In a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of cells, and further comprising one or more multicast/broadcast service providers arranged to provide a plurality of multicast/broadcast services over a radio interface to a mobile communication device located in a current cell, a method is provided for providing radio bearer configuration information to enable the mobile communication device to receive a multicast/broadcast service. The method comprises the steps of providing to a mobile communication device messages containing information associated with the radio bearer configuration, wherein each message is associated with a plurality of multicast/broadcast services that are available to be transmitted to the mobile communication device when in the current cell, and, periodically transmitting the messages to the mobile communication device within the current cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the transmission of multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS) radio bearer (RB) configuration information. In particular, the present invention relates to the transmission of such information to enable user equipment (UE) to receive a point-to-multipoint (PTM) multimedia session.
2. Description of the Related Art
The term "MBMS" represents a service that provides users of a cellular telecommunications system with information, such as the streaming of video and audio files, news updates, or the like. The service may be one single ongoing session, or comprises a number of successive individual sessions during which part of the data is transferred. The MBMS may be utilized in broadcast mode wherein information is broadcast to all users within a cell. Alternatively, a multicast mode may be used wherein a subgroup of users within the cell are sent information they alone have requested, for example, football results. The multicast mode is useful for services that require a subscription.
It is planned to use MBMS with Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) networks. Several 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) technical specifications are available for providing information on the relevant specifications. The technical specifications can be found at http://www.3gpp.org/specs/specs.htm, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Some examples relevant to this patent application are 3GPP TS 22.146, 3GPP TS 25.301, 3GPP TS 25.346, 3GPP TS 25.401 and 3GPP TS 25.246, the entire contents of all of which are incorporated by reference.
A conventional UMTS radio network architecture is shown in FIG. 1. A core network 101 is connected to one or more radio network subsystems 103 via the Iu interface. Within each radio network subsystem 103, a radio network controller 105 connects to one or more base stations via the lub interface. In the case of Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Node B 107 is the base station. Each radio network controller 105 may be interconnected to other radio network controllers 105 by using the Iur interface.
Each Node B 107 can control one or more cells. Within each cell, there are numerous UEs some of which are able to receive MBMS services provided by a Broadcast Multicast Service Centre (BM-SC) located in the core network 101. The MBMS services are either broadcast to all UEs within the cell or multicast to only a selected group of UEs that have subscribed to the particular service. The UEs are mobile communication devices, for example, mobile telephones and PDAs. The UE connects to the Node B 107 via a radio interface (Uu).
The type of transfer mode to be used for a data transfer session of a specific MBMS service, i.e. point-to-point (p-t-p) or point-to-multipoint (PTM), is chosen depending upon the number of UEs within the cell that are interested in receiving the particular service and/or session. The UTRAN decides which transfer mode is used. For example, if a limited number of UEs are within the cell (for example, less than four) the UTRAN makes a decision to transfer the information supplied by the MBMS over the radio interface using the p-t-p mode in order to consume a minimum amount of radio capacity. Alternatively, if more UEs are within the cell, the PTM transfer mode is used to utilise the available radio capacity more economically.
When the UTRAN makes the decision to transmit information supplied by the MBMS in PTM mode, radio bearer configuration information is provided within the MBMS control information. MBMS control information is transmitted on the MBMS control channel, known as the multicast control channel (MCCH) over the radio interface (Uu) to the UE. The radio bearer configuration information provided on MCCH in the current cell allows a UE to receive services provided in PTM mode that are available in the current cell and potentially available from neighbouring cells. For these services, the information provided comprises the radio bearer configuration required for the UE to receive the MBMS data from the radio bearer in the current cell, as well as from the radio bearer in some neighbouring cells that are able to provide the same MBMS data PTM over a Multicast-Traffic-Channel (MTCH). The UE can combine the MBMS data received from the neighbouring cell radio bearer with the MBMS data received from the current cell radio bearer in order to improve the reception quality. Reception quality is improved by reducing the power required in each cell to provide sufficient coverage. The signalling of the radio bearer configuration information is discussed in more detail below. That is, the UE can receive a time aligned MTCH transmission from a neighbouring cell without receiving the MCCH of that cell.
The RB configuration information associated with each service signalled on the MCCH is repeated a number of times with exactly the same content. This MCCH information is transmitted at the beginning of every repetition period within a set modification period. Referring to FIG. 2, which shows scheduling of messages on the MCCH according to conventional systems, any messages that contain service specific MBMS RB information 201 that has changed since the last modification period are placed at the start of the repetition period, while any other messages containing unchanged service specific MBMS RB information 203 or unchanged Common RB information 205 are placed at a later time slot in the repetition period. That is, an MBMS notification is first transmitted giving information on each changed service. Subsequently information is transmitted in the form of one or more MBMS service PTM RB information messages or common RB information messages, comprising any changed RB configuration information associated with the MBMS services. The UTRAN then provides scheduling information indicating the final Transmission Time Interval (TTI) containing the changed information so that UEs that have previously received the RB configuration information are not required to read any further RB configuration information after the indicated TTI.
Each service provided by the MBMS typically corresponds with one radio bearer. The radio bearers are mapped onto a transport channel, Forward Access Channel (FACH) in the case of MBMS. One or more radio bearers are mapped to a single common FACH. The FACH provides the means to transfer data with a certain quality of service (QoS), for example, a certain data rate, residual error rate and delay. Therefore, any services that require the same quality of service are typically mapped to the same transport channel (FACH), whereas services that require lower or higher quality of services are mapped to other transport channels (FACH).
One or more transport channels (FACH) are mapped to a physical channel. In the case of MBMS, the secondary-common control physical channel (S-CCPCH). Each physical channel has certain characteristics, for example, type of power control, cell coverage, use of certain techniques, such as transmit diversity.
In the conventional UMTS, signalling of the MBMS radio bearer configuration information is performed by using two messages.
First, a "common RB info" message is used to hold and transmit RB configuration information that is either common between two or more services, or common between two or more cells.
This "common RB info" message may comprise either changed or unchanged information depending on whether or not the configurations of the radio bearers have changed since the previous modification period.
Second, for every service that is being provided using the PTM mode, a separate "service RB info" message is transmitted in order to specify how the radio bearer corresponding to the service is configured in the cell the UE is currently in, and also how the radio bearer is configured in any neighbouring cells that also provide the service over the MTCH of the neighbouring cell. This information provides the necessary configuration details for a UE to be able to receive one particular service.
Configuration information in the "common RB info" message can be used for any common configurations (either between cells or services). In other words, if there is configuration information common between services or cells, it would be transmitted in the "common RB info" message. The common configuration information is then not required in the "service RB info" message. The "service RB info" message is merely required to comprise a reference to the applicable common configurations within the "common RB info" message.
For each service available within a cell, information on the entire radio configuration is provided. This radio configuration information comprises the radio bearer configurations of the actual radio bearers ("real" RB configurations), the transport channel (TrCh) configurations (FACH for MBMS) and physical channel (PhyCh) configurations (S-CCPCH for MBMS). Therefore, if either the "real" RB configurations or transport channel configurations are common between a number of services available in that cell, references to these common configurations are duplicated, thus causing increases in the signalling overhead on the MCCH. For example, if one MBMS service is provided by a first radio bearer, and a second MBMS service is provided by a second radio bearer, where the services require the same quality of service (QoS), the two services will be mapped to the same transport channel (FACH). As there will be a separate "service RB info" message for each service, references to the RB common configurations for the FACH within each of the "service RB info" messages will be duplicated.
The duplication will be illustrated in greater detail. Assuming 5 services are provided in the current cell using the PTM transfer mode and assuming that for each service the PTM radio bearer configuration is provided for 6 neighbouring cells also, with the current state of the art, for each service a message is provided as shown in table 1.
TABLE 1"Service RB Info" message - for service ATrChPhyChactual RB-commoncommonCellcommon configconfigconfigCurrent111N-1111N-2111N-3121N-4121N-5231N-6112
Table 1 depicts information that is transmitted in the 'Service RB info' message for one particular MBMS service. Inside this message are references to RB, TrCh and PhyCh common configuration information that is transmitted within the 'Common RB info' message. The 'Service RB info' message comprises the configuration information for the current cell and all neighbouring cells (six in this example) for one particular MBMS service.
The first column indicates which cell the data is referring to, either the current cell, or one of the six neighbouring cells (N-1 through N-6). The numbers in the next three columns indicate the types of RB, TrCh and PhyCh configuration used in the relevant cell. Each of these numbers refers to a specific type of configuration as included in the "common RB info" message. The service A shown in the example covered by table 1, applies actual RB configuration type 1, TrCh configuration type 1 and PhyCh configuration type 1 in the current cell. The table also shows that, for this example, the common RB configuration comprises at least 2 actual RB configurations, 3 TrCh configurations and 2 PhyCh configurations.
The case where all MBMS services in a cell are mapped to the same physical channel can be regarded as typical. The current state of the art, which involves a separate message per service, therefore has a reference to indicate the PhyCh configuration used in the concerned cell for each service. In the example case where five services are provided, there will be a reference to PhyCh configuration 1 indicated five times, i.e. one for each service. This produces a large amount of signalling, which merely provides the same information to the UE a number of times. Further, where it is chosen to comprise actual configuration information rather than references, the duplication of this configuration information substantially increases the signalling overhead.
When specifying the RB configuration per service, the UE is not required to read RB configuration information concerning services that it is not interested in i.e. non-active services. This helps to reduce the time the UE needs to read the MCCH and so reduces the UE power consumption. However, this comes at the cost of duplication (whether the information is comprised of actual configuration information or references to actual configuration information) of MBMS control information on MCCH as shown in the above example.
Thus, two conflicting requirements appear within the configuration of the conventional system. That is, in order for UE power consumption to be kept to a minimum, information needs to be duplicated in order to reduce the time required for the UE to acquire the MBMS control information on the MCCH. However, the duplication of information increases the signalling overhead. That is, the amount of MBMS control information is not kept within reasonable limits when compared with the MBMS data traffic.

Method of reducing configuration information in the signaling of radio bearer information for a plurality of multicast/broadcast services


Disclosed herein is a food slicer comprising an upper portion having at least one pushing head with at least one pusher. The pushing head is located at a distal end of the upper portion. A lower portion having at least one slicing head with at least one blade and one opening is located at a distal end of the lower portion. The slicing head has a plurality of deflectable elements arranged therein. A connection portion coupled to a proximal end of the upper portion and a proximal end of the distal portion. The at least one pusher extends past the blade and through the opening of the slicing head when the food slicer is moved from an open position to a closed position.

Many types of small fruit, such as grapes, are used by parents as snacks for children because of their health benefits and their relative ease of procurement year round. However, such small fruit may vary in size and potentially pose a choking hazard to small children and/or adults. In particular, grapes may pose a choking hazard to small children because the child may not have a fully developed set of teeth for properly chewing the grape prior to swallowing.
One solution to this problem is to cut the fruit using a knife prior to feeding them to children. However, this process may be tedious, messy, time consuming, complicated, complex, and dangerous because a person may slice a finger during cutting. Therefore, a need clearly exists for a quick and efficient device for slicing small fruit. Such a device could also aid in slicing fruit quickly in the preparation of a fruit salad, for example.


A method and apparatus for treating the production tubing string of a flowing gas well is disclosed. The method includes introducing treatment fluid into the wellhead end of the production tubing string, allowing an applicator fall through the production tubing string thus applying a first coating of treatment fluid and retracting the applicator thus applying a second coating of the treatment fluid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally directed to a method for the treatment of gas wells with a treatment fluid and the apparatus used in the inventive method. More particularly, the method is useful for the treating of flowing gas wells with an anticorrosion treatment fluid.
2. Background
Natural gas is produced from wells that are drilled into underground formations which contain geologically formed mixtures of methane, ethane, propane, and other gaseous hydrocarbons. In addition to the useful hydrocarbons, other gases may have formed with the natural gas that are corrosive to the metal production tubing string through which the gas is brought to the surface. Over time these naturally occurring corrosive gases cause the formation of scale and create corrosion problems on the inner surface of the production tubing string of the flowing gas well. If this condition is left untreated, the production tubing string will eventually fail causing a costly and unsafe uncontrolled release of the natural gas.
In order to prevent corrosion and scale build-up within the producing pipe string, the inside of the production tubing string is treated with conventional corrosion inhibitors. The success in treating the inner surface of the production tubing string depends upon the ability of to apply a protective film or layer of corrosion inhibitor along the entire length of the production tubing string. There are several methods for attempting to achieve this goal.
The most common method used to treat the production tubing string of flowing gas wells is the "batch and fall" method. The "batch and fall" method is carried out by stopping the flow of gas (i.e. stopping production) and introducing a given volume of treatment fluid into the wellhead end of the production tubing string. The treatment fluid is usually followed by a flushing fluid which helps force the treatment fluid down the production tubing string. The treatment fluid and the flush fluid are then allowed to "fall" though the length of the production tubing string thus coating its inside surface with treatment fluid. Typically the fall rate will be anywhere from 1000 feet per hour (305 meters per hour) to 3000 feet per hour (915 meters per hour). The fall rate depends upon many factors including the viscosity of the treatment fluid, the diameter of the production tubing string, the natural gas pressure of the well, and so forth. Because of these variables, the time required for the complete treatment of the production tubing string is unpredictable. If the well is returned to production too soon, the treatment fluid will not have coated the entire length of the production tubing string thus leaving the bottom of the production tubing string unprotected. However, if the well is left off production for too long, the treatment fluid and the flushing fluid may migrate into the gas producing formation. This latter case is undesirable because the fluids might cause damage to the formation and prevent or inhibit the flow of natural gas from the underground formation.
Several methods of treating the inner surface of a production tubing string have been previously described and for one reason or another have had only limited success or less than desirable results. Examples of such methods include squeeze treatment and tubing displacement. Both of these methods are less commonly utilized because they are more expensive than batch and fall methods and increase the chance of formation damage. Other unpopular methods include using nitrogen gas to flush the treatment fluid down the production tubing string, using aerosol type inhibitors, or using specially weighted inhibitors, inhibitor stick or brush applicator tools to make the application more uniform and predictable. The last noted of these methods, utilizes a brush applicator tool to push the treatment fluid through the production tubing string while at the same time the brush "paints" the treatment fluid onto the inside surface of the production tubing string. The rate at which the brush applicator applies the treatment fluid is approximately 125 feet per minute (38 meters per minute). The primary problem with this latter method is that although it is faster than the batch and fall treatment method, the time required for the complete application of the treatment fluid is longer than desired.
Therefore there exists a continuing need for improved methods of applying treatment fluid on the inside surface of the production tubing string of a gas well.


A spacer for delivering a medication spray from an inhaler includes a first conical body joined to a second conical body, forming a continuous spray conduit through first and second internal chambers of the respective first and second conical bodies. A mouthpiece is formed in the proximal end of the first conical body. A spray inlet for attachment to the inhaler is formed at the distal end of the second conical body. A plurality of air inlets are placed downstream of the medication inlet proximate to, or in, the large diameter distal end surface of the first conical body. Recirculation zones are created in the first and second chambers, to force the medication spray into a central airflow path through the spray conduit, minimizing particle deposition by contract with the walls of the spacer.

The present invention relates generally to devices for use in orally dispensing medication using an inhaler. More specifically, the present invention relates to spacers used for facilitating the delivery to pediatric and breathing impaired patients of medication dispensed from an inhaler.
Medications are commonly dispensed from pressurized metered dose inhalers (MDI) to deliver the medication directly to the lungs of a patient. Spacers are used for transporting the medication from the spray outlet of the MDI to the patient's mouth. The spacer is intended to increase the effectiveness of drug delivery to the deep lung regions of the patient primarily by decelerating the drug spray before the spray enters the patient's mouth. The spacer will also reduce the size of spray droplets (by evaporation) and trap larger particles in the spacer. This will reduce the need for hand-breath coordination and allow for multiple breath inhalation therapy, thereby improving the overall delivery of the medication dose to the lung. These factors are particularly important when trying to effectively provide inhalation therapy to children and to patients with breathing impairments.
The quantity, size, and velocity of the drug particles that exit an inhalation spacer are affected by dynamic interactions between the spacer, spray properties, and airflow. Unfortunately, in conventional spacers, as much as 50% of the medication is lost before delivery to the patient because of inefficient design of the spacer itself. For example, high-pressure, recirculation zones are created near sharp corners in the spacer. These recirculation zones trap spray particles and provide increased time for particle deposition on the spacer walls such that they are not delivered to the patient. Also, while it is known that medication particles having a diameter in the range of 3–5 microns are desirable for delivery to deep lung tissue, conventional spacers do a poor job of consistently delivering particles of this size. This is because existing spacer designs do not effectively control the heat exchange rate and the length of time that the medication particles remain inside the spacer, factors which directly affect particle size. Finally, prior art spacers typically include air inlets at the upstream (spray discharge) end near the mouthpiece but they cannot maintain consistent flow energy. All of these factors will cause undesirable deposition of the medication droplets in the oro-pharyngeal region of the patient. The inefficient delivery of medication to the deep lung results in either under-medication of the patient or the waste of expensive medications.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,471 discloses an internal vortex mechanism for an inhaler device. More specifically, vortex generators positioned within the wall of the conduit and in fluid communication with air inlets for receiving ambient outside air, provide the inner wall of the conduit with a circumferential-swirling turbulent boundary layer flow to minimize impaction of the medication on the inner surfaces of the conduit. The inhaler device shown in FIG. 1 of the patent contains only one chamber. The apparatus also includes a medication dispenser supported in the housing and adapted to dispense a dose of aerosolized medication into the conduit, a plurality of air inlets positioned on the outer surface of the conduit and a plurality of vortex generators positioned within the wall of the conduit downstream of the medication dispenser. Each vortex generator includes a first generally pyramid-like portion having an apex and an open base forming an outlet located on the inner surface of a second generally pyramid-like portion having an apex and an open base in fluid communication with a corresponding air inlet.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0121275 discloses an aerosol enhancement device. More specifically, the aerosol enhancement device displayed in FIGS. 1–6 provides a single chamber. The air inlet port is positioned centrally with respect to the spacer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,169 discloses an inhaler. The inhaler provides a conduit defining an air flow path extending between the first end and the second end and an orifice in the chamber between the first end and the second end, the orifice utilizing the Coanda Effect when the reservoir is in air flow communication with the chamber and upon inhalation by the individual to draw medication from the reservoir. As seen in FIGS. 1–6, the inhaler has only a single chamber with the positions of air inlet shown in the Figures.
What is needed, then, is a spacer and method of use thereof for the efficient delivery of medication from a metered dose inhaler, through the spacer, and into the patient. Such a spacer would be easy to use and substantially improve the delivery of medication to the patient's lungs.

Spacer for delivery of medications from an inhaler to children and breathing impaired patients


Systems, methods and devices are provided for provisioning a computerized device. The system may include a distributor computer that is connected to the computerized device and is operable to receive a first digital asset and transmit it to the computerized device, and a server that is connected to the distributor computer, and that transmits the first digital asset to the distributor computer when a first authorizing condition is met, the first digital asset being configured to cause the computerized device to become partially provisioned, wherein the server transmits a second digital asset to the computerized device, and the computerized device is functional after the second digital asset is transmitted to the computerized device.

As computers have become ever more miniaturized and commoditized, manufacturers are producing more and more varied devices that include one or more embedded computer or processor. The computer in a computerized device can control the device's operation; collect, store, and share data; communicate with other computers and other computerized devices; and update its own software, among other things.
The Internet of things (IoT) is the network of computerized physical devices that have embedded processor(s), electronics, software, data, sensors, actuators, and/or network connectivity, which enable these devices to connect and exchange data via digital networks, including the Internet, cellular networks, and other wireless networks. Typically, each "thing" is uniquely identifiable through its embedded computing system, and is able to inter-operate within the existing Internet infrastructure.
"Things", in the IoT sense, can refer to a wide variety of computerized devices, such as consumer appliances, enterprise devices used in business and corporate settings, manufacturing machines, farming equipment, energy-consuming devices in homes and buildings (switches, power outlets, bulbs, televisions, etc.), medical and healthcare devices, infrastructure management devices, robots, drones, and transportation devices and vehicles, among many others.
For example, most, if not all, modern vehicles (e.g., cars, trucks, aircraft, trains, watercraft, and the like) contain several embedded processors or embedded computers in their subsystems, and are computer-controlled in at least some aspects. Similarly, a growing number of modern transportation infrastructure devices (e.g., traffic lights, traffic cameras, traffic sensors, bridge monitors, bridge control systems, and the like) contain at least one, and often many, embedded processors or embedded computer systems, and are computer-controlled in at least some aspects. These computer-controlled elements of the transportation network typically communicate with each other, passing various types of information back and forth, and they may react, respond, change their operation, or otherwise depend upon the information received/sent from/to other vehicles in Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V; also known as C2C, Car-to-Car) communications and/or from/to infrastructure elements in Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I, also known as C2I, Car-to-Infrastructure) communications for safe, correct, efficient, and reliable operation.
The computers in computerized devices operate according to their software and/or firmware and data. In order to ensure safe and proper operation, the computerized devices must be properly initialized and updated with the proper software, firmware, executable instructions, digital certificates (e.g., public key certificates), cryptographic keys and the like (hereinafter collectively referred to as "digital assets" or "software") as intended by the manufacturer, so that the IoT consists only of devices that are executing authorized, known-to-be-good software and data. Problems arise, however, when unauthorized persons or organizations (e.g., hackers) replace or change the software in computerized devices. Problems also arise when older software, untested software, unapproved software, and/or software with known bugs is installed in computerized devices.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved systems, methods and techniques for securely provisioning the digital assets in computerized devices, so as to prevent the computerized devices from operating using error-ridden, incorrectly functioning, untested, maliciously altered, or otherwise undesirable software and data.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Secure provisioning and management of devices


An anti-jam assembly for an article destroying appliance includes a fixed core mount assembly including a first support member spaced apart from a second support member with at least one moveable cutter shaft rotatably mounted and disposed there between. A third elongate member extends in parallel relationship to the at least one cutter shaft. This third support member is moveable from a first position to at least a second position. The first and the at least second position correspond to a variable width of a feed path directing an article toward the at least one cutter. An arm is affixed to the elongate member and pivotal at a mounting surface when the elongate member moves toward the second position. A sensor activates when it detects movement of the arm. The arm and the sensor are removed from a proximity of the at least one cutter or the feed path.

Article destroying devices are known. One type of article destroying device is a shredder. It is known that a shredder may jam.
One of the causes for service to certain shredder models is repeat jams. A jam condition disrupts project flow when an article fed into a shredder device wedges tightly between at least one moving component and a second component of the system, thus causing the moving component to lock into an unworkable state. The occurrence of a jam condition is in most instances caused by a media sheet or a stack of media sheets having a thickness that exceeds a maximum capacity of which the shredder can handle. Generally, the mechanical systems, such as, for example, a motor, gears, and rotating cylinders, are capable of handling media thicknesses within certain ranges. Stack thicknesses are tested as they relate to the number of Amps drawn on the motor. Excessive loading results when thicknesses draw an Amperage that causes the motor to stop working. In most instances, the motor needs a period of relief before the shredder device can complete the project.
There are known shredders that disable mechanical systems when stack thicknesses are in excess of a predetermined capacity. One known method utilized in a known shredder includes utilizing a mechanical switch that is moved from a first position to a second position when overly thick media pushes against a lever connected thereto. More specifically, an opposite portion of this lever is situated in a path generally in proximity to an entrance of the throat. Another method includes disabling the mechanical systems when the media comes within close proximity to a sensor that reads the conductivity of the media. This sensor is similarly situated in proximity of the throat and, more specifically, on an exterior of the shredder housing.
There are no known shredder systems that utilize a corresponding focus beam generator and receiver type sensor system to suspend an operation of the mechanical systems when overly thick media is inserted into the throat. Rather, known shredder devices generally incorporate focus beam sensors to activate the motor when media is placed in proximity to the entrance of the throat, i.e., feed slot. More specifically, the sensor generates a beam that is directed toward or travels in proximity to the entrance of the throat. Media interrupts the beam as it moves into the throat, thus causing the mechanical systems to activate. One aspect associated with sensors including transmitter and/or receiver photodiodes situated in the feed slot is that the shredder will fault when dust collects on a face of the sensor. The sensors are generally exposed to dust circulating in an environment exterior to the sensor. This dust falls into the feed slot and settles on the sensor. If the sensor is not routinely cleaned, it will inaccurately conclude that media is inserted into the slot. The motor may continue to run when no media is present.
Utilization of a focus beam sensor is a reliable mechanism to detect specific conditions relating to the over-feeding of media into the feed throat of a destroying device. A thickness detection sensor that includes at least one of a transmitter and receiver is situated in a closed region away from the throat and the external environment.

Anti-jamming assembly for shredders of sheet like material


Flat items (2) which have an irregular and/or changeable thickness profile are individualized from a substantially lying stack (3/5), wherein the stack serves as buffer between the individualization and the supply of the items (2) and wherein the items (2) arranged in the stack are guided in a stack channel (1) towards the individualization. In order to allow individualization speeds in the range of several tens of thousands of items per hour, the items (2) are supplied to a pre-stack (3) in which the items are conveyed towards individualization in a loose order and being individually laterally guided, the pre-stack (3) is transformed into an individualizing stack (5) and the items are individualized only from the individualizing stack (5). In the individualizing stack (5) the items (2) are guided and conveyed and held in a stable order as a stack, i.e. with forces transmitted via the items. The pre-stack (3) takes over the buffer function and therefore comprises a substantially freely selectable number of items (2) which varies within wide limits. The number of items (2) in the individualizing stack (5) is considerably smaller and is kept constant within tight limits.

The present invention relates to a method and a device for feeding flat items to individualization, for example individualization for creating a regularly clocked stream of items, i.e. a stream in which single items are conveyed at regular distances or overlapping each other in a regular manner.
Flat items are individualized for processing, whereby single items are separated in succession from a group of items and are supplied to processing individually in a stream of items. In order to achieve continuous processing, the group of items serves normally as a buffer of items between the individualization and the supply of the items. This means that the group of items comprises a number of items varying within limits. The limits are such that there are sufficient items in the group to allow uninterrupted feeding to the individualizing process during expected supply gaps and to be able to absorb interruptions of the individualizing process without generating disturbances. The supply of items to the group of items may take place in batches or substantially continuously. The group of items from which the items are individualized is complemented regularly or, if required, with a plurality of items (batch) or items are continuously of, if required, added in form of a substantially continuous stream, for example a scaled stream.
For flat items it is obvious to use a stack of items as a group serving as buffer from which items are individualized, a stack being understood to be a formation in which the main surfaces of the flat items lie against each other. Items are removed individually (individualized) from the one face of the stack while items are added to the other face of the stack, either in stacked form (batch-wise feeding) or in a quasi-continuous stream (e.g. scaled stream).
In the further processing of printed products, many devices for individualizing printed products from stacks are known, to which devices the products are supplied in batches or continuously. The devices comprise guide means for guiding the buffer stack and conveying means for conveying the products in the buffer stack towards the individualization. The devices also include means for separating single printed products from the one end of the guide means and means for supplying printed products to the opposite end of the guide means. The separating means are usually arranged stationary and the supply means are at least partly movable in the direction of the stack axis (perpendicular to the flat extension of the products), and are adaptable to a varying number of items in the stack (varying stack height).
Depending on the application and according to the characteristics of the items to be individualized, the buffer stacks have rather a standing position (items lie on top of each other with substantially horizontal, flat extension, the stack axis is substantially vertical) or rather a lying position (items stand on one of their edges or narrow sides adjacent to each other with a substantially vertical, flat extension, stack axis horizontal or oblique). In many cases gravity is at least partly exploited for maintaining the stack order and/or for conveying the items toward individualization. In all cases, there are forces for guiding and/or conveying the items. These guiding and/or conveying forces are transmitted via the items in the buffer stack. For preventing such force transmission to have a negative effect on the order of the items in the stack, it is necessary to dimension the forces correspondingly, to adapt the guide means correspondingly, and/or to submit the items to corresponding conditions regarding their mechanical characteristics.
It shows that flat items which all have a substantially identical and well defined flat extension but have, within limits, an irregular and/or changing thickness, (i.e. flat items which can not be arranged in free stacks at all or only very restrictedly), can only be individualized from stacks at very restricted speeds when using known individualizing devices. This is, in particular, due to the fact that such items, especially in a guided stack, have more or less unstable positions and these positions become even more unstable with the transmission of forces via the items and thereby cause stack disturbances.
Items that are difficult to be stacked and thus difficult to be individualized from a stack are, for example, sample bags such as are often found glued into printed products for advertising purposes or added to printed products in other manners. For adding the sample bags to the printed products they need to be individualized from groups. Such sample bags typically consist of two blanks of paper or two blanks of plastic film, which two blanks are connected to each other around their edges forming a cushion shaped cavity between their center areas. The sample bags may carry samples of liquid, paste-like, powdery or granular products, or also soft items (e.g. moisture towels) or small items moving freely in the cavity of the sample bag. This kind of sample bag normally has a fairly well defined, hardly changing flat extension, i.e. it is e.g. square, rectangular or circular and it has sufficient stiffness to be able to stand on one edge when correspondingly supported. Perpendicular to its flat extension however, the sample bag comprises a thickness profile, which cannot only differ from item to item but which can also change depending on handling.
Free stacking of such sample bags is hardly possible or, if possible, only with very small stack height. In a guided stack (e.g. standing stack in a stack shaft or lying stack in a stack channel) it is hardly possible to transmit forces across a larger number of such bags. The positions of the individual bags in the stack are irregular and are not predictable.
In the publication EP-0739822 (or U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,107) it is suggested to stabilize the form of sample bags as described above in order to adapt them to easier stacking and thus easier individualization from a stack. Form stabilization is achieved by stiffening and thickening the bag edges such that they give the sample bag a stable frame by which the bags become easily and stably stackable. Sample bags stabilized in this manner can be individualized with similar methods and similar devices, and at similar high individualizing speeds, as is the case for other simple and stable items such as, for example, postcards.
The above described characteristics regarding stacking are not only a feature of the described sample bags but also of differently shaped bags, which are actually flat but have an easily deformable and/or movable content as well as of at least partly flat items with an actually unchangeable but irregular thickness profile.
It is the object of the invention to create a method and a device for feeding to individualization flat items with the above mentioned characteristics rendering them difficult to be stacked, such that high individualizing speeds in the range of several ten thousand items per hour becomes possible. Furthermore, method and device are to be easily adaptable to different formats of item.
According to the inventive method the flat items are fed to individualization being arranged in a stack which is substantially lying (stack axis horizontal or oblique) and in which the items are arranged standing on one of their edges. This stack comprises, on its individualization-side, an individualizing stack and, on its supply-side, a pre-stack, whereby the items are individually removed (individualized) from the individualizing stack and are supplied in batches or substantially continuously to the pre-stack and whereby it is the pre-stack that mainly takes over the buffer function.
The individualizing stack is guided by stack guiding means and comprises a considerably smaller number of items than the pre-stack, whereby the number of items in the individualizing stack only varies within very tight limits, i.e. is kept as constant as possible. The pre-stack is also guided by stack guiding means, whereby also each individual item in the pre-stack is guided at least to a restricted degree. The number of items in the pre-stack is considerably larger than in the individualizing stack and due to the buffering function varies considerably more during operation than the number of items in the individualizing stack. The individualizing stack and the pre-stack further differ regarding order conditions, i.e. conditions imposed on the regularity of the item positions, which in the individualizing stack are considerably more important than in the pre-stack.
A device for carrying out the inventive method substantially comprises four regions: a supply region, a pre-stack region, an individualizing-stack region and an individualizing region, which regions follow each other as listed in conveying direction of the items.

Method and device for feeding flat items to individualization


A lead frame and a method of fabricating a semiconductor package including the lead frame, where the lead frame includes a die pad, a tie bar supporting the die pad, and a plurality of leads. The leads may include inner and outer leads arranged along an outer periphery of the die pad, with each of the inner and outer leads having tip terminals. The lead frame may include a connecting bar connected to tip terminals of each of the inner leads. In the method, a bonding pad of a semiconductor chip is mounted on the die pad and connected via a conductive wire to the inner leads of the lead frame. The semiconductor chip, wire and inner leads may be subjected to a molding process, and the connecting bar which connects the tip terminals of the inner leads may be cut so as to independently separate each of the inner leads from the die pad.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a lead frame and a method for fabricating a semiconductor package employing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technologies for fabricating a semiconductor package for electrically or electronically connecting a semiconductor chip to an external environment are largely classified into two technologies: fabricating a Quad Flat Package (QFP), and fabricating a Ball Grid Array (BGA).
A lead frame is conventionally employed in manufacturing the QFP. The lead frame supports the chip as a separate element, and provides a structure for transmitting the function of the semiconductor chip to an external circuit.
The lead frame includes a die pad on which a semiconductor chip is mounted, inner leads which are bonded to a bonding pad on the semiconductor chip through a wire, outer leads through which the inner leads are connected to the external circuit, and a frame which supports the die pad and the inner and outer leads.
The process for fabricating the lead frame includes forming the lead frame using a stamping process, or by forming the lead frame using an etching process. The stamping process stamps a material with a press using an alloy. The etching process uses a chemical corrosion to etch the material. In fabricating the lead frame using the stamping process, the material is located on a die and it is fixed thereon using a stripper. By stamping the material with the press, a lead frame with a given pattern is formed.
On the other hand, in forming the lead frame using the etching process, after spreading out a photoresist on the surface of the material, a given pattern is formed on the surface by exposing the material being masked to the light, and etching the material with a corrosion liquid. As a result, a lead frame with a given pattern is formed. At this time, the corrosion liquid is spread out at a given pressure from both sides of the material of the lead frame.
The lead frame of the QFP-based semiconductor package manufactured by one of the aforesaid processes includes inner leads having a substantial length and a substantially narrow width, as compared to lead frames of other types of semiconductor packages. Accordingly, when an external force is applied in the vertical direction to the length of the inner lead, the inner lead becomes easily 'transformed', i.e., the inner lead may become warped or twisted, for example.
The transformation is generated because the inner lead has a structure which is weak to the displacement of the lead in the vertical direction. Especially, as the trend of using high pins and small chips (due to the miniaturization and high integration of electronic equipment) becomes more commonplace, the pitch of the inner lead may be diminished, leading to a more severe transformation.
As described above, as the pitch of the inner leads becomes diminished, the width of the lead, and the intervals between the leads, are narrowed, and the thickness of the inner leads is reduced. Accordingly, the inner leads may become more easily curved or twisted, even with a small shock, causing a degradation in the planarity of the inner leads.
This inferiority could occur at anytime during the process of manufacture and carriage of the lead frames, and/or during the process of applying the lead frame to a molding process. Accordingly, it is desirable to be able to substantially prevent the transformation of the lead frame from occurring during the manufacturing process.
Once the inner leads are transformed, the degraded inner leads influence stitch bonding process during a follow-on packaging operation, such that is may be impossible to perform a normal wire bonding. As a result, the transformation of the inner leads may be a direct cause of a reduction in package integrity, which may result in substantial, large scale decreases in productivity.
The aforesaid problem may be further explained with respect to connecting a semiconductor device to the lead frame using a bonding equipment. The equipment consists of a heater located on a heater block, and a capillary on which the wire bonding operation is performed. When a lead frame on which a semiconductor chip is mounted is located on an upper surface of the heater block, inner leads which are curved or twisted do not adhere closely to the upper surface of the heater block, and may come apart from or off of the upper surface. In the case of bonding the wire using the capillary, the capillary applies a given pressure to the inner leads. Since the inner leads have come apart from the upper surface of the heater block, the wire does not closely adhere to the inner lead, since the power supporting the inner leads is not applied to the bottom of these inner leads. Accordingly, the wire that is attached to inner leads with inferior planarity may become easily separated from the inner leads, thereby causing inferior bonding between leads and wire.
On the other hand, when the wire is bonded to the inner leads, a given length of the wire is exposed to the outside environment of the capillary, and an electrical shock is applied to the exposed wire. Thereafter, a bonding ball (such as a solder ball) is formed at a terminal of the capillary. The bonding ball is attached to the semiconductor chip.
However, when the wire is bonded to curved or twisted inner leads, the bonding ball cannot be adequately formed at the terminal of the capillary, or a bonding ball is formed that is smaller than a desired or expected size. This happens because the curved or twisted inner leads move up with the capillary due to the elasticity, such that the leads push the wire (which is exposed to the terminal of the capillary) to the inside of the capillary. If a bonding ball with a desired size cannot be formed at the terminal of the capillary as described above, the bonding equipment must be shut down. As a result, in the case of having a large number of curved or twisted inner leads, the bonding equipment is frequently downed, thereby causing reductions in productivity.

Lead frame and method for fabricating semiconductor package employing the same


A recovery process allows a recovering replica in a replicated data storage system to recover from a current replica the changes to the data that it has missed during a failure while, at the same time, the system is processing new requests issued by the source. Sequence numbers, assigned by the source to write requests and stored by each replica in association with the data item that the write request modifies, are used by the recovery process to determine when a replica has missed one or more write requests and requires recovery. During recovery, the recovering replica ignores all requests directly received from the source, and replaces the contents of a data item with the data received from the current replica only if the newly received data item has a higher sequence number than the corresponding sequence number of the data item already stored in the recovering replica. It also updates data items in response to new write requests that are forwarded to it by the current replica. At the same time, the current replica continues to receive requests from the source, performs those requests, and forwards those write requests to the recovering replica. It also scans its data items and sends to the recovering replica those data items and associated sequence numbers that have a sequence number higher than the sequence number of the last consecutive write request sent by the source that the recovering replica received before missing a write request.

Information is the most crucial asset of many businesses, and any disruption to the access of this information may cause extensive damage. Some businesses, such as banks, airlines (with e-tickets), auction sites, and on-line merchants, may actually stop functioning without access to their information. No matter how reliable a data center is, there can still be site failures—floods, earthquakes, fires, etc.—that can destroy the data stored on a storage device and any co-located backup media.
Geographic replication is the only way to avoid service disruptions. Geographic replication has challenges: performance needs to be maintained; different sites might run at different speeds, and have different latencies. Having multiple remote copies may increase reliability, but for most purposes the replicas need to be kept in sync, in real time. If a site fails and comes back on-line, its data need to be recovered without an excessive impact on the rest of the system. Generally, when a failure occurs, a replica that does not contain up-to-date data needs to recover from another site that does contain up-to-date data.
In a replicated storage system, it is desirable to keep a plurality of replicas of data consistent in spite of failures. The data consists of plural data items, which may be disk blocks or any other information. In a replicated storage system, a source, such as a host computer, issues a sequence of requests, which may be either read or write requests to a particular data item or to a group of data items. A data item is the smallest unit that can be read or written in one request. Read and write requests are atomic in the sense that they are either executed completely or not at all. In other words, there is no possibility that a data item will contain a mixture of old and new information after a write request of this data item is executed.
Generally, a replicated storage system consists of a source and a plurality of replicas connected with a communication network, as for example, an IP network such as the Internet. The source, such as a host computer, receives the requests from the outside world, and/or generates them internally. The source sends write requests to all of the replicas in the system, and sends read requests to one or more of the replicas. The replicas keep the data in a non-volatile storage device, such as a magnetic disk or a non-volatile memory (e.g., a non-volatile random access memory [NVRAM]), so that the data is not lost when the replica fails. Requests are sent to all replicas in the same order.
The source communicates with the replicas using a reliable communication protocol, such as TCP/IP, which ensures that the information sent by the source is received by the replicas without reordering or corruption. In case of a full or partial network failure, the affected replicas are disconnected from the source and do not receive any further communication from it. When a replica fails, it stops updating its data (a fail-stop assumption).
A system containing multiple replicas is said to be consistent if all of the replicas contain the same data after the source stops sending write requests and all outstanding write requests have been processed by all of the replicas. In other words, a definition of consistency is that each replica contains the identical data after all of the replicas have finished processing the same sequence of write requests.
A replicated storage system needs to keep the data consistent after a failure. A failure can be of the source, the network, or one or more of the replicas. The system thus needs to recover any missed changes to the data in a replica due to failures. If the source failed, no data was changed during the failure. Thus, after the source recovers, no additional operation needs be performed with respect to any of the replicas to maintain consistency. Similarly, a complete network failure requires no additional operation with respect to the replicas since no data was changed during the network failure, because all write requests must pass through the network in order to reach the replicas. A replica failure causes the affected replica to miss some write requests that the other replicas performed; the failed replica needs to recover these requests in order to become consistent again. A partial network failure prevents communication between the source and some of the replicas. Since the affected replicas fail to receive some write requests, recovery of the affected replicas needs to be handled in the same way as a replica failure.
A recovery process is needed to ensure that by the end of the recovery the affected replica will contain the same data as the other replicas that did not fail. In other words, a recovery process is used to achieve consistency after a replica failure or a partial network failure by allowing the affected replica to recover the changes to the data that it missed during the failure. A problem arises, however, in that during recovery period, new write requests to the data are likely made from the source.
In some prior art systems (see, e.g., Sun Microsystems, "Sun StoreEdge™ Network Data Replicator Software Boosts Data Center Resilience", White Paper, http://www.sun.com/storage/white-papers/sndr.html), only two replicas (primary and remote copies) are possible since the replicas use a scoreboard of bit values to track data changes during a single failure. This prior art system does not specify if the source can issue write requests while the recovery is in progress. In other prior art methods (see, e.g., Richard P. King, Nagui Halim, Hector Garcia-Molina, and Christos A. Polyzois, "Management of a Remote Backup Copy for Disaster Recovery", ACM Transactions on Database Systems, Volume 16, Number 2, June 1991, pp. 338–368), the source is allowed to continue making write requests while the recovery is in progress, but requires that the entire contents of the current replica to be copied to the affected replica. This may cause the current replica to transfer more data than necessary, which lengthens the duration of the recovery. A longer recovery reduces the reliability of the entire system, since a replica that is not operational cannot protect the system from further failures. In prior art database recovery (see, e.g., Abraham Silberschatz, Henry F. Korth, and S. Sudarshan, "Database System Concepts (3rd Edition)", McGraw-Hill, 1997, Chapter 15, pp. 511–531), a single copy of the data is recovered from the transactions log. Also, the source is prohibited from making write requests while the recovery is in progress.
An efficient recovery process is needed for a replicated data storage system, therefore, that does not require the source to stop generating write requests while recovery is taking place, and minimizes the amount of information that is transferred to the recovering replica in order to make it consistent with the other replicas in the system.

Method for maintaining consistency and performing recovery in a replicated data storage system


A window type portable air conditioner has a partition plate and orifice plate designed to assemble by snapping together, eliminating the need for other parts or fasteners, while ensuring accurate orifice location. The orifice plate has integrally formed lower support arm and upper support posts. The partition plate has tongue and tab structure formed thereon to engage and interlock with receiving structure formed at the distal ends of the support arm and posts.

This invention relates to a portable room air conditioner and is more specifically directed to the assembly of the condenser fan orifice to facilitate ease of construction, avoid the need for tools or small fasteners, and ensure that the orifice is located consistently and accurately to avoid fan hitting problems.
Portable window type air conditioners have a fan orifice disposed over the condenser fan on the outdoor side of the unit. The fan orifice is a generally flat member, having a round opening with a collar that surrounds the fan circumference. In a conventional unit, the condenser fan orifice is installed using gussets, arms, or other separate members, and these are Joined to the orifice and to the main frame of the unit using screws or clips. Invariably, tools are needed to install the condenser fan orifice.
Because of the large number of parts needed to install it, problems arise relating to the condenser fan orifice. Variations in shape, size, or placement of these parts create variations in location of the orifice over the associated fan.
This makes it difficult to assure consistent orifice location when the same is installed, and can result in fan hit problems. Correction of these problems on assembly adds manufacturing steps, and hence increases cost and reduces quality assurance factors. Also, the requirement for a number of parts translates into increased tooling costs, increased parts inventory and storage costs, and increased service part costs.

Condenser fan orifice for room air conditioner


The present invention provides a piezoelectric ultrasonic motor driver which can perform self-oscillation, adjust the rotational direction of the motor, and be easy to manufacture. The motor includes a metal body having a desired shape; a plurality of piezoelectric plates attached to surfaces of the metal body, contracted and expanded to rotate the metal body; a self-oscillation unit for oscillating at an electromechanical frequency of the piezoelectric plates an electrical signal; and a delay unit for delaying an oscillation signal of the self-oscillation unit in phase by 90 or −90 degrees according to a desired rotational direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric ultrasonic motor that includes a metal body and a plurality of piezoelectric plates attached to the metal body and converts simple vibrations of the piezoelectric plates into linear movement, and more particularly to a piezoelectric ultrasonic motor drive circuit that performs four-phase driving of the motor through self-oscillation, achieving a high efficiency, high output operation at any time, regardless of environmental factors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Piezoelectric ultrasonic motors convert simple vibration of piezoelectric ceramic elements, which contract and expand when current is applied thereto, into linear movement so as to serve as rotary motors. Piezoelectric ultrasonic motors are small and light weight. Because they use ultrasonic power, piezoelectric ultrasonic motors cause no noise and little electromagnetic interference. Due to these advantages, piezoelectric ultrasonic motors are typically used in lens drive units of expensive cameras.
Various types of piezoelectric ultrasonic motors have been proposed. FIG. 1 shows an example piezoelectric ultrasonic motor. As shown in FIG. 1, the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor basically comprises a metal body 1 serving as a stator and a plurality of piezoelectric plates 2 to 5 attached to surfaces of the metal body 1. The piezoelectric palates 2 to 5 contract and expand if voltage is applied to the piezoelectric palates 2 to 5 through electrodes 2a to 5a. If a voltage of the same frequency as the electromechanical resonant frequency of each of the piezoelectric plates 2 to 5 is applied to each of the piezoelectric plates 2 to 5, the amplitude of contraction and expansion movement of each of the piezoelectric plates 2 to 5 is maximized.
The plurality of piezoelectric plates 2 to 5 having these characteristics are longitudinally attached to the metal body 1. The number of the piezoelectric plates 2 to 5 varies depending on the shape of the metal body 1 and the used driving scheme. If voltage signals out of phase with each other by certain degrees are applied to the piezoelectric plates 2 to 5, the piezoelectric plates 2 to 5 contract and expand to cause a bending deformation of the metal body 1, thereby rotating the central axis of the metal body 1.
Thus, the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor needs a drive circuit for applying suitable drive signals to the plurality of piezoelectric plates 2 to 5.
FIG. 2 shows a drive circuit of a rod-shaped piezoelectric ultrasonic motor according to a two-phase driving method proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,439,499. A transformer 6 transforms a 60 Hz power supply voltage and applies the transformed voltage to piezoelectric plates 2 and 3. A phase shift circuit composed of an inductor 7 and a capacitor 8 shifts the phase of an output voltage of the transformer 6 by 90 degrees and then applies the phase-shifted voltage to piezoelectric plates 4 and 5.
In the drive circuit of FIG. 2, the frequency of drive signal applied to the piezoelectric plates 2 to 5 may vary according to changes in the power supply voltage received from the outside. As described above, the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor can obtain the maximum efficiency and output only when receiving a drive voltage having the same frequency as the electromechanical resonant frequency of the piezoelectric plates 2 and 5. However, the conventional drive circuit of FIG. 2 has a problem in that mass productivity and driving efficiency are reduced if external environmental factors or frequency differences between products cause changes in the resonant frequency.
To overcome this problem, studies have been done to implement a self-oscillation function in the drive circuit so as to apply drive signals of the same frequency as the electromechanical resonant frequency, regardless of environmental factors and frequency differences between products. FIG. 3 shows an improved drive circuit having such a function.
As shown in FIG. 3, the conventional improved drive circuit comprises a feedback resistor Rf and an inverter INV, which are connected in parallel to a piezoelectric ultrasonic motor 30, and capacitors CL1 and CL2 which are connected between the ground and the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor 30. RC oscillation is performed according to capacitances of the capacitors CL1 and CL2, a capacitance caused by the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor 30, and a resistance of the feedback resistor Rf. That is, the oscillation frequency is determined based on the capacitances of the capacitors CL1 and CL2, the capacitance of the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor 30, and the resistance of the feedback resistor Rf. By suitably controlling the capacitances of the capacitors CL1 and CL2 and the resistance of the feedback resistor Rf, it is possible to make the oscillation frequency equal to the electromechanical resonant frequency of the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor 30.
If the oscillation frequency is set equal to the electromechanical resonant frequency of the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor 30 in such a manner, drive signals applied to the piezoelectric motor 30 always have the same frequency as the electromechanical resonant frequency, regardless of environmental factors or differences between parts, so that it is possible to obtain the maximum efficiency and output at any time.
The inverter INV inverts the phases of drive signals to be applied to two piezoelectric plates 32 and 33 or 32 and 34 provided on both sides of the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor 30. This allows drive signals out of phase by 180 degrees to be applied to the two piezoelectric plates 32 and 33 or 32 and 34.
To enable the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor 30 to adjust the rotational direction, the common piezoelectric plate 32 is provided on one surface of a metal body 31, and the two piezoelectric plates 33 and 34 are provided respectively on two divided sections of another surface of the metal body 31, which is opposite to the one surface. The common piezoelectric plate 32 is connected to one end of the inverter INV and the piezoelectric plates 33 and 34 are connected to the other end of the inverter INV through a switch SW.
If the switch SW is controlled to connect the output of the inverter INV to the upper piezoelectric plate 33, the common piezoelectric plate 32 and the upper piezoelectric plate 33 contract and expand to cause a bending deformation in the metal body 31, thereby rotating the metal body 31 clockwise. On the other hand, if the switch SW is controlled to connect the output of the inverter INV to the lower piezoelectric plate 34, the common piezoelectric plate 32 and the lower piezoelectric plate 34 contract and expand to cause a bending deformation in the metal body 31, thereby rotating the metal body 31 counterclockwise.
The piezoelectric ultrasonic motor drive circuit of FIG. 3 uses a two-phase driving scheme as with that of FIG. 2, and can prevent changes in the frequency through self-oscillation. In the conventional drive circuit configured as described above, it is necessary to ground the metal body 31 of the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor 30. However, since the piezoelectric plates 32, 33, and 34 are attached to the metal body 31, it is difficult to form an electrode for grounding the metal body 31. In addition, since the structure of the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor has been altered to allow changes in the rotational direction of the motor, it is difficult to change the rotational direction of a piezoelectric ultrasonic motor having a structure different from that shown in FIG. 3.


A UV reactor for treating water, the reactor includes a UV source, a tube positioned around the UV source, a surrounding structure coaxially surrounding the tube, a flow path positioned between the tube and the surrounding structure for the flow of water to be treated, and a diffusive surface positioned around the surrounding structure to reflect UV light from the UV source back into the flow path.

The present invention relates to an ultraviolet (UV) reactor for use in a water treatment system.
UV sources, which may be for example UV lamps and LED's, are commonly used in water treatment to treat biologically unsafe water to remove bacteria, cyst and virus. Typical reactor designs position the UV source in a quartz tube because quartz is transmissive to UV light. The quartz tube is typically coaxially positioned within a surrounding structure spaced from and facing the quartz. The surrounding structure includes a reflective surface which significantly increases UV radiation intensity within the reactor. Often, the surrounding structure is aluminum or stainless steel and the reflective surface is an internally-facing polished surface of the surrounding structure. Water flows in the annular region between the quartz tube and the reflective surface. UV light generated by the UV source passes through the quartz tube to treat the water. The UV light reflects off the reflective surface, back through the water to increase the UV radiation intensity with the water in the reactor.
The cost of the polished aluminum or stainless steel significantly contributes to the cost of the UV reactor. The cost further increases as the quality of the polished surface increases in order to increase the efficiency of the surface reflectivity. Recently, PTFE has been used in UV reactors as a diffusive surface to increase the UV radiation intensity with the water. The fabrication of PTFE reactors requires expensive machining. PTFE faces many challenges when used as a diffusive coating because it is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic. Specifically, PTFE may either be transparent or reflective to UV light depending on light scattering on boundaries between crystalline and amorphous regions. An amorphous state PTFE is transparent to UV. Reflectivity of PTFE depends on the thickness and crystalline level of the material. Traditional PTFE coating processes often produce a thin, amorphous layer over the surface. Because of these challenges, PTFE coating processes often result in transparent layer rather than a reflective layer.


A fluid dynamic bearing mechanism for a motor (1) suitable for use in a hard disk drive and having a compact and thin shape, high bearing rigidity, and high rotating accuracy, and which securely keeps the rotor member (6) in place against shocks, and allows the inspection of lubricant supply amount easily. A fluid dynamic bearing mechanism having a capillary seal part (12) on one end of lubricant supply part formed by a minute gap including dynamic pressure grooves (10) formed on a shaft member (5) or a bearing member (4) is provided. An annular member (13) is fitted on the shaft member at the location corresponding to the capillary seal part, another annular member (14) is fitted on the bearing member at the location corresponding to the capillary seal part, a taper or step (13a, 14a) is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the annular member on the shaft member side and the inner peripheral surface of the annular member on the bearing member side. These inner and outer peripheral surfaces are arranged to be close to and facing with each other so that the rotor member is prevented from disengaging from the bearing member, and the capillary seal part can be formed at the same time. An axial dynamic pressure bearing unit (1) is formed between the annular member on the shaft member side and one end of the bearing member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid dynamic bearing mechanism for a motor, in particular, a fluid dynamic bearing mechanism suitable for motors such as small and thin spindle motors, that have an excellent bearing rigidity and rotation accuracy, can securely prevent the rotor member from dislodging under external vibrations and shocks and allows for verification of the amount of lubricant being supplied.
2. Description of Related Art
Hard disk drives in recent years have become smaller and thinner, and begun running faster with the increasing memory capacity of hard disks. Consequently, the fluid dynamic bearing mechanism is required to be more compact and thinner as well as to have higher bearing rigidity, rotating accuracy, and reliability. Therefore, various kinds of improvements have been made in order to respond to those requirements.
For example, Publication of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application 2002-266878 discloses a fluid dynamic bearing mechanism for a motor having a lubricant being continuously supplied into a minute gap formed between a shaft member and a bearing member. A fluid seal part is formed to constitute a capillary structure on at least one end of a lubricant supply part in said minute gap for preventing leakage of said lubricant to outside. A rotating hub is attached on said shaft member at a location outside of said fluid seal part. An annular member is fitted on the shaft member at a location corresponding to the fluid seal part. An extending surface extending in the radial direction as well as an outer peripheral surface continuing axially from said extending surface and the outer edge of said extending surface on one end side in the axial direction of said annular member are arranged close to and facing against an extending surface extending in the radial direction. An inner peripheral surface continuing axially from said extending surface and the outer edge of said extending surface form said fluid sealing part. An extending surface extending in the radial direction on the other end side in the axial direction of said annular member abuts an end surface of the rotating hub to support the rotating hub in the axial direction. A thrust plate is fitted on the shaft member at its end opposite to the position corresponding to the fluid seal part.
Because of its constitution as described above, the bearing disclosed in the above publication has increased lubricant retaining space both in the radial and axial directions due to its fluid sealing part. Moreover, it is possible to view the amount of lubricant filling immediately after filling lubricant through this fluid sealing part, so that it is easier to adjust the amount of filling. Since the extending surface extending in the radial direction on the other end of the annular member in the axial direction abuts an end of the rotating hub, the rotating hub is supported axially so that its resistance against dislodgment as well as ease of machining and assembling are improved.
Furthermore, the invention disclosed by said publication forms a fluid dynamic thrust bearing by virtue of the lubricant filled in the minute gaps formed between both axial end surfaces of the thrust plate and the inner surface of the counter plate. The thrust plate also preventing the entire rotating part including the shaft member and the rotating hub from dislodging from the bearing member.
However, the invention disclosed by said publication is constituted in such a way that said fluid dynamic bearing mechanism cannot be made thinner due to the presence of the thrust plate fitted on the shaft member at the end part opposite to the location corresponding to the lubricant sealing part. Additionally, the axial length of the radial dynamic pressure bearing part is also shortened thus leaving some room for improvement in terms of achieving higher bearing rigidity and rotating accuracy on smaller and thinner fluid dynamic bearing mechanisms.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,155,529 discloses a fluid dynamic bearing mechanism having a thrust dynamic bearing formed by filling lubricant in a minute gap formed between the bottom surface of the upper wall of a rotor hub (rotating hub) and a cylindrical supporting member (bearing sleeve). The shaft is prevented from dislodgment by a ring-shaped member, which is fitted on the tip of the shaft, mating with an annular groove formed on a hollow part (bearing hole) of a supporting member at a location opposing the tip of the shaft.
However, since the bottom surface of the upper wall of the rotor hub is formed as one with the slide surface that constitutes the direct thrust dynamic pressure bearing in this invention, the entire upper wall of the rotor hub needs to be build solidly, thus making it impossible to make the rotor hub thinner in this invention. Moreover, although the thrust plate is omitted, the ring-shaped member provided on the tip of the shaft still prevents the fluid bearing from being made smaller and thinner.
Unexamined Japanese Patent Application 2001-103723 discloses a fluid dynamic bearing for a motor consisting of a stator assembly and a rotor assembly supported rotatably by a radial bearing containing lubricant. An air induction hole is provided in said rotor assembly to allow the outside air to be induced into a negative pressure region generated between said rotor and stator assemblies due to the rotation of the rotor assembly. The air induction hole here is so constituted as to allow it to be used as a hole for filling the lubricant into the fluid dynamic bearing part as well. Moreover, a stop ring is fitted on the tip of the rotating shaft in order to prevent the rotor assembly from dislodging.
Since the bearing disclosed in the above publication can alleviate the negative pressure in the negative pressure region formed between the stator assembly and the rotor assembly when the motor, which is designed flat and thin, is running at a high speed by inducing the outside air into the negative pressure region through the air induction hole, it prevents possible problems such as leakage of the lubricant from the bearing, etc. The air induction hole can also be used as the lubricant filling hole, thereby simplifying the lubricant replenishing operation, which contributes to productivity and realization of a longer motor life. Moreover, the stop ring engages with the lower end of the radial bearing (bearing sleeve), preventing the rotor assembly from dislodging from the stator assembly.
However, the invention disclosed in this publication has no means of increasing the lubricant retaining space. The invention is also indifferent to the prevention of the rotor hub that constitutes the rotor assembly from dislodging as well as to the ease of machining and assembling of components. Furthermore, since the thrust bearing is protruding outward from the frame's constraint (base member), there is still room for improvement in terms of making the fluid dynamic bearing mechanism thinner and flatter.

Fluid dynamic bearing mechanism for a motor


An actuator for use with an aerosol container, the actuator having a passage therethrough which terminates in an orifice, the passage being configured such that the contents of the aerosol container may be communicated through the passage and discharged from the actuator at the orifice, comprising an actuator body, and one or more pairs of wings secured to the body, each wing having a bottom edge located proximate to the orifice and peripheral edges which are adjacent to and intersect the bottom edge, wherein at least a portion of the peripheral edge of at least one of the wings, from a point wherein said edge intersects the bottom edge of its respective wing, angles away from the body. There is further provided a base adapted for accepting such an aerosol container actuator.

Maneuverable marking devices, which are well known in the art, are commonly used for a variety of purposes, e.g., for the striping or line marking of a variety of surfaces. For example, such devices have been used to mark the location of a property line, underground pipes or cables, planting areas for nursery stock as well as boundaries of athletic fields. Additional, and more common, uses of such marking devices are the application of marks in the form of stripes to delineate parking spaces, walkways, and the like.
Many currently available spraying devices use aerosol containers or cans as the sole source of marking material. Upon preparing to use one of these devices, an operator will typically insert the aerosol can into the device in an inverted configuration. Such positioning allows the orifice of the actuator to direct the marking material onto the surface over which the device will be subsequently propelled.
Devices which utilize the aforesaid aerosol containers are especially economical where the particular marking application is relatively small. Such economy arises primarily from the fact that a pressure source, e.g., an air compressor, is not required to effect discharge of the marking material from its source.
Moreover, such marking devices provide further advantages at the time the supply of marking material in a particular can is exhausted. For example, an empty can may simply be removed from the device and a new can inserted in its place. Such a procedure eliminates the need for clean-up of the marking material delivery system, as is typically required when a non-aerosol can-based marking device is employed.
The foregoing, as well as other advantages, e.g., ease of use, low initial start-up costs, and low maintenance costs, have made marking devices which employ aerosol cans as their source of marking material a very popular design.
Although hand-held marking devices are typically used for non-critical applications, it is generally recognized that a marking device which is wheeled along the surface to be marked is preferable for applications where a relatively high degree of accuracy is desired. However, unless the orifice is centered with regard to the device, as well as to the mark which is to be applied, it will be difficult to produce a consistently uniform mark. For example, if the orifice is not centered, one edge of the mark may receive less marking material than the opposite side, resulting in a non-uniform mark.
One method which has been employed to enhance the uniformity achieved when attempting to produce a wide mark, e.g., a parking lot stripe, is the use of an actuator orifice which is generally slotted, or rectangular, in shape. In such cases, the widest portion of the slot is oriented perpendicular to the direction of movement of the spraying device. Such orientation allows for wide, and uniform, distribution of the marking material across the width of the mark.
The above adoption of a slotted orifice does not, however, completely remedy the problem of non-uniformity. More specifically, such does not ensure that the orifice will be centered with regard to the device. One actuator design which attempts to address this centering, and therefore uniformity, problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,153. The '153 patent discloses an actuator for an aerosol can having two pairs of flexible and resilient wings which extend outwardly from opposing sides of the actuator body. Upon insertion of an aerosol can having such an actuator into a base on the marking device which has been designed to accept such an actuator, the wings engage inclined side walls of the base such that the rectangular actuator orifice is aligned perpendicular to the direction of travel of the marking device. If desired, the corners of the wings may be rounded in order to facilitate the insertion and alignment of the actuator.
In order for the actuator disclosed in the '153 patent to function as intended, however, the lateral dimensions of the wings must be precisely set so as to fit within the dimensions of the base. For example, if the lateral dimension of the wings are in excess of the optimum, the wings will not fit securely onto the base of the device. On the other hand, if the wings are too small, the actuator, and hence the orifice, will not be securely positioned on the base, this resulting in the orifice not being centered on the base. In summary, then, an oversized actuator will not be able to fit within the confines of the base thereby rendering the device inoperable, while an undersized actuator will result in the production of less than the highest quality marks due to the movement of the orifice about the base.
Accordingly, a need exists for an actuator and spraying device which will simply and inexpensively compensate for any under or oversizing of the actuator or of any dimensional irregularities present in the base of the marking device.


Disclosed herein is a plasma display panel in which afterimage is improved. The plasma display panel according to the present invention includes a panel unit having an upper plate and a lower plate, a frame that supports circuitry, and a conductive material formed between the panel unit and the frame. As such, a conductive material is formed on a bottom surface of a lower plate of a panel. Thus, charges introduced into the lower plate are properly controlled to improve the waveform stability of the panel. Also, a charge characteristic is improved to implement a stable operation. Accordingly, an afterimage time can be reduced. Further, a sheet of a low hardness and light weight is used. It is thus possible to absorb shock and noise of a PDP, accomplish light weight of the PDP and reduce the materials of the sheet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel. More particularly, the present invention relates to a plasma display panel in which afterimage is reduced, wherein a conductive material is formed on a bottom surface of a lower plate of the panel to properly control charges introduced into the lower plate, whereby waveform stability of the panel and a charge characteristic are improved to implement a stable operation. Further, the present invention relates to a plasma display panel, which is adapted to absorb shock and noise and also suitable for light weight
2. Description of the Background Art
Recently, the development of high definition television (HDTV) has been partially completed. While research on its improvement is continuously made, an image display device (or a picture display device) has become more important. As known already, the type of the image display device can include a cathode-ray tube (CRT), a liquid display device (LCD), a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), a plasma display panel (hereinafter, referred to as "PDP"), and the like.
However, a display device, which is satisfactory to HDTV, has not yet been completed in terms of technology. Thus, those display devices have been developed at a different field in a complementary manner.
A PDP of the above-described image display devices is adapted to display an image by way of a gas discharge. The PDP has the highest resolution and contrast ratio and a rapid response speed, and is suitable for displaying an image of a large area. Thus, it has been widely used for television, monitors, display boards for advertising and so on.
FIG. 1 is a dismantled perspective view illustrating the construction of a conventional PDP. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the conventional PDP is coupled.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the PDP has a front substrate 10 being a display surface on which an image is displayed, and a rear substrate 20 constituting a rear surface. The front substrate 10 and the rear substrate 20 are coupled parallel to each other with a given distance therebetween.
Sustain electrodes 11 for sustaining emission of a cell through inter-discharge in one pixel are disposed in pairs at the bottom of the front substrate 10. The sustain electrodes 11 serve to limit the discharge current, and are covered with a dielectric layer 12 for insulation among the electrode pairs. A protection layer 13 is formed on the opposite surface to the surface of the dielectric layer 12, which covers the sustain electrodes 11.
The rear substrate 20 includes a plurality of discharge spaces, i.e., barrier ribs 21 of a stripe type, for forming a cell, and a plurality of address electrodes 22 for performing an address discharge at portions where the address electrodes 22 and the sustain electrodes 11 intersect to generate vacuum ultraviolet. In this time, the barrier ribs 21 are arranged parallel to one another. The address electrodes 22 are disposed parallel to the barrier ribs 21.
Further, R.G.B phosphor layers 23 that emits a visible ray for displaying an image in an address discharge are coated on the top surface of the rear substrate 20 except for the top of the barrier ribs 21.
However, this PDP has a problem in that afterimage is generated. For example, if a first image is switched to a second image after being turned on for a predetermined time, the time when the first image disappears is lengthened as long as several minutes to several tens of minutes. Also, even when an image is switched, a previous image is overlapped with a later image. Thus, the picture quality is degraded.
Furthermore, the conventional PDP has problems in that it generates lots of noise, and is weak in shock and relatively heavy.


The system involves the use of shallow boxes having an integral base and lid, with the lid being foldable down to close the box as part of the automated packaging of stacks of sheets of labels or other sheet material. The system involves one or more accumulators having buffering capability between sheet stackers and the cartoning equipment. The lids may be scored and subject to a pre-breaking step so that their three layer construction may be readily formed into boxes in the course of the packaging process.

At the present sheets of labels are loaded into two-part boxes manually. More specifically, in the loading of a conveyor line, four people are involved in the steps of picking up a stack of sheets, placing the stacks into box bases, putting a separate lid onto each box, and placing the boxes on the conveyor for plastic shrink wrapping of the loaded boxes, and loading the boxes into shipping containers.

Efficient sheet stack packaging technique


A passive fuel cell assembly including a membrane electrode assembly, an anode current collector, a cathode current collector, a hydrophilic and gas-impermeable layer, and a gas-liquid separation layer is provided. The anode current collector and the cathode current collector are disposed at two opposite sides of the membrane electrode assembly. The hydrophilic and gas-impermeable layer is disposed on the anode current collector. The gas-liquid separation layer is disposed on the hydrophilic and gas-impermeable layer, such that the hydrophilic and gas-impermeable layer is disposed between the gas-liquid separation layer and the anode current collector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell, and more particularly to a passive fuel cell assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
With the rapid development of industry, the consumption of conventional energy source such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas is increasingly high, and due to the limited storage of natural energy source, novel alternative energy source may be researched and developed to substitute the conventional energy source, and the fuel cell is taken as an important and practical choice.
In brief, the fuel cell is substantially a power generator that converts chemical energy into electric energy by utilizing the reverse reaction of the water electrolysis. The proton exchanging membrane fuel cell mainly includes a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and two electrode plates. The MEA includes a proton exchange membrane, an anode catalyst layer, a cathode catalyst layer, an anode gas diffusion layer (GDL) and a cathode GDL. The anode catalyst layer and the cathode catalyst layer are respectively disposed on two sides of the proton conducting membrane, and the anode GDL and the cathode GDL are respectively disposed on the anode catalyst layer and the cathode catalyst layer. Furthermore, two electrode plates include an anode and a cathode, which are respectively disposed on the anode GDL and the cathode GDL.
Currently, the common proton exchanging membrane fuel cell is Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC), which directly takes the methanol aqueous solution as the source for supplying fuel, and generates currents through the relevant electrode reaction between methanol and oxygen. The reaction formulas of the DMFC are shown as follows:Anode: CH3OH+H2O→CO2+6H++6e−Cathode: 3/2O2+6H++6e−→3H2O
During the reaction, 1 mol of water is consumed at anode, three mol of water is generated at the cathode, and the water generated in the reaction may be removed immediately, and cannot be kept at the surface of the catalyst layer, in such a manner, the fuel cell can react continuously, thereby generating currents.
In recent years, passive type fuel transmission in fuel cells is developed, wherein fuel transmission and water management are achieved spontaneously by films designed on the outside of MEA. Since stability of fuel cells is significantly affected by the water management therein. As for the water management in fuel cells, many solutions have been proposed in this field. For instance, in U.S. Publication No. 2004/0209136, a water management layer is used to prevent moisture leaking from an anode. The water management layer includes at least one porous layer mainly made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The porous layer allows gaseous fuel to pass through and obstructs water.
In the fuel cell discussed in WO 2005/112172A1, liquid methanol fuel is vaporized and a moisture-maintaining layer is used to prevent the liquid methanol fuel from being diluted. In order to prevent the liquid methanol fuel from being obstructed by the moisture-maintaining layer, the moisture-maintaining layer is defined as followings. According standard of JIS K7126-1987A, gaseous methanol permeability of the moisture-maintaining layer is about 1×105˜1×109 cm3/m2·24 hr·atm. However, stability of the fuel cell discussed in WO 2005/112172A1 still deteriorates and inner electrical resistance of the fuel cell increases during a long time operation.
As for discharge design of carbon dioxide in fuel cells, WO 2006/040961 and WO 2006/040961 have proposed their own solutions. During a long time operation, inner electrical resistance in fuel cells proposed by WO 2005/112172A1, WO 2006/04096, or JP 2006-134808 still increases, since water accumulation phenomenon can not be improved. Additionally, since the water management layer of U.S. Publication No. 2004/0209136 and the fuel gas diffusion layer of JP 2006-134808 are hydrophobic and gas-permeable, the distribution of gaseous fuel is not uniform when fuel cell is inclined during operation. The same problem occurs in the moisture-maintaining layer of WO 2005/112172A1. Accordingly, how to improve uniformity of gaseous fuel transmitted to the anode catalyst layer, water accumulation phenomenon at the anode, and stability of fuel cells during a long time operation become crucial issues when fabricating fuel cells.

Industrial Technology Research Institute