensates for facet height error with a high degree of accuracy.

Scanner facet height error compensation having selective pixel modification


Various apparatus and systems, as well as methods and articles, may include the use of several compositions, such as solder formulations, including about 78%-83% by weight of lead, about 9%-11% by weight of antimony, about 1%-3% by weight of silver, and a balance of tin. Some embodiments include a process of removing a previously-existing lead finish, and applying a new finish to the lead to improve solder operation compatibility, as well as solder joint reliability in high temperature environments.

Electrically conductive materials, such as coatings, solders, and component leads may be used to couple electronic circuits and components to each other, with or without intervening elements, such as circuit board traces, wires, etc. In some environments, solder formulation, and the processes used to apply it, may become quite important. For example, mechanical and/or electrical performance may be affected, and regulations can prevent the use of certain component materials.
Specific challenges may arise in the areas of lead-based solder use and the application of compatible component lead finishes, especially at elevated temperatures. Thus, there is a significant need in the art to provide improved compositions, apparatus, systems, and methods for use in high-temperature environments, and/or for use in those locations where lead as a solder component is prohibited.

Conductive material compositions, apparatus, systems, and methods


A driver circuit for transmitting serial data on a communication link combines voltage-mode and current-mode drivers. The driver circuit uses a voltage-mode driver as the main output driver. One or more auxiliary current-mode drivers are connected in parallel with the voltage-mode driver to adjust the output signal by injecting currents into the outputs. The voltage-mode driver supplies most of the output drive. Thus, the output driver circuit can provide the power efficiency benefits associated with voltage-mode drivers. The current-mode drivers can provide, for example, pre-emphasis, level adjustment, skew compensation, and other modifications of the output signals. Thus, the driver circuit can also provide the signal adjustment abilities associated with current-mode drivers.

1. Field
The present invention relates to electronic circuits and, more particularly, to electronic circuits for driving serial data signals on a communication link.
2. Background
The use of high-speed serial communication links in electronic systems has continued to grow. High-speed serial communication links can operate according to various standards such as Universal Serial Bus (USB), High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), and Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) interfaces. A serializer/deserializer (SERDES) is used to transmit and receive from a serial communication link.
The output driver for a serial communication link typically produces a pair of differential signals that switch at high speed (e.g., 3 GHz). The output drivers may be voltage-mode drivers or current-mode drivers. Voltage-mode drivers may operate at lower power than current-mode drivers. However, providing skew correction, amplitude adjustment, pre-emphasis, and other adjustments of the output signals may be difficult in a voltage-mode driver. Additionally, achieving a large output voltage swing may be increasingly difficult as the supply voltages are reduced in advanced process technology nodes.

Serdes voltage-mode driver with skew correction


According to a dot head of the invention, an armature structure for moving a printing needle forward and backward has the efficiency that the magnetic characteristics is excellent and mechanical intensity is high. The armature structure is manufactured in a manner that an arm member, which is formed by subjecting a plate-shaped material excellent in abrasion resistance performance and having a high intensity to a plating processing using born etc., is sandwiched at a portion thereof from both sides in a stacked manner by two armature members each of which is formed by subjecting a plate-shaped material excellent in magnetic characteristics to a plating processing using born etc. A pin formed by subjecting a piano wire to a plating processing using boron etc. is inserted with a small pressure into common through holes of the two armature members and the arm member thus stacked thereby to provisionally assemble them. A pair of electrodes are made in contact to the portions including the slightly-pressed-in pin near the pin of the provisionally assembled two armature members and the arm member, and a current is supplied to the electrodes in a state that the portions are sandwiched by the electrodes thereby to melt and harden the plated portions using boron etc. to integrate the two armature members and the arm member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dot head for driving the needle of a wire dot printer and a method of manufacturing the armature structure for the dot head.
2. Description of the Related Art
The wire dot printer is arranged to move a printing wire (hereinafter, simply referred to as a wire) called a needle forward and backward to strike the tip end of the wire against a print medium thereby to print a dot-shaped image thereon. Since the wire dot printer employs such the printing method, the wire dot printer can simultaneously print plural slips etc. in a stacked state and so is employed for business use. Although there are various kinds of methods as the printing method of moving the wire (needle) forward and backward, the method called a clapper type is generally employed. The clapper type has been employed widely since the structure thereof is simple and a relatively large stroke can be secured. Such the kind of the printing method is proposed by JP-A-2005-75000, for example.
The dot head of such the clapper type includes an armature for driving a wire backward and forward. The armature is pivotally supported at a portion near the one end thereof so as to be rotatable. The armature is provided with an absorbed portion opposing to a core, at the intermediate portion between the pivotally supported portion and the free end of the armature. An arm is extended from the free end of the armature so as to be integrated with the armature. A needle for printing is provided at the tip end of the arm. The needle is attached to the arm in a manner that the axial direction of the needle crosses with the longitudinal direction of the arm at the tip end of the arm. The armature and the arm integrally provided with the armature rotate in the operation direction around the pivotally supported portion when the absorbed portion is absorbed by the magnetic force generated by the core. When the armature and the arm integrally provided with the armature rotate in the operation direction in this manner, the needle provided at the tip end of the arm move forward. In contrast, when the magnetic force having been generated by the core disappears, the armature and the arm integrally provided with the armature rotate in the restoring direction by a spring force etc. and so the needle move backward.
The dot head is arranged in a manner that a plurality of the armatures each thus configured are disposed radially around a print portion.
As described above, the armature integrally provided with the arm moves the needle forward and backward at a high speed for many times in response to the magnetic field. In order to attain such the function, the armature is required to be formed by material with a high magnetic permeability and excellent durability. Conventionally, pure iron is widely used as the material of the armature. Since the pure iron is relatively soft, the pure iron is subjected to the carburization processing thereby to increase the strength thereof. However, it is very troublesome to subject the pure iron to the carburization processing, and the pure iron having been subjected to the carburization processing leaves much to be improved in efficiency such as a magnetic permeability and durability.

Dot head and method of manufacturing armature structure for dot head


A display unit for a vehicle includes a display device having first and second areas on a display screen and a controller. The controller controls the display device to display first vehicle related data at the first area, or to scroll the displayed first vehicle related data from the first area to the second area according to a scrolling signal. The controller controls the display device to display second vehicle related data at the first area after the displayed first vehicle related data is scrolled out of the first area.

One of conventional display units for a vehicle is disclosed in a Japanese patent application JP-A, sho62-58112, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B. An instrument panel 120 having the display unit in front of a driver's seat, a steering wheel 121, and a display screen 123 attached to the instrument panel 120 are shown in FIG. 12A. The display screen 123 includes a fixed image area 123 displaying specific data and a selective multiple image area 124 displaying one of a plurality of images, such as three images, selected by a switch. These images are, for example, a tachometer-centered image, an image displaying all items, a safety monitor image, and the like.
A screen 124a displaying the tachometer-centered image is shown in FIG. 12B. A tachometer 125 and a torque split meter 126 indicating a state of torque distribution between front and rear wheels of a four-wheel-drive car are arranged in the screen 124a. A turbocharger boost pressure meter 127, a water-temperature meter 128, and a fuel meter 129 are also arranged on the screen 124a at a lower part thereof.
As shown in FIGS. 13A, 13b, an image area 141 displaying the torque split meter 126 is also used for displaying warning indicators for indicating contents of a trouble that occurred.
That is, as shown in FIG. 13A, a warning indicator 142 indicating, for example, a shortage of brake fluid is also displayed on the image area 141 of the screen 124a instead of the torque split meter 126.
Further, as shown in FIG. 13B, after a specific period from the trouble, the torque split meter 126 and a shrieked warning indicator 142′ are displayed in the image area 141.
Another conventional display unit for a vehicle is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application JP-A, hei 11-248490.
A display unit for a vehicle shown in FIG. 14 is used in a combination meter for a vehicle. A bezel 216 and a front pane 217 are mounted in front of a meter case 201.
An LCD panel 202 is mounted inside the meter case 201. A controller 203 is mounted at a rear of the LCD panel 202. A transparent EL panel 204 is mounted in front of the LCD panel 202.
FIG. 15A shows an example image of analog meters of the combination meter. The LCD panel 202 displays a dial plate design 210 as a background image of a speedometer 205, a tachometer 206, a fuel meter 207, a water-temperature meter 208 and the like. The LCD panel 202 also displays a shift lever position indicator 211 at a center thereof. FIG. 15B shows a car navigation screen 212 and warnings 213 at a left half of a screen shown in FIG. 15A.
The transparent EL panel 204 is typically used as a flat panel display. The EL panel 204 is normally transparent, and displays optional character pattern with optional color at an optional area by the controller 203. In this case, the EL panel 204 displays a pointer 215. Namely, the LCD panel 202 displays the background image and the EL panel 204 disposed in front of the LCD panel 202 displays the pointer 215. Thus, a stereoscopic analog meter image like a conventional analog meter is attained.
The conventional display unit as shown in FIGS. 12, 13A, 13B, displays various images, however, they have planar, even, and featureless images.
On the other hand, another conventional display unit shown in FIGS. 14, 15A, 15B, displays a stereoscopic image, however, since an expensive EL panel 204 is employed for displaying a pointer 215, a cost of the display unit increases.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a display unit displaying stereoscopic and distinctive images at a low cost.


A mine prop has a post or column formed by two telescopingly interfitted tubes, one of which has a bottleneck configuration over which the other is spread to provide a resistance to telescoping contraction. At the upper end, a nut is rotatable on the post and can advance the threaded spindle engaged therein to brace the prop between the roof and ceiling of a subterranean structure.

Mine props which can withstand substantial bearing forces are widely used in mining operations and can be braced between the floor and a ceiling structure to be supported by a screwthread manipulation to extend the mine prop. Such props are employed in a gallery, for example, to support a roof cap at a long wall face to be mined in the gallery between the long wall region and the structure behind the mined wall and in drifts or tunnels generally.
By rotation of a threaded spindle, for example, relative to a nut on a post, the prop can be braced between floor and ceiling to withstand the ceiling loads.
Such a prop will act as a rigid post until a predetermined supporting force is overcome. To prevent overloading of the post when the maximum sustainable force is exceeded, the parts of the prop can telescope relative to one another while resisting the movement of the ceiling toward the floor. The prop thus has a certain length over which it can contract controlledly while providing its maximum resistance at the level of the aforementioned maximum force.
Known coal props which can be braced between the floor and roof of the mine gallery are described in the Dywidag brochure published by Dywidag Systems International of Lamont, Ill., and entitled "Dywidag Coal Post, the Yieldable Roof Support System."
In this arrangement, the post is a one-piece tube which receives the spindle nut having a conical conformation.
To brace the prop between the floor and roof, the threaded spindle is rotated. This can be a time-consuming difficult procedure which may not be carried out conveniently. When the maximum load is exceeded, the conical spindle nut is driven into the tube to spread the latter and the resistance to the axial displacement of the nut into the deformable tube defines the load which is sustained during the telescoping collapse of the prop.
Experience has shown that this system does not provide a precisely defined contraction force or resistance to the load which is inducing the collapse of the prop. Furthermore, since the maximum length to which the prop can collapse while providing the aforementioned resistance to such collapse is defined by the length of the spindle, the system requires a very long spindle which can be an expensive part of the device.
Finally, since increasing spindle length means an increased tendency to buckling of the prop along the spindle, the prop has questionable reliability at least when the spindle is fully extended.
Another type of post or prop described as a telescoping support column is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,134. In this system, the post comprises two telescopingly interfitted tubular elements between which a conical member is provided and which generates the resistance to collapse and hence the collapsing force as one tube telescopes into the other when the maximum load on the prop is exceeded. At the top of the upper tube, a spindle is provided which can be rotated to brace the prop against the roof and floor. The spindle may be provided with a cap or a plate which can be attached to a wooden beam or the like.
This system is also not free from the danger of collapse, has the same difficulties with respect to bracing the prop and does not fully resolve all the problems encountered with the earlier prop.

Bochumer Eisenhutte Heintzmann GmbH & Co. KG


Mounting device for a headrest with two headrest rods for a vehicle seat, which includes a first guide sleeve for the height-adjustable accommodation of a first headrest rod, a second guide sleeve for the height-adjustable accommodation of a second headrest rod, and a first receptacle device secured in the backrest, in which the first guide sleeve is held and rests at at least two axially spaced bearing points. A second receptacle device is secured in the backrest, within which the second guide sleeve can be shifted at least in the transverse direction. The second guide sleeve rests in the second receptacle device, which is secured in the backrest. Advantageously, the second guide sleeve is pivotably held in the second receptacle device, which is secured in the backrest, and the second headrest rod is pivotably held in the second guide sleeve.

To allow the support and height-adjustable mounting of headrests, welded pieces of pipe or openings are customarily mounted in the upper regions of backrests, and are in turn used to affix guide sleeves for height-adjustably receiving the headrest rods of the headrest frame.
The guide sleeves must maintain the adjusted height position of the headrest, must also absorb torque and axial forces in the event of a crash; in addition, auxiliary components, such as controls that will allow removal of the headrest or adjustment of its position, must be accommodated to some extent. In this connection, the adjustment functions should glide easily, and the mounting forces should be low; furthermore, all of the adjustable positions for the headrest should be implemented without rattling during driving.
In practice, these requirements are frequently difficult or impossible to fulfill. To allow low adjustment forces, guide sleeves are frequently configured with a degree of play relative to the headrest rods, or high adjustment forces are established and grease is used to some extent on the guide rods.
For the components, strict requirements with regard to dimensional consistency and precision of positioning result, which in turn leads to high manufacturing and assembly costs. In particular, headrest frames having a very precise degree of parallelism and a precise track width result in high manufacturing costs.
One mounting device of the above-mentioned type is known from WO 2004/062963 A1. The headrest frame is height-adjustably received by its two headrest rods (or legs) in a first and a second guide sleeve. The first guide sleeve is secured and held within the receptacle device, which is secured in the backrest, and for which purpose, for example, a catch on the guide sleeve can latch into the receptacle device that is secured in the backrest. The second guide sleeve is held inside a support that widens into a funnel shape toward the top and toward the bottom from an upper pivot point, for the purpose of compensating for tolerances, with the support being pivotably held within a second receptacle device secured in the backrest.
Tolerances or dimensional variations in the headrest rods and the receptacle devices secured in the backrest are thus compensated for by the second receptacle device, to which end the support is able to pivot around a ball-joint-type connection on the second guide sleeve. A mounting device of this type makes it possible to compensate for even sizable dimensional variations, thus allowing the use of more cost-effective headrest frames, without requiring an excessive amount of force be applied to the headrest rods in order to adjust the height of the headrest. The friction between the guide sleeves and the headrest rods remains substantially constant. A latching mechanism is provided for the respective height adjustment is provided between the securely mounted guide sleeve and its headrest rod.
However, a mounting device of this type involves a complex construction with multiple components, and a correspondingly high assembly cost.

Mounting device for the headrest of a vehicle seat


A sense amplifier circuit for a flash memory device of the present invention includes first and second pre-charge circuits for pre-charging a data line (or bit line connected electrically to the data line). The first and second pre-charge circuits are each connected to the data line. The first pre-charge circuit provides a current changed by a fluctuation of the data line voltage to the data line, and the second pre-charge circuit provides a constant voltage regardless of the fluctuation of the data line voltage to the data line. The sense amplifier minimizes the time required to pre-charge the data line (or bit line) to a desired voltage.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor memory devices and, in particular, to a sense amplifier circuit for a flash memory device, the sense amplifier for detecting states of a memory cell.
2. Background Description
Nonvolatile flash memory devices have been widely used. An electrically erasable and electrically programmable memory cell of a flash memory device is formed of a floating gate transistor. The floating gate transistor has N-type source and drain regions, a floating gate, and a control gate. The N-type source and drain regions are formed on a P-type semiconductor substrate (or bulk). The floating gate is formed on a thin insulation film (or tunnel oxide film) on a channel region between the source and drain regions, and has a thickness less than 100 xc3x85. The control gate is used as a word line formed on the floating gate. The memory cell is programmed by hot electron injection, which is well known in the art. When the memory cell is programmed, it is in a non-conducting state. The programmed memory cell is erased by an F-N tunneling method, which is also well known in the art. When the memory cell is erased, it is in a conducting state.
A sense amplifier circuit is used to detect whether a memory cell is in a conducting or non-conducting stage. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a conventional sense amplifier. As shown, the conventional sense amplifier circuit is of a single-ended type. The sense amplifier circuit is electrically connected to a bit line BL through NMOS transistors 10 and 12, which compose a decoding circuit that couples the bit line BL to a data line DL. An electrically erasable and programmable memory cell MC is connected to the bit line BL.
The sense amplifier circuit is constructed of three PMOS transistors 14, 16, and 18, three NMOS transistors 20, 22, and 24, and three inverters 26, 28, and 30. Current paths of the PMOS transistors 14 and 16 are formed in series between a power supply voltage Vcc (utilized as a first supply voltage) and sense node SO. A control signal Vload is applied to a gate of the PMOS transistor 14. A gate of the PMOS transistor 16 is connected to the sense node SO. The NMOS transistor 20 has a current path formed between the sense node SO and the data line DL. Current paths of the PMOS transistor 18 and NMOS transistor 22 are formed in series between the power supply voltage Vcc and the data line DL. A control signal Vpre is applied to a gate of the PMOS transistor 18. Gates of the NMOS transistors 20 and 22 are controlled by an output voltage BIAS of the inverter 26 connected to the data line DL. A voltage of the sense node SO is generated as a sense data nSAOUT through the inverters 28 and 30. The NMOS transistor 24 is connected between the data line DL and a ground voltage GND (utilized as a second supply voltage), and is switched by a control signal Vdis.
In the operation of the sense amplifier circuit, an address is changed so as to select a memory cell(s), and then row address decoding signals YA and YB are activated to the high level, thus turning on the NMOS transistors 10 and 12 that compose the decoding circuit. The bit line BL and the data line DL are electrically connected through the NMOS transistors 10 and 12, when the NMOS transistors 10 and 12 are turned on.
FIG. 6 is a timing diagram illustrating an operation of the sense amplifier circuit of FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 6, before the bit line BL and the data line DL are electrically connected with each other, a voltage of the data line DL is discharged. Namely, the control signal Vdis for discharging the data line DL voltage is activated to high during a predetermined time. During an activation period of the Vdis, the data line DL voltage is initialized by the NMOS transistor 24, e.g., to lower than 0.5 V.
After discharging, the control signal Vpre is activated from a high level to a low level, resulting in a current flowing from the power supply voltage Vcc to the data line DL through the PMOS transistor 18 and the NMOS transistor 22. Then, the data line DL voltage increases. As shown in FIG. 6, the current flows to the data line DL through the PMOS transistor 18 and the NMOS transistor 22 and, simultaneously, a current flows to the data line DL through the PMOS transistors 14, 16, and the NMOS transistor 20. This is because the control signal Vload is activated to the low level after the control signal Vpre is activated. As the data line DL voltage gradually increases to the high level, the output voltage BIAS from the inverter 26 starts to attenuate in proportion to the increase of the data line DL voltage. The current provided to the data line DL through NMOS transistors 20 and 22 is decreased by the attenuation of the output voltage BIAS from the inverter 26. The data line DL voltage is charged to a predetermined voltage level, e.g., 0.8 V. The control signal Vpre applied to the gate of the PMOS transistor 18 is inactivated to the high level. The control signal Vload is activated to the low level after the control signal Vpre is activated during a predetermined time period. However, the control signal Vload can be designed to be activated to the low level at the same time the control signal Vpre is activated.
Subsequently, when a voltage of the word line WL increases, the voltage of the data line DL is increased or decreased based upon the state of the memory cell, that is, whether the memory cell is in a conducting or non-conducting state. A current that flows through a memory cell in the conducting state is typically designed to be larger than a current that flows through the transistors 14 and 20. Under these conditions, if the memory cell is in the conducting state, then the voltage of the sense node SO is attenuated by the data line DL voltage to be lower than that of a pre-charged voltage. The attenuated voltage of the sense node SO is converted into a digital signal (or is detected) by the inverter 28. In contrast, if the memory cell is in a non-conducting state, then the current does not flow through the memory cell. The current flows to the data line DL and the sense node SO through the load transistor 14, and then the sense node SO voltage is increased. The increased sense node SO voltage is converted into a digital signal (or is detected) by the inverter 28.
However, the conventional sense amplifier circuit has a problem as described below. In a latter part of the pre-charge period, the output voltage BIAS from the inverter 26 (i.e., a gate voltage of the NMOS transistor 22) is attenuated by the increased voltage of the data line DL. FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating pre-charge characteristics in accordance with the prior art. As shown, a difference between the source voltage (or data line voltage) of the NMOS transistor 22 and the gate voltage BIAS is reduced, whereby a current I22 provided through the NMOS transistor 22 is sharply attenuated in the latter part of the pre-charge period. Therefore, it typically takes more time to pre-charge the data line DL (or bit line connected to the data line electrically) to a desired voltage.
The problems stated above, as well as other related problems of the prior art, are solved by the present invention, a sense amplifier circuit that reduces a pre-charging time of a data line (or bit line) in a semiconductor memory device.
According to an aspect of the invention, in a flash memory circuit having a plurality of electrically erasable or programmable memory cells and a decoding circuit for electrically connecting a bit line corresponding to a selected memory cell to a data line, a sense amplifier circuit is provided for detecting an on/off state of the selected memory cell by sensing a voltage fluctuation of the bit line. The sense amplifier includes a bias circuit for generating a constant bias voltage during a pre-charge period. A first pre-charge circuit provides a variable current to the data line. The variable current changes with a voltage fluctuation of the data line. A second pre-charge circuit provides a constant current to the data line. The constant current is determined by the constant bias voltage, regardless of the voltage fluctuation of the data line. A detecting circuit connected to the data line senses the voltage fluctuation of the bit line during a sensing period, and generates data signals corresponding to the on/off state of the selected memory cell.
According to the sense amplifier circuit of the present invention, although the voltage of the data line increases during a pre-charge period, a constant current can flow to the data line regardless of the increase of the data line voltage.
These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Sense amplifier circuit for a flash memory device


A washing machine includes a water tub storing water, a rotary tub arranged in the water tub, a dissolving area in which a detergent is fed and dissolved, an FB feed-water pathway which includes a fine-bubble generation apparatus allowing generation of fine bubble water and along which water fed from a feed-water source is passed through the fine-bubble generation apparatus to be fed to the dissolving area as fine bubble water, an FB feed-water valve opening and closing the FB feed-water pathway, and a control apparatus controlling opening and closing of the FB feed-water valve. The detergent and the fine bubble water are controllably brought into contact with each other to dissolve the detergent, in a washing course in which the washing machine is operated and during a period when the detergent is dissolved in feed-water.

Fine bubbles containing fine air bubbles having a sphere equivalent diameter of approximately several hundred μm to several tens of nm (ultrafine bubbles or microbubbles) have various properties such as an excellent surfactant activity and a high washing effect and are expected to be applied to a wide range of industries.
For example, Patent Literature 2 discloses a technique for providing a fine-bubble generation apparatus (UFB unit) in a feed-water pathway in a washing machine and using the fine-bubble generation apparatus to generate a large number of fine bubbles to allow fine bubble water containing the fine bubbles to be used for washing. Using the fine bubble water in this manner allows washing performance to be improved based on interaction between a detergent and the fine bubbles, for example, surface charge on the fine bubbles allows a surfactant in the detergent to be adsorbed to the fine bubbles to make the detergent more likely to react with dirt.

Toshiba Lifestyle Products & Services Corporation


A screed system for a paving machine. The screed system includes a screed plate coupled to a screed frame of the paving machine. The screed plate includes a primary heating member. The screed system further includes a secondary heating member movably coupled to the screed frame and disposed to a rear end of the screed plate.

Paving machines are generally used for laying paving materials, such as asphalt, on a work surface. The paving machine includes a screed system disposed behind the paving machine to receive the paving material from a hopper and deposit the paving material on the work surface. The screed system includes a screed plate for levelling the paving material with respect to the work surface and for heating a layer of the paving material laid on the work surface. Heating of the paving material causes effective compaction of the paving material by a compactor that follows the paving machine. However, when the paving machine stops for an extended period of time, for example, to receive paving material from a truck, a portion of the work surface behind the screed plate becomes inaccessible to the compactor. Additionally, during the machine stoppage, the portion of the work surface behind the screed will cool off. When the paving machine resumes movement, compaction will be difficult on that uncompacted portion of the work surface that cooled off during the stoppage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,155 (the '155 patent) discloses a paving machine having a moveable heater. The moveable heater is used for heating a road surface prior to applying paving material on the road surface. The paving machine has a frame mounted for movement along the road and the moveable heater is mounted on sides of the frame. The heater is movable between a first position at which it is capable of heating a width of the road to be paved and a second position at which the heater is stored for movement with the frame and spans a width less than the width of road to be paved. In the '155 patent, the paving machine needs a width more than the width of the road for moving the heaters from the first position to the second position. This may limit application of the paving machine as the movement of the heaters may interfere with surroundings and may further cause actuation of the heaters a cumbersome process.


A back grinding method for a wafer includes covering a face-side surface of the wafer with a resin film, and cutting the surface of the resin film to form a flat surface parallel to the face-side surface of the wafer. The wafer is held with the surface of the resin film in contact with a suction surface of a chuck table in a grinding apparatus, and the exposed back-side surface of the wafer is ground. Unevenness in thickness of the resin film is suppressed, whereby the thickness of the wafer subjected to back grinding is made to be uniform.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of grinding a back-side surface of a wafer such as a semiconductor wafer so as to thin the wafer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor device manufacturing process in which a face-side surface of a wafer composed of a semiconductor such as silicon is provided with a multiplicity of devices and the wafer is divided to obtain the devices as individual chips, a step of grinding the back-side surface of the wafer so as to thin the wafer is conducted at the stage of wafer. The thinning of the wafer corresponds to thinning of device packages, and the wafer is thinned, for example, from an initial thickness of around 700 μm to about 200 μm. In accordance with the marked thinning nowadays, the wafers may in some cases be thinned to a very small thickness of 50 μm or 30 μm.
For grinding the back-side surface of a wafer, infeed grinding is generally used in which the wafer is suction held onto a vacuum chuck type chuck table, and, while revolving the wafer about its center by rotating the chuck table, a grinding tool such as a grindstone is pressed against the back-side surface of the wafer. In the case of grinding the back-side surface of a wafer in this manner, the face-side surface of the wafer is covered with a protective member so that the face-side surface does not make direct contact with the holding surface of the chuck table, in order to prevent electronic circuits of the devices from being damaged (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2005-057052).
Examples of the protective member include a protective tape obtained by applying an acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive material to one side of a base sheet made of polyolefin or the like. In such a protective tape, in many cases, at least one of the base sheet and the pressure sensitive adhesive material has unevenness, if slight, in the thickness thereof. If such a protective tape is adhered to the face-side surface of the wafer and the back-side surface of the wafer is ground, the unevenness of thickness of the protective tape would be transferred to the wafer, resulting in unevenness of thickness of the wafer as a single body. If the finished thickness of the wafer is comparatively large and the unevenness of thickness of the protective tape is as tiny as about 3 μm, for example, the ratio of the thickness unevenness to the wafer thickness after grinding is so small as not to matter considerably. If the finished thickness of the wafer is as extremely small as about 30 μm, however, the thickness unevenness of 3 μm is as large as 10% of the wafer thickness and, therefore, it is difficult to make uniform the wafer thickness with high precision.
The above-mentioned patent document discloses a protective film formed by applying a fluid resist to the back-side surface of a wafer by a spin coating process or a printing process. However, even such a protective film has unevenness of thickness, so that the protective film is not superior to the protective tape from the viewpoint of thickness unevenness.


Dual function console lighting with integrated switching includes a lamp housing held by a retainer within a bezel secured to a vehicle interior. The lamp housing includes eccentrically positioned collinear pivot arms relative to a central longitudinal axis of a lamp positioned within the housing. The pivot arms engage the retainer to hold the lamp housing within the retainer while allowing the lamp housing to pivot relative to the plane of the retainer. The retainer is rotatably held within the bezel by a plurality of snap features spaced around its circumference, allowing the lamp housing and retainer to rotate. A latching mechanism holds the lamp housing in a retracted position with a lens of the housing preferably substantially flush relative to immediately surrounding portions of the bezel. A spring provides a force to pivot the housing about the pivot arms to a second position when the latch is released. An integrated switch is operated by movement of the housing between the first and second positions to turn the lamp on in the extended position. A second switch is provided to select manual or automatic operation of the lamp when in the retracted position. Automatic operation may be actuated by a remotely located auxiliary switch, such as a door switch, for example. The lamp housing preferably includes an integrated lens that includes a protrusion to facilitate rotation of the housing within the retainer. A dimple may also be providing in the lens to facilitate operation of the integrated switch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dual function lighting systems and methods for a vehicle console.
2. Background Art
As travelers and commuters spend an increasing amount of time in various types of vehicles, such as automobiles, trucks, buses, airplanes, watercraft, trains, and the like, the demand for aesthetically pleasing accessories with easy to operate functions continues to grow. Consumers expect enhancement of basic features, such as interior lighting, as models change from year to year. Likewise, manufacturers are continually examining new materials, designs, and assembly procedures to meet the consumer demand while attempting to reduce complexity and cost.

Dual function console lamp with integrated switching

International Automotive Components Group North America, Inc.


An automatic shoe clearance adjustment apparatus having a ratchet wheel 124b and a driving member 127 comprising a pawl section 127f making a ratchet engagement with the ratchet wheel 124b and an arcuate leaf spring section 127e developing a resilient force for adjusting the automatic shoe clearance adjustment apparatus. The leaf spring section 127e is made of bi-metal. When the temperature of the leaf spring section 127e exceeds the predetermined degree, the arcuate leaf spring section 127e thermo-deflects so as to weaken the resilient force, thereby the automatic shoe clearance adjusting operation is suspended.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automatic shoe clearance adjusting apparatus automatically adjusting a shoe-to-drum clearance existing between a brake drum and a brake shoe braking the brake drum by a frictional engagement therebetween. More particularly, this invention relates to an automatic shoe clearance adjusting apparatus with an automatic shoe clearance adjustment disabling mechanism suspending the automatic shoe clearance adjusting operation when the temperature of the drum brake exceeds a predetermined degree.
2. Description of Related Art
An example of a drum brake employing this type of automatic shoe clearance adjusting apparatus is fully described in PCT published application number WO 01/01008. An example of a construction of the automatic shoe clearance adjusting apparatus is explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.
An automatic shoe clearance adjusting apparatus 22 is comprised of a strut 23, an automatic shoe clearance adjusting mechanism and an automatic shoe clearance adjustment disabling mechanism. The automatic shoe clearance adjusting mechanism automatically adjusts the shoe-to-drum clearance depending on the wear of the lining of the brake shoe (not shown in figures) and the automatic shoe clearance adjustment disabling mechanism suspends the automatic shoe clearance adjusting operation when the temperature of the drum brake exceeds a predetermined degree.
Components of the automatic shoe clearance adjusting apparatus 22 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, wherein terms "upper" and "lower" and terms "left" and "right" are given their ordinary meaning as suggested in FIG. 6.
The strut 23 is composed of a rotatable nut member 24, a fitting member 25 fitting into a left side portion of the nut member 24 to support the nut member 24 allowing relative rotation of the nut member 24 while non-rotatably engaging with a left brake shoe (not shown in the figures), and a bolt member 26 screwed into a right side portion of the nut member 24 to support the nut member 24 while non-rotatably engaging with a right brake shoe (not shown in the figures).
The nut member 24 is cylindrically shaped and structured such that a left side portion of the periphery on the nut member 24 is stepped to form a smaller diameter periphery 24e; a toothed ring with a ratchet wheel 24b force-fits onto a longitudinal left side of the small diameter periphery 24e; and an internal thread 24c is formed in a through hole 24d from a right side thereof.
The Y-shaped fitting member 25 is arranged such that a flat, plated section 25c at the left side thereof has an engagement groove to be engaged with the left brake shoe; and a stem section 25b at the right side thereof slidably fits into the through hole 24d of the nut member 24 from the left side.
The Y-shaped bolt member 26 is also arranged such that a flat, plated section 26b at the right side thereof has an engagement groove to be engaged with the right brake shoe; and an external thread 26a formed on the peripheral surface of a stem section 26c at the left side thereof is screwed into the internal thread 24c of the nut member 24 from the right side.
A driving member 27 is jointed to the strut 23 so as to implement the automatic shoe clearance adjusting mechanism and the automatic shoe clearance adjustment disabling mechanism.
The driving member 27 is designed such that a pawl element 29 made of bi-metal is fixed to an arcuate leaf spring element 28 made from a plate spring at an intermediate portion of the leaf spring element 28 between both ends 28a, 28c by a rivet 30.
The driving member 27 is jointed to the strut 23 by means of a bracket 31 and a sleeve 32 both installed on the strut 23. The bracket 31 having a proximal section 31a is securely attached to the fitting member 25 so that the proximal section 31a is being abutted against a stepped section 25a of the fitting member 25. The sleeve 32 is relatively rotatably fitted onto the small diameter periphery 24e and abuts against a stepped section 24a of the nut member 24 to prevent a rightward movement of the sleeve 32.
Thereafter, the toothed ring with the ratchet wheel 24b force-fits onto the small diameter periphery 24e of the nut member 24.
While the arcuate leaf spring element 28 is developing a resilient force acting to move the nut member 24 and the fitting member 25 apart from each other, the ends 28a, 28c thereof are hooked on the bracket 31 and the sleeve 32 respectively.
At that time, the tip of the pawl element 29 resiliently contacts to make a ratchet engagement with the ratchet wheel 24b of the nut member 24.
Operation of the automatic shoe clearance adjusting mechanism with the above configuration will be explained next.
Upon activating the service brake, a pair of brake shoes (not shown in the figures) move away from each other, an axial force acting on the strut 23 by a spring force of a shoe return spring located outside of the figures is released; the nut member 24 and the fitting member 25 are urged to move away from each other due to the resilient force developed by the arcuate leaf spring element 28 of the driving member 27; the nut member 24 moves rightward with the bolt member 26 and the fitting member 25 moves leftward; and the tip of the pawl element 29 moves in a direction to rotate the ratchet wheel 24b of the nut member 24 due to the extension of the arcuate leaf spring element 28. As the lining wears off and a traveling amount of the tip of the pawl element 29 exceeds one pitch of the ratchet wheel 24b, the nut member 24 is rotated for one tooth pitch relative to the ratchet wheel 24b to unthread the nut member 24 out from the bolt member 26 to extend the overall length of the strut 23, thereby automatically adjusting the shoe-to-drum clearance.
Operation of the automatic shoe clearance adjustment disabling mechanism will be explained next.
For example, frequent use of service brake on a down slope raises a brake drum temperature to cause lateral expansion of the brake drum. This expansion automatically enlarges the shoe-to-drum clearance just like being enlarged due to a general lining wear. However, if there is no special treatment for the enlargement created due to the temperature expansion, normal automatic shoe clearance adjusting operation is conducted to provide same type of shoe clearance adjustment as provided for the enlargement created due to the lining wear. Yet, if the brake drum is cooled down to the ordinary temperature, the expansion does not exist thereafter and the enlarged shoe-to-drum clearance is reduced to the extent that is previously enlarged due to the expansion. According, the ordinary automatic shoe clearance adjusting operation conducted while the expansion being existed becomes over-adjustment. Such over-adjustment might be a cause for dragging of the brake.
On the other hand, considering the expansion problem during the service brake operation, if the shoe-to-drum clearance is initially set larger, the brake stroke under the ordinary temperature becomes longer and thereby causing the driver to experience an unusual or disconcerting brake feeling.
For the purpose of resolving the above-identified problem, the pawl element 29 is made of bi-metal. Accordingly, as the brake drum temperature rises, the temperature of the pawl element 29 rises as well. The pawl element 29 is thermo-reflected, as shown in the two-dot chain line of FIG. 7. When the temperature of the pawl element 29 exceeds a predetermined degree, the bi-metal causes the pawl element 29 to move away from the ratchet wheel 24b, thereby suspending the automatic shoe clearance adjusting operation. This ultimately solves the problem of the shoe clearance over-adjustment.
The above-described conventional automatic shoe clearance adjusting apparatus has the following drawbacks.
While the shoe clearance adjustment disabling mechanism is operating, an axial force acting on the strut 23 is released and the bi-metal pawl element 29 is separated from the ratchet wheel 24b of the nut member 24. When this happens the nut member 24 becomes free without an external force acting thereon and this results in an irregular movement of the nut member 24, thereby possibly causing an adverse effect on the shoe-to-drum clearance.
Another adverse effect is that the driving member 27 requires more than minimum number of components. In the prior art driving member 27 comprises the arcuate leaf spring element 28, the bi-metal pawl element 29, and a joint means such as a rivet 30 so as to fix the two. More components are necessary if the bracket 31 and the sleeve 32 are provided for the purpose of fitting the driving member 27 on the strut 23. In addition, due to the excess number of components, forming the bracket 31 and the sleeve 32 requires more complex processing which in turn increases the manufacturing costs.
Accordingly, because of above-mentioned structure, assembling the components becomes complicated, thereby increasing the amount of the assembly task. Therefore, the manufacturing costs increases.

Automatic shoe clearance adjusting apparatus


A resin air intake system provided with an intake control valve which permits simplifying the mold structure and maintaining axis center precision. In an air intake manifold, air intake passages are fabricated to be opened and provided with an intake control valve supported by a shaft having an axis in a direction perpendicular to the axes of the openings. The air intake manifold is molded from a resin as an air intake manifold proper and an air intake manifold cluster which have split faces, the split face of the air intake manifold proper provided with grooves in a direction perpendicular to the axes of the openings. Bearings which slidably support the shaft are mounted in the grooves and a projection which projects from the split face of the air intake manifold cluster is brought into contact with the bearings.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine air intake system, particularly a resin air intake system provided with an intake control valve, designed to make the air intake system be provided with an air intake control valve of a resin.
2. Description of Related Art
Requirements for higher performance engines in recent years have resulted in using a variety of systems for air intake systems. There is known a so-called variable air intake system to improve both the engine torque in the medium to low speed range and to improve output in the high speed region. These try to increase the engine fueling efficiency by varying the essential air intake type lengths or capacity of the air intake system according to the engine operating conditions, so as to make effective use of inertial and resonance actions under a given situation.
In order to change the air intake tube length or capacity, such a variable air intake system equips the air intake constituting part, such as an air intake manifold, with air intake passages open to be connected to each combustion chamber of an engine with intake control valves rotatably, which are supported by a shaft having an axis in the direction perpendicular to the axes of the openings. Driving this shaft with an external actuator is designed to control the opening and closing of the intake control valve.
There is known a lean combustion engine for improved engine fuel consumption rate for energy saving, in which its air intake manifold is provided with a plurality of air intake passages per cylinder, and controlling the opening and closing of an intake control valve provided for one of the air intake passages is designed to give an air intake with a swirl within the designated operating range.
In general, such an air intake manifold is cast from a metal such as aluminum and bearing holes to support the above shaft rotatably are drilled by machining after casting. A split butterfly valve for a manifold is disclosed in FR-A-2606115. Two halves of the manifold can be molded from a metal or an appropriate plastic. The butterfly is positioned on a shaft and secured in the split housing. The securing and positioning means are complicated in that recesses are cut into positioning flanges on both halves.

Resin air intake system provided with intake control valve


An optical disc according to one aspect of this invention has a first field to record first version information, and a second field to record second version information obtained by updating the first version information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disc such as a DVD or the like. The present invention also relates to an information playback apparatus and information playback method for playing back information from such optical discs. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an information recording method for recording information on such optical discs.
2. Description of the Related Art
As described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-056543, optical discs with large recording capacities such as a DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and the like have been developed and are in wide use. Such optical discs have a Part Version field indicating a version of a standard based on which that disc was prepared.
The Part Version field records a version number in the format of X.Y. A digit is assigned to each of X and Y. As a result, a version number such as 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, or the like is expressed.
At first, the Part Version field is set for the purpose of simply indicating the version of the standard. Hence, no rules are specified upon upgrading. For this reason, interpretation of the Part Version field by early disc drives is not coordinated. For example, early optical disc drives include models which do not check the version number in the Part Version field at all, and models which do not accept a disc if a number other than a specific version number is recorded in the Part Version field.
At present, upgrading rules are specified. The X value described in the Part Version field is changed if the latest version is incompatible with conventional discs. On the other hand, the Y value is changed if the latest version is compatible with conventional discs and a new specification is added. This additional specification is often incompatible with conventional discs.
Furthermore, in order to implement high-speed recording on DVD-RAM, DVD-R, and DVD-RW as recording media, specifications for high-speed recording are added. Such additional specifications for high-speed recording are compatible with the conventionally specified recording speeds. That is, an optical disc for which additional specifications for high-speed recording are specified is compatible with the conventional recording speeds and also new recording speeds.
Such an additional specification for high-speed recording is that which should change the Y value in terms of rules. However, it is troublesome to change Y by adding a new page to an existing standard every time a compatible recording speed is added. In consideration of this, an option BOOK is independently issued in association with recording speeds, and the version of this option BOOK is managed by a Revision number.
This is because optical disc drives which are already on the market often cannot handle new discs although they have compatibility, if Y is changed. Note that the Revision number adopts a format of A.B. However, this Revision number is not described on the disc.
Recently, discs which allow recording/playback at higher speed have been developed. As a result, it is difficult to manufacture discs which can achieve both recording at initially specified speeds and latest high-speed recording. In such case, an optical disc which is compatible with latest high-speed recording becomes incompatible with old discs. Hence, according to the conventional rules, the X value recorded on the Part Version field of an optical disc which is compatible with the latest high-speed recording is changed. However, since the X value is changed, a conventional optical disc drive which can perform only playback of an optical disc compatible with the latest high-speed recording can no longer perform playback in practice.
In practice, even when information is recorded at a conventional slowest speed by constraint on a disc compatible with the latest high-speed recording, data on the disc is never destroyed. Hence, the upgrading rule is changed, and the X value is changed if a change that does not allow playback is added.
Even when such rule change is to be made, some optical disc drives cannot perform any recording if the Y value is changed. In some cases, some optical disc drives cannot perform any playback if the Y value is changed. For this reason, the Y value cannot be changed if a specification that does not impair compatibility is made.
For this reason, the optical disc drive cannot detect any change in specification from the version information even when the specifications have changed. Also, as for the standard, if a specification is added without changing the version number, a change in standard can hardly be understood. Hence, a problem may be posed upon designing a drive that handles discs based on old specifications.

Optical disc, information playback apparatus, information playback method, and information recording method


A method for estimating an impedance of a material behind a casing wall in a borehole, the method comprises exciting the casing wall with an acoustic pulse, and measuring by means of a transducer an experimental acoustic waveform (W) reflected from the casing wall. The method further comprises initializing an impedance parameter (Zin), computing an inverse casing response (Rcas−1) as a function of the impedance parameter (Zin) and a casing thickness parameter (Casin), and deconvoluting the experimental acoustic waveform with the inverse casing response to obtain a transducer response (T). An iterative loop is performed, comprising the computing of an inverse casing response and the deconvoluting of the experimental acoustic waveform by varying the impedance parameter until the transducer response becomes compact in the time domain. The estimated impedance (Zcem) is obtained from the impedance parameter when the transducer response is compact.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to acoustical investigating of a borehole, and to the determining of an impedance of a material behind a casing located in a borehole
2. Background Art
Acoustical investigating is widely used to investigate casings found in boreholes. Typically acoustical investigating uses ultrasonic waves.
Boreholes penetrating an earth formation generally comprise a wall with an annular space filed with set cement. After the cement has set in the annular space of the casing it is common practice to use acoustic non-destructive testing methods to evaluate its integrity. This evaluation is of prime importance since the cement must guarantee zonal isolation between different formations in order to avoid flow of fluids from the formations (water, gas, oil) through the annular space of the casing.
Turning now to FIG. 1, a schematic diagram of a logging operation is shown. Tool, or sonde, 10 for evaluating cement quality is located in borehole 11 penetrating earth formation 12. Casing 13 is cemented to the walls of the borehole, as explained in detail with reference to FIG. 3, below. The sonde is preferably lowered in the borehole by armored multi-conductor cable 14 and slowly raised by surface equipment 15 over sheave wheel 16 while cement quality measurements are performed. The depth of the tool is measured by depth gauge 17, which measures cable displacement.
Sonde 10 measures cement quality by emitting an acoustic pulse and analyzing its return waveform. The sonde is capable of obtaining cement quality measurements azimuthally. The sonde measures cement quality by emitting acoustic excitation pulses and analyzing the return waveforms produced as a result of reflections from the casing, as well as reverberations of the casing. The return waveforms can be analyzed by the sonde in situ, analyzed by data processor 18 at the surface, or stored, either in the sonde or at the surface, for analysis at a remote location. In the preferred embodiment, the return waveform data is transferred to data processor 18 by cable 14, where the cement quality is determined.
The excitation pulse preferably excites a thickness resonance of the casing. As is known in the art, such resonance traps energy in the casing. The subsequent reduction of trapped energy in the casing may be considered the result of leakage attributable to the degree of acoustic coupling to adjacent media. All resonances excited by the excitation pulse trap energy in this manner.
It is possible to design a sonde having a plurality of transceivers, each of which generates excitation pulses which excite the fundamental resonant frequency for each of the plurality of different nominal casing thicknesses encountered. In a preferred embodiment, however, the sonde includes one transceiver having an excitation pulse which excites either the fundamental resonance, or a harmonic thereof, for the wide range of casing thicknesses typically encountered. The acoustic pulse is, therefore, preferably highly damped and of short duration on the order of eight microseconds or less. An example of frequency spectrum of the acoustic pulse, is shown with reference to FIG. 2, and has a 6-dB bandwidth of about 400 kHz centered at about 450 kHz.
Turning now to FIG. 3, a typical return waveform from a casing excited by the acoustic pulse of FIG. 2 is illustrated. The return waveform, a typical response from a steel casing of approximately 17.8 cm in diameter, includes initial reflection segment 31 and reverberation segment 32. The initial reflection segment is due primarily to the reflection of the pulse from the inner surface of the casing. The magnitude of the initial reflection segment is a function of borehole fluid (e.g., composition of the mud), casing surface conditions, alignment of the sonde, as well as transceiver output.
The portion of the excitation pulse not immediately reflected enters the casing and excites the resonances in the casing, as discussed in detail above. Thus, the reverberation segment is due primarily to acoustical energy which was trapped in the casing, leaks back into the borehole fluid, and propagates back to the receiver. The relative amplitude and duration of the reverberation segment is a function of the amount of energy transferred from the casing to the formation via the cement therebetween. As is well known, the amount of transferred energy is a function of the characteristics of the cement seal coupling the casing and formation. Good cement quality would transfer more energy than would poor cement quality. Therefore, the casing resonances decay more rapidly for good cement quality than for poor cement quality. The waveform shown with reference to FIG. 3 has relatively rapid decay which is indicative of good cement quality. Lack of cement adhesion produces an error in the quantitative determination of impedance. However, the error in the apparent impedance due to lack of adhesion is small compared to the difference in impedance between typical good cement and that where cement is absent.
The return waveforms may be analyzed by data processor 18 of FIG. 1. U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,269 to Kimbal et al., published on 22 May 1990 discloses an example of a method for calculating the impedance of cement behind the section of a casing.
An impulse response Rcas of the mud/casing/cement system results from reflection coefficients and transmission coefficients at each interface. The reflection coefficients and transmission coefficients at each interface are on turn function of acoustic impedances of the mud, casing and cement. Hence is becomes possible to invert the acoustic impedance of the cement from a known impulse response Rcas.
An actual transducer response W to a casing is a convolution W=Rcas{circle around (x)} T of the impulse response Rcas with a transmit/receive response T of the transducer, as would be recorded by reflection on a single interface with infinite impedance contrast.
Downhole, only W can be recorded and T is not know, since it is affected by mud impedance and attenuation, and also temperature and pressure which change characteristics of the transducer itself, such as the backing impedance. Hence it is necessary to approximate the transducer response T to obtain the impulse response Rcas and invert the cement impedance.
Currently used processing methods for evaluating the impedance of the cement produce strongly biased results when determining the cement impedance.

Determining the impedance of material behind a casing in a borehole


An electrical connector (100) for receiving an electronic device, includes a shielding member (3), a terminal block (1) assembled on said shielding member (3), a plurality of terminals (2) received in the terminal block (1). Each terminal has a mating portion (23), an end portion (21) and a middle portion (22) connecting with the mating portion (23) and the end portion (21). The mating portion (23) and the end portion (21) of the terminal (2) are respectively located at two sides of the main body (11) of the terminal block (1) in the longitudinal direction, the end portions (21) of the adjacent terminals (2) are disposed at two opposite sides of the main body (11) of the terminal block (1), and the middle portion (22) of the terminals (2) is engaged with the terminal block (1).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector used for a mobile phone or other electrical devices having different designs and configurations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the rapid development of the technology of wireless communication and advanced technology of electrics, the electrical consuming goods such as mobile phone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) etc., are designed to comply with miniaturization trend and multiple functions such as mounting a camera on thereof to meet with requirements of human. As a result, the requirement of socket connectors used in such equipments is correspondingly demanding.
Usually, these electrical connectors comprise two rows of contacts. Please with reference to the electrical connector as shown in the FIG. 1, the contact 2′ comprises a soldering portion 25′ projecting from the bottom of the insulative housing 10′ and soldered onto the Print Circuit Board (PCB, not shown), a mating portion 22′ resiliently bending from an end of the soldering portion 25′ toward upwardly, a retaining portion 24′ located on the other end of the soldering portion 25′ and a connecting portion 23′ connecting with soldering portion 25′ and the retaining portion 24′. The retaining portion 24′ is locked in the insulative housing 10′ for holding the contact 2′, and the mating portion 22 resiliently contacts with the conductive element 43′ located on the bottom of the camera module 4′. However, the height of the contact 2′ is too lager, and accordingly the connector with this contacts has a lager scale which goes against the trend of miniaturization. Whereas to pursue the aim of deceasing the height of contact excessively may result in lowering the resilient force, thus the electrical connection will be effected.
Hence, an improved electrical connector is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.


A method is provided for data storage management in a virtualized information handling system that includes a first and second network storage resource, a hypervisor allowing multiple virtual machines to run on the virtualized information handling system, and a data access agent. The data access agent may intercept a data access request initiated by a virtual machine and intended for the first network storage resource. In response to intercepting the data access request, the data access agent may establish a connection with the first network storage resource, and retrieve from the first network storage resource metadata associated with the data access request. The retrieved metadata may identify a location of the second network storage resource. Additionally, the data access may establish a connection with the second network storage resource using the location of the second network storage resource identified by the retrieved metadata. The virtual machine may complete the intercepted data access request via the established connection with the second network storage resource.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Increasingly, information handling systems are deployed in architectures that allow multiple operating systems to run on a single information handling system. Labeled "virtualization," this type of information handling system architecture decouples software from hardware and presents a logical view of physical hardware to software. In a virtualized information handling system, a single server can act and behave as multiple, independent servers. Server virtualization is enabled primarily by a piece of software, often called the hypervisor, that sits between the server hardware and the multiple operating systems, also called guest operating systems (guest OS). The hypervisor software provides a container that presents a logical hardware interface to the guest operating systems. An individual guest operating system, along with any applications or other software running on it, thinks it is running on a physical server and is known as a virtual machine.
Often, these architectures are employed for numerous reasons, e.g., (1) increased hardware resource utilization; (2) cost-effective scalability across a common, standards-based infrastructure; (3) workload portability across multiple servers; (4) streamlining of application development by certifying to a common virtual interface rather than multiple implementations of physical hardware; and/or (5) encapsulation of complex configurations into a file that is easily replicated and provisioned.
In many contemporary virtualization architectures, virtual machines are deployed as data stored in computer-readable media (e.g., a file residing on a hard disk drive). In order to manage this data, some virtualization architectures provide a native file system within the hypervisor (e.g., VMware's VMFS file system). In these architectures, the virtual machine data associated with multiple virtual machines may be stored in a single storage device, or in multiple storage devices (e.g., there is a separate storage device dedicated to each virtual machine and its associated data). In either case, the hypervisor-based file system is responsible for managing the access to the data.
Other virtualization architectures do not provide a native file system within the hypervisor. Instead, the virtual machine data in these architectures is stored in a network attached storage (NAS) system and managed by the NAS file system.
However, each of these contemporary approaches to managing data in virtualized information handling systems may have disadvantages. For example, virtualization architectures that include native hypervisor-based file systems may be more complex and more likely to encounter errors due to the added complexity of providing a native file system. In addition, contemporary virtualization architectures that utilize NAS file systems are typically restricted to TCP/IP or UDP/IP based file operations, which may result in additional I/O latencies as the virtual machines attempt to access data.

System and method for raw device mapping in traditional NAS subsystems