An apparatus and method for manufacturing a down hole tool that reduces manufacturing costs and enhances the tool's performance. A belted mold assembly includes a casting assembly, a belt assembly, and a mid-belt. The belted mold assembly is used to fabricate a casting that allows for a larger diameter blank to be used which displaces the more expensive casting material and for using a smaller outer diameter thin-walled mold. The casting assembly is disposed within the belt assembly and the mid-belt is loaded in the volume created between the casting assembly's outer surface and the belt assembly's inner surface. The mid-belt provides a bracing for the casting assembly during the casting process. Optionally, a cap can be disposed on top of the blank for preventing metallurgical bonds from forming between the binder material and the upper portion of the blank. This allows for the excess binder material to remain high in purity so that it can be reprocessed. The cap can be used with the belted mold assembly or with a casting assembly known in the prior art.

This invention relates generally to down hole tools and methods for manufacturing such items. More particularly, this invention relates to infiltrated matrix drilling products including, but not limited to, polycrystalline diamond compact ("PDC") drill bits, natural diamond drill bits, thermally stable polycrystalline ("TSP") drill bits, bi-center bits, core bits, and matrix bodied reamers and stabilizers, and the methods of manufacturing such items.
Full hole tungsten carbide matrix drill bits for oilfield applications have been manufactured and used in drilling since at least as early as the 1940's. FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a down hole tool casting assembly 100 in accordance with the prior art. The down hole tool casting assembly 100 consists of a thick-walled mold 110, a stalk 120, one or more nozzle displacements 122, a blank 124, a funnel 140, and a binder pot 150. The down hole tool casting assembly 100 is used to fabricate a casting (not shown) of a down hole tool.
According to a typical casting method as shown in FIG. 1, the thick-walled mold 110 is fabricated with a precisely machined interior surface 112, and forms a mold volume 114 located within the interior of the thick-walled mold 110. The thick-walled mold 110 is made from sand, hard carbon graphite, or ceramic. The precisely machined interior surface 112 has a shape that is a negative of what will become the facial features of the eventual bit face. The precisely machined interior surface 112 is milled and dressed to form the proper contours of the finished bit. Various types of cutters (not shown), known to persons of ordinary skill in the art, can be placed along the locations of the cutting edges of the bit and can also be optionally placed along the gage area of the bit. These cutters can be placed during the bit fabrication process or after the bit has been fabricated via brazing or other methods known to persons of ordinary skill in the art.
Once the thick-walled mold 110 is fabricated, displacements are placed at least partially within the mold volume 114 of the thick-walled mold 110. The displacements are typically fabricated from clay, sand, graphite, or ceramic. These displacements consist of the center stalk 120 and the at least one nozzle displacement 122. The center stalk 120 is positioned substantially within the center of the thick-walled mold 110 and suspended a desired distance from the bottom of the thick-walled mold's 110 interior surface 112. The nozzle displacements 122 are positioned within the thick-walled mold 110 and extend from the center stalk 120 to the bottom of the thick-walled mold's 110 interior surface 112. The center stalk 120 and the nozzle displacements 122 are later removed from the eventual drill bit casting so that drilling fluid can flow through the center of the finished bit during the drill bit's operation.
The blank 124 is a cylindrical steel casting mandrel that is centrally suspended at least partially within the thick-walled mold 110 and around the center stalk 120. The blank 124 is positioned a predetermined distance down in the thick-walled mold 110. According to the prior art, the distance between the outer surface of the blank 124 and the interior surface 112 of the thick-walled mold 110 is typically 12 millimeters ("mm") or more so that potential cracking of the thick-walled mold 110 is reduced during the casting process.
Once the displacements 120, 122 and the blank 124 have been positioned within the thick-walled mold 110, tungsten carbide powder 130 is loaded into the thick-walled mold 110 so that it fills a portion of the mold volume 114 that is around the lower portion of the blank 124, between the inner surfaces of the blank 124 and the outer surfaces of the center stalk 120, and between the nozzle displacements 122. Shoulder powder 134 is loaded on top of the tungsten carbide powder 130 in an area located at both the area outside of the blank 124 and the area between the blank 124 and the center stalk 120. The shoulder powder 134 is made of tungsten powder. This shoulder powder 134 acts to blend the casting to the steel and is machinable. Once the tungsten carbide powder 130 and the shoulder powder 134 are loaded into the thick-walled mold 110, the thick-walled mold 110 is typically vibrated to improve the compaction of the tungsten carbide powder 130 and the shoulder powder 134. Although the thick-walled mold 110 is vibrated after the tungsten carbide powder 130 and the shoulder powder 134 are loaded into the thick-walled mold 110, the vibration of the thick-walled mold 110 can be done as an intermediate step before the shoulder powder 134 is loaded on top of the tungsten carbide powder 130.
The funnel 140 is a graphite cylinder that forms a funnel volume 144 therein. The funnel 140 is coupled to the top portion of the thick-walled mold 110. A recess 142 is formed at the interior edge of the funnel 140, which facilitates the funnel 140 coupling to the upper portion of the thick-walled mold 110. Typically, the inside diameter of the thick-walled mold 110 is similar to the inside diameter of the funnel 140 once the funnel 140 and the thick-walled mold 110 are coupled together.
The binder pot 150 is a cylinder having a base 156 with an opening 158 located at the base 156, which extends through the base 156. The binder pot 150 also forms a binder pot volume 154 therein for holding a binder material 160. The binder pot 150 is coupled to the top portion of the funnel 140 via a recess 152 that is formed at the exterior edge of the binder pot 150. This recess 152 facilitates the binder pot 150 coupling to the upper portion of the funnel 140. Once the down hole tool casting assembly 100 has been assembled, a predetermined amount of binder material 160 is loaded into the binder pot volume 154. The typical binder material 160 is a copper alloy.
The down hole tool casting assembly 100 is placed within a furnace (not shown). The binder material 160 melts and flows into the tungsten carbide powder 130 through the opening 158 of the binder pot 150. In the furnace, the molten binder material 160 infiltrates the tungsten carbide powder 130. During this process, a substantial amount of binder material 160 is used so that it fills at least a substantial portion of the funnel volume 144. This excess binder material 160 in the funnel volume 144 supplies a downward force on the tungsten carbide powder 130 and the shoulder powder 134. Once the binder material 160 completely infiltrates the tungsten carbide powder 130, the down hole tool casting assembly 100 is pulled from the furnace and is controllably cooled. The thick-walled mold 110 is broken away from the casting. The casting then undergoes finishing steps which are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art, including the addition of a threaded connection (not shown) coupled to the top portion of the blank 124 and the removal of the binder material 160 that filled at least a substantial portion of the funnel volume 144. Typically, this binder material 160 is not reusable because metallurgical bonds are formed between the binder material 160 and the blank 124 and is not very pure to allow the binder material 160 to be reused. At today's pricing, the binder material 160 is approximately seven dollars per pound. Significant cost reductions can be made if an economical method is found for maintaining the purity of the excess binder material and reusing at least a portion of the excess binder material 160 that filled at least a substantial portion of the funnel volume 144.
Hard carbon graphite is typically used in making the thick-walled mold 110 because it is easily machinable to tight tolerances, conducts furnace heat well, is dimensionally stable at casting temperatures, and provides for a smooth surface finish on the casting. However, a primary drawback in using a hard carbon graphite mold 110 is that it has a lower thermal expansion rate than the steel blank 124 that is disposed within the mold 110 to form the casting around it. As a result of this difference in thermal expansion rate, the diameter of the steel blank 124 is decreased and the diameter of the mold 110 is increased to constrain the forces that are generated during the casting process. These differences in thermal expansion rate between the steel blank 124 and the hard carbon graphite mold 110 create a risk that the graphite mold 110 will crack, thereby destroying the casting.
The primary reason for mold cracking lies in the dissimilarity of the coefficient of thermal expansion of three major components of the down hole tool casting assembly 100. These major components are the steel blank 124, the tungsten carbide powder 130, and the graphite mold 110. The blank 124 has a relatively high coefficient of thermal expansion, while the tungsten carbide powder 130 and the graphite mold 110 have extremely low coefficients of thermal expansion. When the down hole tool casting assembly 100 is heated in a furnace, the outside diameter of the blank 124 expands as the temperature increases, thereby putting pressure on the densely packed tungsten carbide powder 130. The tungsten carbide powder 130 transmits this pressure to the internal diameter of the graphite mold 110, thereby creating hoop stress. If the wall of the graphite mold 110 is too thin, then the hoop stress overcomes the strength of the graphite mold 110 and a crack occurs which leads to the molten binder material 160 leaking through the graphite mold 110, a scrapped casting, and other consequential damages. These consequential damages include loss of material, increased labor costs, missed delivery, very expensive damage to the furnace, and loss of production for several days.
According to one example in the prior art, a twelve and one-fourth inch drill bit casting is typically fabricated using an eighteen inch diameter graphite mold 110 even though the twelve and one-fourth inch drill bit casting physically can be made using a fourteen inch diameter graphite mold 110. The extra four inches in diameter provides a safety factor against the mold 110 from cracking. This safety factor comes at a substantial cost because larger diameters of graphite molds 110 increase in cost per diameter inch along a steeply ascending slope. FIG. 2 shows a graph 200 illustrating the relationship between total graphite diameter 210 versus cost 220. A linear inch of fourteen inch diameter graphite costs approximately fifty dollars, while a linear inch of eighteen inch diameter graphite costs approximately seventy-five dollars. A ten inch tall mold of fourteen inch diameter graphite will have a graphite cost of approximately five hundred dollars, while a ten inch tall mold of eighteen inch diameter graphite will have a graphite cost of seven hundred and fifty dollars. Thus, a significant cost savings can be made in the fabrication of the mold 110 if the safety factor became unnecessary or reduced.
In the prior art, a further step that has been used to mitigate cracking of the graphite mold is to use a smaller diameter blank 124 to reduce hoop stress pressure developed during heating in the furnace. However, this step increases the cost of fabricating the casting because additional expensive tungsten carbide powder 130 is required to fill the mold. At today's pricing, the blank 124 costs approximately fifty cents per pound, while the tungsten carbide powder 130 costs approximately twenty-five dollars per pound. Thus, a significant cost savings can be made in the fabrication of the casting if larger diameter blanks 124 can be used without increasing the risk of cracking the graphite mold 110.
In the prior art, the increased costs associated with fabricating a casting has been tolerated by manufacturers because of the risks and costs associated with mold 110 failure.
In view of the foregoing discussion, need is apparent in the art for improving the casting process so that the costs associated with casting fabrication are decreased. Additionally, a need is apparent for improving the casting process so that some of the costs associated with mold failure are mitigated. Further, a need is apparent for improving the casting process so that a significant portion of the binder material is reusable. Furthermore, a need is apparent for improving the casting process so that a smaller diameter mold is used in the casting process. Moreover, a need is apparent for improving the casting and the casting process so that a smaller volume of tungsten carbide powder is used in the casting process. A technology addressing one or more such needs, or some other related shortcoming in the field, would benefit down hole drilling, for example fabricating castings more effectively and more profitably. This technology is included within the current invention.

Casting method for matrix drill bits and reamers


A developing device includes a developer bearing member that bears a developer on its surface to supply the developer to an image bearing member having a first dielectric portion and a second dielectric portion in its surface, a regulating member that regulates a thickness of a layer of the developer carried by the developer bearing member, and a flexible sheet-like charging auxiliary member disposed so as to be in contact with the developer bearing member at a position downstream of a contact portion between the developer bearing member and the image bearing member and upstream of a contact portion between the developer bearing member and the regulating member in a rotational direction of the developer bearing member, where the charging auxiliary member charges the developer carried by the developer bearing member. In a triboelectric series, the charging auxiliary member is positioned between the first and second dielectric portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developing device and an image forming apparatus including the developing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following type of developing device used in image forming apparatuses, such as laser printers, has been developed. That is, the developing device includes a toner supplying roller that supplies toner (developer) to a developing roller (a developer bearing member) and removes the toner carried by the developing roller. The toner supplying roller is mainly used to prevent solid image follow-up failure and ghosting. As used herein, the term "solid image follow-up failure" refers to a phenomenon that when 100% solid image is drawn as an entire image, the density of part of the image in the trailing edge area decreases. In addition, the term "ghosting" refers to a phenomenon that when, for example, a halftone image or a solid white image is formed after a solid image having a high density is formed, part of the solid image is left on the halftone image or the solid white image.
In recent years, a developing device that does not have the above-described toner supplying roller has been developed in order to reduce the size and cost of the developing device. In such a case, some other way needs to be found to prevent the occurrence of the solid image follow-up failure and ghosting.
Japanese Patent No. 3272056 describes a developing device without a toner supplying roller. The developing device includes a developing roller (a developer bearing member) having a surface in which dielectric portions and conductive portions are regularly or irregularly arranged. In such a configuration, a development blade (a regulating member) slides on the dielectric portions of the surface of the developing roller directly or via toner so as to charge the dielectric portions. Thus, a minute closed electric field (hereinafter referred to as a "microfield") is formed on the border between the dielectric portion and the conductive portion. Upon receiving a gradient force generated by the microfield, toner particles are attracted to the surface of the developing roller and, thus, are carried by the surface of the developing roller.
Alternatively, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-218079 describes a developing roller that allows a plurality of types of substance having different chargeabilities to be regularly or irregularly exposed from the developing roller. Among the substances, at least two substances are charged by a charging member to form a plurality of microfields in the vicinity of the developing roller. Upon receiving a gradient force generated by the microfields, toner particles are attracted to the surface of the developing roller and, thus, are carried by the surface of the developing roller.
Still alternatively, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-127177 describes the following configuration. That is, a triboelectric charging roller is disposed downstream of a developing portion, which is a contact portion between a developing roller and an image bearing member, in the rotational direction of the developing roller. The triboelectric charging roller slides on dielectric portions of the developing roller to charge the dielectric portions. By charging the dielectric portions in this manner, a microfield is formed on the border between the dielectric portion and a conductive portion. Upon receiving a gradient force generated by the microfield, toner particles are attracted to the surface of the developing roller and, thus, are carried by the surface of the developing roller.
The developing device described in Japanese Patent No. 3272056 is configured so that if the toner is charged to a negative polarity, a triboelectric series of (−) the toner<the development blade<the dielectric portion (+) is given. In such a configuration, since the toner carried by the dielectric portions is electrostatically and firmly attracted to the dielectric portions, it is difficult for the development blade to regulate the toner. Accordingly, when a solid white image is formed, the amount of toner coat on the developing roller is sometimes larger than when a solid image is formed. Thus, the difference between the amounts of toner coat may cause ghosting in an image.
In addition, although the development blade can control the amount of toner coat, the development blade cannot remove toner on the developing roller, unlike a toner supplying roller. Accordingly, if images having a low coverage rate are continuously output, toner may be fusion bonded to the developing roller, which causes an image defect. To prevent such an image defect, the lifetime of the developing device needs to be set to be short.
In addition, like the developing devices described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-218079 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-127177, in the configuration including a toner supplying roller and a triboelectric charging roller, toner on the developing roller is strongly pressed against the developing roller or is stripped off from the developing roller. Accordingly, the toner may be fusion bonded to the developing roller, or the quality of the toner may be deteriorated. As a result, an image defect may occur. To prevent such an image defect, the lifetime of the developing device needs to be set to be short.

Developing device and image forming apparatus


This invention is concerned with packaged food products which contain specific combinations of functional additives aimed at addressing specific health indicators, in particular flatulence, gastro-intestinal health, stress and immune system responsiveness, in pet animals. There is provided a commercially packaged mammal pet food product that includes a manufactured, shelf-life stable food substrate and a combination of functional additives. The functional additives include at least one non-palatable plant-based remedy and/or dietary fiber source that are present to strengthen and/or maintain a specified health indicator of a mammal pet animal. The food product is portioned and packaged with the functional additives being present in predetermined concentrations and amounts sufficient to be effective in achieving said indications on regular feeding of the pet animal with said food product. The food substrate is present in a proportion sufficient to mask the flavor and/or odor of the non-palatable additive and is made-up of a unique combination of materials that are able to be processed at lower temperatures to preserve the natural botanical functional additive's activity. Functional additives intended to address dietary flatulence problems include a combination of Yucca extract, charcoal and salts of zinc, such as zinc acetate. Functional additives to promote or maintain gastro-intestinal health include a combination of L-glutamine, D-glucosamine sulphate, sugar beet pulp, slippery elm. Functional additives to strengthen or maintain a pet animal's natural body defenses include a combination of vitamin E, vitamin B complex, primrose oil vitamin C and Marigold meal. Functional additives to promote or maintain reduction of stress and/or improved behavior of a pet animal include a combination of Valerian root extract, Kava root extract, vitamin B complex and magnesium salt.

In the manufacture of packaged pet food products, in particular dried and canned pet food for dogs and cats, it is known to add nutritional supplements, such as vitamins, minerals and the like to satisfy basic dietary requirements of the animal.
In the case of most vitamin and mineral supplements, the amounts mixed into the food product to achieve general health benefits are small enough to not adversely affect the palatability of the overall product. In essence, the food product will be eaten by the pet animal regardless of the presence or absence of such additives.
On the other hand, inclusion in the pet food product of dietary fibre source material in amounts sufficient to achieve a "balanced" diet will often lead to packaged products that are not readily accepted by the pet animal, due to its reduced palatability.
Like other creatures, dogs, cats and other companion animals suffer various ailments and health conditions that often require appropriate forms of medication and/or other treatment. It is well known that medications and remedies for companion animals can be provided in the form of tablets, powders or liquids for oral administration. However, many pet animals are reluctant to take such tablets, powders or liquids and having to force these into the animal's mouth can be stressful for both the animal and the person administering the medication.
For these reasons, especially if the medication or remedy is unpleasant tasting, pet owners often mix the medication/remedy with the animal's normal daily food, so as to hopefully mask the unpleasant taste. This procedure is inconvenient, cumbersome and sometimes subject to "trial and error", as the "masking" effect is not necessarily always achieved and the medication or remedy infused food may end up being rejected by the animal.
It is also known in the pet care industry to incorporate pharmaceutical medications into an edible food substrate, primarily for the purpose of masking the taste of the medication and/or improving administration to the animal. Typically, the pharmaceutical medication is mixed during manufacture of the end product with a pleasant tasting substance (e.g. meat analogue product) and subsequently packaged into individually administrable portions which can then be bought at supermarkets, veterinary surgeries and the like. Examples of such type of product which incorporate synthetic pharmaceutical drugs are Exelpett™, Ezydose Allwormer and Heartguard™. These products are essentially pharmaceutical products that are administered in addition to the animal's usual daily meals, such that when the course of treatment is over and the pet animal's health concerns have been rectified, administration of the relevant product can be easily discontinued. Accordingly, such products are generally only used spasmodically as a short-term treatment regime for pet animal diseases.
With the increasing use of "alternative" disease treatment regimes in humans, it has also become known that plant-based remedies that are beneficial in ameliorating various human ailments, can be equally used to treat or ameliorate ailments in pet animals. Plant-based remedies include different types of essential oils, herbal extracts, powdered herbs, roots, leaves and tree barks, comestible plant fibre etc. Hereinafter this group of ingredients are simply referred to by the colloquial expression "herbal medicines or remedies".
Herbal medicines have been devised by individual pet owners to address specific, mainly diet-based ailments of dogs and cats. Herbal medicines can be administered orally directly into the mouth of the pet animal, or by admixing it with the pet animal's daily meal. However, many herbal remedies are indeed far more unpleasant to taste and/or smell than pharmaceutical drugs. Although this unpleasant taste is generally not a major concern with humans, who can be persuaded to bear the unpleasant taste on the basis that they will benefit from taking the herbal remedy, the situation with pet animals is very different. Their sense of smell and taste will often make the task of "masking" the unpleasant tasting herbal remedy with other food additives and/or food ingredients far more complicated than is the case with the pharmaceutical drugs. This in turn makes the task of finding a suitable carrier for administration of herbal remedies to pet animals difficult to achieve on a commercial food manufacturing scale. Some problems that need to be addressed are shelf-life, degradation of the herbal remedy when in contact with other food substances over prolonged storage periods, stability of the product, basic binding to preserve activity of herbal ingredients, amongst others.
One of the more common diet-related problems among companion animals is flatulence and their gastro-intestinal health (GIH). The unpleasant odour associated with flatulence constitutes a significant psycho-sociological problem in animal-owner relationship, let alone the possible underlying gut health aspects. Human studies have demonstrated the detrimental effects of toxic sulphur compounds present within intestinal gas on the health of the large intestine, and such compounds have been implicated in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis. The major components of intestinal gas which lead to flatulence are odourless gases, including nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, methane and oxygen. However, trace quantities of toxic sulphurous gases, such as hydrogen sulphide are responsible for flatus odour. Sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) are the bacterial genus responsible for reducing sulphate to sulphide, thereby generating hydrogen sulphide. Research in the human field has focussed on the determination of gas volumes which lead to bloating and discomfort, whilst in the animal field research has centred on the characterisation of offensive odours within flatus.
Several prior art documents disclose remedies to reduce the flatulence and/or the offensive odour associated therewith. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,716,641 and 5,679,376 disclose certain pharmaceutical compositions that are reported to reduce flatulence. Some of these compositions are based on simethicone.
The removal from food of materials believed to be strongly implicated in the production of flatulence (such as certain sugars and oligosaccharides) has also been described. For examples, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,871,801 and 4,645,677.
The use of dietary supplements and additives to reduce flatulence odour is less well reported in the patent literature. There are a few examples, such as the addition of chitosan (e.g. see U.S. Pat. No. 5,773,427) or fumaric acid (e.g. see U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,186) to the diet.
Salts of zinc are known to react with volatile sulphur gases, especially H2S (e.g. see U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,836). The use of dietary zinc salts to reduce the H2S content of intestinal gases has also been suggested in the published literature, e.g. see Suarez F. L., Springfield J, & Levitt M D (1998) "Identification of gases responsible for the odour of human flatus and evaluation of a device purported to reduce this odour". Gut. 43.100-104.
The inclusion in the diet of extracts of Yucca Shidigera (or Yucca Elata) has been shown to reduce the malodour of canine and feline faeces (e.g. see Lowe J A, Taylor A J and Linforth R (1997) "The effect of Yucca Shidigera extract on canine and feline faecal volatiles occurring concurrently with faecal aroma amelioration", Research In Veterinary Science 63, pages 67-71, from which it is reasonable to infer that flatulence malodour would also be reduced.
Charcoal is also known as an adsorbent for noxious gases, and its ability to reduce flatus malodour within a cushion has been proven (again see article by Suarez et al). Charcoal is also a component in a small number of orally administered odour-reducing products currently on the market.
Because of physiological similarities, one can assume that substances and mixtures of compounds that successfully address flatulence problems perceived to exist in dogs and cats, could be adapted for consumption by humans.
The present invention has been devised in light of perceived problems associated with the administration of per se non-palatable dietary health supplements to pet animals.
One aim of the invention is to provide a commercially packaged pet food product for administration to a mammal pet animal on a regular basis, i.e. in the form of "treat" products, in accordance with a recommended feeding regime, in addition to the regular daily diet of the animal, that will contribute in maintaining and/or improving specific health indicators of the pet animal.
Within this broader aim, it would be advantageous to provide a packaged pet food product that when taken on a regular, e.g. daily basis, ameliorates flatulence related odour problems with a pet animal.
Also within the broader aim, it would be advantageous to provide a packaged pet food product which will improve overall gastro-intestinal health of the pet animal when consumed on a regular, ongoing basis.
Within the above stated broader aim, it would be similarly advantageous to provide a packaged pet food product which, taken on a regular daily basis, is capable of strengthening the immune system of the pet animal.
Also within the broader aim, it would be advantageous to provide a packaged pet food product which when taken on a daily basis will alleviate "stress" related conditions of the pet animal.
Within the scope of the above aims it is intended to provide palatable pet food product recipes that incorporate plant-based dietary functional additives and combinations thereof that achieve the improvements in relation to the health indicators mentioned above, and which can be packaged as a "treat" product.
The term packaged pet food product is used herein to generally encompass dried food pellets, biscuits, bars, "chewy bites" and similar products that are given by a pet owner to a cat or dog as a "treat", e.g. once a day, in addition to the normal diet.

Food product and process for manufacturing same


A rotation joint which is adapted for connecting a steamer arm to a facial steamer machine includes a clamping mount affixed to the facial steamer machine, an arm head which is affixed to the steamer arm having a head sleeve rotatably mounted in the clamping mount, a stopper device for limiting the rotation angle of the steamer arm, and a locking means for fastening the steamer arm to a desired inclined angle. The rotation joint limits the adjustable rotation angle of the facial steamer arm to less than 180 degree, so that the steamer arm is blocked to avoid positioning horizontally. In other words, in all situation during operation, the steamer arm extends upwards to prevent any hot water from dropping down to the patient body. Besides, the rotation joint also enables the steamer arm to be adjusted to a hang down position so as to save the storage space when it is not in use.

A first generation facial steamer simply comprises a steamer machine and a steamer arm rigidly extended from the steamer machine. A far end of the steamer arm provides a steam outlet opening for spreading out steam at a fixed angle that can not be adjusted to other desirable position.
A second generation facial steamer, as shown in FIG. 1, has been improved over the first generation facial steamer, in which a steamer arm 201 is reconstructed to rotatably attached on a side of a steamer machine 200, so that the steamer arm 201 is able to be adjusted with certain rotating angle. Even though the second generation facial steamer provides some improvement over the first generation facial steamer, it still contains shortcomings described as follows:
1. Hot water may be generated along with the steam. However, there is no mechanism provided for controlling the rotating angle of the steamer arm 201 of the second generation facial steamer, so that the steamer arm 201 has a risk of being positioned horizontally or inclined downwardly. The hot water may drop down to the patient's body to cause scald.
2. The patient usually is required to la) on an operation bed while the cosmetician sits or stands at an end side of the operation bed in order to work on the patient's face. Normally, the facial steamer is designed for right-handed user and placing at a right hand side of the operation bed for easy reaching the control panel 203 by his or her right hand. However, if the cosmetician is a left-handed user, the cosmetician would face a great inconvenience during operation. Sometimes, the space and arrangement in the operation room is limited that the facial steamer must only be placed at the left side of the operation bed, the same problem may also happen to the right-handed user.
3. The inclined position of the steamer arm of the conventional facial steamer is generally held by means of friction. Unwanted movement will happen to the steamer arm during the operation.
4. The steamer arm of all the conventional facial steamer is always extended outwardly from the facial steamer machine, that occurs plenty of space even during moving from place to place or when the facial steamer is not in use.
5. The operating direction and angle of the steamer arm of the conventional facial steamer is limited, so that one conventional facial steamer normally can only work on a single patient. For example, if the facial steamer is designed for left-handed user, the user has to move the whole facial steamer from one operation bed to the left hand side of another operation bed for anther operation.


The present invention relates to coating compositions comprising at least one isocyanate compound, at least one hydroxyl-containing compound, at least one aldimine and/or ketimine, one or more fillers, one or more pigments, at least one solvent, and, optionally, one or more additives. The invention also relates to processes for preparing these coating compositions, and to their use as coating material in the automotive refinish segment, in the vehicle, utility vehicle (including skips, chassis), and agricultural-machinery and rail segments, and in machines. Preferably, the coating compositions of the invention are used as primers with and without chemical pretreatment such as iron or zinc phosphating, with and without mechanical pretreatment such as sandblasting, abrading or the like.

Coating compositions, more particularly polyurethane coatings produced by reacting isocyanate resins with polyol resins, are well known. Such coatings are known to feature a range of outstanding properties, including high durability and chemical stability. Their glamour properties make them outstandingly suitable for automotive refinish, utility-vehicle and automobile-repair applications, and also for industrial applications. In comparison to aqueous compositions, they feature substantially better drying times and improved corrosion protection. With these coatings, however, the polyol, owing to the formation of hydrogen bonds and owing to the molecular weight of the main polymer chain, makes the greatest contribution to the overall viscosity of the coating, thereby limiting the freedom to incorporate other substances at the formulation stage and to meet the specifications relating to the application solids content. The reduction of the molecular weight of the polyol leads ultimately to slow network development, unless considerable quantities of energy are introduced.
Although it is possible by using more solvents to reduce the overall viscosity of the coating and so to accelerate the development of a network, the use of large quantities of solvents is environmentally objectionable. More particularly, coating compositions with high fractions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), more particularly solvents, fail to match the provisions of directives which lay down a maximum VOC content. In the future it will be necessary to realize very low solvent contents or VOC contents, of not more than 280 g/l.
The properties of high-solids, polyol-containing polyurethane coatings can also be improved through the use of reactive diluents. One application of this technique has been shown by U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,086. It describes the use of oligoaldimines, oligoketimines, and hindered oligoamines for modifying polyol compositions, this modification leading in total to a reduction in the viscosities of the mixtures together with the maintenance, and often improvement, of the development of a network, and of the physical properties. On aluminum and on multimaterial substrates, however, the substrate being either in the exposed state or in the unexposed state, the adhesion of these coating compositions is unsatisfactory.
Adhesion to aluminum is typically obtained in another way, through the use of chromate-containing fillers (Lückert, Pigment+Füllstofftabellen, Lückert Verlag, ISBN 3-927342-03-3; Glasurithandbuch 1984, Vincentz Verlag, ISBN 3-87870-192-6; Peter Volk in "Metalloberfläche", special issue May 2006). On account of the environmental burden, however, the intention is that the desired properties should be achieved without the use of chromate.
It is an object of the invention, then, to develop high-solids coating compositions which comprise chromate-free fillers and pigments and which exhibit good adhesion to aluminum, steel and/or multimaterial substrates in both the exposed and the unexposed state. On weathering, the coating compositions ought to continue to exhibit good properties. Finally, they ought to exhibit properties such as the mediation of sufficient corrosion protection and satisfactory drying times. Depending on the field of use, the coatings must be abradable after drying or readily overcoatable, for wet-on-wet applications, with conventional and aqueous coating materials.

Coating composition, method for the production thereof, use thereof, and substrates coated therewith


A chip package including a heat spreader, a circuit substrate, locating structures, a chip, wires, and an encapsulating compound is provided. The heat spreader has a bonding surface, and the circuit substrate is disposed on the bonding surface of the heat spreader. The circuit substrate has an opening, which exposes a portion of the bonding surface. The locating structures are disposed on the heat spreader for fixing the circuit substrate and attaching the circuit substrate to the bonding surface closely. The chip is disposed on the bonding surface exposed by the opening, and the wires are coupled between the chip and the circuit substrate. The encapsulating compound is disposed on the bonding surface exposed by the opening for covering the chip, the wires, and a portion of the circuit substrate. The chip package has high reliability and high yield of processing.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a chip package.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, with the continuous improvement of the integration of the internal circuit of the integrated circuit (IC) chip, the heat produced by the chip is also increased continuously. For the personal computer, IC chips with high integration, such as the Central Processing Unit or drawing chip, produce a great deal of heat. To allow said IC chip to continue normal operation, the IC chip must be kept under a preferable operating temperature in order to avoid degradation of the performance or damage due to overheating. In other words, with the continuous improvement of the processing speed and the data processing capacity of the IC chip, the heat radiating requirements are also enhanced relatively.
On the other hand, along with the development trend of the semiconductor device towards light, thin, short, and small, a package structure has been developed wherein a cavity is formed on a carrier for accommodating a chip, so as to reduce the profile of the package structure and improve its heat radiating effect and electrical properties.
FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional chip package with a heat spreader. With reference to FIG. 1, the chip package 100 comprises a circuit substrate 110, a chip 120, wires 130, a heat spreader 140, and an encapsulating compound 150. The circuit substrate 110 is disposed on a bonding surface 140a of the heat spreader 140 and has an opening 112 for exposing a portion of the bonding surface 140a. The cavity for accommodating the chip 120 is formed from the opening 112 of the circuit substrate 110 and the bonding surface 140a of the heat spreader 140. The chip 120 is disposed on the bonding surface 140a exposed by the opening 112 and coupled to the contacts on the substrate 110 through a plurality of wires 130.
With reference to FIG. 1 again, the encapsulating compound 150 is disposed on the bonding surface 140a exposed by the opening 120 and covers the chip 120, the wires 130, and a portion of the circuit substrate 110. Moreover, a plurality of solder balls 160 is disposed on the ball pads of the circuit substrate 110 for coupling the chip package 110 to the outside. As described above, a great deal of heat is produced by the chip 120 and the circuit substrate 110 when the chip package 110 is in the state of general operation. Then, the heat is transferred to the heat spreader 140 to achieve the goal of heat radiation.
It should be noted that conventionally the circuit substrate 110 is attached to the heat spreader 140 by direct adhesion, i.e., an adhesion layer 170 is formed between the circuit substrate 110 and the heat spreader 140 for fixing the circuit substrate 110 on the heat spreader 140. However, the circuit substrate 110 is easily warped due to the ambient temperature during processing or during use, so that the circuit substrate 110 cannot be attached to the bonding surface 140a of the heat spreader 140 effectively. Thus, this leads not only to a reduction in the effectiveness of heat radiation for the chip package 100 and lower reliability, but further results in difficulty with the subsequent wire bond or ball mount, thereby affecting the yield of processing.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc.


A method is provided for locating the bottom roll of a stack of a plurality of slit rolls disposed upon a skid or pallet with the method incorporating the use of a disk snugly telescoped downwardly into the tubular core of the lowermost slit roll and being anchored to the supporting skid through the utilization of shank-type fasteners. After the positioning disk has been secured to the skid the remaining slit rolls of the stack are placed upon and axial aligned with the bottom slit roll of the stack and an elongated reinforcing gusset is snugly telescoped down through the cores of the stack. Thereafter, a shrink film is placed about the stack, around and beneath the skid securing the stack to the skid.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for locating multiple stacked slit rolls on a skid or pallet in order that the stack of slit rolls will not shift relative to each other or the skid or pallet upon which they are disposed during shipment.
2. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
Various different forms of pallet constructions heretofore have been provided with structure thereon for positively locating articles to be secured on the pallet for shipment from one location to another. In addition, various different forms of tools constructed for driving items into place also have been provided. Examples of these previous known structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,525,316, 4,280,540, 4,393,999, 4,516,677, 4,557,409 and 4,580,680. However, these previously known constructions and tools are not capable of modification of a conventional pallet for supporting a plurality of stacked slit rolls thereon against shifting during transport from one location to another.


A method of monitoring respiration with an acoustic measurement device, the acoustic measurement device having a sound transducer, the sound transducer configured to measure sound associated with airflow through a mammalian trachea, the method includes correlating the measured sound into a measurement of tidal volume and generating at least one from the group consisting of an alert and an alarm if the measured tidal volume falls outside of a predetermined range.

Respiratory rate (RR) is routinely monitored during research studies using a tight-fitting band around the wearer's chest or impedance pneumography. In impedance pneumography, a bedside monitor measures/analyzes the change in electrical impedance across the patient's thorax during inhalation/exhalation to measure RR accurately. Current respiratory monitors for in-hospital use measure a change in thoracic electrical impedance to measure minute ventilation (RR×Tidal Volume (TV)). An array of wearable electrodes is hard-wired to an expensive bedside monitor/display with threshold and predictive alarms for hypoventilation.
Clinicians commonly use a modified nasal oxygen cannula and capnography in a hospital's ER, OR, ICU, and general floors to continuously monitor respiratory rate and the exhaled carbon dioxide concentration. The nasal cannulas are cumbersome and easily dislodged from the nose leading to a high degree of false alarms. Hospitals also commonly use a pulse oximeter to continuously monitor a patient's hemoglobin oxygen saturation. Unfortunately, a pulse oximeter alarms for arterial hypoxemia only after moderate to severe hypoventilation, especially if the hospitalized patient is being managed with supplemental oxygen therapy.
Breathing abnormalities, such as hypoventilation commonly occur as a side effect of central nervous system depressant drugs, for example, opioids, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, etc., with and without alcohol ingestion. The human body's ten trillion cells continuously produce carbon dioxide as a waste product of aerobic metabolism. Carbon dioxide molecules are continuously transported in the flowing blood to the lung's alveoli for excretion into the external environment. The human body has a variety of physiological mechanisms for maintaining the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood within a precise range (PaCO2 40 mm Hg +/−5 mm Hg) by increasing and decreasing the amount of air that moves into and out of the lung's alveoli. Hypoventilation is defined as an abnormally elevated level of carbon dioxide in the arterial blood (PaCO2>45 mm Hg or respiratory acidosis). This occurs when the amount of alveolar ventilation does not satisfactorily excrete the amount of CO2 produced by the cells- leading to an elevated concentration of CO2 in the arterial bloodstream. Although the impact caused by hypoventilation is well-recognized, quantitative measurement of ventilation, whether increased or decreased ventilation, has not been well established in clinical diagnostics. For example, a nurse on the general ward of a hospital is required to observe a patient's breathing for a full minute, while counting the number of breaths and estimating the depth of breathing. This nursing assessment occurs infrequently and is prone to error. This is in part due to the inability to continuously and accurately monitor/measure airflow into and out of the lungs during ambulation in the hospital or real-world environment. The amount of air that moves into and out of the trachea, bronchi, and alveoli per minute is called minute ventilation. The amount of air that moves into and out of the alveoli per minute is called alveolar minute ventilation. The amount of air that moves into and out of the trachea and bronchi, but does not move into/out of the alveoli is called dead space ventilation. The body uses chemoreceptors to continuously measure the arterial blood's pH level and CO2 concentration. An elevated carbon dioxide concentration (respiratory acidosis) stimulates the brain to increase alveolar minute ventilation by increasing the RR and/or TV. A decreased carbon dioxide concentration (respiratory alkalosis) stimulates the brain to decrease minute ventilation by decreasing the RR and/or TV. Hypoventilation occurs when the alveolar minute ventilation does not excrete the amount of carbon dioxide currently produced by cellular metabolism. Hyperventilation occurs when the alveolar minute ventilation exceeds the amount of carbon dioxide currently produced by cellular metabolism. Thus, known methods of measuring respiratory rate by airflow such as nasal cannula capnography and temperature thermistors are used by clinicians to diagnose disordered breathing during a sleep apnea study, as opposed to being awake and ambulatory. Capnography continuously samples air from one nostril using a nasal cannula, and displays a CO2 concentration waveform during inhalation/exhalation. The temperature thermistor measures changes in air temperature within one nostril during inhalation/exhalation (exhaled air warmer), These semi-quantitative measures of respiration are used to detect apneas and hypopneas by correlating relative changes in airflow, but are not suited to quantify the degree of upper airway function or level of ventilation impairment.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Acoustic sensor and ventilation monitoring system


The drainage catheter for continent urinary neo-bladders, is specific in all the cases to the reconstruction of the urinary bladder either when a tract of the intestine, or when a portion of the stomach is utilized after the surgical removal of the natural bladder. The catheter can be utilized either for orthotopic urinary neo-bladders (anastomosis to the urethra), or for neo-bladders with a stoma (anastomosis to the abdominal wall), and also in enlargement entero-cystoplasties, when the natural urinary bladder is enlarged utilizing different intestinal segments. The catheter is characterized by a wide draining surface for urine, having several holes, which plays a role in preventing dangerous inadvertent obstructions of neo-bladders in the post-operatory period, caused by the continuous formation of mucous clots, when the intestine has been utilized. This catheter also prevents and minimizes bleeding caused by acid secretions when a portion of the stomach has been utilized. The catheter of the invention because of its material, its particular tip, its configuration changes the traditional approach to the patient, improving his quality of life.

Quite often, there is a need in clinical practice to remove the urinary bladder in men, women, and children, because of tumors, infections, neurologic abnormalities, or malformations. Bladder trauma is also very common after a car crash, a working accident, etc., and may require a cystectomy. Reconstruction of a new urinary bladder is common in urologic practice utilizing different segments of the intestine or of the stomach.
Two fundamental types of urinary neo-bladders allow patients to achieve urinary continence: the orthotopic neo-bladders where a patient voids through the penis, helping himself with the contraction of the abdominal musculature, and, as under normal conditions, continence is achieved with the natural sphincter; and neo-bladders with a stoma in which the neo-bladder, fashioned with a continence mechanism, communicates with the abdominal wall, and the patient catheterizes himself through the stoma to void regularly.
Common post-operatory catheters utilized for the drainage of neo-bladders are the same bladder catheters in use for many years to drain the natural bladder for the elderly, surgery of the prostate, endoscopic or partial surgery of the bladder, etc. A bladder (urethral) catheter is usually made of different materials (latex rubber, polyvinyl, polyurethane, co-polymer, silicone rubber, etc.), in different shapes and dimensions. These types of catheters are in wide use all over the world and do not show particular, technical difficulties. The balloon that anchors the catheter is made of the same rubber-elastic material in different sizes and volumes, depending on final requirements, and can be inflated or deflated through a continent valve inserted tangential to the funnel of the catheter; the balloon can be fused to the catheter or simply fixed on it, depending on the technique.
The tip of a bladder catheter is very short, about 3 cm.
Using the intestine in reconstructing the bladder, the intestinal mucosa frequently causes obstructions of the catheter by producing mucous secretions and mucous clots, with the risk of dangerous passive over distensions of the neo-bladder. The nurse personnel and the doctors must frequently wash the neo-bladders through the catheter during the two weeks of post-operatory period.
It is usually not possible to maintain a continuous washing flow through the catheter in the post-operatory period, because sudden and inadvertent obstructions not recognized immediately by the medical and nursing staff, could cause a dangerous over distension of the newly fashioned bladder and a possible rupture. Moreover, when a portion of the stomach has been utilized in reconstructing the bladder, a particular surgical procedure suitable for children, the mucosa of the portion of the stomach, utilized in the reconstruction, produces chloric acid, digestive enzymes, and mucous.
Medical therapy adequately cannot prevent the secretion of chloric acid that is sometimes responsible for severe bleeding from the mucosa (gastric) of neo-bladders. This is a common complaint for a few months after the neo-bladder procedure.

Drainage catheter for continent urinary neo-bladders


Methods and systems for resource usage tracking are disclosed. In one embodiment, an exemplary method comprises maintaining, in a data store, a configuration file associated with a virtual server instance; instantiating a virtual server based on the virtual server instance by: locating, in the data store, the configuration file; determining required virtual server resources based on the contents of the configuration file; configuring at least one resource of the virtual server based on the contents of the configuration file; and spinning up the virtual server. The method may also comprise determining that an instantiated virtual server has reached an error state; and based on the determination that the instantiated virtual server has reached an error state, determining a configuration file associated with the instantiated virtual server; and instantiating a new virtual server using the determined configuration file.

Proliferation of virtual servers has broadened access to large computing resources at low costs. Various corporations provide virtual server resources, also known as cloud computing. Further, companies, universities, and government organizations utilize virtual servers to host websites, perform complex computer simulations, and store large databases, among other services. Virtual servers provide secure, reliable, and scalable computational resources to clients, enabling clients to focus on creating products rather than maintaining server capability.
However, complex organizations consuming large amounts of virtual server resources often have difficulty tracking many different configurations of the virtual servers. For instance, a large company may have many different operations, each requiring different virtual server resources and configurations. A management department may require storage on a virtual server, while research and development require processing for computational modeling, and a sales department may need a virtual server to host a web site.
Further, organizations sometimes require redundancy in virtual servers. For example, a database of important health or financial information may require double or triple redundancy to protect against hardware failures or power outages. Additionally, when a virtual server does fail or otherwise become unavailable, organizations must dedicate significant time to reestablishing the same operations on a new virtual server. For organizations with many virtual servers, maintaining virtual server operation requires frequent configuration of new virtual servers. However, maintaining many different configurations for many different roles could introduce errors and inconsistencies. For example, if a virtual server fails, an employee configuring a new virtual server to perform the role of the failed server may accidentally forget a configuration setting, disrupting access to the server resources for clients and users.
Additionally, large organizations may need to scale virtual server resources quickly, for instance, if an e-commerce website is conducting a sale, or a research and development firm is running a short term but resource intensive computer model. The requirement of configuring many virtual servers impairs scalability and increases costs.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods to manage virtual servers and centralize server initialization information.

Systems and methods for centralization of server initialization information


In an example embodiment, an active pixel sensor on a user device is utilized to capture graphical user interface navigation related movements by a user. Areas of low luminance can be identified and movements or alterations in the areas of low luminance can be translated into navigation commands fed to an application running on the user device.

With the rise in popularity of touchscreen displays, especially in mobile products, it is increasingly unlikely that user devices will contain many (if any) buttons or other controllers capable of providing additional user input beyond the user input captured by the touchscreen display. Most modern smartphones, for example, may have only buttons for powering on or of the device, volume controls, and perhaps a "home" button designed to allow the user to quickly exit an application and return to a home screen. None of these buttons are typically useful for providing user input to applications, as their default inputs are typically still needed no matter the application (e.g., it is difficult for an application to use the volume buttons as input as the system still needs to control the system volume using those buttons). While touchscreens certainly allow for a variety of different user inputs, such inputs are limited to the areas which the touchscreen covers, which is a portion of the front of the mobile device. This can be limiting in input-heavy applications, such as games, where a user's hands may get cramped or the user may otherwise find it difficult to control the game via only the front touchscreen. While some applications have been designed to use an accelerometer in a mobile device as an additional user input (e.g., the user could "turn" the mobile device and thereby cause a "turning" user input to, for example, a driving game), there is a need for additional improvements in providing user input beyond the touchscreen or dedicated buttons.


In this disclosure, equations to be solved in the model predictive control are transformed by using an off-line algebraic simplification method into a matrix operational expression representing a product of a coefficient matrix and a vector regarding solution inputs within a control horizon is equal to a function vector regarding target values of output states and the output states. The size of the coefficient matrix is reduced compared with the conventional matrix. Then, the matrix operational expression is solved in an online plant control apparatus with present output states and present target values of the output stats of a plant to be controlled, by the direct method, to output the solution to the plant.

The model predictive control is a control method for determining inputs to a control target at each step by optimizing responses up to a definite future time. This method is noteworthy as a control technique that enables the follow-up control to a non-stationary target value, and has a merit that constraint conditions such as saturation can be treated.
Conventionally, the study was mainly made for the linear system, however, recently, the study is actively made for the application to the non-linear system. At present, there are a lot of application examples that the non-linear problem is simplified to the linear problem. However, it is not easy to actually apply this technique to a case that high-speed changes occur even in the linear system, and it is desired that the calculation period is shortened.
Methods for processing a problem for the model predictive control in real time, which also includes a control target having a non-linear plant model are largely classified to two categories. One is a method that the state feedback control rule is represented by a function of a state x(k) of the plant off-line, and only substitution calculation is carried out online. On the other hand, the other method is a method that all calculation is carried out online.
As for the calculation carried out off-line, a method is considered that spaces of the present states x(k) of the plant are classified by a certain method such as return to Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman method, and feedback control rules are given to the respective space regions. However, according to such a method, too many space regions may be generated. Moreover, if the number of dimensions of the states increases, the number of divisions rapidly increases.
On the other hand, as for the method for carrying out the calculation online, various numerical analysis method of optimization problems, such as gradient method, interior point method or the like, can be applied. In addition, a method for efficiently solving the problem by gasping the dual problem with respect to Lagrange multiplier and an algorithm that a structure such as Hessian matrix is used to improve the efficiency are advocated. However, when the normal iterative calculation is used as a method of the numerical calculation, the calculation is iterated until the solution is settled. Therefore, the calculation amount becomes huge.
Then, a method is considered to reduce the iteration calculations by the continuous deformation analysis using the time as a parameter. Even in such a case, when the change of the states x(k) of the plant is large, the number of iterations becomes large. Therefore, any step may not be completed within a desired period.
In addition, as for the numerical analysis method, a lot of approximations are used for the expression in the optimization problem in order to efficiently obtain the solution. Therefore, a large gap with the value to be intrinsically obtained may occur.
Namely, there is no technique for calculating the inputs for the plant at high speed in the model predictive control.

Matrix generation technique and plant control technique


A semiconductor device includes a section signal generator and a decoder. The section signal generator generates a section signal by retarding a pre-section signal including a pulse created during a read operation or a write operation by a delay time that is set according to a level combination of first and second test mode signals. The decoder decodes address signals in response to a pulse of the section signal to generate column selection signals, one of which is selectively enabled, to store an external data in a memory cell of an internal circuit or to output a data stored in a memory cell of an internal circuit.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to semiconductor devices.
2. Related Art
Semiconductor memory devices, for example, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices may have row address paths, column address paths and data paths. The row address path may be created during an operation for selecting a word line using a row address signal supplied from an external device and for amplifying the data stored in at least one memory cell connected to the selected word line using at least one sense amplifier, and the column address path may be created during an operation for selecting one of a plurality of output enable signals using a column address signal. Further, the data path may be created during an operation for transmitting data on bit lines to an external device through input/output (I/O) lines, sense amplifiers and data output buffers, the sense amplifiers and data output buffers. The operation (hereinafter, referred to as a column operation) relating to the column address path may be controlled by a column path circuit which is suitable for including a column decoder. The column path circuit may decode the column address signal to selectively enable any one of the plurality of column selection signals and may transmit the data on the bit line selected by the enabled column selection signal to the I/O line.
In general, the semiconductor device such as the DRAM device may be suitable for including a plurality of memory banks, and each of the memory banks may include a plurality of memory cells. Addresses allocated to the memory cells of one of the memory banks may be identical to addresses allocated to the memory cells of another memory bank. Thus, the semiconductor device may simultaneously output the data of the memory cells that are disposed in respective ones of the memory banks to have the same address. To this end, the column path circuit may decode the column address signals to selectively enable any one of the plurality of column selection signals and may perform the column operation for simultaneously transmitting the data on the bit lines of the memory banks selected by the selected column selection signal to the I/O lines.


An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for a scalable, composite, reconfigurable backplane. The backplane is made up of one or more blade aggregation modules which provide switching for attached devices. The blade aggregation module connects to transition cards that then connect with blade modules. The blade aggregation module provides connectivity to the connected modules, which may connect to a second blade aggregation module through the transition cards. The transition cards may additionally connect with unit aggregation modules to connect rows of blade modules together. Transition cards can also provide outside connectivity. The backplane, made up of blade aggregation modules, transition cards, and unit aggregation modules, is highly scalable and versatile, and also provides an unblocked airflow path to facilitate cooling the blades.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to blade server systems and more particularly relates to a backplane of a blade server system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Blade computing is growing in popularity in the information technology ("IT") realm. As more and more services are offered via computers and computer networks, the hardware to support these services grows in size and complexity. Data centers quickly fill with more and more servers as demand for services grow. This continual demand for more computing power results in more hardware. And as more and more hardware is added, management of the hardware, whether maintaining the networks, repairing damaged equipment, or other tasks, grows more and more complicated.
Blade servers offer an increasingly popular solution to the growing pains associated with other server systems. Blade servers are generally made up of thin blade modules (sometimes simply referred to as "blades") that fit within a blade enclosure designed to provide support, power, and cooling to the blade server system. The core concept behind a blade server system is to remove from individual blade modules components that are unnecessary for the function that the particular blade is to perform. For example, a particular blade designed for processing may have a number of processors and sufficient memory to support the processing operations, but have all hard drive components removed, basic IO devices supporting peripherals such as keyboards removed, and power supply components removed. In contrast, a storage blade may have minimal processing capability but a great deal of storage. Removing items unrelated to the task the particular blade is to perform saves space, power, reduces heat, and decreases the number of components which may fail.
FIG. 1 shows one example of the basic structure of a blade server system. FIG. 1 shows a chassis 110 with backplane 120, a passage 116, a tray 112, and dividers 114. The chassis 110, also referred to as the enclosure, may provide a variety of services for the blade server system. For example, the chassis 110 may provide power for the blade server system and its constituent components. The chassis 110 may also provide cooling. The chassis 110 will typically have a tray 112 which, together with the dividers 114, separates the chassis 110 into blade module sized compartments. The user then inserts the individual blade modules into the compartments to integrate them into the system.
One component of a blade server system is a backplane 120, also referred to as a midplane. The blade modules typically plug into the backplane 120 which allows them to network and also provides power. In many embodiments, the backplane 120 is a passive component of the system in order to minimize the risk of a backplane failure.
However, the traditional backplane 120 has a number of failings. First, given the connectivity that the backplane 120 may need to provide, the backplane 120 is often a circuit board with considerable thickness. This makes manufacturing the board much more expensive and technically difficult to ensure that only the proper connections are made. In addition, the backplane 120 is generally a "one size fits all" solution for the blade server system; that is, a backplane 120 may be sized for a 3U system, a 20U system, or some other dimension. However, once the capacity of the backplane 120 is reached, the user must make an expensive upgrade to a new backplane 120. In other words, the traditional backplane 120 is not scalable.
The backplane 120 is generally designed to include only passive components since, if the backplane 120 fails, the entire blade server system is offline. Keeping the backplane 120 passive greatly reduces the risk of failure. However, active components may be useful in a backplane 120. For example, in a large system, signal buffers may be useful to strengthen signals that are travelling a long distance through the backplane 120. In addition, active components can provide valuable functions such as translating from one protocol to another (such as 10 GB Ethernet to Fibre Channel). Traditional blade server systems require a user to either forgo the benefits of these active components or force the user to incorporate them elsewhere in the system, which uses more space and complicates management. The backplane 120 simply is not a flexible solution. The backplane 120, once created, exists as it was created. The functionality or connectivity of the backplane 120 cannot be adjusted or tailored to the changing needs of the user.
In addition, the backplane 120 is a physical barrier to air flow through the chassis 110. Controlling the temperature in dense blade server systems is a significant challenge. Proper cooling of blade server systems and data centers is a field of expertise in and of itself. The barrier posed by the backplane 120 presents an obstacle since air needs to be circulated through the blade modules attached to the backplane 120. In many embodiments, the chassis 110 will house high-powered fans behind the backplane 120 which blow air through the passage 116 and thus circulate the air through the system. In short, cooling devices need to work around the backplane 120 as they cannot go through it. Even where holes are punched through the backplane 120, airflow is still restricted.

Apparatus, system, and method for a scalable, composite, reconfigurable backplane


The optical transmission apparatus for multiple wavelengths according to the present invention comprises; a light source, a temperature control section for controlling the temperature of the light source, a temperature control (ATC) loop for controlling the operation of the temperature control section, and a wavelength control (AFC) loop. The ATC loop detects the temperature of the light source and feedback controls the operation of the temperature control section, so that the optical output wavelengths of the light source fall within a wavelength capture range corresponding to a target wavelength of the AFC loop. The AFC loop has a wavelength detection filter having a periodic transmission wavelength characteristic. After the operation of the ATC loop has stabilized, a wavelength capture operation is commenced, and the operation of the temperature control section is controlled so that the optical output wavelength of the light source is captured at a stable point corresponding to a target wavelength, among a plurality of stable points.

The present invention relates to an optical transmission apparatus and an optical transmission wavelength control method, used in wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical transmission systems. In particular, the invention relates to an optical transmission apparatus for multiple wavelengths, which can switch and transmit optical signals of a plurality of wavelengths, and an optical transmission wavelength control method.
With recent high information orientation, in optical communication, a significant increase in transmission capacity together with a reduction in transmission cost is required. In order to meet these requirements, up until now a transmission speed has mainly been increased. However, with an ultra high transmission speed, it has become technically difficult to bring such optical communication into practical use. Furthermore, an increase in cost has been resulted. Therefore, wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) techniques enabling of transmitting a plurality of optical signals of different wavelengths on a single optical fiber, are attracted attention.
In a WDM optical transmission system, in general, a plurality of optical signals with equal inter-wavelength spacing are transmitted via a single optical fiber. However, in the case of systems and the like for realizing 32 waves multiplexing conforming to ITU (International Telecommunication Union) recommendations for example, the inter-wavelength spacing becomes narrow at 0.8 nm. Therefore, suppression of inter-channel crosstalk has been attempted by providing a narrow-band optical filter in the optical multiplexing apparatus or the like to perform the limitation of band and attenuating wavelengths other than the necessary wavelengths.
However, if the wavelength of the optical signal output from the optical transmission apparatus and the like is deviated from the transmission central wavelength of the narrow-band optical filter, the optical output power is attenuated by the narrow-band optical filter, and thus reduced so that transmission quality is degraded. Therefore, since it becomes necessary to coincide the optical output wavelength of the optical transmission apparatus with the central wavelength of the narrow-band optical filter of the optical multiplexing apparatus, a wavelength control of the optical output is required to be performed with good accuracy.
In a wavelength control performed by a conventional optical transmission apparatus, for example, a part of light output from a laser diode (LD) is taken out, and input into a wavelength detection filter in which an optical filter with the transmissivity differing depending on wavelength is used. Light that has passed through the wavelength detection filter is received by a photodiode (PD), and a PD output current is converted into a voltage. Thereafter, this voltage is compared with a reference voltage set corresponding to the central wavelength of the narrow-band optical filter and the temperature of the LD is then controlled so that the respective voltages become equal to each other (wavelength deviation disappears), thereby making the optical output wavelength correspond to the central wavelength of the narrow-band optical filter.
In such a conventional optical transmission apparatus, the wavelength control is fixedly performed limited to a single wavelength. Therefore, in a WDM optical transmission system with a large number of wavelengths, optical devices such as LDs and optical filters and so forth are required for each wavelength. However, these optical devices suffer from problems in manufacturability and availability. Furthermore, since the wavelength control is limited to single fixed wavelengths only, this has the drawback of poor expandability on the user side. In addition, if a backup configuration for dealing with failures and so forth is considered, this also becomes extremely disadvantageous cost-wise since the number of parts is further increased.
The present invention takes into consideration the abovementioned situation, with the object of providing an optical transmission apparatus for multiple wavelengths, enabling of setting optical output wavelengths with a high degree of freedom.
In order to achieve the above object, there is provided an optical transmission apparatus for multiple wavelengths according to the present invention comprising; a light source for generating light for which the wavelength changes according to temperature, temperature control means for controlling temperature of the light source, and a wavelength control loop for detecting wavelengths of light output from the light source and feedback controlling an operation of the temperature control means based on the detected optical output wavelengths, to thereby capture the optical output wavelengths which are within a predetermined wavelength capture range into the vicinity of a target wavelength, wherein the optical transmission apparatus for multiple wavelengths further comprises a temperature control loop for detecting the temperature of the light source and feedback controlling the operation of the temperature control means in accordance with the detected temperature so that the optical output wavelengths of the light source fall within a wavelength capture range corresponding to the target wavelength of the wavelength control loop, and the wavelength control loop detects the optical output wavelengths of the light source using a wavelength detection filter having a transmission wavelength characteristic capable of setting a plurality of stable points for a wavelength capture operation, and starts the wavelength capture operation after an operation of the temperature control loop has stabilized.
With such a construction, as a preliminary operation for wavelength capture control by the wavelength control loop, a temperature control of the light source is performed by the temperature control loop so that the optical output wavelengths of the light source fall within a wavelength capture range corresponding to the target wavelength of the wavelength control loop. Then, when the operation of the temperature control loop becomes stable, the wavelength capture operation by the wavelength control loop is started. This wavelength capture operation is performed using the wavelength detection filter having a transmission wavelength characteristic capable of setting a plurality of stable points, and the optical output wavelengths of the light source are capture controlled to a stable point which corresponds to a target wavelength among the plurality of stable points.
Furthermore, in the optical transmission apparatus for multiple wavelengths, the wavelength detection filter preferably has a periodic transmission wavelength characteristic. By using such a wavelength detection filter, a wavelength deviation due to circuit errors and the like becomes small, and hence the wavelength control is accurately performed.
Moreover, in the case where the wavelength detection filter having the above mentioned periodic transmission wavelength characteristic is used, the wavelength control loop may incorporate a control polarity switching section which reverses a control direction of the capture operation in accordance with the switching of the target wavelength.
By having such a construction, the control direction of the capture operation can be selected in accordance with the set target wavelength. Therefore, the stable points of the wavelength control can be doubled.
In addition, in the abovementioned optical transmission apparatus, there may be provided control loop switching means for selectively switching either one of the temperature control loop and the wavelength control loop based on control conditions of the temperature control means.
With such a construction, the operation of the temperature control means is not controlled by a multiple loop construction of the temperature control loop and the wavelength control loop, so that a wavelength control time until the optical output wavelength becomes stable is shortened.
Furthermore, as a specific construction for the temperature control loop, this may comprise; a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the light source and transmitting this to the temperature control means, and a target temperature setting section that sets, depending on the setting of the target wavelength, a target temperature in the temperature control means such that the optical output wavelengths of the light source fall within the wavelength capture range corresponding to the target wavelength of the wavelength control loop.
Moreover, in the abovementioned temperature control loop, it is preferable that there is provided a temperature storage section that stores the temperature of the light source detected by the temperature sensor when the optical output wavelengths of the light source have stabilized in the vicinity of the target wavelength, and the target temperature setting section sets a target temperature corresponding to the target wavelength based on storage data of the temperature storage section.
With such a construction, an influence on the wavelength control due to the occurrence of wavelength drift is reduced, enabling an even more accurate wavelength control.
Furthermore, in the abovementioned optical transmission apparatus, the construction may be such that there is provided light shut off means for shutting off light output from the light source during a period from a starting of operation by the temperature control loop until the wavelength capture operation by the wavelength control loop becomes stable.
With such a construction, since the optical output is shut off at the time of wavelength control transition, the occurrence of inter-channel crosstalk can be avoided.
In an optical transmission wavelength control method according to the present invention for detecting wavelengths of light output from a light source and feedback controlling temperature of the light source based on the detected optical output wavelengths, to thereby capture optical output wavelengths which are within a predetermined wavelength capture range into the vicinity of a target wavelength, the temperature of the light source is controlled so that the optical output wavelengths of the light source fall within a wavelength capture range corresponding to a target wavelength of the wavelength control, and thereafter, the optical output wavelengths of the light source are detected using a wavelength detection filter having a transmission wavelength characteristic capable of multiply setting stable points for a wavelength capture operation of the wavelength control, and the wavelength capture operation is started depending on the detected optical output wavelengths.

Optical transmission apparatus for multiple wavelengths and optical transmission wavelength control method


A process and electrolytic cell for reducing in an ionic alkali metal compound, the cell containing anode and cathode electrodes, by supplying an electrolyte containing the alkali metal compound to the cell, applying an electric voltage to the cell to reduce said alkali metal compound at the cathode, and passing hydrogen or a hydrogen containing gas to at least one electrode while the compound is reduced at the cathode.

Electrochemical processes are important in the chemical industry, but they are also large consumers of energy. For example, the electrochemical production of inorganic chemicals and metals in the United States consumes about 5% of all the electricity generated annually, and about 16% of the electric power consumed by industry. Energy consumption is a very important cost of production, and in many larger scale electrochemical manufacturing processes, it is the dominant cost. Therefore, it is desirable to find ways to significantly reduce this cost.
One way to reduce electricity consumption in electrochemical processes is to use a cheap reducing material as an anode material. This reducing material is oxidized in the electrolytic process to reduce cell voltage. This method is used in the electrolysis of alumina for aluminum production using the Hall and Heroult process. A carbon anode is used and consumed in the electrolytic process, forming carbon dioxide as a product. This allows the cell voltage to drop by about 1 volt.
Another cheap reducing material that could be employed is hydrogen gas. Hydrogen can be obtained from steam reforming natural gas in a highly thermally efficient process, typically 70–80%. The associated processing costs are low, such that typically ⅔ of the total cost of producing hydrogen is for the natural gas feedstock, an inexpensive commodity. As a consequence, the cost of hydrogen from a large hydrogen plant is currently on the order of about $0.8/kg, or about $0.025/kWh in its Gibbs free energy of combustion.
It is also known that the overvoltage of a fuel cell anode in which hydrogen gas is converted to protons by electron extraction is rather low, typically below 0.1 V at the typical current density of a fuel cell, much lower than that on the fuel cell cathode, and much lower than the overpotentials on the anodes of electrochemical cells that release oxygen.
These facts suggest using hydrogen gas at anodes to lower the overall cell voltage and to lower overpotential on the anode side of an electrolytic cell during any electrolytic reduction. There are several benefits in using hydrogen. For instance, hydrogen is inexpensive and readily available. The $0.025/kWh cited above compares favorably with the typical electricity cost of $0.05–0.07/kWh. The relatively low overvoltage of electron extraction from hydrogen is also attractive. These combined factors are a fundamental reason why hydrogen-assisted electrolysis shown in equations (1a) and (1b) may be the lower cost option in comparison to an electrolysis process that generates oxygen or other oxidizing agents at the anode, such as the electrolysis of sodium chloride to make sodium metal and chlorine gas shown in equations (2a) and (2b).
Cathode:2Na+ + 2e− → 2Na(1a)Anode:2OH− + H2 − 2e− → 2H2O(1b)Standard cell voltage = 1.46 V.Cathode:Na+ + e− → Na(2a)Anode:Cl− − e− → ½Cl2(2b)Standard cell voltage = 3.42 V.
Furthermore, hydrogen can be used not only to reduce electricity consumption, but also to produce the desired final products in the electrolysis process without additional reaction steps. For example, the largest consumer of sodium metal in the United States is the process for making sodium borohydride. The first step of sodium borohydride synthesis is to convert sodium to sodium hydride by direct reaction of the two elements. By supplying hydrogen to the cathode during electrolysis, sodium hydride could be made directly.
Sodium borohydride is a very versatile chemical and is used in organic synthesis, waste-water treatment, and pulp and paper bleaching. The high hydrogen content of this compound also makes it a good candidate for being a hydrogen carrier, and it could play a major role as an enabler of a hydrogen economy if the cost of producing this chemical could be greatly reduced. Transitioning to a hydrogen economy for energy production would solve a number of environmental problems related to burning fossil fuel for electricity and mechanical energy generation.
Several processes exist for making sodium borohydride, all of which depend on metallic sodium or sodium hydride as a starting material. Essentially, all sodium in the marketplace is obtained from energy inefficient electrolysis processes, such as electrolysis of sodium chloride. Due to this, the market price of sodium is quite high and this raises the cost of raw materials for making sodium borohydride. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the cost of making sodium.
Today's workhorse for producing sodium borohydride is the so-called Schlesinger process which is a multi-step synthetic process. The cost of running several steps also adds significantly to the total manufacturing cost. Direct electrolytic synthesis has the advantage of simplicity, and therefore has the potential to be lower in capital cost. Electrochemical processes can take place closer to chemical equilibrium than many non-electrochemical processes. In addition, a one-step transformation by direct electrolytic synthesis has the potential to greatly reduce energy cost. There have been reports of electrochemical synthesis of sodium borohydride from aqueous sodium metaborate solution in the patent literature (U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,842, U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,357, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,154). These processes involve conversion of sodium metaborate and water to form sodium borohydride and oxygen in an electrical cell as shown in the following half cell reactions:
Cathode:B(OH)4− + 4H2O + 8e− → BH4− + 8OH−(3a)Anode:8OH− − 8e− → 4H2O + 2O2(3b)Standard cell voltage = 1.64 V.


A transport container made from lightweight construction boards, having a base and upright walls extending around the base. In order to manufacture the transport container in a more cost-effective, more rugged and more easily reparable manner, the walls, at their lower end, have a flap which extends along the edge of the walls and is angled in the direction of the base and which is connected to the base. Wherein an upwardly curved channel is between the angled flap and the edge, and the walls, at their upper end, have an upwardly curving beading which has a shape which corresponds to the channel at the lower end of the walls. In order to obtain improved stability, the transport container, which is constructed in a modular manner, may be provided with a concealed frame of metal tubes.

The invention relates to a transport container made from lightweight construction boards, having a base and having upright walls extending around the latter.
Containers of this type, in their two-dimensional components, substantially consist of flat blanks, e.g. corrugated board or comparable plastic laminates, twin-wall sheets, etc. Lightweight boards made of polypropylene, which are particularly suitable, are commercially available, for example under the trade name CON-Pearl. In the case of this material, the center layer is deformed in a three-dimensional manner and laminated on both sides with a smooth plastic layer.
It is known here to provide lightweight boards of this type, made of plastic, with creases which are incorporated in a thermal manner and form hinges, fold lines, etc. In the prior art, transport containers with their base and their walls, for example, are cut to size in one piece from lightweight boards, and the walls are then folded upward at these creases.
In the case of such transport boxes manufactured in a one-piece manner it is disadvantageous that, on the one hand, the blanks cause a comparatively large amount of offcuts and, on the other hand, such transport boxes, in the case of any damage, cannot be repaired or can be repaired only with difficulty and, therefore, have to be disposed of completely. This is seen as a disadvantage in terms of cost.
A further disadvantage can be seen in that the stability and/or ruggedness of the transport containers is determined by the strength, or thickness, of the material. Therefore, rugged transport containers are usually made from stronger, i.e. thicker, material and, therefore, have a higher weight.
An essential aspect in the case of transport containers of this type, which are used e.g. to transport components from an automotive supplier to an automotive manufacturer, is the stackability of said transport containers. It is important here that a corresponding transport container can not only hold its contents but also may have a plurality of other transport containers loaded on top, without collapsing under such a load. In order to have the ruggedness required therefor, transport containers having thick walls are manufactured, which, therefore, have a higher weight which, in the case of a permissible total weight at which a transport container is still manually manageable, has a disadvantageous effect on the weight which is available for the contents of the transport container.

Transport container made from lightweight construction boards