A paper guide mechanism for a serial printer wherein print paper can be prevented from being soiled by contact thereof with an ink ribbon or an ink ribbon guide plate while also leaping out of the ink ribbon through a printing hole of the ink ribbon guide plate is prevented. A paper guide plate is disposed in such a manner as to assure a gap from a print head so that the ink ribbon may not leap out readily from the printing hole of the ink ribbon guide plate mounted on the paper guide plate. The paper guide plate is so shaped that, when the ink ribbon guide plate is mounted on the paper guide plate, the ink ribbon guide plate presents a concave configuration toward the platen so as to prevent contact between the ink ribbon guide plate and print paper as far as possible.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a paper guide mechanism for a serial printer including an ink ribbon guide plate and a paper guide plate by which print paper is kept from being soiled by an ink ribbon.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a paper guide plate and an ink ribbon guide plate mounted on the paper guide plate are generally flat in sectional view. The ink ribbon guide plate is set in a gap between a platen and a print head. If the gap between the print head and the ink ribbon guide plate is made comparatively large, the ink ribbon guide plate is displaced toward the platen. Consequently, the entire faces of the ink ribbon guide plate and the paper guide plate are liable to come in contact with print paper on the platen. On the contrary, if one decreases the gap between the ink ribbon guide plate and the platen, then the gap between the print head and the ink ribbon guide plate is narrow so that the ink ribbon becomes liable to leap out from a printing hole which is formed in the ink ribbon guide plate thereby allowing the print head to contact therethrough with the print paper on the platen with the ink ribbon interposed therebetween.
Since the sectional shape of the conventional paper guide plate on which the ink ribbon guide plate is mounted is generally flat and, depending upon the position of the ink ribbon guide plate set in the gap between the platen and the print head, either the entire faces of the ink ribbon guide plate and the paper guide plate are brought into contact with the paper so that the print paper is soiled by the ink ribbon or the ink ribbon leaps out from the ink ribbon guide plate. As a result, the positioning operation to set the ink ribbon guide plate in position in the gap between the platen and the print head is quite difficult.

Paper guide mechanism for serial printer


An electromagnetic field intensity measuring apparatus comprises a sensor located in the electromagnetic field measuring place for receiving the measuring light from the optical fiber, the sensor being adapted to modulate the measuring light entering the sensor depending on the intensity of the electromagnetic field, the modulated light being then re-applied to the optical fiber; a polarization rotating device located between the measuring light generating device and the optical fiber, the polarization rotation device being operative to cause the polarized wavefront of the measuring light passed therethrough to rotate a given angle in the direction of passage; and a polarization beam splitter disposed between the measuring light generating device and the polarization rotating device, the polarization beam splitter being operative to permit only the measuring light from said measuring light generating device to pass through said polarization beam splitter and also to reflect the modulated measuring light inputted through the polarization rotating device in a predetermined direction. The electromagnetic field intensity in the measuring place can be calculated, based on the amplitude of the measuring light reflected by the polarization beam splitter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved apparatus for optically measuring the intensity of an electromagnetic field.
2. Description of the Related Art
As well known, electromagnetic waves are currently utilized in various fields of art. In the modern information-oriented society, particularly, the electromagnetic waves are increasingly being important as information transmission media for broadcasting and communication. In addition, the utilization of electromagnetic waves is spreading as a source of energy which can be used in semiconductor making systems, plasma heating systems and so on.
In order to improve the aforementioned techniques, therefore, it is required to grasp the state of electromagnetic field more accurately.
On the other hand, troubles are increasing with respect to dysfunctions of various electronic instruments created by electromagnetic waves. In the fields of office automation instruments and motorcar electronics which require to process information in bulk and at high-speed, these dysfunctions not only damage the electronic instruments, but also may create a social confusion or a danger against human's life. Very important subject is a countermeasure of electromagnetic interference (EMI).
In order to work out a countermeasure of EMI, thus, it is more required to grasp the state of electromagnetic field accurately. This is true of the environmental problem. For example, intense electromagnetic field MAY be in danger of injuring human's body. An animal experiment has reported that when animals were exposed to electromagnetic waves, an increase in heart rate and body heat was found as well as necrosis of animals' tissues. Our living environment is now subjected to electromagnetic waves having various levels of intensity and frequency which may damage human's health. Safety standards relating to the intensity of electromagnetic wave is thus desired. This also requires the accurate measurement of electromagnetic field intensity.
To this end, various types of electromagnetic field intensity measuring systems have been proposed.
One of these proposed systems comprises a probe antenna functioning as a sensor which is located in an electromagnetic field, the sensor generating electric signals which are transmitted to a detector through a cable of conductive metal material, the detector being disposed outside of the electromagnetic field to be measured.
However, the use of such a metallic cable not only precludes the freedom of the probe antenna on movement and arrangement, but also disturbs the electromagnetic field to be measured, resulting in inaccurate measurements.
In order to overcome such a problem, there has also developed electromagnetic field intensity measuring systems which utilize an electro-optic crystal such as LiNbO.sub.3 or the like.
FIG. 3 shows one of such systems which comprises a sensor section 10 located in a measurement place 100, a source of light 12 disposed outside the measurement place 100 and an optical detector 14 similarly disposed outside the measurement place 100. These components are optically connected together through optical fibers 16 and 18 for inputting and outputting a measuring light, respectively.
The sensor section 10 comprises a polarizer 20, an electro-optic crystal 22, an analyzer 24, probe antennas 26a and 26b, and a pair of electrodes 28a and 28b disposed on the opposite sides of the electro-optic crystal 22. The electrodes 28a and 28b are connected with the antennas 26a and 26b, respectively.
On operation, the light source 12 emits a measuring light toward the sensor section 10 through the optical fiber 16.
The electro-optic crystal 22, which is the primary part of the sensor section 10, is cut along X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis such that the measuring light from the light source 12 is deflected by the polarizer 20 in the X-axis direction as a linear polarized light wave which is inclined 45 degrees relative to the Y-axis. The light wave entering the electro-optic crystal 22 through the polarizer 20 will be decomposed into an ordinary ray component (Y-axis) and an extra-ordinary ray component (Z-axis), which components are independently propagated.
An electromagnetic field detected by the antennas 26a and 26b is applied between the electrodes 28a and 28b as a potential difference. Such a potential difference causes an electro-optic effect in the crystal 22, which effect varies the refractive inside of the crystal 22 relative to the extra-ordinary ray. As a result, the light waves in the two components passed through the electro-optic crystal 22, that is, the ordinary and extraordinary light waves will have a phase difference therebetween. Such a phase difference is then detected by the analyzer 24 which is arranged perpendicular to the polarizer 20. If there is no phase difference between the ordinary and extra-ordinary light waves, this means that the initial linear polarized light ray is maintained and that the amplitude of the light passed through the analyzer 24 is zero. If any phase difference is created by the electromagnetic field, the light waves become elliptical-polarized light waves which will create a component passed through the analyzer 24. The amplitude of the light passed through the analyzer 24 depends on the potential difference applied thereto. When the light rays passed through the analyzer 24 are conducted to the optical detector 14 through the optical fiber 18 wherein the amount thereof is measured, one can measure the potential difference applied to the electro-optic crystal 22, that is, the intensity of the electromagnetic field.
In such a prior art system, the sensor section 10 and optical fibers 16, 18 are substantially made of dielectric material. Thus, the electromagnetic field in the measurement place 100 will not substantially be disturbed. As a result, the accurate measurement of electromagnetic field intensity can be accomplished.
On the contrary, the prior art system has a problem in that its sensitivity of measurement for electromagnetic field is very low, resulting in difficulty on measurement of the feeble intensity of electromagnetic field. For example, even if a subminiature crystal 22 of 1 mm square is used, a voltage as much as 300 V is required to cause the phase of rays passed through the crystal 22 to vary through 180 degrees. Depending on the gain in the antennas 26a and 26b, it is extremely difficult to measure the electromagnetic field if its intensity is weak.
In order to overcome such a problem, it has been proposed that a waveguide type Mach-Zehnder interferometric modulator is used in place of the bulk crystal.
FIG. 4 shows one of such systems as constructed in accordance with such a proposal. In FIG. 4, parts similar to that of FIG. 3 are designated by similar reference numerals and will not be further described.
In this system, a sensor section 10 comprises a pair of antenna metals 34a and 34b and a integrated optics 36 functioning as a waveguide type modulator. The integrated optics 36 includes an internal waveguide 38 for propagating a measuring light from an optical fiber 16. The waveguide 38 includes first and second modulating waveguide portions 38a and 38b branched and recombined in a modulating section 40. The first and second modulating waveguide portions 38a and 38b receive voltage signals through electrodes 28a and 28b, respectively. The voltage signals are field detection signals which are outputted from the antenna metals 34a and 34b and which are opposite to each other in polarity.
In such an arrangement, when the sensor section 10 receives a coherent measuring light from the light source 12 through the optical fiber 16, the measuring light will be propagated into the optical modulator section 40 through the waveguide 38 of the integrated optics 36.
Voltage signals detected by the pair of antenna metals 34a and 34b, which signals are representative of the intensity of electromagnetic field, are applied to the first and second modulating waveguide portions 38a and 38b through the electrode 28a and 28b. Since the applied voltages are opposite to each other in polarity, a phase difference is created in the light waves after they have passed through the waveguide portions 38a and 38b. When the light waves are re-combined in a wave combining section 39, the degree of phase difference is converted into signals indicative of the intensity of electromagnetic field. These signals are applied to an optical detector 14 through an optical fiber 18. Since several volts is at most required to vary the light amplitude from maximum to minimum, the sensitivity increases about 100 times higher than that of the system shown in FIG. 3.
When the modulated measuring light from an integrated optics 36 is detected by the optical detector 14 with respect to the amplitude thereof and the resulting signals from the optical detector 14 are inputted into a signal processing circuit 36, the latter can calculate the amplitude of the modulated measuring light, the level of the phase difference and the intensity of the electromagnetic field, the results being displayed on a display 32.
In such a manner, the prior art system can measure the weak intensity of electromagnetic field since the electromagnetic field can be measured more sensitively in the measuring place 100.
However, the sensor section 10 of the prior art system includes the integrated optics 36 and the optical input and output fibers 16 and 18 connected to the integrated optics 36. Therefore, the sensor section 10 cannot be reduced up to such a size as be sufficient in practice. It is thus difficult that the prior art system makes measurement in smaller places.
More particularly, the sensor section 10 is preferably of a cantilevered structure. In such a case, however, one of the two optical fibers 16 and 18 must be bent in the completely opposite direction.
As well-known, the optical fibers are relatively flexible, but has its acceptable minimum range of flexure which is in the order of several centimeters. If it is wanted to reduce the size of the sensor section 10 by bending one of the optical fibers as shown by 18 in FIG. 5, it is extremely difficult to reduce the size of the sensor section 10 up to a practically required value equal to or less than 20 mm.
It can be considered that a tortuous waveguide 38 is formed in the integrated optics 36, rather than the bending of the optical output fiber 18. In general, the waveguide 38 has its refractive index higher than the surrounding material to confine and guide light waves therein. However, the difference of refractive index between the waveguide 38 and the surrounding material is at most ranged between 10.sup.-2 and 10.sup.-3. Consequently, a loss of guide will increase if the waveguide 38 is bent as aforementioned.
As well-known, the connections between the optical fibers and the waveguide require the most accurate adjustment and tend to vary its characteristics due to any mechanical deviation from variations of temperature, vibration and the like.
In such an arrangement that two optical fibers 16 and 18 are used as in the prior art, two connections between the optical fibers 16, 18 and the waveguide 16 are required which are cumbersome to make these connections. This resulted in a cause by which a system capable of steadily operating for a prolonged period is manufactured more inexpensively.

Fiberoptic apparatus for measuring electromagnetic field intensity with an electro-optic sensor


A particular method includes receiving a video stream to be displayed on a display device. The method also includes, during a first time period, sending a low resolution version of the video stream to the display device while recovering a full resolution version of the video stream. The method further includes synchronizing the low resolution version of the video stream with the full resolution version of the video stream. The method also includes, during a second time period after the first time period, switching from sending the low resolution version of the video stream to the display device to sending the full resolution version of the video stream to the display device.

In a variety of situations in which television content is transmitted digitally, there can be a significant delay that occurs when switching from one source of video to another. Typically, the delay occurs while changing a television channel, but the delay also may occur when starting a new video stream in a number of situations. The delay depends on the specific situation, such as the type of video compression, the network bandwidth, and the decompression hardware. Further, the delay can occur when a new network stream is initiated and the delay can also occur when accessing video that is stored locally at a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), a Personal Video Recorder (PVR), or another local video storage device. Customers and users find this delay disconcerting. Moreover, the delay is of particular concern since analog televisions do not exhibit this type of delay.
Certain proposed solutions to the delay may be defined to fall into two classes. The simplest approach is to provide access to videos through a user interface that effectively hides the delay. This is the approach used by a variety of products in which the customer is effectively encouraged to navigate through an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and avoid directly switching channels. This method does not really solve the problem; it simply encourages the user to behave in a manner that causes the delay to be less noticeable. The second approach is to overpower the delay by bursting a very large amount of video data in a short amount of time. This technique requires the transmission of up to 10 times the normal amount of data in order to provide sufficient video data to begin rendering the video in a short amount of time after a channel is changed (e.g. less than 100 msec).
Both of these approaches attempt to address the problem of video delays, but the first requires customers to change their behavior and the second places significant and expensive requirements on the local network and the rendering device.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and method of displaying a video stream.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method of displaying a video stream


This invention relates to an auto configuring runway lighting system. The auto configuring runway lighting system comprises a plurality of lighting apparatus. Each lighting apparatus comprises a means for determining geographic location information of the lighting apparatus. A central controller communicates with the plurality of lighting apparatus to obtain the geographic location information and controls the status of the plurality of lighting apparatus based on the geographic location information.

Lighting systems are important navigational aids for aircrafts, boats, or other vehicles, in providing guidance, signaling, and demarcation functions therefore. In certain military or emergency navigation applications, the lighting system is required to be reconfigurable, such as changing the number of runway, taxiway, threshold, runway end and obstruction lights according to momentary needs. It is also desirable to have sensor units embedded in the lighting apparatus for automatically controlling their operation according to their geographic locations.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,659,676 issued to Hwang discloses a lighting system which includes a GPS receiver for calculating sunrise time and sunset time from an inputted GPS signal and outputting an on/off signal according to the calculated sunrise time and sunset time, and a security light configured to be turned on/off in response to the on/off signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,798,669 issued to Trojanowski et al. discloses a remotely adjustable lighting device configured to an operational mode customized for the geographic location of the device. The lighting device is powered by a battery provided with solar charging. The lighting device is turned off and on for an illumination period as a function of both local sunrise and sunset times determined by a combination of time and date information and GPS positioning.
None of the above cited patents addresses the issue of automatically reconfiguring a runway lighting system according to momentary military or emergency navigational needs.


An X-ray imaging stand that supports an upright X-ray imaging panel by a column standing vertically through a carriage, includes a bar-like member having a longitudinal bar section that extends from the carriage in the upward direction over the upper end of the X-ray imaging panel and a horizontal bar section that extends from the leading end of the longitudinal bar section in the horizontal direction over the surface of the X-ray imaging panel receiving the X-ray, and a support mechanism that supports the longitudinal bar section of the bar-like member above the carriage such that the angle thereof is variable in plural stages in a plane parallel to the surface of the X-ray imaging panel receiving the X-ray.

The subject matter described herein relates to an X-ray imaging stand and an X-ray imaging apparatus, and more particularly, to an X-ray imaging stand that supports a vertically-arranged X-ray imaging panel by a column standing vertically, and an X-ray imaging apparatus having the X-ray stand.
An X-ray imaging apparatus irradiates an X-ray to a patient from an X-ray irradiator, and receives the transmitted X-ray by an X-ray imaging panel so as to form a fluoroscopic image. There are X-ray imaging apparatuses using an X-ray stand. The X-ray stand supports a vertically-arranged X-ray imaging panel by a vertical column (e.g., see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 11(1999)-155850).
When a fluoroscopic image of a breast is imaged from the side, a patient faces the X-ray imaging panel sideways with both arms raised. In order to facilitate the posture with both arms raised, a grip bar is provided to the X-ray imaging stand. The grip bar is composed of a longitudinal bar section rising from a carriage of the X-ray imaging panel and a horizontal bar section that becomes horizontal above the head of the patient. The patient grips the horizontal bar section with both hands to keep raising both hands.
The comfortable direction of raising hands for the patient is not limited to the right upward direction, but is mostly a direction slightly forward from the right upward direction. The degree of the direction slightly forward from the right upward direction varies depending upon a patient, and is exactly opposite depending upon whether the patient faces to the right or to the left.

X-ray imaging stand and X-ray imaging apparatus

GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC


A semiconductor laser diode device with small driving current and no distortion in the projected image. The semiconductor laser diode includes an n-GaAs substrate and, an n-cladding layer on the n-GaAs substrate, an active layer, a p-clad layer, a multilayer formed from sequentially laminated p-contact layers, and a ridge formed by selectively etching from the upper surface of the p-contact active layer to a specified depth on the p-contact layer, and an insulating film deposited on the upper surface side of the n-GaAs substrate, and formed from the side surface of the ridge to the edge periphery of the n-GaAs substrate, and a p-electrode formed on the insulating layer deposited on the ridge of the P-contact layer, and an n-type electrode formed on the lower surface of the n-GaAs substrate; and the n-GaAs substrate structure possesses a side edge serving as an absorption layer to absorb light emitted at the active layer wavelength; and a groove is fabricated at the side edge forming the front facet (forward emission side), to a depth from the p-cladding layer exceeding the active layer, from a p-cladding layer section a specified distance away from the side of the ridge along the edge, to the side of the active layer; and the groove is covered by the insulating layer.

Significant advances have been made in applications using 630 nanometer band AlGaInP (aluminum gallium indium phosphide) red semiconductor lasers (laser diodes: LD) in display devices because of good visual characteristics such as high brightness. One important application of these semiconductor laser diodes (Hereafter, called laser diodes) is projecting a laser beam onto an object for visual recognition in display devices such as markers and levelers. Since portability is a highly important condition, battery power is a main requirement. The laser diode must therefore consume as little electrical power as possible in order to allow long term operation from batteries. A high quality laser beam is also an essential element when using the laser diode as a display device.
One method effective in lowering the laser diode drive current is to use a semiconductor device with a real index guided structure possessing highly efficient light emission with minimal internal (waveguide-cavity) loss in the laser diode device. Structures of this type are disclosed (for example, in JP-A No. 2002-353566), where the conventional laser diode with a buried layer of GaAs (gallium arsenide) is replaced with a buried heterostructure laser diode of Al(Ga)InP (aluminum gallium indium phosphide) with extremely low light absorbance; and a ridge type laser diode (for example JP-A No. 2006-165407 and International Publication No. WO 02/101894) that utilizes the ridge side surface of the dielectric layer as a protective layer instead of a buried layer.
The semiconductor laser diode disclosed in JP-A No. 2006-165407 is formed with a structure to prevent light in the ridge section from leaking outside the laser by forming a facet (forward emission side) for emitting laser light, or a groove in the vicinity of the facet, or a concave section. This structure is capable of preventing ripples in the FFP (far field pattern) intensity distribution, and acquiring Gaussian shapes with good FFP.
The semiconductor laser diode disclosed in International Publication No. WO 02/101894 contains a facet including at least an active layer cross section the surface of the active layer prevents ripples from occurring in the FFP and acquires Gaussian shapes with good FFP.

Semiconductor laser diode and its fabrication process


Thin layers of aluminum and palladium are deposited and annealed to produce aluminum-palladium alloy. The surface of the alloy is exposed and treated with an aluminum enchant to produce a catalytic surface. The catalytic surface is used for electroless plating of nickel, providing excellent plating uniformity and adhesion, as well as a reduced plating induction time. Several variants of the basic method are shown.

Electroless plating is a method used to deposit a thin film or a layer of some material on a substrate. The principal step is the immersion of the substrate in a plating bath containing ions of the material to be deposited, causing some of these ions to precipitate at the substrate's surface. Unlike electroplating methods, electroless plating does not require an externally applied electric field to facilitate the ion deposition process. The electroless plating may be selective, i.e., the deposition may occur only at locations that exhibit appropriate electrochemical properties. For example, the ions may be deposited mainly on those portions of the substrate that are made of a material identical (or exhibiting affinity) to the material being deposited. Another of many possibilities is that portions of the substrate may be treated or activated with a catalyst to cause the ion deposition to occur at a rapid rate. The material or catalyst present in the selected areas before the deposition is sometimes referred to as "seed material" or "seed layer". The ratio of the deposition rate on the activated regions to the deposition rate at the non-activated regions is referred to as the "plating process selectivity." The deposition rate may also depend on the physical characteristics of the activated areas, e.g., their sizes, aspect ratios, and distances separating them. If the thickness of the material deposited in various locations at the substrate is similar, the plating process is said to be uniform. For many applications, it is crucial that the plating process be uniform, that it exhibit high selectivity, and that the deposited film strongly adheres to the substrate. The adhesion is commonly measured with a "scotch tape" test, where adhesion is deemed acceptable if a piece of a "scotch tape" can be pressed onto the plated surface and lifted off without destroying any plated features. One of the ways to increase the adhesion is to subject the plated artifact to an annealing process. The conditions or process parameters such as the temperature, ion concentration in the plating path, and duration of the bath, which provide desirable uniformity, selectivity, and some physical properties of the deposited layer usually fall within certain ranges, the combination of which is called a "technological process window." To ensure the repeatability and consistency of the plating process, it is desirable that the process window be as large as possible.
Electroless plating of solid metals from a solution containing metal ions onto a catalytically active surface has been widely used in the printed circuit board industry for production of wiring layers and inter-layer (via) connections. More recently, this body of knowledge has been applied to producing metal interconnect films in the integrated circuit (IC) industry. The electroless plating technique has several advantages over other well known metal deposition techniques such as sputtering and evaporation. One advantage is that the electroless plating process uses materials and capital equipment that are inexpensive compared to the other methods. Another advantage is that the technique deposits films only in selected, catalytically active regions. This property of selective growth allows the user to reduce the number of lithographic patterning and etching steps used to define the regions to be covered by the deposited metal. It also facilitates dense patterning of materials such as copper, that are difficult to etch anisotropically . Yet another advantage is that the growth rate of the deposited metal is relatively independent of the angles or relative heights of topographic features on the substrate being plated. This property enables deposition into features having high aspect ratios, such as deep via holes on multi-layer circuit boards, that could not be uniformly covered by the "line of sight" deposition techniques such as sputtering and evaporation.
The most commonly published use of electroless plating in the integrated circuit industry is for filling contact or via holes. The traditional contact is a hole, patterned and etched in a dielectric film placed on top of a conducting film so that the surface of the conducting film is exposed within the hole. An upper level of conductor, patterned over the contact hole, makes a physical and electrical contact with the lower conductor in the contact region. Electroless plating has been used to grow metal selectively onto the surface of the lower conductor that is exposed in the contact hole. This produces a metallic "plug" which electrically couples the upper conductor to the lower conductor. The "plug" is plated until its top surface substantially coincides with the top surface of the dielectric, and the resulting planarity of the structure prevents problems that might occur in the subsequent processing if topographic variations were present in the vicinity of the contact region.
Although electroless plating-based processes, such as contact-hole filling, offer many advantages to the process designer, the technique has only found limited acceptance within the IC manufacturing community. Although the technique appears to be relatively simple, the chemical reactions occurring at the plated surface can be complex. Some of the factors inhibiting the wider application of electroless plating are the difficulties in controlling the plating process and in obtaining uniform plating thickness on the entire substrate, as well as the sensitivity to contaminants exhibited by the process. Many of these problems are related to the previously known surface activation techniques, i.e., methods used to render the plated surface catalytically active. The present invention teaches a new surface preparation technique that provides a more active surface on which to plate, thereby improving the latitude of the plating process and the uniformity of the plated materials.
Many surface activation techniques have been reported in both the patent and scientific literature. Frequently, these techniques are designed for plating a specific material onto a specific substrate material, and rely on certain properties of these materials.
The most common applications of electroless plating to integrated circuit manufacturing comprise plating of nickel, cobalt, palladium, or copper onto one of two types of substrate surfaces. The first type of substrate surface comprises conductive regions of substrates that are generally formed of silicon, aluminum, or aluminum alloys. The second type of substrate comprises a non-conductor such as silicon dioxide or a polymeric insulator The reported surface activation techniques applied to these substrates usually fall into one of three categories: (1) catalyst film deposition by evaporation or sputtering, (2) catalyst film deposition by electrochemical surface modification, and (3) catalytic film deposition from a colloidal suspension.
Palladium and platinum are frequently used as catalytic surface activators in electroless plating methods. Catalytic films of palladium or platinum for subsequent electroless plating can be readily deposited by evaporation or sputtering techniques (Harada et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., November 1986, p. 2428). The films deposited with these techniques can be patterned by well known lithographic techniques, e.g., subtractive etching or liftoff. Large features and/or dense patterns of small features are relatively easy to plate with this method. U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,781 teaches a method to fabricate elevated metal bumps on aluminum bonding pads. In accordance with this method, a palladium film is deposited and patterned on the upper surface of an aluminum wiring layer on an integrated circuit. An insulating layer is deposited over the surface of the substrate and patterned to provide holes exposing the palladium film surface in regions where elevated metal bumps are desired. The substrate is then immersed in an electroless plating bath, resulting in a deposition of metal features that are self-aligned to the apertures opened in the insulating film. While this technique is effective for fabricating the relatively large features discussed in the patent, the palladium film disclosed appears not to provide sufficient catalytic activity to enable plating of the small features commonly fabricated in modern integrated circuit manufacturing, particularly if those small features are located far away from other plated features.
It has been reported that the catalytic activity of palladium films deposited by evaporation and sputtering is lower than that of palladium films deposited by other techniques, for example electrochemically deposited films. This low activity has a significant detrimental impact on the uniformity of structures formed by this process and on the resulting yield. (Svendsen, et al., J Electrochemical. Soc., November 1983, p 2252, and Osaka et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., September 1983, p. 2081) Features that are small or separated with large distances from other features are significantly more difficult to plate. These size-dependent and proximity-dependent effects are often related to the presence of stabilizing agents (stabilizers) in the plating solutions. Stabilizers are added to most commercially available plating solutions to prevent the spontaneous decomposition of the plating bath. Generally, the stabilizers reduce or even prevent the auto-catalytic plating reaction from occurring on small particles that may be present in the bath. The presence of such particles may result from a contamination of the plating bath with the airborne dust. The stabilizing agents also exert a significant and beneficial impact on the electrical and mechanical properties of the deposited film, although the mechanisms for this action are not always clearly understood. It is intuitively clear, however, that any mechanism that prevents undesirable auto-catalytic plating on small particles in the bath may also impede the desirable plating of small, isolated features present on the substrate. Plating of small features may be enhanced by modifying the bath composition or process conditions. For instance, the ability to plate sub-micrometer features can be improved by raising the plating bath temperature, or by reducing the amount of the stabilizing agents in the bath. This improvement is obtained the price of a reduced plating selectivity and reduced bath stability.
The plating non-uniformity and process selectivity also depend on the detailed history of the catalytic surface. Subjecting this surface to any post-patterning clean-up processes or exposing it to air before plating reduce the ability to uniformly plate the desired features. U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,986 discloses the placement of a protective chromium film, that is deposited over a palladium catalyst film. The chromium has two beneficial effects: (1) the adhesion of the dielectric offer the areas comprising the seed metal covered with the catalyst and chromium films is increased compared to the adhesion of the same dielectric to the seed metal covered by the catalyst film only, and (2) the chromium film shelters the palladium catalyst from the adverse effects of some processes to which the substrate is subjected before plating. The chromium film can be removed by etching it immediately prior to the plating process, thus reducing the exposure of the catalyst to oxidation or other process-induced degradation. Direct comparisons of this technique to those using electrochemically deposited catalysts, and to the present invention, demonstrate that the use of a protective layer only provides a fresh surface upon which to plate. The catalytic activity of this surface is similar to a freshly deposited palladium film and is significantly lower than that provided by other techniques, including the present invention.
A wide range of electrochemical surface modification techniques to enable the catalytic plating on metallic and dielectric materials have been disclosed. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,680, aluminum films used in VLSI circuits can be rendered catalytically active by electroless plating of a seed layer of palladium from a bath containing a dilute aqueous solution of PdCl.sub.2 and HCl. Typically, the pre-existing aluminum oxide is removed by a short immersion in a dilute HF solution prior to the palladium activation. The degree of activation achieved by this technique depends strongly on the processing history of the aluminum surface, the concentration of the activator components, the temperature, and duration of the exposure of the aluminum surface to the activator. This method can achieve very high levels of activation, but suffers from a very small "process window" . If the exposure to the activator solution is too brief, the insufficient surface activation and the resulting plating non-uniformity will occur. If the exposure to the activator solution is too long, the plated metal will exhibit poor adhesion. While this process has been demonstrated to work, the development of a stable, reproducible manufacturing implementation is difficult. Using a similar technique, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,122,215 and 4,125,648 teach a similar method of activating aluminum surfaces by contact of the aluminum with a solution containing nickel ions.
U.S. Pat No. 4,372,996 illustrates another method of activating aluminum surfaces using the electroless deposition of zinc. The zinc is then used as a catalytic seed material for subsequent plating of the nickel film. This process is commonly refereed to as "zincating", and is extremely effective for activating larger dimension patterns but suffers from a reduced process window in the presence of features with small dimensions, such as used in many integrated circuits. The process exhibits a tradeoff between activation and adhesion similar to the one discussed above for palladium-based activation.
Several techniques have been disclosed that use alloys of palladium to seed electroless plating. Copper deposition from a thermally grown film of palladium silicide was discussed in Mak, et. al., Appl. Phys. Letters, 59, December 1991. U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,526 discloses selective plating in regions where a reaction between a palladium film and a dielectric film deposited over it is induced with a high-energy laser. U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,375 teaches the method of activating refractory metals by a high-temperature exposure to a carburizing atmosphere.
A significant amount of prior art is directed toward the modification of dielectric surfaces to enable electroless plating onto the modified material. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,650,913, 3,976,816, 4,132,832, 4,220,678, 4,258,087, 4,261,747, 4,278,712, 4,282,271, 4,317,846, 4,318,940, 4,323,594, and 4,863,758 all discuss variants of the widely known method consisting of exposure of a non-conducting surface to a medium containing dispersed catalytic particles. Many of these patents teach various methods of making and using solutions containing tin and palladium ions or colloidal dispersions of tin-palladium particles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,730 teaches the activation of dielectric surfaces by sequential exposure to tin- and palladium-containing baths. U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,553 activates a dielectric surface by contact to a dispersion of carbon particles and U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,049 uses semiconductor particles that are laminated onto the dielectric. Yet another approach involves chemical treatment of dielectric polymer surfaces to render them catalytically active. This approach is taken by the authors of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,078,096, 4,112,139, 4,910,045, 5,135,779, 5,165,971, and 5,160,600. U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,795 discloses the novel technique for the patterned activation of silicon dioxide that has been implanted with catalytically active ions.

Aluminum-palladium alloy for initiation of electroless plating


The disclosure relates to a mechanical seal for sealing a fluid-conducting channel and/or space extending in a stationary component and/or a rotating component from the environment, having a slide ring which is supported in the axial direction against a counter ring in a sealing manner and, to compensate for wear on its front-end seal face or on a counter face, is supported against the counter ring elastically and movably in the axial direction with this seal face;

A generic mechanical seal and a method for monitoring the wear of such a mechanical seal is known from DE 34 26 539 A1. The mechanical seal has a slide ring rotating around an axis of rotation, which is supported in the axial direction, i.e. in the direction of the axis of rotation, with its face side against a counter ring. The face side therefore forms the seal face.
The slide ring is subject to wear due to its relative rotation and the elastic support against the counter ring. Due to the wear, the slide ring moves increasingly in the axial direction. In order to ensure that the slide ring can be replaced in good time before the slide ring is excessively worn and thus loses its sealing effect, the wear is detected by providing a probe radially to the axially movable slide ring, which detects how far the slide ring has already moved axially relative to the probe. For this purpose, a magnetic insert can be provided in the slide ring or in a component moving with the slide ring and the probe can be designed as an electromagnetic sensor which detects a signal from the magnetic insert, wherein the signal reaches a maximum when the wear surfaces have reached the maximum wear.
The disadvantage of the known mechanical seal is that although it is possible by detecting the axial position of the mechanical seal, i.e. the position of the mechanical seal in the axial direction, to detect a permanently progressive wear due to abrasion of the slide ring, which signals the need to replace the slide ring, damage in the seal face of the slide ring or also in the facing surface of the counter ring remains undetected if this damage does not affect the axial position of the slide ring. Cracks in the slide ring which lead to leakage without affecting the axial position are also not detected.
Reference is hereby made to DE 197 24 308 A1 and DE 20 2007 001 223 U1 concerning the further prior art. Both documents disclose the detection of a temperature in the area of a slide ring of a mechanical seal on the side of the seal face carrying the fluid. This temperature is essentially determined by the temperature of the supplied fluid and therefore does not allow a reliable conclusion to be drawn about damage as described above.
DE 10 2006 008 463 A1 describes a test device for measuring the vapor emission at a leakage point of mechanical seals. Compressed air is fed into a chamber sealed by the mechanical seal, wherein the compressed air flows over the mechanical seal and entrains the working medium provided there during regular operation of the mechanical seal, in particular water-glycol mixture, over the mechanical seal. From the moisture of the compressed air on the leakage side of the mechanical seal, it is then possible to draw conclusions about the current state of the mechanical seal, for example in the case of a final inspection of the mechanical seal.
The present disclosure is based on the object of specifying a mechanical seal for sealing a channel and/or space extending in a stationary and/or in a rotating component and carrying a fluid, such as liquid or gas, and a method for monitoring the wear of such a mechanical seal, in which not only the continuous wear can be detected, but also defects in the seal face or leaks in the mechanical seal are reliably detected.
The object according to the disclosure is solved by a mechanical seal and a method according to the independent claims. The dependent claims indicate particularly advantageous embodiments of the disclosure.
A mechanical seal according to the disclosure for sealing at least one fluid-conducting channel and/or space extending in a stationary component and/or a rotating component from the environment comprises a slide ring which is supported in a sealing manner in the axial direction against a counter ring. The at least one fluid-conducting channel extends according to an embodiment of the disclosure from a stationary component into a rotating component or from a rotating component into the stationary component, thus through a rotary passage. The rotary passage serves to transfer the fluid from the respective channel section of the stationary component into the respective channel section of the rotating component, i.e. rotating about an axis of rotation, or vice versa. However, the disclosure can also be applied independently of a rotary passage in any component where sealing by a mechanical seal is used. In this respect, the fluid-conducting channel is any space in a stationary component and/or in a rotating component which is sealed against an environment by the mechanical seal. The environment can be any other space in the component and/or in another component, or an environment that is no longer enclosed by housing parts. The environment may be unpressurized or pressurized. The fluid may flow in the channel and/or space or be stationary. The sealing of at least one fluid-conducting channel and/or space in a pump, such as a liquid pump or gas pump, a compressor and other working machines, is only provided as an example.
As the slide ring is supported against the counter ring in the axial direction, i.e. in the direction of the axis of rotation of the rotating component, it is subject to wear. For example, the slide ring is made of or contains carbon. In order to prevent the wear that shortens the slide ring in the axial direction from causing leakage, for example in the rotary passage, the slide ring is movable in the axial direction and, to compensate for the wear, is elastically supported against the counter ring with its seal face on the end face. Progressive wear is thus compensated for by increasing axial displacement of the slide ring in the direction of the counter ring. In addition or alternatively, the counter ring can also be subject to abrasion or wear in the area of a counter face in contact with the seal face of the slide ring, so that to compensate for this, the slide ring is axially displaced by its elastic pretension.
In order to be able to evaluate the extent of wear or the axial movement of the slide ring which has already occurred, a position sensor is provided to detect the position of the slide ring in the axial direction.
According to the disclosure, a temperature sensor is also provided on a leakage side of the seal face facing away from the fluid-conducting channel and/or space. The temperature sensor detects at least indirectly or directly a temperature which is dependent on the size of a leakage flow passing over the seal face from the channel and/or space. The larger the leakage flow, the closer the temperature value detected is to the temperature of the fluid carried in the channel and/or space, due to the heat transfer between the leakage flow and the temperature sensor, at least also by forced convection. The size of the leakage flow is understood to be, for example, the volume flow and/or mass flow of the leakage flow passing over the seal face.
If damage thus occurs in the seal face or the counter ring, which leads to an undesired escape of fluid from the fluid-conducting channel or space across the seal face, this leakage flow, which is increased at least compared with a target state, leads to a temperature change on the side of the seal face, the so-called leakage side, facing away from the fluid-conducting channel/space. This temperature change or a corresponding temperature value is detected by the temperature sensor. The detection can then be used to determine when there is an undesirably large leakage flow.
The leakage side of the seal face facing away from the fluid-conducting channel/space is a position or area downstream of the seal face with respect to a flow direction of the fluid from the fluid-conducting channel/space across the seal face.
The temperature sensor can detect a temperature which depends on the size of a leakage flow emerging from the channel and/or space over the seal face during regular operation of the mechanical seal. Thus, during regular operation of the mechanical seal, the wear of the mechanical seal in particular is continuously monitored. It is not necessary for the mechanical seal to be operated in a test mode in which an additional component or medium is added to the fluid carried in the channel and/or space. Rather, only the fluid already present in the channel and/or space during regular operation is intended to be used, so that the leakage flow, which forms the entire flow over the mechanical seal, is also formed by only a part of this fluid. This fluid can also be called the working medium.
Preferably, the position sensor has at least one magnet fixed to the slide ring, for example inserted into at least one bore, in particular a radial bore, or supported in the axial direction against the slide ring and moving with the slide ring in the axial direction, and a stationary sensor positioned radially outside the slide ring, which detects the position of the magnet in the axial direction. The stationary sensor is designed as a Hall sensor, for example. Such a Hall sensor is in particular traversed by an electric current and generates an output voltage which is proportional to the product of the current and a magnetic flux density generated by the magnet associated with the slide ring.
In particular, the temperature sensor is also integrated in the stationary sensor, for example the Hall sensor.
For example, the stationary sensor has a sensor housing positioned in the leakage flow, within which or at which the temperature sensor is positioned. According to an advantageous embodiment, the temperature sensor is completely enclosed by the sensor housing.
In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, the stationary sensor is designed as a Hall sensor, and a control device is also provided, which is integrated in particular in the Hall sensor, for example the said sensor housing, wherein the control device compensates, as a function of a temperature value detected by the temperature sensor, for a temperature dependence of an output value generated by the Hall sensor, in particular in the form of the output voltage. The Hall sensor can be designed as an analog Hall sensor in which the electric current flowing through it is regulated in order to compensate for the temperature dependence, or as a digital Hall sensor in which a temperature dependence is compensated for by a digital correction calculation.
In particular, the slide ring is mounted in a housing so as to be movable in the axial direction and is elastically supported against it, wherein the housing encloses the slide ring in the circumferential direction and the stationary sensor is attached to the outside of the housing. For example, the housing has a frontal base and a circumferential edge connected thereto, which encloses the slide ring in the circumferential direction. The circumferential edge may have an inwardly protruding projection, in particular in the form of a beading, which forms an axial stop for the slide ring, wherein a spring element, for example in the form of a compression spring, in particular a corrugated spring, is provided between the base and an end face of the slide ring remote from the axial stop, which elastically applies pressure to the slide ring in the direction of the stop. The stop then prevents the slide ring from moving out of the housing.
The slide ring can be sealed against the housing by means of a sealing element, for example an O-ring, especially in the radial direction.
The housing can be made of steel or sheet steel, for example.
In particular, the position sensor is designed in such a way that it not only detects the end positions of a slide ring that is not yet worn off and a slide ring that is completely worn off, but also intermediate positions between these end positions. In particular, a continuous movement of the seal face in the axial direction is detected in each position.
In accordance with a particularly advantageous embodiment, the slide ring is designed as a hollow-cylindrical carbon ring or comprises such a hollow-cylindrical carbon ring, wherein the carbon ring has an end face forming the seal face. The end face may project in the axial direction relative to a stop face of the slide ring, which, in the event of maximum axial displacement of the seal face in the housing, abuts against the said housing projection.
According to one embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one magnet is connected to the slide ring via an intermediate component, for example a carriage which is also supported on the stop surface, in such a way that it moves in the axial direction together with the slide ring. For example, the component or carriage is pressed elastically against the stop face.
According to one embodiment of the disclosure, the slide ring is stationary and the counter ring rotates relative to the slide ring, i.e. rotates around the axis of rotation.
According to the method according to the disclosure, the position sensor is used to detect the position of the seal face in the axial direction, and the temperature sensor is used to detect a temperature, namely on the leakage side of the seal face facing away from the fluid-conducting channel or space. The temperature depends on the size of a leakage flow passing over the seal face from the channel or space. Depending on the detection of the temperature and depending on the detection of the position of the mechanical slide ring in the axial direction, a wear condition of the mechanical seal is determined.
Although in the above and following embodiment examples of the disclosure the ring moving in the axial direction to compensate for its wear was called a slide ring and the comparatively harder ring, which in particular does not wear or wears less, was called a counter ring, the present disclosure also comprises embodiments in which the ring moving in the axial direction does not wear off or not only wears off at the end face, but also such embodiments in which a ring which is stationary in the axial direction is designed to be equally soft or softer than the ring movable in the axial direction and thus wears out on its end face in addition to the ring movable in the axial direction or instead of the ring moving in the axial direction.
The solution according to the disclosure makes it possible to better detect the wear of a mechanical seal, namely also states of damage or wear that exceed the usual abrasion. At the same time, the disclosure enables improved detection without the need for significant additional installation space, especially if the temperature sensor is provided in the sensor housing or on the sensor housing. The use of the temperature sensor for different tasks—temperature compensation and detection of an undesired leakage flow—allows an improvement without a significant increase in hardware costs.
If, for example, a comparatively warm fluid is passed through the channel or space, in particular a channel of a rotary passage, the detected temperature value can be compared with a specified limit value and, if the limit value is reached or exceeded by the detected temperature value, an inadmissibly increased leakage flow can be concluded. Alternatively, the rate of rise of a detected temperature curve can be compared with a predetermined heating curve and, if the predetermined heating curve is reached or exceeded by the detected temperature value, an impermissibly increased leakage flow can be concluded. If the fluid passing through the at least one channel or room has a lower temperature than the environment in which the temperature sensor is positioned, the evaluation can be carried out analogously if the temperature falls below a predetermined limit value or a predetermined cooling curve.

Mechanical seal for sealing a fluid-conducting channel and/or space and method for monitoring the wear of a mechanical seal

Abstract: having a position sensor to detect the position of the slide ring in the axial direction. The disclosure is characterized in that a temperature sensor is provided on a leakage side of the seal face facing away from the channel and/or space, which sensor at least indirectly detects a temperature which is dependent on the magnitude of a leakage flow passing from the channel and/or space via the seal face.


A process for converting interlaced frames into progressive frames comprising a change of frame frequency by interpolation and motion compensation, wherein when a motion vector associated with a pixel to be interpolated is non-zero or when the motion vector is zero but the confidence accorded to this vector is less than a given threshold, the interpolation of the pixel of a frame situated temporally between two input frames is carried out by a median filtering pertaining to the values obtained by a first motion compensated linear temporal filter, a second motion compensated linear filter, and a motion compensated median temporal filter.

A present-day mass-market television receives and displays 25 images per second, each made up of two frames, one containing the even lines and the other the odd lines of the image; the screen is thus scanned vertically 50 times a second, this being a low frequency in relation to the reaction time of the eye. The limit frequency above which the eye would succeed in temporally resolving a televized sequence into a succession of discrete images is not much less than 50 Hz. By contrast, this flicker is virtually eliminated for a frame frequency of 75 Hz or better of 100 Hz; this latter solution therefore corresponds to a doubling of frequency.
The most obvious solution for achieving this frequency doubling consists simply in repeating twice on display each frame received; this is why such a device is termed 100 Hz AABB. It is also an interlaced display (the 312.5 even lines are displayed for 10 ms and then the 312.5 odd lines for the following 10 ms, etc.).
The shortcomings of such a simplistic algorithm quickly become apparent however; effective on stationary images, it proves to be tiring to the eyes if an object is shifting on the screen. A horizontally moving point is seen as if double, all the more so the greater its speed; this is due to the fact that it is observed by the eye along with the successive images as occupying one position twice and then a neighbouring position twice, etc (see FIG. 1). The systems for controlling the eye enabling it to follow a shifting object are highly disturbed by these irregularities, and do not allow it to identify the original motion clearly.
A good solution consists in detecting and calculating the motion of the various parts of the image and in calculating the intermediate images with the help of this information; this is the strategy which has been adopted here. The main defect of the 100 Hz AABB described above is thus corrected while preserving the suppression of flicker.
However, another defect of present-day television sets is linked with the interlacing of the lines displayed. In an image having good definition, a fine detail such as a line on the screen will, owing to the interlacing, only be displayed once every 1/25 of a second (see FIG. 2). A solution consists in displaying all the lines of the screen with each vertical scan, while reconstructing the non-transmitted lines by temporal or spatial interpolation. It could then be asked why not display 625 lines for each frame, with a renewal frequency of 100 Hz.
If the frame frequency of 100 Hz is retained, this amounts to again doubling the number of lines displayed per second, and hence to quadrupling the frequency of scanning the lines of the screen as compared with a conventional receiver: this is known as working at line frequency 4 H.
In a cathode-ray tube, the deflexion of the electron beam providing the scanning of the spot is controlled by a system of electromagnets situated at the base of the tube. For so high a scanning frequency, the bulk of the energy absorbed by these electromagnets is restored in the form of heat, this fairly quickly rendering them unsuitable for their role in the current state of mass-market technology. It is therefore necessary to reduce the line frequency.
The upper limit presently achieved is 3 H. We are therefore led to consider a standard based on a frame frequency of 75 Hz, with 625 lines per frame. The flicker effect is almost invisible at 75 Hz; the screens of certain workstations, for example, have a frame frequency of 72 Hz, this rendering them much less tiring to look at than a television screen.
The invention proposes a process for interpolating progressive frames from interlaced frames.
European Patent Applications 95 400722.5 (D94/128I) and 95 400721.7 (D941128I) in the name of Thomson Consumer Electronics SA describe processes and devices for converting images from a 50 Hz interlaced format to a 100 Hz interlaced format.
European Patent Application EP-A-064047 also in the name of Thomson Consumer Electronics relates to a method of measuring confidence in a motion estimate in an image conversion system.

Process for interpolating progressive frames


A manufacturing process, system, and method is described that facilitates the assembly and testing of a hydraulic manifold with integral closed loop pressure sensing and feedback.

Electro-hydraulic manifold assemblies having a plurality of solenoid operated valves disposed on a manifold block, each operable to control pressure from the inlet to a separate outlet, are used in many industries. Sensing ports are provided in each outlet with a pressure sensor sealed over the sensing port for providing a signal indicative of the sensed pressure. The pressure sensors are mounted on a lead frame and connected to conductive strips in the lead frame. The lead frame has slots therein, which permit the frame to be simultaneously electrically connected by bayonet connection to the terminals on each solenoid valve as the transducers are sealed over the sensing ports and the lead frame attached to the manifold block.
Manifolds of this type are employed for controlling pressure of hydraulic fluid in servo-actuators as, for example, clutch actuators in automatic speed-change power transmissions for motor vehicles where it is desired to control the speed change or shifting patterns of the transmission with an electronic controller. This arrangement has found widespread use in modern automatic vehicle transmissions because the electronic controller can receive in real time multiple inputs of vehicle operating parameters such as road speed, throttle position and engine RPM; and the electronic controller can be programmed to provide optimum shifting patterns based upon known engine power available, vehicle mass and the operating parameter inputs.
In providing a shifting pattern for controlling hydraulic fluid pressure to each of the transmission speed change clutch actuators for effecting the desired shifting, it has been found that providing pressure sensors at the outlet of each of the electrically operated valves can provide a clutch actuator pressure signal in real time, which is in actuality an analog of the force on the clutch that is in turn proportional to the torque transmitted by the clutch during engagement and disengagement. Such an arrangement provides an electrical signal proportional to torque transmitted for a particular gear set and thus provides real time closed loop control of the transmission shifting. This arrangement has been found desirable as an alternative to predetermined shifting algorithms for open loop shift control by the electronic controller.
Electrically connecting the plurality of pressure sensors to the solenoid operated valves in a transmission shift control module or manifold assembly in a manner, which is simple and easy to install in mass production and yet is sufficiently low in cost, gives rise to a need for a novel, low cost method for assembling and testing the hydraulic manifold. The assembly and testing of the hydraulic manifold includes providing at least one component to be assembled and tested from a component group that has at least one: electro-hydraulic proportional valve, electro-hydraulic "on/off" valve, sensor for providing at least one feedback signal, retention component, and optional microprocessor/control unit.


A microwave detector arranged in such a manner that a horn antenna element is fastened to the surface of a microstrip plate having a ground plate on its reverse side. The horn antenna element and the ground plate constitute a microwave receiving antenna so that the height of the microstrip plate is lowered. As a result, a compact microwave detector can be constituted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave detector, and, more particularly, to a horn antenna structure therefor.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
A variety of microwave detectors, each of which is provided with a horn antenna for receiving microwave energy, have been disclosed.
For example, a structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 61-500944 has been known. That is, a horn antenna element manufactured by one-piece molding is provided in such a manner that it can be mounted on a microstrip plate (called a "fastening plate" in the above-described disclosure). The above-described horn antenna element is arranged in such a manner that the antenna portion thereof, a local oscillator disposed on the microstrip plate and a shield portion for covering the mixer are integrally formed. The above-described shield portion constitutes a resonant circuit in the form of a 3-D structure and acts to prevent the external energy radiation at the local oscillating frequency.
The above-described horn antenna element has the inlet portion (which receives the microwave energy) and the bottom portion each of which is opened, the horn antenna element being made of an electroconductive material having only the top portion and the side portion.
The above-described antenna element has a shape the cross sectional area of which is gradually reduced from the inlet portion thereof.
The microstrip plate, on which the above-described horn antenna element is mounted, has a ground plate in at least a region in which said antenna and said shield portion are covered, the ground plate being formed by the same manufacturing process as that for manufacturing the microstrip or the circuit layer.
The "microstrip" is an element of a microstrip line containing component capacitor or inductor and integrally formed with the ground plate formed on the reverse side via a dielectric substrate.
The above-described horn antenna element is fixed to the microstrip plate by a screw which is inserted into the microstrip plate. At this time, the horn antennal element and the ground plate are electrically connected to each other by the above-described screw so that the ground plate serves as the bottom wall of the horn antenna element.
The local oscillator and the mixer are disposed in the shield portion of the above-described horn antenna element, the local oscillator and the mixer being included in the structure formed on the dielectric substrate made of, for example, ceramics so as to be integrally disposed.
However, according to the above-described conventional technology, the ground plate on the portion of the microstrip plate in which the horn antenna is mounted is used so as to serve as the bottom wall of the horn antenna element in order to lower the height of the horn element and to reduce the overall size of the microwave detector.
However, the realized size reduction has not been satisfactory to meet the desire to further reduce the size of the microwave detector. Therefore, there has been a desire to further lower the height of the above-described horn element.
Furthermore, another problem arises in that the number of the manufacturing process increases since the above-described local oscillator and the mixer are included on the structure of the dielectric substrate made of, for example, ceramics so as to be disposed in said horn antenna element (correctly, in the shield portion).
The reason why the above-described local oscillator and the mixer must be mounted on the microstrip plate on top of the dielectric substrate is that the ground plate is formed on the microstrip plate on the same side on which the horn antenna element is mounted and is used as the bottom wall of the above-described horn antenna element.
Furthermore, the above-described structure in which the local oscillator and the mixer are included via the dielectric substrate causes a necessity of establishing an electric connection with other circuits in the portions except for the region on which the horn antenna element is mounted. As a result, another problem arises in that the impedance matching with the above-described other circuits cannot be easily realized.

Microwave detector and horn antenna structure therefor


Disclosed is an improved design for individual flechettes, a multiplicity of which are arrayed in an ammunition cartridge for a gun. The flechettes have elongate solid bodies centered about a longitudinal axis, the bodies tapering from a waist to both forward end and rearward end. The waists of the flechettes are closer to the forward end than to the rearward end so that the flechettes' centers of gravity are closer to the forward ends than the rearward ends. The flechettes may have regular polygonal cross sections or essentially regular polygonal cross sections wherein the flechettes define fins along their bodies. Packing arrangements of the flechettes within ammunition cartridges are also shown.

My invention relates to ammunition for guns wherein a multiplicity of shot units, dispersing projectiles or the like are disposed within a shell. I disclose improved dispersing projectiles in the form of flechettes within a wad cup or a cylinder forming part of a cartridge fired from a gun. My flechettes can achieve more stable, aerodynamically efficient flight than known shot units or dispersing projectiles.
My flechettes are solid elongate bodies centered about their longitudinal axes. The flechettes each have waists between their fore and aft ends, and the flechettes taper from the waist to both ends. The waists are closer to the fore end than to the aft end so that the flechettes' centers of gravity are closer to the fore ends than the aft ends. My flechettes optionally have regular polygonal cross sections or essentially regular polygonal cross sections at all locations along their longitudinal axes, whereby the flechettes define longitudinal ridges acting as stabilizer fins. Also shown are arrays of the flechettes within ammunition casings cartridges.


A sled includes a pair of runners that are formed from a single, continuous, hollow plastic pipe. The runners are fixed to a platform at three locations: the rear ends of the runners curve upward and are attached to the rear end of the seat, while intermediate portions of the runners are attached to downwardly extending legs of the seat. The forward ends of the runners curve upward and support a footrest via retainers. The seat and the footrest are connected together by a rope. The runners are twistable during a steering operation.

Conventional runner sleds are steered by flexing or bending portions of the runners in the direction that the rider wishes to go. The runners cut into the snow and provide lateral forces that produce the desired turn. Although such runner sleds are generally thought to provide acceptable performance, they are not without shortcomings.
In particular, conventional runner sleds provide limited maneuverability in that only a few inches of the runner near the front of the sled are actually flexed (or bent) into an arc. The limited flexing action results from the runner being rigidly attached to the sled body. In most cases, the forward end, the rear end, and an intermediate portion of the runner are rigidly attached to the sled body. Moreover, conventional wisdom is to provide additional support (usually in the form of bracing) between the runner and the sled body to achieve structural integrity. The rigid attachments between the runners and the sled body (as well as the bracing) limit the flexing action of the runners, thereby decreasing the maneuverability of the runner sled.
Furthermore, a steering mechanism is provided on the forward end of the runner sled. During a sled run, the rider grasps the steering mechanism and pulls it, thereby causing the runners to flex in the desired direction. According to convention, the steering mechanism is connected to the sled body via a rigid connecting member. Due to the rigidity of the connecting member, shocks encountered at the front end of the sled (e.g., due to bumps in the terrain) are transferred to the sled body. The result is a stiff, uncomfortable sled ride.

Runner sled that is twistable during steering


A steam mop having a main body including a water pump and a boiler. Generation of steam is provided when the water pump is actuated by angular movement of the mop handle which changes the angle between the handle and mop head for operating a two way piston pump to pump water to the boiler. Steam is fed to a steam pad that may have a replaceable fabric pad fit snugly on the frame to distribute cleaning steam to the surface to be cleaned.

The invention relates generally to a steam mop, and more particularly to a steam mop including a water pump that is actuated by the angular movement of the mop handle to pump water from a reservoir to a boiler for generating steam to be distributed to a steam nozzle.
Conventional mops have been widely used for cleaning floors. However, conventional mops have not been effective at cleaning dirt in small crevices and floor gaps. In addition, conventional mops require frequent rising since mops can only effectively clean a small surface area at a time.
Steaming devices used to apply steam to household objects are well known. The uses of the devices vary widely, and may include the application of steam to drapes or other fabrics to ease wrinkles, and the application of steam to objects to assist in cleaning the objects.
In general, the nozzles used with the steam cleaners do not have large surface areas and a cloth to absorb the liquid condensate of the steam. Here, the fabric pad is secured to the nozzle by Velcro strips to a plurality of cleats on the bottom of the nozzle. In another embodiment, a flat fabric piece is folded around a flat brush or nozzle in order to increase the cleaning surface area. The folded fabric on top of the brush or nozzle is secured by a clip on top of the piece. Often steam injected behind the cloth passes through the cloth at the points the bristles contact on the cloth. This tends to wet the cloth and reduce the cleaning effectiveness of the steam. In addition, the cloth covers must be carefully attached not to cover the front or back of the brush attachment.
Recently steam mops wherein water is pumped from a reservoir to a boiling by the push-pull movement of the mop handle have been developed. This actuates a bellows pump or piston pump connected directly to the handle. These features are shown and described in parent application Ser. Nos. 11/496,143 and 11/769,525, the contents of which are incorporated here by reference in their entirety.
It remains desirable to provide improved ways to pump water from the reservoir to the steam boiler.


An in-line mail weighing system and scale comprises a mail piece transport mounted atop a load cell. The mail piece transport includes a drive assembly and a pressure assembly defining a transport path. Mail pieces are moved through the mail piece transport, on edge. The load cell takes a series of weight measurements for each mail piece in a stream of mail pieces as each mail piece moves through the mail piece transport at a constant high speed, and then accurately calculates the weight of each mail piece.

During the processing of mail, it is sometimes necessary or desired to weigh a mail piece for various reasons, such as to determine or verify postage amount. Mail pieces can be weighed on a scale apart from mail processing machines, although such a system is inefficient with respect to time and resources. Thus, it is desirable to weigh mail pieces during the processing in a mail processing machine. However, it has proven difficult to do so without affecting the speed of processing of the mail pieces, or the accuracy of the weight measurement.
Accordingly, there is a need for a mail weighing system and scale that can be used in mail processing equipment, in line, without affecting the speed of mail processing. There is also a need for such a mail weighing system and scale to be highly accurate. The present invention fulfills such needs.

Bowe Bell +Howell Postal Systems Company


The technical field of the invention relates to devices providing for the ejection of a plurality of payload elements from the casing of a carrier shell. The ejection device according to the invention includes a pyrotechnic composition placed in a head and intended to create, after ignition, a gas pressure that pushes a piston over a short distance so as to displace towards a base a moving assemblage having a pusher plate and payload elements, and to eject the base, the piston then being stopped relative to the head and having an orifice which allows the gases to pass towards the moving assemblage so as to push the latter. The device includes braking means disposed between at least a part of the moving assemblage and the shell casing. This invention is applicable to mine-dispersing carrier shells.

The field of this invention is that of devices providing for the ejection of a plurality of payload elements from the casing of a carrier shell.
Carrier shells are projectiles intended to transport a payload, then release it at a point in their trajectory.
The payload often contains a stack of several payload elements, for example submunitions.
French patent FR 2,363,077 describes one such type of carrier shell which contains a casing closed at one of its ends by a base and at the other by a head. A gas-generating pyrotechnic composition is placed inside the head, where it is ignited by a timer fuze to create gas pressure which acts on a piston. The thrust exerted by the piston on the stack of submunitions causes separation of the base and casing of the projectile, then ejection of the submunitions from the casing.
When a shell must eject a plurality of elements from its casing in this manner, the problem arises of collisions among these various elements after ejection.
Such collisions can lead to premature detonation in cases where the payload consists of submunitions. They can also result in disruptions in the trajectory of the payload elements, for example, by disrupting the opening of braking parachutes.
To prevent such collisions, French patent FR 2,363,077 proposes to create a piston which, under the action of gas pressure, can move towards the rear, pushing the payload elements, over only a short distance, the distance nevertheless being sufficient to shear off the screw thread connecting the casing and the base, and then to eject the base.
After ejection of the base, the piston is immobilized by a shoulder on the casing. However, the piston has an orifice which allows the gases of the ejecting pyrotechnic composition to pass towards the payload elements, which are thereby pushed towards the rear of the projectile after the piston stops.
The ejection velocity of the payload elements is reduced because of reduction in gas pressure produced by the orifice, and it is possible to regulate this velocity by adjusting the diameter of the orifice.
The principal disadvantage of such a device is that, in practice, it is not possible to control the ejection velocity of the payload elements, since ignition of the ejecting pyrotechnic composition violently pushes the piston, the stack of submunitions, and the base so that the latter can be ejected.
The energy transmitted is such that, in practice, although the piston is halted by the shoulder of the casing, the stack of submunitions continues on its way and is ultimately ejected from the shell at a velocity little different from the ejection velocity of the base.

Device for ejecting payload elements from the casing of a carrier shell


Disclosed is a data output controller that includes an enable signal controller, which generates a control signal having a predetermined pulse width in response to a DQ off signal and a write signal and generates a clock enable signal in response to a read signal and the control signal in synchronization with the control signal when the read signal is activated, and a clock generator that receives the enable signal and an internal clock signal and generates a data clock signal in synchronization with the internal clock signal during an activation period of the enable signal.

In general, a semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of memory cells for storing data and requires a data output controller that outputs data to an external chip cell by reading the data stored in the memory cell.
FIG. 1 is a circuit view of a conventional data output controller.
As shown in FIG. 1, when a read signal (readS) is activated, the conventional data output controller outputs a clock enable signal clkenb having a predetermined activation period in synchronization with a signal Node B output from a delay terminal. Such an enable signal is used for generating a data clock.
In the conventional data output controller, it is important to ensure a margin between the read signal and the signal Node B having a predetermined pulse width. If the read signal has a sufficient pulse width, the data output controller can be normally operated.
However, if the read signal has a narrow pulse width, as shown in FIG. 2, there is no period where both signal Node B and read signal are high levels, so that the clock enable signal clkenb may not be maintained at a low level. As a result, if the read signal has a narrow pulse width, data clocks rclk and fclk are not generated, so that a DRAM may not normally output data.


The present invention provides a low temperature process for the synthesis of ultrafine rutile phase titanium dioxide particles through vapor phase hydrolysis of titanium tetra chloride.

Titanium dioxide (titania) is extensively used as pigments, catalysts, inorganic membranes, semi-conductors, optical coating reagent and as photocatalysts in water purification process. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has two phases of crystalline structure of industrial importance, namely, anatase and rutile. Titanium dioxide with anatase phase has been used as a photocatalyst for photodecomposition of acetone, phenol or trichloro ethylene, oxidation such as nitrogen mono-oxide and nitrogen dioxide and conversion system using solar energy due to its high photo-activity. Titanium dioxide with rutile phase has been widely used as white pigment because of its good scattering effect that protects the ultraviolet light. It has also been used in optical coatings, beam splitter and anti-reflection coatings since it has a high dielectric constant and high refractive index, good oil absorption ability, tinting power and chemical stability even under strongly acidic or basic conditions. Titanium dioxide shows different electrical characteristics according to oxygen partial pressure since it has wide chemical stability and non-stoichiometric phase region. Because of this, it can also be used as a humidity sensor and as high-temperature oxygen sensor and the field of its use has become wide.
Titanium dioxide powders for pigment use generally have an average particle size of 150 to 250 nanometer and is considered the principal white pigment of commerce. It has an exceptionally high refractive index, negligible color and is quite inert. Titanium dioxide having a smaller average particle size, for instance in the 10 to 100 nanometer median particle size range, is used commercially in cosmetics and personal care products, plastics, surface coating, self—cleaning surfaces, and photo voltaic applications. This grade of titanium dioxide is referred to as ultrafine or nano-sized titanium dioxide. More than four million tons of titanium dioxide are produced annually; there are several processes for making ultrafine titanium dioxide, some in commercial use and some in development. Some use anhydrous titanium dioxide. Some use anhydrous titanium tetrachloride as a feed stock. Another process uses a titanyl sulfate solution as the feed stock.
Generally, titanium dioxide powders are manufactured by a chloride process, which is a gas phase process, or by a sulfate process, which is a liquid phase process.
In the chloride process, which was commercialized by Du Pont of USA in 1956, titanium tetrachloride is used as a starting material and the reaction temperature needs to be higher than 1,000° C. This method also requires extra protection devices because of the corrosive Cl2 gas product at high temperature in the process, leading to higher production costs. Because titanium dioxide powders produced by the chloride process are fine but rough, additive equipment for providing external electrical fields or controlling reactant mixing ratios are required to control the particle shape and size of titanium dioxide powders. High pure oxygen is required for oxidation of TiCl4 and that leads to high capital and operating costs.
In the sulfate process, which was commercialized by Titan company of Norway in 1961, titanium sulfate (TiSO4) is conventionally hydrolyzed at temperatures higher than 100° C., calcined at 800-1000° C. and then pulverized to produce titanium dioxide powders. During the calcination and pulverization processes, impurities are introduced causing the quality of the final titanium dioxide powder to be low.
Funaki, Saeki, et al. in Kogyo Kagaku Zasshi, 59 (11), pp. 1291 (1956), teach that fine particles of anatase-type titanium dioxide can be produced by mixing titanium tetrachloride and water in the vapor phase, at a temperature in the range from 200° C. to 800° C. or fine particles of anatase-type titanium dioxide containing or not containing a very small amount of rutile-type particles can be produced by the reaction of titanium tetrachloride and water in the liquid phase and a much higher temperature treatment to obtain rutile phase titanium dioxide.
A method for preparing spherical particles of a metal oxide comprising hydrolysis of a hydrolysable titanium (IV) compound in the form of a liquid aerosol by being contacted with water vapor in a dynamic flow is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,042. A method in which a precursor of a metal oxide in the form of a very fine droplet suspension of the liquid is heated and gasified by evaporation and thermal decomposition and then contacted and reacted with an oxygen containing gas in the vapor phase to give spherical fine particles of a metal oxide is taught in Japanese Patent Kokai 59-107904 and 59-107905.
Recently considerable interest has been directed toward the synthesis of rutile grade titania at low temperature. There have been some reports about new liquid phase processes to synthesize rutile grade titanium dioxide powder using titanium tetrachloride. Kim, Park et al, (U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,326) show a new liquid phase process in which TiO2 precipitates with pure rutile phase having spherical shapes having 200-400 nm in diameter formed between room temperature and 65° C., by the homogeneous precipitation method simply by heating and stirring an aqueous TiOCl2 solution.
Tang et al., (Mater. Chem. Phys. 77 (2): pp. 314, (2003) disclose the preparation of nano-sized rutile TiO2 powder by hydrolysis of Ti (OC4H9) 4 solution at 40-50° C. When the solution is neutral and basic, the hydrolysis product is a precipitate and the dried precipitate is amorphous. The rutile phase TiO2 cannot be obtained even when the dried precipitate is calcined at 600° C. However, when the solution is acidic, the hydrolysis product is a solid, in order to obtain rutile TiO2 by drying the gel at 40-50° C. However, tight control of reaction conditions is required, since alkoxide is intensely hydrolyzed in air. Furthermore, the high price of the alkoxide limits its commercialization.
Yang et al., (Mater. Chem. Phys., 77 (2): pp. 501, (2003) also reported that titania nanocrystals in the rutile form were prepared in liquid phase at room temperature under normal pressure. Li Y. Z. et al, also reported in Jour. Mater. Chem., 12 (5): pp. 1387, (2002), the preparation of nano-crystalline rutile TiO2 with average crystal sizes of 6.9-10.5 nm by hydrolysis of TiCl4 aqueous solution at lower temperatures. All the above reported techniques of synthesizing rutile phase titanium dioxide are based on liquid phase processing.
In comparison with liquid phase routes, vapor phase hydrolysis of titanium chloride to synthesize anatase has been reported. For example; B. Xia et al. (Jour. Mater. Sci., 34, pp. 3505, (1999), reported the preparation of anatase TiO2 nanopowders by vapor-phase hydrolysis of TiCl4 below 600° C. As an independent preparation route, it hasn't been paid much attention.
Compared with liquid phase process, the vapor phase process carried out in an aerosol reactor offers many advantages including product purity, ease of collection, energy efficiency and avoids treatment like filtration, washing, drying etc., involving large liquid volumes. However, the chloride process is carried out at high temperature and has encountered several problems, such as control of product characteristics, reactor corrosion, and operational problems, mainly due to the high temperatures and corrosive gases involved. Therefore, there is a need for a process to produce ultrafine titanium dioxide at temperature much reduced from those encountered in the chloride process but involving only gas phase processing without involvement of liquids.

Synthesis of ultrafine rutile phase titanium dioxide particles

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research


A cleaning device incorporated in image forming equipment and capable of exhibiting a desirable cleaning ability while in operation. Various characteristic values determining the cleaning angle during cleaning operation, e.g., the Young's modulus and thickness of a cleaning blade and the amount of protrusion of the blade from a holder are selected to satisfy a particular relation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaning device for a copier, facsimile transceiver, printer or similar image forming equipment and, more particularly, to a cleaning device of the type scraping off a toner remaining on the surface of an image carrier made of photoconductor by having the ridge of the free end thereof pressed against the the image carrier.
2. Discussion of the Background
A cleaning device of the type described has a blade support mounted on an axis which is parallel to the surface of the image carrier and perpendicular to an intended direction of movement of the surface, and a cleaning blade affixed to the free end of the blade support such that the free end of the blade protrudes a predetermined amount from that of the blade support. The cleaning blade is pressed via the support member to have the free end thereof urged against the surface of the image carrier. In this condition, the end face of the cleaning blade stops and scrapes off a toner remaining on the image carrier. This type of cleaning device is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 156284/1990. This Laid-Open Publication includes an implementation for eliminating excessive wear of the surface of the image carrier, defective drive of the image carrier, defective cleaning occurring when the free end of the blade is entrained by the image carrier, etc. The implementation is such that the surface of the cleaning blade facing the image carrier and a line tangential to the surface of the image carrier at the point where the blade contacts the image carrier have an angle, or contact angle, of 9.5-14.5 degrees therebetween, while the blade is pressed against the image carrier by a force of 0.1-10 g/mm.
However, the above-mentioned contact angle and other factors of concern should not be set up when the surface of the image carrier is not moving relative to the cleaning blade for the following reasons. While a cleaning operation is under way, the free end of the cleaning blade is deformed by friction ascribable to the movement of the surface of the image carrier relative to the blade. As a result, the angle between the end face of the cleaning blade and the line tangential to the surface of the image carrier at the point of contact, i.e., the cleaning angle, changes. The cleaning angle is one of major factors that determine the ability of the cleaning device. The degree of such deformation of the cleaning blade before and after the movement of the surface of the image carrier depends on the Young's modulus E and thickness t of the blade, the distance l over which the blade protrudes from the blade support, etc.
Therefore, to achieve a desirable cleaning ability, it is necessary that the Young's module E, thickness t and protuberance l of the cleaning blade as well as other factors of concern be so selected as to set up an adequate cleaning angle during cleaning operation.

Cleaning device for image forming equipment