A facing surface of a clutch piston is previously moved to a position just before it abuts against an inner surface of a torque converter cover, or a position in which it extremely slightly abuts against the inner surface of the torque converter cover by outputting an initial engage pressure YMIN set in accordance with a vehicle speed and the like only for a predetermined time TMPS prior to the start of engagement of a lockup clutch. When the engagement of the lockup clutch is started, the engage pressure is gradually increased. When the engage pressure approaches a target pressure set in accordance with the target speed ratio, a feedback control of the engage pressure is carried out such that the actual speed ratio of the torque converter is converged to the target speed ratio. Thus, when the lockup clutch of the torque converter is brought into an engaged state, the responsiveness can be enhanced while preventing the generation of a shock.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control device for a lockup clutch for controlling the speed ratio of a torque converter of an automatic transmission in accordance with the operational state of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a control device is known, for example, from Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.5-231531. With this control device, an engage pressure is previously gradually increased by a feed-forward control before the engagement of the lockup clutch is started, and when the engagement of the lockup clutch is started, the gradually increased engage pressure is maintained for a given time and then, feedback-controlled such that the actual speed ratio of the torque converter is converged to a target speed ratio, thereby preventing the generation of a shock upon the engagement of the lockup clutch.
However, the known device suffers from a problem that at the start of the engagement of the lockup clutch, it is difficult to retain a clutch piston at an engagement starting position (a position just before a facing surface of the clutch piston abuts against an inner surface of a torque converter cover, or a position in which the facing surface of the clutch piston extremely slightly abuts against the inner surface of the torque converter cover). For this reason, the timing of the engagement is displaced, resulting in a reduced responsiveness.


An inkjet printer for printing on a print medium includes a printhead having an ink orifice formed therein through which an ink drop is ejected into a print zone between the printhead and the print medium during printing, and an air movement system which directs a stream of gas through the print zone as the ink drop is ejected during printing. When ejected, the ink drop forms a head and a tail. As such, the stream of gas converges the tail of the ink drop and the head of the ink drop during printing so as to improve the shape of a dot formed by the ink drop on the print medium.

The present invention relates generally to printing with inkjet printers, and more particularly to an inkjet printer having an air movement system which converges a tail or satellite and a head of an ink drop as formed by the ink drop during printing.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a portion of a conventional inkjet printer 90 includes a printer carriage 91 and a print cartridge 92 installed in the printer carriage. The print cartridge includes a printhead 93 which ejects or fires ink drops 94 through a plurality of orifices or nozzles 95 and toward a print medium 96, such as a sheet of paper, so as to print a dot of ink on the print medium. Typically, the orifices are arranged in one or more columns or arrays such that properly sequenced ejection of ink from the orifices causes characters or other images to be printed upon the print medium as the print cartridge and the print medium are moved relative to each other.
During ejection, one or more of the ink drops of the conventional inkjet printer form a primary drop or head 97 and a secondary drop or tail 98 which trails from or follows the head of the ink drop. Often, the tail of the ink drop separates from the head of the ink drop and forms a satellite 99 of the ink drop. The tail or satellite of the ink drop is often smaller than the head of the ink drop and typically has a different air resistance, speed, and trajectory than the head of the ink drop. For example, as the printer carriage and print cartridge move relative to print medium in the direction indicated in FIG. 1, a trajectory of the tail or satellite of the ink drop diverges from a trajectory of the head of the ink drop as the ink drop travels between the printhead and the print medium. Thus, the tail or satellite of the ink drop lands on the print medium away from where the head of the ink drop lands. As such, the tail or satellite of the ink drop forms an extraneous dot on the print medium around the edges and/or in the background of a character printed on the print medium. This extraneous dot, however, results in an image quality defect, referred to as spray, which causes the character to appear fuzzy. Controlling spray, therefore, is important since the eye is very sensitive to this type of image quality defect.
Unfortunately, increasing a spacing between the print cartridge and the print medium (i.e., pen-to-paper spacing) to accommodate, for example, a greater range of print medium thickness increases the possibility of spray since the ink drop has a greater distance to travel and, therefore, a greater distance within which to deviate from the head of the ink drop. In addition, moving the printer carriage and printhead at greater velocities to achieve, for example, faster printing speeds and, therefore, higher throughput also increases the possibility of spray.
Attempts to minimize or eliminate spray caused by the tail or satellite of the ink drop have utilized, for example, slower printer carriage speeds and reduced pen-to-paper spacing as well as lower drop velocities, clear-mode operations, and non-circular orifices. These attempts, however, are leading in a direction contrary to the desired direction of inkjet printer advancement, such as faster printing speeds for higher throughput and increased pen-to-paper spacing for accommodating a greater range of print medium thickness. Reducing carriage speed, for example, reduces throughput of the inkjet printer and reducing pen-to-paper spacing limits the range of print medium thickness the inkjet printer can handle. In addition, operating at lower drop velocities generally degrades a reliability and trajectory of the ink drops since the ink drops have a lower momentum and, therefore, are more easily disrupted. In addition, operating in clear modes of operations, where the entire contents of the firing chamber and nozzle are ejected, results in slower refill times and, therefore, reduced frequency response as well as a greater tendency to form air bubbles in the firing chamber.
Accordingly, a need exists for an inkjet printer which substantially eliminates image quality defects, such as spray, caused by tails or satellites of ink drops formed during printing, without compromising printing speed, printing reliability, and/or print medium accommodation.
One aspect of the present invention provides an inkjet printer for printing on a print medium. The inkjet printer includes a printhead having an ink orifice formed therein through which an ink drop is ejected into a print zone between the printhead and the print medium during printing, and an air movement system which directs a stream of gas through the print zone as the ink drop is ejected during printing. The ink drop includes a head and a tail. As such, the stream of gas converges the tail of the ink drop and the head of the ink drop during printing.
In one embodiment, the head of the ink drop has a first trajectory rate during printing and the tail of the ink drop has a second trajectory rate less than the first trajectory rate during printing. As such, the stream of gas impedes the first trajectory rate of the head of the ink drop during printing.
In one embodiment, the tail of the ink drop forms a satellite of the ink drop. As such, the stream of gas converges the satellite of the ink drop with the head of the ink drop during printing.
In one embodiment, the head of the ink drop has a head trajectory during printing and the satellite of the ink drop has a satellite trajectory during printing. As such, the air movement system directs the stream of gas through the head trajectory and the satellite trajectory during printing. In one embodiment, the stream of gas disrupts the satellite trajectory during printing, but does not disrupt the head trajectory during printing.
In one embodiment, the stream of gas converges the satellite trajectory with the head trajectory during printing. In one embodiment, the satellite trajectory originates at a starting point of the head trajectory and terminates at approximately an ending point of the head trajectory. The satellite trajectory, however, is longer than the head trajectory.
In one embodiment, the head of the ink drop forms a first dot on the print medium during printing and the satellite of the ink drop forms a second dot on the print medium during printing. As such, the second dot is positioned within the first dot on the print medium. In one embodiment, the first dot has a first diameter and the second dot has a second diameter less than the first diameter.
In one embodiment, the printhead moves in a first direction relative to the print medium during printing. As such, the air movement system directs the stream of gas in a second direction opposite the first direction.
In one embodiment, the print medium moves in a first direction relative to the printhead during printing. As such, the air movement system directs the stream of gas in the first direction.
In one embodiment, the air movement system directs the stream of gas in a direction toward an already-imprinted region of the print medium.
In one embodiment, the stream of gas is an air stream. In one embodiment, the air movement system includes an airflow source which generates the air stream. In one embodiment, movement of the printhead within the printer generates the air stream.
In one embodiment, the air movement system includes an air ram formed adjacent a leading end of the printhead. As such, the air ram directs the air stream from the leading end of the printhead to the print zone during printing.
In one embodiment, the ink orifice is formed in a front face of the printhead. As such, the air movement system directs the stream of gas substantially parallel to the front face of the printhead.
In one embodiment, a speed of the stream of gas through the print zone is in a range of approximately 3 meters/second to approximately 10 meters/second. In one embodiment, the speed of the stream of gas through the print zone is in a range of approximately 3 meters/second to approximately 5 meters/second.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of printing on a print medium with an inkjet printer including a printhead having an ink orifice formed therein. The method includes ejecting an ink drop through the ink orifice toward the print medium into a print zone between the printhead and the print medium during printing, and directing a stream of gas through the print zone as the ink drop is ejected during printing. The ink drop forms a head and a tail such that the stream of gas converges the tail of the ink drop and the head of the ink drop during printing.
The present invention provides a system which converges a tail and a head of an ink drop as formed by the ink drop during printing. In addition, the system converges a satellite, as formed by the tail of the ink drop, with the head of the ink drop during printing. As such, extraneous printed features around the edges and/or in the background of a character, caused by the tail or satellite of the ink drop during printing, are avoided without compromising printing speed, printing reliability, and/or accommodation of various thickness of print medium.

Inkjet printing with air movement system to improve dot shape


The present invention provides a prepreg for a coreless substrate and a coreless substrate and a semiconductor package using the prepreg, which can satisfy heat resistance, low thermal expansion, and bonding strength with a metal circuit at a level required for the coreless substrate. Specifically, the prepreg for a coreless substrate contains a thermosetting resin composition containing (a) dicyandiamide, (b) an adduct of a tertiary phosphine and quinones, (c) an amine compound having at least two primary amino groups, and (d) a maleimide compound having at least two primary amino groups having at least two N-substituted maleimide groups. Instead of (c) the amine compound having at least two primary amino groups and (d) the maleimide compound, having at least two N-substituted maleimide groups, (X) an amino-modified polyimide resin obtained by reacting them may be used.

With recent miniaturization and high performance of electronic devices, printed wiring boards are required to have higher wiring density and higher integration and to have a thinner board.
As a package structure based on these requirements, for example, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 propose a coreless substrate which does not have a core substrate and mainly includes a build-up layer capable of high-density wiring. The coreless substrate is obtained by forming a build-up layer on a support (core substrate) such as a metal plate and then removing the support (core substrate), that is, in this case, only the build-up layer. As the build-up layer used for forming the coreless substrate, a prepreg or the like obtained by impregnating a glass cloth with a resin composition is used.
Since the rigidity of the coreless substrate is lowered due to thinning caused by removing the support (core substrate), the problem that the semiconductor package warps when the semiconductor element is mounted and packaged becomes more conspicuous. The warpage is considered to be one of the factors that cause connection failure between the semiconductor element and the printed wiring board, and in the coreless substrate, a more effective reduction of the warpage is demanded.
One of the causes that warp the semiconductor package is the difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the semiconductor element and the printed wiring board. Generally, since the coefficient of thermal expansion of the printed wiring board is larger than the coefficient of thermal expansion of the semiconductor element, stress is generated by the thermal history or the like applied at the time of mounting the semiconductor element, and warpage occurs. Therefore, in order to suppress warpage of the semiconductor package, it is necessary to reduce the coefficient of thermal expansion of the printed wiring board to reduce the difference from the coefficient of thermal expansion of the semiconductor element, which is also applicable to the coreless substrate.
Patent Literature 3 discloses a method of laminating an insulating resin containing no glass cloth as an insulating layer on both sides of a prepreg, but this method tends to increase warpage because the coefficient of thermal expansion increases.
Here, it is generally known that the coefficient of thermal expansion of a prepreg obtained by impregnating a glass cloth with a resin composition follows the Scapery Equation represented by the following formula.A≈(ArErFr+AgEgFg)/(ErFr+EgFg)(In the formula, A represents a coefficient of thermal expansion of the prepreg, Ar represents a coefficient of thermal expansion of the resin composition, Er represents an elastic modulus of the resin composition, Fr represents a volume fraction of the resin composition, Ag represents a coefficient of thermal expansion of the glass cloth, Eg represents an elastic modulus of the glass cloth, and Fg represents a volume fraction of the glass cloth.)
From the above Scapery Equation, it can be seen that when a glass cloth having the same physical property is used at a given volume fraction, the low thermal expansion of the prepreg can be achieved by reducing the elastic modulus and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the resin composition.
For example, Patent Literature 4 discloses a prepreg formed of a resin composition containing a specific low elasticity component and a woven fabric base material as a prepreg capable of reducing warpage of a semiconductor package.

Prepreg for coreless substrate, coreless substrate and semiconductor package


A disk drive includes a slider assembly and a controller that directs current to the slider assembly to dynamically adjust the head-to-disk spacing. In one embodiment, the slider assembly includes a write element having a first end, a second end and an intermediate section, a conductor that is connected to the intermediate section. In this embodiment, the controller directs electrical current through the conductor to heat the write element without writing data to a storage disk. The electrical current can be directed through the conductor at any time prior to data transfer or during data transfer. Heating the write element causes a deformation of the slider assembly to decrease the head-to-disk spacing. In another embodiment, the slider assembly includes a separate slider deformer. Electrical current is selectively directed to the slider deformer to cause a deformation of the slider assembly to obtain a desired head-to-disk spacing. The slider deformer can include electrically conductive material or can be a piezoelectric element. Further, the slider deformer can be serpentine-shaped or substantially planar in shape.

Disk drives are widely used in computers, consumer electronics and data processing systems for storing information in digital form. The disk drive typically includes one or more storage disks and one or more head suspension assemblies. Each head suspension assembly includes a slider assembly having an air bearing surface and a read/write head that transfers information to and from the storage disk. The rotation of the storage disk causes the slider assembly to ride on an air bearing a distance "h" from the storage disk. The distance "h" is referred to as the "fly height" of the slider assembly and represents the position that the slider assembly occupies when the storage disk is rotating during normal operation of the disk drive.
The term "head-to-disk spacing" refers to the distance between the read/write head and the storage disk. More specifically, the head-to-disk spacing for a disk drive is equal to the sum of (i) the carbon thickness on the read/write head, (ii) the distance between the read/write head and the carbon surface of the storage disk, (iii) the carbon thickness of the storage disk, and (iv) half of the thickness of the magnetic layer on the storage disk.
Each storage disk includes one or two disk surfaces that are divided into a plurality of narrow, annular regions of different radii, commonly referred to as data tracks. The number of tracks per radial inch (TPI) on the storage disk is known as track density. Digital information is recorded on the data tracks in the form of magnetic transitions or bits using the read/write head. The number of bits per inch (BPI) along the track is known as linear density. The areal density of the storage disk is determined by multiplying the tracks per inch by the linear density. Areal density is necessarily increasing in an effort to raise the storage capacity of the disk drive, while maintaining a fixed or lower manufacturing cost of the drive.
For a given linear density, a target head-to-disk spacing is required to ensure accurate data transfer. Unfortunately, consistent head-to-disk spacing during data transfer is difficult to achieve. For example, during the process of forming the air bearing surface, the slider assembly is polished with slurry. The main material of the slider assembly is sintered alumina-titanium carbide and the read/write head consists of sputtered alumina and other soft metals. The rate of materials removal during polishing is slightly higher in the sputtered alumina and the other soft metals. This causes the surface near the read/write head to be slightly recessed. This is commonly referred to as "pole tip recession." Additionally, alumina-titanium carbide and sputtered alumina each also have a slightly different coefficient of thermal expansion. At relatively cold temperatures, the surface near the read/write head further recesses due to this disparity in thermal expansion coefficients.
As a result thereof, for a given fly height, the amount of pole tip recession will influence the resulting head-to-disk spacing of the disk drive. For example, for a 30 Gbits/in2 areal density disk drive, the nominal pole tip recession can be approximately 4 nanometers, carbon thickness on the read/write head is about 4 nanometers, fly height can be approximately 13 nanometers, carbon thickness of the storage disk can be roughly 4 nanometers and half of the magnetic layer is about 10 nanometers. Thus, the total head-to-disk spacing in this example is approximately 35 nanometers.
Further, a large variation in fly height from slider assembly to slider assembly can cause significant issues in the manufacturing and reliability of the disk drives. If the fly height deviates positively and significantly from the target fly height, the head-to-disk spacing may become too large and can cause unreliable reading from and writing to the storage disk. Conversely, if the fly height deviates negatively and significantly from the target fly height, the head can contact the carbon surface of the storage disk.
Maintaining a relatively small and consistent head-to-disk spacing is further complicated by other factors. In particular, the read/write head includes a read head and a spaced apart write head. The write head includes an electrically conductive write element, a leading pole having a leading pole tip, a trailing pole having a trailing pole tip, and one or more electrical insulating layers that surround the write element. The space between the leading pole tip and the trailing pole tip is known as the write head gap. Further, a yoke forms an arch from the leading pole to the trailing pole. Conventional write elements often include a coil wound around the yoke. During a write operation, current is directed through the write element. The current generates a magnetic flux that propagates along the yoke to the pole. The magnetic flux generates a magnetic filed at the write head gap that is used to record digital information to the storage disk.
The electrical resistance of the write element generates heat in and around the read/write head. The extent and rate of heating depends upon the level of current sent to the write element. The temperature at the pole tips and surrounding areas of the slider assembly increases over time and eventually reaches a maximum temperature during writing. This temperature increase causes the trailing pole tip and/or other portions of the slider assembly to expand and protrude during writing in a direction generally toward the storage disk. This phenomenon is known as "thermal protrusion" or "thermal pole tip protrusion". If the extent of thermal protrusion is as great as the fly height, the slider assembly can contact the storage disk. This contact can cause off-track writing, damage to the slider assembly, damage to the storage disk and/or a permanent loss of data. Thus, thermal protrusion limits how low the fly height can be designed for a disk drive.
Attempts to limit the extent of thermal protrusion include decreasing resistance in the write element, thereby reducing the amount of heat transferred to the trailing pole. These efforts included providing a more tightly wound write element and using thicker coil materials. Another attempt to inhibit the adverse effects of thermal pole tip protrusion includes using a single layer coil rather than the conventional two-layer coil, in order to reduce heat buildup near the coil and encourage greater heat conduction to the surrounding areas of the slider assembly. A further attempt to reduce thermal protrusion includes replacing one of the insulating layers, which normally includes a photoresist material of relatively high coefficient of thermal expansion, with material having a lower coefficient of thermal expansion, such as alumina. Still another attempt to decrease thermal protrusion includes using a thinner undercoat layer between the body section and the read/write head. Unfortunately, these attempts have met with somewhat limited success.
In light of the above, the need exists to provide a disk drive that allows for the precise adjustment and control of the head-to-disk spacing. A further need exists to provide a disk drive that allows for a relatively high fly height, thereby decreasing the likelihood of damage to the slider assembly and/or loss of data from the storage disk. Another need exists to manufacture a reliable and cost effective disk drive that provides increased accuracy during data transfer.

Dynamically adjustable head disk spacing slider using thermal expansion


Optical amplifying method and apparatus are proposed. Constant gain amplifiers operate such that the output power of the amplifier generally tracks the input power. However, optical systems are not perfect and the input to the optical amplifier stage includes not only the desired signal, but also includes accumulated effects of the imperfections. The imperfections include losses of the fiber sections, variations in laser powers, and drifts. Thus, simple amplification not only amplifies the desired signal, but also amplifies accumulated imperfections. Such imperfections occur over time and are generally small in magnitude. By operating the amplifier such that amplification of small variations is suppressed while allowing for tracking of large input variations, amplifying the accumulated imperfections is minimized.

Conventional optical amplifiers may be operated under variable control to achieve an amplifier response that is flat over a wide gain range. Amplifiers may also be operated in constant gain mode in which the pumps are controlled such that the amplifier gain is constant with the result being that the output power closely tracks the input power.
In optical systems, it is desirable to launch a constant power per channel into the fiber. This may be achieved by operating the amplifier in a constant gain mode. In constant gain mode, any change in the input power of a constant gain amplifier produces a proportional change in the output power of the amplifier. Thus any change in the input due to change in channel count (i.e. addition and deletion of channels), will cause a proportional change in the output power of the amplifier, keeping the per channel launch power nominally constant.
While this method is useful for tracking changes in channel count, there are drawbacks. The amplifier has no means of differentiating between changes in input power caused by channel count changes and other events such as change in fiber loss, component losses etc. While these changes may be small over a single span, these changes will accumulate along multiple sections of fibers and amplifiers to a detrimental effect.
Consider a chain 100 of optical amplifiers 102-X shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1. The input power per channel to the first amplifier 102-1 is P1. The average losses of the fiber sections 104-1 to 104-N are shown as L1, L2, . . . LN. If the launch power per channel is assumed to be same at each fiber section (and same as at the output of the first amplifier), the gains G2, . . . GN of the amplifiers 102-2 . . . 102-N track the average loss of the fiber section preceding the amplifier (L1, L2 . . . LN). The time dependent variation in fiber loss given by ΔL1, ΔL2, . . . ΔLN and the variation in input power is assumed to be ΔP1.
As noted above, conventional optical amplifiers operate in a simple constant gain mode. In this case, the control circuitry keeps the gain of the amplifier at target value GCG. A control mechanism for the conventional amplifier in constant gain mode is shown in the flow chart 200 of FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, Pin is the input power to an amplifier, and Pout is the output power from the amplifier. It is assumed that the power values are in a logarithmic scale for ease of calculation.
In step 210, the target gain GCG for the amplifier is set. This value is provisioned in the constant gain mode and typically corresponds to the gain of a particular stage or multiple stages of the chain of amplifiers. In step 220, input and output powers Pin and Pout are measured and the actual gain Gmeas is calculated from the measured power values. Step 230 determines whether or not a deviation Gerror from the target gain GCG exists. If so, the amplifier's output Pout is adjusted by Gerror in step 240 and the method returns to step 220. If the deviation is determined not to exist in step 230, the output is not adjusted and the method returns to step 220.
FIG. 3 graphically illustrates the tracking of the output power of the amplifier as a function of the input power. The amplifier is assumed to be operating at a target set gain of 25 dB. As shown, the output power of the amplifier tracks the input as closely as possible.
It can be seen that substantial output power variations occur if the constant gain control is utilized. Such power fluctuations accumulate over a chain of amplifiers to a detrimental effect as pointed out above.

Method and apparatus for optical amplifying device gain control with gain threshold


A method for locally enhancing the contrast of a yellow image, which method comprises providing a yellow image on a white background, said image comprised of yellow areas and white areas, said yellow areas and white areas exhibiting pH levels which differ by at least 0.5 in an aqueous environment, applying to at least a portion of said yellow image a solution of a pH color changing dye which will change color to a color other than yellow when coated on one of said yellow areas or white areas and not change color when coated on the other of said yellow areas or white areas, thereby forming a colored image duplicating the yellow image in areas where the solution has been applied, said colored image having a visually better contrast than said yellow image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to resist imaging, particularly to color resist imaging useful in prepress color proofing.
2. Background of the Art
In many forms of color imaging, it is necessary to use more than one color to provide a final color rendition of an image. In the area of printing technology, most images are produced from cyan, magenta, yellow and black images which are laid down in sequence and in register. These four colors (or only cyan, yellow, and magenta) can be combined to provide the effect of most visible colors.
In laying down the images of these three or four colors, not only do the individual color images have to contain the proper color densities, but the separate images must be in register with each other in order for the correct image to appear in the reproduction. Both in printing and in color prepress proofing, marks are placed on the receptor sheet outside of the field of the printing to assist in placing the different color images into register. These marks are known in the trade as registration marks. By having the marks in the identical portion of the field to be imaged (but outside the field of the desired image), each successive color image can be placed in good registration with the previous images. Each registration mark is printed in the same color as the overall color of the individually printed color layer; that is, the registration mark for the cyan layer is cyan, for the yellow layer it is yellow, and for the magenta layer it is magenta. The color must be the same as the registration mark is printed at the same time and with the same imaging material (e.g., ink or transferred mass) as is the major portion of the image.
Most images are placed onto a white or near white (e.g., bone or ivory) receptor sheet such as paper. The registration marks for the cyan and magenta layers are quite readily visible on a white background, but yellow does not readily provide a clearly visible contrast against a white background. This poorly contrasting yellow image will not provide a good registration mark because it cannot be readily seen by the printer. If the mark cannot be clearly seen, it becomes difficult to place any successive images in register with the yellow image. It is not reasonable to place a different color on the area of the registration mark as this would probably have to be done manually on each image.
A technique must be developed for providing better contrasting registration marks on printed or proofing yellow registration marks.

Changing the color of yellow resist images by application of pH-sensitive dyes

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


A spa has (a) a bath having an upstanding wall; and (b) a pump assembly removably mounted to the wall of the bath. The pump assembly comprises (i) a U-shaped cover having a dry leg, a wet leg, and a mounting groove formed therebetween, the wet leg of the cover having an inlet port and an outlet port extending therethrough; (ii) a pump disposed within the dry leg of the cover; (iii) an inlet conduit extending from the inlet port to the pump; and (iv) an outlet conduit extending from the outlet port to the pump.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of therapy units associated with liquid-filled containers. More specifically, this invention relates to portable spas.
2. The Relevant Technology
In ancient times, hydrotherapy was enjoyed by those who were privileged enough to have access to a heated pool or natural mineral spa. Since then, hydrotherapy has been known for its many therapeutic benefits and for the enjoyment and pleasure derived therefrom.
In more recent times, spas, commonly known as hot tubs, have become popular devices in gymnasium facilities, adjacent indoor and outdoor pools, and as freestanding fixtures in individual homes and yards. Such spas are typically comprised of a water-filled container, a pump for circulating water within the container, a heating system for heating the water, a filter for filtering the water and related plumbing and electronics.
In typical spas, these components are permanently built into the walls of the container. Water within the spa container flows out of the container through ports in the wall of the container into a pump unit, which then discharges the water back into the container. A temperature regulator regulates the temperature of the water within the spa and maintains the temperature at a desired, preset level over a series of days, weeks, and months at a time. The filter is designed to clean the water on an ongoing basis.
However, such spas having permanently built-in plumbing and pumping systems tend to be large, expensive, and difficult to transport. In order to move such a unit, a truck or trailer is typically required along with significant manpower in order to hoist the spa from the original position onto the means of transport and then to again lift the spa from the means of transport to a new location. Upon arriving at the new location, such self-contained units are also difficult to orient in the precisely desired position.
As a result of the cumbersome nature of these spas, attempts have been made to design and manufacture portable spas. Portable spas typically include a portable container and a detachable pump unit positioned outside the container. In order to provide the jetting action of the water disposed within the container, the container has a hole within a wall thereof through which inlet and outlet pipes are placed. These through-the-wall plumbing designs permit the pumping of water between the inside portion of the container and the pump unit. After use, the pumping unit is detached from the container and the container and pumping unit are transported to another desired location.
The difficulty associated with such through-the-wall plumbing designs is that water tends to leak through the holes in the wall of the container. Although attempts can be made to seal the interface between the pipes and the container, such as by attempting to permanently couple pipes through a hole in a liner which is removably coupled to a container, it is difficult to maintain the seal between the pipes and the liner on an ongoing basis. The difficulty with maintaining the seal is compounded when the spa is moved from one location to another with the accompanying jostling of the interface between the pipes and the liner. Although sealing rings have been used to seal these types of through-the-wall units, the sealing interface can nevertheless break-down and degrade.
As another alternative for those desiring to enjoy the benefits of hydrotherapy without investing in a spa having permanently built in plumbing or a portable spa having a through-the-wall pumping unit, it is possible to purchase a U-shaped whirlpool apparatus which fits over the side of a bathtub. Generally, such whirlpool apparatuses are configured to jet water in the bathtub through ports in the apparatus.
The water in the bathtub is typically clean, warm water. Because they are not designed for long-term use as in the case of spas, typical U-shaped bathtub whirlpool apparatuses do not include a filter for filtering the water in the bathtub. As opposed to spas, bathtub water is typically designed for temporary use, after which the water is discharged through the drain. Similarly, the temperature of the water in bathtubs is controlled by adding additional hot water or cold water from the bathtub taps while bathing. As a result, typical U-shaped bathtub whirlpool devices are not designed to heat the water within the bathtub. Instead, these bathtub whirlpool devices rely on a fresh amount of water which has been warmed to a desired temperature through the use of manual controls on the bathtub.
Also because of their reliance on hot water from the bathtub plumbing, typical U-shaped bathtub-type jetting devices fail to monitor the temperature of the liquid within the bathtub. In the event the device were to be used in an outdoor setting, for example, and the user were to fail to place hot water in the bathtub, the water within the tub could freeze and thereby damage the plumbing within the tub.
Typical over-the-side units employ a pumping mechanism comprising an impeller submerged within the water within a container. In these devices, water flows from the container into the pumping mechanism and remains within the submerged pumping mechanism until it is dispelled back into the container. Manufacturers of typical units take overt measures to prevent water within the pumping mechanism from seeping into portions of the unit higher than the pumping mechanism, such as by sealing the interface between the pumping mechanism and the remainder of the unit. This prevents the water from being pumped to locations other than the submerged pumping mechanism before being discharged back into the container.
In addition, typical U-shaped bathtub pumping mechanisms tend to focus their jetting action exclusively on one portion of the user's body. Certain bathtub-type devices attempt to ameliorate the problem with such exclusive, focused jetting action by employing a variety of different ports located in scattered positions throughout the bathtub. U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,598 to Hadsell, for example, discloses a bathtub hydrotherapy add-on apparatus which includes a pump placed on the outside of the bath tub and a plurality of flexible hoses placed in a number of different sites of the bathtub.
Although the apparatus can be used to jet water from different locations within the bathtub, the hoses must be individually positioned by a user for each new use. Furthermore, each hose must be removed individually after each use. In addition, each of the hoses must be gathered together in order to move and store the apparatus without dragging the hoses on the floor or leaving the hoses in a disorganized pile.
There is therefore a need within the art for a portable spa system which heats and circulates liquid within the system without relying on the user to constantly replace cool, dirty water with fresh, warm water. There is also a need for such a portable spa system which is not susceptible to leaking of the water through the wall of a container and does not require the user to place disorganized hoses in different locations in the container.


Aspects discussed herein may relate to methods and techniques for embedding constrained and unconstrained optimization programs as layers in a neural network architecture. Systems are provided that implement a method of solving a particular optimization problem by a neural network architecture. Prior systems required use of external software to pre-solve optimization programs so that previously determined parameters could be used as fixed input in the neural network architecture. Aspects described herein may transform the structure of common optimization problems/programs into forms suitable for use in a neural network. This transformation may be invertible, allowing the system to learn the solution to the optimization program using gradient descent techniques via backpropagation of errors through the neural network architecture. Thus these optimization layers may be solved via operation of the neural network itself.

Neural networks and their constitutive layers often specify input-output relationships such that training procedures can readily identify parameter values well-suited to given datasets and tasks. Often these relationships are chosen to be analytic and differentiable to ensure gradient-based training methods are effective. Solving optimization programs in their original forms may be difficult for neural networks, particularly regarding those optimization programs with input constraints establishing permitted/feasible and/or unpermitted/infeasible values, because the constraints may cause the derivative and/or subdifferential of the optimization program function to be ill-defined over the range of input that the neural network may encounter.
Aspects described herein may address these and other problems, and generally improve the quality, efficiency, and speed of machine learning systems. Further, aspects herein provide a practical application of the transformations used to place optimization programs in suitable form for neural network processing.

Embedding constrained and unconstrained optimization programs as neural network layers


Two or more graphics planes are combined according to a scheme that circumvents mixing of certain regions to conserve resources. Although some mixing is circumvented, the outputted display image remains visually adequate.

Displaying an overlap of two or more graphics planes on a display device generally requires combining the two or more graphics planes before outputting display data to a television, computer screen, or other display device. A prior art technique involves combining the graphics by simply merging entire portions of two or more graphics planes.
In accordance with the above-described technique, a discrete component is used to hardware-overlay the entire portion one graphics plane with the entire portion of another graphics planes to produce a combined frame. The discrete component is typically used because too many computations are required for a general-purpose processor to software-overlay the entire portion of each graphics plane. The combined frame may then be displayed on a display device.
Combining two or more graphics planes is expensive due to the need for the above-described discrete component. The disclosure that follows solves this and other problems.


A test casting is useful for predicting the severity of skin that will form when compacted graphite iron or ductile iron is cast using a selected foundry mix. The mold is made from the foundry mix and has a gating system with at least two ingates, and with a hollow cylindrical shape associated with each ingate. The hollow cylindrical shapes are substantially the same height, but the diameter of each varies by at least 20% from the diameter of any of the other cylindrical shapes. Molten metal poured into the gating system fills each of the hollow cylindrical shapes. When the metal cools and solidifies, a solid cylinder of the metal is produced in each hollow cylindrical shape. The solid metal cylinders, each with a distinct diameter, are cut and inspected to measure the skin formed thereon.

It is well known that control of "skin" formation in compacted graphite iron castings and ductile iron castings is critical to their mechanical performance, particularly fatigue strength. The formation of skin with degenerated graphite morphology in the casting periphery can decrease the strength and ductility of the casting to a far greater extent than the relative thickness of the skin might suggest because graphite flakes in particular can act as stress concentrators and crack initiation sites. The ability to control the degradation of vermicular or spheroidal graphite in the casting skin requires a fundamental understanding of the effects of metal composition and treatment, inoculant fade in the furnace prior to pouring and in the mold after pouring, mold/metal reactions inside the mold and cooling rates during solidification of the metal.
Generation of test castings is a common methodology used by industry and academic research groups in an effort to correlate data from laboratory or small scale metal casting operations to production operations and specific commercial castings. Many examples exist for test casting designs and geometries to address specific topics, for instance mold erosion, metal penetration, veining, lustrous carbon formation, etc., but none that specifically address the effect of skin formation in compacted graphite iron and/or ductile iron as a result of molding materials, mold/metal interface reactions and cooling rates of the metal upon pouring and filling the mold.
Although the phenomenon of skin formation and its causes are acknowledged and the effect is commonly probed via metallurgical microstructure evaluation, a suitable test which not only shows the effect but also allows one to investigate contributors such as cooling rates and the effect of molding materials, including aggregate, sand additives, binders, refractory coatings and the like does not exist.

Process for preparing a test casting and test casting prepared by the process


A method and system for evaluating software includes generating a test deck (310), where the test deck is formulated to test the software for compliance with delivery system operation procedures (315), processing the test deck with the software, and grading the performance of the software for compliance with delivery system operation procedures (320).

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent government agency that provides mail delivery and other services to the public. The USPS is widely recognized as a safe and reliable means for sending and receiving mail and other items. With the advent and steady growth of electronic mail and electronic commerce, the physical mail stream will increasingly be utilized for sending and receiving packages. In an effort to lower operating costs and increase value for their customer base, many high volume delivery users and delivery system operators prepare packages and other items with automated equipment and presort and label the items prior to placement of the items into the delivery system. Delivery users realize a cost savings due to presorting, for example, because many delivery system operators provide discounts on presorted items because the amount of sorting necessary by the delivery system operator is reduced. Software can be used to assist sorting.
Therefore, there is a need for the United States Postal Service and many other organizations to efficiently provide evaluation of presorting software programs. More specifically, delivery system operators desire to efficiently evaluate presorting software programs in order to confirm that the software's performance is compatible with delivery system operation procedures. This is because in an increasingly competitive environment, it is essential for a service provider to reduce costs and exceed the expectations of those who receive a service.

Method and apparatus for evaluating software


The invention provides, in one aspect, a loudspeaker that has electrodynamically-driven piston mounted in one external wall and that has movable panels in one or more other external walls. Those panels are air-coupled to the piston, e.g., via air within the enclosure, such that vibrational motion of the piston causes the vibration of the panels, thereby, improving the overall air coupling of the piston to the external environment, e.g., the listening room. Further aspects of the invention provide an improved driver for use, e.g., in the aforementioned loudspeaker. The driver comprises a three-part piston having first and second diaphragms coupled back-to-back with one another and having a voice coil face-mounted (or front-mounted) within the second diaphragm.

The invention relates to sound reproduction and, in particular, provides improved loudspeakers, components and methods pertaining thereto. The invention has application, by way of non-limiting example, in sound reproduction of the type required by woofer and subwoofer drivers and loudspeakers.
A large percentage of loudspeakers used in audio systems are electrodynamic speakers. Such speakers employ a magnetic "motor" to produce movement of a cone-shaped diaphragm which, in turn, causes sound. The cone is typically disposed within a frame (or basket), with the wide end of the cone coupled to the frame by way of flexible membrane, called a suspension or surround, which axially centers the cone within the frame, yet, allows to move back and forth at audio frequencies. The narrow end of the cone is coupled to the frame by another flexible membrane, called a spider, which also helps to axially center the moving diaphragm.
The motor is made up of a voice coil, which is disposed (usually) behind the narrow end of the cone, and a magnetic circuit, which is disposed adjacent to and/or partially surrounding the coil. In operation, electrical audio signals from an amplifier (or other source) are applied to the voice coil, producing a varying electromagnetic field. This interacts with the magnetic field of the magnet circuit, causing the voice coil to move.
Because the voice coil is coupled to the diaphragm, its movement causes the diaphragm to pump in and out—explaining why the diaphragm and coil are sometimes referred to as a "piston." That, in turn, causes air around the speaker to pressurize and depressurize, producing sound waves. To prevent sound waves omitted from the rear of the diaphragm from canceling those emitted from the front, the speakers are usually mounted within an enclosure.
Traditionally, speakers are divided into three categories: woofer, midrange and tweeter. The woofer reproduces low frequency (bass) sound ranging from about 20 to 3000 Hz. The midrange speaker reproduces a broad spectrum of sound, typically from about 1000 Hz to 10 kHz. The tweeter speaker reproduces high frequency (treble) sound ranging from about 4 to 20 k Hz. In home audio systems, the woofer, midrange and tweeter are often housed in a single enclosure, as in the case of free-standing or floor speaker configurations. Where space is a consideration, the functions of the woofer and midrange may be combined in a single speaker, as in the case with bookshelf-sized speaker configurations.
In the last few decades, a new category (or sub-category) of speaker had come to the fore, the sub-woofer. Though definitions vary, these are designed to reproduce sounds in the range of 20 to 150 Hz, i.e., in the low end of what was traditionally the woofer range. Subwoofers are finding increased use throughout the home. In home theater applications, their increased bass response lends to a more authentic movie theater-like feel. In computer applications, they provide, in addition to improved overall frequency response, a convenient location for housing amplification circuitry used by satellite speakers that provide mid- and high-range reproduction. In more traditional home stereo applications, subwoofers add increased punch and/or fidelity to many musical genre.
Subwoofers available today suffer from any number of shortcomings. Depending on design, they may be to boomy; suffer roll-off at the lowest frequencies; consume excessive power; produce an overly a "dry" sound; and/or be too large for practical use. Although the art has made strides toward minimizing these problems, there remains a need for a compact, low-cost, high fidelity loudspeaker that can be easily installed and operated.
An object of this invention is to provide such loudspeakers.
More generally, an object of the invention is to provide improved apparatus and methods for sound reproduction and, specifically, improved loudspeakers and systems.
Another object is to provide such loudspeakers and methods as are particularly suited for reproducing low frequency sounds, e.g., as low as 20 Hz (or lower), for use in home theater, high fidelity, computer and other applications.
A further object of the invention is to provide loudspeakers with desired response characteristics, yet, of minimal size.
Yet another object is to provide such loudspeakers that can be easily connected with receivers, amplifiers, computers or other sound-producing equipment.
Still another object is to provide such loudspeakers that can be easily and safely interconnected with existing power sources.


A dual wall cookware article is formed by bonding a ferromagnetic metal base plate to an assembly that includes an inner vessel, a thermally conductive layer and an outer vessel frame. The outer vessel frame has upright walls that surround a bottom having plural perforations. The bonding process causes the softer thermally conductive material to flow through the perforations and bond ferromagnetic metal base to the outer vessel frame and the inner vessel.

The present invention relates to improved cooking vessels, particularly to double wall cooking vessels, and in particular to methods of forming double wall cooking vessels used in induction cooking.
Double wall cooking vessels have a solid bottom surface and a pair of concentric co-axial sidewalls separated by an air gap there between. The double wall construction provides insulation so that the food stays warm after cooking, permitting the same cookware to be used as serving ware at the table.
Also known in the art is "waterless cookware", which is a cooking vessel with a self-sealing lid so that a minimum of water is used to cook the food, with the steam generated from the added water and the foodstuff itself is retained, rather than lost through the gap between the vessel's rim and cover. The extreme example of "waterless cookware" is a pressure cooker, in which a pressure containing cooking vessel has a matching lid that locks to secure a gasket between the rim and the lid. The lid must have a pressure release valve, lest the internal pressure cause a violent explosion of the vessel. The other form of "waterless cookware" involves a pot or vessel rim that extends outward from the vessel's perimeter to provide a slightly concave region where steam can condense between the extended rim and the matching lid, thus forming a "water" seal in placed of the rubber gasket in the pressure cooker. The mass of the lid serves as a "release valve" preventing excess pressure within the confined volume that holds the foodstuff. Both forms of "waterless cooking" are popular as they offer a superior method of preserving vitamins, nutrients and natural flavors, creating a more pleasing and uniform texture to the cooking food than microware methods.
Double wall cookware however has certain disadvantages. The contained wall must be sealed from water for the expected lifetime of the product, as any water that enters or seeps in during use or washing presents a hazard when converted to steam during cooking. Thus, the cookware is difficult to manufacture, as well as costly.
Dual wall cookware also suffers in performance relative to single wall cooking vessels, as the outer surface near the bottom of the vessels is easily overheated during cooking, being insulated from the remainder of the vessel.
This rapidly leads to discoloration, and distortion under extreme conditions, making the cookware unattractive for use at the table, or display in the kitchen.
Induction heating is a preferred cooking method to save energy, but is also popular because the cookware heats rapidly. However, such cookware to be suitable for use with the widest variety of induction heating systems must include special magnetic alloys in the bottom. While such alloys can be incorporate in single wall cooking vessels by numerous methods, these methods provide additional complications that hinder the fabrication of dual wall cookware that has an air gap between the sidewalls.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved dual wall cooking vessel and method of making the same that overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages, and in particular making the vessels suitable use with induction heating stoves or burners.
It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide an improved construction for dual wall cookware.
It is a further object for providing a reliable and cost effective method of making such an improved construction, which results in a complete and secure seal at the rim where the inner and outer walls meet.
It is a further object of the invention that the securely sealing rim is suitably shaped so that the vessel may serve as waterless cookware with the appropriate matching lid.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a dual wall cooking vessel suitable for use in induction cooking, as well as for direct heating.

Double walled induction heated article of cookware


In a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery including a positive electrode, a negative electrode and a nonaqueous electrolytic solution, the nonaqueous electrolytic solution contains a nitrile compound having a chain saturated hydrocarbon group and a nitrile group, the number of carbon atoms in the nitrile compound is four or more, and the positive electrode contains a positive-electrode active material on the surface of which particles of a rare earth element compound are deposited in dispersed form.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery and a method for manufacturing a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, and particularly relates to a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery improved in characteristics after continuous charging and a method for manufacturing such a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery.
Description of Related Arts
In recent years, size and weight reduction of mobile information terminals, such as cellular phones, notebook computers and PDAs, has rapidly progressed. Batteries used as their driving power sources are being required to achieve a higher capacity. To meet such a request, nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries using a nonaqueous electrolytic solution to perform charge and discharge by moving lithium ions between positive and negative electrodes are widely utilized as new secondary batteries having high output and high energy density.
In these nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, materials commonly used as positive-electrode active materials include lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2), spinel lithium manganate (LiMn2O4), cobalt-nickel-manganese-containing lithium composite oxides, and aluminum-nickel-cobalt-containing lithium composite oxides. On the other hand, materials used as negative-electrode active materials include carbon materials, such as graphite, and materials capable of forming an alloy with lithium, such as Si and Sn.
However, in more recent years, mobile information terminals have enhanced their entertainment features including a video playing feature and a gaming feature and have thereby tended to further increase the power consumption. Therefore, nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries are being required to achieve a still higher capacity.
Possible measures for increasing the capacity of a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery include (1) increasing the capacity of the active material, (2) increasing the charge voltage, and (3) increasing the amount of active material packed, i.e., increasing the packing density.
Particularly if the charge voltage is increased, there arises a problem of ease of decomposition of the electrolytic solution. More particularly, if the battery is stored or continuously charged at high temperatures, the electrolytic solution may decompose to produce gas, thereby causing problems of swelling of the battery and increased internal pressure of the battery.
Published Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-538365 proposes a lithium secondary battery using a nitrile group-containing compound for an electrolytic solution, wherein the positive-electrode active material used is a lithium-containing composite oxide which contains one or more elements selected from the group consisting of alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, 13th group elements, 14th group elements, 15th group elements, transition metals and rare earth elements and is doped with a heterogeneous metal selected from Al, Mg, Zr, Fe, Zn, Ga, Sn, Si and Ge. The document describes that thus the nitrile groups bind to the surface of the positive electrode at high temperatures to form a complex, and the complex serves as a protective film for blocking active sites on the surface of the positive electrode. The document also describes that the protective film inhibits part of a transition metal from being eluted from the positive-electrode active material and deposited on the negative electrode and inhibits the occurrence of a side reaction and gas generation due to reactions between the electrolytic solution and the positive electrode, whereby lithium can be smoothly storaged and released even at high temperatures to thereby inhibit the deterioration in lifetime characteristic.
Published Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-108586 proposes that an oxide of a lithium-containing transition metal containing at least one metal element selected from Mg, Ti, Zr, Ge, Nb, Al and Sn is used as a positive-electrode active material, and a compound having two or more nitrile groups in the molecule is contained in the electrolytic solution. The document describes that the nitrile compound has the function of forming a coating on the surface of the positive-electrode active material, and the formation of such a surface protective coating prevents direct contact of the electrolytic solution with the positive-electrode active material to inhibit gas generation, whereby the crystal structure of the positive-electrode active material can be stabilized to increase the storage performance and safety of the battery.
Published Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-279991 proposes to use a positive-electrode active material in which two or more compound layers each made of a hydroxide, an oxyhydroxide, an oxycarbonate or a hydroxycarbonate of Mg, Al, Co, K, Na, Ca, Si, Ti, V, Sn, Ge, Ga, B, As or Zr are formed on the core of the positive-electrode active material. The document describes that thus the cycle characteristics are improved.
These conventional techniques, however, do not describe any approach for reducing the drop in discharge voltage after storage at high temperatures or after continuous charging at high temperatures.
Meanwhile, Published Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-226495 describes a means for impregnating particulate powder of a lithium-containing composite oxide (positive-electrode active material) with a solution (impregnating solution) containing a lanthanum source by spraying. The document also describes that the amount of impregnating solution is preferably controlled within the range from 0.1% to 80% by weight relative to the weight of a matrix used, more preferably within the range from 1% to 75% by weight, and particularly preferably within the range from 1% to 40% by weight. In other words, the method described in Published Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-226495 shows that the amount of impregnating solution may be within the range from 40% to 80% by weight. Therefore, according to this method, the impregnating solution can be sprayed to such an extent that the positive-electrode active material is soaked therein.

Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery and method for manufacturing nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery


An electric motor comprises a housing, a magnetic rotor and a stator which comprises at least one circuit board. The magnetic rotor comprises a disk with circumferentially arrayed magnetic poles. The circuit board on each side comprises one layer of circumferentially arrayed coil windings arranged in pairs, thus each pair made as a spiral that extends from a center of a start coil winding to a center of an end coil winding with the same turn direction of the spiral in relation to each of centers. The layers are the same in transparent view and shifted angularly in such a way thus centers of the start coil windings from one side of the circuit board coincided and electrically connected by via's with centers of the end coil windings on the other side of the circuit board.

Well-known are machines of end-face rotor-stator interaction type, where the rotor is a disk, on the end surfaces whereof permanent magnets of alternating polarity are located over the circumference. The stator of such machines is made in the shape of a disk (ring), installed coaxially with the rotor, electromagnetic stator coils being located at the end faces of the stator. For instance, the direct current brushless electric motor (electric drive) described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,185, IPC 6H02K 21/12 belongs to this type of electric machines. The known device includes at least one rotor installed on the shaft and made as a multi-pole magnetic disk consisting of sections spaced along the circumference, where the polarity of the sections alternates. The device also includes at least one disk-shaped stator element, determining the rotor position, the device for mounting the rotor (rotors) and stator element (elements) on the common axle, the sensor for positioning the multi-pole magnetic disk versus the stator element and a device to identify the magnetic field profile in the stator elements. Two windings are wound over the stator elements, electric current being fed to one of those thus determining the polarity of the stator poles. The known device is not easy in manufacturing, the biggest difficulty being manufacturing of disk-shaped rotors with magnetic poles of alternating polarity.
It is known electric drive, the rotor whereof is made of two disks mounted on a shaft with poles distributed over the outer circumference and a cylindrical magnet located between the disks and magnetized in the axial direction, in such a manner that the poles of each disk are the like ones, and in regard to the poles of the other disk—the unlike ones, the stator being made of coils distributed over the circumference, while in accordance with the invention the rotor poles are formed by the teeth located over the outer circumference of both disks in planes perpendicular to the axis of the device, and the poles of the stator coils are arranged in such a way as to allow for their end-face interaction with the rotor poles, the rotor of the device being the subject of the U.S. application Ser. No. 09/621,104 of the same Assignee has no claw-shaped pole horns (poles). The rotor poles are formed by the teeth located over the outer circumference of both disks, which function as magnetic circuits. This ensures streamlined manufacturing of the rotor and its structural strength. The rotor poles are located over the outer circumference of both disks in planes perpendicular to the axis of the device, and the poles of the stator are arranged in such a way as to allow for their end-face interaction with the rotor poles, there arises an opportunity to make the radial size of the device smaller the stator poles may be located in the space between the above-mentioned rotor poles outfitted on both disks. This will make it possible to raise the power of the drive, as the magnetic field in the space between the rotor poles will have the highest intensity. Prior art motor-fans combinations occupy a large space because of the two separate components, the motor and impeller. The present invention utilizes two stator circuit boards in conjunction with a magnetized impeller that requires less space. This new design should result in a more simplified construction and assembly process and yield a reduction in production costs.


Geometrical design of laser microchips is disclosed that allows variation of the optical path length in the different media by simple displacement of the microchip, the movement having a non-zero projection orthogonal to the pump beam. The concept can be implemented to vary optical loss in the lasing cavity, the absorbed pump power, or the optical length of the cavity. Passively Q-switched microchip laser output performance can thus be controlled by simple transverse displacement of the microchip relative to the pump beam. The above microlaser can be combined with voltage-controlled variable-focus output optics in order to control the peak power density of the laser pulses.

Passively Q-switched microchip lasers have many advantages: they allow the realization of low-cost, compact and robust laser sources. Because of the short cavity length, they are capable of generating pulses with high peak power, which are particularly convenient for generation of harmonics (e.g. ultraviolet lasers). High peak power is of primary interest for many applications such as marking, excitation of fluorescence, ionization of solids such as matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) for proteomics, long distance time-of-flight ranging, generation of supercontinuum, and others.
As is known from prior art, the output performance parameters (pulse duration, energy, and repetition rate) of passively Q-switched lasers based on saturable absorbers depend primarily on the design of the microchip laser cavity. These include the optical path length through the different materials, magnitude of gain in the active medium, saturable and non-saturable losses, output coupling, length of the cavity. According to basic laser equations, the main trends are:                the repetition rate depends linearly on the ratio of the pump power intensity to the laser threshold intensity;        the pulse energy is directly proportional to the pumped volume, and to the total losses; and        the pulse duration is proportional to the cavity length, and inversely to the losses.
Consequently, for a given design of the microchip (i.e. for a fixed laser threshold), the pulse duration is approximately constant, while the pulse energy does not vary with pump power if the focusing of the pump is unchanged. Thus, repetition rate is the sole performance parameter that can be controlled through pump power only. To achieve control of the peak power, a more complex design of laser is involved.
Changing the pulse energy requires an adjustment of the pump beam focus by translating the focusing optics to adapt its magnification. However, positioning tolerances for such optics are generally very tight (a few microns) so that the accurate control of the pulse parameters requires a high precision mechanical mounting scheme which is not very practical and considerably expensive.
Another alternative would be to use an output-coupling mirror with a reflection coefficient that varies across the surface of the microchip, so that the cavity losses could be adjusted by translating the microlaser laterally. However, this solution is also not very practical and technically very difficult to implement given the typical lateral dimensions of a microlaser. It would also be very expensive since it would require that every microchip be coated independently, thereby losing the benefit of mass processing, which is a major advantage that the microchip concept has introduced.
For actively Q-switched lasers the situation is obviously completely different, as they possess a larger number degrees of freedom. Many ways of controlling the pulse energy and the repetition rate have been disclosed in prior art, based mainly on the proper control of the Q-switch element. However, passively Q-switched lasers have some key advantages over actively Q-switched lasers, such as size, cost, peak power, etc. which make them unique solutions for some applications.
In conclusion, to the best of our knowledge, no simple means has been disclosed for controlling the output pulse parameters of passively Q-switched lasers.
However, the ability to independently control the pulse energy or the peak power density is a key factor for some applications. Here is a non-exhaustive list of examples:                in MALDI, the peak power density has to be larger than the ionization threshold; varying the laser spot size on the surface of the sample allows the number of ionized molecules to be changed, so that molecules with different responsivity can be analyzed;        in time-of-flight ranging, the peak power impacts on the range, while the spot size determines the lateral resolution for scanning systems,        in machining applications, the spot size determines the resolution, while the peak power impacts on the machining speed.
According to the basic trends detailed above, the laser output parameters of a passively Q-switched microchip laser can be controlled by varying the lengths of gain media and saturable absorber media that are present within the laser cavity.

Passively Q-switched microlaser with controllable peak power density


An optical element includes a first surface, a second surface positioned to face the first surface, and a plurality of reflecting surfaces arrayed in a first region defined by the first surface and the second surface, wherein the reflecting surfaces have a first length in a first direction vertical to the first surface and are arrayed at a pitch in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, light incident on one of the first surface and the second surface is reflected by the reflecting surfaces toward the other surface, and predetermined parameters satisfy predetermined relational formulae representing conditions for ensuring total reflection at the reflecting surfaces and for avoiding total reflection at a light emergent surface.

The present technology relates to an optical element that is used in a collector for collecting the sunlight or artificial light. The present technology also relates to a method of manufacturing the optical element, an illumination device, a window member, and a fitting.
Recently, sunlight collectors have been developed with the view of reducing electric power consumed by lighting apparatuses, when they are used in the daytime, by taking in the sunlight incoming from the sky toward the ceiling inside a house or a building. Various types of structures, e.g., a light duct, a louver, and a window blind (shade), are employed as related-art sunlight collectors.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2002-526906 describes an optical component for causing incident light to be directionally output by utilizing total reflection generated at a gap (space) that is formed inside an optically transparent body. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-266794 describes a sunlight illuminator including a plurality of bar-shaped element members made of a transparent material, and a support for supporting the plural element members such that the element members are arrayed parallel to each other. In the sunlight illuminator, the sunlight incoming from the outdoor side is reflected by reflecting surfaces of the element members to be introduced toward the ceiling in the indoor side. Japanese Patent No. 3513531 describes a sunlight collector for causing incident light to be diffusively output through bar-like members, which are arrayed on the surface of a transparent body in the form of a flat plate. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-503190 describes an optical guide plate in which, in a plate made of a transparent plastic having a first refractive index, a plurality of thin belt-like members made of a plastic having a second refractive index are inserted such that incident light is directionally output due to the difference in refractive index between the plate and the belt-like members.

Optical element, method of manufacturing optical element, illumination device, window member, and fitting


A device for measuring the internal temperature of a reforming tube including a first structure having an axial part of tubular shape positioned in the lengthwise direction of a reforming tube and a radial part projecting radially towards the central axis of the reforming tube, a second structure of oblong shape having at least one thermocouple made of welded Nicrosil/Nisil conductors arranged longitudinally against the axial part and radially against the radial part, and an outer sheath enveloping the first structure and the second structure.

The present invention relates to a device for measuring the internal temperature of a reforming tube and to the reforming tube comprising same.
Steam methane reforming (SMR) furnaces are used for producing hydrogen, carbon monoxide and syngas. The reactions for cracking the hydrocarbon feedstock are endothermic and require a great deal of heat.
The SMR furnace is a parallelepipedal construction produced with structural elements and walls made of ceramic bricks, having heat sources, generally rows of burners, installed vertically along the lateral walls (side-fired technology), horizontally along the roof or the bottom of the furnace (top-fired and bottom-fired technology respectively). Rows of catalytic tubes are arranged in the furnace. The cracking reactions take place in these catalytic tubes which are dimension in terms of length, in terms of diameter and in terms of thickness to allow the reactions to be completed with a desired process efficiency close to thermodynamic equilibrium. These cylindrical tubes have uniform dimensions and a uniform shape (typically measuring 12 m in height, 10 cm in internal diameter and with a thickness of the order of 1 to 1.5 cm) but have a limited capacity for heat transfer. The transfer of heat is one of the limiting steps in the method. Evaluating the heat transfer along the entire length of the reforming tube is not easy, but it can be estimated using simulation tools.
The precision of the results given by simulation is dependent on a number of parameters that are fed into the model. Knowledge of the profile of the actual temperature in the catalytic tubes contributes to the validation of the model. In order to improve the precision of the results it is important to be able to measure this temperature profile. Measuring the temperature on the external skin of the tube is possible; this temperature can be obtained for example using a pyrometer or an IR camera having a wavelength of, for example, 3.1 μm, or by welding contact thermocouples at various elevations along the tube. Internal measurement is tricky. In addition, the tubes are filled with catalyst which generally takes the form for example of pellets pierced with the numerous holes and with diameters close to 15-20 mm, which constitute a haphazard heap of solid particles within the tube. The number of pellets to the diameter is, according to the dimensions given hereinabove, limited to around 5 solid particles, but this number may vary according to the dimension of the pellets used. The instrumentation used to measure this internal temperature needs to be not very bulky, in order not to disturb the flows in the tube, and needs to be able to withstand the temperature and atmospheric conditions. In addition, there is a steep thermal gradient between the inlet (>450° C.) and the outlet (950° C.) of the tube. The gradient profile between these two points is non-linear because, owing to the endothermic reaction that takes place in the tube and the limited transfer of heat between the external and internal skin thereof, this profile passes through a minimum which, depending on the operating conditions and the type of furnace, may drop as low as 450° C. in the first three meters.
On that basis, one problem that arises is that of providing an improved means for continuously measuring the internal temperature of the reforming tubes.

Device for measuring the inner temperature of a reforming tube

L'Air Liquide, Sociâté Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude


An apparatus and method for cooling a linear motor armature assembly is provided for maintaining minimal separation between a motor housing and a magnet plate, wherein the motor housing has a housing opening formed at a side of the motor housing facing the magnet plate. The method includes: a) covering the housing opening with a thin sheet of non-magnetic material having a thickness of less than approximately 0.015 inch to enclose the coil assembly within the motor housing; and b) drawing a cooling fluid through the motor housing to create a negative pressure within the cooling fluid and to cool the coil assembly.

Many manufacturing applications require the generation of a linear force for moving of machine equipment. Conventional AC and DC motors produce a rotary torque about an axis which must be converted into a linear force before it can be used in such applications. Such conversion is accomplished by a screw and nut, a sheave and cable, or a rack and pinion, among other designs. These designs are problematic in that they tend to wear out relatively quickly, and they are incapable of producing high linear speeds.
Linear motors are also known which directly product a linear force in response to an electric input. Typically, a linear motor takes advantage of the variable magnetic reluctance produced in the vicinity of slots in a pole face of a magnetic member. An armature of a magnetic material, having windings therein, is urged to step from position to position along the pole face as defined by the slots or, alternatively, the magnetic member is movable while the armature is stationary.
In such designs, the armature portion usually comprises a coil disposed within a lamination stack and surrounded by an epoxy block. A cooling tube is typically provided adjacent the epoxy block for drawing heat from the armature.
The force which such linear motors are capable of producing is limited by resistive heating in the windings of the armature of the motor. The normally used copper cooling tube requires mechanical retention within the epoxy case, and provides somewhat limited armature cooling capacity because the epoxy itself acts as an insulator for the coil assembly. By reducing heat dissipation, performance of the linear motor is adversely affected, and the forward thrust capability declines.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved armature design with increased cooling capacity.
My U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,077, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, provides an improvement over the above-referenced linear motors by providing a linear motor with an armature which is fully enclosed within a sealed metal case, and an electrically nonconductive fluid is circulated within the case in direct contact with the lamination stack for cooling the lamination stack and coil assembly. The metal case is sealed by means of a thin cover which is positioned directly adjacent the magnetic plate. The spacing between the magnet plate and the sealed metal case is critical and preferably maintained at approximately less than 0.040 inch to maintain high forces.
A problem with this design is that when cooling fluid is forced through the sealed metal case, the pressure of the fluid tends to bubble up the thin cover, which may cause the cover to actually contact the magnet plate, which will adversely affect operation because the rubbing of the cover against the magnet plate can cause damage, such as chipping and scraping, and the resulting metal chips or shavings may cause further operational problems.

Linear motor with negative pressure cooling circuit


A compatibility is ascertained between a configuration of a quantum processor (q-processor) of a quantum cloud compute node (QCCN) in a quantum cloud environment (QCE) and an operation requested in a first instruction in a portion (q-portion) of a job submitted to the QCE, the QCE including the QCCN and a conventional compute node (CCN), the CCN including a conventional processor configured for binary computations. In response to the ascertaining, a quantum instruction (q-instruction) is constructed corresponding to the first instruction. The q-instruction is executed using the q-processor of the QCCN to produce a quantum output signal (q-signal). The q-signal is transformed into a corresponding quantum computing result (q-result). A final result is returned to a submitting system that submitted the job, wherein the final result comprises the q-result.

Hereinafter, a "Q" prefix in a word of phrase is indicative of a reference of that word or phrase in a quantum computing context unless expressly distinguished where used.
Nature—including molecules—follows the laws of quantum mechanics, a branch of physics that explores how the physical world works at the most fundamental levels. At this level, particles behave in strange ways, taking on more than one state at the same time, and interacting with other particles that are very far away. Quantum computing harnesses these quantum phenomena to process information.
The computers we use today are known as classical computers (also referred to herein as "conventional" computers or conventional nodes, or "CN"). A conventional computer uses a processor fabricated using semiconductor technology, a semiconductor memory, and a magnetic or solid-state storage device, in what is known as a Von Neumann architecture. Particularly, the processors in conventional computers are binary processors, i.e., operating on binary data represented in 1 and 0.
A quantum processor (q-processor) uses the odd nature of entangled qubit devices (compactly referred to herein as "qubit," plural "qubits) to perform computational tasks. In the particular realms where quantum mechanics operates, particles of matter can exist in multiple states—such as an "on" state, an "off" state, and both "on" and "off" states simultaneously. Where binary computing using semiconductor processors is limited to using just the on and off states (equivalent to 1 and 0 in binary code), a quantum processor harnesses these quantum states of matter to output signals that are usable in data computing.
Conventional computers encode information in bits. Each bit can take the value of 1 or 0. These 1s and 0s act as on/off switches that ultimately drive computer functions. Quantum computers, on the other hand, are based on qubits, which operate according to two key principles of quantum physics: superposition and entanglement. Superposition means that each qubit can represent both a 1 and a 0 at the same time. Entanglement means that qubits in a superposition can be correlated with each other in a non-classical way; that is, the state of one (whether it is a 1 or a 0) can depend on the state of another, and that there is more information that can be ascertained about the two qubits when they are entangled than when they are treated individually. Using these two principles, qubits operate as more sophisticated processors of information, enabling quantum computers to function in ways that allow them to solve difficult problems that are intractable using conventional computers. IBM has successfully constructed and demonstrated the operability of a quantum processor (IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines corporation in the United States and in other countries.)
The illustrative embodiments recognize that using a quantum computer or a quantum compute node ("QC" or "QCN," respectively) is a significantly different proposition than using a CN. Presently, cloud computing environments are entirely comprised of CNs, and various methodologies for operating those cloud environments are well-known. However, the illustrative embodiments recognize that operating a cloud environment, which includes at least one QCN is an entirely different problem, not solved using the architecture or methodology of operating a cloud of purely CN type machines.
QCNs have been proven to be usable for data computing purposes. A cloud environment that includes QCNs is not operable without a Q-specific mechanism to direct jobs to QCNs, or combinations of QCNs and CNs in hybrid clouds. Therefore, the illustrative embodiments recognize that a system is needed that can adapt portions of incoming data processing jobs for q-computing, manage job division between QCNs and CNs, suitably adapt q-signals from QCNs into q-results, and combine the q-results with results obtained from CNs to produce a result that is acceptable in response to the job.

Job processing in quantum computing enabled cloud environments

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The present invention relates to a process for harvesting biomass of a bacterium, and/or a lipoprotein produced by a bacterium, which exhibit antifungal and antibacterial activity against various phytopathogenic agents.

Among the microorganisms for biological control, bacteria of Bacillus sp. genus have received much attention due to the wide variety of antibiotic compounds they produce, their long shelf life, their fast growth in culture, and their ability to colonize leaf surfaces [1, 2, 3, 4]. In particular, certain species of Bacillus such as Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus mycoides, Bacillus circulans, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus mojavensis, and Bacillus thurigiensis show antimicrobial activity.
The antimicrobial activity of these bacteria is due to their ability to produce lipopeptides e.g. of the surfactin, iturin, and fengycin families, which differ in the amino acid sequence and the branching of the fatty acid chain. Surfactins exhibit high antibacterial activity, whereas iturins and fengycins are recognized for their antifungal activity [4].
The prior art describes the use of B. subtilis and B. amyloliquefaciens to control various disease-causing microorganisms in a wide variety of crops, including fruit and vegetable crops such as blackberry, grape, raspberry, strawberry, tomato, cucumber, black pepper, orange, melon, apple, peach, custard apple, banana, papaya, mango, and kiwi. EP2311936 discloses a B. subtilis strain KS1 (NITE BP-569) as a biological control agent to counteract several phytopathogenic microorganisms in vine crops. WO 98/21968 discloses an antibiotic produced by B. subtilis AQ153 (ATCC 55614) effective against bacterial and fungal infections and also as method for protecting plants that comprises the application of these antibiotic compounds.
WO9850422, WO9909819, and WO0029426 disclose antibiotic compounds produced by the B. subtilis strain AQ713 (equivalent to strain QST713, deposited as NRRL B-21661) and its mutants which exhibit insecticidal, nematidical, antifungal, and antibacterial activity. US2011/0318386 describes methods for inducing systemic resistance against various pathogens through the use of biological controllers of the Bacillus genus, specifically of the isolated B. mojavensis 203-7 and isolated B. mycoides species. In turn, ES 2345969 describes a phytostrengthener for application on banana and plantain pseudostems, which includes B. subtilis, Trichoderma viride, and B. megaterium var phosphaticum.
WO14178032 discloses a process for increasing the production of biomass of microorganisms of the Bacillus genus, including Bacillus subtilis EA-CB0015 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens EA-CB0959. The biomass obtained by the process can be separated from the culture medium using conventional methods of centrifugation or microfiltration, whereas the active metabolites can be obtained by extraction with solvents, precipitation, adsorption, or chromatography. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the amount of biomass of microorganisms of Bacillus sp. obtained can range between 3.0 and 20.0 g/L.
The fungicidal activity of the isolated biomass (cells and spores) after harvesting from the culture medium is not satisfactory from a commercial view, and therefore the objection of the present invention is to provide an improved process for harvesting of biomass. The present inventors have revealed that amending the conditions during biomass harvest surprisingly increases the fungicidal activity of the harvested biomass.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,827 discloses that iturin A can be harvested from the culture medium by extraction with a solvent, or alternatively the culture medium may be filtered through a filter membrane or the like. If desired, the culture medium may be brought into contact with an active charcoal, powdery cellulose, adsorbing resin or the like carriers so that the produced iturin A is adsorbed to the carrier, and thereafter the product may be desorbed therefrom by elution.
The yields of the active metabolites are not satisfactory from a commercial view, and therefore an objection of the present invention is to provide an improved process for harvesting of the metabolites, especially lipoproteins and/or glycolipids.

Microbial pesticidal composition and production thereof


Provided is a reactor including a coil having a pair of winding portions; and a ring-shaped magnetic core, the magnetic core including: a pair of inner core portions arranged inside of the winding portions; and a pair of outer core portions respectively arranged outside of one end and outside of another end in an axial direction of the winding portions, the reactor including a non-magnetic reinforcing member that is arranged between the pair of winding portions and is coupled to the inner end surfaces of the pair of outer core portions. An axial rigidity of the reinforcing member is 2×107 N/m or more. Here, the axial rigidity is a value obtained by multiplying the cross-sectional area of the reinforcing member perpendicular to the axial direction of the winding portions and the Young's modulus of the reinforcing member, and dividing the result by the length of the reinforcing member.

A reactor is one of the components used in a circuit that boosts/lowers a voltage. For example, JP 2011-119664A and JP 2009-246222A disclose reactors including a coil and a magnetic core on which the coil is arranged.
It is desired that noise that occurs during driving of a reactor is reduced.
A reactor is driven by exciting a coil through the application of an electric current of a predetermined frequency to the coil. While being driven, the reactor may vibrate due to magnetostriction or electromagnetic attraction caused by the occurrence of a magnetic flux in a magnetic core, which may cause noise.


A clock input filter uses a first programmable low-pass delay element to filter during a low period of an input clock signal and to output a SET signal. The clock input filter uses a second programmable low-pass delay element to filter during a high period of the input clock signal and to output a RESET signal. A latch is set and reset by the SET and RESET signals. The latch outputs a filtered version of the input signal that has the same approximate duty cycle as the input signal. A pair of gates generates a corresponding pair of duty cycle adjusted versions of the input signal. Output multiplexing circuitry is provided to output either the output of the latch, or an increased duty cycle version of the input signal, or a decreased duty cycle version of the input signal, or an unfiltered version of the input signal.

FIGS. 1-4 (Prior Art) illustrate various examples of prior art clock input filter circuits. The circuit of FIG. 1 (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,739 for further details) involves analog circuitry including a pair of comparators. This circuit is fairly large when realized in integrated circuit form, consumes a substantial amount of static power, and involves an external threshold voltage generator. The circuit of FIG. 2 (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,507,221 for further details) involves a pair of delay circuits and digital Schmitt triggers rather than the delay circuits and analog comparators of FIG. 1, but the circuit of FIG. 2 involves an intercoupling between the outputs of the Schmitt triggers and the delay circuit supplying the other Schmitt trigger. The circuit of FIG. 3 (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,057 for further details) has only a single programmable delay line that supplies the input signals to the AND and BAND gates. Similarly, the circuit of FIG. 4 (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,057 for further details) involves only a single delay circuit DELBUF. None of the circuits of FIGS. 1-4 is readily programmable to adjust the duty cycle of the output signal. A more versatile and processor-configurable clock input filter circuit having low static power consumption and having a duty cycle adjust capability is desired.