An exception card input apparatus for a generally rectangular input card hopper for a card processing machine. The exception card insert apparatus has a carriage slideably mounted within the hopper for movement between a first position, proximate a driving device for removing cards from the hopper to the processing machine, and a second position, proximate a slot through the hopper cover for inserting an exception card into the hopper. The exception insert apparatus also includes a compartment in the carriage for receiving the exception card through the slot when the carriage is in the second position and the compartment is configured to place the exception card in a position for a plurality of rollers to remove the exception card from the carriage and the hopper to the processing machine when the carriage is in an intermediate position between the first and the second position. The invention also includes a method of removing an exception card from an input hopper to a card processing machine.

Data is often placed on cards such as credit cards by printing on the cards, embossing the cards, depositing data on a magnetic strip on the card, or depositing data in an integrated circuit on the card. The placement of data on the cards by any of the methods listed above is generally done by a card processing machine. Cards to be processed by the machine are often placed stacked in a hopper adjacent the card processing machine. The cards normally are fed one by one from the hopper into the card processing machine and automatically restacked in another hopper after process of the cards is completed. Processing of the cards may proceed continuously or cards may be fed into the machine periodically in response to the demand for a card.
After the cards have been placed in the hopper, the hopper is covered and locked to prevent manipulation or theft of the cards prior to processing. If an exception card must be processed in addition to the cards in the hopper (non-exception cards), the hopper must be unlocked and the cover removed exposing the non-exception cards to manipulation or theft. This might occur, for example, when a hopper is filled with a stack of standard credit cards and there is a need to process a premium credit card.

Exception card insert apparatus and method


A valve for controlling fluid flow in a fluid system is disclosed. The valve includes a housing, a servo spool, and a piston. The servo spool defines a spiral groove and a spiral land. The piston defines an orifice configured to provide flow communication to a supply of pressurized fluid and an orifice configured to provide flow communication to a portion of the fluid system exterior to the valve. The valve further includes a main spool operably coupled to the piston. The main spool is configured to control flow of fluid in the fluid system. The spiral groove and spiral land are configured such that angular displacement of the servo spool results in a force imbalance on the piston, thereby moving the piston and the main spool in one of a first direction and a second direction.

Hydraulic systems may include one or more valves for controlling the flow of hydraulic fluid to one or more fluid-operated devices. For example, a machine may include one or more fluid-operated actuators that may be controlled by the hydraulic system for performing work. A valve may include a cylinder and spool within the cylinder. The spool and cylinder may be configured such that movement of the spool within the cylinder opens and closes fluid passages. The opening and closing of the fluid passages may be selectively controlled to control the flow of fluid to one or more fluid-operated devices, such as, for example, hydraulic actuators.
Conventional valves may suffer from a number of drawbacks. For example, some conventional valves may suffer from slow response, which may impair an operator's use of an actuator controlled by the valve. Further, some conventional valves may suffer from a lack of resolution in response to an operator's commands, resulting in the possible impairment of an operator's ability to accurately control movement of an actuator. Another possible drawback with some conventional valves relates to inconsistent operation. For example, some conventional electro-hydraulic valves suffer from hysteresis, or the inconsistent positioning of the spool within the cylinder with respect to movement of an operator's control device. Further, the operation of some conventional valves may be adversely affected by contamination of the fluid flowing through the valve.
Thus, it may be desirable to control fluid flow in a hydraulic circuit using a valve that is more responsive to an operator's commands. Further, it may be desirable to control fluid flow in a hydraulic system using a valve that exhibits consistent operation. Moreover, it may be desirable to control fluid flow in a hydraulic system using a valve that is less sensitive to contamination.
One example of a pilot controlled valve is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,915 ("the '915 patent") issued to Sloate on Aug. 4, 1987. The '915 patent describes a pilot controlled valve having the valve body provided with a cylindrical bore and first and second radial bores on opposite sides of a land on the valve body. The valve body is slidable within an axial bore of a valve housing. The valve housing is provided with a pressure inlet port, at least one service port, and at least one pressure return port, which are axially spaced. In a central position of the valve housing, a land of the valve body isolates the pressure inlet port from the pressure return port and/or the service port, one of the radial bores is in fluid communication with the pressure inlet port, and the other radial bore is in fluid communication with either a pressure return port or service port. A rotatable control rod is positioned within the cylindrical bore of the valve body. The control rod is shaped to selectively open or close the radial bores to create a pressure imbalance across the valve body, thereby causing the valve body to shift in an axial direction.
Although the pilot controlled valve described in the '915 patent may reduce the sensitivity of the valve to contamination, the valve described in the '915 patent does not necessarily provide a valve that increases responsiveness and resolution in response to an operator's commands.
The exemplary valves disclosed herein may be directed to achieving one or more of the desires set forth above.


A long length product is conveyed by a conveyor to a propulsion mechanism into contact therewith. The product is gripped by a first conveyor line vise and cut at its tailing end side into a specified dimension. The product is advanced by the propulsion mechanism against the conveying force of the conveyor and then gripped by the first conveyor line vise and machined. A series of these operations are iterated. Finally, the product is advanced to a second conveyor line side, where it is gripped by a second conveyor line vise and subjected to final machining with the propulsion mechanism retreated. Instead of using a process of cutting to cut the leading end side of the product to a specified dimension, the leading end side of the product may be put into contact with the stopper and fed by referencing the leading end of the product.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for sequentially feeding and automatically machining products having a long length. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and apparatus by which various articles, especially long products, can be automatically machined in sequence to perform cutting, boring, end-notching, welding, or other machining processes at preset sites on the product, while the product is being advanced in the longitudinal direction.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Steel materials such as shaped steel is often used as a structural material or the like. Generally, these types of steel materials are in many cases, transported and carried in containing a length that is longer than necessary from the manufacturers. Therefore, it is common practice that the longer length steel materials are cut into necessary lengths by using torches or the like. Thereafter they are notched at their end portions of each steel piece, followed by machining processes such as boring at necessary locations.
However, since conventional approaches for machining have all been manual work, poor workability and longer working time are involved thereby increasing the cost.


The present invention provides for a glass barrier system including at least one post adapted to support at least one piece of glass above a base structure, such as a concrete slab or a masonry wall. The post is connected with a support member extending from the base structure. In one embodiment, aluminum posts are supported by steel members embedded into and extending from concrete so as to suspend the aluminum posts above the concrete. Some embodiments of the present invention also utilize a glazing bead to help hold the glass in place with respect to the posts. The glass barrier system can also include a rail connected with the glass.

a. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to walls and fences, and more particularly, a glass barrier system that may be constructed in combination with a concrete slab or masonry wall.
b. Background Art
Glass wall and fence structures are known in the art and are commonly used as windbreaks, pool surrounds, and noise barriers. Glass walls can be used to create an effective barrier while at the same time, limiting the confining effect of fences made of non-translucent material. In many common designs, glass walls are constructed by supporting pieces of glass between aluminum posts grouted directly into and along the top of concrete slabs or walls. The glass pieces are supported by the aluminum posts by placing edges of the glass pieces in slots extending longitudinally along the length of the aluminum posts.
Many of the parts utilized in glass wall products currently available on the market were not specifically designed for use in glass wall applications. Instead, many of these products apply "off-the-shelf" parts and technology originally designed for use in constructing glass storefronts. For example, many currently available glass wall products utilize standard aluminum "storefront" posts grouted directly into open cavities of concrete blocks. In addition, many of these products also utilize wedge vinyl glazing commonly used in storefront applications to help secure the glass to the aluminum posts. The wedge vinyl is typically rolled into the slot located in the post in a space located between the glass and the post.
Although existing "storefront" technology can be used to construct glass wall structures, certain problems can result from using "storefront" technology in glass wall applications. For example, over time, lime in the concrete can react with the aluminum post material grouted directly into concrete, which can weaken the posts. Further, ultraviolet rays and various pollutants, such as salt, can cause the vinyl wedges used to secure the glass to the posts to become brittle and shrink. As a result, the glass can become loose within the slot on the posts. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved glass wall system.


An engine muffler and spark arrester includes an oval shaped outer tube extending along an axis and having an inlet end and an outlet end. A plurality of substantially identical nested oval shaped disks are disposed coaxially adjacent the outlet end. Each of the disks has an oval shaped centrally located aperture. An inner tube is disposed coaxially within the outer tube. The inner tube has a circular inlet end and an oval-shaped outlet end. An oval end cap is disposed adjacent the disks. A sound absorbent material can be disposed in a cavity defined between the inner tube and the outer tube. An oval-shaped inlet cap is secured to the inlet end of the outer tube with the inlet cap having a circular centrally located aperture extending therethrough. An oval-shaped outlet cap is secured to the outlet end of the outer tube. The outlet cap has an oval-shaped centrally located aperture extending therethrough. The inner tube has a circular distal end extending through the centrally located aperture of the inlet cap and an oval proximal end extending through the centrally located aperture of the outlet cap.

It is well known that substantial muffling of internal combustion engines is necessary in order to reduce objectionable noise. However, it is desirable to reduce the level of exhaust noise without seriously interfering exhaust outflow. A large variety of mufflers have been developed in an attempt to meet these twin objectives for internal combustion engines.
In some environments where internal combustion engines are used, it is mandatory that the emission of glowing carbon particles from the exhaust be prevented so as to avoid fires in the surrounding environment. This is particularly true in applications such as off road motorcycles or "dirt bikes." A spark arresting muffler capable of catching and retaining sparks of carbon and the like discharged by the engine are necessary in such an environment because any sparks which might otherwise escape to the surroundings pose a fire hazard. Various arrangements have been provided for this purpose. One such design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,867 issued on Oct. 26, 1976. Another such design is illustrated in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,051 patent which issued on Sep. 12, 1978. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,987,867 and 4,113,051 are both owned by the assignee of the instant application. Both of these patents are incorporated into this specification by reference in their entireties.
The known muffler and spark arrester designs have an enclosure including a perforated inner tube which is coaxially located within an outer tube. A sound absorbent material is placed between the tubes. At the outlet end of the inner and outer tubes there is provided a gas barrier wall with a partially toroidal concave configuration. Against this wall nests a plurality of partially toroidal disks slightly spaced apart by edge dimples.
One of the problems with the conventional mufflers described in the two patents referenced above is that they employ circular disks. Unfortunately, the "disk efficiency" of circular disks decreases as their diameter increases. This is because the material required for the disk increases by the outer diameter of the disk squared but the flow area of the disk only increases in direct proportion to the disk's diameter.
Another disadvantage of the conventional mufflers illustrated in the two above-identified patents is that they are relatively large in size and do not meet today's needs for streamlined mufflers in both motorcycles and cars, as well as in other types of vehicles, such as jet skis.
Accordingly, it has been considered desirable to develop and new and improved muffler system which would overcome the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous overall results.

Oval shaped spark arresting muffler for engines


An electronically beam-steerable full-duplex phased array antenna is described. The phased array antenna includes an array of a plurality of radiating elements. The array includes at least one column having a plurality of radiating elements, and the array is configured to generate a radiation field. The phased array antenna includes a metasurface over the array of radiating elements. The metasurface introduces a phase shift to the radiation field of the array, to cause a beam of the phased array antenna to be angularly offset from the radiation field of the array.

In-band full-duplex radio technology has been of interest for wireless communications, including for use in fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks, with transmission and reception of radio signals using a common antenna and transceiver. In full-duplex communications, transmission signals and reception signals are communicated using the same time-frequency resource (e.g., using the same carrier frequency at the same time). As a result, overall capacity of the channel can be increased by a factor of two.
Currently, proposed 5G massive-multiple-input multiple-output (massive-MIMO) technology has been limited to using a time division duplexing (TDD) transmission scheme, in which transmission and reception signals share the same frequency resources, but different time resources (e.g., using alternating time slots for transmission and reception). Current massive-MIMO technology has been found to be not suited for frequency division duplexing (FDD) transmission scheme, due to the need for different channel models in the transmitter and receiver. However, TDD and FDD may not be considered true full-duplex technology, because transmission and reception either do not share the same time resource (as in TDD) or do not share the same frequency resource (as in FDD), and may not realize the full benefits of full-duplex communications.
Currently, there has not yet been developed a beam-steerable phased array antenna that is suitable for full-duplex communications. The challenges to developing a full-duplex phased array antenna include the challenge of mitigating self-interference (SI). For example, in a closely packed two-dimensional (2D) array antenna, there is a relatively high level of SI leakage signal from the transmit path to the receive path, due to internal and external couplings. In a full-duplex array antenna, this SI, which is caused by mutual coupling from transmitter to receiver, should be reduced (e.g., to below the thermal noise floor) to avoid significant system interference or distortion in the receiver. For a 5G 20 MHz signal bandwidth, for example, over 100 dB of SI suppression may be required to avoid unacceptable receiver interference from leakage of internal transmit signals. Currently, a typical base-station array antenna may provide port isolation of typically 30 dB. Further SI suppression is needed, which may require two- or three-stage SI cancellation in the receiver, for example using analog and digital cancellation circuitry. This may not be desirable because the use of many stages in the receiver for SI cancellation may lead to added signal saturation and/or distortion in the receiver.
It is therefore desirable to provide an array antenna that provides higher port isolation between transmit and receive ports, to enable implementation of true full-duplex communications. It may be further desirable for such an array antenna to provide a relatively large scan angle and relatively wide frequency bandwidth, for practical use.

Electronically beam-steerable full-duplex phased array antenna


A rotary mulching lawn mower is provided having an annular housing forming a toroidal internal cutting chamber in which is oriented a blade having a central axis for rotation. The blade has a series of blade portions extending radially outward from the central axis each having an end portion extending into the toroidal internal cutting chamber. The blade end portion directs cut grass upward into the cutting chamber. Each blade has an intermediate portion located between the central axis and the end portion having a substantially flat surface lying in a plane generally perpendicular to the axis of rotation. The intermediate portion is provided with a radially extending rib located intermediate the leading and trailing edge portions of the blade having a slope projecting downwardly out of the plane for directing cut grass into the lawn upon rotation of the blade. The lawn mower of the preferred embodiment is driven by a battery powered electric motor.

Motorized lawn mowers of various types are well known for cutting grass or similar vegetation. These motorized lawn mowers generally include a housing having a cutting chamber, a rotatable cutting blade which is rotated in the cutting chamber and some type of motive means for effecting rotation of the cutting blade. Typical lawn mowers have been designed to incorporate one or more grass discharge ports where the cut grass is discharged by the operation of the cutting blade. The grass clippings are then deposited on the lawn and raking or gathering up the clippings is necessary when the grass is long. Alternatively, a bag attachment can be connected to the discharge port to collect the grass as it is discharged from the lawn mower.
As an alternative to clipping discharge and bagging chute type lawn mowers, numerous types of mulching lawn mowers are disclosed in the prior art that do not require bagging or raking of the grass clippings. These chuteless lawn mowers cut the grass clippings to a fine mulch which is deposited directly onto the lawn.
It is ecologically advantageous to deposit the mulched grass particles onto the lawn because they are a good nutrient source for the uncut grass. The grass particles decompose quickly and do not contribute to a build up of thatch as much as do longer length non-mulched clippings. Non-mulched clippings are often bagged and transported to landfills, contributing to the already significant solid waste disposal problems of landfills.
Prior art mulching mowers utilize various systems for initially cutting and recutting the grass clippings. Some systems utilize a toroidal chamber with a cutting blade that creates an air current for moving the cut grass clippings within the cutting chamber. The grass clippings are cut a plurality of times by the cutting blade before being deposited onto the grass. Other systems such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,449 to Thorud utilize a plurality of planar members which are disposed along the inner wall of the cutting chamber. These planar members or "kickers" are utilized to deflect the grass clippings down into the direction and through the cutting plane. The blade subsequently directs the grass clippings onto the lawn. Still further, other systems utilize cutting elements with a plurality of cutting blades or members which increase the cutting action of the cutting element.
Regardless of the mulching system used in the prior art, it should be noted that the retention of grass clippings within the cutting chamber, and the requirement for these grass clippings to be cut a plurality of times in the mulching process, imposes a greater load on the motive source driving the blade than does a comparable non-mulching lawn mower. Thus, mulching lawn mowers utilizing electric motors as the prime motive source are subject to unique problems because they have comparably lesser horsepower outputs than mulching lawn mowers utilizing internal combustion engines.
Non-mulching chute type mowers generally have a tangential passage of air that exits the discharge chute located on the housing. In contrast, chuteless mulching mowers have less internal air current created inside the cutting chamber and are thus incapable of dissipating heat as easily as chute type non-mulching mowers.
Thus it becomes apparent that mulching mower designs that utilize electric motors as the prime motive source for rotating the cutting element must be concerned with special problems associated with electric motors. The overall drag that the cutting element produces in operation is of primary concern. Prior art mulching blade designs often include foil members or sail members that are utilized to create upward air currents within the cutting chambers of the mulching mowers. These air currents are utilized to disburse and circulate the grass clippings throughout the cutting chamber to facilitate movement of the clippings which must be recut a number of times before being deposited on the grass.
Conventional mulching blades are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,085,386 issued to Slemmons and U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,903 to Jackson, et al. The utilization of large air foil or sail members on mulching mower blades requires increased horsepower to drive the blade as compared to regular lawn mower blades. The air resistance needed to create the air current for moving the clippings requires increased horsepower to rotate the blade.
An electric mulching mower is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,268 issued to Szymanis. The Szymanis patent discloses a chuteless rotary mulching lawn mower powered by an electric motor including a toroidal cutting chamber bounded by a concentric skirt wall. The mulching mower blade disclosed in Szymanis includes an upwardly twisting portion for creating an upward air flow during rotation of the blade. The Szymanis mulching blade further includes a downwardly twisted portion for creating a downward air flow for pulling grass clippings down through the cutting plan and onto the grass.
The Szymanis application refers to electric mulching mowers utilizing electric motors. The Szymanis reference fails to address the significant obstacles posed in designing a battery powered electric mulching mower. Horsepower requirements of mulching mowers have in the past precluded implementation of battery powered mulching mowers because of the size and weight characteristics of the attendant battery power sources relative to the electrical energy requirements of mulching mowers. Battery sources possessing the electrical energy storage capacity large enough to supply continuous energy to an electric mulching mower during operation in mulching an average lawn size were often too large and too heavy for realistic consumer use.

Mulching lawn mower blade and housing assembly


A process and composition of matter are provided and involve flux pinning in thin films of high temperature superconductive oxides such as YBCO by inclusion of particles including barium and a group 4 or group 5 metal, such as zirconium, in the thin film.

It has been known that barium zirconate (BaZrO3) has a low reactivity with yttrium-barium-copper oxides (e.g., Y1Ba2Cu3Ox generally shown as YBCO). For this reason, single crystals of YBCO have often been grown in BaZrO3-coated crucibles. Detailed studies of the reactivity have shown that certain reaction by-products, such as YBa2ZrO6 and BaZr1−xCuxOy, can form. Further references have described addition of BaZrO3 particles of about 100 nm in size to bulk melt-processed YBCO, but the BaZrO3 was found to agglomerate at the growth front of the grains and seeded YBCO grains, leading to multigrain growth (see Luo et al., J. Supercon. 13(4), pp. 575-581 (2000)).
Other instances of BaZrO3 with superconductive structures are known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,077,304 and 6,235,402 by Goyal et al. describe use of barium zirconate as a buffer layer on a lanthanum aluminate layer on a nickel base substrate. Such layers are deposited by sol-gel techniques. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,508,255 and 6,074,990 also describe barium zirconate as a buffer layer. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,089,455 and 5,814,262 describe reaction of YBCO on a zirconia substrate to form a thin layer of barium zirconate at the interface. However, in none of the previous work has BaZrO3 been known or used to form pinning centers for superconductive thin film structures, especially a thin film YBCO structure. Other barium oxides including a group 4 or group 5 metal such as cerium and the like may be employed as well.

Enhanced pinning in YBCO films with BaZrO


A dentifrice composition is described for combating dental erosion and/or tooth wear comprising a fluoride ion source and a silica dental abrasive, the dentifrice having a Relative Dentine Abrasivity (RDA) value from 20 to 60 and a pH in the range of 6.5 to 7.5 and being free of an orthophosphate buffer or a water soluble salt of a C10-18 alkyl sulfate.

Tooth mineral is composed predominantly of calcium hydroxyapatite, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, which may be partially substituted with anions such as carbonate or fluoride, and cations such as Zn and Mg. Tooth mineral may also contain non-apatitic mineral phases such as octacalcium phosphate and calcium carbonate.
Tooth loss may occur as a result of dental caries, which is a multifactorial disease where bacterial acids such as lactic acid produce sub-surface demineralisation that does not fully remineralise, resulting in progressive tissue loss and eventually cavity formation. The presence of a plaque biofilm is a prerequisite, and acidogenic bacteria such as S. mutans may become pathogenic when levels of easily fermentable carbohydrate, such as sucrose, are elevated for extended periods of time.
Even in the absence of disease, loss of dental hard tissues can occur as a result of acid erosion and/or physical wear; these processes are believed to act synergistically. Exposure of the dental hard tissues to acid causes demineralisation, resulting in surface softening and a decrease in mineral density. Under normal physiological conditions, demineralised tissues self-repair through the remineralising effects of saliva. Saliva is supersaturated with respect to calcium and phosphate, and in healthy individuals saliva secretion serves to wash out the acid challenge, and raises the pH so as to alter the equilibrium in favour of mineral deposition.
Dental erosion is a surface phenomenon that involves demineralisation, and ultimately complete dissolution of the tooth surface by acids that are not of bacterial origin. Most commonly the acid will be of dietary origin, such as citric acid from fruit or carbonated drinks, phosphoric acid from cola drinks and acetic acid such as from vinaigrette. Dental erosion may also be caused by repeated contact with hydrochloric acid (HCl) produced by the stomach, which may enter the oral cavity through an involuntary response such as gastroesophageal reflux, or through an induced response as may be encountered in sufferers of bulimia.
Tooth wear is caused by attrition and/or abrasion. Attrition occurs when tooth surfaces rub against each other, a form of two-body wear. An often dramatic example is that observed in subjects with bruxism, a grinding habit where the applied forces are high, and is characterised by accelerated wear, particularly on the occlusal surfaces. Abrasion typically occurs as a result of three-body wear and the most common example is that associated with brushing with a toothpaste. In the case of fully mineralised enamel, levels of wear caused by commercially available toothpastes are minimal and of little or no clinical consequence. However, if enamel has been demineralised and softened by exposure to an erosive challenge, the enamel becomes more susceptible to tooth wear. Dentine is much softer than enamel and consequently is more susceptible to wear. Subjects with exposed dentine should avoid the use of highly abrasive toothpastes, such as those based on alumina. Again, softening of dentine by an erosive challenge will increase susceptibility of the tissue to wear.
Dentine is a vital tissue that in vivo is normally covered by enamel or cementum depending on the location i.e. crown versus root respectively. Dentine has a much higher organic content than enamel and its structure is characterised by the presence of fluid-filled tubules that run from the surface of the dentine-enamel or dentine-cementum junction to the odontoblast/pulp interface. It is widely accepted that the origins of dentine hypersensitivity relate to changes in fluid flow in exposed tubules, the hydrodynamic theory, that result in stimulation of mechanoreceptors thought to be located close to the odontoblast/pulp interface. Not all exposed dentine is sensitive since it is generally covered with a smear layer, an occlusive mixture comprised predominantly of mineral and proteins derived from dentine itself, but also contains organic components from saliva. Over time, the lumen of the tubule may become progressively occluded with mineralised tissue. The formation of reparative dentine in response to trauma or chemical irritation of the pulp is also well documented. Nonetheless, an erosive challenge can remove the smear layer and tubule "plugs" causing outward dentinal fluid flow, making the dentine much more susceptible to external stimuli such as hot, cold and pressure. As previously indicated, an erosive challenge can also make the dentine surface much more susceptible to wear. In addition, dentine hypersensitivity worsens as the diameter of the exposed tubules increases, and since the tubule diameter increases as one proceeds in the direction of the odontoblast/pulp interface, progressive dentine wear can result in an increase in hypersensitivity, especially in cases where dentine wear is rapid.
Loss of the protective enamel layer through erosion and/or acid-mediated wear will expose the underlying dentine, and are therefore primary aetiological factors in the development of dentine hypersensitivity.
It has been claimed that an increased intake of dietary acids, and a move away from formalised meal times, has been accompanied by a rise in the incidence of dental erosion and tooth wear. In view of this, oral care compositions which help prevent dental erosion and tooth wear would be advantageous.
Oral care compositions generally contain a source of fluoride ions for promoting remineralisation of teeth and for increasing the acid resistance of dental hard tissues. To be effective the fluoride ions must be available for uptake into the dental hard tissues being treated. However some components of dentifrices such as silica abrasives can interact with and thereby decrease the amount of freely available fluoride ions.
One solution to this problem is suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,583 (Huber) which describes a toothpaste composition comprising a source of fluoride ions formulated with a specially treated silica abrasive that has good fluoride ion compatibility. These compositions have a pH in the range of 4 to 8, preferably 6.5 to 7.5 and may advantageously contain a soluble phosphate pellicle film penetration agent, a preferred example being an orthophosphate salt. Example 11 describes a low abrasive level toothpaste containing, as surfactant, a sodium alkyl sulphate.
Another solution is suggested in WO 01/66074 (Colgate) which recommends that the fluoride source should be stored at alkaline pH (to prevent interaction with a silica abrasive which may occur at acidic pH) but delivered at an acidic pH so as to enhance the uptake of the fluoride ions into the tooth enamel. This is achieved by the use of a dual component dentifrice, one phase being alkaline and containing the fluoride ions, the other phase being acidic and containing phosphate ions, which on mixing prior to use, provides an acidic phosphate fluoride composition (pH 4 to 6).
WO 04/012693 (Colgate) describes a dental composition having heightened desensitisation as well as heightened tooth fluoridation and remineralisation which is apparently achieved by combining a fluoride ion with a potassium salt, the composition having a pH in the range 7.5 to 9 and being buffered with an alkali metal phosphate salt.

Alkyl sulfate free and orthophosphate free dentifrice composition comprising fluoride source and a silica dental abrasive


Disclosed is a laser scanning unit for emitting a laser beam which scans on a surface to be scanned within a predetermined scanning range. The laser scanning unit has a laser diode, and a laser diode controller for controlling the laser diode to emit the laser beam. The laser beam has an intensity corresponding to one of a predetermined graduation steps within a intensity range defined by a first intensity and a second intensity greater than the first intensity in accordance with an image data. The laser scanning unit is further provided with a controller which is capable of shifting the intensity range by changing the first and second intensities.

The present invention relates to a laser scanning unit which has an automatic power control function for stabilizing the intensity of an emitted laser beam.
Laser beam printers are well known and widely used as printers employing an electrophotographic imaging method. The laser printer employs a laser scanning unit for emitting a modulated laser beam which scans a surface to be scanned. Specifically, the laser scanning unit has a laser diode which is controlled to emit modulated laser beam. The laser beam is modulated on a dot basis (pixel basis) and the modulated laser beam scans a photoconductive surface in a predetermined direction. While the photoconductive surface is scanned by the modulated laser beam, the photoconductive surface is moved in a direction different from a scanning direction (e.g., in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction). As a result, a certain area is exposed to the modulated laser beam and a two-dimensional latent image is formed on the photoconductive surface.
Recently a highly qualified image is demanded, and the printer is required to form not only a black and white image but a gradation image.
In order to vary a density of the image for froming the gradation image, energy to be applied for each pixel to the photoconductive surface is to be changed in accordance with the gradation level. Generally, there are two methods for producing the gradation image with the laser beam printer. One of the methods, which is generally used, is a method of varying the duration of time during which the laser beam is emitted (the laser diode is turned ON) without changing the intensity of the beam emitted by the laser diode. Usually, a pulse signal is applied to the laser diode to control the laser diode to emit the laser beam. The width of a pulse carried by the pulse signal corresponds to the duration of time during which the laser diode is turned ON. In this method, the pulse width is changed in accordance with a gradation level.
The other method is to vary the intensity of the emitted laser beam according to the density of the each pixel of the image without changing the width of the pulse. Recently, laser printers which are capable of performing a printing operation at a high speed are demanded. For the high speed printer, it is preferable to make the pulse width as short as possible. Therefore, in the latter method, the pulse width is fixed and the intensity of the laser beam emitted by the laser diode is varied in accordance with the image to be printed.
FIG. 5 shows an example of an Intensity-Current characteristic (referred to as an I-C characteristic) of a laser diode LD. The graph shows the intensity of the laser beam output by the laser diode, and an electrical current available through the laser diode. In this example, it is assumed that when the intensity of the laser beam is smaller, the density of the produced image is lower, and that when the intensity of the laser beam is greater, the density of the produced image is higher.
In the graph shown in FIG. 5, the intensity of the laser beam corresponding to a white image is indicated as Pw, and the intensity of the laser beam corresponding to a black image is indicated as Pb. The range of the intensity of the laser beam defined by the intensities Pw and Pb is divided into a predetermined number of gradations (e.g., 256), and according to the image data, the laser diode is controlled to emit a laser beam having one of the above intensities for each pixel. Specifically, in order to control the laser diode to emit the laser beam having the intensity corresponding to the density of the image to be produced, the quantity of the electrical current available in the laser diode is controlled in accordance with the image data.
However, the I-C characteristic varies depending on the ambient temperature. That is, if the temperature changes, the intensity of the laser beam with respect to the electrical current available through the laser diode varies, and therefore, an entire image may not have a stable (constant) density. The I-C characteristic changes such that the inclinations of the characteristic lines do not change but the line shifts in a right- or left-hand direction in FIG. 5, an example being shown by broken lines.
Further, the characteristic has a threshold current value Ith. If the electrical current available through the laser diode is greater than the threshold current value Ith, the laser diode performs stably. That is, the performance of the laser diode is guaranteed, and the intensity of the laser diode is substantially proportional to the electrical current flowing through the laser diode. However, if the electrical current available through the laser diode is less than the threshold value Ith, the performance of the laser diode is unstable, and the intensity of the laser beam may not correspond to the flowing current.
Furthermore, the threshold value Ith varies depending on the temperature, as mentioned above (indicated Ith' as an example in FIG. 5). In order to obtain a gradation image, the intensity of the laser beam should be strictly controlled, and therefore the above-described variation of the I-C characteristic should be taken into account when the laser diode is driven. In other words, the intensity of the laser beam when a white image is drawn should be maintained as Pw, and in order to obtain the gradation image, the difference between the intensity Pb for a black image and the intensity Pw for the white image should be maintained to have a predetermined difference.
Still further, even if the intensity of the laser beam is adjusted so as to correspond to the desired gradation, if the sensitivity of the photoconductive surface changes, the image having the desired gradation cannot be obtained. The sensitivity of the photoconductive drum may change due to a change of the ambient temperature, deterioration of the photoconductive material covering the peripheral surface of the drum, exchange of the photoconductive drum, and the like. Further, even if the characteristic of the photoconductive is unchanged, when the photoconductive drum is exposed to light of various color components, the intensity of the beam may be changed for respective color components.

Laser scanning unit having automatic power control function


An integrated circuit includes clock deskew circuitry. The deskew circuitry includes a loop circuit to align an input clock signal with an output clock signal, and also aligns transmitted data with the output clock signal.

Integrated circuits such as processors and memory devices typically communicate with each other using digital data signals and clock signals. Clock signals and data signals are typically "timed" or "phase aligned" with respect to each other, so that the clock signals can be used to latch the data.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art circuit to align a transmitted data signal with a received clock signal. The circuit includes clock buffer 102, divider 108, phase comparator 114, dummy clock buffer 118, delay lines 104 and 110, shift register 116, output buffer 106, and dummy output buffer 112.
The output data DQ is timed by the clock signal generated by delay line 104, which is controlled in parallel with delay line 110 by shift register 116. A delay-locked loop (DLL) circuit is formed by phase comparator 114, shift register 116, delay line 110, dummy output buffer 112, and dummy clock buffer 118. The delay of dummy output buffer 112 matches that of output buffer 106, and the delay of dummy clock buffer 118 matches that of clock buffer 102. By using matching delay circuits in the DLL, the phase of the signal on node 117 closely matches CLK, and the phase of DQ also closely matches CLK.

Clock deskewing method, apparatus, and system


Provide is an electrophotographic photoreceptor exhibiting excellent evenness of halftone images together with fine line reproduction, and an image forming method thereof, as to a photoreceptor in which an oxytitanium phthalocyanine pigment having a maximum diffraction peak at a Bragg angle (2θ±0.2°) of 27.2° in CuKα X-ray diffraction. Also disclosed is an electrophotographic photoreceptor possessing a body having cylindrical conductive support provided thereon photosensitive layer containing oxytitanium phthalocyanine pigment having maximum diffraction peak at a Bragg angle (2θ±0.2°) of 27.2° in CuKα X-ray diffraction, and flanges jointed at both ends of the body, wherein at least one of flanges is fitted with driving shaft having drive hole having at least 3 sides, and a ratio B/A of cross-sectional area B of engaging part of rotation shaft to rotate the electrophotographic photoreceptor with respect to cross-sectional area A of the drive hole is 0.890-0.998.

The main subject concerning a photoreceptor has been moved from an inorganic photoreceptor of Se, As, As—Se alloy, CdS, ZnO or the like to an organic photoreceptor producing the advantage in the environmental pollution, or easiness of production, and organic photoreceptors employing various kinds of materials are developed.
Recently, function separation type photoreceptors in which different materials take in charge of functions for charge generation and charge transport are of a main stream, and of these, a multilayer type organic photoreceptor in which a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer are laminated is widely utilized.
Further, turning to an electrophotographic process, an image forming technique of a latent image is broadly divided into analog image formation employing a halogen lamp as a light source and digital image formation employing a LED or a laser as a light source. The digital image formation technique of a latent image is being rapidly favored for a printer for hard copy with a personal computer nowadays or a conventional copier in view of easiness of an image processing and easiness of development to a complex machine.
In the case of the digital image formation, a laser, or specifically a semiconductor laser or a LED is employed as a light source at a time when image information converted into a digital electric signal is written on a photoreceptor as a latent image.
Near-infrared light having a wavelength of 780 nm or 660 nm or long wavelength light close to it tends to be used for emission wavelengths of these laser light and LED light. Thus, as an organic photoreceptor used during digital image formation, high sensitivity should be obtained with respect to the long wavelength light, and studies concerning whether or not such the property is produced in what kind of material among various substances have been done. Since a phthalocyanine pigment among them is comparatively synthesized simply, and tends to exhibit high sensitivity with respect to long wavelength light, an organic photoreceptor in which an oxytitanium phthalocyanine pigment as a phthalocyanine pigment is utilized has widely been studied, and also been practically available. Concerning the oxytitanium phthalocyanine pigment, specifically an oxytitanium phthalocyanine pigment having a maximum diffraction peak at a Bragg angle (2θ±0.2°) of 27.2° in CuKα X-ray diffraction (hereinafter, also referred to simply as an oxytitanium phthalocyanine pigment) exhibits high sensitivity, and has practically been available.
Since an electrostatic latent image is written on the circumferential surface of a photoreceptor by usually fixing a light source, and rotating the photoreceptor when writing on the photoreceptor as the electrostatic latent image, an exposure position for writing on the photoreceptor surface is displaced in the case of insufficient rotation runout accuracy of the photoreceptor, whereby image reproduction is degraded, resulting in quality degradation. Therefore, the fine line image is deteriorated. Specifically, in the case of a tandem system full-color image forming apparatus equipped with 4 photoreceptors placed together, when rotation runout via rotation of each of 4 photoreceptors is produced, "out of color registration" is generated, and evenness of the color image is deteriorated, whereby image quality is degraded. Also in the case of a monochromatic image forming apparatus equipped with a single photoreceptor, density unevenness is generated, resulting in degradation of image quality. Thus, the stable rotation of the photoreceptor is favored, and this has been studied so far. For example, known is a method of stably rotating a photoreceptor by engaging a groove portion provided on a flange with a protrusion of a drive shaft fitted with a gear for rotation (refer to Patent Document 1, for example).
Also known is a method of rotating a photoreceptor via jointing of a coupling member provided at the tip of the drive shaft with a coupling member provided on the photoreceptor drive shaft employing a compression spring (refer to Patent Document 2, for example).
However, it was confirmed that the drive shaft was loaded since the photoreceptor was rotated via communication of driving of the drive shaft on the surface to engage the drive shaft with the flange, resulting in the limited number of rotations of the photoreceptor and rotation runout generated in rotation of the photoreceptor. Therefore, properties of a high sensitivity oxytitanium phthalocyanine pigment having a maximum diffraction peak at a Bragg angle (2θ±0.2°) of 27.2° in CuKα X-ray diffraction, capable of forming a high-speed image do not max out.
From such the situation, an image forming method employing an image forming apparatus fitted with a photoreceptor exhibiting excellent image reproduction together with no rotation runout during image formation, in which an oxytitanium phthalocyanine pigment having a maximum diffraction peak at a Bragg angle (2θ±0.2°) of 27.2° in CuKα X-ray diffraction is utilized, and the photoreceptor in which an oxytitanium phthalocyanine pigment having a maximum diffraction peak at a Bragg angle (2θ±0.2°) of 27.2° in CuKα X-ray diffraction is utilized are desired to be developed.    (Patent Document 1) Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 2007-232794    (Patent Document 2) Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 2007-218403

Electrophotographic photoreceptor and image forming method

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


A tri-alkyl compound of a Group 3a metal is purified by a process in which a polyether of the formula ##STR1## wherein R independently is alkyl of 1 to 4 carbon atoms inclusive, each R' independently is hydrogen, methyl or ethyl; m is an integer from 1 to 6 inclusive; and n is an integer from 1 to 12 inclusive, is added to a composition comprising a tri-alkyl compound and the polyether. The adduct is heated to dissociate the adduct thermally into a mixture containing tri-alkyl compound of the Group 3a metal, and the mixture is subjected to distillation to recover the tri-alkyl compound of the Group 3a metal.

Tri-alkyl compounds of Group 3a metals find increasing use in the electronics industry. In this industry the metals are deposited, alone or in combination with other elements, onto suitable substrates. Frequently, such metals are deposited as a compound with at least one Group 5a element such as phosphorus and/or arsenic. The deposition of these compounds is carried out by the decomposition of organometallic compounds from the vapor phase. Such decomposition is known as Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD). When epitaxial layers are grown the technique is better known as the Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE). The organometallic compounds that are employed in the above techniques are usually alkyl compounds of the metals involved. The organometallic compounds used in this industry need to be very pure because small amounts of impurities may have a large effect on both the electrical and optical performance of the semiconductor layer deposited therefrom.
A method for the purification of Group 3a organometallic compounds is described in European patent application No. 372,138. According to this method an intermediate product of tri-alkyl compound of a Group 3a metal with a compound of another metal is formed. Since the intermediate product is essentially non-volatile, all relatively volatile impurities can be removed. Subsequently, the desired Group 3a metal tri-alkyl compound is liberated from the intermediate product by adding a halide of the Group 3a metal. A disadvantage of this method is the introduction of another metal compound and possibly other and/or more impurities into the system. Because it is difficult to obtain the halides of Group 3a metals in a sufficiently pure form, the use of these halides necessarily introduces impurities.
Another method for purifying Group 3a organometallic compounds is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,561, in which method an adduct of a tri-alkyl compound is prepared using an aryl containing Group 5 ligand. A preferred species of such ligands is 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane. Use of these types of compounds may result in significant amounts of Group 5 element being found in the final product.
In U.K. patent specification No. 2,123,423 the purification of tri-alkyl gallium is described. In this purification a relatively involatile adduct of tri-alkyl gallium with a high-oiling ether is formed and subsequently volatile impurities are removed therefrom. The adduct is then thermally dissociated to yield the ether and the purified tri-alkyl gallium. As suitable ethers di-isopentyl ether and diphenyl ether are mentioned. In one example the preparation of trimethyl gallium is described using di-isopentyl ether. The result is a relatively pure trimethylgallium product.
It would be of advantage, however, to provide a method for the purification of tri-alkyl compounds of Group 3a metals wherein a product of excellent purity is obtained.

Purification of tri-alkyl compounds of Group 3a metals


A biaxial hinge which can be downsized. The biaxial hinge includes a first main body, an intermediate body coupled to the first main body so that the intermediate body can rotate around a first shaft and a second main body coupled to the intermediate body so that the second main body can rotate around a second shaft which is parallel with the first shaft. Two laminated first friction plates are engaged with the first shaft. Two laminated second friction plates are engaged with the second shaft. The first main body supports the first shaft so that the first shaft cannot rotate. The second main body supports the second shaft so that the second shaft cannot rotate. The first friction plates and the second friction plates are contained in the intermediate body so that the first friction plates and the second friction plates cannot rotate.

Since a biaxial hinge has two parallel shafts, the biaxial hinge has characteristics that the biaxial hinge can make a rotational angle of a movable body with respect to a fixed body large compared with a uniaxial hinge.
The biaxial hinge can be used for a table, a counter, a door or a cover of a furniture or a vehicle, or an electronic device such as a notebook computer, for example. In the case of using the biaxial hinge for the table, the biaxial hinge allows a sub-table (a movable body) to rotate with respect to a main table (a fixed body) from a flat position (an opened position) to a folded position (a closed position) by about 180 degrees. In the case of using the biaxial hinge for the counter, the biaxial hinge allows a trap type counter (a movable body) to rotate with respect to a counter main body (a fixed body) from a flat position (an opened position) to a folded position (a closed position) by about 180 degrees. In the case of using the biaxial hinge for the notebook computer, the biaxial hinge allows a display (a movable body) to rotate with respect to a computer main body (a fixed body) from an opened position to a closed position by 90 degrees or more.
This biaxial hinge is required to have a torque generation function for holding the movable body with keeping an arbitrary opening angle of the movable body and/or absorbing impact caused when the movable body is opened or closed.
In addition, the biaxial hinge is required to have a rotation control function for controlling rotation on the side of a first shaft and rotation on the side of a second shaft so as to allow the movable body to perform constant movement when the movable body is opened or closed. The rotation control function means, for example, a function of achieving one movement that a portion on the side of the first shaft first rotates and then a portion on the side of the second shaft rotates when the movable body is opened and another movement that the portion on the side of the second shaft first rotates and then the portion on the side of the first shaft rotates when the movable body is closed.
In order to meet the above-mentioned two requirements, patent literature 1 discloses a biaxial hinge in which damping cylinders each having the torque generation function are respectively press-fitted into the first shaft and the second shaft and one-way clutches each having the rotation control function are incorporated so as to be respectively provided on the damping cylinders of the first shaft and the second shaft.
In the biaxial hinge described in the patent literature 1: JP 2014-62595 A, when the sub-table at the flat position (the opened position) is closed, the portion on the first shaft is first rotated by the one-way clutch on the side of the first shaft by 90 degrees. After that, the portion on the second shaft is rotated against friction of the damping cylinder by 90 degrees. On the other hand, when the sub-table at the folded position (the closed position) is opened, the portion on the side of the second shaft is first rotated by the one-way clutch on the side of the second shaft by 90 degrees and then the portion on the side of the first shaft is rotated against friction of the damping cylinder by 90 degrees.


A method may include counting the number of times each of a plurality of entries in a content addressable memory (CAM) matches one or more searches; grouping entries in the CAM into a first subset and a second subset based on the number of times each of the plurality of entries in the CAM matches one or more searches; and searching the first subset for a matching entry and, if no matching entry is found, searching the second subset for the matching entry.

A content addressable memory (CAM) may be designed so that it searches its entire memory to see if the supplied data is stored anywhere in it. If the data is found, the CAM may return the memory address where the data was found. Applications requiring high-speed searching may employ CAMs to store the data to be searched. For example, a firewall application may search a CAM to determine if a data packet (identified by source address, destination address, source port, and/or destination port, for example) should be forwarded or dropped. A billing application may search a CAM to increment a traffic counter to so that a user may be billed according to bandwidth use.

Reducing content addressable memory (CAM) power consumption counters


A data processing method, printing apparatus, host apparatus, and printing system are capable of reducing the data transfer rate from the host apparatus to the printing apparatus, suppressing density unevenness, and reducing the cost of the apparatus.

Conventionally, serial printing apparatuses which execute printing by using various printing methods in accordance with print data transferred from a host apparatus are widely used. Especially a printing apparatus employing a dot matrix method forms a desired printed image on a sheet-like printing medium by alternately repeating an operation of moving a carriage with a printhead capable of dot printing and an operation of conveying the printing medium in a direction perpendicular to the carriage moving direction. The carriage moving direction is called a main scanning direction, and the direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction is called a sub-scanning direction. A printhead according to this method is widely used in various fields because high-density printing at a relatively high speed can be achieved at a low cost.
In such a serial printing apparatus where a plurality of printing elements for dot printing are arrayed in the sub-scanning direction, it has been known that an unevenness in the printing density occurs because of, e.g., errors between the individual printing elements in the manufacture.
To suppress such density unevenness, in the conventional method, for example, every other elements of the plurality of arrayed printing elements are used for dot printing in the first carriage scanning. The printing medium is conveyed by almost ½ the normal conveyance amount. Next dot printing is done using printing elements that are unused in the first carriage scanning. Printing control is executed by repeating the above-described operations.
FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing the schematic arrangement of a printing apparatus having an inkjet printhead.
As shown in FIG. 23, a carriage 106 that reciprocally moves in the X direction has four ink cartridges 101. The ink cartridges 101 includes ink tanks storing four color inks, i.e., black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) inks and a printhead 102.
FIG. 24 is a view showing ink orifices arrayed on the printhead 102.
FIG. 24 shows the ink orifices of the printhead viewed from the Z direction in FIG. 23. Referring to FIG. 24, reference numeral 201 denotes a plurality of orifices arrayed on the printhead 102. FIG. 24 shows an example with eight ink orifices (n1 to n8) for the descriptive convenience. Four arrays of ink orifices are arranged on the printhead 102 in correspondence with the number of ink colors. FIG. 24 illustrates only one array of orifices.
Referring back to FIG. 23, a conveyance roller 103 rotates in the direction of an arrow in FIG. 23 while holding a printing paper sheet P together with an auxiliary roller 104, thereby conveying the printing paper sheet P in the Y direction as needed. Feed rollers 105 feed the printing paper sheet and also serve to hold the printing paper sheet P, like the conveyance roller 103 and auxiliary roller 104. The carriage 106 stands by in a home position (h) indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 23 when no print operation is executed, or a printhead recovery operation is executed.
Upon receiving a print start instruction, the carriage 106 that is located in the home position before the start of printing executes printing by discharging an ink from the plurality of orifices 201 on the printhead 102 while moving in the X direction. When printing corresponding to print data until the end of the paper sheet is ended, the carriage 106 returns to the home position and executes printing in the X direction again.
To print, e.g., an image, various factors such as color development, tonality, and uniformity have to be considered. Especially for uniformity, a small variation between nozzles in the manufacturing process of the printhead influences the discharge amount or discharge direction of ink from each nozzle in printing. This finally causes a density unevenness of a printed image and degrades the image quality, as is known.
A detailed example will be described with reference to FIGS. 25 and 26.
FIG. 25 is a view showing a state wherein printing is executed by normally discharging ink from a printhead.
FIG. 26 is a view showing a state wherein ink is not normally discharged from a printhead. This means that a printing failure occurs, resulting in density unevenness. Referring to FIGS. 25 and 26, reference numeral 31 denotes a printhead having eight nozzles; 32, nozzles which discharge ink; and 33, ink droplets discharged from the nozzles 32.
Referring to FIG. 25, a indicates that ink droplets are ideally discharged in the same discharge amount in the same direction. If discharge is done in this way, dots with the same size stick to a printing medium such as a printing paper sheet, as indicated by b in FIG. 25. Referring to FIG. 25, c indicates a change in density of print dots in a direction along the nozzle array. When normal ink discharge is done, an overall uniform image without density unevenness can be obtained, as indicated by c in FIG. 25.
Actually, however, the ink discharge characteristic varies between nozzles, as described above. Hence, if printing is done, the sizes or discharge directions of ink droplets discharged from the nozzles vary, as indicated by a in FIG. 26. The discharged ink droplets stick to a printing medium as indicated by b in FIG. 26. According to b in FIG. 26, a blank part that cannot satisfy an area factor of 100% is periodically formed in the main scanning direction, or conversely, the dots overlap more than necessary. In addition, a white stripe is formed at the center of b in FIG. 26. The aggregation of dots sticking to the printing medium in this way exhibits a density distribution indicated by c in FIG. 26 in the nozzle array direction. Such a density distribution is eventually perceived by human eyes as a density unevenness. A stripe generated by a variation in printing medium conveyance amount may also be noticeable.
Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open No. 6-143618 proposes the following method as a measure to prevent the density unevenness. This method will be described briefly with reference to FIGS. 26 and 27.
FIG. 27 is a view showing a state wherein printing is executed by multi-pass printing.
According to this method, the printhead 31 is scanned three times to complete a printing region shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, as indicated by, e.g., a in FIG. 27. A region of four pixels in the sub-scanning direction, which is ½ the print width of the printhead 31, is completed by two passes. In this case, the eight nozzles of the printhead are divided into two groups: the four upper nozzles and the four lower nozzles. Dots printed by one nozzle in one scanning are obtained by sampling predetermined image data to about ½ in accordance with a predetermined image data sequence. Dots are printed by using the ½ remaining image data in the second scanning, thereby completing the 4-pixel region in the sub-scanning direction.
The above-described printing method is multi-pass printing.
When this printing method is used, even when a printhead with a variation in ink discharge characteristic between the nozzles, as shown in FIG. 26, is used, the influence of the characteristic unique to each nozzles on the printed image can be reduced by half. Hence, a printed image as indicated by b in FIG. 27 is obtained. As a result, the black or white string indicated by b in FIG. 26 is relatively unnoticeable. Hence, the density unevenness is also considerably relaxed as indicated by c in FIG. 27 as compared to c in FIG. 26.
In this multi-pass printing, image data is divided for the first scanning and second scanning in accordance with a predetermined sequence so that the data can complement each other. For this, an image data sequence that forms a staggered pattern every other pixel in the vertical and horizontal directions, as shown in FIGS. 28A to 28C, is generally used.
In the unit printing region (in this example, the 4-pixel region in the sub-scanning direction), printing is completed by the first scanning to print a staggered pattern and the second scanning to print an inverted (complementary) staggered pattern. FIGS. 28A to 28C show how to print a predetermined region by using staggered and inverted staggered sampling patterns (mask patterns).
Referring to FIGS. 28A to 28C, in the first scanning, the staggered sampling pattern is printed by using the four lower nozzles of the printhead 31, as shown in FIG. 28A. In the second scanning, the printing medium is conveyed by a length corresponding to four pixels (½ the print width of the printhead), and the inverted (complementary) staggered sampling pattern is printed, as shown in FIG. 28B. In the third scanning, the printing medium is conveyed by a length corresponding to four pixels (½ the print width of the printhead) again, and the staggered sampling pattern is printed again, as shown in FIG. 28C. In this way, conveyance for four pixels and printing of the staggered and inverted (complementary) staggered sampling patterns are sequentially alternately executed, thereby completing the 4-pixel printing region in the sub-scanning direction by every scanning of the printhead.
Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open No. 10-175333 also discloses mask patterns applicable to such a multi-pass printing. Especially, Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open No. 10-175333 describes an arrangement in which a mask pattern is transferred to a printer and registered in it prior to printing. Then, multi-pass printing is performed while applying the mask.
In the above-described prior arts, however, print data is transferred from the host to the printing apparatus on the assumption that printing corresponding to the entire region of one scanning of the printhead is achieved by one scanning of the printhead. On the other hand, the printing apparatus holds the print data so that desired dot printing is executed by a plurality of number of times of scanning, e.g., two scanning operations in the above-described example.
In other words, print data that is not used for printing by one scanning is transferred from the host to the printing apparatus. Especially, a printing apparatus that must execute high-resolution printing requires a large amount of print data for it, and a high speed print data transfer is necessary. Even a printing apparatus on the receiving side must have a high-performance interface to cope with such a high speed transfer and also a large capacity of print buffer to store a large amount of print data. These factors increase the production cost of the apparatuses.
To solve this problem, a technique has been proposed in which print data to be used for each pass printing is transferred from a host to a printing apparatus that executes multi-pass printing. Particularly, to enable a printer and a host to use an interface with a low data transfer rate, Japanese Patent No. 3,229,526 describes a technique of compressing print data to be used for each pass printing and transferring the data to a printing apparatus. According to Japanese Patent No. 3,229,526, all of mask patterns (2×2 staggered patterns) to be applied to multi-pass printing are stored in a memory of the printing apparatus in advance.
However, in a case where a memory capacity integrated with a printing apparatus is small, all of mask patterns necessary for multi-pass printing cannot always be stored in the printing apparatus in advance. More specifically, according to Japanese Patent No. 3,229,526, since a mask pattern (staggered pattern) common to each scan is used, an amount of data for the mask pattern is rather small. For this reason, it is possible to store all of mask patterns (staggered patterns) in a printing apparatus. However, if a printing apparatus changes a mask pattern for each scan, a total amount of mask patterns is huge. Therefore, it is not possible to store all of mask patterns into a small capacity memory. Hence, a multi-pass printing technique capable of allowing even a printing apparatus with a small memory capacity to execute high-resolution high-quality printing at a high speed has been demanded.

Data processing method, printing apparatus, host apparatus, and printing system


Microwave-to-optical transducers in an optical ring resonator having intracavity grating to split a single resonance order are provided. In one aspect, a microwave-to-optical transducer includes: an optical ring resonator with intracavity grating; and a microwave signal waveguide optically coupled to the optical ring resonator with the intracavity grating. Microwave-to-optical transducers having multiple pump photon optical ring resonators and multiple signal photon optical ring resonators optically coupled to the optical ring resonator with the intracavity grating are also provided, as is a method of forming a microwave-to-optical transducer, and a method for microwave-optical transduction.

The ability to link microwave electrical signals and optical photons for quantum information processing requires efficient conversion between the microwave and optical domains. A microwave-to-optical transducer can be employed for this conversion. The transducer can include an optical ring resonator.
Microwave-to-optical transducers in optical ring resonator structures need to couple a microwave photon between two optical resonance orders. However, for a given pump photon frequency, there are generally both blue-detuned and red-detuned resonances that could be coupled to. In the quantum domain, this would result in a 50% maximum efficiency to a single resonance.
Therefore, techniques that suppress the microwave to optical signal conversion to the undesired resonance order in optical ring transducers would be desirable.

Intracavity grating to suppress single order of ring resonator

International Business Machines Corporation


An automatic cleaning device includes: a sensor system for collecting a pre-set environment parameter of surroundings of the automatic cleaning device; and an application processor. The application processor includes a central processing unit electrically coupled to the sensor system to acquire the pre-set environment parameter collected by the sensor system. The application processor further includes a graphic processing unit electrically coupled to the central processing unit. The graphic processing unit obtains the pre-set environment parameter from the central processing unit and then generates a map of the surroundings of the automatic cleaning device based on the pre-set environment parameter.

In the related art, a variety of automatic cleaning devices such as automatic sweeping robots and automatic mopping robots may perform a variety of cleaning operations automatically, which brings convenience to users. An automatic cleaning device needs to generate a real-time map of the surrounding environment of the automatic cleaning device, in order to perform cleaning operations automatically.
However, since the processing capability of the automatic cleaning device is limited, the working efficiency of the automatic cleaning device is usually reduced due to the low speed of map generation.

Automatic cleaning device and cleaning method


Provided are a method and an apparatus for detecting the fault of an optical switch. The apparatus includes an optical monitoring signal generator, a coupler, a splitter, a plurality of optical detecting and output power transition sensing units, and a fault determiner. The optical monitoring signal generator generates optical monitoring signals having different wavelengths from optical signals including data to be transmitted. The coupler optically couples the optical monitoring signals to the optical signals including data to be transmitted and inputs the coupled optical signals to an optical switch. The splitter splits the optical monitoring signals from optical signals output from the optical switch. The plurality of optical detecting and output power transition sensing units detect output power transitions of the split optical monitoring signals. The fault determiner receives information on setting the optical switch from an external source, compares the information with the detected output power transitions of the split optical monitoring signals, and determines whether the optical switch malfunctions depending on whether the information coincides with the detected output power transitions of the split optical monitoring signals.

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2002-65175 filed on Oct. 24, 2002 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for detecting the fault of an optical switch, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for determining whether an optical switch malfunctions by detecting output power transitions of optical monitoring=signals from output ports of the optical switch.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional arts methods for monitoring the fault of an optical switch include the steps of: applying different frequency tones in a frequency band of several kHz to several tens of kHz to each of the optical signals to be transmitted to input ports of the optical switch, splitting a portion of optical signals output from output ports of the optical switch, detecting tone information from the split portion of optical signals, comparing the detected tone information with switch configuration information, and determining whether the optical switch malfunctions. Here, the applying of frequency tone indicates sinusoidal amplitude modulation of input optical signal with a specific frequency using a low modulation coefficient within a range of 5% to minimize the bad influence on reception sensitivity.
A tone usually represents the pitch of voices of human beings or sound of musical instruments and refers to a constant frequency for a predetermined period of time. For example, the keys of a piano have their own tones.
In the field of present optical communications optical carriers with center frequency of more than 100 THz are on/off modulated within tens of GHz. These optical signals have frequency components of center frequency and the harmonics of on/off modulation frequency.
As described above, the tone applied optical signal contains an additional frequency (tone) component. Optical signals containing different tones may be applied to an optical switch, pass through switching channels, and portions of them are detected from output ports. In the prior art of tone applying, low frequency amplitude modulation is performed so that the amplitude of an optical signal is slightly fluctuated at that frequency. Here, actual information to be transmitted is transmitted with an amplitude-modulated portion of several tens of MHz to several GHz of the optical signal
The above-described prior art method can directly detect whether an optical switch malfunctions regardless of the type of switches. However, when applied tone components remain in an optical signal, which has passed through an optical system containing the optical switch such as an optical cross-connector (OXC), the fault detecting method using a tone cannot be applied to a next OXC. Also, the remaining tone components increase a transmission error rate in a final reception port. Thus, a complicated optical module has to be added to remove the used tone components after detecting the tones from all optical signals before the next optical switch. Even in this case, the quality deterioration of the optical signal cannot be completely prevented.

Method and apparatus for detecting optical switch fault by monitoring optical output transitions

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


The present invention relates to a catalyst precursor composition for electroless plating, and more specifically, the present invention provides the catalyst precursor composition comprising (a) a reactive oligomer; (b) a reactive monomer; (c) a photoinitiator; (d) a catalyst precursor for electroless plating; and (e) a solvent, and a method of preparing the EMI shielding material with the same.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a catalyst precursor composition for electroless plating, and a method of preparing transparent electromagnetic interference shielding material (hereinafter, referred to as "EMI" shielding material) using the same. More specifically, the catalyst precursor composition includes a UV (ultraviolet) curable resin with excellent adhesiveness to a base material, thereby eliminating the need for an additional pre-treatment in preparing the EMI shielding material. Thus, the present invention provides a catalyst precursor composition to easily prepare the EMI shielding material, and a preparation method for EMI shielding material using the same.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as "PDP") has an electrode providing a whole surface of a front glass thereof with signals and electric power, which produces much electromagnetic radiation in operation compared to other display devices.
Thus, it is necessary for the PDP to be equipped with a filter for shielding harmful electromagnetic waves generated in operating the PDP. The filter consists of several films laminated on glass, such as an anti-reflection film (hereinafter referred to as "AR film"), a near infrared ray shield film (hereinafter referred to as "NIR film"), a Neon-cut film, an EMI shield film, etc.
The EMI shielding material with good transparency is preferable to enable penetration of visible light. The EMI shielding material can be prepared by adhering conductive metals such as Copper, Silver, and Nickel on a transparent base material in a lattice pattern. The adhering methods of conductive metals on a substrate are classified into a dry method including a sputtering method and vacuum deposition, and a wet method including electroless plating, etc. Because the dry method requires expensive manufacturing equipments, the inexpensive wet method is most widely used.
In the electroless plating method, the plating reaction is initiated by contacting a plating solution with a catalyst, and thus metal is only plated on the catalyst. Printing of the catalyst on the transparent base material in a lattice pattern and then performing electroless plating produces the transparent EMI shielding material.
In general, because a catalyst for electroless plating is prepared in water, it is not easily adhered to the base material which is smooth and hydrophobic. Thus, the base material must be pre-treated to increase its surface roughness and hydrophilic properties by etching, etc. However, the pre-treatment cause a lack of uniformity and visibility in the base material surface.
Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-311527 discloses a method of preparing a transparent conductive film by printing a resin composition containing a catalyst for electroless plating on a base material to form a pattern, and then forming a conductive metal layer on the pattern by an electroless plating method. The method is advantageous in that it easily provides various kinds of patterned metal layers. However, an electroless catalyst must be obtained through a complicated process, and a layer that is receptive to the resin composition must be made on the surface of the base material before electroless plating takes place.
Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-177292 discloses a method of preparing the transparent conductive film by coating a hydrophobic transparent resin including a catalyst for electroless plating on the base material, and then performing electroless plating. The transparent metal pattern is obtained by performing electroless plating after coating a plating-resist compound on the resin layer, or by coating a photoresist compound on the electroless plated surface, irradiating light through a photomask, and then etching. In most cases, hydrophobic resins are used to adhere to the hydrophobic base material, but the method has a problem in that a transparent conductive film with high endurance cannot be obtained due to low adhesiveness. In addition, the process of shaping the metal pattern is complicated, requires expensive devices such as a photomask, and uses a non-aqueous plating solution, thereby increasing the production costs.
Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-185184 discloses a method of preparing the transparent EMI shielding material by printing a resin composition containing an electroless plating catalyst on a base material in a lattice pattern, and then performing electroless plating. In this case, a transparent pattern is made by a printing method, thereby requiring no expensive devices such as a photomasking machine, but a base material must be pre-treated with a receptive layer or an anchoring layer before plating in order to easily adhere the resin composition to the base material. In particular, it takes about three days to cure an anchoring layer coated by a two-component solution, thereby making it difficult to apply to the practical field.

Catalyst precursor composition for electroless plating, and preparation method of transparent electromagnetic interference shielding material using the same

Abstract: The present invention provides an easy and simple method of preparing the EMI shielding material by using the catalyst precursor composition that contains a UV curable resin with good adhesion to the base material, thereby eliminating the need for pre-treating the base material with a receptive layer before electroless plating.


An electrical submersible pump that regulates pump flow rate based on sensor measurements of the fluid is disclosed. The sensor measures a property of the fluid being processed. The sensor may be located at the intake, discharge or other area of the pump. The sensor measures the relative proportion of gas in the pumped liquid. The pump flow rate is adjusted to maintain a desired level for the gas in a production environment. The pump may be used to operate and control a seabed gas-liquid separation and centrifugal pump system.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to electrical submersible pump assemblies and, in particular, to an improved system, method, and apparatus for controlling the flow rate of an electrical submersible pump based on measurements of at least one physical property of the fluid being produced.
2. Description of the Related Art
The separation of gases and liquids carried out in a well bore is common. In addition, separation of gasses and liquids at the seabed as part of a subsea oilfield exploitation is becoming increasingly common. Separating the gas and using a high head centrifugal pump to pump the liquids vastly improves the project economics (e.g., asset net present value and recovery factor). The separation of the gas from the liquid also results in improved flow assurance. Moreover, pumping fluids that contain excessive amounts of gas can cause gas lock in a pump or can cause a pump to overheat and fail prematurely.
Currently, in a well bore, the accepted method of controlling the gas-liquid interface level is to manually control the amount of fluid produced by a down hole electric submersible pump (ESP). Generally, the ESP is installed and the production rate is set. If the pump encounters a gas lock condition, it is shut down to allow the well to recover, restarted and a new lower production rate is manually set. This is continued until the ESP is operating in a continuous and stable manner. Conversely, if the pump does not gas lock when the ESP is first installed and is operating in a stable manner, the production rate is manually increased in steps until a gas lock condition occurs. After recovery, the production rate is then reduced to the point of the last stable operation. The object is to produce the maximum fluid available from the well with the pumping equipment.
In surface or subsea canned boosters, the methods for measuring and controlling the gas-liquid interface level is insufficient. In one type of installation, pressure transducers are used to infer, rather than measure, the interface level based on the pressures of the fluids at given elevations in the can or vessel. This method requires a significant difference in height between the transducers to achieve the required resolution in a high pressure vessel. Consequently, oversized and more expensive pressure vessels are used to enable this method. While this solution is satisfactory for some applications, an improved method to monitor fluid parameters and optimize pump performance would be desirable.

System, method and apparatus for controlling the flow rate of an electrical submersible pump based on fluid density


A disk device performs position control of a head. An acquiring unit acquires correction information and check information from a disk for checking the correction information. A judging unit judges whether the correction information acquired should be used for correcting position information recorded in the disk, based on the correction information acquired and the check information acquired.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk device that performs accurate position control of a head of a recording device.
2) Description of the Related Art
A conventional disk device that is used as an external recording device for a computer moves a head to a target track on a rotating disk surface to record and reproduce data.
However, servo information to be used for position control is not recorded on the track in a completely circular shape, and hence, accurate position control of the head cannot be performed. Thus, it is likely that data is written in a position different from the target track by mistake.
Therefore, a head positioning control device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H11-120720 creates correction information for correcting head position information, records the created correction information in a servo information area on a disk, and at the time of positioning an actual head, reads out the correction information to correct a position error signal for the actual head, and uses the corrected position error signal to perform positioning for the head to thereby correct a constant position error.
However, the conventional technique has a problem in that the correction information for each servo frame cannot be read accurately.
Therefore, when wrong correction information is read from a track, the position of the head is corrected to a wrong position. Writing data in the wrong position may destroy data or may cause data garbling.
In other words, it is extremely important to use accurate correction information corresponding to position information included in servo information, to thereby perform position control of a head and improve accuracy of the position control for the head.


A camera module includes an image sensor having a first threaded portion. A lens assembly includes an electro-active polymer (EAP) structure having a frusto-conical shape with an opening formed in the tip. A lens is secured to a lens holder that is attached to the EAP structure surrounding the opening. A first electrode is attached to a rear face of the EAP structure and extends along a side. A second electrode is attached to the rear face of the EAP structure along the tip. A base frame is attached to the base of the EAP structure. The base frame includes a second threaded portion that engages the first threaded portion, joining the lens assembly to the image sensor assembly and allowing the lens assembly to be rotated relative to the image sensor to adjust the distance between the lens assembly and the image sensor to establish a default focal distance.

1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of digital camera modules; and more specifically, to structures for setting the initial focus position during factory assembly.
2. Background
Many portable electronic devices, such as mobile cellular telephones, include a digital camera. The lenses for such cameras must be compact to fit within the case of the portable electronic device. At the same time there is a desire to provide an increasingly high quality camera function in these devices. To provide a higher quality image, some cameras found in portable electronic devices provide an autofocus feature and/or an adjustable iris to control exposure.
An image sensor, lens, and actuators for the lens are typically assembled into a camera module. The lens may be mounted in a actuator that moves the lens along its optical axis to change the distance between the lens and the image sensor. This changes the focal distance of the camera and allows a sharper image to be obtained for subjects over a greater range of distances from the camera. One such lens moving mechanism for moving a lens is a voice coil motor. Voice coil motors are relatively complex assemblies with a number of parts. Voice coil motors also consume a significant amount of power. The addition of an adjustable iris further increases mechanical complexity and power consumption in the camera module.
It would be desirable to provide a camera module that provides a focus actuator and adjustable iris with a structure that reduces mechanical complexity and power consumption.

Camera module with artificial muscle actuator and structure for focusing during assembly